I have a dear friend who for the last two years has been struggling with cancer. I have mentioned her to you before. We've prayed for her here. Beth Nelson, Jacksonville, North Carolina. She's just about the age of my wife, maybe a little bit younger. Three-year-old daughter. Sixteen-year-old daughter. She loved Christ, loved the gospel of his free grace. Yesterday, God took her home. Young. Prime of life. Talked to her husband. I believe he loves Christ, loves the gospel. We had a good chat yesterday. When I hung up the phone, I was made aware again of the brevity, oh, the brevity of life in this world. The certainty of judgment and eternity. And I am determined, God helping me, one more time to press upon you, each of you, the necessity of life and faith in Jesus Christ alone. The necessity of knowing and believing the gospel of God's free and sovereign grace in Christ Jesus.

The Apostle Paul in Second Timothy is writing his last epistle. He's about to die and he knows it. He's about to leave the field of battle and to receive his crown of glory. He had fought a good fight. He kept the faith. He had finished his course in faith, trusting the Lord Jesus Christ as only Lord and Savior. There was nothing to make him uneasy in the hour of death regarding his own immortal soul.

Is it possible for a man or a woman to come face to face with eternity, with judgment before a holy God, easy, comfortable? Is it possible for a man or woman to leave this world, a sinful man, a sinful woman, to leave this world with peace. It is. It is. Paul said, I'm ready to be offered, and he wasn't just bragging, he was stating the truth. The time of my departure is at hand. Why was he so prepared? What made him ready to leave this world?

But Paul had been redeemed by the precious blood of Jesus Christ. He was robed with the garment of Christ's perfect righteousness so that his sins were fully atoned and all the requirements of God's perfect righteousness were fully satisfied in the person of his substitute. And this man, as he faced the certainty of eternity, as he faced the certainty of standing before God in judgment, faced that with great calm, for he was accepted in the beloved." Accepted in the beloved. In that hour when the rattle of death is in your throat and the cold sweat is on your brow, religious thieving won't do you any good. Religious experience won't do you any good. Religious creed won't do you any good. The only thing that will stand you in good stead in your heart before God Almighty is Jesus Christ the Lord, life and faith in him. Paul was at peace. There was nothing to make him uneasy about his own soul.

But as you read the epistle of Second Timothy, You cannot help noticing that Paul's heart was very heavy when he wrote this, his last inspired letter. He had been a faithful watchman upon the walls of Zion, but now he's about to hand over his commission to another. He's turning over to Timothy, the young pastor whom he loved. He's turning over to Timothy the care of the churches. And as he does, his heart is anxious. The Apostle Paul knew what evil influences were at work in the church, and he knew how these influences would continually increase and multiply. You'll notice that in this epistle more than any other, in this epistle, when Paul is consciously writing his last word to Timothy and his last word to us, his last word to the church and kingdom of God, more than in any of his other writings, Paul carefully names and identifies false teachers, false doctrine, and false religion. In the first chapter, in verse 15, he names Phygelus and Hermogenes and those of Asia who had departed from the gospel. In chapter 2, in verse 17, he names Hymenaeus and Philetus. And then in the fourth chapter, he mentions Demas and Alexander, these dogs generally run in packs.

These evil men in the name of Christ, pretending to be the servants of Christ, had perverted the gospel of Christ and overturned the faith of some, turning them away from the simplicity of Christ. These men had worked havoc in the church of Christ, setting themselves up in opposition to the apostle Paul and setting themselves up in opposition to the gospel of God's free and sovereign grace in Jesus Christ.

Paul knew and perhaps he was more keenly aware than ever. He knew that it was his responsibility to warn Timothy and to warn us of the terrible danger and the ever-increasing prevalence of false religion and false prophets in the professed Church of Jesus Christ the Lord. Therefore, he identified these false brethren and identified the doctrines they preached in plain, unmistakable terms. And yet Paul was not fearful for the safety of God's church. He was not fearful for the security of God's elect.

Though the faith of some had been overturned, though some were engulfed in false religion, though some were in chains of religious darkness, though some who once professed faith in Christ who had built their house upon the sand had been proven to be false professors and unbelievers, yet the Apostle Paul did not question for a moment the success of the gospel or the accomplishment of God's purpose or the triumph of Christ's kingdom.

These are his words in 2 Timothy 2 verse 19. Nevertheless, the foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, the Lord knoweth them that are his, and let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity.

Now this was Paul's message. Though false religion shall abound, and many shall be deceived by it, take courage. Be faithful to the truth of God, for the truth of God shall prevail. Stand fast, be not moved away from the hope of the gospel. Our cause is not lost nor even in danger. Abide in the truth, for the foundation of God standeth sure.

And this is my message to you. The foundation of God standeth sure. The foundation of God standeth sure. Though multitudes are engulfed in the snare of the devil, and perhaps some of you will be, though many are overturned in some false religion, God's purpose has not failed. God's elect are not in danger, and God's work is not overturned nor even hindered.

And my message today is one of solemn warning, blessed comfort, and stern reproof. I have a word from God Almighty for every person who hears my voice. May God give me your heart's attention and give me the power of his spirit to deliver his message.

I want to show you four statements, just four. First, let me show you that the faith of some has been overturned in verse 18. who concerning the truth have erred, saying that the resurrection is past already, and overthrow the faith of some."

Now, I use the word some because that's the word used in our translation. But the word which is used for some implies many. And in our day, it is much more than an implication. Many, indeed the vast majority of those who profess faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, the vast majority of those who profess to worship God, to follow Christ, and to be led of the Spirit, have altogether forsaken the gospel of Christ. They seek salvation and eternal life, but they have been overthrown in the way by the snare of the devil. and the snare by which they have been taken captive is false religion. I know I stress this, I speak of it often. I do so because our Lord did. You read the four Gospels and you will find that our Lord deals more constantly, more frequently, more fully with false prophets and false religion than anything else. More than anything else because this is the snare of the devil. some who appeared to be true believers in Paul's day, forsook the gospel of the grace of God. In chapter one, in verse 15, the apostle says, thou knowest that all they which are in Asia, that is all the professed churches of Asia, all of them, all of them, Now there may have been exceptions, there may have been an exception in the churches, but as a whole, the whole body of professed Christianity in Asia, Paul says, all they which are in Asia have turned aside from me, turned away from me, of whom the ringleaders are Phygellus and Hermogenes.

Now the problem was not a clash of personalities. Paul had experienced a clash of personalities, and he had gotten over it. You'll remember that in the book of Acts, there was a dissension that arose between Paul and Barnabas over Barnabas' nephew, John Mark. And Paul and Barnabas parted ways. They split company. They had a clash of personalities. It was not over the gospel. It was not over the truth of God. It was over that man, John Mark. And because of that clash of personalities, Paul and Barnabas were separated. They could not work together. And it sometimes happens. It's regrettable. I wish it didn't happen, but it sometimes happens that a man forsakes another man and cannot labor with another man, cannot work with another man because of a clash of personalities.

A man can forsake me and not forsake the gospel I preach. I don't want it to happen, but it does happen. I've had it to happen. Sometimes men just, they just don't, don't communicate well. Sometimes they have things that come up and cause them not to be able to labor together. That does not mean they're not brethren. It does not mean that they're not both believers. It does not mean that they do not both love the gospel. It simply means they're both sinful, frail, fickle pieces of human flesh. That's all. That's all. So when a man simply forsakes me because of some clash of personality, that does not mean he's forsaken the gospel. We must be very careful never to accuse a person of forsaking the gospel simply because they can't get along with us. I see it happening all the time. I hear of it happening. I've known churches to split over just personality questions and that's silly. That's so childish. It's so silly. Many times I'll be talking to somebody and some preacher will talk to me about somebody that he's had words with or somebody that's opposed them or somebody that they've had some conflict with and say, well, he's forsaken the gospel. Oh no, he just was so cute. And he had good reason to, perhaps. That does not mean that he's forsaken the gospel of Christ.

But these men in Asia, particularly Phygelus and Hermogenes, had forsaken Paul's doctrine and in so doing they had forsaken Jesus Christ and the gospel of his grace. Now this is what our Lord means. When He says concerning His disciples as He sends them out into the world, He that receiveth you, receiveth me. He that receiveth me, receiveth him that sent me. Our Lord is saying, you go and preach the gospel. I've come here today to bear the truth of God. I'm declaring to you that which I know with absolute certainty is the very truth of God Almighty. And I am demanding in God's name that you submit to, believe, receive, and obey the truth which God has sent me to declare.

Now you must submit to the truth. You reject it, you reject God. You reject the message, you reject God. You reject the gospel, you reject Jesus Christ. And that's what our Lord means when he says, he that receiveth you, receiveth me. He that spurns you, he spurns me. He that despises you, he despises me. He's not talking about personality. He's talking about truth. Truth. All men must believe and obey the truth.

But Paul plainly warned Timothy of these false teachers who had turned away from the truth. Look at chapter 2 of 2 Timothy, verse 16. He had told Timothy, Study to show yourself approved unto God. There's a reason for it. You better have a good grasp of Holy Scripture. You better give yourself diligently to study in preparation. But shun profane and vain babblings.

I turned on the television this morning just before coming over here and watched some fellow on television And all that he had to say was nothing but profane and vain babblings in the name of God. Profane and vain babblings in the name of Jesus Christ. That's all. And that's what goes on in most religion. Just profane and vain babblings. People get together at their coffee houses and they talk about religion and they talk about things that nobody understands and speculate about things that nobody perceives and has no effect upon the souls of men. Just profane babblings. That's all.

For they will increase unto more ungodliness. more ungodliness. While men talk about the scriptures, talk about what they call spiritual things with their vain babblings, they simply bring to men a disrespect for, a disregard for, and breed contempt for the holy word of God and the gospel of his grace. And their word will eat as doth a cake. Their doctrine will eat away at a man like a canker, a game green, or a cancer in the body. Their word doth eat as a canker, of whom is Hymenaeus and Philetus, who concerning the truth have erred, saying that the resurrection is past already."

Now Paul calls these two deceivers by name. And he mentions the doctrine they taught. You will notice he did not bother to explain their doctrine. He simply said, this is what they say, and what they say is profane babbling. What they say is ungodly. What they say is contrary to the truth. What they say is an overthrow of the faith. They say that the resurrection is past.

Now by simply identifying the men and the doctrine they preach, Paul has told these folks plainly, anytime you hear these men speak, or anytime you hear their followers speak, or anytime you hear these words that speak of the resurrection being passed, hear me now, you have heard a man who denies the very fabric of the gospel and faith in Jesus Christ the Lord. No matter what else he says, they've overthrown the faith. They've turned the faith upside down. They've perverted the gospel of Christ.

You see, these two heretics teaching that the resurrection was past are like the wise acres of our day. These two fellas gave everything a very rational, intellectual explanation. After all, after all, we're wise, intelligent men. We have studied the languages. We have, we spent years studying Hebrew and years studying Greek and years studying the Aramaic and years studying the backgrounds of the scriptures and we're scholars. I am amused and disgusted Every time I turn on the television, some news reporter has gotten one of these scholars to discuss the scriptures, gotten a scholar to tell us what God means in his word.

So they always give a very rational explanation, very rational. They tell us today that the gospel is not to be taken in a strictly literal way. It's all mystical. The death of Jesus Christ really just demonstrates the triumph of self-sacrifice. The resurrection of Christ is to be understood as a revival of moral principles, as a revival of spiritual awareness, as a revival of God-consciousness.

The subtlety of such heresy has the slime of the serpent upon it. Such men in reality hold to an atonement that is no atonement and they hold to a resurrection that is no resurrection. Put it in the words of Spurgeon, they appear to accept the great historical fact and yet they reduce it to fiction. Did you hear me? They appear to accept the great historical fact of Jesus Christ's death, burial, and resurrection, but they reduce it to nothing but a fiction, nothing but a myth, nothing but some kind of a religious story with no real truth to it.

This is the subtlety of the old serpent, somehow or other. These men managed to extract from the gospel a very attractive religious philosophy. They managed to extract from the gospel a very attractive religious system, a very attractive religious theology, a religious system which has an effect upon men. But it is not the gospel which God intended to be preached.

All around us today, we have men like these Hymenaeus and Philetus. They have men like these who handle the word of God deceitfully, perverting the gospel, adulterating the truth, and denying the doctrine of God. And they do it, now listen to me, listen to me, I want everybody to hear me on television, on the tape that goes out, you hear, anybody who hears it, I want you to understand me. They do it in the name of Jesus Christ, in the name of God Almighty, contending earnestly that they are the people of God, contending earnestly this book to be the word of God, contending earnestly that they worship and follow the Christ of God.

They're wolves in sheep's clothing. They're not to be trifled with. Many of them are very sharp, very acute, very thoughtful men. Now, I despise those outside the church who attack the truth of God. I have no regard for them, but only contempt. I was listening to radio the other day and heard some debate and controversy rising again with Madeline Murray O'Hare. Well, Madeline Murray O'Hare is a blasphemer. Madeline Murray O'Hare is an infidel. Madeline Murray O'Hare is an atheist, and she's proud of it. And I don't mind giving her the names and don't mind telling her that she's under the wrath of God. That's just fact. That's just fact.

But Madeleine Muriel Hare presents no danger whatsoever to anybody sitting in this auditorium. No danger at all. She presents no danger to my daughter. She presents no danger to your sons and daughters. She presents no danger to the Church of God. She presents no danger to the souls of thoughtful men who are seeking life and salvation in Jesus Christ. The only people who follow Madeleine Murray O'Hare are those who are willfully ignorant, who willfully, deliberately turn aside from the truth of God. Madeleine Murray O'Hare is of no danger at all in comparison with those men who stand in pulpits today within the walls of the professed church and pervert the gospel of Jesus Christ while they pretend to preach it.

Hymenaeus and Philetus had turned away from the simplicity that's in Christ Jesus. By denying the resurrection, they had denied the whole gospel of Jesus Christ. Now, I'm going somewhere with this. You follow me. By denying the resurrection, they had denied the whole gospel of Christ.

Men ask me often, Don, Can you legitimately draw the conclusion that a preacher has denied the whole gospel because he perverts and denies the meaning of Christ's death, burial, and resurrection? Is it legitimate? Is it legitimate? Is it right that we should conclude that if a man denies the meaning of Christ Jesus' death, his burial, and his resurrection, that that man has denied the gospel? Not only is it right for us to do so, we must draw that conclusion. Let me show you from the Scriptures.

1 Corinthians 15. 1 Corinthians chapter 15. The gospel of Christ, I repeat it again, again, and again. The gospel of Christ is not the bare historic fact that Jesus Christ lived, that he died, that he was buried, that he rose again. The gospel of Christ is not the bare historic fact that God Almighty came into this world in the womb of a virgin as a real man, lived as a man in righteousness, died as a man under the penalty of sin, and rose from the dead. That is not the gospel. The gospel of Jesus Christ is the declaration, according to the word of God, of what Christ accomplished in his life, his death, and his resurrection. And look here in 1 Corinthians 15. I'm saying to deny the meaning of the gospel, to deny the meaning of Christ's accomplished work, is to deny the gospel altogether.

1 Corinthians 15, 12. Now if Christ be preached that he rose from the dead, how say some among you that there is no resurrection of the dead? That's what Hymenaeus and Philetus were saying. They said resurrection's past. Resurrection was just a kind of, it was a spiritual thing. It took place back there when Christ died and was raised, he didn't really rise bodily, but he rose, he raised men up to moral spiritual principles and God awareness. He rose mystically. He rose as we arise ourselves when our thoughts are transformed and our lives are changed and we become more aware of ourselves and more aware of the universe and more aware of God. Also, they say the resurrection, there's no resurrection of the dead. The resurrection is past.

Now listen to his conclusions. Listen to his conclusions. Well, just pause a minute. Look up here, buddy. Here you are, you're at work. And there's some fella over there, very religious fella. Very nice fella. Boy, he's moral. He don't drink. He don't cuss. He don't smoke. He don't run around on his wife. He don't beat his kids. Boy, he's good. He has just an angelic glow on his whole appearance. He's a wonderful fella. He's a problem.

Now, he says he believes in Jesus. He goes up here to the church. And at their church, they could pee in for the Bible. They hate liberalism and modernism and they hate communism and all those, they hate it all. But he says there's no resurrection. Well, that's all. That's just one of those minor little points of indifference. Let's see if it is.

Verse 13, if there be no resurrection of the dead, then Christ isn't risen. And if Christ be not risen, then your preaching, our preaching is in vain. If Christ be not risen, if what they say is so, then your faith is vain. If what they say is so, yea, we are found false witnesses of God, because we've testified of God, that He raised up Christ, whom He raised not up, if so be that the dead rise not. For if the dead rise not, if what they say is so, then Christ is not raised. And if what they say is so, if Christ be not raised, your faith is in vain, and you're yet in your sins, because you believe a false Christ. then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ, they also are perished. And if in this life only we have hope, we have all been most miserable.

That is to say, if all that we hope for, all that we anticipate in Christ Jesus is foolishness, if our faith is foolishness, if our confidence in Christ Jesus is vanity, then this life is miserable. We've been miserably deluded.

Now let me bring it down to where we live. In our day, the vast majority of religious people, in particular, the vast majority of religious leaders, preachers, teachers, pastors, evangelists, missionaries, while they hold tenaciously, while they hold tenaciously to the words of the gospel and the facts of the gospel, have totally denied the doctrine of the gospel. And in so doing, they have made shipwreck of their own souls and of all who believe their message.

I am saying as plainly, as boldly, as emphatically as I know how, that every preacher of free will works religion is a false prophet. It matters not what denominational name he wears. It doesn't matter whether he wears a cross around his neck, or a collar turned around backwards, or whether he dresses like I do. It doesn't matter whether he's a Baptist, Methodist, Catholic, Pentecostal, or Mormon. It doesn't matter. Any preacher of freewill works religion is a false prophet.

And I say with equal emphasis that all who believe a false freewill works gospel believe a false gospel and are lost in ignorance. as lost as if they believed that some totem pole in the midst of an African jungle could give them life eternal. Lost without the knowledge of God. The gospel they preach and believe is no gospel at all, but only a perversion of the gospel.

Turn to Galatians chapter one. Galatians chapter one. Everywhere I go, Some mealy-mouthed preacher trying his best to hold on to Arminianism and Calvinism at the same time. And I'm not interested in either Arminianism or Calvinism. Some mealy-mouthed fella trying his best to hold to works and grace, free will and free grace. He said, now you're being schismatic. You're being divisive. You're causing great division in the kingdom of God. I'm not. I'm telling you the truth of God. I'm telling you what's absolutely essential.

Look here in Galatians 1 verse 6, Paul writes to these Galatian folks, these men and women whom he had preached the gospel to, but now some Judaizer had come in. Some Judaizer had come in and said, now you don't have to forsake Christ. You don't have to deny Christ. You don't have to deny what Paul has said. But Paul hasn't said enough. You see, really, if you really want to follow Christ, you have to be circumcised. If you really want to be the children of God, you've got to live under the law. If you really want to be a child of God, justified, sanctified, accepted of God, then you've got to work for it. That's what they taught. Read the book of Galatians. Galatians 1 verse 6, I marvel, I'm astonished that you are so soon removed from him who hath called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel. What's he talking about? He's talking about works religion, which is not another. Do you see that? It's not another at all. It's not even like the gospel. But there be some that trouble you and would pervert the gospel of Christ.

But though we or an angel from heaven preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let that man or that angel be damned." That's what Paul said. Let him be damned. Let him be damned. You think I'm tough? He said, I would. They were cut off, which trouble you. I would. Those men who are preaching circumcision were cut off. Cut off that trouble the church of God

What's the problem? In our day Now you can go around town Anybody wants to tape right for it call for it. I'll send it free of charge And our day preaches all over this community and all over this town If there's one if there's one who does not we'll get together and find out some way to combine our efforts That's right. If there's one who does not do exactly what I'm saying, if there's just one in this town, one in this community, one preacher anywhere in the sound of this area, this congregation, who does not do exactly what I'm saying, I promise you I'll figure out some way to get together with him, and one of us will shut up and turn everything over to the other one. I promise you.

They preach the sinless life of Christ. They've been up in arms all over the country. Raising sand about this movie, The Last Temptation of Christ. And well, men ought to raise sand about it. It's a horrid, horrid, horrid notion. Just the reviews of the movie are horrid. Just to think of the things they say. But these fellas raise sand defending the sinless life of Christ. But while they deny the sinless life of Christ, or while they defend the sinless life of Christ, they deny the purpose and the accomplishments of his life. Do you follow what I'm saying? They say, yes, Christ lived a sinless life. He was holy. He never did sin. He was virgin born, son of Mary. He had a holy nature and a holy will and a holy life. He never sinned. But they deny that in his sinless, obedient life, he accomplished fully, completely, perfect righteousness for all of his people. So that they, by his obedience alone, are made righteous.

These fellows preached the voluntary, vicarious, victorious death of Christ. When I was in school, my first year in Bible college, I learned that three-point outline about the death of Christ. It was voluntary. It was vicarious. It was victorious. That is, he died by his own will. He died in the place of his people, and he, in death, conquered death, hell, and the grave. And yet, in preaching that voluntary, vicarious, victorious death of Christ, they deny the efficacy of his blood and the accomplishment of redemption by his blood. They use the words. They're tenacious about the words. What on earth could that possibly mean? Voluntary, vicarious, victorious. It doesn't mean he got the job done. What could it possibly mean?

They tell us that Christ died as a substitute, but they tell us some folks he died as a substitute to redeemer in hell. They tell us Christ died victorious, but they tell us that some folks that he tried to save by his blood perish at last. I'm telling you, these men pervert the gospel of Christ. They preach the call of the Spirit. They say, O Spirit of God, call me. They cry down the Spirit of God to move upon men. And they weep and beg and plead for the Spirit of God. They say, let's pray. Pray that God will have mercy. Pray that God will do something. What for? What for?

While they speak of the Spirit's call, they deny the effectual power of the Spirit's grace. They tell us He calls, but you must respond. They tell us He draws, but you resist His drawing. They tell us He strives, but you overcome His power.

The Word of God declares, blessed is the man whom thou choosest and causes to approach unto thee. They preach grace. They preach salvation by grace alone. I couldn't tell you how many times I've heard Jimmy Swaggart stand up and babble on and on about salvation by grace. Now, we're not preaching works. We're not preaching works. We're not preaching works. And all the while he's preaching works.

I'm telling you, salvation by grace, conditioned on nothing, dependent upon nothing, determined by nothing, except Jesus Christ's obedience to the will of God our Father. I'm telling you, we preach salvation by grace, by grace that's unfailing, by grace that's irresistible, by grace that always accomplishes its purpose. And any other grace is no grace at all.

They preach that Jesus Christ is God. And He is. He is. Thank God He is God. But while they stand up and fight and fuss and carry on over the divinity of Christ, the conservatives fuss with the liberals, liberals fuss with the conservatives, fundamentalists fuss with everybody. They fuss and carry on about the divinity of Christ.

But they all, in effect, deny His eternal power and Godhead, for they declare that He whom they say is God tries to do what He cannot do, makes an effort to accomplish what He cannot accomplish, wills to perform what He cannot perform, and loves men and women whom He cannot save because He's not able to overcome their almighty free will.

Blasphemous! God, you sound like you're mad. You bet your boots I'm mad. I'm mad at the religious world. I'm mad at religious deceivers. I'm mad at false prophets. I'm mad at false religion. I'm mad at false doctrine. Mad at a false gospel.

Are these charges exaggerated? Are they overstated? Not in the least. These messengers of Satan, these merchandisers of men's souls, these will-worshippers and workmongers make salvation to be conditioned upon and determined by man and not by Christ. They make God's will to elect to be conditioned upon man's will to believe. They make Christ's performance of righteousness to be conditioned upon man's obedience of faith. They make Christ's atonement and sacrifice to be conditioned upon man's faith giving merit to the sacrifice. They make the Spirit's call to be conditioned upon man's free will. They make perseverance to be conditioned upon man's performance. They make sanctification to be conditioned upon self-mortification. They make the reward of heaven to be conditioned upon the works of the flesh.

That's just the way things are. That's just the way things are. Don't speak to me of unity, tolerance, and brotherly love. I have for 22 years proven my unity with my brethren, love for my brethren, and tolerance for weakness, sin, and error in my brethren. But I'm not talking about my brethren. I'm talking about Arminians, free willers, and work mongers who blaspheme the name of God in every sermon they preach, pervert the gospel of Christ, and lead blind, unsuspecting, ignorant sinners, men and women, into hell while they sing, oh, how I love Jesus. Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine. Oh, what a foretaste of glory divine.

For these false prophets, I have nothing but contempt. And believe you me, the contempt I express with my words does not compare with the contempt I feel in my soul. I count them my enemies, for they're the enemies of my God, of my Savior, and of the gospel of God's free grace, and of your souls.

Why am I so dogmatic about this? Really, I'm not an intolerant, mean-spirited, harsh man. I love peace. Any man who preaches the gospel of God's free and sovereign grace in Jesus Christ, I embrace as my brother and my friend. No matter what color the man's skin is, no matter what church he's associated with, no matter what his opinion of me might be, I love those men who preach the gospel. I promote them. I pray for them. I seek to do them good.

But I do not embrace as my brother. any man who preaches any way salvation conditioned upon man, the sinner. I do not wish such a man well. I do not pray for him. I will not support him. I will not speak a good word about him.

Why? I'll give you four reasons. First, God forbids it. God forbids it. Turn over to 2 John 2 or 2 John 10, rather. 2 John 10. God forbids me to be gracious to those who deny the gospel of Christ. I make this solemn promise to you. I make this solemn promise to you. So long as I'm pastor of this congregation, so long as I have any control over what goes on in this place, You will never hear, you will never hear a preacher of free will from this pulpit. You will never hear a preacher from this pulpit who denies God's sovereignty or Christ's particular effectual redemption. You won't hear it. You will never hear from this pulpit any man who makes salvation in any way to be conditioned upon the works of the center. You will not hear. We will not send one red cent to any missionary who doesn't preach the gospel of God's free grace. We won't send a dollar to any church where the gospel of God's grace is not preached. Never. Never. Not so long as I have any control over things that go on here.

Our Lord says in 1 and 2 John 10, if there come any unto you having not this doctrine, pray for it. That's not what it says. If there come any unto you having not this doctrine, receive him and how to kind of instruct him in the way. That's not what it says. If there come any unto you and bring not this doctrine, receive him not into your house. Don't receive him into the house of God and don't receive him in your house. Don't do it. Don't feed him, don't clothe him, don't pray for him. Well, surely you don't mean we shouldn't pray for anybody. Don't even wish him well. Neither bid him Godspeed. Neither bid him Godspeed. Don't say, Lord bless you, brother. Don't you do it. Don't you do it. For he that biddeth him Godspeed is protector of his evil deeds.

Next time one of these Religious folks stop you in the street, ask you to give them a little money to help them build a Sunday school building. Or the spineless wretches send one of their kids up to your door and ask you to buy a little candy to help them along with their church. Ask you to give a little money to help a missionary. Don't do it. That's so mean. No, it's honest. It's honest. Don't be mean to the kids. If you can get hold of the parents, choke them. Those who make salvation conditioned upon man, rob God of the glory of his grace. For if salvation, I don't care where you put it, I don't care where you put it, If salvation depends on something you do, if salvation is conditioned on you, I don't care whether you're talking about redemption, or whether you're talking about regeneration, or whether you're talking about faith, or whether you're talking about sanctification, or whether you're talking about glorification, or whether you're talking about reward in heaven, or eternal happiness. If salvation is conditioned upon you, just to the degree that it is conditioned upon you, to that degree you boast before God and have the right to boast before God. And anybody who gives you the right to boast before God is a liar and a deceiver of your soul.

Those who deny the efficacy of God's purpose, the efficacy of Christ's precious blood, and the efficacy of the Spirit's call do pervert the gospel of Christ. It is the Spirit that quickeneth the flesh profiteth nothing. Those who pervert the gospel overthrow the faith of many. Destroying their immortal souls

Hey, you do something I've never told you to do Tonight I guess about nine or ten o'clock The religious buffoons will start coming on TV again Turn any channel turn on any channel any of any of them Any you can pick up in this area, turn on any of them, watch the telecast, and listen to what the preacher says as he preaches to men that salvation ultimately is in their hands. That salvation ultimately depends on their free will, that their acceptance with God ultimately depends on their decision, that their standing before God ultimately depends on their works. And then when they give their altar call, Many women start walking down the aisles and bowing down and crying crocodile tears and say some prayer after some babbling preacher repeating words after him. Now multiply it by tens of thousands, by tens of thousands, by tens of thousands across this country. are taking unsuspecting sinners by the hand and assuring them of life and eternal acceptance with God. And as they do, they make them tenfold more the children of hell than they were before. And you'll begin to understand why I'm upset.

Secondly, very briefly, Nevertheless, I like that. Nevertheless, the foundation of God stand assured.

Profane babblings increase. Ungodliness abounds. Heresy eats away as a canker. False prophets flourish. Free willism is rampant. Apostasy abounds on every side.

Nevertheless, The foundation of God standeth sure. What does Paul mean? The secret foundation of God is his everlasting purpose of grace. The Lord hath made with me an everlasting covenant, ordered in all things and sure, and the foundation of God's purpose in the covenant of grace stands sure.

The free will religionists, the works religionists, the emotionalism religionists, the Pentecostal religionists, the Baptist religionists, the Methodist religionists, the Catholic religionists, the Mormon religionists, the Buddhist religionists do nothing to overturn the foundation of God. God's purpose is sure. His election shall stand. His promises shall stand. The blood of the covenant stands sure. The surety of the covenant is sure. The blessings of the covenant are sure to all the chosen seed. While the faith of some is overturned, not God's elect.

Doctrinally, the foundation of God is His gospel. The gospel of Jesus Christ is stands sure. The word of the Lord abides forever. Our text speaks of the resurrection, but that represents the whole gospel of God's free and sovereign grace in Christ.

Let the babblers and the free willers say all they will. Let them babble on if they dare. The foundation of God stands sure. Christ's substitutionary atonement has accomplished redemption for his people. Christ's perfect righteousness has been imputed to his elect. Christ Jesus, by the merits of his righteousness and his shed blood, shall save God's elect, every one of them.

Experimentally, the foundation of God and his elect is faith, faith in Christ Jesus. The faith of some is overturned. The faith of many is overthrown. But the faith of God's elect cannot be overthrown. For Christ Jesus says, I give unto them eternal life and they shall never perish.

Fourthly, the foundation of God instrumentally in this world is the church. And the church of Christ stands sure. The gates of hell shall not prevail against God's church.

" Maybe you say, well, Don, the way you talk, you act like you're fixing to take on the whole world. This little old congregation sitting out here in the cornfield on the hillside, you're going to take on the whole religious world? Bet your boots I'm taking it on. The whole world. The whole world. attacking the religion of the world, attacking it, attacking it with the gospel of Jesus Christ. And I'm telling you, this religious world will fall before this world. And the day will come, the day will come when God Almighty will call the world to know that this is the truth of God.

You see, the apostasy of this day is ordained by God. or the accomplishment of his own purpose and the good of his church. I don't know how he does it, but look at our text over here in 2 Timothy chapter 2 and verse 20. The apostles talking about these same false prophets, Hymenaeus and Philetus, and he says in a great house, they're not only vessels of gold and silver, the true and the tried and the faithful, but also of wood and of earth, the corrupt, the vile and the wretched. Some to honor, some to dishonor. God puts them where it'll happen. The apostasy which abounds on every hand is one means by which God separates the wheat from the chaff, the wheat from the tares. The apostle says in 1 Corinthians 11, 19, Pharisees must abound, that they which are perfect, that is, they which are accepted of God, might be made manifest.

The gospel is like a winnowing fan. The Lord gathers his wheat into his garner. Here it is, the church of God. And the gospel is like a huge winnowing fan. Outside the doors is fire and darkness and consumption and death. And we throw up the seed and your fan blows it and the chaff is shoved out the door and the precious grain falls to the threshing floor. That's what the gospel does. The chaff is consumed with the heresy. Precious seed cannot be. The goats follow the apostates. The sheep cannot follow them. And this apostasy, no matter how great it becomes, will not stop or even hinder the success of the gospel. So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth. It shall accomplish that which I please. It shall prosper in the thing whereto I send it.

Thirdly, read this word of comfort and rejoice, having this seal. The Lord knoweth them that are his. God knows who his elect are and where they are. He loves them. He's familiar with them. He watches over them. He approves of them. He preserves and protects them, and he'll bring them to glory. They're sealed. Though all the world has the number of the beast upon their heads, God's elect have the seal of God upon them. They were marked out in divine predestination, purchased by divine redemption, and sealed by divine grace.

Let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity." What's he talking about? Without question, if you profess faith in the name of Jesus Christ, I say to you, depart from drunkenness, immorality, lasciviousness, covetousness, theft, wrath, adultery, fornication. Jay, I guess you're the youngest believer here. You understand, you're not to do that. You're not to do that. You're not to do those things. God's people don't behave like that. And that just makes good sense, doesn't it? God's people don't behave that way. No, they don't.

But that's not what Paul's saying in this text. Read the context. Paul is saying, let everyone who names the name of Christ consistently publicly, constantly depart from this religion of iniquity. He's talking about Hymenaeus and Phileas. He's talking about the religion they preach, the gospel they preach. He said depart from it.

As a matter of fact, we won't turn there and read it, but you can read Numbers chapter 16, verses 5 and 26. And the words that Paul uses here are a quotation taken from Moses when the sons of Korah, Korah, Dathan, and Abiram led a revolt against God's prophet. And they said, we're all holy. You take too much on yourself. You say you're the only one who speaks for God? We speak for God. Moses said to the children of Israel, tomorrow the Lord will show you who's holy. And as the earth was about to swallow up and destroy Korah, Dathan, and Abiram, and the thousands of their own, Moses said, now depart from the tents of wickedness. If you don't want to die with them, depart from them. Depart from them.

This is what our Lord says in Revelation chapter 19. Revelation chapter 19, verse 4. Come out of her, my people. Come out. You've been associated with false, free will, works religion? Come out. Get out of the mess. Get out of it. Get out of it. Get out of it. Break away from it totally and finally. Don't have anything to do with it. If you do, you'll be partaker of her sins and you'll receive her plagues. Come out of her, my people, that you be not partaker of her sins and receive not of her plagues." This is what our Lord says by the Apostle Paul.

Come out from among them and be you separate, saith the Lord. We need to interpret that text of scripture and twist it and turn it in every which way possible. But our Lord is telling us, he's not saying come out and start a Christian school so you can shelter your children from ungodly people. That's not what he's saying. Your children, if they were to get among ungodly folks, make them more ungodly. Because your children are just as ungodly as they are. Mine are too. He's not saying separate yourself from human beings. That's not what he's saying. He's saying separate yourself from godless, Christless, works, free will religion.

Come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord. Touch not the unclean thing. Touch not the unclean thing. What unclean thing? Any false religious doctrine, any false religious leader, any false religious system, don't touch it. Don't touch it. Have nothing to do with it. Nothing. Say, well, we'll stay in and clean things up. Kindly hard to straighten out a whorehouse while you're sleeping with ladies. Kindly hard to do it. Shouldn't use language like that. It's a language of God. It's the language of God. Well, it's not prim and proper. I'm not being prim and proper. I'm being as earnest as I know how. And I'm telling you that the religion of this world is nothing but whoredom and idolatry and you have nothing to do with it.

Come out from her. That's not the unclean thing. I'll receive you. That is, I'll put my stamp of approval on you, and I'll be a father unto you, and you shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty. But you got to come out. Got to get out. Got to get out. I assure you, without the least hesitation, that all free will works religion is apostate antichrist religion, damning to the souls of men. But the foundation of God standeth sure. His purpose cannot fail. His gospel cannot be destroyed. His church cannot be overcome. The people of God are safe. And every believer will indeed follow Christ without the camp, bearing his reproach. That's what I'm saying to you. That's what I'm saying to you.

Come on. Get out of the camp of this religious world. Just get out. Get out. Come without the camp and take the reproach of Christ and follow him. Follow him. God help you to do it for Christ's sake. Amen.