False Teachers (08/11/2002)
Pastor David Mitchell
Transcript
Now that you're in Jude turn to Romans chapter 3 verse 1.
Stay in Jude though
Romans chapter 3 let's read verses 1 through 3.
We're really on verse 3 today.
So we're primarily going to continue looking at a parallel passage in the book of Jude.
So follow me here in Romans chapter 3 verse 1 what advantage then hath the Jew
or what profit is there in?
Circumcision.
Well much in every way chiefly.
Because that unto them was committed the oracles of God.
The word oracle as we've studied in the past means written words of God.
With the emphasis on the written part.
That's what we call the scriptures the written Word of God.
The Bible says that if the Jew had an advantage it was in this chiefly that he had the
written Word of God and the Gentile did not in the Old Testament days and so we've kind of made an
application of that for our time that those churches today which have the Word of God and Use the Word
of God and stand upon the written Word of God as the authority for life and practice.
Have an advantage over those who don't their churches all around us that are Diminishing the value of the
written word and they are augmenting the value of other things.
They're trying to find new things they're trying to have all kinds of Prophetic statements
made by people who claim to be prophets and yet they don't honor the Word of God as much.
Because they diminish it by saying that is not sufficient.
But it is sufficient.
You don't believe it.
Read Psalm 119 word for word sometimes and you'll see that the Word of God is
sufficient for all the needs of God's people.
Well now We come on past this verse where it talks about That the Jew had an
advantage because the written word and then look at verse 3.
But what if some did not believe?
Shall their unbelief make the faith of God?
Without effect.
Remember last Sunday.
We talked about this little phrase the faith see where it says the faith of God.
It's a little word formula when you see the phrase the faith.
It means the belief system of biblical Christianity doesn't mean just saving faith.
It means the whole belief system of biblical Christianity.
It means what we're supposed to be doing as a church.
It means what the new early church did in the book of Acts.
When you look at their practices and their faith, they came together and they studied the scriptures.
They studied doctrine.
They broke bread.
They fellowship and they prayed and they witnessed and it was a simple faith.
It was a simple operation and that's what they did.
And that's what the Bible called the faith.
Now verse 3 says well what happens if you have some that don't believe it works that way.
Is that going to make the faith now?
Once again, it doesn't mean God has faith here.
It obviously where it says the faith of God is not talking about God's faith.
It's talking about the faith the belief system God's New Testament Christianity.
Is it going to make it without effect the phrase the word without effect?
Or the word effect there means to make it or render it entirely idle or useless.
So the question is asked can these who don't believe in biblical doctrine and biblical methods
render God's faith belief system useless and the implied answer is of
course not.
Of course not because God is in control and God always has a remnant of people that
believe in the word and It's go by the written Word of God has been given to us.
So this is kind of what we talked about last time now go in the book of Jude.
And last time we started with verse 3
and we began to see.
That God started this passage out.
Telling us that there are those who don't believe.
And he gives us some symptoms to look for in these kinds of people.
Now we're going to review but really the message is today is the end of the passage.
Where it talks about the good things that God's true people are supposed to be doing the fruits of the truth.
If we focus on the fruits of the truth will be well off.
But God also lets us take a look at the false fruits of the false prophet in
this book of Jude.
It's one of the most powerful passages in the whole Word of God about false prophets.
And it puts them in the context of the New Testament Church in the end times.
Which is where we are.
There may not be a book that is more useful in the New Testament to those of us who live in these last days
with regard to spotting those who sneak in among us to teach false things
than this book.
Now let's review just a little bit from last time starting with verse 3 look there.
It says beloved.
When I gave all diligence to write into the common salvation there's another phrase that means the faith the common
faith the Christian faith as it was laid down by Jesus and the Apostles and the New Testament prophets.
It was needful for me to write into you and exhort you that you should earnestly contend for Alex your
phrase the faith.
The faith which was once delivered.
We're going to study that phrase if we get to it today.
I thought we'd get to it last time and we didn't but when we get to this phrase once delivered into the Saints.
You're going to find something very interesting.
That's very useful For us today in these last days.
But we're going to have to contend for the faith that means to struggle for it.
There's going to be an all -out struggle for the true Christian faith in the end time now.
Jesus told an interesting parable.
He told a parable once.
Where he said that's like that the kingdom of God is like a mustard seed.
When you plant it, he said and it became a huge tree.
Well mustard plants don't do that so that's abnormal unnatural growth and it
said when this becomes a Large tree that black birds will come and lodge in it and those
black birds represent false teachers false people tears.
They've come in secretly among the wheat.
But especially it pictures the false teachers and so it also pictures abnormal growth of the
church numerically.
And the reason for that is because when you put the black birds in the tree it feeds on itself.
They began to teach and preach the things that people want to hear so even lost people will come to church.
They'll come to see the show.
They'll come to see the play.
Many churches are doing plays instead of preaching nowadays.
They'll come to hear the music.
They'll come to see what's going on and then the preaching has to do with the success of the Christian.
Well, who doesn't want to know how to be a successful person?
So the tears love that as much as the wheat loves that and so the church grows
to 4 ,000 5 ,000 10 ,000.
That growth is not bad.
I'm not saying that there are a few churches that have five and six thousand people where the word is preached as it
should.
But many of the churches that have five and ten thousand.
It's because you have a lot of tears and this is pictured by this mustard tree being a huge tree when it really should be.
A little bush.
It shouldn't even be big enough for black birds to lodge in.
But that's the way it is going to be in the end times.
Jesus said so so in Jude 3 it begins to talk about this and it says there's going to be a struggle in the end.
Time for the faith for the common salvation for the faith that was once delivered unto the
Saints.
For there are certain men crept in unawares that word unaware.
You should underline that because that is so key.
If it says they creep in unawares, that means we don't know it when they creep in.
Now many of us think we would know it.
We think we're smart enough and discerning enough to know it but the best of us can be fooled for a little while
not forever.
But for a little while by a false teacher.
Because what happens is we begin to lay down this Word of God in the book of Jude Against the person
and it will eventually expose the person if it doesn't just out and out run them all.
Many times the true word if you preach about God if you teach about God himself.
The person of God the person in works of Jesus Christ Who was all of the fullness of the
Godhead bodily and you preach about him enough tears wither away.
Have you ever had a yard that had a lot of weeds in it and you start putting fertilizer on that grass a little bit.
Of dried grass and a lot of weeds and you put fertilizer and you start to water it and you get that fertilizer down in.
There what happens over time?
Well the same thing that feeds the good grass kills the weeds.
It's just the way it is.
God made it that way as a beautiful illustration for us to see how it is.
So if you put this out enough in your life and in your church.
The tears eventually say, you know, I think I'll go find a success preaching church.
Where they're where they're not preaching about God and I can grow a little bit more successfully.
There and so it says that we're gonna have this struggle verse 4 says for there are certain men crypt crept
in unaware that's how they show up when they start and Didn't they begin to be?
Devolved to us slowly by the Lord and by his word over time.
He's not going to make it where we can't see who they are over time.
But who were before of old ordained to this condemnation ungodly men turning the grace of God into
lasciviousness and denying The only Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ.
Lasciviousness Literally means a disregard of sexual restraints or a disregard of any
type of strict rules or correctness.
So you see many of these false prophets will get into sexual sin and it will eventually be exposed.
You will see it.
Now.
The sad thing is in the in the last days church.
We've been taught that God is loved so much.
And that God loves everyone so much that we want to open our arms to the fornicators the fornicating preachers
and say well We forgive you.
God forgives like he did David.
Come on back in and you can continue to preach.
The problem is that they never show you is that David was not a pastor.
David was a king and In the New Testament the Word of God makes it very clear that to be an elder of
a church to be a pastor.
You must be without refuse you must be a person who has one wife
and who raises his children well and It never says well if they're a fornicator you can
forgive them and bring them back in as a pastor.
It does say you can forgive them and bring them back in.
They can do many things in the church if they get right with God.
But they can't do one thing and that is be the pastor.
And I don't think that they should be a Bible teacher and so.
Yet today everything goes even in the church but the Word of God says that these people
tend towards lasciviousness and Then it says that they are dreamers.
You see that They are dreamers.
Denying God denying the Lord Jesus Christ verse 8 likewise also.
So these filthy dreamers defile the flesh despise dominion speak evil of dignity.
We talked last time first of all, they're people who have dreams and claim that God is speaking to them through these dreams.
Whereas Hebrew chapter 1 verses 1 through 3 says very clearly that that's how God spoke in the former days.
And then there's the word but which means there's a change.
There's a dispensational change between the Old Testament and the New and in these latter days Hebrews chapter 1
verses 1 through 3 says very clearly God has already spoken to us by his son.
His son spoke to us when he was here and he spoke to us through his apostles after he left and he
gave the New Testament through the Apostles after he left and that is how God has spoken unto us now.
And so those who are filthy dreamers the word filthy here just connotes the fact that they tell you God said it.
But God didn't say it that makes it a filthy dream.
It's only a filthy dream because they're saying God told me in a vision this that God didn't tell him that.
Because God told him in Hebrews chapter 1 verses 1 through 3 and the written word that he doesn't speak through
Prophets and prophetic dreams anymore.
He speaks through the written words of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Who by the way is the full and final revelation of God if you cannot see God in
Jesus Christ.
You cannot see God if you can't know God in Jesus Christ.
You can't know God.
Jesus said I am the way the truth and the life.
I got him backwards, but that's what he is the the only.
You can't know God except by Jesus.
Jesus is the full Final revelation and that's why we have a canon.
We have a back page on our Bible.
Certainly to the end of this age I can say with confidence to the end of this age.
There will be no more scripture added.
That's why the last book the Bible says don't add to or take away from the word of this prophet and if you do there'll be
a curse upon you and.
So the written word apparently is sufficient because it's all God's given it along with his Holy Spirit to interpret it and
teach it to us.
But when you have the Word of God here and you have the author of it here.
What more do you need?
Where are you going to learn something else?
Be careful because where you may learn something else is from a false Spirit or a different spirit or even a different
Jesus is the Word of God says.
If people create different Jesus, and so we see all these things happening.
Isn't it interesting that it says I believe it is in verse 8 here where it says that they
They have a problem with dignity see that at the end of verse 8 they despise dominion and speak evil of dignity.
Now I don't like the Old Testament words There a whole lot because it's that we think of Hollywood when we think of a
dignitary or maybe we think of the government Senator or the president that's not what
this means.
What this literally means is that God has placed people in the church.
Elders who are to rule the church and have authority in the church.
God gives them a gift to do that and he gives them the calling to do that.
Sometimes it's one person sometimes as the church matures and grows larger.
They'll have a plurality of elders.
They'll be more than one elder.
But God places them there and they have dominion in the sense that they have authority in the church that is
delegated to them.
By Jesus Christ who is the head of the church?
That's the only reason they have it.
Jesus delegated it to them.
But these filthy dreamers these false people always will turn a nose up at any kind of authority and
where it says Dignity's it's the word doc saw in the Greek language and it literally means an
appearance.
Commanding respect or excellence because of a person's life spent in the study of the
written Word of God and in his walk.
He leads by example and he leads by study and by prayer and a false prophet
will never give any any attention to any kind of dignity or any
kind of authority in the church and.
And they will just slough it off as if it doesn't matter and they'll really play on the side that will work.
We're all just children of God.
We're all equal.
There's a sense in which that's true, but there's a sense in which it's not true.
Doesn't the scripture say that with God?
There's neither male nor female.
Doesn't it say that?
Okay.
Well, we know it must be true if it says it but there's also a place where it says that the husband is The Lord
over the wife.
Doesn't it say that also so you got to fit those together somehow.
So how do we do that?
Well, we know that spiritually in the spiritual realm as children of God.
The male and the female are the same their spirituality is not determined by whether they're male or female.
They are equal before God but in this world because of sin because of the fall there has
to be authority structure and God places the man over the woman in Authority in the home same is true in the church
in the church.
We're all equal.
There's not clergy and laity.
With regard to our spirituality, I don't have any more approach to God than you do nor
any less.
When you come to me and say brother Mitchell pray for this.
I know that that means as a brother pray with me.
Surely, it doesn't mean pray on my behalf because you're closer to God than I am.
It can't mean that.
So as brothers, there's neither laity nor clergy, but with regard to authority in the
church.
There is a pastor and then there are the people you see both are true at the same time well a false
teacher will always stress the equal part and he won't like the fact that God has placed a man in a
church as the leader and Gifted in and put his hand on him and anointed him and he's there for a reason
and they'll come in and they'll try to take That position or take other positions or equalize that ground where they can lift themselves
up and get in control somehow.
They never have any respect for any kind of authority.
Even though God's already placed it there long before they came so that is a sign to watching people you watch somebody wants to rise up Quickly
wants to be up in front quickly and they don't have humility in their life.
And they're gonna get up and teach you things that even the pastor doesn't know.
And make sure you know that he didn't know it.
So that he can level that pastor a little bit and get up there.
You got to watch those kind of people.
That's that is exactly what it's talking about here likewise these filthy dreamers defile the flesh they despise
dominion and speak evil of Dignitaries or dignities those who God has placed in the
leadership in the church.
They don't like them because they kind of get in the way.
Sometimes they get in the way, especially if they're trying to bring in false doctrine.
God has placed the leadership there to stop that.
And to keep good doctrine going For the next generation.
So we see these things now drop down to verse 10, but these speak evil of things which they know not.
But what they know naturally is brute brute beasts and those things they corrupt themselves.
So all they have is natural knowledge.
They don't have any spiritual knowledge.
Woe unto them for they have gone.
In the way of Cain they have run greedily after the heir of Balaam for reward and perished in the game thing.
Of course, this gives us three great attributes of the false teacher.
First of all Cain is a picture of a man who wants to worship God man's way
rather than God's way.
Well humans have that trait.
That's why the modern church today Invents all new ways to worship God.
It's never been done that way before and invent new ways to do it.
And it usually tends towards a fleshly way a way that really lifts up the flesh and is enjoyable
and feels really good.
And as my dear mentor, dr. Rocky Freeman used to say people today don't even know the difference between their soul
and their spirit.
And they get into the soul and they think they're being spiritual.
Well, let me tell you the soul can go just as carnal as it can go spiritual because it's the interface between the flesh and the
spirit.
It's the thing that connects the two and just because you're feeling good and you got great feelings and your soul is
happy.
Doesn't mean you're spiritual.
It might mean you're spiritual because it if originates from the Lord to your spirit to your soul
and comes down that way than it is spiritual and You still can have feelings.
Here's where the Baptists are so wrong in these latter -day.
They think feelings are Fleshly, they're not fleshly if they start from the top and come down.
But many churches today it starts at the bottom and tries to go up and never gets there.
It just starts out with a great drumbeat, maybe and gets that flesh moving gets it all going.
We're gonna find God somehow that way, you know.
It didn't work very well when Moses was coming down from the mountain.
He said I hear a noise as a battle.
No, I'm afraid it's not battle.
It's a party.
And they were playing wild music and dance dancing naked and worshiping false gods right there in God's camp.
That's what happens if you start at the bottom and you try to work up towards God.
It doesn't work that way.
There is no stairway to heaven.
There's no way there's only a door and it's Jesus.
And it's his way and it's the way that God is laid out in the scriptures not only doctrine.
But practice and methods how to have a New Testament church is all right here.
And so it's strongly implied how not to have one if we know how to have one.
Well, this gives us a little information on how not to have one.
First of all, don't be like King.
Don't try to worship God bands way find out how the people of God have worshiped God through the ages
and worship that way.
Why is it let me tell you another trait.
It goes in with this dignitary thing that they don't like Dominion.
You know what else that means?
They don't like to go back a hundred years ago and read books about what Saints said God was like and church was like.
You know why they don't like to do that because it exposes that they're worldly and modern.
And I use the word modern in the negative sense.
They have moved away from Bible methodology.
They won't go back and read those they'd rather go down to Christian bookstore and read all the new stuff that's out there.
Most of the mentors that I've had in my life that impressed me enough where I wanted to be their disciple.
They read books mostly 50 years old and older.
I mean there are a few good ones out today there are but most of the best rich books were written at least
50 years ago.
And you'll find if you go back that far.
It really doesn't matter a whole lot whether you're reading a book by Methodist the Baptist the Presbyterian or a Lutheran scholar.
They all believe one thing in common.
This is the very Word of God and that's where the difference is today.
Everybody has a different belief about this.
It all comes back to this this whole sermon.
We're talking about God is true.
It's the whole overall lesson.
We've been talking about for weeks now.
God is true.
How does he reveal himself in the written word as true and how important is the written word?
It's being diminished every day in our churches.
Only thing they know is what they know naturally woe unto them they have the way of Cain they want to do it man's way.
They want to figure out a way to worship God because it's more fun to them that way, but you know what?
The truth we Doesn't get anything out of that and he goes home and he gets weaker and he doesn't grow because
the Word of God is not emphasized.
It doesn't matter how much music we bring in and praise singing and hymns and old songs and new songs and
spiritual songs.
All of that is wonderful and it's wonderful to worship God and to praise God.
But if you do not emphasize the word the written word as the main part of the worship service, you're off.
You're off base because let me ask you this.
Is it more important in your conversation with God that he hear what you have to say or that you hear what he has to say?
Are you with me when you pray when you praise when you worship when you thank him.
He's hearing what you have to say and it's very much a part of it.
It's very important of any relationship that both Communicate very important.
Well, what's more important than that?
That we hear what he says and where are you going to hear it today?
Are you going to hear it through prophecy or through a word of wisdom or word of knowledge like all these people are telling you?
Are you going to hear it from his word as the Holy Spirit teaches it to you?
He once spoke through prophets, but in these last days he has Spoken that puts a back
page on it.
Ladies and gentlemen half spoken.
Look at the grammar.
The tenth is past tense.
He has spoken to us in his son.
If you if you want to have a healthy relationship with God focus on what he has to say to you.
And he'll tell it to you through his word as the Holy Spirit brings out the different colors and the different
applications of it in your personal life.
So woe to those who are like Cain and want to worship God God a man's way leave the word of God out but
all the fleshly Things they can find in and draw a big crowd and then secondly woe to those who
are like Balaam.
Balaam is the perfect example of a hireling preacher.
He preached for money ray Marshawn man who
works in my company very talented man who actually produced her Regis and Kathy Lee show and
he gives his Credentials are incredible, but he was going to a huge church in Dallas
I don't know five thousand or six seven eight thousand in attendance and he left that church and his wife
was the secretary one of the top secretaries of the staff there and they
left and It was because they found out that the pastor wasn't
living what he was preaching.
He Took money from the church and he went and built a 1 .6 million dollar house.
He moved out of his five hundred thousand dollar house in a nice neighborhood.
Ray thought he knew all these things he went into this home and so forth and Then began to preach
strange doctrines, which is really the reason they left it, you know, they noticed the house, but they thought well, okay.
But when he began to preach as he did at Christmas time and he says now let's have everyone come up one at a time and Prophesy
what God's going to do for you this year and raise it and you're going.
Okay, let me find that right quick.
And he searched and he searched and he couldn't find that in here.
So he left and went to a little church that has about 70 members and where the man preaches the word.
And I said good for you, right?
You did the right thing.
Why because a hireling prophet does not care for the sheep, you know, what doesn't even matter how much you pain.
And that wolf come when that lion comes and grabs one of those sheep you think he's gonna give his life.
To save that one sheep.
Oh.
But you know what if he owns the sheep he does and that's why Jesus is the Good Shepherd.
And that's why the preachers ought to only be called by Jesus in place in that place and they ought not be
doing it for money.
Because if they are they're gonna let the wolf get the sheep every time if they're there because they love the sheep.
Because Jesus put that love in their heart.
They're gonna fight the wolf.
They're gonna fight the lion.
They're gonna try to help the sheep.
So don't bring in a Balaam and then lastly for which is Korah in the Old Testament.
He conspired with Dathan and Abiram against Moses.
That's the old trait.
You see where they didn't like the minions and dignitaries.
They didn't like the fact that God had set up a leadership in Moses and Aaron.
They said hey, we're equal with you share some of your leadership and God in one day swallowed them and their whole
families up.
Destroyed all the people that followed them by fire.
And then the people gripe said Moses and Aaron God killed him because of you and then God killed what?
14 ,700 of those people God believes in leadership in this sinful
world.
We have to have it and God is the one who puts it there.
So when you fight against it you fight against God and that's what these things are teaching.
It goes on in verse 12 says these are spots in your feast of love.
Verse 16 says they're murmurs and complainers.
Verse 17 says they use big swollen words to teach what they're going to teach.
But it also says that the Apostles themselves said that these people will be mockers.
That they will actually jeer and deride those who are teaching the truth.
They'll make fun of them.
So you ain't got it all you ever heard that one.
You don't have it all.
And then it says verse 19 they separate themselves not having the spirit bells.
They usually go off after a while and do their own thing try to bring in a bunch of babies.
We don't know anything and train them their way because they know they can't get through the leadership in a solid church.
Now I can go back 22 years of history in this church and see that happen time and time and time again.
That's pretty well laid it down.
It goes down into verse 20 and it says but Ye beloved building up yourselves in the most
holy faith, there's our phrase again the faith praying in the Holy Ghost.
Here's where we begin to talk about The good traits of the truth.
Now, let's look at them go back up.
Let's go back up to verse 1 for me.
We won't make it through these today, but we'll start.
Let's shift gears now.
We'll pick back up there in verse 20.
But I want to go back and draw some points from the earlier verses because we will look at the positive side now.
We look at the negative side.
Look at the positive side.
Jude the servant of Jesus Christ and brother of James to them that are sanctified by
God the Father and preserved in Jesus Christ and called.
I want to tell you what's interesting about this passage.
You study the passage.
The first thing you're going to see the obvious thing you're going to see is all of the signs of a false teacher.
It says they're like dark clouds that come over but there's no water in them and it goes off and says they were
Created for the blackness of darkness forever.
They're going to go to hell.
God created them for the purpose of teaching false prophecy.
Now, you won't hear that preaching a lot of places they but that's what Jude said.
Why does God do that?
Because God says before Jesus comes back there must be a great apostasy or falling away.
And it's these false prophets who will lead that apostasy and it must come to pass.
All things are of God.
God is sovereign.
He's the sovereign of the universe.
So it shouldn't surprise us when he says he created these are created.
Clouds they are without water.
Carried about winds trees whose fruit withered without fruit twice dead plucked up by the roots
raging waves of the sea.
Foaming out their own shame wandering stars to whom is reserved the blackness of
darkness forever.
Shouldn't surprise us first 13 and that's what we see when we first read this little book.
But if you come back and start with verse 1 all of a sudden you'll see that intermingled with all of this warning against
the false prophet is given the most beautiful picture of how the church ought to be and some of the doctrines of the Church
in this one little book verse 1 alone is amazing.
I mean it's got it.
It's got at least five or six points that the true church will have unlike what the false
Doctrine is of these false prophets.
So look at it Jude the servant of Jesus Christ.
You realize that that is a subtle teaching of the Lordship of Christ the servant.
You know what?
One of the greatest false teachings of the 70s and 80s going into the 90s has been in the church.
That you just believe you just believe and you're saved and then later on in your life you can make him your Lord.
I mean if you've heard a preacher say that raise your hand.
I want to see if you've ever heard that talk.
You get saved and then later on I made him my Lord.
Did you know that's impossible?
Because you cannot be saved except by the Lord Jesus Christ.
I mean, that's who he is.
He is the Lord now what can happen is you can be saved by another Jesus.
I say saved is not true salvation.
You can be saved by another Jesus one that you create in your own mind.
Now that Jesus is really easy because what happens?
He's one who just loves everybody and you just say dear Jesus come a heart and say me Amen, and you go live your life like you want
to anyway.
That's the invented Jesus that much of America worships today.
But the biblical Jesus the one of the Bible is the Lord and he is a Jesus who the minute
you receive him He'll deal with your life.
He's a part of your life.
In fact, he's the ruler of it and you are the servant.
He's the ruler.
He's on the throne of your life and your life is ever changed.
So it's a false doctrine to teach later.
You can make him your Lord.
You're not saying yeah.
Maybe maybe you might could if by the grace of God.
If God moved in on you and drew him to the Lord Jesus and you really got saved.
Yeah, you make him Lord later.
But doesn't mean you got saved here and you made him Lord out here if he's not your Lord today.
Ladies and gentlemen, let me ask you to do something.
Please examine your salvation.
It is false and you probably got it from a false teacher who told you well just pray this look here Jesus.
Hallelujah brother now, let's get baptized and then he put that little mark on this on his holster and he
got one.
And you go off you wonder why you don't have any any deliverance from any sin.
You don't have any power to live a pure life.
You just go and you do the same sins you find yourself doing the same sin over and over again.
You know why because salvation is not real in your life because you never received the Lord Jesus you received
the happy American Jesus the blonde one with the blue eyes and He can't save you.
You can just make you feel better.
That's all make you feel better.
The true Jesus will immediately begin to change you.
It won't all go away at once.
We have sin habits to take a while sometime, but you will immediately Be a changed person.
And you know what?
He'll set you free from every lesser Lord you ever had and you'll have deliverance in your life with the true Jesus.
But these people don't believe in it, but the true church does.
Jude the servant.
You see that word servant of Jesus Christ he believed in the Lordship of
Jesus Christ not just believing in but he is my Lord.
Secondly, it says and brother of James.
Now to them that are sanctified by God the Father so we see this concept of
sanctification taught in the early church.
What a sanctification mean?
Well, let me tell you something.
There are two types taught in the Bible one we call positional one we call experiential.
Positional means that the moment you're born again, you are sanctified which means you're set apart
from the world unto God's use and purposes you become a
a holy thing you're brought out from the world and the worldly people and set over in a group of
God's people and You are sanctified because of the presence of God in your life.
That's what happens.
It's what causes you to be set apart for God.
It happens at the moment of salvation and it's all done by the work of the Lord Jesus Christ.
It's done by finished work that he did on the cross.
And God as he infuses faith into your heart by the Holy Spirit and you turn to him as Paul did that first time.
It's a Lord.
Never said that before.
You see you're recognizing the Lordship of Christ because you have faith all of a sudden and it is the faith that saved you.
But you don't have the faith is not real if it doesn't immediately recognize this Lordship.
Lord.
I'm not my boss anymore.
I didn't do a good job.
Anyway.
Where would you leave me the rest of my life every day now that salvation, you know, you got it when that happened.
And there's no prayer formula.
I can give you to cause that to happen.
It has to come from your heart.
It's the thing between God and you.
But this idea of sanctification starts at that moment.
At the moment of salvation you are a different part from God who you are sanctified.
It means you're totally set apart from the whole world at that point now.
Then there's this experiential teaching in the Bible where it says yes, that's true that position because we are now a
child of God.
We are sanctified.
There's also the teaching that we are still being sanctified by The present work of Jesus you
see his past work on the cross set us apart at the moment of our salvation.
We are truly set apart, but he's not in the grave still is he?
He's at the right hand of the Father on our behalf and he is working in our lives every day by the Holy Spirit.
Continuing to set us apart and Make us different and take the remove the sin the old sin
habits to get them out and to bring us into habits of walking With the Lord, this is sanctification.
It was a strong doctrine in the early church.
You know, it's a very weak doctrine in the modern church.
Modern church doesn't much care how you look how you speak.
How you walk?
You know, it's all on the inside.
Well, you know what the positional part is, but did you know the experiential part shows?
As you grow in the Lord it will show.
The world will see it.
In fact, you'll be the first person I come to when they get in trouble.
If you're sanctified if God's working in your life and you're growing they're going to come to you.
How do they do that?
They used to know you as a sinner when you before you were saved.
They knew you and now they've watched you and they stayed away from me.
They kept the business because they don't like the new you they like to own you.
So they stay away and then when they get in trouble they come to you.
How come they see a new you?
They see God has worked in your life.
It offended them until they need something from God.
I think they can get it from you.
They think you're their priest and in a sense you are.
In a sense, you're a believer priest and you're the witness to them.
You already have with your life.
This sanctification is so important and yet it is removed as a doctrine in the church today.
The only thing that matters they well what you are on the inside, you know, God be no judge.
Don't judge anything.
Don't let's don't discern anything.
Everything's okay.
Just love everybody.
I know a church in Waco had a homosexual pastor a Baptist Church Southern Baptist Church homosexual pastor for
About 15 years and for five of those years.
They knew he was one because he got up and cried and admitted it and they put their arms around said well.
We still wanted to be our pastor.
He said, okay, I won't do it anymore.
Well, guess what he did.
And they just kept him.
Finally they got rid of him.
But it's too much damage about that time.
No sanctification sanctification didn't matter.
It's not a part of the modern church part of the early church.
Sanctified by God, you know the early church used to teach that it was God that made this stuff happen.
Not man.
What are we teaching the modern church man makes all the stuff happen.
I Mean if we it's up to us to get everything done and we're gonna send thousands to hell if
we don't go witness.
You know, God never said that in the Bible.
The Bible says they're sanctified by whom?
God the Father and Preserved.
Did you know the early church believed in eternal security of the believer?
They didn't call it that but they believed that once you became a child of God, you couldn't lose your salvation.
But there are many groups today and he's in time to teach how you can lose it.
But if you come back put money in the tithe plate, you can get it back.
It's a doctrine if you want to build a big church.
But it's a lie.
In fact in Hebrews chapter 6 verses 1 through 6 it teaches very plainly that if you could lose your
salvation.
You could never get it back again because you'd have to re -crucify Jesus and put him to open shame, which is blasphemy.
So if they're gonna teach you can lose your salvation fine.
But don't teach you can come back in and get it again, which they all universally teach that.
The fact is you cannot lose your salvation because you didn't do your salvation to yourself.
Anyway, God did.
God saved you.
It was a miracle.
He gave you his divine nature.
When you got saved your want to is changed.
You don't want to be like an old pig anymore.
You're a sheep.
You can't change that.
You can't change that anymore.
You need to determine who your parents are.
How many of you let me ask you some of your children in here.
Look at me children.
You're younger.
Can you decide right now?
Who will be your parents?
Why not?
God picked them.
You know what?
You can't decide who your eternal parent is either.
He picked you.
You're his.
So if he did the picking he's not gonna throw you away.
However to be like in the natural world if parents said well you disobeyed me today I'm just gonna kick you across the street and
Ivan Jackson can raise you Jenny just going across the street over there to Jackson but ready.
You're their child now.
That's not what parents do that's not what God does either but it's taught in the Church of Christ.
It's taught in the Methodist Church Church of Christ some of the Pentecostal churches today teach you that God does that if you sin.
You surprise God.
Well, God doesn't know much then, you know when he picked you he didn't know you were gonna sin again, did he?
When he picked me he knew I don't know about you, but he knew but he picked me.
Anyway, he picked you.
You're his child.
Obedience does not cause childhood parenthood.
It's just a result of good parenting.
It's not what makes you be the child and it's not in the spiritual world either.
So it says we're preserved in Christ.
You're preserved.
You can't be lost once you're saved.
You cannot but the modern church teaches you can.
Why don't you have money?
If they teach you you can lose it.
If you don't time then you're gonna die.
If you can lose it in church Christ teaches if you don't attend church service regularly you can lose your salvation.
Big nice crowd.
Some of you folks would fish a whole lot less on Sunday morning if we talk that around here.
But then we'd have to yeah, but you can come on back next week and you'll be alright again.
It's all a lie.
It's all ridiculous.
The Bible teaches we're preserved in Jesus Christ.
Look at a little phrase in Christ Jesus.
Don't you wish there weren't so much in this one verse we've eaten chicken already.
There's one verse so we got the whole chapter to go but not this morning.
One verse preserved in Christ, you know what in Christ Jesus teaches the baptism of the Holy Spirit.
You know what?
One of the greatest miss teaching today the false teachings of the day is this baptism of the Holy Spirit thing.
Well, have you been baptized in the Holy Spirit?
Well, if I'm saved I have been.
Brother Rick, have you been baptized in the Holy Spirit today?
I hope you got baptized in the Holy Spirit already because it means you're already saved.
But you did because the baptism of the Holy Spirit as taught in the Bible means Something that is
done to you.
It's in the passive tense, which means you don't do it yourself.
God does it to you and the Holy Spirit?
Places you within the body of Christ at the moment of salvation.
Read Ephesians chapter 1 if you don't believe it.
It's throughout the Bible Particularly clear that at the moment of salvation you are
baptized.
The word baptized simply means immersed in or placed into.
Just don't even use the word baptized.
It's confusing just say placed into.
That's what the Greek word means.
So at the moment of salvation you are placed into Christ's body by the Holy Spirit.
You're made part of him.
That's the baptism of the Holy Spirit.
You're not saved if you haven't had that and by the way.
It's not something you can go get again or do again.
It's once and forever.
Now you can be filled with the Holy Spirit and the book of Ephesians says be filled with the Spirit.
You're commanded to do that.
That's not the same as the baptism.
And now all that terminology has been changed.
You can read book after book about have you had the baptism of the Holy Spirit.
What they really mean is dear hearts.
Is they?
Mean have you are you spirit filled but they don't know how to talk because they're not in the word.
They've been reading books more than they've been reading the book.
You go down to the bookstore.
You get awfully confused today.
You get all this weird jargon and terminology.
That's not even in the Bible that Jesus never used neither did the Apostle.
So look what it says preserved in Christ.
You are baptized into Christ at the moment of your salvation and preserved in him until he comes again.
New Testament doctrine and.
Lastly it says and called did you know they believe in the doctrine of election?
They believe that God is the one who did the calling.
They were not our minions.
They weren't Calvinist either because they hadn't existed yet, but the doctrines that Calvin taught.
Where he said that God is the sovereign God and God is the one who reaches down and calls you into his
family is true.
And it was taught in the early church, and it says right here.
Not only was I preserved in Christ, but I was called.
That's how I got here.
He called me out just like Paul on the road to the masses all that's how you got saved.
If you're sitting here today, and you say well, I'm not sure I am.
The fact that you're worried about it is a good sign.
It's the Holy Spirit drawing.
He doesn't even begin to draw people who aren't going to be God's people.
So respond.
Respond back if you sense him calling.
You know that once you do that the thing in the heart and say Lord, I do receive you.
I've been a terrible boss.
I've been a terrible master.
I've lived enough life to know it's not right for me to lead my life.
I want you to do it.
I receive you as my Lord and Savior at that moment.
You're preserved.
You're baptized immersed into his body.
You're part of his him.
You're part of him and part of his and you're preserved there in Christ.
Because
All of these were taught just in verse one.
So let's stand and pray and be thankful that I'm only teaching verse one.
We'll go to verse two next week the Lord willing Father we thank you so much for your
word.
There's just so much there that we don't have time to even get beyond the surface sometimes and it
grieves our hearts.
We wish that that our physical bodies could endure.
More study.
We know there'll be a day someday in the heavenlies when we sit at the feet of Jesus and for all eternity can be
taught things without growing weary.
But our hearts don't grow weary.
It's food for our soul for our spirit and we grow strong.
And we thank you for that.
We ask you to bless miss June today and Ruth today
and and others father.
Burgess sister and father we pray you would bring Her eyes to be open to spiritual
things through all this that's happening to Susie Work in her life.
We know you are.
We ask you to go with us into our fellowship time today and bless our meal together in our evening services.
And we ask it in Jesus name.