All right, well, we're there in Acts chapter 19, and before we start tonight, let me just
say thank you to Pastor Anderson.
He's a great friend, and I'm always thankful and honored to preach behind this pulpit.
Well, not exactly behind this pulpit, but I'm always thankful to be here, and this
pulpit's something else.
And I'm really excited about the Mexico missions trip.
I have my two older sons with me, and of course, my dad is with me, which I'm excited about.
He's planning on going to the Aruba missions trip too, so I'm glad about that.
And then we've got some of the guys from our church, Brother Eli, I don't know whether
Brother Eli's with us, Faithful Man from our church, and one of our staff guys, Oliver,
is with us here today.
We have other guys that are fluent Spanish speakers at our church, but these were the
only ones that were legal, so, you know, they're the only ones that can make it.
But we have a great soul-winding church, we have a great church, and we're excited about that.
And just allow me to just give you a little bit of context for the sermon tonight.
I'm preaching on the subject of how to respond when heretics are exposed.
How to respond when heretics are exposed, and you don't need me to tell you this,
but over the last year or so, you guys, you know, have been fighting this.
And I want to just start off by saying thank you.
Because in a lot of ways, you've done a wonderful job supporting your pastor, fighting these
battles, and you have really are showing the rest of us how to do it and how it needs
to be done.
And I want to preach this sermon because in some ways, I'd like to document some
of the things that you've been doing as a church, and I'd like this sermon to almost
serve as a guide for other churches.
I hope our church in Sacramento will listen to this sermon.
I know there's people here from other churches just for the mission strip.
I hope they'll listen, and I hope churches in our movement, you know, will listen to
this sermon and get showered up.
Because look, all of us are going to fight these battles and heretics in one way or another.
And I want to thank you for giving us the example, but I want to kind of preach to the choir.
And I want to preach this sermon about how to respond to heretics.
And really, the sermon is birthed out of just watching you as an example, as an example
of the great things that you have done.
So what I'd like to do tonight is I want to give you five statements on how to respond
to heretics.
And if you're able to, if you don't have a baby sitting on your lap or something like
that, I'd encourage you to write these statements down.
We begin here in Acts 19, and if you look down at verse number 13, the Bible says
this, then certain of the vagabond Jews, exorcists, took upon them to call over them, which had
evil spirits, the name of the Lord Jesus.
And I'm not preaching on this tonight, but I want you to notice there, it says that
they took upon them.
You know, in church life, I've found you will keep yourself from getting into trouble
if you just attempt to not take things upon yourself.
You know, there is church leadership.
There is order to church.
There are ways that things should be done.
And these people are just taking it upon themselves to call over them, which had evil
spirits, the name of the Lord Jesus, saying, we adjure you by Jesus.
Notice how it's not personal.
They say, by Jesus, whom Paul preaches.
And there were seven sons of Siva, a Jew and chief of the priest, which did so.
And the evil spirit answered and said, and you know the story, but look at it, Jesus
I know, and Paul I know, but who are ye?
And the man in whom the evil spirit was leaped on them and overcame them and prevailed
against them so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded.
And when we're talking about this idea of how to respond when heretics are exposed,
I want to begin tonight.
And like I said, you guys are the choir when it comes to this sermon.
I mean, you're teaching us how to do this.
But even in this church, there might be some people who are not sure how they should respond.
They're looking at a situation, they might not be seeing it in the way they should be
seeing it.
And I want to try to help those people for sure, and everyone else outside of this
church who will one day have to deal with issues or maybe is already dealing with
issues like this.
Point number one tonight is this, how to respond when heretics are exposed.
Number one, realize that attacks mean you're accomplishing great things.
Realize that when the devil attacks this church, when Satan attacks this church, when
he invests false prophets and false teachers to come in here and to try to attack this
ministry, it is because this church is accomplishing great things for God.
Don't look at situations where you're like, oh man, you know, we've got so many people
coming in or so many people trying to cause problems and division, and you know, what's
wrong?
Hey, there's nothing in the world wrong.
You shouldn't be asking the question, what's wrong with our church?
You should be looking at the fact that there's something really right with your church.
When Satan invests so much time and energy into destroying or attempting to destroy
or attempting to hinder or attempting to cause a fight within a ministry, it is because
of one reason, you are pissing him off.
You're upsetting him.
You're accomplishing great things, and doesn't that just kind of make sense?
I mean, did you really think you were going to be able to lead a worldwide soul-winning
marathon?
I mean, did you really think that you were going to lead a soul-winning marathon
in every state in this country?
I'm talking about your pastor, your church, taking the initiative, organizing, promoting,
you know, getting all those things ready to lead a soul-winning marathon in every
state in this country and many countries all over the world and think that the devil
is just going to take that rolling over?
I mean, do you really think that you're going to lead a movement of hard preaching and
soul-winning, a revolution back to the Word of God and to old-fashioned Christianity?
Did you really think that you're going to have a church like this, you know, just
full of people that love God and love the truth on a Wednesday night and think
that the devil was not going to take notice?
And here's what I want you to say.
In this story, we see that Satan is very aware of what's going on in the spiritual
world.
Notice these sons of Siva want to try to do what Paul's been doing and they try
to cast out this devil and in verse 15 it says,
And the evil spirit answered and said, Jesus I know, and Paul I know, but who are ye?
And I'm here to tell you, there are some evil spirits and there are some devils and
there are some demons that will right now say, Faithful Word Baptist Church I know.
I mean, I hope they say Verity Baptist Church I know, you know, but who's North
Valley Baptist Church, you know, or Faithful Word Baptist Church I know, but I'm not Lancaster
Baptist.
I've never heard of them.
Here's what I'm trying to tell you.
When attacks come, when the fight comes, when people come and they're fighting and
you say, Oh man, you know, there's so much going on.
Hey, realize that attacks mean you're accomplishing great things for God.
You're there in Acts chapter number 19, go up into the book of 1 Corinthians.
You're there in Acts, you're going to go past Romans into 1 Corinthians, 1 Corinthians
chapter 16.
Is there any way that I could get a cup of water?
Somebody told me that I'm sure I lost it and I apologize for that.
I had a cup of water.
If I could get that.
1 Corinthians 16.
Here's what you need to understand.
Taking advantage of a great opportunity attracts spiritual warfare.
1 Corinthians 16 and verse number 9 says this, For a great door and effectual, thank
you sir, appreciate it, for a great door and effectual is opened unto me.
But notice, see, we like that part, right?
A great door and effectual is opened unto me.
Hey, you young guys and you young men, and I thank God for you.
I thank God for the fact that this church and churches like this are filled with young
men that have decided they don't need to make their life about pleasure, they don't
need to make their life about money, they don't need to make their life about themselves
and they are choosing to follow in the footsteps of men like Pastor Anderson and they are
giving their lives to ministry and they're looking at different cities and different
towns and saying, hey, a great door and effectual door is opened unto me and I'm going to
go to some city and I'm going to plant a church and I'm going to do great things
and I want to follow in the footsteps of some of these men that have came before me,
but please, I'm glad for that, I'm thankful for that, I'm not trying to
discourage that, but just remember that with the great door and effectual when it
is opened, along with that comes the end of the verse, and there are many adversaries.
Don't think to yourself that I'm just going to go somewhere and I'm going to build a great
church and I'm going to do some great works, we're going to preach some great sermons
and see many people saved and it's going to be smooth sailing.
No, when you take advantage and when you do great things, realize that many adversaries
are going to take notice.
Many adversaries are going to watch and see and attack.
This is why the Apostle Paul would say, finally my brethren, be strong in the power of his might.
Put on the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to withstand against the wows of the devil.
Why?
For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers,
against the rulers of the darkness of this world, and you know that.
You say, who is faithful word Baptist church fighting?
You're not fighting flesh and blood, you're fighting the rulers of the darkness of this world.
You're fighting spiritual wickedness in high places, so when the attacks come, so when
the battles come, so when the adversary shows up, so when the fight gets hard and it
gets personal and it gets difficult, just realize that attacks mean you're accomplishing
great things for God.
There's nothing wrong with this church, but there's a lot of things right with it.
And by the way, don't be surprised if the spiritual warfare comes from within.
You're there in 1 Corinthians, go back to the book of Acts, Acts chapter number 20.
Acts chapter 20, we were warned about this.
Acts chapter 20.
Acts chapter 20, I just found a bottle of water here, I don't know if somebody put
that there for me, but thank you.
Acts chapter 20, verse 29 says this, for I know this, this is the apostle Paul speaking,
that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock.
Also, notice, don't miss this, of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse
things.
Why?
To draw away disciples after them.
You say, oh well, it's happening within our church, is there something wrong?
No, you know what, the apostle Paul said, hey, that's exactly what's going to happen.
If you're accomplishing great things for God, also of your own selves shall men arise,
speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples.
So how do we respond when Pastor Anderson or when any pastor of any church stands up
and says, hey, we've got to deal with an issue, we've got to expose a heretic, we've
got to deal with this problem.
How should you as a church member in the pew respond?
Number one, realize that attacks mean that your church is accomplishing great things
for God.
Don't get discouraged.
Get encouraged in the fact that you're part of a church that's doing great things, that
you're part of a church that Satan and the forces of the devil are taking view of, are
looking at you and realizing that you've got a target on your back because of the great
things that you're accomplishing for God.
But number two tonight, how to respond when heretics are exposed, I said number one, realize
that attacks mean you're accomplishing great things.
But number two, go to the book of Matthew, first book in the New Testament should be
fairly easy to find, Matthew chapter 10.
Number two tonight, rejoice that your church does not sweep things under the rug.
Rejoice that your church does not sweep things under the rug.
See, as Christians, we're supposed to be transparent, are we not?
Matthew chapter 10 and verse 27, notice what the Lord Jesus Christ said, he said, what
I tell you in darkness, that speak ye in light and what ye hear in the ear, that
preach ye upon the housetop.
You know how we apply that today?
That's why every sermon that we preach in churches like ours, we put them on YouTube,
we put them on the internet, we put them on DVDs and give them away.
You say, are you trying to hide what you believe?
No, we are preaching it from the housetops.
Why?
Because as Christians, we're supposed to be transparent.
As Christians, we're not supposed to hide.
Hey, we're not hiding our light under a bushel, no.
We're going to let it shine.
And as a church, it is good.
When your pastor or any pastor, whether it's this church or any church you might be a part
of, stands up and says, hey, listen, tonight or this morning, we've got to deal with
some church discipline, I've got to expose the heretic, don't sit there and go, oh,
not this again, oh, I don't want to hear this again, oh, who now again?
Hey, you ought to rejoice that you're not part of the Roman Catholic Church that
hides a bunch of pedophiles.
You ought to rejoice that you're not part of these Baptist churches that just tries
to hide everything and tries to lie about everything.
Hey, you ought to rejoice in the fact that you go to a church that doesn't hide things.
It's all out in the open.
Look, you know you don't got to lie when you're not doing anything wrong?
John chapter 3 and verse 19, you're there in Matthew, go get to John.
John chapter 3, Matthew, Mark, Luke, John.
John chapter 3 and verse number 19.
You know the verse, but let's look at it together.
John 3, 19.
John chapter 3 and verse 19 says this, and this is the condemnation that light is come
into the world and men love darkness rather than light, why?
Because their deeds were evil.
Listen to me.
This is just a good rule of thumb for life.
Whenever you're trying to hide something, you're wrong.
If someone says, hey, hey, come over here where nobody else can hear what we're talking
about.
Hey, you're already wrong.
Because men love darkness rather than light, why?
Because their deeds were evil.
And whenever you're lying, whenever you're being secretive, whenever you don't want other
people to know, don't let the pastor find out or don't let the pastor's wife find
out, you're already wrong.
It's already bad.
It's already, if it's secretive, it's not good, why?
Because men love darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.
And by the way, you ought to rejoice in the fact that you actually go to a church
that actually practices church discipline.
I mean, I don't know this for sure, but it sure seems like the only churches that
actually practice church discipline are the churches in our movement.
I mean, the only church that you would actually get kicked out of is a church that actually
believes what we believe, when it's so clear in scripture, when there's so many verses
talking about why we should kick people out and how to get people kicked out.
And look, just realize, when you've got to deal with that, when you're dealing with
that, just rejoice.
Hey, first of all, realize that your church is accomplishing great things.
But secondly, rejoice that your church doesn't hide things, that your pastor's not
lying to you, that he's not covering things up, that he just puts it all out, you
know, the good, the bad, and the ugly.
It's all out there for everybody to see.
And you say, oh, well, you know, is that really how we should, yes, that's how we
should be doing it.
We should be showing what we do.
Hey, look, if we're not doing anything wrong, then why lie?
If we're not doing anything dishonest or anything illegal, if we're not doing anything
wrong, then why lie about it?
Go to Romans chapter 16, you're there in John, Acts, Romans, Romans chapter 16.
We're talking about how to respond when heretics are exposed.
We said, number one, realize that attacks mean you're accomplishing great things.
And number two, rejoice that your church does not sweep things under the rug.
But number three, how do you respond when heretics are exposed?
Number three, you need to commit in your heart and decide in your heart that you
will reject those who have been thrown out of church.
How do you respond?
How do you respond when heretics have been exposed?
Here's how you respond, church member.
You reject those who have been thrown out.
Are you there in Romans 16?
Look at verse 17.
Romans 16 and verse 17 says this, now I beseech you brethren, mark them, mark them which
cause divisions and offenses contrary to the doctrine which you have learned.
Now let me ask you a question.
When it comes to the church life and the church world, who does the first part of
that verse?
I mean, who is the one that's doing the marking?
And when it says mark them, what does that mean?
That means to identify them.
That means to point them out.
That means to make it visible.
It says mark them which cause divisions and offenses contrary to the doctrine which you
have learned.
Who does that?
You know, the primary person that does that is the pastor.
When your pastor gets up and says, hey, I got to tell you about another one, don't
get mad at him, he's doing his job.
Mark them which cause divisions and offenses contrary to the doctrine which you have
learned.
But don't miss this and avoid them.
Who does that?
Oh, well, the pastor is supposed to avoid them.
Really?
I think when you throw them out of the whole church, you know, what's a church?
A church is a congregation.
You say, how do I respond when people have been thrown out of church?
You avoid them.
You don't meet them at Pete's coffee.
You don't go to their kid's birthday party.
You don't, you know, you're still friends with them on Facebook or whatever.
You avoid them.
You reject.
Doesn't the Bible say a man that is an heretic after the first and second admonition
reject?
You know, if there's a heretic that's been admonished, your job, hey, listen to me,
church member, your job is to avoid them and your job is to reject.
You say, oh, well, I just, I don't have that type of attitude.
You know, I know Pastor Anderson has his issues with these people, but I'm just
too kind.
No, you know, why don't you just go ahead and say you're not right with God.
You're a lousy Christian because you're not doing what the Bible says you're supposed
to do which is once they've been marked, you avoid.
Once they've been identified as an heretic and been given one and two admonitions,
you reject.
You say, but why?
You know, I'm not like Pastor Anderson or you might say like I'm not like you,
Pastor Jimenez.
I don't like to fight.
And look, I don't like to fight, you know, and I say that to my shame.
You know, I fight because I have to fight.
I fight because it's my duty to fight, you know, and so if you're serious, I don't
like to fight, I can agree with you, but you know what, you just fight.
You fight the good fight of faith.
When the fight comes to us, we stand up like men and fight.
And you say, but I don't like that.
And I don't, you know, why do we have to avoid them and why do I have to not talk
to them and why do I have to, you know, close off those relationships?
Here's the main reason why you must do it.
Notice verse 17 again, Romans 16, 17, now beseech your brethren, mark them, and then
he ends with saying avoid them, why?
Here's why, here's why, which cause divisions and offenses contrary to the doctrine which
you have learned.
Say why do I have to avoid them?
Because they are trying to cause division within this church.
Because they are trying to influence you so that you can become a problem person
like they are.
You don't have to turn there, but Proverbs 6 and verse 16 says this, these six things
that the Lord hate, yea, even seven are an abomination unto him, one, a proud look,
two, a lying tongue, three, and hands that shed innocent blood, four, and a heart that
devises wicked imaginations, five, feet that be swift in running to mischief.
Verse 19, six, a false witness that speaketh lies, and number seven, he that soweth
discord among the brethren, among brethren.
God hates it.
God hates it when someone's sowing discord among brethren.
God hates it when someone is causing divisions and offenses contrary to the doctrine which
he have learned.
And you know, you say well why do we have to cut them off?
Because look, all of these heretics all have one agenda and it is to cause division.
They want to cause division within this church.
You know that they want to cause division within just churches in general?
I mean they want to sit here and just say anything they can say and do anything they
can do to cause people within this church to start fighting with each other, to start
fighting with the pastor.
They're trying to get pastors to fight with pastors.
I mean you know unfortunately I've heard a lot that these heretics you know will
often say like oh well I just believe like Brother Jimenez.
You know, but then oh so you believe that God exists in three persons, oh well I reject
three persons.
Well then how do you believe like Brother Jimenez?
You know let me just make it real clear.
What Pastor Roger Jimenez and Verity Baptist Church believes and has always believed is
that God exists in three persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
You've never heard a sermon that says anything different than that.
It was oh well I believe like Brother Jimenez.
Oh so you believe that God exists in three persons?
Well I reject three persons.
Then how do you believe like Brother Jimenez?
You know Victor Tay, this is an Australian snake, going around every opportunity he
gets, oh well I just believe like Roger Jimenez.
Oh really Victor you believe like Roger Jimenez?
Then why the hell are you performing Jesus only baptisms?
Oh I believe like Pastor Jimenez.
Look just mark it down, anyone who performs a Jesus only baptism is oneness.
That is the litmus test for oneness.
That's why oneness was created.
Oh I believe like Brother Jimenez.
You're performing Jesus only baptism though you're a oneness heretic.
I believe like Brother Jimenez.
You don't believe that God exists in three persons.
I believe like Brother Jimenez but I reject three persons.
You know what you're trying to do?
You're trying to cause divisions and offenses contrary to the doctrine which you have
learned.
You know what your job is?
You know what my job is?
It's to just avoid these people, to cut them off, to reject them.
Why?
Because that's what the Bible says.
God hates when people try to sow discord among the brethren.
Go to Philippians chapter number three.
You're there in Romans?
We will pass for a second Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians.
Philippians chapter number three.
I said number one tonight, how to respond when heretics are exposed.
Number one, realize that attacks mean you're accomplishing great things for God.
And rejoice that your church does not sweep things under the rug.
You know, when your pastor gets up and says, we're throwing a pedophile out of church,
you shouldn't sit there and think, oh, this is so embarrassing.
You should sit there and think, man, I am so glad that I've got my children in a
church where I can trust that they're looking out for my kids' best interests.
Where they're not just going to let some pet, like the average Baptist church today
would do, just try to hide that and then put them in the children's ministry.
And just say, well, you know, it's part of that.
They're born that way.
So let's put them in children's church or Sunday school or whatever.
Hey, you ought to rejoice in the fact that your church does not sweep things under
the rug.
You ought to reject those who have been thrown out of church.
But number four, you ought to receive the pastor's continual teaching on basic
doctrines.
Now, how do I respond when heretics are exposed?
Here's how you ought to respond.
You ought to receive the pastor's continual teaching on basic doctrines.
Are you there in Philippians 3?
Look at verse number 1.
Philippians chapter 3 and verse 1 says this, finally, my brethren, rejoice in the Lord.
Notice what he says.
He says, to write the same things to you.
What same things?
Things like things you've already heard.
For us, that's like the Trinity, like soul winning, like the King James Bible, baptism
after salvation, how we should.
To write the same things to you, notice what Paul says, to me, indeed, is not grievous.
Paul says, it's not grievous for me.
It's not hurting me to preach another sermon about the King James Bible.
It's not grievous for me to preach another sermon against repent of your sins for salvation.
It's not grievous to me to preach another sermon about the Trinity, about salvation
by grace through faith, about the deity of Christ, about the virgin birth, about
the Word of God.
It's not grievous to me to write the same thing unto you.
Don't miss this.
But for you, it is safe.
See, it's a good thing.
It's a good thing to just continually be refreshed and reminded on the basic fundamental
truths.
So look, as a church member, don't say, ah, I've heard this before.
First of all, what kind of a proud, arrogant person are you?
You know, I've heard that, you know, the pastor gets up, I'm going to preach against
the preacher rapture.
Oh, I've heard this before.
What are you, God?
I mean, you don't think your pastor's reading the Bible, learning, you don't think there's
going to be something in that sermon that maybe you have never heard before?
Look, any time the Word of God is open, you can learn from it.
Any time the Bible is open, you can learn from it.
Don't ever take this attitude, you know, it's Father's Day and all the ladies are like,
ah, I don't have to listen to this.
You can learn from the Father's Day sermon.
You can learn from the Mother's Day sermon.
Say, oh, I'm not going to show up on Sunday night because you're going to preach
to the graduates.
I already graduated.
Well, you obviously didn't learn anything because what you should have learned is that
you're always learning.
And any time the book is open, the Word of God is open, you can learn from it.
Are you telling me you've arrived?
I mean, the Apostle Paul who wrote most of the scripture said, brethren, I cannot myself
have apprehended.
The Apostle Paul who was given revelations, wrote most of the New Testament and said,
I haven't arrived.
I haven't learned everything I need to learn.
I don't know everything I need to know.
But you have.
You know what?
The next time your pastor gets up and says, I'm going to preach on the Trinity, you
know what you should say?
Amen.
I can learn something.
And if I don't learn anything, I can be refreshed and I can be strengthened.
And it's safe for me.
Second Timothy chapter number three, if you'd go there, please.
Second Timothy.
If you'll find all the T-books, they're all clustered together.
First Thessalonians, first Second Timothy, Titus.
Second Timothy chapter three.
Second Timothy chapter three and verse 14.
Second Timothy 3.14 says this, but, notice these words, continue thou.
But continue thou in the things which thou has learned and has been assured of.
So notice, you learned it and then you were assured of it.
You learned the Trinity and then you were shorn up.
A stronger foundation was laid there and has been assured of knowing of whom thou has
learned that.
Look, our job is to continue in the things which we have learned.
And by the way, word to God that every person in this room would just decide today,
I'm going to end my life the way I am right now.
What does that mean?
That means I'm going to die a fundamentalist.
I'm going to die King James only.
What to God that nobody in this room would say, well, I'm an active soul winner now
and then there comes a time in your life where it's one of those, I used to, well,
I used to go so and no, you know what?
You just continue thou in those things which you have learned.
You just continue in soul wedding.
You continue in Sunday morning, Sunday night, Wednesday night.
You continue in the King James Bible.
You continue in the doctrines and the foundational truth that you have learned.
And you just stick with the stuff.
Stay with it.
Continue thou in the things which thou has learned, has been assured of, knowing of
whom thou has learned them.
Psalm 11 and verse 3, you don't have to turn there.
You know the verse.
Psalm 11 verse 3 says, if the foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous do?
And boy, we're learning that verse, aren't we?
If the foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous do?
And you know what?
When your pastor or spiritual leadership or any man in this church or any church gets
up and says, we're going to preach on whatever, and you think to yourself, I've heard this.
I know everything there is to know.
Number one, that's a proud, arrogant attitude.
You got to repent of it.
But number two, you ought to receive the pastor's continual teaching on basic doctrines.
Why?
Because it's safe for you.
It's safe for the church.
It's good to lay and relay that foundation.
Go to Acts chapter 17, Acts chapter 17, Acts chapter 17.
Let me show you a verse that kind of explains the type of person you don't want to be.
And you know, for years and years, I've seen a trend in this.
And unfortunately, I've seen it in younger people and younger Christians.
And if you're here tonight and you're one of these younger Christians or people that
are like this, I'm not mad at you.
I'm not trying to pick on you, but I'm trying to help you a little bit.
And you know, there's this trend that people have.
I've seen it a lot in our type of churches.
And I'm not saying that there's nothing wrong with our type of churches.
Our type of churches are the greatest churches in the world.
But you know, because we've been spoiled by men like Pastor Steven Anderson, who teaches
such great, deep, you know, doctrinal truths, you know, a lot of young men have
decided that they want to, you know, they want to kind of get to that place.
But the problem is, they don't want to memorize half the New Testament to do it.
You know, they don't want to read the Bible 20, 25, 30 times to do it.
They don't want to put the work in to preach, you know, the amazing doctrinal truth.
You know, like the sermons, we were just talking about the Mother's Day sermon about
Sarah and Israel.
They want to preach the sermons that everybody's like, wow, I've never seen that before.
They want to preach those sermons, but they don't want to put in the work to do it.
They just want to, you know, wow everybody.
Acts 17, verse 21, for all the Athenians and strangers which were there spent their
time in nothing else but either to tell or to hear some new thing.
Listen to me, you want to preach great sermons, memorize the Bible.
You want to preach great sermons, read the Bible.
Read the Bible.
You want to preach great sermons, you know, listen to great preachers and learn from
them and learn how they preach and learn how they study and learn what they do.
But when you become the individual that just sits there with your little buddies
and you're just there to talk about nothing, you're not interested in anything, the only
thing you're interested in is to tell or to hear some new thing.
Mark it down.
You will become oneness or a flat earther or some other stupid embarrassing thing.
Because you want to come up with the one thing that you've got, you know, over everybody.
You know, why don't you just preach the Word of God?
Young preachers always worry about, what am I going to preach?
If you learn how to preach the Bible, you'll never have to worry about what you're
going to preach.
There's enough Bible to preach, there's enough sermons, there's enough verses in this
book to preach, you don't have to go on YouTube and make crap up.
Look, there's enough great doctrine in the Word of God, you don't have to go listen to the Pentecostals.
You don't have to go watch debates with the Pentecostals to try to figure out some
new thing to wow someone with.
Just study the Bible.
Study the Word of God.
Lay the foundation that's safe for a congregation.
And you know, those sermons will come with time.
And you'll preach great things and people will like it.
But look, you know what, we've got to be okay.
We've got to be okay with just laying the foundation.
My dad's here tonight and I thank God for my dad.
I remember my dad, he said this to me recently actually, but he said this to me years ago.
And he was giving me a compliment, you know he's my dad, right?
You know how that goes.
They give you a compliment, but they're also trying to instruct you a little bit.
And my dad said to me one time, I don't know if he remembers this, but he said,
son, you're preaching some very great sermons, you're preaching some good sermons, you've
preached some great sermons recently, and you've named some sermons that I preach.
And he said, but every once in a while, why don't you just lay some basic foundational
truths?
You know, he's trying to tell me, you don't have to keep, you know, have this, I got to
out-preach last week's sermon.
You know, it's okay to preach a good sermon every once in a while, and then just preach
something that people need.
Just help them with their marriage.
Just help them with their child rearing.
Just teach them how to study the Bible, teach them how to go soul and just lay some
foundational truths that are going to help them through life.
How do you respond?
How do you respond when heretics are exposed?
Go to Deuteronomy chapter 13.
Deuteronomy 13, you got Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy.
Deuteronomy 13.
We said, number one, realize that attacks mean you're accomplishing great things.
Number two, rejoice that your church does not sweep things under the rug.
Number three, reject those who have been thrown out of the church.
Number four, receive the pastor's continual teaching on basic doctrines.
But number five, tonight, and I want you to listen to what I'm about to say, and
I realize we're independent Baptists, and conspiracy theorists, and anti-government.
I get all that.
I'm all for all that.
As long as your conspiracy is not flat earth, I'm for it.
But with that kind of comes this attitude sometimes, which I'm not against, but I just
want you to listen to what I'm about to say.
Number five, report those spreading false doctrine to church leadership.
How do we respond when heretics are exposed?
Number five, report those spreading false doctrine to church leadership.
Say, Pastor Jimenez, I'm not a snitch.
What are we, in prison or something?
Now, if I could show you from the Bible that you're supposed to do this, would you
do it?
You're trying to make it like we're some sort of occult or something.
Look, if the Bible says you're supposed to do it, would you do it?
Oh, I'm not a snitch.
Then get right with God, because we're not talking about gossip here.
We're not talking about going around and spreading people's personal business.
Somebody smokes, you know.
We don't need to have the whole world know, you know, brother, there's a certain
sister and she's watching this soap opera.
We don't need to know that.
I saw them coming out of the movie theater.
It's like, they're watching Paul's film, it's fine.
It's good.
You know, I saw, we don't need to spread gossip, but you know, when it comes to heresy
and false doctrine, no one should be afraid to report those spreading false doctrines
to choose leadership.
And we need to just get away from them, oh, that's like being a snitch or something.
Okay, look, we're not in a street game, okay?
This is a local New Testament church, all right?
We're not in prison.
You're not in prison anymore, all right?
We're living right now.
And we ought to report, you say, okay, show it to me from the Bible.
Well, let me say this, all right?
In Deuteronomy 13, we have a story, excuse me, not a story, we have some principles
that are found here and they're given to Old Testament Israel, all right?
And I'm not a dispensationalist, all right, but if you want to fit me into two dispensations,
here they are, New Testament, Old Testament, all right?
And in the Old Testament with the nation of Israel, you know, this was a nation that
was given laws, we obviously don't practice the laws, but we can, of course, learn from
the principles there.
You understand what I'm saying?
If a man also lied with mankind as he lies with a woman, both of them have committed
abomination, they shall surely be put to death, their blood shall be upon them.
Are we supposed to put them to death?
No, but you know what we can learn from that?
That God hates homos.
We can learn from that.
They're worthy of death.
Now, should we do it?
We don't follow the practice, but we learn from the principle, right?
And by the way, God didn't change his mind in the New Testament.
That's how I remember Romans 1 was in the New Testament.
Deuteronomy 13, look at verse 6.
If thy brother, don't miss that, if thy brother, you know what that means?
Someone you're close to, someone you're related to.
If thy brother, the son of thy mother, or thy son, or thy daughter, or the wife of
thy bosom, or thy friend, I mean, do you see the point that God's trying to make
here?
Oh, but I'm such good friends with them.
If thy brother, the son of thy mother, or thy son, or thy daughter, or the wife of
thy bosom, or thy friend, which is as thine own soul, look, you should not care how close
you are to them.
It does not matter how many times they had you over for a barbecue.
It doesn't matter how long you've known them, how close they are, which is as thine
own soul, don't miss this, entice thee secretly.
How was that whole, men love darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil?
When they're telling you, when they're talking to you, and they're like, oh, here comes
Pastor Ashford, there's a problem there.
If they want to entice you secretly, notice what it says, saying, let us go and serve
other gods.
You know that the oneness God is a different God than the God of the Bible?
You know, this Jesus who sent himself, glorified himself, loves himself, that's not the Jesus
of the Bible.
And if they entice thee, if they come and speak to you secretly and entice thee, secretly
say, let us go and serve other gods, which thou has not known, thou nor thy fathers.
Look, he's saying, it doesn't matter how close you are to them, it doesn't matter
how good of a friend they were with you, it doesn't matter how much you like them.
You know what he says?
He says, you should not care how close you are to them, and then he says this,
you should not be aiding or abetting them.
So what does it say?
Look at verse seven.
Namely, of the gods of the people, which are round about you, nigh unto thee, or far
from thee, from the one end of the earth, even unto the other end of the earth.
Verse eight, thou, no, don't miss this, thou shalt not consent.
Thou shalt not consent.
That means they come to you and they want to say something negative about the church.
Here's what I found.
Good church people that just don't like confrontation, you know what they always do?
Someone walks up to them and they say, let me tell you something about pastor.
Let me tell you something about pastor's wife.
Let me tell you something about the staff.
Let me tell you something about this church.
People, they think, I don't agree with this, I love pastor.
I love my pastor's wife.
I love my church.
But you know what good people often do?
They just don't say anything.
They don't sit there and rebuke them.
They don't sit there and say, now, wait a minute, that's my pastor.
You're not going to talk about my pastor that way.
They don't sit there and say, wait a minute, that's my pastor's wife.
You show some respect.
They don't sit there and say, oh, really?
You got a problem with that?
Why don't we go and deal with it?
Let's go talk to the person that affects or the person that has authority.
You know what good, godly, Christian, non-confrontational people often do?
Oh, they don't agree, but they're just, you know, because I don't like confrontation.
You know what the Bible says?
The Bible says, thou shalt not consent.
It means you don't agree and you don't give permission.
And listen to me, silence is permission.
And listen to me, silence is agreement.
Why do you guys have to preach against abortion?
Because silence is agreement.
Why do you have to preach against the homos?
Because silence is agreement.
Why do you have to preach against fornication?
Because silence is agreement.
Why do you have to preach against alcohol?
Because silence is agreement.
Why do you have to preach all these negative things?
Because silence is agreement.
And someone has to stand up for the truth.
And when someone comes to you with lies, you don't understand, brother, I'm not ready
to confrontational.
Then get confrontational.
You guys, you know, some of you guys need to grow some hair on your legs.
Grow a backbone.
Some of you guys are so proud about how tall you are, why don't you do something
with that?
I'm just saying.
Just saying.
Thou shalt not consent.
You don't agree?
You don't give permission unto Him?
Notice, nor hearken?
You don't even listen to it.
Once you know where it's going, I don't have to hear this.
You know what good, godly Christians do?
You're not going to talk about my pastor that way, and I don't want to hear this.
Nor hearken unto Him, neither shall thine eye pity!
Oh, you know, I just have a bleeding heart, I just feel so bad, you know, he cried.
He cried on the video.
Are we watching a Hollywood movie?
You know what the Bible says is, thou shalt not pity.
You know what?
They made their bed, let them lie in it.
Thou shalt not pity him, neither shall thou, don't miss this, spare.
What does that mean?
That means no exceptions.
Oh, well, it's Kerry Kirchwey, he's the Church Evangelist, he's been here for ten
years.
Thou shalt not spare.
It's Tyler Baker, it's a deacon.
Thou shalt not spare.
Well, we've already invested so much time and energy and money into having him record
a Bible audio, hey, thou shalt not spare.
Thou shalt not spare.
You don't make exceptions, we're not respecter of persons.
Neither shalt thou, neither shall thine eye pity him, neither shalt thou spare, neither,
don't miss it, shalt thou conceal him.
You don't hide it?
You don't cover for them?
You don't, well, I knew, but I just didn't say anything, then you're wrong.
Well, I knew about it, but I just didn't think it was my place, then you're wrong.
Because the Bible says, neither shalt thou conceal him.
You don't hide it.
You know what the Bible's telling us?
It doesn't matter how close you are, and you never, you never aid.
And again, we're not talking about somebody's personal life, some sin they're struggling
with, some issue they're having, but look, if it's something that should get them
kicked out of church, or if it's a false doctrine or a heresy that is being crept
into this church, it is your job to report them, to reveal them, to expose them.
I'll just wait for someone else to do it.
No, you do it.
Look at verse 9.
But thou shalt surely kill him.
All right, let me give a disclaimer.
I don't want to get another lawsuit.
This is Old Testament Israel.
We don't follow the practice, but we can learn from the principle, all right?
But thou shalt surely kill him.
Here's what you can do.
Thine hand shall be first upon him, to put him to death, and afterward the hand
of all the people.
Who should be the first person, the one they go to?
And thou shalt stone him with stone, did he die, because he hath sought to thrust thee
away from the Lord thy God, which brought thee out of the land of Egypt, from the house
of bondage, and all Israel.
Look, what is the one purpose of church discipline?
It's in verse 11, we find, you can find the same type of idea in the New Testament
as far as church discipline.
Why?
That all Israel shall hear and fear and shall do no more any such wickedness, as this
is among you.
Why does the pastor have to get up and say their name and expose them and embarrass
them to scare you?
That you would fear.
You know, when somebody gets thrown out for fornication, oh, they're just so mean.
You know what I think?
I hope my kids are paying attention.
I hope my kids are realizing how bad of a sin fornication is.
I hope it's scaring them.
That one day the pastor would stand up and call them out, because that's a purpose for
church discipline.
That's a purpose for publicly rebuking and marking people out.
And look, it's you who should go to, it should be your hand.
Thine hand shall be first upon him.
And by the way, let me say this.
You know what?
If I was a church member, and I'm not trying to hurt your feelings, but if I was a church
member and one of these heretics came to me and tried to talk to me about it, I'd be offended.
I mean, if somebody walked up to me and said, hey, let me talk to you about flat earth,
I'd be like, you think I'm an idiot?
You must think I'm a moron.
I mean, you could have gone to 300 people and you chose me.
I'd be mad.
I'm going to report this.
I mean, if somebody walked up to me and said, hey, let me tell you something.
It's not three, it's one.
I'd be like, you know, it's just one person, it's not one God that exists and three persons.
I'd be like, wow, really?
What does this say about me?
I'd be mad.
You know, you say, oh, but you know what's sad is the response is, oh, I just feel
so bad for them.
You are an idiot.
There's a reason they chose you.
There's a reason they went to you.
How should we respond?
How should we respond when heretics are exposed?
And number one, you should realize that attacks mean you're accomplishing great things.
There's nothing wrong with this church.
There's everything right with this church when there are attacks and when the devil
knows you and when there's spiritual warfare, being waged.
It's not because you're doing anything wrong, it's because you're doing everything
right.
And number two, you ought to rejoice that your church has not sweeped things under
the rug and you ought to reject those who have been thrown out of church and you ought
to receive the pastor's continual teaching on basic doctrine and you ought to report,
yes, I said report those spreading false doctrine to church leadership.
Just in closing, as a pastor in this new IFB movement, I want to thank you.
I want to thank Faithful Word Baptist Church.
I want to thank Pastor Anderson.
I want to thank Mrs. Anderson.
I want to thank you for taking the strong stand for the truth that you have taken.
I want to thank you.
I want to thank you for supporting your pastor and your pastor's wife.
I want to thank you for setting the example for the rest of us to see and to follow.
As a pastor in this new IFB movement, I want you to know that we support you.
Verity Baptist Church and churches like ours support you.
We are praying for you.
We are rooting for you.
We love it when the videos go up or Pastor Anderson's throwing some guy out of church
or pushing him.
We love it.
I just want you to know we're for you.
We're praying for you and we thank you.
So just keep up the good work.
Don't be discouraged.
You're doing a great work for God.
Let's bow hair tonight and pray.
Heavenly Father, Lord, we thank you.
Lord, I thank you for this church.
Father, I know it hasn't been easy.
I know Pastor Anderson and I know Mrs. Anderson.
I know they're godly, strong people, but I know they're people.
And I'm sure battles, we all get weary.
Lord, I thank you for this church that has stood with them, that has fought with them,
that has held them up in prayer.
Lord, I just pray you bless this church.
I pray you bless everything that's going on here.
And Lord, I pray that the next time that some heretic gets exposed, whether it's here
or at Verity Baptist Church or at any church of like faith and practice, that all
of our church people would respond appropriately.
Now we maybe might learn some lessons from what we heard here tonight.
We love you.
In the matchless name of Christ we pray, amen.