All right, if you wish to follow
along, turn to Paul's letter to the churches of Galatia. I'm
going to begin reading this morning in chapter 1 and verse 6. And
I've covered most of this down to verse 7, but I want to kind
of force to help us to keep the context here. Paul writing wrote
these words in verse 6 on marble. that you're 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 would
trouble you and would pervert the gospel of Christ. Now here's
my text, my text for this morning in particular, verses eight and
nine. But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other
gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, Let
him be accursed. As we said before, so say I now
again, if any man preach any other gospel unto you than that
ye have received, let him be accursed. Now, I'm not going
to try to speak from these two verses as a point by point. I think these two verses are
quite evident. Another gospel, no matter what it is, if it's
another gospel, which Paul, as we read, has said, is not really
another gospel. It is a perversion of the gospel
of Christ. But those who preach another
gospel, let them alone. That's what he said, let them
be accursed. Now not, Mack, we're not to pronounce curses upon
them. That's not our business, that's God's business. But let
them be accursed. God's holy book, this book here,
the scripture, is replete with warnings about and condemnations
of false teachers. Of course, our text is clear,
but look at what Paul also said. Look at chapter two, verses four
and five, if you will. Chapter two, he's put in that
because of what? False brethren. You see, that's
what Paul calls them, being moved by the Spirit of God. And that,
because of false brethren. They're not truly your brethren. That because of false brethren,
unawares brought in, who came in privately, or that is privately,
undercover if you will, who came in privately to spy out our liberty
which we have in Christ Jesus, that they might bring us into
bondage. To whom we gave place by subjection,
no, not for an hour, but there's a reason here, that the truth
of the gospel might continue with you. You see that? Now look
at chapter four and verse 17. And there's more than what I've
given you, I'm just hitting a few spots throughout the letter.
Chapter four and verse 17. They zealously affect you, but
not well. You see it? Yea, they would exclude
you, that ye might affect them. Now one more, chapter five, couple
verses there. Chapter five and verse 10. I
have confidence in you through the Lord that ye will be none
otherwise minded. But he that troubleth you shall
bear his judgment, whosoever he be. And look at verse 12. I would that they were even cut
off which trouble you. Now I'm not gonna try to go back
and explain any of these verses. God willing, we'll deal with
that later. That we see Paul's take of these warnings and condemnations
concerning false teachers. But turn to Jude. Now Jude is
no holes barred when it comes to this thing of false teachers.
Jude. And I wanna read just one verse,
make a couple statements. For there are certain men crept
in unawares. But let me say, that's unawares
to us. it's not unawares to our God,
crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation,
ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness.
And let me stop for a moment. While it certainly would include
using the grace of God as an excuse to satisfy the immorality
of the flesh. While that's certainly included,
in our context, it is men who would take and bring God's people
back under the law. That's as much lasciviousness
as Balaam trying to entice the children of Israel to commit
fornication. It's just as lascivious, Jack,
just as lascivious. that turning the grace of our
God into lasciviousness, and here it is, and denying the only
Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ. That's some pretty serious words,
isn't it? All right, we're not done yet. Look at another one.
Turn to 2 John, that was right there close, wasn't it? Turn
to 2 John, and hear what John says. 2 John. Now think about
this, John is often called the apostle of love because he spoke
so much about God's love for his people, and the love of God's
people for God, and the love of God's people for one another.
But the apostle here, that is the apostle of love, gives no
quarter, no mercy to false teachers, verses seven through 11. For
many deceivers are entered into the world who confess not that
Jesus Christ is come in the flesh. This is a deceiver and an antichrist. And I want to point this, I pointed
this out sometime back and one individual got very upset with
me, but I really don't care. That was his problem. This word
where you see it translated a deceiver and an antichrist, If you look
it up in the Greek, it's the definite article. This is the
deceiver and the antichrist. Let me just say something about
these false teachers and about the attitude that some men and
women have in our day and age. And how do I put this? In our
day and age, men and women talk about the antichrist, but it's
always someone in the future, right? It's always someone in
the future. And that's dangerous because
it causes us not to see the Antichrist that are already present in the
world today. You know, they're always looking
for the Antichrist. Well, the Antichrist was back
then. Back then. So again, for many deceivers
are entered into the world who confess not that Jesus Christ
is come in the flesh. This is a, or the deceiver, and
an, or the antichrist. Look to yourselves that we lose
not those things which we have wrought, but that we receive
a full reward. And that is not talking about
something we get when we get to heaven. That is these rewards.
It's what God's blessed us with now. Don't let them steal that
from us. That's what he's talking about.
That's what he's talking about. Look to yourselves that we lose
not those things which we have wrought, but that we receive
a full reward. Whosoever transgresseth and abideth
not in the doctrine of Christ hath not God. That's, I mean, it is what it
is. Hath not God. He that abideth in the doctrine
of Christ hath both the Father and the Son. Now here it is.
If there come any unto you, and bring not this doctrine, receive
him not into your house, neither bid him Godspeed. But that's
not just some arbitrary command that we're supposed to look after. Look, for he that biddeth him
Godspeed is a partaker of his evil deeds. So that's what John
says. Now, turn to Acts chapter 20. I've got several of these. Now
I will have scratched the surface when I've read all of these and
made a comment or two. But look at Acts chapter 20.
This here is, this is sad, but it is frightening at the same
time. Think about this falsehood is not always coming from the
outside in. This falsehood, may very well
be homegrown. And that's what Paul warned the
church at Ephesus about in, let's read it, Acts chapter 20 and
verse 29. Acts chapter 20, verse 29, of
course, Paul's talking to the Ephesian elders. And he says,
for I know this. that after my departing shall
grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock. Now
that's outside in, you see it? Like these Judaizers from Jerusalem
came to Galatia, outside in. But look, for I know this, that
after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not
sparing the flock. Also, hmm. of your own selves
shall men arise, speaking perverse things to draw away disciples
after them. That's frightening. That's frightening. All right, let's look at another.
Turn to Matthew chapter seven. And maybe right now this morning,
this is more of just a lesson. on this fact that this book,
God's book, is replete with warnings about and condemnations of false
teachers. Even the master himself, God's
Christ, the beloved son of God, was not silent when it came to
this. Matthew 7 verse 15, look at what he said. Beware of false
prophets which come to you in what? sheep's clothing. They masquerade as the elect
of God. That's frightening, isn't it?
Who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are devouring
wolves. Sounds like to me, Ellen, we
need our eyes open, don't we? As Earl used to say, you need
to grow eyes in the back of your head. Here's another one of our
Lord himself, chapter 24 of Matthew. And our Lord had quite a bit
to say concerning false teachers. Like I said, I'm just scratching
the surface. Romans, or I'm sorry, not Romans,
Matthew chapter 24 and verse four and five. And Jesus answered
and said unto them, take heed that no man deceive you. For many shall come in my name
saying, I am Christ. Do you see that? I am Christ
and shall deceive. Excuse me, many. Here's another
one. Look at verse 11. Same chapter,
Matthew 24. And many false prophets shall
rise and shall deceive many. And because iniquity shall abound,
the love of many shall wax cold. But he that shall endure unto
the end, the same shall live. shall be saved. So these are
just a few words of our master himself. Now, our brother, the
apostle Paul, gave more warning. Look at Romans chapter 16. I
know we covered this not too many weeks ago. Romans chapter
16, listen to what Paul says. Verse 17. Now I beseech you,
brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offenses contrary
to the doctrine which ye have learned, and avoid them. For they that are such serve
not our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly, and by good
words and fair speeches deceive the hearts of the simple. All
right, let's keep going. Our brother Paul also wrote these
words to the church at Colossae. Turn to Colossians chapter two. Colossians chapter two. One verse here, just verse four.
This I say, lest any man should beguile you with enticing words. Do you see it? Also verse eight,
beware lest any man, think about it, cause you to rot. Beware lest any man spoil you
through philosophy and empty or vain deceit after the tradition
of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ. For in him dwelleth all the fullness
of the Godhead bodily, and ye are complete in him. So that leads me to believe that
if I am complete in him, I need nothing else. And someone says
it can't be that simple. It is that simple. And yet that
impossible for us to grasp apart from the grace of God. Christ
is all, and he has made it as what? Wisdom, sanctification. I know there's a big thing about
sanctification. He is my sanctification. I got a question for you. Can
you ever be more sanctified than sanctified? How little bit of
sanctification can you have and still be sanctified? It's either
you're sanctified or you're not. And to talk about progressing
in sanctification is a stupid term. Because if you're sanctified,
you're sanctified. the bread that lay upon the table,
the show bread in that tabernacle in the wilderness, it was just
as much sanctified as the gold table upon which it rests. Was
it not? It was just as much sanctified
as the very altar of incense was itself, even though it was
nothing more than bread. It was sanctified. He is made in this wisdom. wisdom,
righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. Now, Paul's not
done yet. Turn to 1 Timothy. 1 Timothy, I believe it's chapter
one. 1 Timothy chapter one, let's begin
in verse five. Now the end of the commandment
is charity out of a pure heart and of a good conscience. and
of faith unfeigned, or that is, unpretended, from which some,
having swerved, have turned aside into vain jangling, desiring
to be what? What is it now? Desiring to be
teachers of the law, understanding neither what they say nor whereof
they affirm. But we know that the law is good
if a man use it lawfully. but the law's not for a righteous
man. You see it? The law is not for
a righteous man. See, our beloved brother Paul
is adamant about this falsehood in legal matters. And compare
what he said in 2 Corinthians to this. I said to the Corinthians
in his second letter, 2 Corinthians chapter 11, I realize this is
pretty negative. Pretty negative, I understand
that. But Max, still, it's the truth of God. And we have to
be constantly reminded and reminded and reminded. Do you know why?
Because our emotions, we will let our emotions rule us rather
than the truth of God. Because remember, some of these
enemies may arise from where? Right from within yourself and
right from within here. That's where it could arise.
Right within the group and right from within me. Look at what
Paul has said, 2 Corinthians 11, verse 13. For such are false
apostles, deceitful workers. But here's the thing, and I remember
the first time I ever heard Earl preach about this, at least that
I remember hearing him preach about this, and I was bored and
raised at the devil's out here in the beer joints, in the dens
of iniquity and all of that, I think that's just where wicked,
ungodly men live and what they practice. Here's where the devil's
at, look at it. For such are false apostles, deceitful workers,
transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ. They're in places just like this.
They're standing behind podiums or pulpits, just like this. They're reading from the same
book I'm reading from this morning. And to some degree, they are
saying the very same words that I'm saying. But as Henry Mahan
used to say, they're using a different dictionary to explain those words.
For such are false apostles. deceitful workers, transforming
themselves into the apostles of Christ. And Paul said, don't
be, you know, marvel at this. And no marvel, for Satan himself
is transformed into an angel of light. You remember that when
Satan came to tempt even our master himself, he quoted scripture. He wasn't getting philosophical,
was he, Jack? He quoted scripture. Look at
it, and no marvel, for Satan himself is transformed into an
angel of light. Therefore, it is no great thing
if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of, what's that
say? Righteousness. Really? Righteousness. But here's the
point, what kind of righteousness? What they teach is human righteousness,
men's righteousness, women's righteousness. They do not teach
the righteousness of God in Christ. Ministers of righteousness whose
end, now do you think this is a happy pronouncement or a condemnatory
announcement, whose end shall be according to their works. That's tough language. All right,
not done yet. Turn to Deuteronomy chapter 13.
And when I started this, I started in the Old Testament, and I thought,
I will never get done. I started looking up in even
Nave's topical Bible, false ministers, and it took me back to the Old
Testament, and Jack, I just started reading scripture after scripture
after scripture, and I thought, no, I can't do that. But I did
wanna give you this one. Think of it. I think this is
really valid in our day, because in our day, There are people
who said, but so-and-so, he said this was going to happen. This
preacher, he said this was going to happen. It happened just like
he said. He's got to be telling the truth.
That's not necessarily so. Look at what Moses warned. Moses
warned of false prophets and their convincing ways. Deuteronomy
13 and verse one. If there arise among you a prophet
or a dreamer of dreams, and giveth thee a sign or a wonder, and
the sign or the wonder come to pass. Well ain't that proof? No. You see it? Come to pass,
whereof he spake unto thee, saying, let us go after other gods, which
thou hast not known, and let us serve them. Thou shalt not
hearken unto the words of that prophet or the dreamer of dreams,
for the Lord your God proveth you to know whether you love
the Lord God with all your heart, with all your soul. God lets
it happen to prove where real faith's at. That's what he does. God brings it in. They crept
in unawares, unawares to us, but not unawares to God. Now
I'm gonna throw out the proverbial grenade. God sent them. But he did not send them with
the message of the gospel. He sent them with this error
to prove those who truly love the Lord God. That lets me know I shouldn't
have been as mad as I've been before when I seen things happen. It was God's work. No matter
how much it hurt, no matter how difficult it was, it was God's
business of proving where true faith is. And I can stand back
now and say I thank God for it. I thank God for it. So then,
how do we distinguish the gospel? Isn't that a valid question?
Turn to Galatians now again. How do we distinguish the gospel?
Now you bear with me. Galatians chapter three. I'm making some general statements
from the scripture and I'm trying to get somewhere here. How do
we then distinguish the gospel? One, it is sure of this, it is
the same gospel Abraham heard. Galatians chapter three, verse
six through nine. Even as Abraham believed God,
and it was accounted to him for righteousness. Know ye therefore
that they which are of faith, the same are the children of
Abraham. And the scripture, foreseeing
that God would justify the heathen through faith. That's talking
about this day and age. even this day and age, would
justify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel, do
you see it? The gospel, and Abraham saying,
in thee shall all nations be blessed, even then. God let Abraham
know it's not just for your direct physical descendants. Did he
not? In thee shall all nations be
blessed. But as old Scott Richardson used
to say, Ellen, that's just the gospel in the bud. There's not
much detail there, but it's still the truth, right? In thee shall
all nations be blessed. But let's move on. Even before
Abraham, turn to Genesis chapter three. even before Abraham, and just
after the fall of Adam and Eve. Adam and Eve, and this is my
persuasion, it's not a, it doesn't say thus saith the Lord here,
but I am persuaded that what I'm about to read was none other
than the voice of Jesus Christ himself saying these words. It
says the voice of God walked in the cool of the day in the
garden, does it not? And it says the voice of God spoke to them,
audibly spoke to Adam and Eve. Who is the voice of God? Jesus
Christ. He's the voice of God. And this
is what was said in Genesis chapter three, just one verse. Do you
see that? This is the voice of God speaking.
And I will put enmity between thee, talking to the serpent,
between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed. It shall bruise thy head, and
that is to crush. It's not a little bang on the
skin, brings a little bit. To crush. I will put enmity between
thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed. It shall
crush thy head, and thou shalt bruise. And isn't this glorious
now? Here the very crusher of Satan
is identified. He is. Do you see that? See that,
Mac? It's going to be a male child. You see it? This is the first
promise that I know of, of the Messiah, of the coming of Jesus
Christ. This is the gospel and the only
gospel. But turn to Hebrews chapter 11.
And of course, you turn to 11 and I'll make a statement and
then we'll actually go to Hebrews 11. Think of it. You remember
what our Lord said of Abraham? He saw my day. and was glad,
didn't he? He saw my day and was glad. Hebrews
chapter 11. Moses knew of him who is the
gospel. Hebrews chapter 11 verse 24.
Listen to what the writer of Hebrews says. By faith Moses,
who in what has come to years refused to be called the son
of Pharaoh's daughter, choosing rather to suffer affliction with
the people of God than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season,
esteeming the reproach of who? Christ. Christ. Yeah. esteeming the reproach
of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt, for he
had respect unto the recompense of the reward. By faith he forsook
Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king, for he endured as
seed him who is invisible. Through faith he kept the Passover
and the sprinkling of blood, lest he that destroyed the firstborn
should touch them. By faith they passed through
the Red Sea, as by dry land, which the Egyptians assayed to
do were drownded." They believed Christ, the coming of the Messiah. Now, I don't have this one in
my notes. You remember that old man Simeon? I don't know. I'm sure there
had to be some somewhere, but we're not given any evidence that there were
any gospel preachers Ellen and Simeon's day. John the Baptist
was just a little fella, right? Jesus Christ was a babe, eight
days old. And Simeon, when he seen that
babe, and I can see, let me have him. Let me have him, and he
held that babe in his arms. I can depart now. You can take
me on now, for mine eyes have seen thy salvation. Now listen to me, and I know
this could This needs some more explanation, but I'm not gonna
give it right now. He wasn't looking for the kingdom. He was
looking for the king. If you find the king, you'll
have the kingdom. A lot of people are looking for
the kingdom, and they've missed the king. The most important
thing in a kingdom is who? The king. And more people are
talking more about the kingdom than they are about the king. So remember, it's the same gospel
Abraham heard, right? But even before Abraham, it's
the same gospel that Adam and Eve heard. It's the same gospel
and the same, pardon me, person. Person, even the woman at the
well, that half-breed Samaritan, she said, wait, we know that
Christ is coming. Somebody, Paul or somebody was
preaching Christ, even though it may have been very limited,
Jack, and they may not have understood much about it. Somebody was preaching
Christ. Now clearly this woman thought
about the Christ as some super figure, and she did not realize
that the very Christ of God was sitting on the well where she
stood. Isn't that amazing? Moses knew the gospel. Now think
about this. Turn to Hebrews 4. We're still in Hebrews. Let's
turn back a few pages. Now the reason I give some of these is
because as we go through this, I will give you some quotes,
God willing, I will give you some quotes by men. And I pray
God we will see that these men are not telling the truth. They
have to be exposed for what they really are. I don't care if they
say some good things. It ain't about saying some good
things. It's about Jesus Christ and the truth of his person and
work being the sum and substance of your message. Just saying
a few good things will get men and women in trouble. Now listen
to it. Look at what it says, Hebrews
4. Let us therefore fear. Lest the promise be left us of
entering into his rest, any of you should seem to come short
of it. Don't take this thing for granted. Don't be presumptuous
in this matter. Look, for unto us was the gospel
preached as well as unto them. Now who's he talking about, them?
He's talking about those Jews in the wilderness. And he didn't
say, now they had a gospel and now we got a gospel and we ought
not reject their gospel like they rejected their gospel. Is
that what he's saying here? No, he's saying they rejected
the gospel. The same gospel that's being
preached to us today is the same gospel was preached to them back
then. Again, for unto us was the gospel
preached as well as unto them, but the word preached did not
profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard
it. You see, you don't have to have
the New Testament to see Jesus Christ the Messiah. All you gotta
have is the Old Testament. But you need more than that.
All you have to have is the spirit of God to say, breathe life into
your soul. And then Jack, whatever scripture
you read, Old Testament, New Testament, whatever dispensation
or age it's talking about, you're going to begin to see who? Jesus
Christ. Jesus Christ. I think about this. I made a profession when I was,
I don't know, five or six years old. And at seven, eight, or
nine years old, you could not have convinced me that Jesus
Christ of Nazareth wasn't the Messiah. And I believe he came
into this world, he was born of a virgin, I believe he lived
a perfect, righteous life, I believe he died on the cross for sinners,
I believe he was buried and rose again the third day, I even believe
he went back to heaven to reign. But I understood nothing about
that. And sadly, I didn't really know
him. Because to know Him, He has to
confront you. You do not confront Him. Before
you or I ever go seeking after Him, He must first find us. Isn't it glorious what Paul said?
He's quoting it. I was found of them that sought
me not. I can fit in there. I was not
seeking Him. As a matter of fact, when Ellen,
when I first heard that message from a man who sits right here
and preaches right here, when I first heard that message, I
said, that can't be the truth. And God should have just moved
me to the side. Moved me to the side. But you
know what happened? He kept hammering and hammering
and hammering. Somewhere along the line, Jack,
the lights went on. The lights went on. and I begin
to see Christ, Christ, Christ. And I understood very little.
I had a lot of baggage, but bless God from that day until this
day, I can't get Christ out of my mind. Here's the glorious thought.
Even if I begin to lose my mind and lose the thought of him,
he still remembers me. Isn't that what he told even
these Galatians? Now let's turn to that one, Galatians, and let
me find it. I think it's chapter four. Yes,
Galatians four, now think about this. Let me find it. Okay, here it is, verse nine,
Galatians four, verse nine. After that ye have known God
and let me tell you that's vital. That's vital Jesus Christ said
that this is life eternal that they might know thee the only
true God and Jesus Christ whom thou hast seen But look at what
it says. He says but now after that ye
have known God or rather are known of God I May forget him
one day But bless God if I'm his, he will not forget me. Somebody says you're giving people
license. I hate that phrase. You don't
have to give a man or a woman license to sin. They drink up iniquity like water. Does anybody have to give you
a license to drink? No, look right here. That's the way we do sin. What
I have to have is a conquering redeemer that comes down and
lays hold of me and will not let me go. Now, my brothers and
sisters, if anybody today preaches that
there is more than one gospel that is valid, He, and we'll
look at some of this in detail later, he is or she is a heretic. There is and never ever has been
nor will there ever be any other valid gospel. Everything else
is at best, at best a perversion of the gospel. I will turn to the passage and
if you want to turn there when I'm about ready to read it you're
certainly welcome But I'm just gonna start reading it when I
give it to you, but I want to say I kept a couple things first
I Acknowledge this so far. I've given a lot of passages
about the gospel And I've tried to say a few things that is the
gospel But I want to give you one now that is the gospel of
as clear as the gospel has ever been preached. And it was written
several, hunt note, several thousand, probably just under 3,000 years
ago. Isaiah 53. Now listen to what
Isaiah wrote. Yet, verse 10, yet it pleased,
it has satisfied the Lord to, see that word again, bruise,
crush. That's what the father did. He didn't just pop him.
He crushed him, Mac. He crushed him. Yet it pleased
the Lord to bruise him. He hath put him to grief when
thou shalt make, what? I can't explain this. His soul,
an offering for sin, not just his body. Mac, it wasn't just
like those animals, it's just their bodies where they were
slaughtered and their bodies were laid upon the fire and roasted
and burnt. His soul was made an offering
for sin. Thou shalt make his soul an offering
for sin. He shall see his seed. He shall prolong his days and
the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand. Now anything short of that is
not the Christ of God. It's not the gospel, look. He
shall see the travail of his soul and shall be what? Satisfied. If he's satisfied,
what else does God the Father want? Nothing, nothing. And shall be satisfied by his
knowledge, shall my righteous servant justify many, why? Here's
the grounds, here's the foundation. For he shall bear their iniquities. That's the gospel. That's the
gospel. You see, Isaiah not only preached
about the gospel, Isaiah defined the gospel. The only thing he
didn't give us was his physical name, Jesus of Nazareth. That's
the only thing he didn't do, did he? The only thing it didn't
do. The perverted gospel, and when
I say the perverted gospel, I'm not trying to point out and say
there's just one. There are hundreds, if not thousands
of perverted gospels out there. The perverted gospel, that is
all gospel perversion, is the enemy of my soul. It's the enemy
of your soul. It's the enemy of your soul out
there. It is damning to its promoters. Turn to 2 Peter. Before I finish
this, turn to 2 Peter. I want you to, if you can, read
along. If you can't, just listen. 2
Peter 2. Now think about it, as I said,
the perverted gospel, that is all gospel perversion, no matter
what it is, is the enemy of our souls. It is damning to its promoters. and those overcome by it. Now notice the word I used. That's
not something I picked out, Jack. That's something God moved a
man to write, and they translated it into that word in English,
overcome. Think about that. It is damning
to its promoters, and those overcome by it. Now look at what Peter
wrote to us. 2 Peter 2, verse 17, so we can
get a little bit of the context. He's talking about, go back and
read it sometime, false teachers. False teachers. Verse 17, these
are what? Whales without water. What is
a whale without water? Something that will hurt you.
Something that if you step into it, you're going to the bottom
and you will be harmed. It's a whale without water. Clouds that are carried about
with the tempest. What's that? Blow hard. They
just talk big talk. They smooch up people, try to
get on their good side, try to talk to men and women as if they
are somebody. Well, you ain't nobody. I ain't
nobody. These are wells without water,
clouds that are carried with a tempest to whom the midst of
darkness is reserved forever. Listen to me, there is no hope
for these people. For when they speak great swelling
words of emptiness, or vanity, they allure through the lust
of the flesh, through much wantonness, those that were clean escaped
from them who live in error. And I know that's a little difficult
in the English, being translated almost directly from the Greek,
but here's the thing, here's what helps us to understand this.
While they promise them, that is these false teachers, who
have these people that are listening to them, While they promise them
liberty, they themselves are the servants of what? Corruption. You see it? Corruption. For of
whom a man is overcome, of the same is he brought into bondage. Now, he'll keep explaining. For,
if after they have escaped, that's the people that's being preached
to, not the preacher. They're wells without water.
Remember, they're reserved in darkness forever. For if after
they have escaped the pollutions of the world, through the knowledge
of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled
therein, and here it is, and what? Overcome. Now brothers and sisters, let
me be honest with you. There will be times when some things
will entangle you. There'll be times when you'll
be led away. There'll be times when we're not really on our
guard and we'll hear something and we'll say, I like that. And
you start to kind of follow along. But next thing you know, jacket
starts to become poisonous to you. Poisonous to you. And I'll try to illustrate this.
Penny and I bought a cantaloupe the other day. I love cantaloupe. You cut that thing open, you
smell that smell of the cantaloupe. We cut it open, and she kind
of got all the seeds out. She skinned that thing and gave
me a piece. Here, try this. And I put it
in my mouth, and I thought, what in the name of all that's right
is wrong with this daggone cantaloupe? I said, something don't taste
right. Try that. She said, it's got, this is what
she said, it's got pesticides in it. It was like eating some
kind of off metal. I was like, ugh. Now had I been
stupid enough to keep eating that thing, even if there's nothing
wrong with it other than the taste, it wasn't worth eating. But you know what a man will
do if he's hungry enough for the flesh? He'll eat it, and he'll eat it.
And after a while, what happens? You get used to it, and you get
used to it. But here's the thing. Or again,
entangled therein and overcome, The latter end is worse with
them than the beginning. Sandy, that frightens me. Because
I've seen myself entangled in some kind of nonsense. I got
tangled up in the Lord's table, exactly how it's supposed to
be done one time. Well, just take the bread, the unleavened
bread, and the wine, and do it in remembrance of Christ. That's
all you need. But I got all entangled in the
details, and what should, you know. Jack, it's easy for the
mind to wander into nonsense. Now, had I started making that
a doctrine, you know what was happening? That's a perversion
of the gospel of Christ. You hear what I'm saying? Thank
God, Mack, I wasn't overcome by it. I told you all this probably
years ago. I started a thing on future events
years ago. I was on my computer when I was
at Kelly's Tank, and boy, I was just typing up just page after
page about things of prophecy. And I was typing, and I was,
man, I'm getting somewhere. And Mac, after about, I don't
know, a month and a half, my computer crashed, and I lost
it all. And you know what I said, now
when it happened, I was fit to be tied. But you know what I
can say now? Thank God. Because I look back
now at what I thought was the truth, it wasn't there. It wasn't,
that's just an example. Look at what he says. Look, the
latter end is worse with them than the beginning. Thank God
for computer crashes, right? Yes. Look at it, for it had been
better for them not to have known the way of righteousness than
after they have known it to turn from the holy commandment delivered
unto them. That's strong, strong language,
look. But it has happened unto them
according to the true proverb, the dog that is turned to his
own vomit again and the sow that was washed to her wallowing in
the mire. what I have to say in light of
that. And I realize that's kind of a negative place to leave
it, ain't it, Jack? But I'm just gonna give you this one phrase,
this one thought, and then I'll close. God, and I'm not just
quoting it. I am quoting it, but I'm not
just quoting this. This is in my heart, and I have reason to
believe it's in your hearts, too. God sweetly forced us to
hold to Christ and his gospel. sweetly force us to, force us
to, even if it takes a computer crash to do it. And God, don't
just force us to hold to Christ, but hold on to us, even when
our grip begins to weaken. Because remember, when we fall,
it's not us lifting ourselves up, it's our falling into his
hands. He's the one that lifts us out
of the mire whenever and wherever it is. God sweetly force us to
lay hold of Christ. Heavenly Father, may these things
warn us. May these things rebuke us where
needed. But Lord, may we also be encouraged
by the the truth of thy word, and Lord, by the experience of
thy grace, mercy, and compassion in your all wise providence. Be with those who couldn't be
here today, and Lord, just comfort them in the person of Christ,
amen.