Alright, so as that passage was being read for us, you may have noticed this was a story
about, you know, three main characters in this story. King David, of course, being one
of them. Well, actually, it's before he was a king. Okay, David, he's on the run here.
Now, he's been ordained by God to be the next king. He's on the run because, obviously,
King Saul, if you know the story, was not happy that David will be the next in line.
He wanted the kingly line to follow in his family, and yet the Lord had chosen King David.
And so David's on the run. David's fleeing for his life from Saul. The other two major
characters that I mentioned in this chapter was Naboth, or Nabel, sorry, Nabel, and his
wife Abigail. Nabel and his wife Abigail. And Nabel was such a wicked man in this story.
I mean, so wicked to the point. The Bible tells us God kills him. Imagine being so wicked
that God has to just step in and just slay you. Just right there and then. And that's
how wicked Nabel was, but his wife Abigail was a very good woman. But I want you to notice
there in verse number, let's have a look at it, verse number 14, please. 1 Samuel 25,
verse 14, it says here, But one of the young men told Abigail, Nabel's wife, saying, Behold,
David sent messages out of the wilderness to salute our master, and he railed on them.
He railed on them. A title for the sermon tonight is The Sin of Railing. The Sin of
Railing, or Sins That Will Get You Kicked Out of Church Part 4. We continue this series
of sins that will get you kicked out of church. And one of the sins that will get you kicked
out of church is the sin of railing. Okay. Now just read the passage once again to you
that we've been reading through this series. First Corinthians 5, 11, you don't need to
turn there, it says, But now I have written unto you not to keep company if any man that
is called a brother be a fornicator or covetous or an idolater or a railer. That's the next
one that we're up to right now. The sin of railing, or a drunkard or an extortioner with
such and one know not to eat. Now Brethren, what does it mean to rail? What is a railer?
I don't know what your thoughts are there. I mean, quite often I think the most common
answer I've had when I've asked people this question, what do you think railing is? People
often think about, you know, trying to make somebody look bad in the eyes of others. You
know, maybe, you know, I will go to you and I'll speak badly about, you know, person over
there, you know, that person, I said, Oh, that person's horrible. He's done all these
wicked things. And the reason I'm doing that isn't so much because that's the truth of
the matter. But I'm trying to change the heart of the person I'm talking to. So that person
can be against that person. I mean, this happens in school, you know, little children,
you know, this is childish behaviour, when you're trying to turn people against someone
else because you don't like them, not because they've done anything wrong necessarily. It's
just you don't like them. So you want other people not to like them. And one way to cause
people not to like someone else is by railing against them by saying negative things, whether
they're true or whether they're not true, against them just to turn the hearts of people
against them. That's quite often what people think when they think of railing, they think
of that kind of idea. But railing is actually more than that. It does, that does play into
it. But railing is more than that. Let me just read to you the definition of railing
that I found in dictionary. The first definition is clamouring with insulting language, uttering
reproachful words. So if I just come to you, and I just say, you know, all manner of things
about you, you know, just calling you every name on the sun, just trying to destroy you
trying to make you feel bad, you know, just, you know, whether it's true, whether there's
some truth in it or not, or whether it's completely false, that would be railing. Okay, the second
definition is expressing reproach or insulting. And I'm trying to purposely insult you. And
I'm purposely trying to tear you down, again, potentially in the in the audience of others
so they can also look down upon you. This is the definition of railing. And if we have
someone in the church, who's saying all manner of things about another brother or sister
in the Lord, even if they believe those things are true, but they're trying to turn the hearts
of people against that person, hey, that would be a railer. And that would be someone that
we would have to ask to leave the church to be kicked out of the church, because it'll
this it'll cause conflict, it'll cause divisions in the church. Now, some people struggle with
this idea, because should we call out things that are wrong? You know, as a preacher, is
it our job to preach against sin? Yes. You know, is it our job to preach against wickedness?
Yes. You know, should we preach against the false prophets of this world? Those that teach
a false gospel? Should we call them a generation of vipers like John the Baptist did? Absolutely.
You know, so you know, when John the Baptist was using harsh language, and when Jesus Christ
is using harsh language and calling, you know, some of the Jews the children of the devil,
was that railing? I want you to think about that, you know, that, you know, is it right
to use harsh language sometimes? It is. Otherwise, the Lord Jesus Christ would have been in sin.
Now, there's a time and a place for that, but when it comes to the body of Christ, when
it comes to the people of God, we are not to treat one another in such ways. You know,
if you have something against me, you should come up to me privately. Brother, let me ask
you about something. Let me talk to you. There's been something, there's an issue between us.
You deal with it in such manner. The Bible gives us instruction on how to deal with conflict
between brethren in the church. You know, it is never right for one brother in this
church to go to other people in this church and bag out another Christian. You know, it's
never right to do such things. Now listen, if you have a major concern about a brother
in the Lord, you know, if you have something that really bothers you about somebody, and
you know, number one, you should go to that person privately, but number two, if you think
this needs to be escalated, then you can bring that toward me as the pastor, as the one that
has the rule in this church, but it's not for you to go around whispering in the ears
of others to make somebody look bad. This would be the sin of railing. Now you guys
are there in 1 Samuel 25. Look at verse number two. We'll start to read a little bit of this
story once again, but when it comes to railing, this term rail or railing only appears in
our Bibles nine times. Okay, so let's get a biblical definition. Let's see what the
Bible says is railing. Let's get our ideas from the Word of God and we'll look at every
time, all the nine times that the railing idea comes from. So we saw number one there
where you're meant to kick someone out of the church, but this is the passage that was
read. This is the first time, the first time that railing is mentioned in the Bible. So
1 Samuel 25, let's get a bit of the story here. Verse number two, and there was a man
in Mahom whose possessions were in Kamul and the man was very great. When the Bible says
he's very great, he's very rich. He has a lot of possessions. He's well known. He's
very great. And this is here, and he had 3,000 sheep and 1,000 goats and he was shearing
his sheep in Kamul. So is this a guy who has plenty? Absolutely. He's got thousands of
sheep and what is it, goats as well. And the reason he's in this story is, as I said, King
David is on the run and they get to a point where they run out of food. They're trying
to escape for their lives, trying to run away, trying to hide from soul and they run out
of food. So the next thing is, well, where are we going to get food from? So their thought
is to go to this man, right? He's got so much possessions. Hey, let's ask him for some food.
Let's look at verse number three. It says here, now the name of the man was Nabal and
the name of his wife Abigail and she was a woman of good understanding and of a beautiful
countenance. Now brethren, especially young guys, single guys, when you're looking for
a woman to marry, yes, a woman with beautiful countenance, I think yes, that's on the list.
You should be at least attracted to that person. You should find her beautiful but not only
beautiful, what came before that? Of good understanding. This is the primary thing when
you're looking for a wife is find a woman of good understanding. She had wisdom. She
had knowledge. She wasn't an airhead. She wasn't just trying to be a princess. She had
wisdom about her. She's a godly woman we see in this story. She's a godly woman and she
knows her husband's filthy. She knows her husband's a wicked man but she tries to do
what is right for the man of God. Let's keep going. Not only was she beautiful, she had
good understanding but it says here, but the man, that's her husband, Nabal, but the man
was churlish and evil in his doings and he was of the house of Caleb. A poor woman, she's
married to a totally evil man. In fact, this man is a reprobate. We'll soon see this man
himself was a reprobate. Now I'm not taught on the doctrine of reprobates just yet in
this church. I'm thinking I might cover this next week. So just so it ties in a little
bit better with this sermon. But a reprobate basically, brethren, is someone so wicked,
so wicked, they've rejected God at every opportunity where God's had enough of them and then God
rejects them. God rejects them and they no longer have the opportunity to believe on
the Lord. They can't believe in the Lord. They've been given over to a reprobate mind.
You know, they're so wicked and we see many times in the Bible about these wicked people
but I'll teach them that next week. But I want you to understand, this man is a reprobate.
Let's drop down to verse number 10. Verse number 10. Again, King David is low on resources.
He goes to this man, Nabal, hoping that he'll be able to get some food, right? A few sheep,
a few goats to feed him and his men. Verse number 10. And Nabal answered David's servants
and said, Who is David? And who is the son of Jesse? There be many servants nowadays
that break away every man from his master. Shall I then take my bread and my water and
my flesh that I have cured for my shearers and give it unto men whom I know not whence
they be? So King David comes asking for help. Can you feed us? Now listen, this man, King
David, is going to be the next king. He's going to have all the power, all the authority,
all the wealth of the nation of Israel at his hands. I mean, and he's a man of God.
And he's a believer. He's a man of the God's own heart. You know, if you're going to help
anybody in the world, this is the guy you're going to help, right? This is the guy that
you go, man, David, yeah, have whatever you want. Because I know when I'm going to have
difficulties, when I have struggles, I'll have the king as my friend, right? I mean,
this man Nabal's got everything going for him. If I help David, man, think about it.
You know, in the eyes of the future king, how he's going to look. But he makes it seem
like he doesn't even know who David is. Who is David? Who is the son of Jesse? Would I
rather give him food rather than my shearers? You know, is he wrong in saying that? I don't
believe he's completely wrong in what he's saying. But here's the thing, you'll soon
see that he knows who David is. I mean, everybody knows who David is. By this point, David is
a great warrior. You know, his name is being proclaimed through all of Israel, all right?
He is one of King Saul's great men. Everybody knows who David is, okay? And the fact that
King Saul is using so many of his resources, even himself trying to hunt and kill David,
of course this story is spreading. It's all over the news. Everybody knows that King Saul
is after David. But this man decides, no, I'm not going to help David. Let's drop down
to verse number 14. But one of the young men told Abigail, Nabal's wife, saying, behold,
David sent messengers out of the wilderness to salute our master, and he railed on them.
So you know, King David sends some men, hey, can we meet Nabal so we can talk to him, you
know, make a deal with his food? And what does Nabal do? He rails on them, okay? Does
he know who David is? Would you rail on somebody you don't even know? No, he knows who David
is, right? But it's against David. And so the Bible says here that he rails on him,
okay? So in other words, he's insulting. He uses harsh language. He tries to destroy David
by his words. And this is the first time the Bible uses the word railing or rail. He railed
on them. Now, brethren, I just want to stop there. The first mention of railing was done
by reprobate, okay? And one thing you'll see as we go through all the nine mentions, quite
often it is those that are of reprobate minds that commit such sins, okay? And so we need
to be careful about people that do this. Now, the Bible tells us these things because we
need to learn from that as well. Because even as Christians, we can rail on other Christians.
We can rail as well. And so look, it is so wicked that it is associated with a reprobate,
with someone who's a child of the devil, as you'll soon see, that, you know, if you're
doing it, you're committing such sins like somebody that is reprobate. So please be careful
about railing. Be careful about how you use your words in what way. Look at verse number
15. But the men were very good unto us, and we were not hurt, neither missed we anything,
as long as we were conversant with them when we were in the fields. They were a wall unto
us both by night and day, all the while we were with them keeping the sheep. So they're
just saying how good the messengers of David are. Like how good David's people are. They're
saying they're good, they've looked after us, they've made us know, they've done us
no harm. Verse number 17. Now therefore know and consider what thou wilt do, for evil is
determined against our master, that's Nabal, and against all his household. Look at this.
For he is such a son of Belial, that a man cannot speak to him. You know, you couldn't
even bargain with Nabal. You couldn't even try to win him over, for him to give this
food unto David. But notice it says here he's a son of Belial. Okay, he's a son of Belial.
Now Belial is just another name for the devil. It's quite often in the Bible you often find
the son of Belial mentioned in the Bible, and this is a child, a son of the devil. Think
about that. You know, even his own people call him such things. Hey, this guy is a son
of the devil. Hey, if you're called a son of the devil in the Bible, you're a reprobate.
You know, you've been rejected by God. Just very quickly, what does it mean to be a son
of the devil, or a child of the devil? What it means is this, brethren. We're all born
into this world, aren't we? We're all born from mom and dad. You know, we come from all
the way from Adam and Eve. When you're born, you're a son of Adam. You're a daughter of
Adam. Okay, now here's the thing. We all know, we all sin. We come short of the glory of
God. We all need to be saved. And when we believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, the Bible
calls this being born again. You become a child of God. And what do we say? We say once
you're born into God's family, you cannot be unborn. Once you're born into your family,
this earthly family, you cannot be unborn. Even if you have a bad relationship with your
parents, you're still a child of your parents no matter what. When you're born of God's
family, you cannot be unborn. And what I'm saying to you is when someone is born, or
a child of the devil, they cannot be unborn either. They've made the decision. They're
so wicked. I mean, we see God kills this man, right? They're so wicked, they're now known
as a child of the devil. The Bible quite often uses this language between a child of
God and a child of the devil, or a son of Belial as mentioned here in verse number 17.
So that's what I want you to notice first of all, brethren. It's a wicked man who God
himself has to step in and kill that is first mentioned to be a railer. Now of course there
were other railers in the Bible, but this is the first time the word is mentioned for
us in the Bible. Just to show you how wicked this sin is, okay? How wicked this sin is.
Now please take your Bibles and go to 2 Chronicles. Go to 2 Chronicles 32. 2 Chronicles 32. So
what we saw in the story there in 1 Samuel 25 is that you can rail against men. You know,
in this story we saw a man, a child of the devil, railing against a man of God, okay?
So you can rail against man. But the next story here is we're going to look at the story
of Hezekiah, King Hezekiah, who was a godly king of Judah, and we're going to look at
a man named Sennacherib, which is the king of Assyria. Sennacherib, the king of Assyria.
And notice here in 2 Chronicles 32 verse 7, 2 Chronicles 32 verse 7, the Bible tells us
here, be strong and courageous, be not afraid nor dismayed for the king of Assyria, nor
for all the multitude that is with him, for there be more with us than with him. So let's
just get to the story very quickly. We have this king of Assyria seeking to harm the seven
kingdom of Judah. Seeking to override them, to take over them, all these kinds of things.
And this king has a big reputation. Not just a big reputation, he has a strong army. And
what is being said here in verse number 8, or end of verse number 7, it said for there
be more with us than with him. So say look, no matter how big his army is, in fact his
army was bigger than what the people of Judah had, but they're saying look, we have more.
We have more fighting for us. What does it mean? Look at verse number 8. With him is
an arm of flesh. So this king comes with an arm of flesh. He has fleshly soldiers. He's
got an army. But then it says here, but with us is the Lord our God to help us and to fight
our battles. And the people rested themselves upon the words of Hezekiah king of Judah.
What amazing words by the king. King Hezekiah, a godly man. He says look, yeah their armies
are bigger, yeah he's got all these victories in the past, but we've got the Lord God on
our side and we're going to win because we've got God. Amen. That's a good leader. That's
a strong leader. Pastors or church leaders ought to be someone that even when we're facing
difficulties or challenges, we just remember we've got God on our side. We're going to
win. We can't lose. You know that's the mark in there of a strong leader. Drop down to
verse number 17. Verse number 17. What does this king of Assyria do? You know he tries
and before we read verse 17, what he does is he's going to write letters. He's going
to send like propaganda to all the people of Judah to unsettle them. Okay. Now this
is a common war tactic. You know people, you can have a small army but you can still
win great battles if you're motivated. If you're full of courage. If you have that zeal
about you. You're excited. You believe you can win. Even a small army can win great battles.
So one thing that is done in certain battles is they'll send propaganda. They'll try to
make the enemy or the people they see as the enemy, they try to discourage them. They try
to make them less motivated to fight because if they're less motivated, they'll be easier
to be beaten in battle. I'm sure you've seen this even in sports. I don't really watch
a lot of sports but quite often you'll see people say it's a David versus Goliath battle.
There's an underdog. There's someone who's expected to lose but sometimes that person
is highly motivated. Sometimes they can have the crowd behind them cheering them on. Cheering
on the name and before you know it, they found that extra level of success and they
defeat the one that was supposed to win. That's what they're trying to do here. They're trying
to discourage the hearts of the people of Judah. In verse number 17 it says here, he
wrote also letters to rail on the Lord God of Israel. Look at that. It's a next mention
of railing. We saw that a child of the devil railed against man but here we have this king
of Assyria railing against God. He writes these letters, says to all of Judah, you know,
speaking bad, speaking reproachfully about the Lord God. Look at this. And to speak against
him saying, as the other gods of the nations of other lands have not delivered their people
out of mine hand, so shall not the God of Hezekiah deliver his people out of mine hand.
So what's King Hezekiah saying? Hey, we're going to win. We've got God on our side. Then
the king of Assyria sends all these letters to the people and says, no, we've defeated
other enemies. We've defeated other people. We've defeated their gods. We're going to
defeat you and we're going to defeat your God. And the Bible calls it here that he railed
against God. Okay, so here's another, you know, thought of railing. If someone comes
to this church and look, I don't expect this to happen but if it happens, you know, at
least we know what the word of God says and they speak against God, they rail against
God, that person also needs to be kicked out of the church. Okay, come into a church,
the body of Christ and speaking out against God. Hey, that would require that person to
be kicked out of the church. Okay. And so what I want to draw your attention there,
brethren, is that you can rail against man, but you can also rail against God. Okay, these
are two stories here that we have in the Bible. Now, please go to Mark 15. Go to Mark 15.
As I said, a lot of people think railing has to do with making false accusations. Okay.
And yes, that can be railing. Of course, that can be railing. But it's not just false accusations
that can be seen as railing. Okay. Go to Mark 15. Mark 15. And we're going to the story
of Christ on the cross. And while you're turning to Mark 15, I'm going to read to you from
Luke 23, verse 39. It says, and one of the malefactors, that's one of the men that was
on the cross, you know, on the other side of Jesus, and one of the malefactors which
were hanged railed on him. This man rails on Jesus saying, if thou be Christ, save thyself
and us. Now, brethren, was Jesus Christ? Absolutely. That's the truth, right? And it says here,
he says, save thyself and us. Could Jesus have saved himself right there on the cross?
Of course he could. He's God. Could he have saved them? Of course. Okay. I mean, Christ
has done amazing miracles, right? He's already raised the dead to life. He's already made
the blind to see. He's already made the lame to walk. He's already calmed, you know, the
storms of the sea. You know, Christ has the power of God. You know, these are things that
the thief is saying to Christ that Christ could do. These are things that are true.
He was Christ. He was the Messiah. But notice what the Bible says, that the thief railed
on him. Hey, railing is not just making false accusations, but you can also rail with the
truth, okay? Now, you guys are in Mark 15. Look at Mark 15, verse 29. Mark 15, verse
29. It wasn't just a thief on the cross that railed against Jesus. It says here, and they
that passed by railed on him, wagging their heads and saying, ah, thou that destroys the
temple and buildest it in three days. Now, did Jesus say that he can build up the temple
in three days? Yes. This was a true saying of Christ, right? And they realize he's saying
that he can perform such things. But here they are, the Bible's saying, they're railing
on him, again, with the truth, with something Jesus has said. Look at verse number 30. They
still railed on him saying, save thyself and come down from the cross. Verse number 31.
Likewise also the chief priests, mocking, said among themselves with the scribes, he
saved others, himself he cannot save. So we see another sort of a cross there, the association
with the priest mocking, with the railing, right? Mocking and the railing that's going
on there. Verse number 32. Let Christ, the king of Israel, descend now from the cross
that we may see and believe. And they that were crucified with him reviled him. Okay.
Now, brethren, once again, are they saying certain truths? Was Jesus the Christ? Yes.
Could he save himself? Yes. Could he save the others on the cross? Yes. Did he say that
he could raise up the temple again in three days if it's destroyed? He did say all of
these things. But notice the Bible says that they've railed against him. How do we put
this together then? Here's the thing. People can use the truth and still rail on you. Okay.
Now, in fact, this is the most dangerous type of railing. Okay. This is the type of behavior
that Satan himself did in the Garden of Eden, right? He took words that God said,
certain things that were true, but he twisted it. He took it out of context and he deceived
the hearts, he deceived the heart of Eve, and ultimately, of course, Adam. And, brethren,
this will be an example of you telling a half-truth. You know, I want you to think bad
about brother so-and-so. So I'm not going to lie, but I'm only going to tell you half
a truth so you go away thinking something that's not even true. I didn't say that,
but I'm causing you to be deceived. I'm causing you to think something which isn't true. Okay.
And this is very deceptive. The person that does these things, they know what they're doing,
and if it turns around to them saying, hey, you're the one that mentioned this. No,
what I said was the truth. It's not my fault you went away thinking X, Y, and Z, but no,
that was their intention. Okay. And when you go and you cause people to mock at someone,
you tell half a truth and not the full truth, the Bible says this is railing as well. It's not just
a false accusation. It's causing people just to think falsely or incorrectly about somebody else
or what they said to make them twist what they said and making people think bad of them. Okay.
Railing. It's a wicked sin. And of course, Jesus Christ was being railed on the cross of Christ.
And so, you know, we just need to be careful, brethren, with our tongues. That's the point
of the sermon tonight. We need to be careful with how we say things and don't be someone that cuts
out the truth. Don't be someone that is, you know, teaches, you know, says half a truth so
you would cause other people to believe something else. That would be a form of railing as well.
Now, please go to 1 Timothy chapter 6 because I want to start to put these thoughts together now.
1 Timothy chapter 6 verse 1. I want you to see how wicked this sin is,
how wicked this sin is. 1 Timothy chapter 6 verse 1.
1 Timothy chapter 6 verse 1. I want to show you, there are certain people, and yes, reprobates
are one of these people, but not, you know, I don't want you to think just because someone
rails that reprobate. I'm not saying that, okay, but it's a sin that reprobates commonly do.
And what I want you to see here is the kind of wicked heart or the wicked person is that will
do such acts of railing. 1 Timothy chapter 6 verse 1. Let as many servants as are under the yoke
count their own masters worthy of all honor, that the name of God and His doctrine be not blasphemed.
Let's stop there for a moment. The Bible is saying here that if you're a servant,
if you have a master over you, that you ought to give them honor. They're worthy of honor because
of their authority over you, okay? So if you're an employee, you have a boss, you may not like
your boss much, okay? They might not be always correct or fair with how they do things, but
because of their position, you ought to give them honor, okay? Now, wives and children, you have a
master over you that is the husband, that is the father of the house. He is the head of the house.
He's not perfect, I know. You probably wish he was perfect. He knows he's not perfect. He's not
always going to say the right things. He's not always going to do the right things, but he's a
man worthy of respect. He's a man worthy of honor, okay? He's that master over that family. And
brethren, when it comes to a church, okay, the pastor, the office of a bishop is a man worthy
of honor. He has the rule. He has the authority over the church congregation when we're gathered
together in Jesus' name, okay? Now, let's keep breathing. Verse number two,
and they that have believing masters, let them not despise them because they are brethren.
Now, listen, it's saying here in verse number one, if you've got a master over you,
whether he's saved or unsaved, give them their worthy of honor, but even more if they're a
saved person, even more if they're a believer, even more if they're brethren. It says here,
verse number two, but rather do them service because they are faithful and beloved partakers
of the benefit. These things teach and exhort. Now, this is a letter written to Timothy. Timothy
was a pastor. This is known as a pastor epistle. So it is the pastor's job to teach the church,
hey, respect the authorities of your lives, especially if they're saved,
especially if they're brethren. Do them service, right? It says here, because they are faithful
and beloved, especially if they're saved, right? They're loved by God. They're loved by Christ as
saved. They're your brother in the Lord. Love those that are an authority over you in whatever
institution God has put you under, but let's keep going. Verse number three,
if any man teach otherwise, if someone teaches you, don't respect your authority. Don't honor
the authority. Don't be obedient to your authority. If your kids, if your friends are saying,
don't obey your kid. Don't obey your parents. You know, if someone says, hey, don't listen to the
boss at work, or someone says, who cares what the pastor said at church? You know, we don't need to
do that, or whatever. What's it say? If any man teach otherwise and consent not to wholesome words,
even the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to the doctrine which is according to godliness,
it says here in verse number four, he is proud, knowing nothing, but doting about questions
and stripes of words, whereof cometh envy. Look at this, strife railings, evil surmises.
Brethren, the people that rail, if you rail, the Bible says you are proud. You're full of pride.
That's why you rail. That's why people rail. Okay, so we have good instruction. You know,
the words of Jesus Christ, you know, submit yourself to the authorities that are over you,
but then you'll have those that will step in and say, well, no, let's not listen to those
authorities. Now listen, you know, I listened to brother David's, I didn't get to finish his sermon
on Sunday, he's 100% correct, right? When it comes to the authority of God's word, when it comes to
the authority of Jesus Christ, of the Lord God, that's the highest power, that is the authority,
no matter what, that is the authority that we listen to, okay? But if the authorities that are
over us as human beings, and we know no one's perfect, but if what they're asking you is aligned
with the word of God, it's not causing you to sin, then be obedient to that authority. But when
they ask you to sin, when they're asking you something that is not aligned with the word of
God, then you have Jesus Christ, you have the word of God as the highest authority. You do what is
right in accordance to God's word, and God will take care of you. God will bless you for that,
right? But here we have the proud who hate authority. Do you know people, I mean, I know
people who are church hoppers. They go from this church, to that church, to that church,
to that church. Now, look, I've gone to a few churches, right? But I'm talking about people
that will be there for a few weeks, a few months, and then they're looking for the next church,
looking for, and every time they leave, oh, the pastor, the pastor, the pastor, this pastor,
it's like, you know what? If everyone is wrong in your eyes, I think you should be looking in
the mirror. Surely it can't be everyone is wrong except you, right? I mean, there are people that
just can't hold down a job. They go from one job, to the other job, to the other job,
to the other job, to the other job. Listen, the problem is with that person. They're prideful.
They don't know how to submit themselves unto authority. And this is why parenting is so
important. You know, teaching your children to obey parents, put in rules, put in boundaries,
so your kids can grow up knowing, I need to be obedient to authority. So when they grow up,
and they're their own adults, and they're in workplace, and they're whatever, they're in
church themselves, do they know, hey, there's authority, I know I need to be obedient to that,
and they obey that authority. The reason why there are so many proud people today,
so many railers, so many people that despise authority is because they've not been taught as
a young child to be obedient to the authorities over them. But I want you to notice, what did the
Bible say there in verse number four? The railer, the person that does railings, he's proud,
and then it says here, knowing nothing. He's got no knowledge about him, right?
But doting about questions and stripes of words. Have you ever met these people? You know, you
might say something, you don't even think about, you know, you're just answering a question,
you're just speaking, but then you've got someone else analyzing every word you just used.
Trying to find faults. Isn't that what they did to Jesus? They'd come to Jesus asking questions,
and they just focus, how is he going to answer? Let's try to find faults in his words.
Hey man, these people are proud. These people are railers that try to find faults. Instead of just
taking the whole of what you're saying and trying to understand what you're trying to communicate,
they're going to try to find those little words you said and say, well, you said this,
and you said that before, whatever. Listen, when I started the church up in Queensland,
I don't know if I told you guys a story. I mean, I get widows calling me all the time,
but for some reason, the first few weeks, I had widows calling me all the time.
I thought, this must be the life of a pastor, just constantly answering calls,
and I was just constantly getting stupid questions. Most questions revolved around alcohol
and divorce. Most questions, just constant. Different phone calls from different people
in Adelaide, in Perth, different places, asking me stupid questions, and I'd give them the answers,
and they were trying to find faults. I know who they were. I'm just reading about them now.
These are the people, they're trying to find issues, trying to find problems to cause conflict,
to cause, you know, fightings or whatever. It says here, in verse number four,
whereof cometh envy. These people are envious. They don't like the success of other people.
They don't like other people being, you know, doing well. They wish that upon themselves,
strife. They want to cause problems. It says railings, evil surmisings. Evil surmisings
is basically making conclusion without evidence. Oh, you know, that person is blah, you know,
that person, I don't know, you know, that person is a drunkard without any evidence,
just because you think that. You know, this person is like that, no evidence, just because you think
that's how that person is. That's evil surmisings, you know, not coming, not bringing real evidence,
real facts to why you have concluded on a certain topic. But let's keep going. Verse number five.
What else about these people? Perverse disputings of men of corrupt minds. All right. I mean,
they're just, they want to fight. They want to dispute the, and destitute of the truth. Do they
have any truth? Destitute. No, no truth at all. Supposing, look at this, supposing that gain is
godliness. And then it says this, from such withdraw thyself. Now we're talking about sins
that'll get you kicked out of church. We're not railing as one of them, but there are a list of
people that are like this. I mean, this is their character. This is, you see them coming a mile
away. It takes a little while sometimes to figure out who they are, but it says from such withdraw
themselves. Kick them out of the church, the Bible is saying. Okay. But look at this, supposing that
gain is godliness. They think if they cause strife and problems, they actually enjoy that.
They like to see people fighting. They like to see people being destroyed, their reputation
being destroyed. And they think they're gaining. They think they're being godly by what they've
caused. They think gain is godliness. They think it's all about them. They don't care about the
effect it has on other people. Now I know railing is one sin in this mix, but it's these kinds of
people that we need to be careful of. These kinds of people that will come into church causing
strife, and if we don't have a strong hand, we're going to allow this person to destroy our church.
No, the right measure is to get this person out of the church. From such withdraw thyself,
the Bible says there in verse number five. Now please go to 2 Peter chapter 2. 2 Peter
chapter 2 verse 10. 2 Peter chapter 2 verse 10.
And I want you to notice this as well. 2 Peter chapter 2 verse 10.
And notice again this idea of despising authority in 2 Peter 2 10. It says,
but chiefly them that walk after the flesh in the lust of uncleanness, look at this,
and despise government. Okay, now they hate authority. Presumptuous are they.
Self-willed. They are not afraid to speak evil of dignities. Hey, they rail. They speak evil
against people in authority. They hate authority. Now before I keep reading, I forgot to mention,
2 Peter chapter 2 is about false prophets, about false teachers. Okay, and many times these people
are reprobate. Okay, let's keep going. Verse number 11. Whereas angels which are greater in
power and might, look at this, bring not a railing accusation against them before the Lord. Now the
Bible says here in verse number 11 that in our current state, in our fallen mankind, that angels
are greater than us in power and might. This is why the Bible says when Jesus Christ came and
born of a virgin, it says he came a little lower than the angels. Right, and so even angels which
are greater than we are, okay, it says here that they would not bring, they bring not a railing
accusation against them before the Lord. Even angels are careful about what they say against
false prophets, against false teachers, because they don't want to cause a railing accusation
to the Lord about a false prophet. Now look, I don't understand completely understand the
spiritual realm, but what we're learning here is that angels are watching and they report back to
God. Okay, and so when an angel is watching a church or whatever situation and they see the
false prophet get up there, preach heresy, even they're careful with how they report it to God.
They don't want to rail against that person, right. I just want to show you, even the angels
are careful about their tongues, about how they speak, all right, but notice these people are
reprobates. Look at verse number 12. But these, talking about these false prophets, as natural
brute beasts must, sorry, made to be taken and destroyed, speak evil of the things that they
understand not and shall utterly perish in their own corruption. Okay, so a false prophet, the
hallmark of a false prophet, the hallmark of a reprobate false prophet is that they are railers
and they are rebellious against authority. That's a hallmark about a false prophet. Now,
please go to Jude 9, Jude verse 9. I want to show you this again, Jude verse 9.
Because not only are the angels careful not to rail,
but even one that's greater than the average angel, Jude 9, Jude verse 9, Jude verse 9,
the Bible reads, yet Michael the archangel. So in the Bible we've got regular angels,
but then we've got the archangel, the one that's in charge basically, and that's Michael, okay.
Michael the archangel, look at this, when contending with the devil,
he's fighting against the devil, he disputed about the body of Moses.
Now, for some reason after Moses died, for some reason, I don't, you know, don't ask me why,
for some reason the devil wanted the body of Moses, okay. Now, I don't know if it's to possess
that body or whatever. Obviously, he has wicked plans for the body of Moses that God sends Michael
the archangel to fight against the devil about that body, okay. Then it says here,
that Michael the archangel does not bring against him a railing accusation, but said,
the Lord rebuke thee. Even Michael the archangel is careful not to rail against Satan. You see
that? He doesn't want to rail, it's a sin to rail. Even the angels are careful not to commit this
sin. But instead of railing, what's the correct response? The Lord rebuke thee, okay. And brethren,
when we come and we preach against false prophets, if we ever get to that point,
my brother Luke preached recently about some false prophets, when you preach about their weakness,
hey, we need to preach about them in context of what the word of God says, and here at the end
of the day, we are not vigilantes, it's not our job to go and destroy some false prophets ministry,
we leave it in God's hands, and we ask the Lord God to destroy these false prophets. Just like
Michael the archangel, instead of railing against the devil, he asked, no, well, the Lord's going to
rebuke thee. You know, we need to learn to leave things in God's hands. Listen, if there's
wickedness, there's like false prophets, let's alert our people, let's preach against that person,
and then we just leave it in God's hands to go and rebuke and punish that wicked person. Hey,
you could punish him like an Abel, you know, who was put to death by the hand of God. But look at
verse number 10 now, verse number 10, Jude 10, but these speak evil of those things which they
know not, but what they know naturally as brute beasts in those things they corrupt themselves.
Listen, the Bible also calls these false prophets that rail and do these kinds of things,
brute beasts. You know, a beast is an animal, what's a brute? Stupid. Okay, the Bible calls
these false prophets stupid animals without any knowledge, and brethren, I want you to be careful
about how you speak. I don't want you to be like a brute beast. I don't want you to be considered
in the same way, so be careful not to rail against people, not to be even careful not to rail against
the false prophets. You know, one thing that I get discouraged about, is it ever right to preach
against false prophets? Absolutely. Jesus, John the Baptist did it all the time, but when you're
preaching against a false prophet, make sure what you preach is true. Make sure you know it's
something they said, you know it's something they preach, you know it's something they believe,
and preach about the things that are true. Okay, the full truth. Don't preach half truths,
don't make up false lies about them, because I have seen men of God, yes men of God, that are
trying to do what's right, preach against a false prophet, but by preaching against them they've
actually lied about them. They've exaggerated, they've given half a truth to make it look like
something else. Now here's the thing, the person that knows that's a lie, the person that knows
it's a half truth, they're going to think, they're going to conclude, this preacher, even though most
of what he said was true, this preacher was incorrect to do such things, and it'll diminish
the effect, you know, because that preacher, instead of preaching the full truth, he actually
railed against that false prophet, and he can damage the effect of that sermon, the power of
God from that man, and maybe even cause people to rally behind the false prophet, because of the
lies that were said about him. We need to be careful with what we say, careful how we rebuke
the false prophets. All right, now please go to 1 Peter chapter 3. 1 Peter chapter 3 verse 8.
We're near the end now brethren, thank you for your patience. 1 Peter chapter 3 verse 8.
What if you get railed against? What if you find out one day that somebody has been saying nasty
things about you, half truths, lies about you? Well listen, if it happens in this church, and
you find out about that, you better go and approach that person and confront that person one-on-one,
okay, that's the first thing you do. But what if it's not in our church? What if it's something
else? Well let's read here, 1 Peter chapter 3 verse 8. 1 Peter chapter 3 verse 8. The Bible
says here, finally be all of one mind. Hey we should have the same one mind, the mind of Christ.
We should have the same purpose in life, to win souls, to please the Lord, to be more like Jesus
Christ. We should be of one mind, having compassion one of another, love as brethren, be pitiful,
be courteous, hey show some pity to what other people, when other people are struggling and
they're having difficulties, don't kick them while they're down, show them some pity, right,
show them love. But look at verse number nine, not rendering evil for evil or railing for railing.
Brethren if you find yourself the target of railing, should you go and rail against that
person? No, don't render evil for evil, don't render railing for railing, what should you do?
But contra wise, blessing, knowing that ye are called, therefore, knowing that ye are therefore
called, that ye should inherit a blessing. God says look if someone's lying about you,
let's say you have no control, let's say it's out of this church example, right, someone's
making lies about you, making, turning people against you, you just be a blessing to that
person. You just do good to that person and what does it say here? God's going to give you a
blessing, you can inherit a blessing by doing that directly from God. Verse number 10, for he
that will love life and seek good days, let him refrain his tongue from evil and his lips that
they speak no guile. So if you want to live a happy life, have a good life full of love, hey
keep your tongue from evil, don't be a railer yourself. Verse number 11, let him eschew evil
and do good, let him seek peace and ensue it, ensue is like the word pursue, you know,
chase after it, catch that peace. Verse number 12, for the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous
and his ears are upon, sorry, are open unto their prayers, but the face of the Lord is against them
that do evil. Reverend, if you're being railed against, someone's doing evil against you,
the Bible says here, just do them good, just bless them, God will take care of it, right,
God watches you, God is open to your prayers, someone's railing against you, Reverend,
just take it to God in prayer, say God please help me, you know what to say here,
but the face of the Lord is against them that do evil. God's going to sort it out, you know,
one of the great truths that I found, something that really changed my life, as a young man,
I would get offended very easily, I had thin skin, you know, even if someone's just mucking
around and joking, you know, and said something about me, and I know they're joking, it still
bothered me, like I'd get offended by it very easily, okay, and I was like a teenager, whatever,
until I started to read some of these verses, and I'm like what, constantly, God's just saying,
just leave it in my hands, I'll take care of it, you know, vengeance is mine, you know, God says,
you know, just constantly, you know what, yeah, I want to be happy, I want to live a, you know,
full life where I can enjoy life and not be in conflict all the time, you know what,
when things get too hard, when things get too difficult, I'm glad to know that I have a God,
that I can just go to him in prayer, he's going to listen to it, I'm a child of God,
I'm born in God's family, listen, if one of my sons, if one of my daughters came up to me
and said, Dad, I've got this bully, he keeps bothering me, hey, I'm going to react to that,
you know, I don't want my son to suffer, obviously, and so if I go to God and say,
bully out there, bothering your son, don't you think God's going to do something about that?
Absolutely, he's going to have his face against them that do evil, and I'll just read to you from
Romans 12 16, again, the same kind of teaching here, it says here, be of the same mind,
one toward another, mind not high things, but condescend to men of lower states,
be not wise in your own conceits, then it says this, recompense to no man,
evil for evil, provide things honest in the sight of all men, hey, be honest in all your dealings,
don't make up false accusations, don't be a liar, you know, make sure you be as honest as you can,
verse number 18, if it be possible as much as life in you, live peaceably with all men,
should you just go and rail against somebody? No, just do as much as you can to live peaceably
with other men, let God sort out your, you know, the business that people go up against you,
verse number 19, dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath,
for it is written, vengeance is mine, I will repay, saith the Lord, but also there,
rather give place unto wrath, listen, when someone's railing against you, treating you badly,
if you go in, trying to sort things out, you go in with your own revenge,
you are restricting God from pouring out his wrath against those people, so the Bible says,
look, give place to wrath, you step aside, all right God, please take out your wrath on that
person, that's what the Bible's teaching us, all right, you just do good to them, let God give
place to wrath, all right, and then it says, for it is written, vengeance is mine, I will repay,
saith the Lord, therefore if thine enemy hunger, feed him, if he thirst, give him drink,
for in so doing, thou shall heap coals of fire on his head, hey, the more good you do,
the more God's wrath is going to be strong on them, when he pulls it down upon them,
that's what the Bible teaches, all right, be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good,
so brethren, the sin of railing, the sin of railing, I think if we're honest,
I think we've all railed, I think we've all said things about certain people,
whether in this church, or in your old churches, or family, or friends, or people that you know,
sometime in your past, I'm sure there's been times that you have said things that you regret now,
and you're trying to turn the hearts of people against someone else, or someone has done it to
you, you know, either you've done the railing, or you've been the object of railing, okay,
now here brethren, this is what I want to say, stop on and finish on, this is a sin worthy of
being kicked out of the church, it's a serious sin, I mean any of these sins about you know,
being kicked out, are serious sins in the eyes of God, imagine that God's saying, look you need
to get that person out of this congregation, so please be careful with what you say, be careful
with how you act, you know, don't render railing for railing, if someone has railed against you,
take it back to them, go and try to sort it out, try to live peacefully with that person,
if it can't be sorted out, if it happens within this church, then then you need to bring in the
two or three witnesses, and the conflict resolution that happens within the church, brethren,
but listen, these are important sins, and we are instructed by God to kick this person out
of the church, if we ever have to make decisions like this, you need to back the word of God,
you know back what God says, and understand that God is trying to preserve this church,
this is why he asks such important things, such you know, such you know steps that some people
may think, well that's not fair, that's not right, well no, God says these sins are so wicked,
and we saw the hearts of the men that do such wicked things, they are full of pride,
you know they're seeking to cause strife, they're seeking to cause harm within God's body,
all right let's pray.