Knowing From Who

2 Timothy 3 and the Last Days of Apostasy

To 2nd Timothy chapter 3, 2nd Timothy chapter 3 verse 1. But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come for men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemous, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having a form of godliness but denying its power.

And from such people turn away. For of this sort are those who creep into households and make captives of gullible women, loaded down with sins, led away by various lusts, always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.

Now as Janice and Jambres resisted Moses, so did these also resist the truth, men of corrupt minds, disapproved concerning the faith, but they will progress no further for their folly will be manifest to all as theirs also was.

But you have carefully followed my doctrine, manner of life, purpose, faith, long-suffering, love, perseverance, persecutions, afflictions, which happened to me at Antioch, at Iconium, at Lystra, what persecutions I endured.

And out of them all the Lord delivered me. Yes, and all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution. But evil men and imposters will grow worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived.

But you must continue in the things which you have learned and been assured of, knowing from whom you have learned them, and that from childhood you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.

You may be seated. All right, so last Thursday evening we had gone through the first portions of this chapter, and we talked about the last days being the end of the Old Covenant, so the times that were coming with the destruction of Jerusalem.

In the last days, perilous times will come. So that was the great apostasy and the great persecution that occurred, the great tribulation that occurred in that time. And so these things, these difficulties, these losses that occurred there we talked about, but in essence we think about our time, okay, our time, we live in a time where many children that grew up in the last generation in Christian homes left those Christian homes upon going to college or whatever else.

We've seen something like, according to some of the studies that were done by the Southern Baptist Convention, for example, something like 80 of children having apostatized after having left their parents home.

Now there seems to be this kind of returning that often occurs later in life, but that is not a successful picture. The successful picture is not that men are raised in Christian homes, leave, and then when they have spent all the juice of their youth, they come back and give the dregs to God.

That is not success. What we want to see is people raised in the fear and admonition of the Lord, and to give the strength of their youth to the service of the Lord, and to cause the whole of their life to be devoted to his service.

And so we've lived in a time that is the second greatest, at least based upon the evidence that we have, the second greatest apostasy in the history of Christendom, with the first being the great apostasy that occurred when the vast majority of the Jewish Church, the Old Covenant Church, rejected the New Covenant, and also during the Great Persecution of the Church, in this time, many members of it departed to flee from the persecution and betrayed in apostasy.

False Teachers, Gullible Women, and the Knowledge of the Truth

So we then think about all of these things that were, all these wickednesses, the loving of money, and of themselves, boasting, proud, blaspheming, we list all that out. These are men who had a form of godliness, but they didn't have the power.

They had external forms, but not the power. And we talked about how in Israel, Jesus went around casting out demons, just enormous numbers of demons, including, in one particular instance, one guy who had a legion of demons in him.

The legions, I'm talking 4 ,000 men in a legion, you count the Auxilia and its baggage chain and all that, you're talking about 6 ,000 men. I mean, there's a lot of demons in this guy. The enormous number of demons that were cast out by the Lord Jesus Christ, by his 12, and by the 70 that were sent out to cast out demons, and heal, and preach, and go around doing all these signs.

And you remember what we're told, when demons are cast out, when they leave, if there's not somebody who comes in who's strong enough to keep them out, like the Holy Spirit, what happens is they come back with a bunch of their friends, and they concentrate even worse, and the place becomes even worse.

So that's what happened in terms of Israel, and so we see this horrifying persecution and horrifying apostasy that occurred in the first century. But so, inside of the church, when you see the manifestations of these ungodly characteristics, there's a special duty to turn away.

For of this sort are those who creep into households and make captives of gullible women, loaded down with sins, led away by various lusts, always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.

And so there's this danger that women would be deceived, and it is the duty of heads of house to protect their families, and to protect their wives from false teachers. And we talked about when serpents come in, it's your job to cut the head off.

And furthermore, that you make your wife a hardened target by washing her in the words, so instead of being silly or gullible or unserious, she becomes a woman who is serious-minded. And instead of being loaded down with sins, she's assured of her salvation.

And so I advised you to study the doctrine of the atonement and the doctrine of assurance, and to make sure your family knows it well. And we need to know the difference between false learning versus the knowledge of the truth.

And so that which we can know with certainty is that which God has revealed in his holy word, and we should look to it as the foundation. Jesus Christ is the chief cornerstone, and the Apostles and Prophets are the stones that together are the fullness of the foundation that the Lord Jesus Christ has laid.

The Word of God is the foundation, and so we recognize that God himself is the foundation of the church. He is our rock. He is that which we are to build on, and we find that the Word of God is true, and men are liars.

And so what we find is that we should rely upon the Word of God, and that allows us to have a certainty of knowledge. Now, page three, we get to verse eight, which we did not talk about last time. Now, as Janice and John Brees resisted Moses, so did these also resist the truth.

There's a comparison now between the false teachers that come in, and they seek to creep in, and to deceive women, to deceive gullible women, and who are always learning and never coming to the knowledge of the truth.

And there's this idea of the skill pursuit, the pursuing of things that aren't steady, and then there's this contrast to Janice and John Brees who resisted Moses. Who are Janice and John Brees? Well, you don't find their names specifically in the Holy Scripture, so you go, who are Janice and John Brees?

So let me read to you what Matthew Poole says. Concerning this resistance of Moses by Janice and John Brees, the Holy Scripture says nothing but in this text. It is said by interpreters that they were two brethren, the chief of Pharaoh's magicians, who opposed Moses in the miracles he wrought, Exodus 7 -11, whose names might be known in Paul's time by tradition or the public writings of the Jews.

And so they could be preserved through historical record, and now through inspiration of the Holy Spirit we have certainty that that's actually the right names of the people who were opposing Moses. So do these also resist the truth?

So these false teachers resist the truth in the same way, and the kind of teaching they're bringing is to be viewed in terms of this type of, this learning that doesn't give the knowledge of the truth.

So do these also resist the truth? So will corrupt teachers under the gospel resist the truth of the gospel published by Christ's ministers? Men of corrupt minds, men whose hearts are corrupted with sordid lusts, reprobate concerning the faith, adokimoi, of no sound judgment as to the doctrine of faith, or not approved of God or good men as to their sentiments about our faith.

Now, I want to show you that text where this opposition initially occurs. Exodus 7 verses 8 to 13. Then the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying, When Pharaoh speaks to you, saying, Show a miracle for yourselves, then you shall say to Aaron, Take your rod and cast it before Pharaoh, and let it become a serpent.

It's quite the impressive sign and wonder. I can't turn my walking stick into a snake, I'm just, I'm just saying. So Moses and Aaron went into Pharaoh, and they did so, just as the Lord commanded. And Aaron cast down his rod before Pharaoh, and before his servants, and it became a serpent.

Wow. I'm like, these must be, these must be, these, these must be, based upon this sign and wonder, servants of the living God. Who can turn staves into snakes? But Pharaoh also called the wise men and the sorcerers.

So the magicians of Egypt, they also did in like manner with their enchantments. Oh, they also took staves and turned them into snakes. So they must be, must be, servants of the living God. Is it signs and wonders that show us who is the true God, or are signs and wonders things that draw attention to the Word of God, and that draw attention to the message and the messenger?

They draw attention. There are lying signs and wonders. For every man threw down his rod, and they became serpents. I mean, if there's more of them, and more of them were doing the sign, do more of the signs add up to more?

But Aaron's rod swallowed up their rods. Okay, so does might demonstrate? Is it like if you're, if you, if your signs win the battle, if you're, if you win the battle, does that mean that your God is true?

That's obviously what's all signified here, but we don't know it because of the signs. The signs are all things that are there that display the glory and power of God, but it's not the sign that proves.

What is the thing that we know from? Well, the Word itself, there's a duty to believe it. Pharaoh had a duty to believe the Word, regardless of whether or not there were signs that accompany it, but what does God do?

He brings signs with it still, and that increases responsibility, and then the sign is followed by the serpent from Aaron eating the serpents from Janus and Jambres and all of their cronies, and Pharaoh's heart grew hard, and he did not heed them as the Lord had said.

So even though sometimes the signs that are present are superior on the side of the righteous, still people kind of just accept the wicked sometimes. They, they, they're hardened. Why? Because it's not the sign that gives knowledge.

It's not the eye that gives knowledge. It's not the ear that gives knowledge, and these things don't just enter into the hearts of men. It depends upon the work of God to give faith, and God will accomplish His purposes.

Now as Janus and Jambres resisted Moses, so did these also resist the truth. Janus and Jambres were magicians. They were practitioners of magic, of the occult. They were doing it no doubt in the name of their pagan gods.

Many of the names of these Egyptian gods you're familiar with, but these false gods that they represented and the signs they did for them as a resistance were a resistance to the truth, and they were men of corrupt minds just as those who opposed true teaching now are men of corrupt minds, and they seek to bring in all sorts of glittering things to deceive the wicked and keep them ensnared in their lusts, but they are disapproved concerning the faith, and so you must compare them with what God has said and compare their doctrine with what God has said, but they will progress no further, for their folly will be manifest to all as theirs also was.

Raising that conflict and having it be public, having it like this confrontation between Moses and Aaron and these magicians, having it be public was used to help to resist them, and God uses in his providence these fights to preserve the church and to reduce false teachers to nothing.

Following Paul’s Doctrine, Life, and Example

Go to page four. So on the other side of Janus and Jambres who have these wicked practices, these occultic practices, these magical things who are like these current false teachers who bring in false doctrines and false methods, but you, Timothy, you, but you have carefully followed my doctrine.

The doctrine there would be this idea of carefully following the public teaching. He's been careful to teach the way Paul taught. He's been careful to teach the doctrine that was given to the church. He's been careful to follow Paul's manner of life.

What is the only rule of faith in life? The Word of God, contained in the scriptures of the Old and New Testaments. So the doctrine that we receive and the manner of life that we are to follow is given in the apostolic deposit.

Paul was giving that deposit to Timothy. You have carefully followed my doctrine, my manner of life. Beloved, the teachers that you pick to seek to follow have a very significant impact on you. The doctrine and how you speak to others, more and more you learn from your teachers and you think the things they teach and you speak the things they teach.

And the way they live, you begin to emulate and practice and you start to take on certain elements of their habits and behaviors. And so it is very important to be very careful to judge who should be teaching.

Paul commanded Timothy, but you have carefully followed my doctrine, my manner of life. Teachers should not simply be distant men. Men whose heads are projected on screens. It is important that teachers seek to be in the lives of their people, to see the doctrine taught, to see it catechized, to be able to discuss and to work through things, to be able to see that the manner of life that's put on is proper, and to encourage the following of a godly example.

Paul encourages Timothy and says, but you have carefully followed my doctrine, manner of life, purpose, faith, long-suffering. He goes on, but think about this. We so often would want to discourage people from pointing to the idea of following the example of godly teachers.

And Paul is not ashamed to say, look you carefully followed my doctrine and you carefully followed my manner of life. Now if this doctrine is just Paul's invented doctrine, well that's sin. He's making himself God.

And if it's just his invented manner of life, that's sin. He's making himself the pattern. But if he is passing on the doctrine from Scripture and the manner of life from Scripture, then it is totally appropriate for him to say, follow me as I follow Christ.

You have carefully followed my doctrine, manner of life. Then we have purpose. What's the purpose? The purpose is to glorify God. And this is the goal. And this idea that you find intermediate objectives to take, to glorify God more and then more and then more and then more, and increase the rate at which you can do things to glorify God.

Faith. How is it different from doctrine? The doctrine is the teaching and the faith is him actually believing it. He's not just teaching people things. Paul believes these things and it's evident by the way that he's worked and that's why he lists out these other things.

Timothy, you've been careful to follow my doctrine, manner of life, purpose, faith. And then now here are the things that really give strong evidence that those things are being followed and this isn't just hypocritical.

Long-suffering. Love. The desire for the well-being of his neighbor. Perseverance. He's continuing on. He's pressing on. Persecutions. Afflictions. Which happened to me at Antioch, at Iconium, at Lystra.

So this isn't just one time. It's not a one-time thing. It's over and over and over again. It's an ongoing thing. This example. Timothy is following Paul's example. Paul has gone through this in a long way, in a suffering way, multiple examples, and Timothy has followed after and suffered repeatedly himself.

What persecutions I endured and out of them all the Lord delivered me. So this idea that here's this hope, here's this idea that he relies upon God to save him and he points to the past work of God to save him.

Yes, and all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution. That's not a great sales pitch. But wait, there's more. By today, and I guarantee you'll be persecuted, all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution.

There are joys that are guaranteed to the Christian and there is suffering that is guaranteed to the Christian. These are manufacturer's guarantees. This is the way God made it and promised it will operate.

This is designed to remove people who would bring shame on the gospel, on the name of Christ, to the church, and would bring suffering. This idea, this warning, is meant to scare off those who do not think it worthy.

What Christ does in the believer, when the believer sees Christ for who he is, he sees him as a precious thing, as a treasure. He'd be willing to sell all he has to buy the piece of land it's hidden on.

And so faith overcomes the world, it overcomes persecutions, it overcomes devils, and heretics, and false teachers, and those who bring lying signs and wonders. And we look at this opposition in verse 13.

But evil men and imposters will grow worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived. Now this danger of evil men and imposters growing worse and worse, this is the antithesis. Why do I say that? The antithesis is this doctrine that there is an irreconcilable war between darkness and light, between truth and error, between good and evil, between the seed of the serpent and the seed of the woman.

Evil men and imposters will grow worse and worse. And some post-millennial guys want to say, well that's just true leading up to, leading up to 70 AD. But I want to put forward to you that this is the general direction of anybody who's reprobate throughout their life.

If you do not convert, you grow in unholiness, you grow in ungodliness. Your wickedness manifests itself in increasing ways. Evil men and imposters grow worse and worse. The righteous grow from strength to strength, and the wicked grow from worse to worse.

But Christ matures the church so that it's able to overcome. And what you find in the world is wickedness maturing in ways. And so you have things like the gulag and the Stalinists and the Maoists, and I can't even recommend that you read the atrocities that the Maoists did.

I'm a grown man who studied the Holocaust when I was a kid because I had a fascination with war, and World War II books were the cheapest at Barnes and Noble. And I'm haunted, I'm haunted by the stuff that I've read about Mao in the last decade.

Just don't do it. Just spare yourself. Don't read about the atrocities. The horrific evil and wickedness that men commit, godless communism, papal inquisition, all sorts of wickedness. These things, evil men and imposters, will grow worse and worse.

The atrocities of the Mongols under the Khan these horrifying things occur in history. They are real things. And the false teachers that come in, the wolves that come into the church to seek to destroy.

There's evil men, just the world, and there's imposters, the people that pretend to be Christians. And they grow worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived. They seek to deceive other people, and they are being deceived.

They're in self-deception, they're deceived by other false teachers, they take and latch on and attach on false doctrine, and they try to bring it into the church. The syncretistic process of evil men deceiving evil men, and sometimes the evil men deceiving evil men is the same guy deceiving himself.

There's a progress that the world hardens against Christ, and the church advances. But you must continue in the things which you have learned and been assured of. So there's this temptation to say, well, I mean, if the world gets worse, and if people become more opposed, then what are we supposed to do?

We're supposed to continue in the things which we've learned and been assured of. The same tools pull them down, the same chains bind them. Beast empires become more powerful. I mean, the ability to kill people fast in the hands of government now is so much higher than it has ever been before.

The capacity to do horrific evil. But the law of God is a chain that binds beasts, and the gospel is a leaven that leavens the whole lump of the earth. The Word of God tears down idols. The Word of God powerfully converts people.

The same things are to be continued in. The teaching of the Word of God and the applying of his law. These things are powerfully used against these evil men and imposters who grow worse and worse, and Christ matures his church so the righteous grow stronger and stronger.

In any series about combat or fighting, you have to make the enemies get stronger and stronger or else the series gets boring, right? Do you think God is a worse writer than the script writers for Netflix?

Do you think he doesn't get it? His story is better than any story that men have written. And so history is him showing in more and more grand ways his glory and his ability to destroy wickedness. But evil men and imposters will grow worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived.

But you must continue in the things which you have learned and been assured of. The church will grow across time in the knowledge of what's been revealed. And here's the thing, while we're doing this, as our enemies get worse and worse, do you think, you know, you come on the scene, you see here's Goliath, he's like pretty tall, nine feet.

Okay, you beat him, and you go, great, empowered by God to defeat Goliath, it was super great. You get onto the field, the next day, and here's a 12-foot guy. Whoa. You defeat him by the grace of God, the next day you come into the field, now there's a 24-foot guy.

You defeat him, the next day, you start to go, I get it. And you start to need reassurance that you can win. Now, this phrase that follows, knowing from whom you have learned them. Most people will come here and interpret this, and they'll think, okay, Timothy, how is he to be reassured?

As he's facing evil men who grow worse and worse, how should he be reassured? And the reading goes like this, people go, but you must continue in the things which you have learned and been assured of, knowing from whom you've learned them, your grandmother and mother.

How is that a reassurance in the face of men who are growing worse and worse? It is the case that Timothy's mother and grandmother discipled him in the faith, but here that doesn't fit in the argument.

The reason people say this is because they're mentioned earlier, and then in verse 15 it says, and from childhood you have known the Holy Scriptures. So, okay, who did he learn these scriptures from in his childhood?

His mother and grandmother, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. This is not a statement about the importance of the Christian tradition passing down from generation to generation.

That's an important thing, that's a beautiful thing. Mothers teach your children, grandmothers be tight as two women to your daughters, and then also teach children. Wonderful, but that's not the reassurance that Timothy's receiving here.

This tradition, this apostolic tradition, it doesn't become tradition the moment God speaks it or puts it into the hands of the church. It's tradition once it's passed down. It starts as God speaking from his holy mouth.

These words are God-breathed. They are self-attesting, they are transcendent, they are above all authorities. The Word of God, there is nothing higher. And when the Word of God is delivered, it's the Word of God, and it becomes a tradition as it's passed down.

But the Word of God is the highest authority. And the Word of God comes to us externally by the preaching and reading of the Word, and internally by the work of the Spirit. The confession of faith that we hold to emphasizes this doctrine, talking about the divine inspiration of the Scriptures.

First chapter, section 3, at the bottom of page 4 here, it says, the books commonly called Apocrypha, not being of divine inspiration, are no part of the canon of Scripture, and therefore are of no authority in the Church of God, nor to be any otherwise approved or made use of than other human writings.

When people make the Scriptures into a mere tradition, it's blasphemy. Rome tries to do this and to say that we have received the Scriptures as a tradition from the Church. That's blasphemy. They've deified the Church when they do that.

These are the words of God, they're God-breathed. They weren't made God-breathed after, they were God-breathed. The Protestant doctrine of authority of tradition is this, it has none. The books commonly called Apocrypha, not being of divine inspiration, notice the marker for authority, divine inspiration, are no part of the canon of Scripture, and therefore are of no authority in the Church of God, nor to be any otherwise approved or made use of than other human writings.

How much authority? No authority. Section 4 of the Westminster Confession, chapter 1. The authority of the Holy Scripture, for which it ought to be believed and obeyed, depends not upon the testimony of any man or church, but wholly upon God, who is truth itself.

So, our doctrine is the doctrine that the Scriptures are to be believed because they're God's Word, which is the highest authority. God's the truth itself. What is more authoritative than the truth? Nothing.

He's the author of the Scriptures, and therefore, since the God who is the truth is the author of the Scriptures, the Scripture is to be received. And just for emphasis, because it is the Word of God.

Do you see the line of argumentation there? How plainly that's laid out? This is an epistemological justification. We should believe the Scriptures because they're God's Word. That's not an argument saying the Scriptures say they're God's Word, and therefore they're God's Word.

That's that's not the idea. The idea is not a circular argument proving. The idea is there's no higher proof than the fact that God spoke. The Word of God is the highest authority. This isn't talking about the sequence of events in your experience.

This isn't talking about a metaphysical causation. That gets talked about elsewhere. That's called illumination. This is talking about an epistemological justification. Why is it to be believed? Because God said it, who is the truth itself, and he's the author of the Scriptures.

He's the speaker. Section 5, we may be moved and induced by the testimony of the church to a high and reverent esteem of the Holy Scripture. The Scriptures are pointed to by the church. That's what I'm doing right now.

What am I doing? I'm saying the Scriptures are true. Is that why you should believe it? No, you should believe it because it's God's Word. I'm pointing you to it. The heavenliness of the matter, the stuff it discusses, is so unearthly, so unmanly.

I don't mean that in terms of being effeminate. I mean it's not what men would come up with. It is matter. It is material that is so impressive and obvious when you study it that it is beyond what men would invent.

It's so effective at causing men to reform. It is so majestic when you read it. The words are powerful in terms of not merely the arguments, but in terms of the order of things and the placing of things side by side, the engagement of ideas, the way in which the truth is laid bare.

That in some places it's the high court writing of Isaiah, and in other places it's the plain-spoken Jeremiah. But in all of these places, the majesty of it, especially when viewed as a whole, as a work of artistry, the more you study it and see chiasms and poetic elements and all of these things embedded, you go, no man just sat down and wrote this.

It's a book over a thousand pages that doesn't contradict itself. It's a coherent system. I mean it's hard to get men to sit down and write two pages without contradicting themselves when it's the same guy, much less dozens of authors across a thousand years or more, like 1 ,500.

The scope of the whole, the whole of it focuses on the glory of God. There's not a human centric element of it, and it discovers our need, our neediness, our inability to save ourselves, and the fullness of the way in which God could provide salvation in a manner that brings glory to him and him alone.

Men do not write such things. And there are many other excellencies, and the wholeness of the scriptures shows a fullness of perfection, a completeness. And all of these things are arguments whereby it does abundantly evidence itself to be the Word of God.

But evidences aren't proof. Evidences aren't proof. These are all things that would cause men to go, this book, and they do, right? There are many godless men who will go, yeah, Western civilization really depends upon this thing.

You've all heard Jordan Peterson wax eloquently about the incomparable excellencies of the scriptures. And the man still remains a liberal who doesn't believe in the God of the Bible. At least he hasn't made plain that.

Yet notwithstanding, our full persuasion and assurance of the infallible truth and divine authority thereof is from the inward work of the Holy Spirit. This is the metaphysical cause, this is illumination, bearing witness by and with the Word in our hearts.

And the bearing witness is the epistemological cause. Why should we believe the Word of God? Because God spoke and there is no higher authority than God's Word. You want to deny that? Okay, talk to me about truth at all.

Is truth eternal or not? Does it change? Okay, truth changes. That's absurd. Then perhaps the truth that truth changes will change and then it won't change anymore. Is truth not propositional? Is it not in minds?

Can truth exist outside of the mind of a thinker? Can you have truth and no one thinking it? Is it possible for something to be true and for it to not be in a mind somewhere? Just think about that for a second.

What is truth? Truth is propositional, it's thought content. You can say 2 plus 2 equals 4 and if I write that on a wall with symbols, I can put the Arabic numbers and a plus sign and equal sign, get 2 plus 2 equals 4.

That symbol on the wall is meaningless to a person who's only learned Roman numerals. The thought content behind it, truth is eternal. Then there's a mind where that truth is and you can't deny that without denying the eternality of truth.

These are things where we have these ideas about God that are communicated to us infallibly in the scriptures and we can argue to show the denial of them is absurd but the authority is God and when he says a thing, it's true and you're obligated to believe it.

The Holy Spirit inwardly, metaphysically causes us to understand and believe and epistemologically, he bears witness by his word and with his word. So why am I emphasizing all of this? Because when you are facing horrific enemies that grow worse and worse, you need to know what you need to keep doing to fight these enemies.

You need to keep doing the things that were given in the apostolic deposit and in order to do that, you need to know from whom you have learned these things. Was it just from your mother and your grandmother?

Are you just a Christian because you happen to be born in Western civilization as though God didn't control that or did you learn these things from God? From whom did you learn them? The inward illumination of the Spirit of God is necessary for saving understanding of such things as are revealed in the word.

The Holy Spirit, Illumination, and the Authority of Scripture

Go to the bottom of page 5. The doctrine of illumination is an obvious doctrine in the scriptures. It's plainly taught. Matthew 23, bottom of page 5, Matthew 23 verse 10, and do not be called teachers for one is your teacher, the Christ.

Now we know that we're commanded to teach people and pastors are called teachers. So how does this work? Well in one sense, some people teach you. I'm trying to teach you right now. I'm saying words and they are bouncing off your face.

That's what the voice, the sound waves hitting you in the face right now. Some of them hit your ears, great. Maybe you understand them or maybe I lost you 20 minutes ago and you're just tuning back in now.

If so, welcome, glad you're here and let's think about the doctrine of illumination which is taught in the scriptures. And do not be called teachers for one is your teacher, the Christ. How can that be the case?