The Lord Jesus Christ said that
in the last days, or the times immediately preceding His return,
He said many false prophets will arise and deceive many. He said they would be dressed
in sheep's clothing, but actually they're wolves. Well, the Apostle
John told us in 1 John chapter 4 to try the spirits, or that
is, the preachers. He says, Believe not every one,
but try the spirits, for many false prophets are gone out into
the world. Well, the thing we are to try
them with or test these preachers with is the Word of God. In Jeremiah
chapter 23, I am reading from Jeremiah 23, it reads this way,
verse 25, God is speaking and he says, I have heard what the
prophets said that prophesy lies in my name, saying, I have dreamed,
I have dreamed. And down in verse 28 he says,
the prophet that hath a dream, let him tell a dream. And he
that hath my word, let him speak my word faithfully. He says in verse 29, Is not my
word like as a fire, saith the Lord, and like as a hammer that
breaketh a rock in pieces? He said, I am against these prophets
that dream these dreams, and tell these dreams, and have forsaken
the word of God. God speaks one way to us. He speaks through His Word, not
visions and dreams and signs and wonders. Well, there is a
little book over in the New Testament, along with Jeremiah and other
books. The next to last book in the
New Testament, the book of Jude, it clearly exposes all false
prophets for what they are. I hope you will turn to the book
of Jude with me. Jude uses three men as examples
of false preachers. In Jude 1, he says, Jude, the
servant of Jesus Christ, the brother of James, to them that
are sanctified, or set apart, made holy by God the Father,
and preserved, or kept, or bought in Jesus Christ, and called. He is speaking to believers is
who he is speaking to. And he says, mercy unto you and
peace and love be multiplied. He doesn't say to everyone. He's
not writing to everyone without exception, to all men. He's not
saying that. No, he's writing to God's people,
to believers. All right. Verse three, he said,
Loved when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common
salvation, or that is salvation all believers have in common. He said, it was needful for me
to write unto you, and I'm quoting Jude in verse 3. It needful for
me to write unto you and exhort you that you should earnestly
contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints. Because, he says, there are certain
men who crept in who are denying the faith. All right, over in
Ephesians chapter 4. Ephesians chapter 4. I hope you'll
turn with me. But Jude says, "...the faith,
earnestly content for the faith once delivered unto the saints."
Have you heard today of the great, what's called, ecumenical movement
going on? Why, they say that people from
different faiths are joining together. Different faiths? That's not what the Scripture
says. In Ephesians 4, I'm reading Ephesians 4, verse 4, says there's
one body, or that is, one church. The church has never been divided
or denominated. Denominations are not of God,
but of man. The church has never been divided.
One Spirit, it says, or one Holy Spirit who teaches all of God's
people, all the church, the same things, that he speaks of Christ. Even as you are called in one
hope of your calling, that is the gospel, called by the gospel,
Paul told the Thessalonians. In verse 5 of Ephesians 4, he
said there is one Lord, one faith, one faith, one Lord and one way
to believe Him. One way to believe in one baptism,
one God and Father of all. They are all taught, all who
believe this one Lord, this one faith and who confess Him are
all taught by this one Father, the same truth, the same gospel.
So I earnestly contend that there is but one gospel and all others
are perversions. There is but one Lord Jesus Christ
and this pathetic Jesus being preached today is another Jesus.
Alright? Jude says, back in Jude, he says
in verse 4, there are certain men crept in unaware who were
before of old ordained to this condemnation. And he said they
are ungodly men turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness,
denying the Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ. In verse 8
he says they are filthy dreamers. They defile the flesh, despise
dominion, speak evil of dignity. He says these men who creep in
unawares, that is, they creep in via TV and radio, ungodly
men, creep in, turning grace into a worthless thing, denying
God is God, the Lord Jesus Christ, denying who he is and what he
actually did at Calvary. And verse 8 says they are filthy
dreamers and they speak evil of dignities. That is, they are
always telling us what God has said to them, which are merely
their own dreams. And they despise dominion and
speak evil of dignities, or rulers that is. Rulers of the world
in dark places, Paul said. Spiritual wickedness in high
places. Well, verse 9 and 10 here, He says that Michael, the
archangel, when contending with the devil, he disputed about
the body of Moses. He dare not bring against the
devil a railing accusation, but Michael said this in dealing
with the devil. He said, the Lord rebuked thee.
In verse 10 he says, these filthy dreamers, the big talkers, they
speak evil of those things which they know not. In other words,
He's saying these fellows talk about the devil and brag and
boast about how they contend with the devil, when in fact,
they're doing his work. Did you know that the devil's
chief work is in the pulpit and not the bar room? It's not on
the bar stool, but in the pulpit is where the devil is doing his
most work. Well, then Jude gives three examples. which describe
these false preachers. And all false preachers will
fall under these categories. All right, look with me at verse
11 in Jude. Verse 11, three examples, three
men who characterize these false preachers. Verse 11, he says,
Woe unto them! They have gone in the way of
Cain. They have ran greedily after
the error of Balaam for reward. and they're perished in the gainsaying
of Korah. Cain, Balaam, and Korah, these
three, describe false preachers. All right? The way of Cain. What
is that? Did you know that there are only
two religions in the world? Yes, there are. There are only
two religions in the world today. No matter what they are called,
no matter how they disguise themselves, there are only two religions.
There's the way of Cain and the way of Abel. There's the religion
of works or the religion of grace, God's grace. All right? There's only one way. We read
that back in Ephesians 4, only one faith. Well, Cain, what Cain
did, or rather what Cain believed was, he brought the works of
his hands. He brought the fruit of his labors. thinking that God would be pleased
with what he had done for him while he was serving the Lord.
He was doing his best for God. But Abel now, Abel brought the
blood of a lamb. Abel brought what God had made
and provided, a lamb. And the blood of that lamb, that
slain lamb or animal, represented the Christ. who was to come and
shed his innocent blood to pay for sins. The woman's seed, which
Abel and, yes, Cain both heard of from Adam their father. The
woman's seed, or that is the virgin child, the son of the
virgin, the Christ, God's Son, God's Lamb, who only could put
away sin. Well, what Abel did, or rather
what Abel believed when he brought that lamb or that blood was,
he was saying, I'm a guilty sinner and nothing I do is good enough
to appease God, to please God because I'm a sinner. Only what
Christ will do for me is my hope with God. But Cain now, and Cain
surely heard of the blood from Adam. That's where Abel heard
of it. Cain chose the way that seemed right to him. He chose
the best he could do. He liked it better. He liked
what he did for God better than what God must do for him. Besides,
that old bloody religion of his brother Abel, that's old-fashioned.
That's not civilized. Well, you know the story. God
rejected Cain and his offering, but he accepted Abel because
of his offering. It was their religion. And that's
the only two religions in this world. And any and all preachers
who tell you what you must do for God to be saved, how you
must keep the law to be saved, they have gone the way of Cain. They've gone the way. That's
works religion is what that is. Salvation is in the Lord Jesus
Christ. His doings and His dying. He's the way, the truth, and
the life. No man cometh unto the Father
but by Him. Not being like Him, but by Him
getting you there. Alright, look at the next man.
He says, they've gone by the error of Balaam for reward, these
false prophets. It ran greedily after the error
of Balaam for reward. Balaam, in the Old Testament
scripture, was a prophet for hire. He was a hireling. Why, he would bless or curse
for money. But he said some good things.
If you'll read what Balaam said over in Numbers 22, he said some good things. He would talk of God, he would
talk of God's Word, why he said some good things, but he was
clearly in it for the money. And there are many today, many
today, who clearly come in their own name. You've seen them on
TV and heard them on the radio, why they come in their own name,
they call it the so-and-so ministries. They have their name plastered
all over the place. And Christ said, Let a man come
in his own name, and him you will receive. Well, look at verse
16. It said, These murmurers and
complainers walking after their own lusts, their mouths speak
great swelling words, having men's persons in admiration because
of advantage. They cater to the rich and will
flatter any and everyone to keep their jobs. wouldn't dare offend
anyone, say anything someone wouldn't like. If you'll pay
me, I'll tell you what you want to hear. But Paul now, the true
apostle, said, if I seek to please men, I'm not the servant of Christ.
Well, the last one is Korah. They perished in the gainsaying
of Korah. And what Korah did now was, he
was a backtalker. That's what gainsaying means.
And he was against Moses. Korah and his sons rejected Moses
as the only God-sent prophet. Why, Korah wanted to be a prophet.
He wanted to be a preacher. He said, let me do some preaching
too. You're not the only one around here that's a prophet.
Well, Korah wanted to be a prophet but wasn't. Moses didn't want
to be but was. What does that tell you? Beware
of men who want to be preachers and seek it as a vocation or
a career. God Almighty calls His preacher,
and they're usually shepherds and fishermen, plain, ordinary,
working-class fellows. And folks better hear them, though.
All right, I hope this will cause you to try these preachers, all
of them, including this one you're hearing. Try them by the Word
of God. Until next Sunday, may the Lord
bless His Word to your understanding. Good day.