All righty, most of everything
we have tonight folks will be in our handout, but if you would
turn to our text in the book of Matthew, Matthew chapter 16. And before we read our text,
I want to have you consider a question. Several of the ministers that
I listen to lately have preached on this subject of warnings,
where God has given warnings to his people. And we'll be looking
at that tonight as well. And I thought to myself as I
was listening to a message from our brother Gabe Stoniker, why?
Why does the Lord give us warnings? And this is the first paragraph
of page one of your handout. Why does he say, take heed and
beware? If Christ died for a people,
assuring them of salvation, if their salvation is secured in
Christ, the almighty sovereign God manifested in the flesh,
if we are kept by his power, as it says in 1 Peter 1, verse
5, then why warn us of false preaching? Folks, the evil deception
of Satan is very subtle. Very subtle. He operates in sly
and discreet manners, using deception and manipulation rather than
obvious force. I was quite caught off guard
the first time I heard this statement. The devil's not walking around
dressed in red robes and wearing horns and a long tail. No, the
devil, he comes dressed in white robes, as I have it here in paragraph
two of page one. He stands in the pulpits preaching
a Christ that has no power. No power. Listen to these words
from Matthew 24, verse 24. For there shall arise false Christs. and false prophets, and shall
show great signs and wonders, insomuch that if it were possible,
if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect." Aren't
you thankful it's not possible? But notice how the Lord tells
us here, if it were possible. He's warning. He's warning us
of false prophets, false preachers. Those who preach lies. Listen
to Jude 1, verse 4. For there were certain men crept
in of wares, who were of old ordained to this condemnation,
ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness,
that means wickedness, evil, and denying the only Lord God
and our Lord Jesus Christ. That means denying who he is,
all powerful, the Lord of all things. It's denying what he
did. He saved his people with his
own precious blood. And it doesn't take one ounce
or one thing from any one of the people that he saved to help
him with it. He did it all. They deny. that he is sitting on his throne
right now. This is what I have a problem
with, those who say that the Lord Jesus Christ is going to
come back here to this earth and reign for 1,000 years. Folks,
he's reigning right now. And these men who turn the word
of God into lasciviousness and deny the only, they deny that
he's on his throne ruling right now. They deny the Lord God and
our Lord Jesus Christ. Third paragraph. on page one,
just like the battle horn used to call the troops to battle,
it has a distinct sound, speaking about the gospel. If all the
instruments that were used had the same sound, how could you
tell one call from another? They used the battle horns to
make different calls, to go out and to do different things, to
bring certain things about on the battlefield. So the sound
of the gospel is. There is one sound unto truth. and many others unto everything
else. Now listen to this, 1 Corinthians
14 verses 6 through 8. Now brethren, if I come unto
you speaking with tongues, what shall I profit you, except I
shall speak to you either by revelation or by knowledge, or
by prophesying or by doctrine, and even things without life
giving sound, whether pipe or harp, except they give a distinction
in the sounds, how shall it be known what is piped or harped? For if the trumpet give an uncertain
sound, who shall prepare himself to battle? So we see that the
trumpet has to have a certain sound, a distinct sound. And
that's what we're talking about here, distinguishing grace. Our
God gives us a clear distinction, last paragraph, page one, between
lies and truth, works and grace. His warnings are a declaration
of the lies of this world. the valley of death for those
who are left to themselves, but unto us, unto those for whom
the Father hath given unto the Son." We take heed. We beware
of these warnings. These warnings would be our case
if it were not for His graciousness. Have you ever stopped to think
about that? Scott and I were just talking about that. But
for the grace of God, there go I. Who maketh us to differ? Christ, then. Oh, for the grace
of God that gives us the shining light of His Son in our hearts. If it were not for His mercy.
Page two. Now if you would, look with me
at our text in Matthew chapter 16, and we'll begin at verse
5 and read through 12. And when his disciples were come
to the other side, now remember, he had just addressed the Pharisees
and the Sadducees who came together. And we know that something is
wrong right off the bat. Because here, the Sadducees and
the Pharisees, they were as opposite of religion as any religions
can be. Yet they came together to do one thing, and that was
that they would They desired, they tempting him, desired him
that he would show them a sign. That's in verse one from heaven.
And after he had done, after he addressed them, called them
a wicked and adulterous generation, when his disciples had come to
the other side, I want to point out first there in verse four,
he left them behind, by the way. And when his disciples were come
to the other side, they had forgotten to take bread. Then Jesus said
unto them, take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees
and of the Sadducees. And they reasoned among themselves
saying it is because we have taken no bread. Which when Jesus
perceived, he said unto them, O ye of little faith, why reason
ye among yourselves, because ye have brought no bread? Do
ye not understand, neither remember the five loaves of the 5,000,
and how many baskets ye took up? This is speaking of those
thousands of folks that the Lord fed not too long ago in chapter
15. Neither the seven loaves of the
4,000 of how many baskets ye took up. How is it? that ye do
not understand, that I spake it not to you concerning bread,
that ye should beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of
the Sadducees. Verse 12 Then understood they
how that he bade them not beware of the leaven of the bread, but
of the doctrine of the Pharisees. and the Sadducees. That's exactly
what we were talking about right there, Scott. Exactly what we
were talking about, being aware of false doctrines. Our God does
not teach and save under the preaching of a gospel. Now, I'm
not telling you, I'm not saying that he doesn't use things in
our past to bring us unto him and to teach us truths. I'm saying
that when the Lord saves us, he'll bring us out of whatever
false religion we're in and bring us under the preaching of his
truth. Let's go on now, if we would, in page two. You know
how many times our Lord says, beware in his word? 26 times,
according to the King James concordance, 15 in the Old and the other half
in the New Testament. And the Lord tells us to take
heed 55 times, almost half and half again, between the Old and
the New Testament. What is the significance of this,
you might ask? To whom is this warning giving? Then Jesus said unto them. I want to take you back to verse
5 there. Remember in verse 4 it said, and he left them. Speaking
of those Pharisees and those Sadducees that came and tempted,
he left them and then he came to his disciples. His disciples
came to the other side where they had forgotten to take bread.
So it says Jesus said unto them. He's speaking to his disciples.
Take heed and beware. This is a warning giving to the
apostles themselves. If these men needed warning,
how much more do we need it? Wherefore, let him that thinketh
he standeth take heed, lest he fall. That's 1 Corinthians 10-12. There's another warning. Take
heed. If God has seen fit to warn his people of something,
and that's exactly who his warning is for, maybe we should take
a close consideration of it. Maybe there's trouble that could
affect us in losing sight of this warning in our walk through
this world, this valley of death to most, yet it's no threat to
our salvation, of course. For that is assuredly in the
conquering captain's hands. Salvation is of the Lord, and
it cannot be thwarted. He that spared not his own son,
but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also
freely give us all things? Who shall lay anything to the
charge of God's elect? It is God that justifies. Who
is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea,
rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand
of God, who also maketh intercession for us. So our salvation is assured. Folks, if he who is sitting on
his throne of all creation is making intercession for us, who
can take anything away from us? Who can separate us from the
love of God, as it goes on to say? Paul says this. He says,
for I am persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor angels,
nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things
to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature shall
be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ
Jesus our Lord. That's in Romans 8. But trouble. in this world still comes nonetheless. Even though those words that
we just read give us much assurance, there's still trouble in the
world that comes to us, is it not? What if Jonah had been given
a warning? What if the Lord had laid a warning
on Jonah's heart before he ran? Could he have possibly missed
the trouble of this world that he got into? Now, I ask that
question only as an example. Jonah had to run from the Lord. There was a point that God wanted
to make in his word. And that point was exactly what
Jonah, after he was saved of God, saved of God from that belly
of that fish, when he was spit out on dry land, he had this
message for the men of Nineveh, for the people of Nineveh. What
was that message? Salvation is of the Lord. So I don't want
to take anything away from that. It was purposed by God for Jonah.
But what if? What if he was given Jonah a
message of warning, just like he does us? I wonder. Brother
Don Fortner wrote this. He says, if you will read the
four gospels carefully, paying attention to what our Savior
taught, You cannot miss the fact that He warned us more often
against false religion and false prophets than anything else.
Nothing else is so dangerous to your soul. Nothing else is
so deadly. Let us be wise and hear what
our Savior says. Robert Hawker wrote this about
that. He says, the caution the Lord gave to his disciples then
of 11 in their doctrine, I venture to believe, was generally intended
as a caution to all of his disciples in every age of the church. And
never was there a period where the caution was more needful
than now. Oh, what eleven mixes in the
present hour with the pure doctrines of Christ and even in the churches
calling themselves Christian. Free will, self-righteousness,
improvements of grace, and conditional salvation with some, and the
denial of Holy Spirit's agency with the work of regeneration,
and justifying righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ with
others, to say nothing of the numberless other corruptions
which have crept in among men, to the great injury of the faith
once delivered unto the saints, these two plainly prove that
precept of Christ to beware of the leaven of deception, and
error, and doctrine. is highly seasonable in the present
day of the church. What is the danger against which
the Son of God here warns? The danger is the doctrine of
the Pharisees and of the Sadducees. Now listen to this. This warning
goes beyond spirit of hypocrisy. beyond self-righteousness and
ritualism in the Pharisees. It goes beyond the spirit of
free will thinkering, compromising intellectualism, or rationalism
of the Sadducees. Our Lord wants us to take heed
and to beware of their doctrine, their teaching. But the doctrines
of the Pharisees and the Sadducees were totally different. They
did not agree about anything. Their creeds were as opposite
to one another as any two religious creeds could be. They might appear
different, to be different, but that's not really the case, is
it? True, the Sadducees denied the authority of the prophets,
which the Pharisees defended. The Sadducees denied the resurrection
and the future judgment, which the Pharisees vigorously maintained. Yet the Pharisees and the Sadducees
really believed the same thing. Their doctrine was the result
of human tradition, the commandments of men, and the inventions of
religious leaders being mixed with the word of God. They taught
the free will of men, justification by works, religious ritualism. Notice the Holy Scripture here
calls it the doctrine. Two different religions, same
doctrine. not doctrines of the Pharisees
and the Sadducees. Both sects boil down to the same
thing, self-righteousness by works. It all boils down to that
in those other religions. It's neither grace or it's of
works. There are many, page four, there
are many churches and denominations in this world. Some are liberal,
others are conservative. Some are large and wealthy and
influential. Others are small, poor, and maybe
even insignificant. But if you cut through all the
balonialism, and that's a new word. Some of you have heard
it recently. I like using that word. It's a good word. Balonialism,
it means baloney. And that's what they're using,
baloney. If you cut through all of the bolonialism in the various
religions of the world and you get to the heart of things, you'll
find that really there are only two religions in the whole world.
One is true, and the others are false. True religion, the religion
of the Bible, is the religion of free grace. It traces salvation
to God. It ascribes the entire work of
salvation to God alone. It makes election, redemption,
regeneration, preservation, glorification to be the works of God's free
grace in Christ alone. All false religion is the religion
of free will. No matter what denominational
name it wears, free willism traces salvation to men. Yes, most religions
do not admit God altogether. Satan is very sly for that. But
it describes salvation to man as part of salvation, not to
God. It makes the determining factor
of salvation by the will, work, and worth of man. Whereas the
word of God makes salvation to be determined by the will of
God. Listen to these words. For the children being not yet
born, neither having done any good or evil." I wonder where
your decision to follow Christ comes into that verse. Before
they were ever able to do any good or evil, that the purpose
of God according to election might stand. Not of works, but
of him that calleth. It was said unto her, the elder
shall serve the younger. As it is written, Jacob have
I loved, but Esau have I hated. What shall we say then? Is there
unrighteousness with God? God forbid. For he saith to Moses,
I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy. And I will have compassion
on whom I will have compassion. So then it is not of him that
willeth. nor of him that runneth, but
of God that showeth mercy. For the scripture saith unto
Pharaoh, even for this same purpose have I raised thee up, that I
might show my power in thee, and that my name might be declared
throughout all the earth. Therefore hath he mercy on whom
he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth. I asked
a very religious member of my family once Did Pharaoh have
a choice? Did Pharaoh get to make a decision? Well, if you just read the story
of Moses and Pharaoh, you would say probably yes. But these words
that we see in Romans chapter 9, that's where we just read
from, Romans 9, verse 11 through 18, our Lord is so clear on it. For the scripture saith unto
Pharaoh, even for this same purpose have I raised thee up. What purpose? To destroy him in the Red Sea
as he went into the Red Sea following after the Israelites. Last paragraph,
page four. Holy scriptures make salvation
the worth of Christ. It says, for Christ also hath
once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might
bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh. but quickened
by the Spirit. That's 1 Peter 3, verse 18. Or
being justified freely by His grace through the redemption
that is in Christ Jesus. Page 5. Whom God has set forth
to be a propitiation, a payment through faith in His blood, to
declare His righteousness for the remission of sins that are
passed through the forbearance of God. To declare, I say at
this time, His righteousness. that he might be just and the
justifier of him which believeth in Jesus. Romans 3, 24 through
26. And true religion aspires salvation
to the work of God the Holy Spirit. It is the spirit that quickeneth
the flesh profiteth nothing. The words that I speak to you
they are spirit and they are life. John 6, 63. Is our religion
true? Think about it. Does our religion
glorify God or man? There is a way that seemeth right
unto man, but the end thereof are the ways of death, Proverbs
16.25. The religion of the Bible honors
the triune God alone, as we read in 1 Corinthians 1, 29 through
31, that no flesh should glory in his presence, But of Him are
ye in Christ Jesus, who God has made unto us wisdom, and righteousness,
and sanctification, and redemption, that according as it is written,
he that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord. This verse right
here is what troubles me with those who teach progressive sanctification. Christ is our sanctification.
We don't get any better in the flesh, folks. We don't get any
better. Until God brought me here to
rescue, I had never been in a church that taught you never get any
better. As long as you're in this flesh,
you're going to be dealing with sin. You don't get any better.
All the places I remember when I was a kid growing up and going
to church when I was growing up was always, well, you can
get better. You can be better if you just
turn yourself over to Christ. Or if you'll turn yourself over
to Christ, you'll get better as time goes along. That's not
the truth at all about it. Our Lord tells us that we are
sanctified in Christ, and He is our sanctification. And if
Christ is our sanctification, He is the perfection of our sanctification
as well. You can't get any better if you're
already perfect. And if we're in Christ, we're
perfect in Him. Going on in the middle of page
five there, our Lord uses the particular word to describe the
doctrine of the Pharisees and the Sadducees. He uses the word
leaven. Leaven, once admitted even in
the smallest quantity, works secretly, without noise, and
gradually changes the whole character of the loaf. So does false doctrine. And heresy works in the church.
It works in the church to corrupt it. It corrupts it from the simplicity
that is in Christ Jesus that we read about in 2 Corinthians
11. If the church of Christ is to
be strong, established in the faith of the gospel, the pulpit
must be strong. We must relentlessly proclaim
the faith of the gospel. I brought this out last week,
speaking to the brothers and sisters here at Rescue. The responsibility
of keeping the pulpit strong is not just the pastors, it's
the people sitting in the congregation as well. You are to hold my feet
to the fire. If I ever start falling off away,
if the Lord ever allows me to start going off in a different
direction, you're the congregation that needs to say, John, wait
a minute. The people in the pulpit, folks,
are just men capable of sinning and falling just as the rest
of us are. It is the responsibility of every faithful pastor to see
to it that he faithfully preaches the doctrine of Christ. It is
also his responsibility to see to it that everything taught
in the assembly, trusted to his care, is consistent with and
reinforces the message of God's free and sovereign grace that
he proclaims from the pulpit. And we do. I just won't let anybody
come here and speak in this pulpit. That was one of the very first
things Gene Harmon taught me, was be very careful. Find out
who this person is that's speaking. Find out what they preach before
you let them preach in the pulpit. Every piece of literature in
the assembly ought to reflect the message of the pulpit. If
it does not, it's because the pastor is weak and irresponsible. Page 6. The hymns sung must be
gospel hymns. A faithful father will never
allow poison to be served at a family table no matter how
much his wife and children are addicted to it. This is a warning
for all ages. We must add nothing to the gospel. We must take nothing from the
gospel. The Apostle Paul states it this
way, he says, I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him
that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel,
which is not another. But there be some that trouble
you and would be would pervert the gospel of Christ. But though
we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto
you than that which we preached unto you, let him be accursed."
That's Galatians 1, verses 6 through 8. Any human additions or subtractions,
and that's exactly what the doctrine of the Pharisees and the Sadducees
was, is the leaven of the Pharisees and the Sadducees. In Matthew
16, verses 5 through 12, we see our Lord's disciples making an
assumption that leads to an error in their thoughts. Because of
the weakness of their faith, they assumed that the Lord Jesus
was talking about their failure to bring food with them. And
if left alone, they would have missed the lesson that he was
teaching. How much are we, how much we,
I think I said that backwards, how much are we like these poor
disciples, their reasoning was carnal. They reasoned among themselves,
it says in verse 7. Such reasoning with carnal wisdom
can lead to error. The poor disciples had forgotten
their past experiences that we had just read about back in Matthew
16, 8 through 10. It was their lack of faith that
caused them to misunderstand the Savior's words. Spurgeon
said it this way. He says, if it were not for our
wretched little faith and our reasoning among ourselves, the
memory of our former deliverances would lift us up beyond all tendency
to mistrust God. Our Lord is always better to
us than our fears. We have a gracious and faithful
savior and teacher who mercifully causes us to understand his word
even as he did these disciples. As we read and study Holy Scripture,
we should always look for an obvious personal and spiritual
application, not merely the facts contained in the letter of the
word. Listen to this from Romans 15 verse 4. For whatsoever things
are written aforetime were written for our learning, that we, through
patience and comfort of the Scriptures, might have hope. Page 7. Let
us ever keep in memory the wondrous works of our God on our behalf,
and review them often, so that we may learn to trust him implicitly,
that which he has done he will do, he will always care and provide
for his own. And then I listed several verses
that I want to close with. Psalms 104, verse 13, he watereth
the hills from his chambers, The earth is satisfied with the
fruit of thy works. Also, Psalm 104, verse 24, O
LORD, how manifold are thy works! In wisdom hast thou made them
all. The earth is full of thy riches. Psalm 139, verse 14, I will praise
thee, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Marvelous are
thy works, and that my soul knoweth right well. Psalm 139 verse 17
and 18, How precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O God! How great is the sum of them!
If I should count them, they are more in number than the sand. Psalm 103 verses 1 through 4. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and
all that is within me. Bless his holy name. Bless the
Lord, O my soul, and forgive not all his benefits. Who forgiveth
all thine iniquities, who healeth all thy diseases, who redeemeth
thy life from destruction, who crowneth thee with loving kindness
and tender mercy, Psalms 40, verses 3-4, and he hath put a
new song in my mouth, even praise unto our God. Many shall see
it and fear, and shall trust in the Lord. Blessed is that
man that maketh the Lord his trust, and respecteth not the
proud, nor such as turn aside to lies. Distinguishing grace,
and I close with 1 Peter 1, verses 3-5. Blessed be the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy
hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus
Christ from the dead to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled,
and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you, who are kept
by the power of God through faith unto salvation, ready to be revealed
in the last time.