Alright, if you wish to follow
along, turn to the Song of Solomon chapter 2 again. The Song of Solomon chapter 2,
I have a different verse this morning as my text. The Song of Solomon chapter 2,
my text will be verse 15 this morning. Take us the foxes. the little foxes that spoil the
vines for our vines have tender grapes. My title for this morning's
message is the little foxes spoil the vines. We'll give you a paraphrase. This is my paraphrase. This is
what the Shulamite is saying. and actually saying to Solomon,
or more appropriately, this is what God's people say. This is
what they say to Christ. This is the paraphrase of the
Song of Solomon. Let us catch or seize. That's what it says. Take us,
the foxes. It doesn't mean draw them in
here. It means to trap them. That's what it means. To catch
or to seize. To put it another way, to put
a stop to. Let us catch or seize the foxes or the jackals would
be probably a more direct interpreting or rendering of that for that
country at that time. Let us catch or seize the foxes,
the little foxes. The little foxes are the real
threat. That's what it's saying. The
little foxes are the real threat. They spoil the vines, even the
tender grapes. Now let me give you what this
means scripturally. This is not because of some great
vision or anything that I had. This is based upon the preponderant
testimony of scripture. Scripturally, this is what the
church cries out unto Christ. Take great heed to those who
spoil the gospel, especially in little ways. because the gospel
is where the truth of God is vouchsafed. The gospel is the message. It
is the truth concerning the person and work of our Lord Jesus Christ.
And to spoil the gospel, even in a little way, is to denounce
the truth of God himself. I don't think there would be
anyone here this morning who would disagree with that statement.
Think of it again. Take great heed to those who
spoil the gospel, especially in little ways, because the gospel
is where the truth of God is vouchsafed. God's word is replete. I mean, it is just full of warning
about error and those who promote it. and the gospel always joins
the error to those who promote it as one. As one. You rebuke the error, you're
rebuking the one who promotes it. You rebuke one who promotes
error, you are rebuking the error he or she promotes. Do you remember what the apostle
Paul said to Titus? Turn back there if you would.
Titus chapter one. Listen to these words, Titus
chapter one, this is Paul writing to Titus. And in chapter one,
he says in verse nine, and he's going on here of course, but
you look at the context later to see that I'm not giving it
to you as it is. Holding fast the faithful word
as ye have been taught. Do you see it? Now, rarely ever
in the scripture is there not rebuke of error where there's
not encouragement to the truth. Yes sir, that's right. It's not
just there to rebuke error. Rebuking error is of no value
if you don't define what the truth is. Holding fast the faithful
word as you have been taught that he may be able by sound
doctrine both to exhort and to convince the gainsayers. In other
words, take care to what you say when you preach. Take care
to what you say when you give witness to someone else. Why? For. There are many unruly and
vain talkers and deceivers. Especially, especially. Now he
said there's a special group that's really good at this too.
Especially they have the circumcision. And I will put it this way today,
we don't have a lot of bouts with circumcision today, but
boy don't we have a battle with free will. And those who promote
man's so-called free will. For there are many unruly and
vain talkers and deceivers, especially they of the circumcision, whose
mouth must be stopped. You see that? Stopped in what
way? It means to be silenced. Well,
look at what it says. Hold fast faithful word and do
what? Teach sound doctrine. We don't stop their mouths by
force. This has nothing to do with physical force. This has
nothing to do with us threatening some retribution by us. Who are we to threaten force
or retribution to anyone? It's not by force, it's not by
legislation. It's not by legislation. I don't
care how, and I use this word very lightly, I don't care how
Christian a legislature you may have, you're not going to legislate
righteousness. And you're not going to legislate
error out of business. We will build, here's what man
does, he builds into his legislation that which suits his own heart
and mind in his fallen state, while claiming great godliness
at the same time. It's not by force, it's not by
legislation, it's by preaching the gospel, preaching the gospel,
preaching the gospel, setting forth the truth of the word of
Jesus Christ. Think about it. I'm not going
to give you examples, but think about the Old Testament. They
constantly warn of both. That is those who promote error
and the error they promote. Read through the Old Testament
sometimes. Woe, woe, woe. As a matter of fact, in the New
Testament, our Lord never preached, listen to me, he never preached
to the whores and the drunks and the thieves, woe. He preached to them to repent.
He came and calls, he even calls these kinds of people to repentance. But who was he speaking to every
time he used woe, woe, woe? It was the false teachers and
those who promoted error in his day. Let's take the New Testament,
and I'll give you a few examples. But it's summed up this way.
Everything I've said in my text here. Take us the foxes, the
little foxes that spoil the vines, for our vines have tender grapes.
All of it can be summed up by this New Testament phrase, and
both times it's used by the Apostle Paul, a little leaven leaveneth
the whole lump. That's why it's so dangerous.
Usually, I'm not saying it's always so, but usually all error
begins as just a little teeny speck. Just the disformation
of a word or the meaning of a word or a phrase. It always begins
with little things. Rarely does it ever, rarely does
error ever rush in like a mighty flood, and then wash the sand
off the bank. Usually, Joe, it's just that
constant little waves coming in, coming in, and eventually
it just erodes the bank, and erodes the bank, and erodes the
bank. It's summed up this way, a little, a little lemon, not
a great big dose, A little leaven leavens the whole lump. And our
text calls them foxes or jackals. And I've watched enough TV, and
I suppose these folks are right, and I've seen some in nature.
But what is a fox or a jackal? They're sly. They're cunning. They are deliberate, yet very
opportunistic. Always waiting on something to
attack. Now granted, we will attack error
where we see error. But our message is Jesus Christ
and him crucified and the truth therein. Hear Paul's words and
observe this. Turn to Ephesians chapter four. Look at what he says there. Ephesians
chapter four. And in, as you're turning, in
Ephesians chapter four, Paul is talking about the purpose
of God's gifts that He gave to this world, to the church in,
I shouldn't say, not the world, to the church in this world in
particular when He ascended back to glory. And here is the purpose,
verse 14 of Ephesians four, that we henceforth be no more children
tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine,
How? By the slight of men. See, it's
slight. This is not something they just
expose or espouse out boldly and plainly. They slip things
in. by the slight of men, and cunning
craftiness, and what? Whereby they lie in wait to deceive. Doesn't that sound like a fox?
Doesn't that sound like a jackal? But, you remember what I told
you, you never simply rebuke error and leave it laying there.
But speaking the truth in love may grow up into him. Do you see it? One of the hallmarks
of all false religion is it begins to attempt to dethrone Jesus
Christ. And usually its attempt may not
always begin by seeking to, in a little way, dethrone Christ. They begin by trying to enthrone
man. And as you begin to try to enthrone
man, you don't have enough room there eventually for the Son
of God to sit. But speaking the truth in love
may grow up into him, and that's the key at all things, grow in
grace, and in the knowledge of what? Our Lord and Savior, Jesus
Christ. But speaking the truth in love
may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ. You see, if you leave Christ
out, I don't care how doctrinally accurate you are, it's nothing
but error. From whom, do you see it? Everything
we have, all the truth that we hold to, has a person as its
central hub. Everything, as one preacher said
from this podium one time, everything is Christocentric. And that is
certainly true. From whom the whole body fitly
joined together and compacted by that which every joint supply,
which lets me know that I need you all too. We need one another
too. By that which every joint supplies
according to the effectual working in the measure of every part
maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love. Paul says in Galatians chapter
5, turn there now, Paul says in Galatians chapter 5, he is
using, he's not quoting from the Song of Solomon, but he's
using the truth taught in our text in Song of Solomon 2 verse
15. And he preaches these words in
Galatians chapter 4, and I am in the wrong, Galatians chapter
5, I'm sorry, did I say 4? No, I didn't say it. Galatians
chapter 5, look at verse 9, A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump. You see, a little leaven leaveneth
the whole lump of truth. He's talking here about the truth
of the gospel. Go to 1 Corinthians, you don't
have to do it right now, 1 Corinthians chapter 5, verses 1 through 8,
he uses the same phrase, a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump.
And it's in context with this, a little leaven leaveneth the
whole lump of our conduct. The way we conduct ourselves
and that to which we hold can be totally destroyed by letting
in just a little leaven. How I believe and how I walk
is affected by what comes in. The scripture terms them this
way. And it terms their message this way, especially the New
Testament. It calls them dogs. That's the
way Paul puts it. Dogs. I know that may not be
politically correct, but it is scripturally correct. Dogs evil workers, spies. They're called spies. They come
in privately. They sneak in privately to spy
out our liberty, which we have in Christ Jesus. They're called
the concision. They are called the ministers
of Satan. Neil, that's strong language.
A servant of the devil. ministers of Satan, false teachers. They are called whales without
water. What is a whale without water
is nothing but a big hole. And let me preach this. One at a time. That's what a
big hole is without water. It's a trap. It's a trap. They're called abomination before
God. They are called the yoke of bondage. They are said to be those who
both themselves and their message is a perverted gospel. This is something that our religious
society does not understand. Just reading the Bible don't
mean you're preaching the gospel. Satan, when he came to tempt
our Lord, quoted Scripture. But he had ill intent by quoting
the Scripture. He was not seeking the honor
of God in Christ. What he was actually doing was
trying to get Christ to dishonor himself. This is clearly how the New Testament
puts it. Paul is clear about their message
and its intent. Turn to Colossians now. chapter
two. He's clear about their message
and its intent. Colossians chapter two. For the
sake of time, let's just read verse five. For though I be absent
in the flesh, yet am I with you in the spirit. In other words,
you're always on my mind. I think about you all the time.
Mason, I figured there would be a smell or a phrase or an
event that would happen. He'd automatically start to think
about something that had happened when he was with these people.
I'm with you in spirit, joying and beholding your order and
the steadfastness of your faith in Christ. See it again? The
steadfastness of your faith in Christ. Everything is Christocentric. Look, as you have therefore received
Christ Jesus the Lord. Now here's what you believe,
right? Here's your order. And it's a
steadfastness of faith in Christ Jesus. But look, as you've therefore
received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him. So both are
important. What we believe, what we think,
and how we conduct ourselves. And what's that make me do? It
doesn't make me look at myself with pride. It makes me look
at myself with shame and repentance. Look, rooted and built up. Notice you got going down deep
and then starting to stretch up. You see it? Rooted and built
up where? In Him. in him and established
in the faith as ye have been taught abounding therein with
thanksgiving." And then he says, beware. You see it? Well, just
preachers, just give us all positive stuff. It's not all positive,
folks. The foxes are there creeping
in the shadows. They are always opportunistic,
waiting for a chance to strike. Beware, lest any man, what? Spool you. Are not we ourselves
trophies to the glory of the gospel of God's grace in Christ
Jesus? God has used this message to
win us to himself. Beware lest any man spoil you
and then he doesn't, he goes into philosophy. Philosophy. You may need to learn some philosophy. You may need to learn some philosophy
to exist in this world. Make ye friends with the mammon
of unrighteousness. Do not ever think yourself to
be too holy and too high, and I'll just be a servant of God,
and I'll walk above everybody else. You will suffer. But beware lest any man spoil
you through philosophy. Remember, philosophy is very
limited. It is very limited. And also
remember this, philosophy also has the, it is philosophy. It
has to do with men. Therefore, it is man-centered. Therefore, it will never, ultimately,
seek the honor of Christ. You hear what I'm saying? Beware
lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit. It's even, you know, to say deceit
ought to have been enough. Shouldn't it? But he says empty
deceit. In other words, you're gonna
get nothing really out of it. Learn all the philosophy you
will in this world. And have all the traditions of
men. But unless you're at the head
of the spectrum, you're going to be the loser. Because those
who are at the head of the spectrum will put you under their boot.
And I don't care whether you're in a communist country or whether
you're in a country like ours. Unless you're at the top, you
will always be in the dust at the bottom. Beware lest any men
spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit after the tradition
of men. Well, here's what I think. Well,
here's what our church believes. Doesn't matter. Doesn't matter,
look. after the tradition of men, after
the rudiments of the world, and look, and not after Christ. And not after Christ. Here's
some examples of the little foxes spoiling the vines. Let me give
you just a few examples. I'll try to be brief. Let me
give you five examples. I'm not saying that no one does
this or denies this. I'm not saying no one does, but
remember, most of the time, error doesn't come in like a flood.
It's just those constant little waves. It's a little wave. Now
most, the problem is now, a lot of us are on this side of those
constant little waves. It looks as though a big devastating
flood's come in, Mason. But all's it's been is just these
constant little waves against the shore. Constant little waves.
Now that's not to say there are not groups who do not flat out
deny these things. But they are probably as small
a minority as we are. for the most part. But let me
give you these five things. Here are some examples of the
little foxes spoiling the vines. They do not deny Christ's deity.
They deny the efficacy of and the truth of his deity. They do not deny that Christ
is God. They deny that God is God. They deny that God is God. Do
they teach that it is most of professing Christianity? And
that's what I'm warning about. I'm not warning about Buddhism
this morning. Buddhism is an error in itself. I'm not talking
about Islam. It's an error in itself. I'm
talking about false Christianity. I'm talking about those who name
the name of Jesus Christ. That's what I'm talking about.
They do not deny Christ's deity, they deny the truth about deity
himself. Do they preach a God like Nebuchadnezzar
meant back in his day? Was Nebuchadnezzar dependent,
or no, sorry. Was God dependent upon the will
and the whims of Nebuchadnezzar? No. That proud rebel said, I
will. I will, and God said, no, you
won't. And I'll show it to you and everybody
around you. Sent the man off into the field
like a mad dog. Did he not? And at the end of
those days, God restored his being to him. And he says, I
praise and extol the God of heaven. And he worketh his will. He worketh
his will, and nobody can even stay his hand. Nobody can say
unto him, what are you doing? He does his will among the armies
of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth. This is Jesus Christ. Joe made a statement in his message
just prior to my preaching. It's a good statement. I heard
a very similar thing mentioned by another preacher. And think
of it in this light. I'll give it to you in another
way. The angels were not marveled. They did not marvel that Jesus
Christ was God. The angels marveled that God
became Jesus Christ. That's the truth. They did not
marvel that Jesus Christ was God. They knew he was God. The
demons knew he was God. They marveled that God was made
the man Christ Jesus. You see that? No, they do not
deny Christ's deity. What do they do? They deny the
truth about deity. They do not deny Christ's cross
work. they deny the efficacy of his cross work. That's a little heaven. Oh, we
believe in the cross work. We believe in the necessity of
the blood. We believe in the need of forgiveness
through Jesus Christ, but all that he did and all the benefits
of what he did, it's all now up to you. And that began years ago, just
a little while ago. A little bit said here, a little
bit said there. And even now, some of the great denominations
of old. Some of the great denominations
of old that stood for the truth, who wrote out articles of faith
that stand for the truth. Now, Mason, they're overrun with
freewillism and humanism. Overrun with it. Overrun with
it a little leaven leaveneth the whole up take us the foxes
the little foxes. They're the real threat They're
the ones that spoil the vines No, they deny the efficacy of
it the writer of Hebrews puts it in Hebrews chapter 1 the last
part of verse 3 he purged our sins Then he went and sat down
on the right hand of the God the Father So here's the truth
of Scripture when were your sins purged? They had to be purged
when he died on that tree. Purged! Gold! Taken care of! Divine justice is satisfied!
That's the efficacy of his cross work. A man teaches anything
else than that, he's trying to throw in a little heaven. A little
heaven. A little heaven. Thirdly, they
do not deny man's depravity. They just deny the extent of
it. We believe that a man is depraved,
but he's not totally depraved. Go read Paul in Romans chapter
3, verses 9 through 20. There's none righteous, no not
one. There's not a righteous person in this building here
today. And every one of you are believers, every one of you.
There's not too many of us here this morning. Every one of you,
but you're not righteous this morning. Your only righteousness
sits at the right hand of God the Father. Anything in your
life that you do good in this life, he's the one that worked
in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure. Therefore
he gets the credit for it. There's none righteous, no not
one. There's none that what understandeth. There's none that seeketh after
God. You can't take credit. If you're
seeking after God this morning, you can't take credit for it.
Because God Almighty put that burning desire in you. Their mouth is full of cursing
and bitterness. We're like a stinking, rotting,
smelling, open grave, Paul said. He said there is no fear of God.
before our eyes. Now folks, that's as totally
depraved as you can get. So bad are we that Isaiah the
prophet cried out hundreds of years ago that even our best
needs, even our righteousnesses are as filthy rags in God's sight. So much so that the Lord himself
taught his disciples to say this, even after you've done everything
that was your duty to be done, you're still to say, I am an
unprofitable servant. Now that's as totally depraved
as you can get. And let me tell you something, there's nothing
beyond any human being on this earth. No evil, dastardly deed
that's beyond you, apart from God Almighty's restraining hand
on you, whether you're a believer or an unbeliever. Whether you're
elect or you're reprobate. God Almighty's the one that's
restrained you from this or that, if you've never done it. And
all he's gotta do is lift that restraint just a moment, and
we will tumble headlong into it. headlong, well, I'd never
do that. God might just let you see. God
might just let you. No, they do not deny man's depravity.
They deny the extent of his depravity. They do not deny the need for
endurance. Continuing on, do they? They
don't deny the need for continuing on. They deny that it's unto
the end. Their actual teaching is as long
as you endure at the end, Because they teach, do not they? And
this is crept in a little bit of time. A little bit of time,
a little lemon here, a little lemon there. They teach now as
long as you're enduring at the end. They teach you to be saved
and lost. Do they not? Saved and lost.
If God can actually save you, you can still be lost. Oh, wait
a minute. Oh, there's the problem. They
don't teach that God actually saves you. They teach God's done
all he can do, now it's up to you. Oh, now we're getting to
the bottom of this mess. No, but what does the scripture
say? He that endureth unto the end. That's what it says. That's what it means. But it
means exactly what it says. Nothing less, nothing more. He
that endureth unto the end, the same shall be saved. They do not deny the election. They do not deny the election.
They deny the grounds of it. Christ. Christ. Look at Ephesians chapter one.
The first part of verse four is all you gotta look at. We
were chosen, where? And how? In Him. In Him. But what did they do? Thou little
leaven. Well God, yeah, God chose, but He looked and seen what you
would do. That's not being chosen in Christ, that's chosen in yourself.
Right? That's the whole phrase. Chosen
in Him. Why? Because God had already
predestinated me to be adopted as his child, as his son. So
let me just give you a conclusion. Turn to Jude, and I will conclude
this. Jude, right before the book of
the Revelation. A short book in the New Testament.
I guess one of the two shortest ones. Philemon's probably the
other one. Let me give you a conclusion to this. Jude says they are deliberate, They are deliberate. Yes, sir.
They mean to do this. Yes, sir. It's not just a mistake
on their part. Exactly. It's not just a miscalculation. They're deliberate. But he also
says this, for our benefit, never as an excuse to them. That's
right. They're also ordained. Yeah,
that's exactly right. That's what it says. Now, let
me get it. What I've been telling you, the warnings in this book are
real and they're valid. Paul said, there was some guys
that come in, they tried to spite our liberty. He said, but I didn't
withstand them for an hour. I said that the truth of the
gospel might continue with you. Why? Because a little leaven
leavens all up. Give them an inch, they'll take a mile. You
know the phrase. It's a valid phrase, Mason. Give
them an inch, they'll take a mile. But look at what Jude writes.
the servant of Jesus Christ and the brother of James, to them
that are sanctified by God the Father, and preserved in Christ
Jesus, and called, and notice the order of those things. Mercy
unto you, and peace, and love be what? Multiplied. Beloved,
when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common
salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you and exhort
you, what? That ye should earnestly contend
for the faith. You see the positive thing there
first? Earnestly, and it says contend, why? Because this is
a battle, folks. Earnestly contend for the faith. Remember, it's not a battle with
physical might. It's not a battle about legislative
might. No, it's a spiritual battle that
we engage in look and earnestly contend for the faith, which
was once delivered under the saints for here's the reason
why there are certain me and notice how he just, there are
certain me. That's exactly right. And sometimes
people say, well, y'all too particular. James says there are certain
me, you see it. There are certain men crept in
unawares. Can you see the jackal there?
Can you see his foxy nature? Crept in, look at him. See him
down crouching? Find him just a little opening,
just a place to stick his beady little eyes through. For there
are certain men crept in unawares, but they're unaware only to us.
They are not unaware to our God. That's right. For there are certain
men crept in unawares who were before of old ordained. to this condemnation. Now not
just ordained to condemnation, they're ordained to this condemnation.
The very thing that they're doing, God Almighty ordained it before
the world began. Somebody says God, they don't
say God did that. God's the one that does all the ordaining.
The only ordaining that any man may do is some men may ordain
other men for the past. Paul told him, ordain elders
in every city. David Wright, that's the only ordaining I find
we ever do, men ever do. Look at it, but four of old ordained
against condemnation, ungodly men. Is that so, preacher? That's
what the book says. Yes, sir. Turning the grace of
God into what? Lasciviousness. And denying the
only Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ. Three things. My brothers
and sisters, let it be by God's grace that we always, always,
always earnestly contend for the faith. But let us never be
overwhelmed by the fact of their, the fox's existence. Don't be
overwhelmed by it. Have your ears on edge. You know,
if there's a fox around and you're a rabbit, better get them ears
up. Start listening for the rustle of the leaves. Why, because they're
out there. You ever seen a deer, Mason, when you've been hunting
and it hears something? And even if it's head's looking this way,
it'll turn them ears this way. Get them ears up, folks. Get them
ears up. But let us never be overwhelmed
by the fact of their existence. Why? God ordained them to be.
Now what he's ordained for us to do is earnestly contend for
the faith. You see it? You see it? Lastly, God, help
us to not neglect or be slothful. Well, since God ordained it,
I'll just sit back and see what happens. Well, you'll be the
one who loses out. You'll be the one who loses out. God, help
us to not neglect or be slothful in defending the gospel. Mason, even if I die in that
battle, so be it. So be it. whether we conquer
in a battle or whether we are taken captive in a battle. There are a lot of people fall
by the wayside. But Joe, that don't mean, well,
everybody's gonna just give up. It's a losing battle. No, God Almighty's
already won this war. Jesus Christ has already crushed
the head of the serpent. He has no more power than what
God Almighty lets him have. You hear me? and his minister. They're ministers of Satan, Joe.
If God controls Satan, that means he controls them, too. Exactly.
Is that not right? Yes, sir. So what do we do? Just
hold firm. Stand, Paul says. And having
done all, what do you still do? Stand, therefore. Amen. Stand,
therefore. Be ready. Be vigilant. Father, apply these things to
our hearts and minds in Christ's name. Amen.