We'll read the whole chapter,
2 Thessalonians 2. Now we beseech you, brethren,
by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and by our gathering together
unto him, that ye be not soon shaken in mind or be troubled
neither by spirit or preacher nor by word nor by letter as
from us as that the day of Christ is at hand. Let no man deceive
you by any means for that day shall not come except there come
a falling away first. And that man of sin be revealed,
the son of perdition. And let me remind you, this was
written nearly 2,000 years ago. And he says to those people then,
that it's not soon, but it is now. It's soon. All right, let's
read on. He says, that son of perdition
who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God,
or that is worshiped, so 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, only he or God,
who now letteth or preventeth, will let, until he be taken out
of the way. And 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, with all
power and signs and lying wonders, and with all deceivableness of
unrighteousness, and them that perish because they received
not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for
this cause God shall send them strong delusion 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, because
God hath chosen from the beginning, chosen you to salvation through
sanctification or setting apart of the spirit and belief of 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 you 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 hope through grace, comfort
your heart and establish you in every good word and work."
All right, let's pray together. Our Heavenly Father, we thank
You for Your Word, the Word of Truth, the Gospel of our salvation,
the Gospel concerning Thy Son who is declared to be the Son
of God with power, the Gospel of God, the Word of Power. How we thank You for it. We've
heard it. We've experienced the power of
God unto salvation. We know indeed that Your Word
is Your power. The Gospel is the power of God
unto salvation. How we thank You for it. We're
bound to give thanks to You for setting apart a people for Yourself,
giving them to Christ to come do what He did for them. And
then sending the Holy Spirit to take the things of Christ
and show them unto us. And creating or giving the gift
of repentance and faith and hearts to receive and love the truth. Lord, this is all Your work.
Salvation is of the Lord. And this salvation cometh through
the means of preaching Your Word. And how we thank You for this
Word. Thank You for what we just read.
What a blessed portion of Scripture it is. And while a world of people, the world is turning away their
ears from the truth, undefabled, getting further and further from
the truth. Judgment is way backward, calling good and evil and evil
good. O Lord, thank you for revealing
the truth to us, Christ in us. We see our calling, and not many
wise or not mighty or noble are called. We know we're nothing. You have no need of us. But how
we thank you for choosing people, calling out people. And we believe
that we're among that number. Lord, we ask that you call out
more for your glory, for their salvation. Do it by the Word,
the same power. And as we draw this bow with
adventure and use the sword, O Lord, only You can apply it
to the heart. And so we ask that You would
do that. And Lord, we ask for these that
we've mentioned and thought of and heard from. Ask your blessings
upon them. Thank you for every man who stands
up to preach the gospel. Ask your blessings upon them,
even tonight as they stand up to preach Christ. We pray for them. your sheep, your church that
you might edify them. Cause them to lie down in the
green pastures of your Word. Restore their soul. Comfort your
people. We pray your special blessings
upon those who have these great burdens and trials. Continue
to bring Greg and Trish and Jennifer before you and ask if it can
be according to your good will and purpose for your glory, that
they're good, that you might raise her up and heal her. Above
all, reveal yourself to her. Comfort them in this trial. We thank you for watching over
our own, your own. We thank you for providing our
every need and protecting us and nurturing your people. We
thank you. And for all the blessings that you bestow upon us, both
material and special spiritual blessings that are in Christ
Jesus, we give thanks in His name. Amen. All right, I want
you now to turn to Matthew 24, as I promised that we would look
at tonight. There's no song service, but
I have a great deal of material I want to look at with you. Matthew
24. This will serve as a text, but
we will not stay here. We will go through the Scripture. Matthew 24, look at one verse
with me, verse 24. The Lord Jesus Christ is speaking
and says, There shall arise false Christs and false prophets, and
shall show great signs and wonders, insomuch that, if it were possible,
they shall deceive the very elect. if it were possible. And I've
entitled this message, Close, But No Gospel. All right, now
I want you to turn back to Genesis 2. Let's go back to Genesis 2. And our purpose in preaching
is not to tear down. We're not building up straw men
and beating them. But what we're going to look
at tonight, our subject tonight, is so serious. How serious is it? Well, a subtle and on the surface,
a seemingly misinterpretation of God's Word plunged the whole human race.
in the sin of misery. That's how serious it is. A seemingly
misinterpretation, it wasn't that, it's deeper than that we'll
see, but what seemed to be just merely a misinterpretation plunged
the human race into misery. And we start here in Genesis
2 where everything starts, in the garden with God's Word. And
let me say this before we read. Do you remember Spurgeon's statement?
It was a wealth of, a profound statement when he said, if you're
wrong on the fall, you'll be wrong on it all. And that's so
true. If someone does not believe that
there was a garden, that goes without saying, they're deceived.
If someone does not understand what happened in the garden,
they're equally deceived. OK? So that's how important it
is. All right. Genesis 2. Let's look at it. And all error
has its root right here. It started right here. Genesis
2, verses 16 and 17. The Lord God commanded the man. the man. This is before the womb was created.
The Lord God commanded the man, and saying, Of every tree of
the garden thou mayest freely eat, but of the tree of the knowledge
of good and evil thou shalt not eat of it. For in the day that
thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die. Now that's what he
said, and that's all he said. All right. And over in Genesis
chapter three now, you know this story. Verse one, the serpent
was more subtle than any beast of the field. And I believe this
word subtle means more than just crafty, it means he was beautiful,
he was enticing, he was pleasant to look at, he had a pleasant
voice, smooth words, fair speeches, you know, good looking. subtle serpent and more than
any beast of the field which the Lord God had made, and he
said unto the woman." All right? And look what he said. He said unto the woman, "'Yea, the first thing he said
was a positive thing. Yes, God hath saved Or have God
say. Now this is confusing really
what he said here one it sounds like. He's saying yes God has
said. But it's really a question. He
says yay have God say you shall not eat of every tree of the
garden. Yeah I have God say it. What this is here is yay and
nay. You know, that's what this is,
yay and nay. It's a yes, but a no, a maybe,
a who knows. You see that? Yay and nay, a
question. Yes, but a question. God said,
but. All right, God said, yes, but,
but, is that what he meant? See how it started? There's a
positive, yes, God said this, but, is that what he meant? That's where it all started.
That's where all errors start. Smooth talking, good looking
devil. Placing a question on God's Word.
Quoting Scripture. Quoting Scripture, but with a
subtle question on it. And isn't that, if you look at
Satan's temptation, he tempted Christ that way, didn't he? The
first thing he said to Christ was, if thou be the Son of God. And like I said, this is where
all error started and this is where it has its It's gone to seed now with everybody
interpreting God's Word for themselves. God's Word is not to be interpreted. God's Word is never interpreted.
It's declared. I've given you this illustration
before. This is called the King James translation, not interpretation. There's a big difference in it.
When I go to Mexico this spring and I preach, if God has given
me a message to preach to those people, I don't want Cody interpreting
this message. You understand? I don't want
him putting into words, his own words, what he thinks I mean. You understand, there's a difference.
He's to translate the best way possible. He's to translate into
Spanish what I say in English. And that's really all that preaching
is, is saying what God has already said, just repeating what God
said, not interpreting or not saying, well, this is what God
made. No. God's Word is not to be questioned, but believed.
God's Word is not to be proved, but obeyed. All right? OK, listen
to this. The title of this message is
Close, but no God. Listen to this. The difference
between true believers and false can be found in this statement
right here. See if you can spot it. And you've heard this before.
And it sounds good to the average person. God said it. I believe it. And that settles
it. What's wrong with that? God said
it. I believe it. And that settles
it. What's wrong with that? There's
a big I in there, isn't there? If God said it, that settles
it. Whether I believe it or not.
Whether anybody believes it or not. Right? All right. If God said it. All right, look
at chapter 3 again, verse 2. And the woman said unto the serpent,
The woman said unto the serpent, Well, we may eat of the fruit
of the trees of the garden, but of the fruit of the tree which
is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, You shall not
eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die. God didn't say
that. God didn't say it like that. You see what she's doing now?
She's putting God's word in her own words. Eve was guilty of
several tragic sins here. First of all, she listened to
someone other than God. Secondly, she didn't call on
God. Thirdly, she didn't seek out
her husband. Fourthly, she began to interpret the Scriptures in
her own words, right? And she added to God's Word. Added to any question upon God's
word, any addition to it, any subtraction is a perversion of
God's word. You know that? In a court of
law, let me illustrate this. In a court of law, one minor
discrepancy will throw out the whole case. One minor discrepancy
in the testimony. Isn't that right? One loophole
will throw out the whole case. And in our case, it demands our
conviction. That's one discrepancy. Well, look at these verses again. Now, she said, We may eat of
the fruit of the trees of the garden, but of the fruit of the
tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, You
shall not eat of it, neither shall you touch it, lest you
die. Her interpretation of God's Word was close, but it damned
her. It was damning. Let me show you something here.
Really, it didn't even resemble what God said. You ever heard
the word verbatim? You ever heard somebody say,
I'm going to quote this verbatim. What that means is word for word. She should have been saying this
verbatim. Apparently, she felt like her,
you know, word was, what she had to say about it
was an improvement. And isn't that the case today? She took the edge off God's justice. She took off the edge. She changed. Listen to this. She changed where
God said, Thou shalt surely die. That's strong, isn't it? That's a declaration of God's
absolute justice. Thou shalt surely die. She changed that to lest you
die. A lot of the offenses are removed
then. All right? Not so offensive. Now listen,
this was the first thing that Satan blatantly denied. This is the first thing. Are
you with me? Barbara, at first he said yes,
God had said but. Is that what he meant? Now the
woman interpreted what God had said and then he blatantly denies
it. Look at verse four, he says,
You shall not surely die. And this is this is at the heart
of religion, false religion, right here, this is it right
here. I quote this perfectly, this is it. This is found in
all false doctrine, all false heritage. Man either died in
the garden or he didn't. Man's either dead and trespassed
in sin or there's a spark of life in him and all he needs
is to be found. Right? Man's will, when man's
dead, that means every part of him is dead. heart, everything. Man's will
is he either died in the garden, he had no will for God, no will
for good, only will for evil, or it's kind of, you know, it's
up in the air. And this was what Satan blatantly
denied. You see that? And the next thing Satan appealed
to Eve about was her free will. Look at verse 5. He appealed
to her. This appealed to her, her free
will. You won't die and you have a
free will. Exercise it. Look at verse 5. God doth know that in the day
you eat thereof your eyes shall be opened. You'll be as God's,
knowing good and evil. See that? You have the right
to choose. And if you choose, you'll be
as God's. Well, everything he just said
now is a lie. Everything he's saying now is
a lie. He began with a positive statement. God had said,
but. And now he's telling out and
out lies. None of the sudden. And that's
what a person will fall for if they begin to fall for the subtlety
in the first place. That's what we read over in 2
Thessalonians. If they receive not the love of the truth, then
they'll receive everything. Anything. That's what God said
to Cain. If you do well, you'll be accepted.
But if not, sin lies at your door. In other words, you'll
be a prey to anything that comes along. And in that case with
people who reject the truth, they believe anything. An out-and-out
lie. God didn't say that their eyes
would be open. You know what happened? Their eyes were shut. God didn't
say they'd be as gods. No, then they turned into devils,
didn't they? God didn't say they'd know good
and evil. Listen to me. They knew good. They didn't know
evil. Now they know only evil, and
they don't know good. And that's man, man. Man doesn't know right from wrong,
truth from error, doctrine of God from the doctrine of the
devil. His understanding, the Scripture says, is way backwards.
He calls right wrong. He calls God man, man God. He calls God's will limited,
man's will free. Isn't that right? You'll know good from evil. No,
you won't. Now you won't know. You won't
know good from evil. You'll get it back. See, it all
started right here. It all started. Well, you know
what happened. Sin had been conceived and brought
forth death, like John said. The lust of the eye, the lust
of the flesh, the pride of life entered into their souls. And they lost the life of God. They lost holiness. They lost
communion with God. They lost righteousness. They
lost—they died. And they were cast out of God's presence. And
how were they cast out? Now they're poor, blind, miserable,
naked, and sinful, aren't they? But God. First two sinners, that's the
reason I believe Adam and Eve. I believe God saved them. He
sent the gospel to them. The Word, God sent the Word to
them. They heard the voice of God. Who's that? That's Christ,
the Word of God. They heard the gospel, the woman's
seed. God clothed them. They saw the
blood. They heard the Word. They saw
the blood. They were clothed with skins.
Now if that ain't salvation, what is? Huh? Then they knew good from
evil, didn't they? They knew God was good and they
were evil. Now they know good and evil. They knew there's none
good but God. There sure ain't no good in this
place. Huh? And they knew this one thing.
Their one hope was that woman's seed that God says won't come.
Now they know. Now their eyes have been All
right, let's briefly go through a few verses of Scripture, all
right, and see if you can discern the false from the truth. See
if you can discern the subtle deceptions that our generation, that these, Scripture says ministers
of Satan who are ministers of righteousness, clothed in sheep's
clothing. See if you can discern. All right?
We're going to put a little twist on each one of these scriptures
and see if you can discern a bit. All right? Look at Isaiah 40
with me. We can just stay in the book
of Isaiah. And what we're going to look at, very briefly, I promise,
we're going to look at the personal work of our God. We're going
to look at God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit
as declared from Scripture. That's the truth. This is the
gospel. All right, we're going to look at God the Father, Son,
and Holy Spirit as the Scriptures declare Him. And like I say, we'll put a little
twist on things. What does God think of man? Most say, you know what most
say, God loves you, needs you, wants you. You're valuable, and
so forth. Look at Isaiah 40, verse 6 with
me. The boy said, Cry. And he said,
What shall I cry? All flesh is valuable, and all
the goodliness thereof is needed by me. Not even close, is it? What's
he call flesh? Grass. How many of y'all say
you get grass clippings after you cut the grass? Cast him out, burn him, break
him away. Verse 17, look down. All nations
before him are very needful and of great worth. All nations before him are as
nothing. They're counted to him less than
nothing and vanity. Look at verse 22. It is he that
sitteth upon the circle of the earth, an inhabitant thereof,
or as angels." Grasshoppers. Grasshoppers. Well, what does God think of
man? Nothing. Vanity. Worthless. Grasshoppers. Worms. Dogs. Is that too plain? It is
to this world. And as we've noticed before,
all dogs go ahead. All dogs get to sit at the table.
All worms are turned into butterflies. Let's read on. What is God like? What is God like? Well, He asked
this question in verse 18. To whom then will you liken God? What likeness will you compare
Him? Down in verse 25. To whom then will you liken Me?
Or shall I be equal? holy one. The holy one. Now, we know God is love and
we love, we love that characteristic attribute, you know, but is that
his chief attribute? Anyone who says so has missed it. Is that too hard, too plain? More than any other description
of himself, God calls himself holy, holy. The angels do never cry love,
love, love, although he is now. But they cease not to cry day
and night. The scripture said holy, holy,
holy. This generation missed him. God
is holy. first and foremost, and in everything
He does, especially His love. It's holy. All right? The Holy
One. Verse 26, Lift up your eyes on
high, and behold, who hath created these things? Verse 28, Hast
thou not known, hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God,
the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth? Thainoth not,
and so forth. The Creator. There's a concerted
effort now, and it's a general opinion and belief of nearly
everyone. Evolution, right? It's accepted
as fact. It's absolutely not a theory
now, it's a fact. And even in so-called fundamental
religion, they're beginning to accept evolutionary creation. It's so. It's so. Well, let's look on, let's hurry.
All right, what is God like? Look, chapter 43. Chapter 43. Here's a well-known comment today,
or perversion. Chapter 43. You got it? Verse 13. Yea, before the day
was, I am He. There's none that can deliver
out of my hand. I will work, and who shall let
me? Won't you let God?" Is that what
he's saying? Is that what he said here? Not
even close, is it? The word led here is prevent.
Who shall prevent? I will work, and who shall prevent
me? I'm going to do what I purpose to do before the foundation,
and who's going to stop it? And on and on throughout Isaiah,
he says, with whom did he take counsel? Who stood in the counsel
of the Lord and heard him say any of it? And with whom did
he consult? Who does he ask? Is this all
right with you? It's not even close, is it? God will
work, and who's going to stop Him? None can stay His hand or say
unto Him, You can't do that. They can't even say that. All
right, the Son of God, who is He? What is He like? You know
these scriptures, and you really don't have to turn, but in Matthew
chapter 1, and you don't have to turn, really, unless you really
want to, the Son of God, Matthew 1, who is He? What is He like?
What did He do? Why did He come here? Well, Matthew
1 is the story of His birth, and it says in verse 21, and
oh, I love this verse. says she shall bring forth a
son, and thou shalt call his name Jesus. For he shall try
to save every one from their sin. That's what they're saying. It's
not even close, Brother Rick. It's not even close. It's the
opposite of the truth. He should try to save everyone. No, he should save his people.
John 10, we know this verse. John 10, verse 11, it says, I'm
the good shepherd and I lay down my life for everyone. No. for the sheep. Over in Ephesians
1, you know this, Ephesians 1, it says, in Ephesians 1 verse
6, it says, won't you accept him as your personal Savior? No, it says in Ephesians 1 verse
6, it says, wherein he hath made us accepted in the blood. Nowhere
in Scripture does it ever say. or ever plead or ask anyone to
accept Jesus. Nowhere. Neither does the Word offer you. Not. Invite? No. No, sir. There's a big difference
between an invitation and a subpoena, isn't there? Anybody ever here got a speeding
ticket or worse and then delivered an invitation to court? And the judge left it up to you
whether or not you wanted to? Huh? It was a summons, wasn't
it? A subpoena. And you will come. You will come freely or you will
be hauled into court by the bailiff. God does both to His people.
He lays hold on us and He makes us willing in the day of His
power. Well, Hebrews 9, oh, how I love
this. This is the heart and the soul
of the gospel. Hebrews 9, which they have perverted,
which Satan and his ministers have perverted. Hebrews 9, verse
12 says, "...neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his
own blood Christ entered in once into the holy place, having made
salvation possible." It ain't even close, and you'd knock out the foundation.
of the gospel, if you say that, don't you? There is no gospel
in that. There is none whatsoever. Here's the gospel. Having obtained
eternal redemption for us. Now that's what he said, and
that's what he meant. Barnard, you say, it doesn't
say what you think it meant. It says what it says. God said, Thou shalt surely die.
What did he mean by that? He meant die. That's what he
said. That's what he meant. Well, that's
the Son of God, all right? He saved His people. He laid
down His life for His sheep. He made us accepted. We're accepted
in Him. He's obtained eternal redemption
for us. All right, what about the Holy Spirit? Our Lord talked
about the Holy Spirit in John 3, didn't He? To Nicodemus. He
couldn't understand. Oh, boy, these people that think
they have the Spirit, they don't have the fog gifts. They're filled with the Spirit,
all right, but it's not the Holy Spirit. John chapter 3, our Lord
said, you must get born again. Is that what he said? You must be. I'll never forget
when I first heard a man say that. Big difference between
getting saved and being saved. Big difference. That's the difference
in being saved. whether or not you're saved or
not. You must be born again. In verse 8 there, He said, "...the
wind bloweth where it listeth." Now, here's the sound thereof,
but if you come at 7 o'clock tonight, He'll be here. And you can get there knowing
Him. It ain't even close, is it? He said you can hear the
sound of it, but you can't tell where it comes and where it's
going. So is everyone that's born of the Spirit. The Holy
Spirit is sovereign, too. You can't place demands on the
Spirit of God. We don't determine anything concerning
the Spirit of God. John 16, verse 8, he said, When the Spirit is come, John 16,
verse 8, he says, When the Holy Spirit is come, He'll tell the world how much
God loves them and needs them and has a wonderful plan for
his life. He'll convince the world, Scripture
says, of sin, righteousness, judgment. Tell me, anyone in
here, do you ever hear any of these three words ever on TV
or radio? Sins, yes, maybe in a bottle
or a box, sins, but sin, righteousness, except if they
want to talk about their own, judgment, as far as they're concerned,
is not going to be one. That's what the Holy Spirit is
going to do. And he said in verse 13, When he, the Spirit of truth,
is come, he'll guide you into all truth, and he'll speak of
himself. And you'll go away speaking of
Him. He'll not speak of Himself. Oh,
no. He'll not draw attention to Himself.
His purpose is to take the things of Christ and show them unto
you, not the things of the Spirit, but the things of Christ and
show them to you. Well, He said the Spirit will
fill you with tongues and give you a wonderful heart. He'll
guide you into all truth. truth. He will not glorify himself,
he'll glorify me. And in closing, over in Revelation
3, oh, how they twist these passages of Scripture, which are meant
for God's people. They're meant to comfort God's
people. In Revelation 3, verse 13, he that hath an ear, let
him hear what the Spirit sayeth to every one. That was it. And Donald says to the churches,
to the church, verse 20, Behold, I stand at the heart's door and
knock. If any man hear my voice and
open the door, because there's no handle on the outside, well,
I'll come in and I'll save him. It doesn't even resemble what
that says. It's not even close. Not even close. First of all,
he doesn't say anything about a harsh door. Who's the door? Christ is the door. Always has
been, always will be. Who's he talking to? The church.
What's the subject? Supper. Supper. Eating supper. Communion with Christ. Huh? communion
with Christ. Well, Revelation 22. Revelation
22. We've gone from Genesis to Revelation
in 32 minutes. My dad went all the way through
Romans 8 one day. I got him beat. Sixty-six books. Revelation 22. Verses 16 and
17, I, Jesus, have sent mine angel to testify unto you these
things in all the world to every one that will hear me. That's
what he said. Churches. Read on. Verse 17, And the Spirit and
the bride say, Come, and let him that heareth say, Come, and
whosoever will may come. If there's a verse that men quote
more than anything else, that's it. And it's a perversion of
a verse of Scripture. Barnard used to issue this challenge
everywhere he went. He said, I'll give $500 to the
first man who can show me in the Scripture where it says, Boy, he said he heard the leaves
just a-turnin'. I know where that is. I can find
it. I've seen it. I know where it is. And they'd be turnin'
and turnin' and turnin' and turnin'. Well, Revelation 22 said it doesn't
say that. Talking to the churches, the
Spirit's the one that says it. in the context of the church
preaching the gospel, says, Come, and he that heareth, there's
some qualifications upon these whosoever will. Byron used to
say this, too. He said, I don't have a problem
with whosoever will, it's a whosoever won't. Right there's the problem. God said, You will not come into
that. Whosoever will? Well, who will? Well, whosoever's made willing.
Whosoever will. He doesn't use everybody's name.
He just says, Whosoever will. Well, who will? Well, whosoever
he make willing. Is that difficult? That's not confusing. He said,
Whosoever will, because he couldn't put everybody's name in there.
Well, whosoever will. Well, who will? Well, who he
makes willing. It's of God that worketh in us
both the will and do of his good pleasure. Thy people shall be
made willing. Huh? And the subject here is drinking
water. Drinking water. Drinking water. And Christ is
the water of life. Well, and let me ask you a question
here. What about some of these, you
know, it's important that we have good discernment when we
hear preaching. Our Lord said it's close if it
were possible. I like that little word, if.
If it were possible. It's not possible. But he said it's so close and
it's so deceptive that if it were possible it would deceive
the very elect. And I've heard some believers And I have to admit that at times
I've heard some good things, and it's made me to wonder. What about some of these preachers
who stumble upon the truth? And that's what they've done.
They've stumbled across it. What about? You've heard them,
haven't you? Have you heard them say some good things? I've heard. There's been people right in
here tell me about a message preached by such and such heretic,
you know. Well, first of all, good things
is not necessarily the gospel. All right? Half a truth is not
the truth. Truths is not necessarily the truth. Do you understand that? Truths
is not necessarily the truth. Paul said, I have not shunned
or declared on you the It's not always what they say is what
they're not saying, what they leave out, all right? And the
fact is, listen to this, the fact is God occasionally puts
truth, even truth, in the mouth of a false prophet. Why? Well, one, to show his power
in them. Secondly, to add to their condemnation.
But now listen very carefully. I used to think, I used to say,
and be puzzled by, you know, these some every now and then
fellow, you know, maybe coming close to the gospel. I used to
think, well, maybe God has some sheep out there. No, I don't
think that anymore. No, I don't. Listen to this verse
of Scripture. It's hitting me like a ton of
bread. Jeremiah 23, when God was talking
about the false prophets, He said, "...I sent them not, nor
commanded them. Therefore they shall not profit
this people at all." Bob, He added those two little
words, "...at all." I don't care what they say. Why? It would lend credence to these
false prophets. Right? And God's not going to
do that. It would lend credence to the
rest of their garbage that they're preaching. Right? God's not going to save His people
under a false preacher. You say, what about Balaam? What
about Balaam? There's a classic example of a man who spoke truths,
but not the truth. What about Saul? You know, Saul
was prophesying, wasn't he? Anybody saved under his ministry?
What about Judas Iscariot? No, he said not at all. They're
not going to prophet to speak about him. And oh, boy, like
I said, I'm so glad that the Lord said, if it were possible. And we read there in 2 Thessalonians
2, he said, Oh, we're bound to give thanks to God, brethren
and beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen
you to salvation through sanctification. He sets you apart from the rest.
Through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth.
You believe the truth, you love the truth, the stranger's voice,
you won't hear it. Didn't Christ say that? He said
a stranger's voice, they won't hear it. They say, it sounds
good, but there's something in it that can't be. They're listening
for a certain sound. A certain sound begins with a
C. Tune the middle C. And if I went
over there and hit several notes, I know one lady back there could
tell me which one's C. Huh? Got a tuned ear, and God's
people's ears tune to the gospel. And sometimes they hear something
and they say, well, it sounds good. I don't quite know what
Christ is missing. That's what's missing. And we're bound to give thanks.
God has chosen you through sanctification of the Spirit, belief of the
truth, whereunto he called you by, yes, our gospel, not another,
this gospel. Aren't you glad? Blessed are
you, Joe Barparks. Flesh and blood didn't reveal
it to you, but our Father which is in heaven. And ears to hear,
eyes to see, and heart to receive and love. While a world of people
are just swallowing hook, line, and sinker. Through mine, what is mine? All
right, let's stand. Thank you, thank you, thank you
for the truth, your word of truth,
and for giving us ears to hear, eyes to see, and a heart to receive
it. Yea, love it. And we say with
David of old, that man after your own heart. We esteem all
thy precepts concerning all things to be right, and we hate every
false way. And do not we hate them which
hate thee? Yea, we hate them with a perfect
hatred. And yet we feel for these blind
who have been led by the blind. We ask that you might open eyes
as you did ours. Perhaps even use this place,
these people, these means to open more blind eyes such as
ours were. We give you all the glory and
the honor. Well, we thank you for opening
our eyes. keep us laying hold on the beginning
of our confidence, steadfast unto the end. In Christ's name
we pray. Amen.