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Amen. So first and foremost I'd like to thank Deacon Russell for the opportunity to be down here as well as our pastor and thank you guys for coming today. And you know we're there in the book of Jude and I want you to look down at verse 11. That's gonna be the main text verse for me today. Jude verse 11 it says, Woe unto them for they have gone in the way of Cain and ran greedily after the error of Balaam for reward and perished in the gainsaying of Corrie. And so the title of my sermon this morning is Cain, Balaam and Korah. Cain, Balaam and Korah. And I want to show you about these three different types of false prophets. Now the Bible you know in the book of Jude and also in the parallel passage in 2nd Peter chapter 2 talks about false prophets. And you know the first thing that I want you to realize is that all false prophets are reprobates meaning that they cannot be saved. And so let's continue reading and I'll prove that to you in verse 12. It says these referring to false prophets are spots in your feasts of charity. When they feast with you feeding themselves without fear. Clouds they are without water carried about of winds. Trees whose fruit withereth without fruit twice dead plucked up by the roots. Raging waves of the sea foaming out their own shame. Wandering stars to whom is reserved the blackness of darkness forever. And so as we can see here that they have a place reserved for them in the blackness of darkness forever. They have a place reserved in hell. Just like you and I you know we're saved and we got a place reserved for us in heaven. You know there's nothing that can mess that up. In the same way these wicked people they have a place reserved for them in hell and there's nothing they can do to change that. They are reprobate. They've been rejected from by God and now they will go to hell someday. And the Bible has given us three biblical characters as an example of what a false prophet looks like. And I want to study these three characters from the Word of God this morning and basically draw parallels between them and modern-day false prophets as well. So that way we can identify who you know who these false prophets are. And so turn if you would a 2 Peter chapter 2 and I'll show you a little bit further that these are two parallel passages and we'll be flipping back and forth between Jude and 2 Peter chapter 2. But if you're there in 2 Peter chapter 2 it's just a few pages away but I'll begin reading in verse number 1. It says but there were false prophets and that's what we're talking about tonight but there were false prophets also among the people even as there shall be false teachers among you. So the Bible is warning us that just like there were false prophets in the Old Testament there was Cain there was Balaam there was Cork and the same way there's gonna be false prophets among us as well in our day and day and time. And it says who privily shall bring in damnable heresies even denying the Lord that bought them and bring them upon themselves swift destruction and many shall follow their pernicious ways by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of. So you know we've established that you know all false prophets are reprobates or wandering stars to whom is reserved the blindness and darkness forever they're teaching damnable heresies swift destruction will come upon them we're clearly talking about people who aren't who can't be saved you know and and so these three people represent you know three types of different false prophets that we're going to discuss tonight and so what I'd like you to do now is turn over to Genesis chapter 4 and we're gonna talk about the first character that we're gonna talk about this this morning and that is the character of Cain. It's a very well-known Bible story you know Cain and Abel pretty much everybody knows that story how Cain killed his brother Abel but as we dissect this this story I think that we'll also see why the Bible likens him unto a false prophet as well and so you're there hopefully in Genesis chapter 4 look down if you would at verse number 1 Genesis chapter 4 and verse 1 Genesis chapter 4 and verse 1 the Bible reads and Adam knew Eve his wife and she conceived and bare Cain and said I have gotten a man from the Lord and she again bare his brother Abel and Abel was a keeper of sheep but Cain was a tiller of the ground and in process of time it came to pass that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground and offering unto the Lord and Abel he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof and the Lord had respect unto Abel and to his offering but unto Cain and to his offering he had not respect and Cain was very wroth and his countenance fell and so this is representative of the fact that Abel brought to God you know an animal that was slain you know representing Jesus Christ how you know save people you know we need to have Jesus is going to be the one that saves us not ourselves and not our own works however Cain represents somebody who does not believe in faith alone because he brought to the Lord fruit of the ground fruit of his own labor and so you know this represents an unsaved person and a saved person and you know we can you know we can theorize all you know all that we want that Cain knew that he was supposed to bring you know an offering to the Lord of an animal you know maybe somebody told him his parents maybe Abel told them you know we're not really sure but even if they didn't you know even after God rebukes Cain he should have gotten it right but you know we'll continue in the story and we'll see that he did not get it right he did not change he did not change his opinion or his mind he continued to go in the way that he that he wanted to so so let's go ahead and continue with verse 6 it says and the Lord said unto Cain why art thou Roth and why is thy countenance fallen if thou doest well shalt thou not be accepted and I thought it was not well sin light at the door and unto thee shall be his desire and thou shalt rule over him and Cain talked with Abel his brother and it came to pass when they were in the field that Cain rose up against Abel his brother and slew him and so we see that even though that God corrects Cain he does not get it right in fact he gets worse afterward he ends up killing his brother and in the same way false prophets every time that they open up the Word of God or every time that they hear about faith alone or whatever you know then then they are rebuked by God they are rebuked by the Word of God but instead they just continue and their false ways and their false belief and they continue promoting their their false gospel and so I want you to look as well at verse 8 and I want you to pay attention to this detail the Bible gives us this little detail in verse 8 it says and Cain talked with Abel his brother so nothing in the Bible is there by accident it says that he talked with Cain with Abel his brother and so I think that there are two ways that we can make a significant spiritual significance from from that phrase that he talked with him you know the first way is that maybe Abel was you know rebuking him or you know reproving him hey why did you bring you know your your works you know you're not supposed to do that or maybe he said something nice to him like hey next time you can borrow my my you know lamb and bring it to God or whatever or maybe they just argued you know and then and then Cain got mad at him and just slew him and you know if you if you want to look at it that way then that would basically be like Cain you know snuffing out the Word of God in his life he's he's he's shutting down the Word of God in his life by killing his brother and the same way in the New Testament how King Herod you know he took John the Baptist and and John the Baptist was preaching against him he preached about how you know he shouldn't take his brother Philip's wife and and whatnot and so Herod took him and put him in prison and then eventually beheaded him and then that's whenever you know God stopped talking to him later on Herod wants to talk to Jesus but Jesus you know just ignores him and so at that point you know Herod became a reprobate and in the same way we could take a look at this and whenever you know Cain and Abel are speaking to each other and then Cain doesn't like what Abel's saying he kills him you know that would be whenever he is basically you know rejecting the Word of God and basically becomes a reprobate at that point you know that's the first way that we can gain a spiritual significance from that now the second way that we can take a look at that and basically interpret that spiritually that them talking together is that the talking represents Cain preaching his you know damnable heresy Cain preaching his works based salvation to Abel and because notice and and here's a here's a supporting for that for that interpretation it says and Cain talked with his brother and it came to pass when they were in the field that Cain rose up against Abel his brother and slew him so immediately immediately after he talks to him he preaches his false gospel to him Cain Abel Abel dies so he killed Abel and so we could take a spiritual look at that and say that you know Cain is a false prophet he's preaching his works based salvation and whenever he gets a convert your whatever he turns him into a twofold child of hell he he basically kills them spiritually now that's a spiritual way to look at this story to make it fit with the fact that Cain is an example of a false prophet now it it says in Matthew 23 I want you to stay where you are but I'm gonna read from Matthew 23 it says in verse 13 but woe unto you scribes and Pharisees hypocrites so this is Jesus he's rebuking the false prophets in his days in his day which is which were the Pharisees it says but woe unto you scribes and Pharisees hypocrites for you shut up the kingdom of heaven against men for you neither go in yourselves neither suffer ye them that are entering in to go in so you know they're preaching a false gospel they're stopping people from going to heaven woe unto you scribes and Pharisees hypocrites for you devour widows houses and for a pretense make long prayer therefore you shall receive the greater damn nation woe unto you scribes and Pharisees hypocrites for you can pass sea and land to make one proselyte and when he is made ye make him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves so whenever they get a convert they're making them twofold the child of hell and you know that's a spiritual way that we can look at Cain and Abel whenever Cain talked to Abel he made him a convert to his false religion or whatever and then he died spiritually but of course we know that hey Abel say this is all just a spiritual you know way to look at it and so you know and either way that we look at it you know Cain became a reprobate and you know I believe that anybody who would go out and evangelize and preach a false gospel and teach people that you know to go to heaven you got to be a good person you got to be baptized you got it you know tithe or whatever anybody who would go out and promote that and preach that and try to get people to convert to their you know false religion I believe that those people would be under the classification of a false prophet and I believe that those people are not saved and I don't believe that they can be saved either you know whenever you go out and you start preaching a false gospel that is not found in the Bible that's against what the Bible teaches then at that point you are a false prophet and you know this would include people who would go out like maybe the Mormons or Jehovah's Witnesses you know whenever they start telling people hey you know you got to follow the commandments to go to heaven or you got to live a good life you got to repent of your sins to go to heaven whenever they're pushing that on people and trying to convert them to their religion at that point I think they're done I think they're a false prophet I think that they've crossed that line and they are beyond hope of salvation you know and the caveat is you know maybe if they go out as what like we would say a silent partner or whatever you know maybe they could still be saved after that I don't know but if they're actively preaching that then they are a false prophet and so let's continue in the story let's keep going so now we see a spiritual way that Cain can be likened unto a false prophet somebody who would go out and push and preach a false gospel so in verse 9 it says and the Lord said unto Cain where is Abel thy brother and he said I know not am I my brother's keeper so he's trying not to take responsibility he's trying to shirk his responsibility the fact that he killed Abel and verse 10 it says and he said what has thou done the voice of thy brother's blood crieth unto me from the ground and now art thou cursed from the earth which had opened her mouth to receive thy brother's blood from thy hand when thou tells the ground it shall not henceforth yield unto thee her strength a fugitive and a vagabond shalt thou be in the earth and Cain said unto the Lord my punishment is greater than I can bear in verse 14 behold thou has driven me out this day from the face of the earth and from thy face shall I be hid and I think that that is a reference to the fact that God is not dealing with him and he's more God's not going to talk to him anymore God's you know God has rejected him at this point you know he is going to be hid from the face of the Lord and I shall be a fugitive and a vagabond in the earth and it shall come to pass that everyone to find of me shall slay me and the Lord said unto him verse 15 therefore whosoever slaeth Cain vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold and look at this next part and the Lord set a mark upon Cain lest any finding him should should kill him and so this could be a reference or a representation of what we see in Romans 16 17 where it says now I beseech you brethren mark them which caused the visions and offenses contrary to the doctrine which you have learned and avoid them you know God marked Cain and nobody was supposed to touch him or supposed to kill him rather and in the same way you know whenever a preacher gets up and marks somebody as being a false prophet you know we shouldn't have any dealings with them we shouldn't touch them or anything like that you know the Lord is going to take care of that person and in the same way God didn't want anybody to kill Cain he's gonna take care of him you know he's gonna take care of him later and so you know that concludes the story of Cain and Abel but let's look at a few other verses that talk about Cain and Abel so turn if you would a Hebrews chapter 11 please Hebrews chapter number 11 so while you're turning to Hebrews 11 I'm gonna continue reading from Matthew 23 we read a few verses a few minutes ago from from that chapter but I'll just read a few more it says in Matthew 23 34 wherefore behold I send unto you for I send unto you prophets and wise men and scribes and some of them you shall kill and crucify and some of them you shall scourge in your synagogues and persecute them from city to city that upon you he's referring to these false prophet Pharisees he says that upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth from the blood of righteous Abel unto the blood of Zacharias the son of Barakas whom he slew between the temple and the altar verily I say unto you all these things shall come upon this generation you know here God is pinning the blood of Abel on the the Pharisees and the false prophets of his day why and I believe that that why he would say that is because they are in the same category Cain and these false prophet Pharisees are in the same category they are both false prophets and they killed the true prophets they killed the the true men of God because he hated them because you know their works are evil and their works are good so let me read to you another one and first John 3 11 it says for this is the message that you heard from the beginning that we should love one another not as Cain who is that of that wicked one and slew his brother and wherefore slew he him because his own works were evil and his brothers righteous that is why he killed Cain because his works were good and his own were were wicked so you're there in Hebrews chapter 11 this also mentions Cain and Abel so Hebrews chapter 11 and verse 4 the Bible reads by faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain by which he obtained witness that he was righteous why was he righteous you know because his sacrifice represented his faith you know it wasn't it wasn't because of his good works or anything like that it's because he brought to God the lamb slain from the foundation of the world you know spiritually speaking you know he had Jesus on his side and that's why he was righteous because he believed in the Lord and let's continue in that verse verse 4 God testifying of his gifts and by it he being dead yet speaketh that phrase he being dead yet speaketh how how does he does he you know Abel speak today and it's because of his of his great example that he gave us it's because of the fact that he gave the sacrifice and it represents Jesus Christ it represents Jesus's sacrifice you know his his sacrifice shows us this great picture of faith alone salvation and that's how he being dead yet speaketh so turn if you would to Hebrews chapter 12 just one page over and we're gonna take a look at another place in the book of Hebrews that mentions Abel it says in verse 22 but ye are coming to Mount Zion and unto the city of the living God the heavenly Jerusalem and to an innumerable company of angels to the General Assembly and Church of the firstborn which are written in heaven and to God the judge of all and to the spirits of just men made perfect and to Jesus the mediator of the New Covenant and the blood of sprinkling that speaketh notice that same word speaketh as we found in verse in chapter 11 that speaketh better things than that of Abel so see Abel spoke and Hebrews 11 4 but then Jesus he speaks better things why is that because Abel's sacrifice was just a picture of the true and and Jesus Christ was the real you know lamb slain for our for our sins and so that's how Jesus speaks better things than of Abel but you know what Abel was a great man of God in the Old Testament and his sacrifice gives us you know a great a great picture there and so he can be likened unto a prophet while Cain can be likened unto a false prophet and so you know and that's just and that's just showing how Abel was righteous and Cain was evil so Cain is a representation of a false prophet in the Bible and I believe that the type of false prophet that he is is the type that would go out and promote a false gospel and try to convert people to their false religion even though they know what the Bible says even though that they are aware of faith alone salvation they don't believe it they've rejected it and they believe something different and they're actively trying to get other people to come to their side that is a false prophet and I believe that Cain represents that type of false prophet so turn if you would the numbers chapter 22 numbers chapter number 22 and we'll look at the second character that we're gonna take a look at this morning Cain who evangelizes the the false gospel and now we're gonna take a look at Balaam who would be likened unto the false prophet that's in it just for the money the person who gets up and preaches lies from the Bible just because he wants a good paycheck or he wants to be popular or whatever and so this is this type of false of false prophet this would be likened unto you know the rich pastors of today the TV preachers and whatnot and you know so so let's take a look at his story but first I'm gonna read to you a couple of verses it says in Titus 1 9 holding fast the faithful word as he has been taught that he may be able by sound doctrine both to exhort and to convince the gainsayers for there are many unruly and vain talkers and deceivers specially they of the circumcision whose mouths must be stopped who subvert whole houses teaching things which they ought not for filthy lucre's sake so Titus 1 is telling us about a guy who would get up and he would say bad things he would say lies who would preach lies from the Word of God for filthy lucre's sake for money he would do it all for money because he wants a paycheck and this fits the the bill of Balaam and so let's take a look at the story of Balaam you're there in Numbers chapter 22 we're not gonna read his whole story because it spans multiple chapters but I'm gonna give you a brief summary you know it starts out and numbers 22 talking about how King Balak of Moab wants to curse the children of Israel because they're going through his land right now so he wants to curse them so he finds him somebody who's gonna curse them he finds Balaam he goes to Balaam in verse 7 we'll pick up the story in verse 7 it says and the elders of Moab and the elders of Midian departed look at this with the rewards of divination in their hand they got the money that's what's important to Balaam with the rewards of divination in their hand and they came unto Balaam and spake unto him the words of Balak they go to Balaam and they ask him to curse the children of Israel and so Balaam he wants that money he really wants those those rewards of divination and so he goes to God and he says says God can I can I can I curse the children of Israel and God says no okay and so in verse 18 we're gonna skip a few verses in verse 18 it says and Balaam answered and said unto the servants of Balak if Balak would give me his house full of silver and gold I cannot go beyond the word of the Lord my God to do less or more and people look at this people look at whenever Balaam says this and they're like man he sounds like a good guy you know he's he's basically saying you know I cannot say more than what God is telling me to do because I you know even if you were to give me all this money but the reason becomes apparent later that he physically is not able to do that because if he does and God's you're just gonna kill him on the spot and we'll see that in a few minutes and don't think for one second that's because Balaam has any integrity because he doesn't he wants that money he wants it really bad but he just can't right now because God's gonna kill him if he does so in verse 19 we'll continue there now therefore and now therefore I pray you so see look he's like the answer is no I can't do it but please just stay with me please I pray you Terry also here this night that I may know what the Lord will say unto me more so he's gonna go ask God again and that's what people do sometimes whenever they get an answer that they don't like they just keep asking over and over again till they get an answer that they do like and you know and then that's basically what he's doing so he goes back to God he asked him again and verse 20 it says and God came unto Balaam at night and said unto him if now notice that word if that's gonna be important if the men come to call thee rise up and go with them but yet the word which I say unto thee that shalt thou do and notice verse 21 and Balaam rose up in the morning and saddled his ass and went with the princes of Moab so see he didn't wait for the if he didn't wait for them to call him he just he just went he forgot about that if and because of that that makes God angry it says in verse 22 and God's anger was kindled because he went he didn't wait for if they if they call you he just went because he went and the angel of the Lord stood in the way for an adversary against him now he was riding upon his ass and his two servants were with him and so at that and the next part is basically this angel of the Lord is trying to kill Balaam but then miraculously you know God allows Balaam's ass to be able to tell him hey look you know there's an angel from he wants to kill you and to warn him and so at this point you know and then the angel tells him to continue going to Moab and so you know he continues on his journey but now he's a little bit more humbled because there was an angel trying to kill him because his way is not pleasing unto the Lord and at this point I want to read to you a couple more verses from 2nd Peter chapter 2 where we began just stay where you are but in 2nd Peter chapter 2 it says in verse 14 having eyes full of adultery and that cannot cease from sin beguiling unstable souls and heart they have exercised with covetous practices cursed children which have forsaken the right way and gone astray following the way of Balaam the son of Bosor who loved the wages of unrighteousness but was rebuked for his iniquity the dumbass speaking with man's voice for bad the madness of the Prophet and so that in 2nd Peter chapter 2 is referring back to what we're looking at now how his ass spoke to him and told him that you know you need to be careful because this angels trying to kill you because Balaam's way was not pleasing unto the Lord he's disobeying God and all he wants is the money he you know he loved the wages of unrighteousness so he continues going and then he meets with King Bay like we're back in the story and he meets with King Bay like and Bay like wants him to curse the children of Israel he wants to do it really really bad so then Bay like ask Balaam to curse them but instead you know Balaam asked God and God said don't curse them in fact bless them and so he blesses them and Bay like gets mad at him and so then they go to another spot they tried again but Balaam blesses the children of Israel and he doesn't curse them and then they do it a third time and Balaam still blesses the children of Israel and people look at the story and they're like man Balaam has a lot of character because he just wants to you know do what's right he doesn't care about the money but that is simply not true because what happens is that he so after that you know he Bay like asked him to curse the children of Israel three times and three times he doesn't curse them he blesses them and then that's where the story ends however immediately after that he ends up going to the kings of Midian and he is basically he teaches them how to entice the children of Israel to commit fornication and to eat meat sacrificed on the idols and so he finds a loophole he finds a way to not just outright curse the children of Israel but to set a stumbling block in front of them and make them fall so that he can still get that paycheck and we'll take a look at that you know it says in numbers 25 just turn over if you would to numbers 25 that's just a couple of pages away in numbers 25 in verse 1 it says in Israel abode and shittom and the people began to commit whoredom with the daughters of Moab now that's the the the people who wanted the children will be cursed and they called the people unto the sacrifices of their gods and the people did eat and bow down to their gods and Israel joined himself unto Baal Peor and the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel and so and then immediately after this because of their fornication because of them eating meat sacrificed unto idols God kills 24,000 children of Israel with a plate because they did this horrible horrible thing and the Bible gives us more details in numbers 31 16 it says behold these referring to Moab and Midian caused the children of Israel through the council of Balaam to commit trespass against the Lord in the matter of Peor and there was a plague among the congregation of the Lord and so later on the Bible tells us that this problem that happened where the children of Israel were committing fornication and eating meat sacrificed unto idols in numbers 25 was because of Balaam Balaam did that Balaam went to Moab and Midian they and he said hey look I can't curse them outright but here's how we can get those children of Israel and he got his payday he did it you know he got it because of the fact that he found a loophole found a way to do it and in fact the New Testament refers back to the story in Revelation 2 14 it said but I have but I have a few things against thee because thou hast there them that hold the doctrine of Balaam and here it is who taught Balak to cast a stumbling block before the children of Israel to eat things sacrificed unto idols and to commit fornication so see Balaam found a way to get his money and to basically hurt the children of Israel he couldn't curse them outright otherwise God would kill him right then and there but as soon as God's not looking over his shoulder you know he goes back to them and he's like hey look this is how we can get them and he got his money but you know it's very short-lived because you know in in in this chapter numbers 31 it talks about how the children of Israel killed Balaam just a short time afterward along with all the Moabites or all of the Midianites and many of the Moabites as well so Balaam got what he what he deserved you know he got it you know he he got killed by the children of Israel later on so this story teaches us that you know Balaam was just in it for the money and it also teaches a great lesson about this type of false prophet how basically they'll say the right thing sometimes whenever you know it's safe whenever they can't get away with it they'll say the right thing sometimes and then other times they'll preach straight-out lies you know for money or for popularity or for a big church or for whatever the case may be you know they'll they'll preach lies sometimes and they'll preach the truth sometimes and this reminds me of a clip that I saw a long time ago on YouTube about Joel Osteen which is one of the most famous pastors of all time and basically he was on this this inner he was doing this interview where basically he was asked if Muslims go to heaven and then he said well you know they're following the light that they have so I can't really say and he didn't say outright that they were going to heaven but he didn't say that they were going to hell either and then later on on his website he he basically issued an apology he's like I believe that Jesus the only way if you don't believe in Jesus and you're not going to heaven or whatever but that's just an example of how he'll say a complete lie over here whenever it's safe and then over here whenever it profits him but he's gonna say the truth and so that reminds me of Balaam because Balaam you know said the right thing and but then he also said bad things as well and so you know whenever it was safe for him whenever he could get the money he would say whatever needed to be said and so and a great thing about this is that God is the one that took the vengeance on Balaam you know a short time after he ended up getting slain through the battle that the children of Israel had with the Midianites and the Moabites and so you know that's a great example for us that God is going to take care of these false prophets you know go if you would to Numbers chapter 16 so we talked about Cain. Cain is a false prophet that pushes his false gospel and tries to get people saved in his false religion according to his false gospel and then Balaam is the one who would preach lies for money he knows what the Bible says he knows what God wants but instead he preaches this because he wants the money he wants the paycheck and now we're going to take a look at Korah and we're going to see what type of false prophet Korah is so in Jude 1 11 it says woe unto them for they have gone in the way of Cain this is where we started by the way woe unto them for they have gone in the way of Cain and ran greedily after the error of Balaam for a reward and perished in the gains saying of Korah and so let's look at the story let's see what Korah said you know it says in number 16 1 it says now Korah the son of Ishar the son of Kohath the son of Levi and Dathan and Abiram the sons of Eliab and On the son of Peleth sons of Reuben took men and they rose up before Moses with certain of the children of Israel 250 princes of this assembly and then notice this phrase famous in the congregation men of renown and they gathered themselves together against Moses against Aaron and said unto them I'm gonna stop right there before we talk about what he said I want to draw a parallel between this passage and Psalm 2 I want you to stay where you are but I'm gonna read from Psalm 2 and see how similar it is you know Psalm 2 with this passage now Psalm 2 is talking about how the kings of the earth have risen up against Jesus and they want to basically kill Jesus but it says in Psalm 2 it says why do the heathen rage and the people imagine the vain thing the kings of the earth set themselves and the rulers take counsel together against Moses and and and Aaron but no that's not what it says it says against the Lord and against his anointed saying and so this is a very good parallel with number 16 because it says the exact same thing and they gathered themselves together against Moses and against Aaron and then in Psalms 2 it says that the kings of the earth set themselves and the rulers take counsel together against the Lord and against his anointed saying let us break their bands asunder and cast away their cords from us and this is a strikingly similar thing to what chorus says and we're about to take a look at that as well but then in verse 4 in Psalm 2 it says he that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh the Lord shall have them in derision then shall he speak unto them in his wrath and vex them in his sore displeasure and we'll see that that's what God does in this story as well he has them in derision he you know vexes them at the end of this story and so let's take a look at what chorus says you know with that in mind so it says in verse 3 and they gathered themselves together against Moses and against Aaron and said unto them ye take too much upon you seeing all the congregation are holy every one of them and the Lord is among them wherefore then lift ye up yourselves above the congregation of the Lord so he's basically just saying you know he's saying this and he's basically attacking the leadership of the congregation and you know this congregation this is the the it's called the church in the wilderness and Moses is basically the leader over this church you know we can call it a church and so Korah is basically speaking against the leadership he's like hey look we're all holy why don't we all you know basically you know we're all holy and why don't we all you know be leaders or whatever and then it says in verse 4 and when Moses heard it he fell upon his face and he spake unto Korah and unto all his company saying even tomorrow the Lord will show who are his and who is holy and will cause him to come near unto him even him whom he has chosen will he cause to come near unto him and so then the next day what they do is they prepare an offering and the Lord before the Lord and the Lord picks you know whose side he's on and of course the Lord picks Moses then Moses goes up to Korah and Dathan and Abiram and he you know rebukes them he curses them and then in verse 31 we're gonna skip a few verses so in verse 31 it says and it came to pass as he had made an end of speaking all these words that the ground clave asunder that was under them and the earth opened her mouth and swallowed them up and their houses and all the men that appertained unto Korah and all their goods they and all that appertained to them went down alive into the pit and the earth closed upon them and they perished from among the congregation and all Israel that were round about them flat at the cry of them for they said lest the earth swallow us up also and they can't in there came out a fire from the Lord and consumed the 250 men that offered incense and that is how the Lord had them in derision that is how the Lord vexed Korah and so and you know basically let's break down the story like we did the first two so firstly we see we see that Korah is speaking ill of the of the leadership at church and let me read to you a few verses about them and in Jude 1 8 it says likewise also these filthy dreamers defile the flesh despise Dominion and speak evil of dignities now that fits Korah like a glove he despised the Dominion of Moses he despised the Dominion of Aaron and he spoke evil of those dignities he spoke evil of the leadership and in 2nd Peter chapter 2 in verse 10 of the parallel passage also talking about false prophets it says but chiefly them that walk after the flesh in the lust of uncleanness and despise government presumptuous are they and self-willed they are not afraid to speak evil of dignity so notice we see that you know this false prophet they despise government so you know just like Korah he despised the government of Moses and Aaron you know they were not afraid to speak evil dignities and this also represents Korah as well is talking about him it says that they are presumptuous and self-willed and that was Korah you know he didn't wait to basically accomplish something good and become the leader of the of the congregation in a right way instead he was presumptuous and he was self-willed and he said hey look you take too much upon you let me be a leader too and let my friends be leaders too he was presumptuous he was self-willed he didn't care about the people of the of the congregation or anything like that he just wanted to be the leader and so and so that was one that was what he said and that was his greatest sin that he committed and then basically that's what these false prophets are going to do now the second thing is that that I want to point out about the story is that Korah was in the congregation Korah was a part of the congregation now we couldn't really say that about Cain or Balaam you know maybe Balaam had his congregation over here or whatever but they weren't a part of the congregation Korah is the guy who's in the congregation he's among us you know he's a he's among us but he's not with us Korah is in the church and so to bring it into modern day times you know basically you know he would be in the church and in acts 20 and verse 29 it talks about this type of false prophet it says for I know this this is Paul speaking he says for I know this that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you not sparing the flock so notice these wolves enter in among you so they're here they're in the church also of your own selves shall men arise speaking perverse things to draw away disciples after them now any verse in the bible is talking about Korah it's those verses right there you know he was he was a grievous wolf he entered into the into the congregation he rose up from among themselves he was speaking perverse things he was saying things that weren't true that wasn't right that he shouldn't have been saying all for what to draw away disciples after himself and that's how Korah got a big you know a group of 250 people to follow him and all this and so this is a type of false prophet somebody who would creep into the church and they are sitting among us but they don't believe what we believe they don't have any desire to or they they pretend like they're a part of the program and yet they don't believe it in themselves instead they just want a promotion or they just want to draw disciples away after them or they just want to you know do something like that and so you know and so that's what Korah did and that is the type of false prophet that Korah is representing and I want to point out a third thing about Korah is that probably now it doesn't say this in the in the story but probably he used flattery to gain to get where he was because the thing is you know you wouldn't have 250 people following you and turning their back on Moses unless you know you're you're a smooth talker or whatever you know unless you're basically flattering them and talking nice to them and stuff like that you know I could see him saying something like you know you're one of the famous among the congregation or you're a man a man of renown you know and that said that earlier in the chapter but I could see him saying something like that he's just flattering people so that he could get the people on his side and attack the leadership of the church and so I just wanted to run through a few quick verses on flattery you can stay where you are but I'm just gonna read a few verses on flattery psalm 5 9 it says for there is no faithfulness in their mouth their inward part is very wickedness their throat is an open sepulcher they flatter with their tongue destroy them oh god let them fall by their own counsels cast them out in the multitude of their transgressions for they have rebelled against thee and so notice it says in that verse that their throat is an open sepulcher so that's just like matthew 23 where we're reading earlier where you know the false prophets of his they were whited sepulchers where there was you know dead men's bones and all that and and so that could be core as well because you know he was flattering and he his throat was an open sepulcher and proverbs 26 27 it says who so dig at the pit shall fall therein and core definitely fell into a pit and he that rolleth a stone it will return upon him a lying tongue hateth those that are afflicted by it and a flattering mouth worketh ruin cora definitely worked some ruin in this story and in proverbs 6 12 here's another great verse on flattery it says a naughty person a wicked man walketh with a froward mouth he winketh with his eyes he speaketh with his feet he teaches with his fingers frowardness is in his heart he deviseth mischief continually he soweth discord therefore shall his calamity come suddenly shall he be broken and without remedy and you know what chorus calamity came upon him suddenly and that without remedy and you know i'm glad that god you know destroyed him in the way that he did because it gives us a great illustration to what happens to these false prophets the earth opened up beneath them and swallowed him up alive and then a fire came out from the lord and killed the remainder of them and so that shows us that what these false prophets are going to have someday they're going to have you know fire and they're going to have it in the pit and so these false prophets are going to hell just like cora did and so this and and also this provides us a great theme with all three of these people with all the three of these people you know god is basically the one that's getting vengeance on these people you know in kane's instance you know he put a mark upon him so nobody else would kill him because god wants to deal with him and balaam's instance god killed him a short time after with the children of israel coming in and then god just swallowed up care accord in his in his uh in his people and so this gives us a great um lesson that we should not you know basically take it upon ourselves to you know basically try to hurt false prophets or anything god's going to take care of them that's the that's the lesson there is that god is going to take care of these people and so you know the purpose of the sermon this morning was to show you that first of all you know false prophets they are the worst people imaginable they are the scum of the earth they are just very they're extremely wicked you can't get any worse than a false prophet literally sending people to hell saying bad or saying false things about the word of god these are the worst people out there and you know the second reason i want to preach this sermon uh this this morning was to show you the different types of false prophets you know you know there's there's the the mormon on his bicycle that's a type of false prophet there's the rich tv preacher which is you know representative by uh balaam and then there's the wolf in sheep's clothing who's among us and that is represented by cora and you know thirdly i just want to show you that we shouldn't take the matters in our own hands you know god's going to judge those people but rather we should just pray that god would destroy these people and that he would just let them go quick into hell and psalm 55 15 it says let death seize upon them and let them go down quick into hell for wickedness is in their dwellings and among them and we should be praying that about these false prophets we should we should hate them in our heart and we should want them to just be destroyed so that they can't hurt anybody else and can't send anybody else to hell so with that let's just go ahead and pray