And I'm gonna deal with verses
15 through 19 this evening. And the apostle says here in
verse 15, study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman
that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of
truth. You look at those words and the very first word says
study, study. When I was in school, I didn't
study any at all. I just didn't do it. I just didn't
do it. I'd read books and things like
that, but I just didn't study. The only thing I studied for
was a spelling test. I spelled so good that I didn't
even have to study for that. But there's people that really
have to labor to learn something. You know, you go to college and
you have to study, you have to apply yourself. Well, that's
what Paul's saying about a preacher. Study, study, pay attention,
listen to what you're, consider what you're, it's a labor there. And then the next thing he says
is, show thyself approved unto God. Show thyself approved unto
God. And I tell you what, that's where
we, that's the only place we're interested, I'm interested in
being approved of for God. Then he says a workman. He's
a workman. You fellas are workmen. You get
up in the morning, you go to work. You get through with your
day and you come home. You work. You're a workman. And
that's what he says, we're a workman. that needeth not to be ashamed,
rightly dividing the word of truth. Now let me say something
about this. There are people, and I certainly
don't want to be up there, there's people that study the word to
please men, to show off their knowledge, to bolster their knowledge
of theology, and talk about mysteries that they understand in the Bible. They do it to win the applause
of men, And if they are, then they're not servants of Christ.
Somebody was telling me yesterday about some preachers that I knew
years and years and years ago. They're dead and gone. But they
get up and say, this is the greatest preacher in America right here.
Now who decides who's the greatest preacher in America? Who decides
the greatest preacher? Now that doughnut of itself shows
you that it's a wrong attitude. He ought to say he preaches a
great savior. He preaches a great redeemer.
He preaches a great salvation. But listen, Paul didn't call
himself a great preacher. You know what he said? I'm nothing. Chief of sinners. And I'll tell
you that's the, you know, And who is it that decides these
things? And the scriptures tells us our
Lord himself even said, he that's least in the kingdom of heaven,
greatest in the kingdom, he that's least is greater than anybody
else in the kingdom of God. That there's people out here,
people somewhere, preachers somewhere, preaching to five, six people,
been faithful for years and years, and they are God, they don't,
nobody knows who they are. where they are, what they're
doing, but God does. And that's all that matters. But to be bragged on and then
seeking the applause of me and get somebody, I'll brag on you
if you'll brag on me. I'll tell them how great you
are if you tell them how great I am. That's awful, ain't it? And I tell you, those who are
approved of men are disapproved of by God, I tell you that. Our
Lord says this, He said, I know you. I know you. You that justify yourselves in
the sight of men, justify yourselves, He said, you that justify yourselves
are an abomination in the sight of God. For that that's well-pleasing
in the sight of men is an abomination in the sight of God. And I tell
you, people say, boy, if we could just have this preacher, we could
have a great revival. If we could just have this preacher,
and how he quotes the Bible, says, we could really have a
big time. But I'll tell you something,
when you start understanding that you know you, this is talking
about study, show yourself approved unto God. You're talking about
checking your foolishness. And your eagerness to be approved
of men in any way is showing off your knowledge or anything
else. Remember that we have to give
an account to God himself. I said, approved of God. Look
over here in Hebrews chapter 13 with me. Just look at this
here. I want you to see this here.
And that's what he's talking about, approved of God. Oh my. Man's approval. Oh, man, you know, we sang that
hymn, you know, they sung it, y'all sung it last Sunday morning.
Be Thou My Vision. I don't want man's empty praise. I don't want riches or man's
empty praise. And look what he said here in
Hebrews 13 verse 17. Obey them that had the rule over
you. Now that means there's somebody that guides you. It's what it
says in the margin, guide you. Guide you in the word of God,
guide you in the gospel, guide you in the things of the scriptures,
guide you to the knowledge of Christ and keeps telling you.
And listen, this is what they're doing for you. They'll watch
for your souls. Watch for your souls. Not your
bodies, your souls. And I tell you, they must watch
for your soul. Listen to this, there's they
that must give an account. To who? I've got to give an account
for what I say tonight, and how I treat you, and what I say to
you tonight. For your souls. Not just your
bodies and your presence, but your souls. And that's what he
says. that they must give an account, and listen to this,
oh my, watch it for your souls, that they may do it with joy,
when they think about you, pray for you, and preach to you, that
they may do it with joy, not with grief. And that's what he's
saying over here, study, show thyself approved unto God. You
know, the reason we do what we do, is we study, and labor, and
preach, and declare the gospel in the sight of God. in the sight
of God, seeking only His approval. I was talking to Todd yesterday,
and I said, you know, there's a couple Sundays, you know, and
you just feel like God wasn't nowhere around you when you're
trying to preach. You just didn't have the presence
of God at all. And he said, oh, I said, I know
that's awful. But I said, boy, and he said, how'd things go
the other day, Sunday? And I said, they went really.
I said, I was so thankful. He said, yeah, when God blesses,
when he leaves you to yourself for a while, that makes you so
thankful, don't it? Makes you so thankful that God
came. And that's exactly right, so thankful. And you are too.
You're thankful that the Lord comes and opens us Christians
to our understanding. And oh, my. And the study and
ministry of the word is a work. You've got to be diligent about
it. You've got to apply yourself to it. You've got to have some
honesty in it, some sincerity in it. And no wonder, you know
what Paul said, who's sufficient for these things? He said, our
sufficiency is of God. Who's sufficient for these things? Oh my. And you know what the scripture
says that we laborers together with God? To imagine that we're
laboring together, preachers are laboring together with God?
So if they're a faithful preacher, faithful in the scriptures, faithful
and bold and diligent in their study, as they enter their ministries
and are in their ministries and preaching, they need not be ashamed. Oh, not be ashamed. especially
before men, and oh, don't be ashamed before your master. Huh? Oh my. But I tell you, there's
people who play preaching, play preaching, play at it. They just play preaching, play
at preaching. And they covered men's honor,
they cover applause, they cover clothes, they cover money, and
they ought to be ashamed, and one of these days they will be
ashamed before the Lord. And then he says, rightly dividing
the word of truth, rightly dividing the word of truth. Now what in
the world does that mean? That means just handling God's
word right, handling it right. Handling it right. Dealing with
it rightly. That's all it means. Handle it
with some skill from God the Father, God the Son, God the
Holy Ghost. Teaching the scriptures. Interpreting
the scriptures. And I tell you what, it's related
to other scriptures. And I tell you, if anybody's
not interested in the simplicity of Christ, they won't hang around
very long, I tell you that. And let me, you know, there are people that they make
one doctrine, one doctrine. You know, talking about studying
and using scriptures correctly. Let me give you an illustration.
Follow this today. You take John 3, 16. That's the
favorite. versus scripture for everybody.
God so loved the world. And so, you know, if you take
that as absolute, an absolute, that God loves the whole world,
you take that as an absolute, and don't compare any other scriptures
to that, then you got the wrong interpretation. You know how
you can tell you got the wrong interpretation? Take other scriptures
and throw at it, And if the other scriptures don't interpret it
the right way, then you got the wrong interpretation. Now you
see, if you take this, he was in the world, the world was made
by him, but the world knew him not. Is that the same world that's
in John 3, 16? That God loved everybody in the
whole world? And then over in John 5, it says there that the
whole world lies in wickedness. And it says in another place,
the whole world's going after him. So see, that's what I'm telling
you. You got to pair scripture with scripture. And when you
do that, if you think, you know, if you wanna know if you got
the right interpretation, take another verse of scripture and
throw it at it. And if it fits, you got it. And I'll tell you, here's another
thing about, and I'm not complaining, these are just things that we
have to deal with. When you rightly divide the word
of truth, handling it right, correctly interpreting the scriptures
in the relation to other things, especially in the relation to
the Lord Jesus Christ, in relation to his person, his work, the
law and the gospel. You gotta know how to apply the
law and the gospel and make the difference in them, what the
law does and what the gospel does. And I'll tell you, here's
another thing, and when you're preaching, here's something else. There has to be milk for the
babies. There has to be meat for the adults. There has to
be milk for the babies, and there has to be enough food for folks
that got a good appetite. Now how do you do that? That's
no wonder Paul just backed up and said, who's sufficient for
these things? Who's sufficient? And you know
what he said about himself? He said, talking about Apollos
and this going on about Apollos, what a great preacher he was.
And Paul said, who is he? Who is Apollos? Who is Paul? Who is Cephas? He said, one soils,
another waters, but only God can give the increase. Seed soils
and water boys. Now, I tell you, that don't make
you feel too good about yourself, does it? Caesar or Waterboy? Sometimes we're both. All right, look down here now
in verse 16. And he says, and here's what
I said, when you're studying, learning these things, need not
to be ashamed, to be a prudent before God, here's what I want
you to shine. I want you to show him something.
Profane and vain babblings, for they will increase unto ungodliness. Oh my. And what he's saying is, you know, in part to your hearers,
solid instructions, solid instructions, solid doctrines, solid teaching. aimed at edifying, establishing
people, building up people in the faith, not entertaining them.
Let me just give you an illustration. And this is profane. This is
profane. I'll show you what a profane
and vain babbling is. There was a preacher one time,
got up, and he said, I'm gonna preach on seven ducks in muddy
water. Clever, clever, that's clever,
ain't it? Seven ducks in muddy water. What do you think he's
talking about? He's being clever. What do you think he's talking
about? Seven ducks in muddy water. He's talking about man. But he
wanted to be clever. He wanted to be cute. He wanted
to entertain. And what, oh my. And then there's another one.
Let me just give you another one. Over in Judges chapter 12,
They had a password that you had to pass if you was going
to go through the guard. You know, they had this city,
and if people was coming out of there, and if they thought
there was infamites, they had to say, Shibboleth! But if they
wasn't of the right tribe and they wasn't the right people,
you know how they'd say it? Simileth. So you know, if you
didn't know the right word, know how to say it, you was an old
Jesse. And that's what he's talking
about. That's shun profane and vain babblings. It's like, where'd Cain get his
wife? The stupid stuff like that. And we're not to amaze people,
amuse people. Oh, but we're supposed to have
God helping us instruct people in the things of the Lord Jesus
Christ. Avoid vain, empty, useless rambling,
empty talk, speculating about what might happen, what could
happen, what maybe might happen. And then, oh my, I'll tell you
something. Post preaching is a speculation,
rambling, empty talk. I was at a funeral of one of
the most blessed preachers I ever knew, ever knew. And they asked
another preacher to pray at the end of the funeral. Hundreds
of people were there. And that preacher prayed. Not
giving thanks for the man's ministry. Not giving thanks for his message.
Not giving thanks for his life. Not giving thanks for his wife
and his kids. Not giving thanks for why God
had used him. You know what he started praying?
Lord, America's in an awful shape. At a funeral now, and here's
this preacher. This wonderful man of God. And
he starts praying about how bad a state America's in. And oh
Lord, turn us back, turn us back, and just went on and on and on
with a bunch of stuff that didn't amount to anything. It was a burdensome thing. That was profane babbling. And
I'll tell you something, and I've seen preachers do it, and
some of you men get up here and you pray, you read scriptures
and pray, but let me tell you something, never, never do. Never
use your prayers to preach. Don't use your prayers to preach
and straighten somebody out from your prayers. You ever seen somebody do that?
Get up and pray and they try to preach while they're praying,
trying to straighten folks out in their prayer. Leave that up
to the preacher. I can't straighten you out, but
God can. But oh my, and I'll tell you,
those who are not content with the simplicity of the gospel,
you know what they do? They turn to profane philosophy. They want applause. And oh, they
don't profit the church. And I tell you, we don't need
no new words, no high sounding phrases. Don't need no criticism,
don't need to get anybody up and start criticizing God's word
and saying it don't mean this, it ought to mean that, it ought
to mean something else. These things only lead men into ungodliness. And when we talk about, when
we talk about how things happen, and I tell you this profane,
you know to preach that man's saved by his free will, that's
profane babbling. To preach that salvation is by
your works, that's vain babbling, that's profane. To preach that
Jesus Christ loves everybody, that's profane babbling. To be a free willer is profane
and it's babbling. And to take the grace of God
and turn it into a disgrace, That's vain. That's vain. I don't mean to be ugly, but
I tell you, we need, you know what we need? And you all know
this, and I know it, and we all know it, and God help us to stay
true to this. We need the word of the Lord
preached as it is to men as they are. Not like we think they are,
like we hope they'd be, but as they are. God's Word, if we take
it as it comes to it. And let me tell you something
else about the Word. I know y'all are not supposed to study the
Word like a preacher is. I understand that. I got that
clear. But here's the thing about it. If you'll understand that
the scriptures is a letter. It's like me writing a letter
to you. And I got sentences, I got paragraphs, I got... And
so when you understand that these things all connect together. You have a starting place and
he goes down through there and he says one thing which leads
to another thing which leads to another thing. Then he turns
around and says it again. But they all connect together. If you see the connecting then it makes the scriptures
so easy to understand. It's a letter, it's a letter.
And then look what he said in verse 17. And their word will eat as doeth
a canker, a gangrene, a gangrene. And these people who have this
shame, vain babblings and vain babblings, and he gives us an
example right here. He said, Hymenus and Philetus,
They're words like a cancer. It's like a gangrene. And you
know what a gangrene is? These two persons, Hymenus and
Philetus, they left the truth. They absolutely left the truth.
Went astray into gross, gross error. And you know what they
said? That there ain't really, the resurrection's passed already.
Christ, the resurrection's already gone. There ain't gonna be no
more resurrection for anybody. There won't be no future resurrection
of the dead. And I know some folks, they're
gone now, there are some people They called themselves preachers,
and they lived down close to where I was, and they thought
that the only resurrection there was, was when you were resurrected
in the new birth. That's the first and only resurrection
you'll have. When God quickens you from the
dead, and regenerates you, that's the only resurrection there is.
is you being raised from the death of your sins and being
raised with Christ. And they thought that that's
the only resurrection that's all, there ain't gonna be no
more resurrection. And I tell you, you know, that is a spiritual
resurrection, they say. And I tell you something, I know
some folks that they say, well, my truth is deeper. Let me give
you some illustrations. There was some folks come here
and I baptized them, baptized them. They was here for a couple
of months and they didn't come for a few weeks, three or four
weeks, and I called them, got a hold of them. I said, well,
I hope you've got, I guess y'all found a place to go worship closer
to home. He said, oh, no, no, no. I said,
well, what's up? He said, well, we've changed
our cosmological view. I said, what? I didn't understand
what in the world he was talking about. I've changed my cosmological
view. I didn't have a clue what he
was talking about. I said, what in the world are you talking
about? He said, I believe in a flat earth. I said, oh, really? How in the world did that happen?
And he said, well, you know, men need to make an issue out
of that. And I said, and I told him this here. I said, you make
an issue out of that. I'm going to make an issue out
of Christ and Him crucified. I'm going to make an issue out
of the gospel. But they want to make an issue out of the flat
earth. Now, you're leaving the gospel,
you're leaving where Christ is preached, you're leaving where
you can get fed, you're leaving where people love you and treat
you good and be kind to you and gracious to you and generous
to you and accept you, and then you want to go away and say,
listen, I don't believe what you preach anymore. I'm more
interested in the earth being flat than I am about Christ or
anybody else. And I want everybody to believe
my side of it. You can't get no more. Let me tell you another one. I know, I know, I can name them
to you. I can tell you who they are.
Paul taught bless his heart. He's got somebody whose congregation
that started this route They believe that there's only one
nature. There's not two natures Then
when you're born again, you don't have two natures. You still just
have one nature You just have one nature I know
two grace preachers that believe that I Would say they're not
gospel preachers. I wouldn't say they wouldn't
don't know anything about grace. I But how in the world can you
believe that you don't have two natures? Did you know what sin
was until God saved you? Did you know how holy God was
till God saved you? Did you ever feel your unworthiness
until God done something for you? Did you understand how desperately
you need Christ until God saved you? Did you ever believe that
in your life that you'd be as weak as you are, as frail as
you are, as undeserving as you are? And then if we only got one nature,
what nature is it that makes us understand the Bible? What
nature is it that makes us to understand the Scriptures? What
nature is it that causes us to call on God and to trust God? My own nature didn't have faith.
My old nature didn't believe God. My old nature wasn't interested
in the Bible. But my new nature, that's all
it wants. My old nature keeps me from being
the way I would be, but it don't hold me back from Christ. If
that's only one nature, your only nature you got before God
saves you, fallen nature. Ain't that right, James? Oh my. And then there's people believe
in reincarnation. Don't step on a bug. If you do,
you'll come back as a bug. And then there's karma. You know what goes around comes
around. You better be good because karma's
coming back to get you. But oh my, what about Christ? What about faith in Christ? Trust
in Christ? Believe in Christ? Bound to Christ? Love in Christ? Need in Christ?
Oh my, and if God gave me what I deserve, and I'm thankful that
he didn't, but he gave me what Christ had and what Christ did.
And I tell you, wherever you find anybody teaching anything,
that fellow that I was talking to you about that had been here
for a while, I said, I said, I said, you'd be welcome to come
back. He said, well, could I say it,
tell anybody what I believe? And I said, absolutely not. No,
no, no, you'll not bring that up around here. He said, well,
I won't be back then. He wanted to come here, and then
he wanted to start that mess here. Now see, that's my responsibility. And that's all of us our responsibility.
When you come across somebody that's got something contrary
to doctrine, gangrene, if you got gangrene in your body, if
you don't kill that gangrene and cut that gangrene out, it's
going to kill you graveyard dead. And that's what happens when
people get off on a contrary doctrine, go off on a contrary
doctrine other than the Christ and the gospel, and major on
these little old stupid things. They, they, we cannot, we got
to root them out. We got to stand against them.
We got to expose them. I believe that with all my heart.
These areas got to be rooted up, rooted out. I tell you, we,
they do. I tell you, that's a, and isn't
that, you know, people think that, Well, it's not too long. Then
you've got people that, they're Armenian, they believe they got
converted when they was an Armenian. Got converted when they was 12
or 14. Got saved way back there. And
then they come to grace. So they come to so-called grace. And they said, well, grace is
just a deeper life. It's a deeper understanding.
But I swear saved back there under a lie. I saved back there
under false doctrine. I saved way back there. This
is just deeper understanding. And if they want a hold of that
back there. Oh my. This is just, you know,
people got, well, I've got a deeper truth. I got something that you
just don't understand. Well, but now look what it says
here next. Nevertheless. No matter what anybody says about
how profane the babblings are, no matter how much their word
will eat like a game green and destroy the body. And who have concerned it's truth,
you know, and he says, and overthrow the faith of some. Oh my, overthrow
their faith. Weak people. They follow these
people. Nevertheless, the foundation
of God stands sure. Margin says steady, steady. Having this seal, the Lord knows
them that are His and let everyone that nameth the name of Christ
depart from iniquity. Depart from iniquity. You know
these people with the resurrection passed already. We know We know
all too well by experience how much trouble is produced by people's
apostasy and falling away by those who one time professed
faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. And boy, you take a preacher,
you take a preacher and let him leave the faith, let him err. than a deacon that led leaders
in the church. A man or a woman who you consider
to be great pillars in the church, and next thing you know, they're
gone. They're gone, gone. Oh my. But I tell you one thing,
if God has saved you and he started that work in you, you can't be
run off. No, no, he got green pastures
for his sheep to lay down in. He got still waters for him to
sit down beside. Huh? Oh my. But if people depart from the
gospel, you know what it always involves? Taking people with
you. Ruining other people. I've seen
this several times over the years. If a father leaves, okay, he
gets upset with the preacher and the father leaves, it won't
be long before the son and the daughter and the daughter-in-law
and the son-in-law, they'll be gone too. You know, natural blood,
I have found out, is stronger than the blood of Christ. There
was a fella that stayed with Bruce Crabtree for 20-something
years. Twenty-something years. His son got upset. I don't care
if anybody knows it. It's common knowledge. But his
son got upset with Bruce and he's going to straighten Bruce
out. He got the big head. Somebody started bragging on
him how good he could speak and how good he could teach. Well,
he got the big head. Well, I know as much as anybody
does, and so he goes straighten Bruce out. He goes tell Bruce
where he's wrong, tell Bruce what he said, and you missed
it here, and you missed it there, and you missed it there. Well,
needless to say, he left. He left. And his mama and daddy
that had been with Bruce for 24, 25 years, when their son
left, they went with him. Huh? That's sad, ain't it? That's what happens when you
get upset with somebody. You can't just go off by yourself
and keep your mouth shut. If you don't like what's going
on, just leave and don't say nothing. But boy, when you start
that game green going on in the body, when you go, here's these
folks go with you. Could you imagine what would
happen, and I've told this before, could you imagine what would
happen around here in all these churches if they found out that
I fell away from the gospel that I preached? That I left the gospel? That
I went to an Arminianism or I just quit? Can you imagine the scandal? It'd be awful, wouldn't it? It'd
be awful. But oh my, and that's what never,
and then, you know, knowing these things happen, he says, nevertheless, don't get disturbed, don't get
shook up, don't lose heart, don't get disturbed. You see people
far away who seem to be strong, but here he says the foundation
of God stands sure. Oh, God laid this foundation. And hear that faith, this foundation
that he's talking about is that faith. The faith of God's elect. And this is the operation of
God. Let me show you that. This faith is an operation of
God. Look over in Colossians chapter one. And I'm, honestly,
I'm gonna get done here in a minute. I really will. Colossians chapter
two. Look over in Colossians chapter
two. The foundation of God stands
sure. Oh, it's the faith of God's elect,
and faith is an operation, it's a gift of His grace. It said
here in Colossians 2.12, buried with Him in baptism, when also
you're also risen with Him, listen to this, through the faith of
the operation of God. God did this, He worked His faith
in you, giving you faith to believe in Christ who God raised from
the dead. Oh my. And this faith that we're talking
about, this foundation we're talking about, it has Christ,
this faith where Christ is its author. Christ is its finisher. Christ is its object. It's firm
and it's immovable as a foundation laid by God himself. Why? Because it's upheld by the power
of God. It's upheld by the faithfulness
of God, upheld by the promises of God. Huh? Oh my. And I tell you what, and then
look what else he said. False teachers not going, the
gates of hell is not going to prevail against this foundation.
Trials of life not going to cause a fellow to leave this. And then
look what he says. Having this seal, Having a seal,
God sealed them, put a stamp on them, put his stamp on them,
these are mine. Over in Revelation he did that,
he put a seal in their foreheads. And he says, the Lord knows them
that are his. You know, the seal or stamp on
the elect of God is this, the Lord knows them. The Lord knows
them. You know, are you one of them
that the Lord knows? The Lord knows them. How come
he knows them? He's the one that chose them.
Huh? He's the one who wrote their
names in the book of life. He's the one who said, I'll never
leave you, never forsake you, and you'll never perish. Cause
nobody will be able to pluck you out of my hand. Huh? Oh my. And then he goes on to say this,
and I'm gonna wind this up. Let everyone that names the name
of Christ depart from iniquity. Let everyone that takes that
name, you know when a husband, woman marries a man, she takes
the man's name, takes the man's name. And let everyone who loves
and calls upon the name of Christ, we've got the name of Christ.
Oh my, if you call on him, you love him, depart from iniquity. Depart from doctoral iniquity,
practical iniquity. You see, beloved, we have a gospel. We have a gospel to believe,
a gospel to preach, a gospel to adorn and dress up and make
it look beautiful, make it look wonderful. We have a beloved
master. We got a blessed Savior. to love,
to trust, and glorify in our attitude, in our actions, in
our words, and to call on His name, to call on His name, and
then let's just leave everything that would disarm the leg. Call
on His name. Oh my, what a blessed gospel
we have. What a Savior. Our Lord, we bow
our hearts here in your presence. God, we bless you and praise
you and thank you for your precious word. No matter what anybody
does and believes in this world, keep us believing, keep us cleaving. Lord, you said you know them
that are yours. You know them, you know them.
And oh Lord, he says, fear not little flock. It's your father's
good pleasure to give you the kingdom of heaven. And oh Lord,
we're a little flock, we're small. We're small in our own eyes,
and I know we're small in your eyes. But oh Lord, God bless
these dear saints. Let us take these things to heart.
We see so many get turned astray, so many get off on strange doctrines. We see people that sit under
the gospel take off and go different places and leave it. So many
over the years. God have mercy. Be pitiful and
don't let us go. Oh, God, hold on to us. We certainly
can't hold your hand, but Lord, you can hold us. So hold us,
Christ. Oh, Lord, hold us. Keep us for
Christ's sake. Amen. Amen. Let's sing 318 in closing.