So we are up to Psalm 55, and you know, as you were probably looking at the Psalm once again,
this is another Psalm of David, you recognize, man, once again, David, you're being persecuted
once again, you've got enemies rising up against you, just seems like this is a constant theme
that we find in the book of Psalms, and yes, it is. And if you look at verse number 14,
look at this enemy that he has, we learn about this enemy a little bit here in verse number 14,
it says, we took sweet counsel together and walked unto the house of God in company.
This enemy that has risen up against David is someone that has gone to,
you know, for lack of a better word, church, they've gone to church together,
they've gone to the house of God together, of course, that was the tabernacle on the day of
David, but we can take the same principle and say, hey, there are people that we can be in
counsel together, we can be in sweet fellowship together, and yet these same people can rise up
against you, okay? And what we'll soon see in this chapter here, in this Psalm, the Psalm 55,
is that this enemy is a false brother, it's not a true believer, it is a false brother,
and so the title for the sermon this evening is, When False Brethren Attack,
When False Brethren Attack, that's the title for the sermon tonight, let's start there in
verse number one. It says, give ear to my prayer, O God, and hide not thyself from my supplication.
One of the great things that we learn in the Psalms over and over again, you know, one thing
I'm starting to realize, just really appreciate, is that I'm starting to realize, look, the Psalms
are actually, you know, great instructions, like on how to deal with conflict, like great
instructions, you know, as soon as we see that David is in turmoil, again and again for the
Psalms, we find that he goes to God in prayer, and like, that is such a given, like that, that
should be such an expectation, you know, it seems like, well, that's obvious, you should go to
prayer, but when I look at these passages, I think the reason we are reminded over and over again
about going to God in prayer in a time of trouble is because we forget to do that. I just think that
many times, you know, we're left thinking, pondering thoughts in our head, you know, we're
left trying to come up with a defense for ourselves, and I think sometimes the last resort we have
is to go to God when we're old, where we're just, we're just so desperate we have to go to God.
One of the great things that we see immediately, he just goes to prayer in God when he finds
himself in a time of difficulty. He says in verse number two, attend unto me and hear me, I mourn
in my complaints and make a noise. Now I don't believe for a second that David is complaining
to God in the sense that he's blaming God, well God, you know, you've let me go through this again,
why is that? You know, to, you know, to complain is also to express grief, you know, it's going to God
and saying, God, once again, I find myself in a difficulty, you know, in the previous Psalms that
we've gone through, if you recall, we saw that, you know, the Bible referred to different stories where
David was being persecuted, you know, a fugitive and the hand of the soul was against him.
This Psalm is not so clear as to at what point is David, you know, in distress, though it could be,
and I'll show you soon, it could be when Absalom, his son, rose up against him and for a brief period
took over the kingdom. It could be that Psalm, it kind of feels like that to some extent, okay,
but one thing we'll also discover as we go through this Psalm, we'll also see some similarities with
Jesus Christ and the persecution that he's gone, that he went through. And he says there in verse
number three, because, so this is why he's going to God to, you know, complain, he's making a noise,
he goes, because of the voice of the enemy, because of the oppression of the wicked,
for they cast iniquity upon me and in wrath they hate me. As I said to you, brethren, the time for
the sermon is when false brethren attack. We're going to look at some, some things that you're
going to go through, some things that you'll notice, some red flags when you see false
brethren. Like once again, we look at this, yeah, there are enemies here, there are people rising up
against him. You say, well, pastor, that's nothing new. But what I like about this Psalm, like I said,
it's about false brethren even within our church. You know, people that we might look at and for
today we say, well, that's a brother in the Lord, that's a sister in the Lord. Surely that's a
sister in the Lord, surely it's a brother in the Lord. Only to then, as time progresses, to find
out that this is a wicked person. Not only is this person just wicked, because, hey, even Christians
can be wicked, you know, but this is not even a saved person. This is a false brother in the Lord,
okay. And so this is why David is so, like so upset, because someone that is so close to him.
Well, let's keep going there. Actually, before we go there, let's look at verse number three again,
because it's the voice of the enemy. This is why he's run to God, because the enemy
is saying things about him. You know, what things is he saying? Because of the oppression of the
wicked, for they cast iniquity upon me. They're saying, David, you've done wrong things.
David, you know, you've broken your promises. David, you're not serving, you're not doing
things the way that you ought to. The first thing that you'll find with false brethren,
first red flag, is they falsely accuse. They falsely accuse. Remember, they cast iniquity
upon him, and in wrath they hate me. They hate you. False brethren, you know, can easily, when
they start making false accusations about you, okay. I used to think, well, maybe they just,
maybe they just don't understand. Maybe they're confused, or, you know, maybe they're getting
overly emotional. But you see here, the reason people make false accusations against you,
false brethren make these accusations against you, is because they hate you, okay. And in
wrath they hate me, he says. They hate you. You know, often when something happens, and I feel
like someone's accusing me of something, I just, I want to think they've got good intentions.
That's always my, you know, well, maybe they, maybe they mean well. It's just that they're
going about it the wrong way, you know. But as you soon see more and more red flags pop up,
you know, you can, then you can say, hey, this person hates me. This isn't just a wayward or a
brother or a conflict that can be resolved. This is a person that really hates me. Look,
the first thing you notice when false brethren attack is they will falsely accuse,
okay. Say, why do they do that? You know, if it's a false accusation toward me,
I know that's not true. Like, I can see clearly that's not true. So that's, you know, they're
not trying to deceive you because you know what's true. You know it's false. You know if you've done
wrong or right. And maybe you've done something that is measurably wrong, but their accusation
is that you've done something much greater. It's like a, like a storm in a teacup, right. But maybe
there is something that you've done that isn't quite right, but they, they blow it out of
proportion potentially, okay. They do this because they hate you. This is the first red flag, you
know. And they, why do they do it once again? They know that you know what the truth is.
They do it because they're trying to turn, you'll soon see later, they're trying to turn
others against you, okay. They're trying to build up the numbers to be against. That's why he says,
because of the voice of the enemy, because of the oppression of the wicked, for they cast
iniquity upon me. You know, this isn't just a battle between two people. They want to gather
people against you. They want to convince them that you've done wrong, that you're the one
that's, that's, you know, at fault. You're the one that's committed great sin. And, you know,
they think by the voice of the majority. They're going to defeat you, even though you know where
you stand. You know where you stand in the truth. The first danger Brevin is they falsely attack.
When false Brevin attack, they falsely accuse. Let's keep going there. Verse number four,
let's see the reaction. And this is a natural reaction, okay. David says,
my heart is so pained within me. He says, man, I've just been stabbed in the heart, as it were.
Right. I mean, this is supposed to be my brother. This is supposed to be my friend.
Because this hurts. This is like I've been just stabbed in the, my, my heart's in pain.
And the terrors of death have fallen upon me. Fearfulness and trembling have come upon me.
Because look, I'm afraid. I'm afraid. I'm fearful about what's going to happen.
And horror has overwhelmed me. You know, when I think of the word horror, I tend to think about,
you know, what, you know, horror films. I hate horror films. You know, I just, I don't get,
I don't get why people like that stuff. But anyway, you know, but you know, the excessive
fear, you know, the, you know, things that are beyond normal, the horrors of, you know, what,
you know, just the despair that has come upon David because of these enemies that have risen
up against him. And let me, you know, we got these verses here just again to show us that this is the
natural response, right? Like if someone, if someone in church gets up and starts accusing you,
right, starts making an enemy out of you, okay, don't think that I'm, you know, I'm just going to
be able to stand strong and I'll be able to combat those accusations and not, you're going to, you're
going to suffer pain. It's going to be sad for you. Okay. There's going to be fear, fear sometimes
that might fall upon you. And when this happens, if this happens, I don't want you to feel like
you're weird. Even David has gone through these emotions. Okay. And you can see that he just,
he's just, he can't handle it. This is why he's run to the Lord, right? He's gone to God for help.
But look at his response there in verse number six, he says, and I said,
oh, that I had wings like a dove for then would I fly away and be at rest? He says, I wish I just
had wings like a bird, like a dove. Then I could just fly away from my problems. The next thing
David wants to do is just run away. He just wants to get away from the area. He just wants to,
if I could just flee and get away from the problems, that might be your next response.
In fact, we see that as the response of Adam and Eve. You know, when they first sinned against the
Lord and the Lord came walking in the garden, they fled, right? They hid themselves in the garden.
They did not want to face God. You know, and again, this is a natural response. David just
wants to flee. He wants to just, I can't handle this. I want to run away from my problems.
And let me tell you that it's never a good idea to run away from your problems.
It's never a good idea. Like if you flee to God, okay, for his help and his strength,
that's one thing, but never run away from your problems. Okay. If there's a problem in your life,
you need to address it. Okay. You need to deal with the problem before it becomes a larger issue.
Can you please keep your finger there and turn with me to second Samuel chapter 15,
second Samuel chapter 15 and verse number 12, second Samuel 15 and verse number 12.
And we're just going to briefly look at this story when Absalom,
you know, rose up against his father David. And it could be that this Psalm is referring to this
event. Okay. I don't know for sure, but it says there in second Samuel 15 verse 12, second Samuel
15 verse 12. It says an Absalom sent for Ahithophel, the Gileadites, David's counselor.
So Ahithophel is David's counselor, is one of David's friends. Okay. From his city,
even from Gilo, while he offered sacrifices, look at this, and the conspiracy was strong
for the people increased continually with Absalom. Absalom, David's son wants to take over the
kingdom. And one man that he thinks he can get on his side, of course, is David's counselor,
Ahithophel. Okay. And so again, it's the same approach, right? He starts to gather up people,
a great number against David, you know, even David's best counselors, right? He starts to
amass this, this strength to go up against his father. Look at verse number 13. And there came
a messenger to David saying, the hearts of the men of Israel are after Absalom. And brethren,
you know, this can be, you know, your concern when you're being falsely accused,
and you feel like that many people have been influenced, and maybe they have been influenced
by those lies, you know, that you think man, the people that are against me are just too great.
I just can't handle this problem. And it says in verse number 14, and David said unto all his
servants that were with him at Jerusalem, arise and let us flee, for we shall not else escape
from Absalom, make speed to depart, lest he overtake us suddenly and bring evil upon us
and smite the city with the edge of the sword. And so this is why I think maybe this Psalm has
to do with the sword of Absalom. Because there's a great conspiracy against David. Okay. David's
being falsely accused, I'm sure. People are rising up against David. And then he says, look,
we got to flee. You know, I got to get out of here. You know, and maybe in this fear,
maybe in this sadness, that even is out of his from his own son, his own flesh and blood,
you know, that he has such this, such a pain within him. And this is potentially
why Psalm 55 was written. All right. And it's just expressing this pain, expressing this desire to
just run away, and just to get away from it all. You know, back to Psalm 55 in verse number seven,
Psalm 55 in verse number seven. Where is it that David wants to run away to?
It says here in verse number seven, lo, so if he could fly away, he says lo,
then I would wander far off and remain in the wilderness, Selah. Okay. So David has no,
he doesn't want to deal with these problems. He doesn't want to deal with it. I just want to be
in the wilderness. I just want to be alone. Right away from my palace, just away from my riches,
away from my power, away from Israel, away from Jerusalem, away from the family. I just want to
be in my will. I just want to go to the wilderness and stay there. I can't handle these problems.
That's David's response. Okay. And again, this could be, this could be how you feel when you
go for certain hardships. Okay. And so, of course, he's sharing this with God as he's praying to the
Lord and he's complaining, he's letting his complaints out, and he's expressing to God,
God just want to run away from it all. All right. I just want to be in a wilderness. I don't want
to have to deal with these problems anymore. Have you ever felt that? I know I felt that way.
When there are certain issues, I'm like, all right. I just want to go. I don't want to deal
with this then. This is how you're going to behave. This is how you're going to deal with
this issue. I don't want to even be there. Okay. And look, like I said, those emotions are normal,
but you don't want to actually literally run away. Okay. Because those problems are going to remain.
Okay. And don't forget that God is the one that allows us to go through difficulties and trials.
Okay. To better you, to refine you, to teach you a lesson. Okay. He might be judging you,
maybe. Okay. Or he might just be allowing you to go through something. So, you know, God knows that
you're ready to take on a new challenge. God knows you're ready to grow thicker skin. You know, God
knows you're ready to become more mature. God knows that you're ready to be pruned and be more
fruitful for him, for his service. Let's keep going there. Verse number eight. Psalm 55 verse
eight. I would hasten my escape from the windy storm and tempest. Because man, I can't wait to
run away. Then he says, verse number nine, destroy our Lord and divide their tongues.
For I have seen violence and strife in the city. So already, you know, as David's preparing to flee,
if this is the story of Absalom, he's already seen the destruction. He's already seen the
strength of the conspiracy in the city of Jerusalem. He goes, man, this is just causing
problems. All right. But I like how he says, destroy our Lord and divide their tongues.
Their. Once again, their is plural, right? Their tongues. And the thought that I get here
is, again, what he's talking about is the fact that as they make these false accusations,
they're trying to amass people against the one they're falsely accusing. Right.
And so instead of being united, you know, instead of coming in unity and in agreement against David
or against the one they're falsely accusing, David wants their tongues to be divided.
He doesn't, you know, he's asking God, can you please destroy the unity? Can you not help them
come together and become a powerful force to divide their tongues as they were? So they're
kind of fighting amongst themselves where they can't figure out exactly what they want to achieve.
And so David asks this from the Lord. So this brings us to our second point.
What false brethren love to do is, and I've already kind of mentioned this, but they like
to find strength in numbers. They want to find strength in numbers in order to take down someone
that is innocent or is not deserving of the accusations that they're making. They know that
maybe if I just get the numbers together, if we stand in unity, then we can overcome this person
that we're trying to take down. That's their goal. Okay. One thing we definitely learn about
false brethren is that they're too cowardly, they're too cowardly to stand alone. I mean,
if they've got, you know, if they're correct, you know, and these accusations are true,
then they should be able to just stand alone and present the evidence of the sin,
of the inequity, of the problems. Right. They should be able to do that alone.
But they know they can't do it alone.
There are times when I've had conference with people and I'm saying brother, and I'm not saying
the false brethren, I'm just saying, brother, can we just, can we just talk about it? Can we just
catch up one-on-one and talk about it? Why do you have to keep going to brother so-and-so, sister
so-and-so? Can't we just talk about it? They don't show up. They don't want to talk about it
one-on-one. I don't understand. Well, I do understand. Okay. Because their accusations,
they're nothing. You know, when they're speaking one-on-one, it's going to be so clear that what
they're saying is so insignificant or so stupid or just an outright lie that they can't stand
alone. They're too cowardly. They want to get other people. Did you know a pastor said this?
Did you know he lied about that? Did you know, oh, yeah, really, brother, let me, tell me more,
tell me more. Get people together. And then when they feel like they've got enough people
that are on their side, then we can take down the pastor. Now we're ready. Okay. Because they're too
cowardly to come alone. Okay. And let me encourage you brethren. If you've got a conflict with
someone in the church, you take it to that person alone, one-on-one alone. And if you don't do it,
I say you're too cowardly to do it. Okay. Don't be like the false brethren here. Okay. Don't be
like this. Otherwise you rise a red flag. Okay. Eventually, you know, especially if you've got
numerous issues that we see in this chapter, you know, well, hopefully if it really is a false
brother, hopefully they just manifest themselves to be just wicked. Right. And that they should
not belong in the house of the Lord. Verse number 10. It says day and night, they go about it upon
the walls thereof. So they're in the, they're in the city, right? They're in the, in the city of
Jerusalem. These enemies of David. They're inside. You know, they go about upon the walls. So the
walls of the city. Mischief also and sorrow are in the midst of it. Wickedness is in the midst thereof.
Look at this. Deceit and guile depart not from her streets. And so the next thing that you learn here
is that these false brethren, they like to infiltrate. I mean, this, this is, this makes,
this is obvious. They want to infiltrate. They've infiltrated the city. Okay. You know,
they're causing the sin to become a wicked environment, right? A hostile environment.
Well, when we have false brethren that creep into this church, if they got something against you,
or they got something against the pastor, they're going to want to create the church as a hostile
environment against the person that they're trying to drive out. That's their goal. They infiltrate.
That's why they're false brethren. False brethren. We call them false brethren because
we think they're brethren. We welcome them in as brethren. We try to be a blessing toward them as
brethren, don't we? We don't always know. I mean, do we truly know that every person in this church
is saved? You know, I like to think we're all saved. Based on your testimony, based on the
words that you said, based on your testimony that you've trusted Christ the Savior, that's good
enough for me, right? If your testimony is clear and true, I count you my brother.
Okay. But the only way you can have false brethren is if you first count that person as a brother.
You see that. Like if someone creeps into church and like they clearly have another gospel.
All right. But you know, they just want to sit in church and they just want to learn. They're not,
they're not trying to be a troublemaker. They're welcome to church. Reverend, unsaved people are
welcome to church. If they're willing to sit there and not be a problem, right? And to hear God's
word, hopefully we get them saved, right? After a little period of time, but they're welcome,
right? But a false brother is someone that you think, man, this person is saved. This person's
on the same page as us. And then you find out as time goes on, hold on. They never were a brother
in the first place. They were never saved in the first place. They said the right things.
All right. But then they manifest themselves to be these excessively wicked people. But
infiltrate. They want to creep in, creep into the church, creep into your house,
creep into your families. They want to tell you what to do at home. They want to control your
lives. All right. They want you to give them feedback on what you're doing. And then they
want to give you advice and instruction. Oh, you should be doing it this way. You should be doing
it that way. They like to infiltrate. Okay. And the only way they infiltrate is by being a very
nice person to begin with. Okay. Because if they're an excessively wicked person at the
beginning, you're not going to allow that person to infiltrate, right? They start as a brother.
They look like a brother. And yeah, they, and look again, not every false brother is trying to
destroy our church. We could have people that come into our church that we think, well, but yeah,
you're saved. And then find out later, they were truly never saved. But they're not trying to be
a problem. You see, they're not trying to destroy the church, not trying to harm people. We're
looking at false brethren that are trying to attack. Okay. And again, when I, when I read
these things in the Bible, I just don't understand. I cannot comprehend wanting to infiltrate a group
of people to just destroy them. I don't really, it doesn't process in my mind, right? Like,
why would you waste your time? Like I've got so many other things that I could do in my life than
try to infiltrate a church and hurt people, but they get a kick out of it. Okay. Look at
verse number 12. Again, how do they infiltrate? Say, look at this, verse number 12. For it was,
look at this, for it was not an enemy that reproached me. David goes, hold on, these guys,
Absalom, Ahithophel, these are not my enemies. Right? This is where it hurts. You expect an
enemy to hate you. You expect the hater of God to hate our church. You expect people that to
mock the Bible and to mock, but when it's someone that you thought was a brother,
someone you cared about deeply, someone that you tried to be a friend toward.
He goes, for it was not an enemy that reproached me. Then I could have bought it. He goes, I could
have, I can deal with this if it's just an enemy, but it's not an enemy. Neither was it he that
hated me, that did magnify himself against me. Then I would have hid myself from him,
but it was thou, oh man, mine equal, my guide and mine acquaintance. So it could be Ahithophel here.
Okay. Cause it's probably his guide. So Ahithophel was a counselor. Could be. I don't, again,
I don't really know that he's referring to here, but he goes, you're my friend. You're my counselor.
We're acquaintances. We got along for so long. You've risen up against me.
I can't handle this. Is that what David's saying? I can't deal with this.
If it's just someone that I knew was a hater, I knew was an enemy, has always hated me along,
who cares? He's just doing what he does. But I don't expect my own brother in the Lord,
so-called false brethren is what it is, to rise up against me.
So the next point that I have for you brethren is they feign friendship. They feign. Feign is
to fake. Okay. They do. They desire to be friendly. They are kind. They are a blessing.
Okay. They do hurtful things and they mask it behind good intentions.
Okay. They're seemingly trying to be a blessing and a help, and
it's all fake. They feign friendship. Okay. Look at this. Verse number 14.
We took sweet counsel together because, man, we've had great fellowship together. You know,
you've advised me in life. I've advised you in life. I thought we were getting along.
Thought we took sweet counsel together and walked onto the house of God in company
because we went to church together. We spent time together. We praised God together.
This is why it's false brethren. Okay. It's not just another enemy that we're dealing with here.
Someone close. Someone close. You say, pastor, how do we prevent this from happening?
You kind of can and you kind of can't. Okay. One way we can, of course, is to
just preach the word of God without compromise. That's for sure. Okay. If we just stand boldly
on the word of God, we just preach it and we don't compromise the things that are a little
bit offensive or whatever, then automatically people that are just not on the same page are
automatically just going to walk away from the church. That's one way you can protect the church.
Okay. But truly you really can't at the end of the day because they're so convincing.
Judas Iscariot was so convincing, wasn't he? You know, all the other disciples thought,
surely not Judas. No way, Judas. He's been with us these three years as Christ walked
in the ministry, right? We've been serving together. We've been working together.
How can Judas be the betrayer? And again, Jesus Christ is there in the midst, teaching them.
You would think that the best teaching you could get would come from Christ and even then they
just couldn't see it. They couldn't see the false brother. So you think you're just going
to identify the false brother? You think I can? No. But we should learn how to be a little bit
protective, okay, in case there's an attack. You know, keep your reputation clear, right?
Keep your reputation clear. Don't allow, you know, false accusations to stick to your testimony.
Verse number 15, and this is why the false brethren, because he says this in verse number 15,
let death seize upon them and let them go down quick into hell for wickedness is in their
dwellings and among them. So David's asking God, God, can you just quickly just kill them?
Lord, can you just quickly send them to hell? So if this is just a brother in the Lord in church,
then of course you can't be praying that God sent them to hell because they're not going to go to
hell. They're saved, okay? Once you're saved, you're always saved. The fact that he can pray
this, Lord, send them to hell, just demonstrates to us that they were never saved to begin with.
Hey, but they're in the house of the God. They're in the house of God. They're in the tabernacle.
They're at church, right? That they've made friendships,
and we learn, no, that their ultimate destiny would be into hell. They were never saved to
begin with. Again, why? Why be in the house of the Lord with other people?
Because they want to attack, and again, I don't get it. I can't explain to you exactly.
I'll give you some reasons. We'll have a look at the scriptures why this might be the case,
but if you can please turn with me to 2 Corinthians now. Keep your finger there in Psalm 55 and turn
with me to 2 Corinthians chapter 11. 2 Corinthians chapter 11, please.
2 Corinthians chapter 11 verse number 24. 2 Corinthians chapter 11 verse number 24.
What we see in this passage is just Paul describing the kind of persecution that he's
gone through, you know, as he's been serving the churches, he's gone around, you know,
winning souls, starting churches, etc. He says in 2 Corinthians 11, 24,
of the Jews, five times received I, 40 stripes save one. He goes, man, the Jews have whipped me
five times, okay, with 39 whippings. That's what he's gone through, okay. Verse number 25,
Christ was beaten with rods. Once was I stoned. Christ I suffered shipwreck. A night and a day
have I been in the deep. So shipwreck just there in the ocean for a whole day, a whole night,
okay. Verse number 26, in journeyings, offens, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers,
in perils of mine own countrymen, in perils by the heathen, in perils in the city,
in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, look at this, in perils among false brethren.
He goes, man, I've been attacked by false brethren. So I've started churches, people are
coming together, getting saved, winning souls, and then we find false brethren within the church,
because I've been in perils against these false brethren. I mean, this is Paul. I mean,
a great Christian, and even he can't identify these false brethren, because if he could
identify them, he would have driven them away a long time ago. There's false brethren coming
to the church. When I look at this group tonight, I don't believe there's really any false brethren
here, okay. It's just because we've been together for a very long time, most of us here. You know,
we've known each other for at least five years, right, maybe longer. I don't think that's going
to happen, but again, we still need to preach this. We still need to hear it in case
these things happen. It does happen, definitely happens.
Can you please turn with me to Galatians chapter two, Galatians chapter two and verse number one.
I guess my point once again, brethren, is that if the apostles did not know about Judas Iscariot,
if Paul is being attacked by false brethren, then we're not better than them. This church is not
better than their churches, right. It can easily happen here, very easily happen here.
Now there is one quick way, and this is why I don't, I don't get bored of hearing the gospel
at church. Like we're not preaching the gospel every week, right. Brother Callum preached again
on the gospel Sunday morning, appreciate it, you know, coming up from a different angle about the
kingdom of God, you know, but we need to hear this again and again and again in our church,
because ultimately false brethren, they want to drive you away from that gospel message,
okay. And in Galatians chapter two verse number one, let's start there, Galatians chapter two
verse number one, Paul says, then 14 years after I went up again to Jerusalem with Barnabas and took
Titus with me also, and I went up by revelation and communicated unto them the gospel, which I
preach among the Gentiles, but privately to them which were of reputation, lest by any means I
should run or had run in vain. But neither Titus who was with me being a Greek was compelled to be
circumcised. Now let's, verse number four ties this up together, and that because of false
brethren, unawares, there it is again. I mean, just again, the phrase false brethren should
make me realize that well, we can't really be aware of these people, okay. But he just drives
it home, false brethren, unawares. We weren't expecting this, all right. Unawares brought in,
what do they bring in? Who come in privily to spy out our liberty, which we have in Christ Jesus,
that they might bring us into bondage. To whom we gave place by subjection, no, not for an hour,
that the truth of the gospel might continue with you. So it says these people have crept in
privately, okay, because they wanted to see the liberty that Christ has given us. Brethren,
we've been set free. The moment you've been saved, you've been saved from hell, you've been saved
from your sins, you are free. No matter what happens today, you know you'll be going to
heaven, no matter what happens. I mean, that is liberty, that is freedom, all right. I mean,
even living out a Christian life, we have liberty to run as hard as we want to, or to run,
or to not run at all. God allows us, He gives us free will to do what we want. There is true
liberty because salvation is not based on any work, all right. But these folks, brethren,
why do they creep in? Because they don't like that message. They want to bring you under bondage.
In this scenario, they wanted to bring these believers under circumcision,
physical circumcision, all right. Well, you've got to keep this part of the law,
you've got to be physically circumcised. They're bringing them in bondage. That is not freedom.
But this is what they love. Eventually, this is what really manifests them, okay. A preacher of
a false gospel, bringing you under bondage, okay. Listen, I'm willing to admit that I believe in
easy believism. Salvation is easy. It's believed on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved.
I'm also a believer of hard believism. It's hard for some people to give up their false beliefs
and to come to realize that salvation really is that easy.
Because I believe in believism, salvation by belief, salvation by faith and faith alone
on Christ alone. And, brethren, this is why we need to hear this in church again and again,
how easy and how free salvation is. Because this will drive away or this will at least
manifest reveal the false brethren in our church because they hate that message.
Because if they were truly saved, they would love that message, wouldn't they? But no,
they can't handle that salvation is all glory to Christ alone. They want to receive glory
themselves. We've made the church all get circumcised. Yep, we did it. They can't handle
the thought that they're not good enough for heaven. It is only by Christ's sacrifice alone
that saves them. It's so beautiful, such a beautiful message, but they can't handle that.
They creep into churches. Their goal is to mess up the gospel, okay. And there's some other goals.
Let's keep going what that is. Let's keep going in that passage.
Sorry, I've just, oh yeah, sorry. Sorry, it's not in that passage there. But
again, he says in verse number five, to whom we gave place to subjection,
know not for an hour that the truth of the gospel might continue with you.
So if someone comes to our church, look, if someone comes to our church and they believe
a false gospel, I'm not trying to drive them away. I'm trying to get them saved. All right.
And if they don't get saved on the first service, then hopefully the second service.
Hopefully service number 10, they get saved. I don't know. But if they're trying to promote
their false gospel, if they're trying to teach a false gospel, brethren, we should not put up with
these people, not even for an hour, okay. In other words, get out of the church. You believe
a false gospel. And this is why, you know, it's good that we have a church that gets in the habit
of when visitors come in, even if they say, I come from such and such Baptist church,
is to just check with them, hey, you know, if you were to die today, would you be 100% sure
that you'd be going to heaven? Okay. Because then at least that person knows immediately
where we stand in the gospel. Okay. And their efforts to potentially drive us away from that
gospel, you know, wouldn't be easy. They would realize, man, this is going to take a lot of work.
You know, if literally the first thing they're talking about is how to get saved.
I think that's wonderful. The first thing that someone can hear is the gospel of salvation.
But you say, well, for what purpose? And please turn with me to Acts chapter 20.
Acts chapter 20, because I don't really fully understand these things, you know,
like why they do this exactly. And even though I read this in Acts 20, I still don't get it.
But in Acts chapter 20, please, verse number 29, Acts chapter 20 and verse number 29,
Paul says these words, for I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter
in among you, not sparing the flock. Also, look at this, also of your own selves.
That's false brethren, of your own selves. The people that we say, that's my brother,
that's my sister at New Life Baptist Church. He goes, also of your own selves shall men arise,
speaking perverse things, and this is why, to draw away disciples after them.
Therefore, watch and remember that by the space of three years, I cease not to warn everyone,
night and day with tears. Every day, the Apostle Paul was warning the churches
about these false brethren. Every day, every night, every day, he's warning the churches.
But see, they want to draw away disciples after them. They don't want to be a follower. They want
to be the leader. Say, what about you, pastor? You're kind of the leader of the church. Yeah,
but I'm happy to be the follower too. All right, I became a pastor at, how old was I, 37,
I think. I was a follower for 36 years. And I'd be happy if there was another man that could start
New Life Baptist Church and be the pastor here. All right, I'd be more than happy to be the
follower. I don't have to be the leader. These people creep in, they find a group of people.
They go, man, if I can just get in there, I just want the position. I want authority.
I want people to follow after me. That's their desire. And again, I don't really get it because
it's not even my natural desire. I don't get it, but this is what they want. They want positions.
They want recognition. You know, they want standing in the eyes of other people.
And they think it's easy to go into a church and get that.
Please turn with me to Mark 14, Mark 14, verse 18. Mark 14, verse number 18.
Mention Judas Iscariot in this passage.
And while you turn to Mark 14, or actually just let's turn there. Mark 14, verse 18.
Mark 14, verse 18. The Bible says, and as they sat and did eat, Jesus said,
verily I say unto you, one of you which eateth with me shall betray me.
And they began to be sorrowful and to say unto him one by one,
is it I? And another said, is it I? Isn't that interesting? It's like,
like we think sometimes, we think we're really mature, wise Christians.
Like if Jesus came into our church and said, hey, look, there's one of you that's going to
betray me, betray Jesus. We kind of think, yeah, we'll know. It's going to be brotherless. I knew
it. I knew it's brother, whatever, right? So I'm not pointing at you, brother. No, no, you're not
going to, you're going to be thinking, man, what? You're going to look around and go, man,
maybe it's me. Like, cause everyone else I know is saved, surely. Is it I, Lord?
That's how deceiving it is. That's how,
again, this is why we have like the Psalm, Psalm 55, just to give us the red flags.
And look, just cause one red flag happens doesn't mean that person's a false brother.
But when you see a series of red flags after another, after another, after another,
you can start, man, I think this guy's a false brother. And you can start making
that judgment call. But as it continues, verse 20, and he answered and said unto them,
it is one of the 12 that did it for me in the dish. The son of man indeed goeth as it is written
of him, but woe to the man, by whom the son of man is betrayed. Good were it for that man,
if he had never been born. Jesus says, hey, the betrayer, which is Judas, it was just better if
he was never born. So why would he say that? Because Judas is an example of a false brother
who died and went to hell. Like if he was truly saved, and you know, he betrayed Jesus,
and then he goes to heaven, then it's great that he was born, because now he's got everlasting
life in heaven. Jesus says, look, it just would have been better if he was never born,
because his ultimate destiny, of course, is hell. This is why you can't judge someone's salvation
by their works. Judas had all the works. Judas had it all. He had the office of an apostle of
Jesus Christ. How can you judge him by his works? He's got it all. I'll quickly read to you from
John 6 63. John 6 63 says, these are the words of Christ. It is the spirit that quickeneth,
the flesh profit of nothing. The words that I speak unto you, they are spirit and they are life.
Then he says these words in verse number 64. But there are some of you that believe not.
He goes to the disciples out there. There are some of you that believe not.
For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were that believed not and who should betray him.
Jesus knew from the beginning that Judas would be the one that betrayed him.
Jesus knew from the beginning that Judas never believed. What is a false brother? Someone that's
got the bad works? I guess not really. I mean, there could be red flags, but what truly makes
them a false brother is they never believed on Christ to begin with. And this is why eventually
they start teaching some of the gospel, because they never believed in the first place. They
always thought it was faith plus works. They always had a messed up gospel. They never accepted that
salvation is believing on Christ alone. And they want to bring, come to church and convince others
that faith is not enough. Come with me back to Psalm 55 verse 16. Psalm 55 verse 16.
And again, we see David's response to this conspiracy against him.
Verse number 16, as for me, I will call upon God and the Lord shall save me. All right,
so his trust is in the Lord. Look how much he prays. Verse number 17, evening and morning and
at noon will I pray and cry aloud and he shall hear my voice. If you're going through trials and
you haven't overcome that trial just yet, let me encourage you not just to pray, not just a
Wednesday night, you know, we bring our requests, but every day, evening, morning, noon, just take
it to God. Okay, just show him how much it's hurting you. Cry aloud. Verse number 18. I love
verse number 18, so amazing. He have delivered my soul, look at this, in peace from the battle
that was against me, for there were many with me. So he realizes, hold on, I've got people with me.
Like he was under this impression, the whole kingdom must be turning against me.
And then as things start to change, you know, as these wickets start to become manifest,
he realized, hold on, there's many more that are with me at the end of it all. I mean, God is with
me. His heavenly hosts are with me. But again, just that feeling that, man, everyone must be
against me. That's how David felt for a period. But I love how he says my soul, he delivered my
soul in peace from the battle that was against me. So there was a battle, there was a war against
David. But he's saying, hey, I didn't even have to fight. You know, maybe I was getting ready for
the battle, you know, I wanted to run away. But hey, at the end of the day, I've been delivered
by God, I didn't even have to fight. I've been delivered in peace. I didn't have to do anything.
God's come through. And God can do this in your life. Sometimes you might have to go to battle.
But many times, many times, God can just deliver you and keep you safe. And even though you got
ready for the fight, it all dissipated, because they end up being manifest for the wicked people
that they are. And again, because they're cowards, they then run away. Okay. Exodus 14, 13. And Moses
said unto the people, Fear ye not, stand still and see the salvation of the Lord. And he will show
you today, for the Egyptians whom ye have seen today, ye shall see them again no more forever.
The Lord shall fight for you, and ye shall hold your peace. This is the time when the Egyptians
were marching down against the Israelites and they were at the Red Sea. That story, right?
And so how are we going to cross then? Moses says to the Israelites, look, God's going to fight for
you. You know, you don't have to fight. God's going to take care of it for you. I've seen the
hand of God in regards to this. I've learned how to deal with conflict and especially false
accusations and things happen. I've learned this not just as a pastor, but I've learned this
even before in the business world, because that business world, that corporate world,
it's dog eat dog, right? Everyone's trying to have a go at you because they want your positions
or they want to overtake you and whatever. That's just how the world is. You kind of expect the world
to be like that, but you don't expect church to be like that, right? People that you can as brothers,
but it happens. That sinful flesh is there or the false brethren have crept in and
it's, what I've learned really is just to give people enough rope to hang themselves.
Where, all right, you're making false accusations against me. I don't have to defend myself.
It's not easy. Again, you're like, you start like David. It's like, man, it hurts, pain.
All right, Lord, I've got to go to you and Lord, you've got to deliver me. I don't know how to
fight this thing, but I've learned kind of, you just got to let them do their things sometimes.
You've got to let them infiltrate sometimes, okay? Because as time goes on, they eventually
manifest themselves for the wicked people that they are, okay? And the way I've dealt with
accusations is I've let these enemies that are not my enemies, say things, act, all right?
Where it's a very public thing, I just allow it. People think, oh, Pastor Kevin must be weak in
this situation, but I'm actually allowing that to happen, okay? I'm allowing the accusations,
I'm allowing the actions to come to fruition, where people can see the actions, where it's
very public, all right? Because then, especially as a pastor, I can turn around with my authority
and say, look at the actions of these people. I don't have to make the accusations. Look at
what they've done. Look how they've publicly displayed themselves. Look at what they've said.
Look at what they've behaved. Look what they've done. And everyone knows because they've seen it,
because they've been busy, they've been trying to gather forces, they've been making lies.
Look at their actions and based on their railing accusations, I'm going to kick them out of the
church. And I feel like I never went to war in that situation. It's like they've done it
themselves. They've fallen in their own trap. I've given them enough rope to hang themselves.
I just had to let them do their thing and they do it. And again, when that happens,
that situation happens, I go, man, that's the Lord's deliverance. I'm at peace. The Lord had to
fight for me. And again, it's hard because you think everyone's against you, but you find out
later, hold on. When people start to have some, they start to reason amongst themselves that
they're not driven by emotions, they realize truly who are the wicked? Who are the ones that are
actually on the attack? And who are the ones that are trying to be at peace? These things start to
reveal themselves in their own time. But let's keep going there. Verse number 19.
God shall hear and afflict them. So again, God is one delivering David. Even he that abideth
of old sealer, because they have no changes, therefore they fear not God. I'll keep going.
Verse number 20. This is quite interesting. He have put forth his hands. This is the enemy.
He have put forth his hands against such as be at peace with him. He have broken his covenant.
So these wicked false brethren, they even put their hands, like they even go on the attack
with people that are at peace with them. Like you and I, like me and someone else,
we might be getting along just fine. No conflicts, no problems. These false brethren,
they'll still go on the attack, even with the people they're at peace with.
The point of a fight they have for your brethren is that they are in constant conflict.
Just constantly fighting, even with people that are supposedly their friends.
Just constantly. They just can't help but doing constant battle,
constant arguments. Hold on, I'm your friend. You know, and I, you know, this stuff happens
sometimes. Pastor, can I get out your advice? Okay, this is my situation. What do you think?
I reckon this. Then they get offended. Why did you get offended? You asked me for my advice.
If you didn't want to get offended, why did you ask for my advice? Just do what you want to do
then. You don't need me to tell you what to do. I'm not the boss of you. You're Lord.
You do what God's supposed to tell you. You do whatever you want. At the end of the day,
you do what you want. You know, Lord's going to deal with you. That people just like to be
at conflict. And I think the reason this happens, where they even go to war against those that
they're at peace with, is because of paranoia. It's because they know their hearts. Like their
heart is wicked, right? Their heart is wicked. And so before they get attacked because of the
paranoia, even though no one's going to attack them, okay, no one's out to get them because of
the paranoia, because of how they are in the heart, they then go on the attack. You know,
they go first before they feel that they're going to be attacked. But they are in constant
conflict, these brethren. False brethren, I should say. Verse number 21. What else do we learn about
these people? The words of his mouth were smoother than butter. But war was in his heart. Look at
that. So smooth words. He's got good words, very flattery. Yeah. But in his heart, he's truly at
war. He says nice things to you, but truly he hates you. Okay. His words were softer than oil,
yet were they drawn swords. So point number six is they are masters at flattery.
Masters at making you feel good. You know, brother, the Lord, I can see the Lord is blessing
you, doing great works in your life. You know, you're such an inspiration to me. That's the best
sermon I've ever heard you preach. There is no pastor in Australia just like you. I've had that
said about me. Flattery, but not hatred in their hearts. Okay. They manifest themselves. They're
smooth talkers. They make you feel good. In fact, when there's too much flattery, I feel
uncomfortable. It's just too much. I just get that butter off me. You know, but yeah, they're
masters at flattery. That's why it's so hard. Because even when you start getting red flags
about that person, you know, it's so nice to ward me out. Like if I just come out and let it known
that I think this guy's a bit wicked, they're going to think I'm like the one that's just
trying to cause problems because, you know, because they're flattering everybody. They're
getting along with everybody. They just seem to love everybody. And they seem to be best friends
with the pastor potentially. By the way, if someone ever in church tries to
portray as being my best friend or something like that, and you've got a problem with that
individual. Okay. You still come to me. All right. Like don't think that I've got this friend,
I've got this brother or this person or this family that is my favorite in church. Okay.
And therefore I can't approach pastor about an issue. Don't let it, don't think like that.
Because this is what these post brethren do. They want to set themselves up to look like,
you know, their pastor's best friend or something like that. And so, man,
I can't say anything about him because what's pastor going to think about me?
They're doing that on purpose. Okay. They're trying to make themselves look that way.
Again, flattery, but hey, swords, you know, war in their heart.
Verse number 22, cast thy burden upon the Lord. So this is the instruction for us. This is what
David's gone through. Then he says to us, cast thy burden upon the Lord and he shall sustain thee.
He shall never suffer the righteous to be moved. Wow. He'll never allow the righteous to be moved.
And yet, you know, when you're going through this, don't you feel so unstable, so unsettled,
Lord, I just want to run away. Don't run away. Don't be moved. Like God doesn't want you to
be moved. He's not going to allow you to be moved, but you need to cast your burden to the Lord.
Say, Lord, this is just too heavy for me. Lord, these enemies are out to get me. It's just too
much. Lord, can you take care of it? I can't handle it, Lord. But thou, oh God, shall bring
them down into the pit of destruction. Bloody and deceitful men shall not live out half their lives,
but I will trust in thee. I love how it ends there. And of course, we looked at Judas Iscariot's
great demonstration of someone who betrayed Jesus, a friend who betrayed Christ.
He did not see out half his life, right? He ended up committing suicide. You know the story.
Shortly after, you know, he couldn't handle that he had done this to innocent blood,
and he hanged himself. And like Christ said, you know, it was better if he was never born. So we
know that he definitely descended into hell. You know, Judas Iscariot is the classic example of a
false brother. All right, brethren, in conclusion, the red flags that we looked at, number one,
they falsely accuse. Number two, they find strength in numbers. Number three, they infiltrate.
Number four, they feign friendship. Number five, they are in constant conflict. Number six,
they are masters at flattery. Reverend, you know, just because one thing happens in church,
don't take this view, oh, that must be a false brother. Things can happen. We all have the flesh.
We can all do wickedly. We can all be selfish. Okay, this stuff can happen in any church.
But be mindful. You start seeing this red flag after red flag after red flag after red flag.
You know, this Psalm is giving you some guidance to help you in your judgment to say, you know
what, I think this person is a wolf in sheep's clothing. All right, let's pray.