The Lord Jesus Christ in Matthew
chapter 16 said we should be able to discern the signs of
the time. He said a red sky at night means
fair weather, but red sky in the morning is foul weather.
Well, the times we live in clearly tell me that these are the very
last of the last days. the days preceding our Lord's
return. The sky, indeed, is red and lowering, and the Lord's coming is imminent. 1 Timothy chapter 4, verse 1
says that the Spirit speaketh expressly, or very clearly, that
in the latter times some shall depart from the faith. giving
heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of devil. He said the
Holy Spirit speaketh very clearly, very plainly, that is, from the
Word of God. The Holy Spirit does not speak
audibly to anyone, nor does he speak apart from the Word of
God. No, the Holy Spirit speaks through
the Word of God. And the Holy Spirit says very
clearly that in the latter times, some shall depart from the faith,
giving heed to seducing spirits. The faith. They shall depart
from the faith. The faith is mentioned quite
often in Scripture. The faith, it is called, which
was once delivered to the saints. The faith. The faith. He says they will give heed to
seducing spirit. Now, de-faith is this. Scriptures alone, or that is
God's Word alone, is our rule. God's Word alone is the truth. Nothing added to it or taken
from it. Grace alone, that is salvation
by grace alone, not of works. And Christ alone, this is the
faith summed up in three things. This is the faith which the reformers declared in the time of reformation. The faith, scriptures alone,
grace alone, salvation by grace alone, not by work, not by man's
effort. And Christ alone, this is the
faith, faith in Christ alone, his person, his work. All right,
Paul said, in the latter times, the Holy Spirit speaketh very
clearly that some would depart from the faith giving heed to,
or that is, listening to, seducing spirits. I'm not talking about
angelic beings, but he's talking about preachers. This is what
John, the Apostle John, said in 1 John, chapter 4, verse 1. He said, try the spirits. to see if they'd be of God. Or
that is, preachers. Try them. Test them. Put them
to the tests. These preachers. These self-proclaimed
prophets. Now, our Lord said in Matthew
24, in speaking about these false prophets or preachers, in Matthew
24, verse 11, He said, Many false prophets shall rise and shall
deceive many. Many deceivers and many who will
be deceived by them. Many false prophets. Well, how
do they deceive? How do these deceivers, these
false prophets, these spirits, seducing spirits, Paul called
them, how do they deceive the many? Well, our Lord went on
to say in Matthew 24, verse 24, there shall arise false Christs
and false prophets and shall show great signs and wonders
in so much that if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect.
That is, through showing so great signs and wonders, they would
deceive many. And if it were possible, They
would even deceive God's people, the elect. Well, I want you to
listen with me to me to Second Timothy, chapter three. Listen
to me as I read Second Timothy, chapter three, verse 13, speaking
of these false preachers and prophets and deceivers. 2 Timothy
3 verse 13 says, Evil men and seducers shall wax worse and
worse, deceiving and being deceived. Evil men and seducers shall wax
worse and worse. That is, they will become more
and more brazen and worse, deceiving and being deceived themselves.
Well, In chapter 4 of the same book, 2 Timothy 4, Paul goes
on to say to a young preacher named Timothy, he said, Timothy,
preach the word. His instructions to Timothy,
his exhortation to Timothy was this, preach the word. Don't
do anything other than that. Preach the Word. Be instant,
or that is, consistent. In season, out of season. Reprove,
rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine, or teaching. Teaching
the Word. Preaching the Word. Nothing else,
Timothy. Verse 3, he goes on. For the
time will come. Now, we're talking about the
last days, the latter times. The time will come, he says,
verse 3. when they will not endure sound
doctrine, sound teaching, scriptural teaching, but after their own
lust, or whatever their own desires may be, they shall heap to themselves,
gather to themselves, teachers having itching ears, that is,
wanting to hear what they want to hear, not what God's word
says, not what the truth says. Verse 4, I read. They shall turn
away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables."
They will heap to themselves, turn away from the truth, heap
to themselves teachers, gather teachers, and turn from the truth unto
fables, make-believes, made-up stories and signs and wonders
and so forth. The truth now which they turn
away from is this, the truth of who God is. the truth of what
Scripture says about God, that God is first holy, not love,
but holy, that God is just, that God will punish sin. Why, from
what you hear today, from what preachers would have us think,
is that God is nothing but love, and that God does not punish
sin. That's the Scripture that says
God is first holy, just, that he will punish sin. that God
is sovereign. In Exodus 33, verse 19, God says
of Himself, God in declaring Himself, He said, I will be gracious
to whom I will be gracious. I will show mercy to whom I will. Not whosoever will, but to whom
I will. Whosoever will, wills because
I willed it to be so. God chooses whom He will. It's
not who chooses Him, but who He chooses, Isaiah 43. That God
does according to His will, not man's will. In Daniel 4.35, He
says He does according to His will in the armies of heaven
and among the inhabitants of the earth. This is the truth
from which men turn their ears. The truth of who God really is.
The truth of what man is. what the Scripture says about
man. Not that God needs man. It doesn't say that in God's
Word. Nowhere does God say that. That man is absolutely free.
No, the Scripture says man is dead and trespasses in sin. That
man is a worm. That man is depraved. That man
is helpless. That man is born ignorant, blind,
deaf, and lame. The truth of salvation is that
salvation is of the Lord. That it's God's choice, it's
God's will, it's God's purpose, it's God's power. It's not by
man's might or man's will or man's purpose, but it's by God's
Spirit, by God's power. The truth of Christ's imputed
righteousness, not our holiness, not making ourselves acceptable.
The truth of Christ's absolute effectual blood and righteousness. imputed to his people. The truth
of the Holy Spirit's sovereign effectual power and call and
work, granting repentance, faith, and a new heart, that is not
in man. Listen to 2 Thessalonians. And
this is what men turn their ears from unto fables, make-believe. 2 Thessalonians chapter 2. This
may shock you when you hear this, but I'm reading from 2 Thessalonians
chapter 2. Now Paul said, now remember what
he said, he said, they'll turn away their ears from the truth,
keeping them to themselves teachers. Why do you think there's so many
so-called preachers today? Because if somebody doesn't like
something they're hearing from God's word, they'll find someone
to tell them what they like. And so there's so many preachers,
the woods are full of them. In 2 Thessalonians 2, verses
10 and 11, I read, Because they receive not the love of the truth,
that they might be saved. For this cause God shall send
them strong delusion that they should believe a lie, that they
all might be damned who believe not the truth. Did you read that
with me or did you hear it? God shall send them strong delusion
because they receive not the love of the truth. They didn't
like what God's word said about himself, about themselves, and
about salvation, about the truth. So, therefore, they heap to themselves
teachers, their own teachers. But God sends them strong delusions
since they don't believe the truth. God sends them strong
delusions. What delusions? Well, do you
remember back there in Matthew 24 where our Lord said, signs
and wonders, signs and wonders, and those that believe not the
truth, signs and wonders? If you want to turn with me,
I hope you will, in the book of Jeremiah, chapter 23. Jeremiah, chapter 23. I'll be
reading from that in just very briefly, very shortly. There's
much going on today in religion, much in the way of signs and
wonders and miracles. I recognize, I see it, I hear
it, I watch it. A lot of men and women making
big claims, a lot, very many men and women who claim to be
sent from God, who claim to be prophets and prophetesses and
preachers. A lot of talk today, a lot of
great claims. A lot of talk about this and
that, about anointing. That's very popular today, very
popular. Have you got the anointing? I
have, they say. How do you know? Well, the true
prophet of God, let me tell you this, the true prophet of God,
in God's Word, they spoke much of false prophets and how you
may know them. Jeremiah and Ezekiel especially
spoke much of false prophets. Jeremiah chapter 23, if you turn
with me, in Jeremiah chapter 23, this whole chapter is about
false prophets. Jeremiah 23 is a very clear exposure
of these fellows, and Jeremiah said in verse 9 that his heart
was broken because of all of these false prophets. Verse 10, he said the land is
full of them. Verse 11, he says they are very profane, that is,
flippant, careless, very arrogant. In verse 16, I read this. It
says, Thus saith the Lord of hosts, Hearken not unto the words
of the prophets that prophesy unto you. They make you vain. They speak a vision of their
own heart and not out of the mouth of the Lord. In other words,
they're telling you what they feel, what they think. Read on
down. He says in verse 17, They say
unto them that despise me, those that hate God, Hark it, they
say, you shall have peace. No evil shall come upon you.
God loves you, they tell everybody. Verse 18. Who heard God say this? He said. Who heard God say this?
Verse 21. He said, I have not sent these
prophets, yet they ran. Look at verse 25. I've heard
what they're saying, these prophets. They prophesy lies, saying, I
have dreamed, I have dreamed. Let me ask you something. What
you're hearing from these preachers, what you're hearing from these
preachers, are they telling a dream they had, an experience they
had, a special revelation they had, a miracle, a sign, a wonder,
something that happened to them in the night or something that
happened to them, some miracle, some special revelation, some
special time with the Lord they're having, some gifts and tongues
and so forth. Is that what you hear them telling? That's what Jeremiah forewarned
the people about. They're telling their dreams
and not preaching and teaching and going line by line, verse
by verse from God's Word. I read in verse 29, verse 28,
he says, The prophet that hath a dream, let him tell his dream.
But he that hath my word, let him speak my word. The true prophet
of God is doing nothing but preaching the Word of God, line upon line,
the truth. And the truth will set you free
from these false prophets. The truth will set you free. Oh my, I hope you heard this.
And if you did, I hope you will hear God's Word and turn away
your ears from these false prophets unto the truth. May God make
it so. Amen. Thank you very much.