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Amen, so the sermon tonight is entitled false brethren reality and response false brethren reality and response And the first point i'm going to make is the the fact that having false brethren is reality And this is something that we have to understand because you know false brethren is something that is going to happen You know regardless of whether or not we believe it. We may not think that false brethren are going to creep in We might not think that this is something that's ever going to happen to our church, but i'm telling you it's only a matter of time And if you've been around the ministry long enough, you'll you'll start to understand that this is true You will begin to see when this happens And even after it happens once or twice you might even think I know i'm guilty of this where false brethren crept into the church Began to preach false doctrine and drew away disciples after them and you think okay, so it happened, but that's it now it's over It's only going to happen once no and then it happens a second time then it happens a third time And why is that it's because the devil wants to destroy good baptist churches so one of the ways which he does that You know the devil doesn't just show up himself With a pitchfork, you know and trying to destroy a church the way he does it is through subtlety by being crafty And through what through using false brethren by using people and sending them in In order to divide or splinter churches. This is something that happens over and over again, you know And this is something that sadly the old ifb has just checked out on That they just they refuse to accept this reality to the point now or they're even saying hey, you know These sodomites can just come right in they can teach our kids they can sit in the front row They can cross dress they can bring their partner and it's it's not even that they don't believe that false brethren or a thing it's that they think that even just the most wicked reprobate is somebody that should just be welcomed into the church because You know what harm could come of it? you know, so if you get to a place where you're going to uh, You know, uh deny the reality that that wicked people infiltrate churches to do wicked things, you know That could go so far take you to the place where now you're just going to let the most Reprehensible and just wicked reprobates into the church That's how far removed people have gotten from this reality that there are false brethren So the first thing we need to face about this topic is that it is a reality That false brethren do creep into churches and they do wicked things to try and split and break up churches And this is just something that the bible talks about over and over and over again There's just so many scriptures on the subject. These are this is something that jesus dealt with This is something about paul dealt with it's something that paul warned us that we're going to have to deal with And yet today many people just think that that's something that could never happen to their church that's just something that they'll never see as they Live the christian life, but i'm telling you if you stick around It's only a matter of time until false brethren try to creep into a church unawares And you know, we have an adversary and it's the devil ultimately he's the one that's behind it and god is trying to tell us Even as far back as genesis just the beginning of the book in genesis chapter three That he's going to put enmity between thee and the woman who are speaking to the serpent between thee and the woman And between her seed and thy seed it shall bruise thy head And thou shalt bruise his heel now, we know that's a prophecy regarding christ But we also see here in this prophecy is that the devil is going to try to inflict Pain on what the body of christ, right? We could look at it that way as well He we always like to read that part. It shall bruise thy head. Yeah. Amen and amen, right? We know that one day he is going to crush that serpent that old devil Under his feet once and for all and destroy him, but he also is going to bruise his heel Okay, he is going to inflict damage on the body of christ He's going to attempt to do that He is that is his purpose is to try and stop the work of christ to hinder the work of christ You know the devil's not really worried about the lost of this world, you know, he kind of has that wheel in motion You know, he puts out the the media he puts out the entertainment He puts out all of all of that, you know programming that he puts out there And can kind of just get people kind of going down that path And once kind of people start going down that path of the world and just living for the world Not caring about the things of god, you know, he could kind of leave them to themselves He kind of it's like that little wind-up toys Right. So I think just wind this guy up just enough. I can set him down and he'll just Just go right down to hell, right? Whereas when you have christians when you have baptist churches We have bible preaching churches who are actually trying to do the work of god Who are trying to accomplish something for the cause of christ that puts a target on us And now now he could just wind these guys up and let them go and say let me work on these people Let me actively work against them. Let me try and get them to cease from doing the work of god Let me hinder the work of god because what are we going to do? We're going to go grab those little wind-up toys and point them in the right direction, right and try to get them saved So that's who he wants to stop. That's what says there in john chapter 10 verse 10 The thief cometh not but for to steal and to kill and to destroy right and that's the perfect description of the devil You say what is his agenda? What is it that he's trying to accomplish? He's trying to steal he is trying to kill and he's trying to destroy right now. He's doing a lot of killing, isn't he? There's a lot of you know He wants to kill people and get them to hell as quick as he can Through abortion through wars through violence or all these things but another part of what he tries to accomplish is to steal You know if he can send in a false brethren if he can attack churches, you know It might be that he you know could even steal away. What god's sheep He might even be able to steal away actual saved christians get them off the path get them out of church get them bitter Get them, uh, you know just out of serving god. What is he trying? He's trying to steal them back to the world This is how the devils works And look, you know, I know this isn't this I feel like this is something that I have to preach That's a topic I come up it's been coming up more and more late lately I feel like it's something that's I almost have to cover several times throughout the year Because this is a reality that people have to understand that the devil is real That isn't just some you know baptist fairy tale that we're telling up here We really have an adversary who walketh about as a roaring lion seeking who may devour he has an agenda of stealing of killing Of destroying that's what he wants to do and he's going to attack local churches You know and we can look around at other churches. Maybe it's not our church that's being under attack But you know we can look around to our sister churches We can look at our friends and other churches And we can see their churches this church goes under attack then this church comes under attack by the world the sonomites ultimately It's all the devil Ultimately, it's satan that's that's leading that charge against those churches Look it's only a matter of time until it comes around to this church So there's an attack on this church And i'm and i'm going to get up and i'm going to preach it and tell people and and I know for a fact that Even despite the preaching that i'm going to be doing tonight and other preaching i've done when it happens people can say oh, no, no No, that's not what's going on here. This isn't an attack or they're going to be caught off guard when it does happen They say I never saw it coming Okay, but i'm telling you the bible talks about this and the bible warns us about the fact That false brethren brethren creep in it is a reality. We have to face and come to terms with Go over to first john chapter four first john chapter four, we're going to look at a lot of scripture And you know This is an important subject and it's probably a lot of things we've heard before but we need to let these things sink down into our ears False brethren are a reality they will attack Jesus said in matthew 10 behold. I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves He didn't say send you forth the sheep into some, you know Serene green pasture with the gentle flowing brook and big oak trees Where just you're going to live out your christian life and just complete peace and harmony No, he said i'm sending you out as is sheep in the midst of wolves You're going to go out there and there's going to be people that are going to try and attack and devour and destroy And kill that's the warning. That's jesus's words. Those aren't that's not me just hyperbole This isn't just me getting up and you know Rattling my cage and trying to make a big deal out of something that isn't there This is what jesus said i'm sending you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves. It's going to happen Be ye therefore wise as serpents. He's saying don't be ignorant of this fact. Don't be stupid Don't think that the devil isn't out there waiting to attack that there isn't some wolf on the prowl Who's walking who's stalking who's trying to find a way in to attack to destroy and kill it's reality Now he said to be wise as serpents and harmless as doves that's important to remember Okay, because that's the gonna that applies more to the latter half of the sermon. We're going to talk about the response How should we respond to the reality of false brethren? What should be our attitude, but we'll get to that You're there in first john chapter four right now. We're just looking at the reality of false brethren It says in verse one of first john four beloved believe not every spirit But try the spirits whether they are of god Why why is it that we are to try the spirits? Why are to be wise as serpents or as he said as jesus said? Why because many false prophets are gone out into the world. This is in john's day Okay, this is you know less than a hundred years after christ has ascended into heaven after his ministry This is within the lifetime of the apostle john. He's saying many False prophets are gone out into the world even in his time Many false prophets have already gone out in the world and we know when we read through the old testament We see examples of false prophets all the way back into the time of moses Okay, so they already all got out of the world you say well, you know that was then you know People have chilled out now the devil isn't so he's realized he can't win. You know, he's just drawn back He's just kind of biding his time into the other times. No, he's still actively working I mean we see false prophets on every hand. They're everywhere. We've got roman catholic churches, you know I just drove by going up to mount limmon the other day went by the mormon temple up there On the north side. We got a mormon temple here. So they're not false prophets. Look, they're false prophets. They're teaching another christ They're teaching another way of salvation. They're false. Okay, they're teaching anything other than salvation by grace through faith They are a false prophet They can call themselves christian They can say they believe in jesus when you examine their doctrine when you try the spirits they come up false every time Look, they're on every hand the johoba witnesses the mormons the catholics we could go on and on the seventh day in venice They're everywhere. They're on every hand. They were they're there if anything. They're more abundant today than in john's day So we should not be so foolish to think that false brethren couldn't also come into this church Because it's a reality that jesus is warning about that. John is warning us about That false prophets that we are going to creep in That we are sheep in the midst of wolves that we need to try the spirits whether they be of god Look at verse two hereby know we the spirit of god Every spirit that confesseth that jesus christ has come in the flesh is of god And every spirit that confesseth not that jesus christ has come in the flesh is not of god And this is the spirit of antichrist wherever you have heard that it should come You know, that's where a lot of people would like to stop reading say well, yeah, we understand that's something that's going to come That's just end times prophecy stuff. That's just something that's going to happen, you know in the latter days He says look it's that it should come and even now already is it in the world? Look, the spirit of antichrist is already at work in this world today And again, you know a big part of his job is just to get the unsaved into hell But you know that doesn't you know that doesn't take a whole lot of effort once you get all the public Education and the higher learning in place and teach get people brainwashed with The evolution and the worldly philosophies and humanism, you know, you can kind of just usher them on They're just like that little that little wind-up toy that all once you get them going They'll just they'll carry themselves over there But the spirit that's a big part of the spirit of antichrist job. Look that ball is in motion that system is in place And you know a bit another part of his job the spirit of antichrist is to attack the local new testament church You know and it's hard for people to understand that You know, we even our little church here Just minding our business down in tucson. Just trying to preach the bible Just trying to go out and win souls would be the the target of satan and his and his and the works of darkness but it is And we understand it's like well, who are we? You know, we are, you know, that's a good way to think we really are nobody right who is sufficient for these things As paul said but our sufficiency is of christ You know, we are ambassadors for christ the world might not think much of us and honestly, you know in and of ourselves We are nothing But when you're representing the king of kings the lord of lords when you're an ambassador for christ when you're pulling souls out of the pits of hell You become a prime target for satan himself And it's only a matter of time until a false false brethren or try to creep into a church like this And split it or splinter it or do as much damage as I can It's happened over and over and over again and still every time it happens there's still people that go Never saw it coming. I didn't know this could happen Despite all of the reading we're going to do tonight despite all that the bible talks about this subject Go over to john chapter 8 John, you know what go to go to uh, go to galatians chapter 2 galatians chapter 2 just go there. I'll read to you From uh third john chapter one. He said in third john chapter one I wrote under the church but diatrophes who loveth to have the preeminence among us receive us receiveth us not So even in john's day There's this guy Diatrophes who's gotten into the church and who loves the preeminence so much that he's not even receiving the apostle paul Paul or excuse me. John. John can't even get in the door He's like look he received with us not Why because he loveth the preeminence wherefore if I come I will remember his deeds which they do with prating against us With malicious words and not content there with neither doth he himself receive the brethren And forbideth them that would I mean this guy has gotten such a hold on this church That he's not receiving the brethren and even those that would receive the brethren. He's not receiving that he forbids them as well Because he has to be the big shot This is an example of what false brethren a guy that has crept in And he got to the point where he's pretty much determining who's allowed and who isn't Just on his own, you know out of his own, uh Just preferences from what it sounds like and he cast them out of the church You know paul went through this paul said in second corinthians chapter 11 and journeying soft in perils of water imperils of robbers imperils by mine own countrymen imperils by the heathen imperils in the city imperils in the wilderness imperils in the sea imperils among false brethren You know all these other things we could probably say. Oh, I could see how that could happen I mean you're out sailing around on the sea. Of course, you're going to get into a storm that seems pretty Reasonable paul that these type of things could happen imperils by my own countrymen. Okay, I have physical persecution You know, the jews are coming after you they don't appreciate, you know The what you're preaching you're and all that imperils by the heathen, you know more persecution but then People just gloss over when you read imperils by false brethren imperils by false brethren What does it mean to be a false to be false brethren to be a false brother in christ? It means you look like a brother. It means you act like a brother you talk like a brother Everyone would think that you're saved that you love the lord. You've gotten into church. But the fact is is that you're false Okay I mean that's why it's so hard to to pick these people out And in fact, let me just say this i'm getting ahead of myself a little bit. You can't pick them out. Okay That's why it's senseless to go on any kind of a witch hunt to try and find people and say well I think this guy is a false brother. I'm gonna smoke them out. Okay, you can't do it And then let me prove that from the scriptures look at there in galatians chapter two You know The first part of the sermon is just trying to get people to come to terms with the fact that false brethren are real And then it's only a matter of time until they try to creep into this church So don't let it catch you off guard when it happens Because i've seen it over and oh and just the eight, you know short eight years that i've been a part of this church I've seen it a handful of times I've seen it in other churches and you know what there's probably even instances where it's happened in other churches. I don't even know about Okay It's something that happens over it's something that happened in jesus day. It's something that happened in paul's day It's something that we're warned about but again, you say all right, I believe you i'm on board brother. Corbin You convinced me the scripture is clear false brethren. It's reality So let's you know, let's get the lanterns and the pitchforks And the shovels and the rope and we're gonna find out who it is, right? We're not leaving here until I get some false brethren smoked out. Look it doesn't work like that You know, that's and maybe that's why people have such a hard time with understanding this Is because false brethren are so convincing That you you can't you can't know them until they bare their teeth You can't know the wolf in sheep's clothing until the ear pokes out until the tail comes out from underneath You know the costume until the teeth are finally shown until he has another sheep in its jaws until they begin to do their work And then it's plain as day for anybody to see But up until that point they're false brethren. They look like us they talk like us and they come in And again, you know, sometimes people can get can see fault, you know red flags But let me just explain something a red flag does not mean that they are false brethren Let me tell you what a red flag is. It's a red flag and that's all it is You know, sometimes these red flags you might see in somebody like Oh this person, you know, because they might say well they flatter people and look flattery is a red flag Now i'm not saying like, you know when people compliment you and say give you a genuine sincere compliment. That's not flattery But we all know what flattery is when people go over top. Oh, you're just over the top with their compliments And they're telling you things about yourself that you know aren't true, you know, man that suit looks good on you. It's like This whole thing, right It's like missing buttons. It's got stains on it. You're like, I don't know what's going on here. You're so smart You're like i'm not that smart, right All these things that people and they'll just be over the top, right? They'll just go overboard with it, you know flattery is a red flag, but you know what maybe that person is trying to you know I don't know. It doesn't necessarily mean that they are False brethren now it is a red flag. But again It's just a red flag So, you know you have to wait for Unfortunately, you have to wait for false brethren to expose themselves to come out as what they really are Okay And you know, this is what we see in scripture look at galatians chapter 2 verse 1 He says then 14 years after I went up to jerusalem with barnabas and took titus with me also And I went up by revelation and communicated to them That gospel which I preach among the gentiles but privately to them which were of reputation lest by any means I should Run or had run in vain but neither titus who was with me being a greek was compelled to be circumcised And because that of false brethren and I want you to pay a close attention to these words unawares brought in who privily Who came in privily to spy out our liberty which we have in christ. Jesus I'm not going to get all the context here The point I want us to understand is that when paul is talking about these false brethren What is he saying about them that they were brought in? unawares That they came in privately privily, right? But false brethren aren't just going to show up be like hey I'm a false brother. Nice to meet you. I'm here to i'm here to harm the body of christ I'm here to hinder the work of god. I'm here to draw us disciples away after me I'm here to preach heresy and demo but that's not what they're gonna do They're not going to hand you a business card that says false prophet false brethren, you know, contact me at you know Falsebrother at gmail.com one eight hundred heresy. It's not that simple. Okay, they come in privily They come in unawares. They sneak in they creep in is what he says here Go over to uh, jude chapter one jude chapter one Look they creep in but it's again. This is why I think so many people struggle with this So many people think oh this this is this can't be true This never happens because it's done so subtly it's done so slowly It's done so craftily that when it finally they finally spring their trap People are just taken completely off guard and they say things like what so and so I never would have guessed exactly That's the point. That's how they work They want to creep in they want to do it privately and again, you know This is this isn't it really something I was going to go into but I it's I firmly believe that some of these people are Controlled by satan will net satan himself, but they're under demonic control that they don't even know that they're false brethren They don't even know that they're a judas That they're just set in there. They're just something I mean How else do you explain a bunch of people showing up all at once the same church around the same time and then all falling Into the same heresy and trying to split a church It's demonic It's so strange. It's like god let you know, the satan lets them creep in there And then when he's ready and he gets all his little people in there that he wants in there and then he tries to spring some kind of a trap And you say well, you know, you're satan really devils. It's like what do we not believe in the devil here? Do we not believe in the spiritual world? Do we not believe in the supernatural? Of course that kind of thing can happen You know, this isn't ghostbusters stuff up here. I'm talking about this is the bible. Okay, the bible talks about you know, devils and demons and Angels You know, it doesn't we don't know a lot about that world and we don't the bible doesn't shed a lot of light on it But it gives us enough to understand and know that there are people that can come under the demonic influence And can be used of satan I mean, there's one character in the new testament who I think was pretty prominent and it says that satan entered in him Who was that? Oh, yeah, it was judas One of the twelve, you know satan entered into judas and he went and did those things Right, so again, you know the devil works that way he doesn't show up himself and false brethren they show up They don't advertise the fact. In fact, they might not even know You know, i'm not saying that's not that's always the case But I my belief is is that a lot of times these these judices they don't even know they're judices They don't even know that they're being used by satan Look at jude chapter 1 verse 3 beloved when I gave all diligence to write unto you the common salvation It was needful for me to write unto you and to exhort you That you should earnestly contend for the faith, which was once delivered on the saints So jude's saying look I wanted to write to you the common salvation But when I went to do that, I realized it was needful for me to write unto you of what? That you should earnestly contend for the faith. Why? for verse four For there are certain men crept in under wares who were before old of old ordained to this condemnation Ungodly men turning the grace of our lord god into lasciviousness and denying the only lord god and lord jesus christ So he's saying look I wanted to write you the common salvation But then I realized I had to exhort you to contend for the faith because there are certain who are crept in And how are they crept in and people look people might understand the first part of the sermon. Yes. It's reality. I accept that Here's the next half they creep in on aware's they creep in privately. That's what jude is saying here They crept in unawares Meaning that you don't see them coming But that doesn't mean you can't brace for impact. That doesn't mean you can't be You know ready for this reality of when it does happen But what it does what it what it doesn't mean is that you can sniff them out Doesn't mean that when they come people come in here, you can start to examine themselves. I think this person's a false brethren Look the people you suspect of being false brethren, you know, if you suspect them that probably means that That they're not Because they creep in unawares Yeah, but not for me. I'm aware of everybody. I'm so I you know, I have such discernment I have such I the holy spirit dwells in me so richly, you know And I have I have the such a spirit of knowledge and understanding that you know, I can even sniff out the you know jude couldn't I know john and others couldn't apostle paul couldn't I know, you know, but but me I can you know Because i'm just this the spiritual sleuth up here Right, no nobody can they creep in unawares now look you can when the red flags start to pile up You can start to go. Okay, let's Get ready for it any day now Right something's gonna happen, right but that doesn't mean we can start going around and confronting people Trying to bring other people over to our side thinking. Oh, do you think so-and-so is a false prophet? Look, you're getting real close to you know, false accusations at that point It's it's it's that's dangerous ground to get on We don't want to just start going on a witch hunt because it's fruitless. You can't do this because they creep in unawares All right They're good at their job Go over to matthew chapter 13 matthew chapter 13 So the sermon tonight is about false brethren the reality of it, you know that there are false brethren that creep in This isn't just you know Make-believe this is this is something that happens And you know i'm preaching the sermon but when it happens, you know people the people are still gonna get caught off guard Or they're gonna do what I didn't think. Oh, okay. Well, that's out of the way It's never gonna happen again and then it happens again Then it happens again. Okay, it happens Jesus said beware false prophets who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly are ravening wolves. Look they're wearing sheep's clothing You know, how are we gonna know who they are by their fruits, you know fruit takes time, doesn't it? Fruit takes fruit doesn't just show up all of a sudden he said he shall know them by their fruits A good fruit cannot bring forth evil fruit and excuse me A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit Neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit every tree that bringeth forth not good fruit is hewn down and cast in the fire Where for wherefore by their fruits you shall know them He didn't say you're going to know the false brethren by you know, going around and picking up all the you know Because they come in as as wolves in sheep clothing Let me see if I can pull the wool back And get a peek under there and see what what's what's really under that that wool You know that if it's a real sheep, all you're gonna do is pull their hair Like a man, you know, they're gonna get mad right you're gonna scare them. They're gonna run off I don't know if that's the sound of sheep makes but It sounded good at the time. All right but the illustration is this is that That's not how jesus said to find him out go around and you know and and and pull up the see if you can pull the wool up And see if there's a wolf under there What he's saying the way he says you're going to know who they are is when their fruits come to bear When they come to full season when they finally take the the clothing off and say guess what i'm a wolf, you know And they start to bite and devour. Okay, that's how it works You shall know them by their fruits You know a lot and there's so many trees in the world that fruit trees I couldn't tell you what kind of a fruit tree it is I could look at you could look at it and say what kind of fruit tree is that I have no idea You know if it's out of season, but the instant its branches are just weighed down with lemons, you know, I think it's apples No, i'm gonna say it's a lemon tree how do I know that because i'm some you know, I know I came from michigan We're with places like glenn arbor You know in and arbor, but that doesn't make me an arborist You know an expert in trees You know, I I wouldn't know probably more than anybody now i'm sure there's plenty of people out there that could do that But i'm not one of them. In fact, most people couldn't But when you see some tree just, you know hanging down and it's got giant, you know Peaches or lemons, you know right away what tree it is. Why? Not because you're an expert on trees because of the fruit that's there. That's how it is That's how it works with false prophets. That's how it works With false brethren when they when they take off the the sheep's clothing when the fruit comes to bear There's no denying what they are it's obvious to everyone Okay So there's no point trying to go around and lift up the wool and see if there's anything other because you know What vast majority people really are sheep? They really are of this fold And we can't just go around trying to find out who the wolf is look There might not even be a wolf at this present time. There might not even be a judas You know that but I believe this there will be One day there will be false brethren why how why do I believe that because we're doing the work of god Because we're doing something important here because the bible is being preached because souls are getting saved because people are getting baptized because the church Is growing It might not be this year. It might not be next year But I guarantee you eventually devil that satan is going to get tired of what's going on here and he's going to do his best to stop this He's going to try and split a church or try to take people out of church or try to just you know At least splinter it, you know and hinder the work of christ Look, you know the gates of hell are not going to prevail against the church, but that doesn't mean he isn't going to try That doesn't mean it's not going to suffer loss It doesn't mean it isn't going to have to press forward, you know and take the kingdom of heaven by violence. Okay? Matthew chapter 13 look at verse 24. Is that where had you go? Matthew 13? This is an important parable. Okay, that kind of ties the whole thing together here tonight About what the reality of false brethren and also how we are to what our response should be. Okay Because you know, we might we might get real zealous for our church and that's great and say well I want to protect my church, you know, I don't want to see you in split So i'm just you know, i'm going to become this, you know, this vigilant and look we're supposed to be vigilant, right? I mean, that's that's it's one of the qualifications for the bishop but i'm just going to be this hyper vigilant just this You know this the century at the door of of faithful word tucson and i'm just going to start look There's churches like this that have had the spirit and i'm just going to start grilling people as soon as they walk through the door How long you've been saved what you can save do they use the king james bible? Look, I believe all that You got to have that stuff Right, but we don't want to grill people at the door. What do you believe in the trinity, you know? Then just start going down the list like It's like hi my name is and then you know, you get their name and then it's just like okay 20 questions Make sure you're not a false prophet That you're not false brethren here and look people's intentions might be good And you know their their their hearts in the right place, but that's you know, you do more damage Than good when you get an attitude like that That's what it says in matthew chapter 13 verse 24 another parable. He put he forth unto them saying The kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man which sowed good seed in his field But while men slept his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat and went his way But when the blade was sprung up and brought forth fruit then appeared the tares also that's notice again When were they able to tell the difference? When it brought forth fruit, okay So the servants of the householder came and said unto him, sir Didst thou not sow good seed in thy fuel From whence then hath it tears? They're saying where do these tears come from? He saith unto them an enemy hath done this The servants said unto him and don't miss this Wilt thou then that we go and gather them up? They're saying you want us to go tear up the tears now and get those tears out of there And what is the master which is you know? the a picture of the lord He said in them name lest while you gather up the tares you root up also the wheat with them Okay, this is an important principle to understand in scripture This is why you can't go on a witch hunt This is why you cannot start just trying to root out the tears that you think are there Okay Because what you'll do in the process is you'll start trampling You know the the wheat you'll start trampling the good plants that are there You might start hurting other people in the process or you might go after somebody And find out that they're not tares that they are wheat But you know what you damage them. You're like trying to pull it out. It's like you know And then it gets it gets snapped over, you know, it's lame now. It's not going to be able to bring forth as much fruit Why? Because you're trying to pull up something that needs to stay there that doesn't need to be pulled up or you know Worst case scenario you actually pull the weed up and cast it away and now there's no fruit, right? Look people do that. This is like the you know The equivalent of people come into a church and get the third degree about what you know about what? Whether or not they're false brethren or something saying i'm not going back to that church and look I wouldn't blame them I'd go find another church If I walked into some church and it was just like got the third degree they break out the spotlight And start asking me, you know where I was next tuesday night or whatever Explain yourself. It'd be like this is not why I came to church. Look people come to church A lot of times because they're looking for help They're looking for they're looking for help. They're looking for compassion If you're not going to find it here, where are you going to find it in this world? You need to find it here and a lot of times that's what they come here for and no they're not perfect They don't have all their spiritual ducks lined up, but so what that's what we're here to do We're gonna make we're here to make as I heard it well put we're gonna make weird people normal And that is the ministry in a nutshell right there take weird people and look i'm one of them Look and you're like, yeah, we know There's and i'm a work in progress. All right, the wheel still it's like still loading Right still weird. Okay, right, but we all are you know, none of us is perfect. We're all Under construction here and look people need to be able to come in here and feel welcome and look I'm not saying that they don't I think our church is great about this You know, but I want to maintain that I want to keep that going I want people to come in here and and see this as a place where they can get their feet back on the ground That they can grow spiritually and that they can make something of their lives for the lord no matter where they're starting in life No matter how far behind they are No matter how many problems they have if they're willing to get pointed in the right direction, that's what I want Right, that's I want wheat in here But i'm not so ignorant as to think that tears aren't going to come in also Look tears are going to spring up over time But let's let the tears make themselves evident Okay, and there's a greater application here to the end times. I understand about this parable But there's a good principle here about not trying to root up something and doing damage to everything else around it Okay Getting this attitude of like well, i'm just going to be the one that's going to tear all the tears out You're going to do more harm and good that way You're going to run off good people thinking that there's something that they're not okay People look the false brethren the false prophets they will reveal themselves in time, you know that happens every time And look the more you see it, maybe yeah, maybe you start to identify You know people that have been in the ministry that have had been stabbed in the back repeatedly People that have had judices come in and try to do harm You know, they probably do develop a better sense of who has more potential of being one of these people but even then even then where it's like when people are just checking all the boxes of Judas false prophet false brethren, you know when they're just they're just ticking all the boxes off even then You know that doesn't give us liberty To go and try and root them out or kick them out or run them out. You have to unfortunately wait for them To show themselves for what they are before you can take action, you know, it's like it's it's like And it's unfortunate, you know because sometimes Look, I don't have like a real delicate way to put this it sometimes You know, you might have trash building up in a church And it's just been there so long that everybody gets used to it You go nose deaf, right? Because the trash, you know, it's just it's just been part of the church for so long You ever you ever run into people like that have gone nose deaf Like when I delivered pizza, I ran into people like this that had cats And before you even get to the door, I'm not saying every cat owner has this problem. Okay? No, if you have cats, i'm not targeting you. This isn't i'm not trying to offend people with cats I like cats i'm not gonna go so far as to say I love them. Okay, but I do like cats Right. I've owned cats. I hope to own a cat in my future. All right But here's the thing i've also known people i've might haven't known them but I was delivering pizzas I'd go up to the door and before you even get to the apartment you can smell the litter box that ammonia Right that deep ammonia and then they open the door and it's just like Here's your pizza Your eyes are but they're just like thanks They're just standing there like oh how much do I owe you want a tip? Like they don't think what did that what's happened to that person is they've gone nose deaf They can't smell their own stench. They can't smell the stink in the room They can't smell the the ammonia has burned out the membranes in their nose You know, it's that strong look that you know, that's something that could happen in a church Trash people just start to pile up Everyone's just used to them being around and you know, but everyone notices when you light it on fire Then everyone's like oh when that that trash finally just blows up into some kind of a dumpster fire It's trying to burn everything else down around it's like oh, there's the problem. The trash is on fire Let's put it out and get it out of here Now again, that's probably not the most elegant illustration i've ever used. Okay, but it's the one that I know And i'm just making the point is this is that look You know You might even be able to develop a sixth sense about people like this But even then you have to wait them to do what you have to wait for them to expose themselves for what they are You can't you and you can't set a trap for them You can't accuse them and it's unfortunate because sometimes you watch those people latch on to good people And it's like okay here it comes and and you want to protect good people But you know what? Sometimes people have to learn this the hard way for themselves before they'll finally Realize what's going on? Okay And and and I don't want to you know, i've dealt with i've been one of those people in the past You know where you start to trust you thought oh this person's good this person's solid And then they turn out to be a judas, right? And so you never see it coming and then you kind of have your guard up a little bit About that and then the other temptation, you know, because again, you know, we're talking about our response to false brethren You know the reality of it and the response You know, we might even people might even get jaded Unfortunately, and this is something especially if you you know If you're in ministry if you deal with people a lot That I think people need to look out for but even if you're just around church for a while You could become very cynical about people And that's something I try not to do. I always want to give people the benefit of the doubt I want to you know, always think the best of people But when you see people betray one another and stab people in the back, you know that that becomes an exercise That's something you have to purpose in your heart to do You know and and not to just think the worst of everybody and just think oh great here comes another judas You know, who is it now and just always have my radar on? Trying to ping the next, you know infiltrator. I don't want to live my life like that I just don't you know and I don't need to because the judices will come And they will expose themselves for what they are. I just have to all I have to do as you know As uh, you know somebody who is pastoring the church, right? That's what i'm doing Is is be vigilant so that when it does happen, you know, that's then I can ruin them out then we can deal with it But look we can't take that on our upon ourselves. We can't get into this, you know, vigilante justice Where we're going to start rooting out whoever we might think is or isn't false brethren crept in unawares And you say who does that look people have this attitude? They think oh i'm in a church. There's got to be a judas here. I'm going to be the one to find them out No, you're not and look I personally do not believe there's a judas here at all times I don't believe that Okay Especially when churches are smaller, you know, maybe we haven't gotten on the devil's radar yet He hasn't taken the time to try and send an infiltrator here That's my personal belief, okay But make no doubt about it In time they will come I do believe that if they're not here already and I again I don't suspect anybody Actually, i've got a list see me after service i'm totally kidding go over to uh Go over to ax chapter 20 ax chapter 20 He said in verse 1 and verse john 2 little children is the last time and as you have heard that anti-christ shall come Even now there are many anti-christ whereby we know that it is last time in john days. There were already many anti-christs And look you say well if there's many then let's find out who they are Look, they will reveal themselves. John says in verse 19. They went out from us But they were not of us for if they had been of us They know or they would no doubt have continued with us Look the great thing the the the the the consolation you could take away from about false brethren Is the fact that they show themselves the door? Eventually, they will go out from us now They're going to go kicking and screaming and trying to drag as many people as they can with them along the way And you know, you have to deal with that when when they when that rears its ugly head then that's when you deal with it but look the the The comforting thought is that they will go out from us That they will say okay now is the time And they'll spring their trap. They'll try to do the damage that they're there to do And they will go, you know, and it's unfortunate When you see good people get taken away by bad people, but you know what that's life. That's ministry people come people go people get Judases and false brethren creep in they do damage and they they hurt good people on the way out it's unfortunate but that's This is the reality that we're living in, you know, it'd be a lot easier Just put our heads in the sand like so many other Churches and just pretend that this isn't something that goes on You know and just let every you know, foul of the air just come in here and set up a nest and just You know feel right at home In god's church, even though they're they're bad people but we can't do that. This is reality. Okay? Okay Go to you're in acts 20 look at verse 29 for this for I know this this is paul paul's like, you know I have a I have a sneaking suspicion my hypothesis is You know, I have a hunch that possibly Maybe no he says I know this That after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you You know, not just people a little rough around the edges grievous wolves That are there to steal kill and destroy shall They shall enter in among you not sparing the flock Also of your own selves shall men arise speaking perverse things You know and not just perverse in the sense that we think you know thinking but perverse things false doctrine False things about christ, you know, they're gonna they're gonna speak perverse things like oh, I don't know deny the trinity They're gonna speak perverse things things that are crooked that cannot be made straight That they're gonna and to do what to draw away disciples after them And look paul is saying this is something that I know So what's our response find out who they are get them out of here. Nope. That wasn't and paul said I know this So what is paul's advice verse 31 therefore? Oh, okay. Here we go Paul's gonna give it to us. He's gonna give us the battle plan Right He's just string them up find out who they are Get the lie detector test out Get the get the heat lamps out You know water board do whatever you had to find out who they are Right. Is that what he's suggesting here? No, he says look they're gonna come they're grievous. They're not gonna spare the flock They're gonna teach perverse things. They're gonna draw away disciples after them Therefore Watch, you know be vigilant and remember that the space of three years. I cease not to warn everyone night and day with tears And what he's talking about is the fact that he went and warned people of what hell He just said I just kept preaching the gospel I just kept doing god's work And now brethren I commend you to god And to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up Look god's you know, he's only gonna if it happens it's only because god allows it to happen You have to remember that, you know, god allows these people to creep in god allows these type of things to happen So that you know that they can take away other false brethren so they can take away bad people I believe that you know, the analogy has been made that they are the trash men of the church That they come in they gather the trash and they take it with them. That's an that is an appropriate analogy That is exactly how it works That's why paul's remedy here is not to go on a witch hunt But to cease to not to but to not cease to warn everyone day and night with tears You know the false brethren are going to come regardless of what we do So we might as well just keep warning people night and day with tears going out Sewing precious scene, you know with weeping that so that we can come again with rejoicing bringing our sheets with them or with us We should just go out and keep doing the work of god and just let the tears come and let the tears go Because they will go look we'll deal with them when they get here. But in the meantime, let's just be about the work of god You know and the irony is if we if we just be about the work of god, that's what's going to bring them That's what's going to put us on the the devil's radar, but so be it Let's go ahead and get on that radar. Let's let's you know, let's send out a ping or two You know and and because that means we're getting something done, okay, but look when they come You know because and we know they're going to come don't let it dissuade you from doing the work of god do what paul did You know keep Keep doing the work of god keep warning people day and night with tears And look unfortunately, you know when when these things happen even you know saved people often Go away too even often saved people Will get drawn away And they'll they'll be affected You know some some false brother some you know, someone will attack a church attack a pastor And you know, they might not get the pastor. They might not get him to to stumble and fall. They might not get him To step down they might not completely split or shut down a church like they want And hinder the work of christ, but you know, unfortunately what they will do is that they will get some you know Good people, you know People that had potential people that could bear fruit people that you know could go on and do great things for god. They will leave You know and and but you know, there's this principle in deuteronomy. We won't go there if you want to go over to um, Just go over to jude jude chapter one. I know we were there earlier Look, there's some people you just have to let go Unfortunately when this happens even good people when they get taken away, you know, you just have to let them go You know if they get you know, there's a principle in deuteronomy where they would go out to war They were to say you'll go around and say hey any man that has taken a wife You know go home, you know and or any man that has built a home. He needs to go home Any man's planted a vineyard. He needs to go enjoy that fruit. He needs to enjoy That uh wife he needs to go home and enjoy Uh, you know that new home, right? There were certain people that were barred from service Okay And another person that was barred from serving in their army would be people that had fear in their hearts You know and that's you know, a lot of times that's who gets drawn away people who are just You know afraid to get in the thick of the battle They're afraid of being a church that's going to have conflict or you know drama in it Like that's this dirty word now You know people that are they get they're afraid and they get drawn away They get taken away and it's unfortunate but the bible says, you know, what let them go He said in deuteronomy and the author shall speak unto the people and they shall say what man is there that is fearful and faint-hearted Let him go And return to unto his house lest his brethren's heart faint as well as his heart You know, it's sad to see when when good families get taken away, you know because of you know, some judas attacking a church But at the same time you don't want that spirit to remain You know people that are going to be fearful or doubtful or faint-hearted, you know, sometimes you have to let them go too Okay, it's unfortunate but that's the prescription here. You're there in jew chapter one So again, we're talking about our response, you know, the first half was about the reality That there are false brethren that creep in but how should we handle that? You know a lot of people here probably understand that look that the false brethren or reality even if you've never experienced it You're probably like yeah, I know that that's what the bible says. I believe it But how should you respond? Because that's really the most important part Look the if you don't if you doubt the reality of felt false brethren. It's just a matter of time, you know It'll prove itself. The important thing is how are you going to respond when it happens? Or how should you conduct yourself in the meantime? Okay We don't want to go on a witch hunt And we have to be willing to let people go And we have to wait for people these false prophets to reveal themselves or what they are That's what it's and they will no doubt about it jew chapter one Verse 12. These are spots in your feasts Of charity when they feast with you feeding themselves without fear Clouds they are without rain water carried about of winds trees who fruit wither with without fruit twice dead plucked up by the roots raging waves of the sea Why is he using these analogies to describe these false prophets? Why is he describing them as raging waves of the sea you ever been near a an ocean that has like big breaks on it big surf that comes in and just Look, it could be it's like you have to speak louder to be heard You can hear it, you know from some distance away. You don't There's no doubt that you're next to an ocean at that point when you're next to raging waves, you know it Especially if you're out in the surf, right? You ever been out and out on a beach somewhere and just have some giant wave come in I remember when I would go visit my dad in the caribbean when we first started going down there and they had some bigger waves And he would warn you be careful of the waves, you know You got to kind of dive in and get out there a little bit like yeah And if you weren't careful, man One would just come along and just you'd be like getting drug around on the bottom get to get out You had sand in your shorts and everything. It was it was a comfortable experience, right? But I didn't come up out of the water and go what was that Was that a seagull? You know, did my sister dunk me? No, it was a it was a wave that did that. It was like no doubt a wave did that, right? You know, that's kind of why I think he's using this analogy there. Look, they're raging waves of the sea. What are they doing? They're foaming out their own shame. It's obvious you ever seen waves make foam like that Or you'd be around a lake where it has that thick nasty foam sometimes You know, that's what these people are like you give them long enough, you know, that wave will come in it'll break It'll be loud. There'll be foam. There'll be spray You'll you'll get wet and say that's a wave But they're the ones that have to break. They're the ones that have to come to shore. They're the ones that have to fall on the sand You know, we don't want to start swimming out there, you know And try to find that wave and get a cramp and go down or something and waste our time. Okay They'll come in they'll come to shore they'll bear their fruit they'll take off the wool they'll bear their fangs Look, we just have to be ready to respond And not let it catch us off guard Go over to uh first corinthians chapter 14 first corinthians chapter 14, we'll close there How what should our response be What should our response be to the fact that we're going to have false brethren Creep in that they're going to be spots in our feasts eating with us without fear That there's going to be tears that are sown among the wheat. How should we respond to that? Look, it's not it's not You're trying to you know Get the hoe out and go to work and try to dig them out. That's not how we're supposed to handle it Try to find smoke them out find out who they are. That's not how you handle it. They will reveal themselves In the meantime, we just keep doing the work of god And where do I have you went to first corinthians 14 Consider christ, how did christ handle it? I mean he had judas, but you know, the the original judas was in his crew And he knew it. He knew he was he was a betrayer from the beginning He picked him right now. Obviously there was a greater purpose behind that Right, but he knew that there were some that believed not Even from the beginning of his ministry that he knew exactly who judas was and of course he's god He couldn't help but know that okay But that does that you know, how how did he conduct himself? Well first peter says for even we're here unto are you called? Because christ also suffered for us leaving us an example That we should follow his steps. So, you know if we want to know how to handle these judices Look to christ. How did he handle judas? How did he handle being betrayed? How did he be handled being uh, you know Having people revile him and attack him It says he did no sin neither was guile finding his mouth who when he was reviled reviled not again when he suffered he threatened not But committed himself to him that judges right judgeth righteously Look, obviously there's a time and place to call people out and to deal with uh, you know situations and things like that but a lot of times sometimes the best way to handle these judices once they're out and they're gone especially is to just Just commit yourself to him that judges right judges righteously And not feel like you have to defend yourself on every you know youtube thread facebook comment Because people can that's you know, that's just more of what they're you know, they want to draw people into that kind of stuff They want to keep doing as much damage as they can and unfortunately the day and age we live in that's a reality We have to talk about You know, it used to be before social media, you know, you kick people at church You know, the judices would get the boot they'd go they'd go out from us. That was it But now they can linger online And now they can keep trying to attack and draw people away online. It's interesting that when they do that The people it's like all the trash just kind of funnels together over in their comment section But look that's you know, that's why I don't pay any attention to any of that I don't pay any attention to any of these stupid videos these trash channels make You know people someone was telling me that day. Hey, you know, they made one about you No, I didn't because I don't pay attention to trash channels Because i'm too busy trying to do the work of god to sit around and worry about what some some clown is doing online Who's or I already know what that person is? They've already been booted from a church. They've already exposed themselves would be a judas They were exposed to themselves to be trash What it's like, you know, you know what the equivalent of watching those channels is Like it's why don't you just go to a dumpster and flip it open on a hot day and just go Mmm, that's that's what it's like when you're watching these channels reading all the comments Getting mixing it up there with them. It's like going and just taking a big whiff of hot trash I don't know about you, but i've got better things to do is sit around sniff trash You know, i've got i've got seed to sow, you know, it's actually going to bring forth fruit it's called soul winning I've got actual work to do called preaching, you know, i've got actual spiritual things and guess what so do you? So let the trash just rot. That's what I say, you know, god will empty that that can once and for all so they're on their way out And that's the example of christ. Look he didn't he didn't revile again He didn't he wasn't being crucified, you know trying to make his case his case. He just let it happen You know and guess what judas went out and hung himself and his bowels burst asunder and they buried him in the potter's field He got what was coming Jesus just had to go through it And that's why and just look at first corinthian chapter 14 verse 20 brethren it says be not children and understanding This is the point of the sermon tonight. This is part of this point Be not children and understanding look if you don't think That there are false brethren and they're going to try to creep in unawareness. You need to wise up you need to grow up And stop being a child in this area and understand that this is a reality that false brethren creep in unawares They come in privately to devour to steal to to do all manner of wickedness to destroy to kill, okay Be not children understanding about that. How be it in malice be children We don't we don't want to turn into spiteful vengeful people Who are just going to go around and try to root everybody out and look i'm not interested in trying to inflict Pain on these judices that get kicked out I'm not interested in trying, you know, once they're once they're publicly called out and thrown out of a church and shamed In the bible says to have no company with them to have nothing to do with them That's why i'm not interested going out and trying to you know Expose them any further than they already have been who cares? You know in malice be children, you know, and really that applies more within the local church We're gonna say okay. I'm wise now i'm wise as a serpent I know they're coming So now i'm just gonna you know coil up here like the wise serpent i'm supposed to do as soon as I see i'm gonna Lash it will lash out And try to bite people, you know, the problem with that is you might poison somebody who's good And what does that come across as to that person? Malicious, right if you get bit by a snake, do you pat it on the head say? Oh, thanks No, you grab a rock and smash its head then get to the hospital or something, right? You kill it, right? That's what you do when you find a nest of vipers You get rid of them Okay But look if you mistake somebody for something other than they are if you mistake somebody for being a judas when they're not All you're going to come across is to that person is malicious Are you going to come across as to the people around you is mean and malicious? Are you going to because that's exactly what you are. You're just doing damage You're not doing any good So that's that's the message. It's like look False brethren is a reality. It's gonna happen And it's great If we all understand that and once you come to the place when you understand that and you believe that and accept that great But that's step one You know the bigger hurdle that people i've noticed seem to get over is how what your response should be to that reality How should you handle that? You know be wise as the serpent, but what does it go on and say harmless as doves? You can't go around with your radar on And and trying to just behead everybody that you think might be a judas or i'm going to smoke them out It's the wrong attitude to have it's a malicious attitude. All it does is get people hurt Look, they'll expose themselves in time And then you know what they'll go out from us and they'll stay out from us And god will take it from there and we don't need to revile again But look, let's not be ignorant of the fact that they it's a reality But let's also be careful about how we respond to that reality of false breath Let's pray