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you you you you you you you you you you you you you you All right, good evening everyone welcome to stronghold Baptist Church grab your handles and open the song 441 Song 441 great is thy faithfulness O God my father there is no shadow of turning with me O God my father there is no shadow of turning with me O God my father there is no shadow of turning with me O God my father there is no shadow of turning with me O God my father there is no shadow of turning with me O God my father there is no shadow of turning with me O God my father there is no shadow of turning with me O God my father there is no shadow of turning with me O God my father there is no shadow of turning with me O God my father there is no shadow of turning with me O God my father there is no shadow of turning with me O God my father there is no shadow of turning with me O God my father there is no shadow of turning with me O God my father there is no shadow of turning with me O God my father there is no shadow of turning with me O God my father there is no shadow of turning with me O God my father there is no shadow of turning with me Morning by morning new mercies I see All I have need I have hath provided Great is thy faithfulness Lord unto me All I have need is thy faithfulness Lord unto me All I have need is thy faithfulness Lord unto me All I have need is thy faithfulness Lord unto me Psalm 347, fill me now. Psalm 347. On the verse. Hover hoarding, Holy Spirit. Bathe my trembling heart and crown. Fill me with thy hallowed presence. Come, oh, come and fill me now. Fill me now. Fill me now. Jesus, come and fill me now. Fill me with thy hallowed presence. Come, oh, come and fill me now. Thou canst fill me, gracious Spirit. Though I cannot tell me how, but I need thee greatly, need thee. Come, oh, come and fill me now. Fill me now. Fill me now. Jesus, come and fill me now. Fill me with thy hallowed presence. Come, oh, come and fill me now. I am weakness, full of weakness, at thy sacred feet I bow. Blessed divine eternal Spirit, fill with power and fill me now. Fill me now. Fill me now. Jesus, come and fill me now. Fill me with thy hallowed presence. Come, oh, come and fill me now. On the last. Cleansing, comfortless, insane, made of pain by heart and brow. Thou art comforting and saving. Thou art sweetly filling now. Fill me now. Fill me now. Jesus, come and fill me now. Fill me with thy hallowed presence. Come, oh, come and fill me now. It's time to go over our announcements. If you don't have a bulletin, just set up your hand and we will get one out to you. All right, so on the first page, so the bulletins are actually flipped, kind of inverted. So if you can turn on to the back where it says Sermon Notes and just flip it over, open up there to that first page. Our service times are there at the top. All right, there at the top, service times at 1030 a.m. for the preaching services and at 5 p.m. on Sundays. And on Wednesdays, we have a Wednesday night Bible study at 7 p.m. We're in the book of Isaiah, chapter 63. And then below that are the soul-winning opportunities. Before we get into any of the soul-winning that was done today, are there any souls that were saved throughout the week that we missed this morning? All right, salvation's today. Two? You have one? Three? Okay. All right. Great. Anyone else? Great. Okay. Awesome. Eight salvations. Great. Amen. Keep all the great work. There at the bottom is our offering and totals for the month of July. Then we have our prayer request. Just like I went over this morning, Beth Parker, she was here this morning joining us, but she's having issues with her job. She had lost her job, so she's seeking work and kind of going through some struggles, so keep her in prayer. And then below that, Ben McDuffie. His father had his foot amputated, had a severe infection, and they ended up amputating that without the consent of any of him or any of the family members. So it could be a possible medical malpractice thing. So just kind of keep him in prayer, keep the family in prayer to go through this hard time. He's going to have to go through a secondary procedure, which is going to be cutting more of that leg to try to put a prosthetic on. So definitely keep him in prayer. But that's pretty much all I got for the prayer request. Down there, we're still praying for Step Fast Baptist Church. They're still getting persecution, so we got them going. On the next page, as you see, the Estrada family, Tabitha there. Sue Estrada was born at home July 9th, and she measured 19 inches of 6 pounds 7 ounces. So thanks for all the prayers for the Estrada family. And then looks like Pastor left a little note there thanking us. It says, thank you everyone that volunteered their time and resources to make this church great, especially while Pastor Bridges is out of town. So yes, thank you guys for coming together and making sure things ran smoothly when Pastor Anderson was here, and being just respectful to everyone that came in, all the visitors, and uniting together, go out soul winning. I mean, thank you so much for doing that for the church. It's definitely a blessing. I'm sure Pastor is very happy with the way things kind of ran. Let's continue here. Bible memory. He's given us a review week for Hebrews 3. I guess just to review the whole chapter. That's that. I'll let him get a count on who's going to get it finished and everything else. And then below that, you'll see birthdays and anniversaries there at the bottom. I think that's everything for our announcement. Devin, do you know if I'm missing anything? No? It looks like it was Taylor's anniversary, not Taylor's birthday. OK. But they're not here. OK. So that was it. I missed that this morning. Thank you. All right. Right. OK. All right. Well, let's turn to our next song. Song number 228. I love to tell a story. I love to tell a story of hearts and things of love. I love to tell the story because I know it's true. It satisfies my longing as nothing else can do. I love to tell the story. It will be my theme in glory to tell the old, old story of Jesus and his love. I love to tell the story for wonderful it seems. And all the golden fancies of all our golden dreams. I love to tell a story painted so much for me. And that is just the reason I tell it now to thee. I love to tell the story. It will be my theme in glory to tell the old, old story of Jesus and his love. I love to tell the story. It's pleasant to read. But seems each time I tell it for wonderfully sweet. I love to tell a story for some have never heard. The message of salvation from God's holy word. I love to tell the story. It will be my theme in glory to tell the old, old story of Jesus and his love. I love to tell the story for those who know it best. Seems buggering and thirsty to hear it like the rest. And when it sings of glory, I sing a new, new song. It will be the old, old story that I have loved so long. I love to tell the story. It will be my theme in glory to tell the old, old story of Jesus and his love. Church, while the offering plate is being passed around, if you could open up your Bibles to the book of Acts, chapter 13. It's the book of Acts, chapter 13. And as we do customary here at Stronghold Baptist Church, we're going to read the entire chapter. Now I'm going to ask Brother Devin if he can please do that for us. Once again, that was Acts, chapter 13. Now there were in the church that was at Antioch certain prophets and teachers, as Barnabas and Simeon, that was called Niger, and Lucius of Cyrene, and Manain, which had been brought up with Herod the patriarch, and Saul. As they ministered to the Lord and fasted, the Holy Ghost said, Separate me, Barnabas and Saul, for the work whereunto I have called them. And when they had fasted and prayed, and laid their hands on them, they sent them away. So they, being sent forth by the Holy Ghost, departed unto Seleucia, and from thence they sailed to Cyprus. And when they were at Salamis, they preached the word of God in the synagogues of the Jews, and they had also John to their minister. And when they had gone through the isle unto Paphos, they found a certain sorcerer, a false prophet, a Jew, whose name was Bar-Jesus, which was with the deputy of the country, Sergius Paulus, a prudent man, who called for Barnabas and Saul, and desired to hear the word of God. But Elemis, the sorcerer, for so is his name by interpretation, withstood them, seeking to turn away the deputy from the faith. Then Saul, who also is called Paul, filled with the Holy Ghost, set his eyes on him and said, O full of all subtlety and all mischief, thou child of the devil, thou enemy of all righteousness, wilt thou not cease to pervert the right ways of the Lord? And now, behold, the hand of the Lord is upon thee, and thou shalt be blind, not seeing the sun for a season. And immediately there fell on him a mist and a darkness, and he went about seeking some to lead him by the hand. Then the deputy, when he saw what was done, believed, being astonished at the doctrine of the Lord. Now when Paul and his company loosed from Paphos, they came to Perga in Pamphylia, and John, departing from them, returned to Jerusalem. But when they departed from Perga, they came to Antioch in Pisidia and went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day and sat down. And after the reading of the law and the prophets, the rulers of the synagogue sent unto them, saying, Ye men and brethren, if ye have any word of exhortation for the people, say on. Then Paul stood up, and beckoning with his hand, said, Men of Israel, and ye that fear God, give audience. The God of this people of Israel chose our fathers, and exalted the people when they dwelt as strangers in the land of Egypt, and with an high arm brought them out of it, and about the time of forty years suffered he their manners in the wilderness. And when he had destroyed seven nations in the land of Canaan, he divided their land to them by lot. And after that he gave unto them judges about the space of four hundred and fifty years, until Samuel the prophet. And afterward they desired a king, and God gave unto them Saul the son of Sis, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, by the space of forty years. And when he had removed him, he raised up unto them David to be their king, to whom also he gave testimony and said, I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after mine own heart, which shall fulfill all my will. Of this man's seed hath God, according to his promise, raised unto Israel a savior, Jesus. When John had first preached before his coming, the baptism of repentance to all the people of Israel, and as John fulfilled his course, he said, Whom think ye that I am? I am not he, but behold there cometh one after me, whose shoes of his feet I am not worthy to loose. Men and brethren, children of the stock of Abraham, and whosoever among you feareth God, to you is the word of this salvation sent. For they that dwell at Jerusalem and their rulers because they knew him not, nor yet the voices of the prophets which are read every Sabbath day, they have fulfilled them in condemning him. And though they found no cause of death in him, yet desired they pilot that he should be slain. And when they had fulfilled all that was written of him, they took him down from the tree and laid him in a sepulcher, but God raised him from the dead. And he was seen many days of them which came up with him from Galilee to Jerusalem, who are his witnesses unto the people. And we declare unto you glad tidings, how that the promise which was made unto the fathers, God hath fulfilled the same unto their children, in that he hath raised up Jesus again, as it is also written in the second psalm, Thou art my son, this day have I begotten thee. And as concerning that he raised him up from the dead, now no more to return to corruption, he said on this wise, I will give you the sure mercies of David. Wherefore he saith also in another psalm, Thou shalt not suffer thine holy one to see corruption. For David, after he had served his own generation by the will of God, fell on sleep, and was laid unto his fathers, and saw corruption. But he whom God raised again saw no corruption. Be it known unto you therefore, men and brethren, that through this man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins, and by him all that believe are justified from all things, from which ye could not be justified by the law of Moses. Beware therefore, lest that come upon you which is spoken of in the prophets. Behold, ye despisers and wonder and perish, for I work a work in your days, a work which ye shall in no wise believe, though a man declared unto you. And when the Jews were gone out of the synagogue, the Gentiles besought that these words might be preached to them the next Sabbath. Now when the congregation was broken up, many of the Jews and religious proselytes followed Paul and Barnabas, who speaking to them persuaded them to continue in the grace of God. And the next Sabbath day came almost the whole city together to hear the word of God. But when the Jews saw the multitudes, they were filled with envy, and spake against those things which were spoken by Paul, contradicting and blaspheming. Then Paul and Barnabas waxed bold and said, It was necessary that the word of God should first have been spoken to you, but seeing ye put it from you, and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, lo we turn to the Gentiles. For so hath the Lord commanded us, saying, I have set thee to be a light of the Gentiles, that thou shouldest be for salvation unto the ends of the earth. And when the Gentiles heard this, they were glad, and glorified the word of the Lord, and as many as were ordained to eternal life believed. And the word of the Lord was published throughout all the region. But the Jews stirred up the devout and honorable women, and the chief men of the city, and raised persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and expelled them out of their coasts. But they shook off the dust of their feet against them, and came unto Iconium, and the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Ghost. Let's pray. Brother Kevin, can you pray for us? We thank Him for responding to you back here tonight. Let's let a carver come up and preach, and let y'all hear it. Give a moment to preach the word, prepare for it, allow us to receive it, and apply it to our lives. Give us all safe trips that we'll never leave here. Amen. All right, thank you all for being here this evening. And thank you, Pastor Burgess, for another opportunity to stand before you guys. Allow me a chance to stand before you guys once more. And thank you, whoever decided to drop this pulpit down just a little bit. You know, that was a great idea. I'm not that tall, but suddenly I feel tall now, you know, with this, you know, good looking Alpita. All right. But I know it's a pretty lengthy chapter, but we're going to touch just a couple areas in this one chapter by itself. But if you look at verse 6, the Bible says in Acts chapter 13, verse 6, it says in verse 6, And when they had gone through the isle of Paphos, they found a certain sorcerer, a false prophet, a Jew whose name was Bar-Jesus, which was with the deputy of the country, Sergius Paulus, a prudent man who called for Barnabas and Saul and desired to hear the word of God. But Eilimus, the sorcerer, for so is his name by interpretation, withstood them, seeking to turn away the deputy from the faith. The title of our message this evening, my sermon title this evening is turning people away from the faith, turning people away from the faith. And this comes from the last part, the latter end of verse 8, where it says that Eilimus, the sorcerer, it said that he had withstood them, seeking to turn away the deputy from the faith. So that is why our topic is today, turning people away from the faith. And just to give you all some context about this, Paul and Barnabas, along with, you look at verse 1, speaks about many other prophets and teachers that was in this church of Antioch. And while Barnabas and Saul, who was also known later on in this same chapter, his name is then introduced as Paul, it is here in this chapter where they are attending the church in Antioch. So you talk to Saul and Barnabas, then you say, hey, what church you go to? Well, the church of God over in Antioch. There's a church there in Antioch where they're attending. And while they're attending there, the Holy Ghost says later on in verse 4, to separate me, Saul and Barnabas, for the work that he has set out for them to do. So when they're on their way, they're on their journey, of course, they take John Mark with them. When they're there, they come across a city named Paphos. And when they're there in Paphos, they come across a man, and we're going to get into this a little deeper, the deputy, as the Bible calls him. He's the deputy. He has some type of rule and authority in this city of Paphos, but he is desiring to hear the word of God. And when he is desiring to hear the word of God, bar Jesus, the false prophet, is there seeking to turn away the deputy from the faith. So that's the context. And as I mentioned, the title is turning people away from the faith. And you know, in general, it is God's will that people be turned to the faith. That is God's will. Not that people will be turned away, but God's will is that people will turn to the faith. 2 Peter 3, verse 9. You don't have to turn there, but the Bible says, The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness, but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. Right? So as I mentioned, it is God's will that people turn to him, that people place their trust upon him. You don't have to turn there to this one, Daniel chapter 12, verse 3. This is speaking about the latter end, the last days. The Bible says, And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt. And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament, and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars forever and ever. So we see here where the Bible speaks about, you know, saved individuals who are turning many to righteousness. As I mentioned, that's the will of God, but not just in the form of salvation when we're talking about people turning to the Lord, but also in the forms of people just turning to the Bible in general, turning to the commandments, turning to the truth of God. It is God's will that people not only just turn to him in reference to salvation, but then that they get their thinking right. They line up their understanding that they get a brainwashing from the world's filth and that they get an understanding, a true understanding of what God's word says. God wants people to turn to him in that fashion as well. Romans chapter 12, verse 1 and 2 says, I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy as saith one to God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world, but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind. There it is where God wants you to be renewed in your mind, to be not conformed to the world. God wants us as individuals and everybody, his desires that people turn to him, not just in faith concerning salvation, but just lining up our thinking with what his word says and not being caught up and being conformed to the course of this world. He says at the end of that verse, that ye may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. So in general, when I'm talking today about turning people away from the faith and our desire and God's will is that people turn to the faith, we're looking at it from both angles of turning to the faith in reference to salvation and turning to the word of God in general, just people getting the brainwashing from the world. So with today's message, for our points today, we're going to zone in on three types of people, three types of people in this world who can cause or they can be responsible for turning people away from the Lord. So we're going to look at three groups of people. Number one, the false prophet, the false prophet. He or she, because you got women false prophets, too. He or she can be responsible for turning people away from the Lord. If you are still there in the Acts chapter 13, which you should be. Acts chapter 13, we look at verse 6. And when we start here with Bar Jesus, we're going to see and we're going to learn from him that just like any other false prophet, the intentions of the false prophet is not to turn you to the Lord. That's never their intention. He or she, whoever that false prophet is, is not interested in you learning the truth about anything concerning God. Their intentions are to turn you out of the way of the faith, to turn you away from the truth of God's words. Look at verse 6 again. It says, And when they had gone through the isle unto Paphos, they found a certain sorcerer, a false prophet, a Jew whose name was Bar Jesus, which was with the deputy of the country, Sergius Paulus, a prudent man who called for Barnabas and Saul and desired to hear the word of God. But Elime is the sorcerer, for so is his name by interpretation, which stood them seeking to turn away the deputy from the faith. So we see here, for one, the Bible just flat out calls Bar Jesus a false prophet. You know, because I think it's interesting because, you know, the word Jesus, the name Jesus is, you know, really mentioned for just two people in the Bible. You know, the Lord Jesus Christ himself, but also in the New Testament, the Bible calls Joshua. His name in the New Testament is called Jesus as well in the New Testament. But when you get that context, when it speaks about that Jesus was in the wilderness and he brought them out of the wilderness after the days of Moses, you put two and two together, use some logic, right? You would know that that is talking about Joshua. It was Joshua who brought them out. So it's interesting that this man has the name Bar Jesus, right? And, you know, it's good that the Lord just lets us know, like, listen, don't confuse it with the Lord Jesus Christ. He not only just calls him his name Bar Jesus, that's his name, but then he says that he is a false prophet. That's the first thing he wants us to know, that when you see this guy on the scene, he is a false prophet. And just like Bar Jesus, who is a false prophet, every false prophet has the same agenda as Bar Jesus has here. And that agenda is to turn you out of the way, to turn you away from the faith, because that's what we see concerning Bar Jesus, that his sole purpose was to keep this guy from getting saved, the deputy. That's why he was there. He was there to make sure that he would be deterred from the faith, deterred from the truth of God's word. And, you know, this is consistent all throughout the Bible, that every time you see a false prophet on the scene, they're not telling the truth, they're telling a lie. There is no false prophet on the scene where they just are just, you know, telling the truth. And even, you know, you just think about Caiaphas, yet he did speak some truth concerning, you know, the Lord Jesus Christ, that if one man should perish instead of the whole, you know, nation, but the Bible says he didn't speak that of himself. You know, so he's a false prophet. And the truth that he spoke, it wasn't him just as a saved individual just saying, listen, I got a revelation. No, he didn't speak that of himself. You know, so as I mentioned, this is consistent where every time you see a false prophet on the scene, they're trying to deter people. They're lying to people. You just think about Ahab and Jehoshaphat, where Ahab asked Jehoshaphat, hey, you're going to come to battle with me? And he says, yes, he will. But then he asks, hey, how about we encounter the Lord? Let's entreat the Lord and see what he had to say. Well, Ahab said, OK, let's see what the Lord had to say. He brought 400 of his own false prophets, and they all saying the same thing, which we found out later on, the Lord put a lying spirit amongst all his prophets. But even then, you see, they were liars. You know, so you don't see a false prophet. They can't help it. They can't tell the truth because there is no truth in them at all. You know, in the days of Jeremiah, peace, peace. Yeah, they saying peace, peace, but I like what Jeremiah says. The remainder of that is, and there is no peace when there is no peace. So they're saying peace, peace when there is no peace. They're lying, telling people, listen, God is among us. You know, these are the temples. It's peace around here. The Lord won't bring any type of destruction around here. Well, they were deceiving the people. They were lying to the people. So as I mentioned, it's consistent through the Bible that the false prophet, they're always liars, right? So let's see a few examples of this where the false prophet, as mentioned, they're always trying to turn people out of the way. They're never trying to point them to the things of God. Look at Deuteronomy chapter 13. Deuteronomy chapter 13, we're looking at how the false prophet always wants to thrust people out of the way of the Lord. They never want to point them toward the truth of God. And you know, and God take this so serious that he put the death penalty on this. This is a capital crime unto the Lord that if a false prophet is seeking, not just a false prophet, but even if your own family member is seeking to thrust you out of the way of the Lord, the Lord puts the death penalty upon that. Let's see that in the text here. Look at verse 1, chapter 13, verse 1, the Bible says, If there arise among you a prophet or a dreamer of dreams, and give it thee a sign or a wonder, and the sign or the wonder come to pass, whereof he spake unto thee saying, Let us go after other gods which thou has not known, and let us serve them. Thou shall not hearken unto the words of that prophet or that dreamer of dreams, for the Lord your God proveth you to know whether ye love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul. Ye shall walk after the Lord your God and fear him, and keep his commandments and obey his voice, and ye shall serve him and cleave unto him. And notice this verse, verse 5, And that prophet or that dreamer of dreams, here's the death penalty, shall be put to death. Well, why is that? Because he has spoken to turn you away from the Lord your God, which brought you out of the land of Egypt and redeemed you out of the house of bondage. Notice these words, To thrust thee out of the way which the Lord thy God commanded thee to walk in, so shall thou put the evil away from the midst of thee. So we see here the death penalty is placed upon the false prophet. And it's not the fact that, hey, this false prophet, he don't know what he's doing. No, he intentionally, he or she knows what they're doing. And the Lord, because of that, puts the death penalty on that. You just think about, well, some people look at this and see, that's why I don't like the Bible. Because God is quick to put people to death. Well, you have to understand the sincerity of this. How much of a crime and how this is really a matter that is just bad. Because this is, excuse me, the severity of this. This is very severe matter to the point where if someone says, well, let us go and follow other gods. Well, let's just, for one, let's look at it in the salvation context. Somebody who is not saved and you're pointing them to Islam. Well, that's damning that person to hell. So it makes sense why God said, yeah, put that person to death. Because that's damnable heresy. But then in this context where the false prophet is saying, hey, let us go follow other gods, even outside of salvation where he's just saying, or he or she, that Bible is kind of tough. Let's try the Quran. It's a little bit. The writings of Buddha is a lot more. No, God puts a death penalty upon that. Because their intent is to thrust you out of the way of the Lord. But not just the false prophet, your own family member who decides, say, listen, I'm going to raise up and be a false prophet. Well, the Lord says, yeah, put your own family member to death. And most people, ah, that's why I don't like the Bible. Well, listen to the text. Look at verse 6. The Bible says, if thy brother, the son of thy mother, or the son of thy daughter, or the wife of thy bosom. He said your own wife. Use some logic, right? That would include your husband, too. So if your husband decides, hey, yeah, let's go follow. No, this goes for him as well. The wife of thy bosom, or thy friend, which is as thine own soul, entice thee secretly, saying, notice the words, let us go and serve other gods, which thou has not known, thou nor thy fathers, namely of the gods of the people which are round about you, nigh unto thee, or far from thee, from the one end of the earth, even unto the other end of the earth. Thou shall not consent unto him, nor hearken unto him, neither shall thine eye pity him, neither shall thou spare, neither shall thou conceal him. Notice the text, but thou shall surely kill him. There's the death penalty, even upon your own family member. But thou shall surely kill him. Thine hand shall be first upon him to put him to death. And afterwards, the hand of all the people. So God's hand, your own family members decided, hey, we need to go over here and serve idols. No, God puts the death penalty upon that. And I know this is America. And it's funny how they say, one nation under God, indivisible. But then at the same time, hey, freedom of religion. That's contradictory. How are you going to say that we're all one nation under God, but then yet, worship whoever you want? Praise whoever you want. It doesn't work like that. This is the word of God. And yes, this may be a time where people will not put the family member to death, who may go off and preach some heresy and say, yeah, we need to be joining under Muhammad and everything. But listen, when the Lord Jesus Christ set up his reign, this will be back instituted. This will be around. And there will not be any, well, just worship who you want. No, no, no. You have to worship the Lord Jesus Christ. Turn to the Gospel of John, chapter 9. As I reiterate, the false prophet intentions are to turn people away and to get them as far away from God as possible. The false prophet wants to keep you from the truth of God and knowing God and knowing the word of God and what he says. That is their intent. You should be in the Gospel of John, chapter 9. I'm going to quote Matthew, chapter 23, verse 13. The Bible says, but woe unto you. This is the Lord Jesus. But woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, for ye shut up the kingdom of heaven against men, for ye neither go in yourselves, neither suffer ye them that are entering to go in. So notice how the Pharisees, they are turning people away from the Lord. I mean, notice what he says. He says, ye shut up the kingdom of heaven against men. He says, for ye neither go in yourselves. They don't want any part of the Lord at all. They don't want to be saved. If you don't want to be saved, OK, that's fine. That's your choice. But then they also take it as far as you're going to stop the harlot. You're going to stop the task collector and the publican who Jesus said, they're going in before you, because it was simply the fact that they were placing their faith on the Lord Jesus Christ. So these Pharisees, the false prophets who also blasphemed him, they don't want any part of the Lord Jesus Christ, but they don't just stop there. They stop everybody else who would want to be saved, because that's what false prophets do. The Pharisees wanted no part of the Lord Jesus Christ, neither did they want anybody else to have any part in the Lord Jesus Christ. Here's a good example. Gospel of John chapter 9, a man is born blind. He's born blind, and the Lord heals him. And the Pharisees got to do some investigation. They bring him in. How is it that you see now? He told them, listen, I was blind. Now I see. And of course, there's more to the story than that. But then they don't believe him. Go get his parents. They bring the parents in. Is this your child? Yeah. Was he born blind? Yeah, he was born blind. And they're trying to tell him, yeah, he was born blind. Notice what verse 20 says. The parents answered them and said, we know that this is our son, and that he was born blind. But by what means he now seeth, we know not. Or who hath opened his eyes, we know not. He is of age. Ask him. He shall speak for himself. Notice these words. These words spake his parents, because they feared the Jews. For the Jews had agreed already that if any man did confess that he was Christ, he should be put out of the synagogue. So notice that. As I mentioned, they want no part of Christ at all. And anybody who would want Christ, they're trying to thrust them out of the way by putting these hard conditions, these hard stipulations on believing on Christ. That if you did confess him, if you believed on him, you would be kicked out of the synagogue. And now you have a woman here who can't even just say, man himself, who just won't say, listen, the Lord Jesus Christ did it. Why? Because these Pharisees, the false prophets, trying to thrust me out of the way, they have to cover their own end and say, I don't know. I don't know. Ask him. Turn to the Gospel of John chapter 12, just a couple chapters over, and look at verse 42. We see it again. Nevertheless, among the chief rulers, also many believed on him. Because of the Pharisees, they did not confess him, lest they should be put out of the synagogue. So you see these hard conditions that these Pharisees, these false prophets, are putting on people. They just really want to thrust them out of the way of the Lord. Like I mentioned, if you don't want the Lord, OK, that's on you. But then they go as far as stopping other people as well to a point where you cannot confess him, you cannot believe on him, or you're getting put out of the synagogue. So their sole purpose, false prophets in general, is to keep you turned away from the Lord. Their sole purpose is to keep you in darkness, to keep you blind. And the main reason why, if you want to know why is it, why is it that this is the case, I'll let you in on a secret. It's because these false prophets are of the devil. They are of the devil. They are children of the devil. They are influenced by the devil. They are working with the devil. They are children of perdition. They are twice dead. They are worthy of hell. They are false prophets. And they are under Satan's influence. You don't have to turn there. But notice this. The Gospel of Luke, chapter 8, verse 12, notice what Jesus said when he is given the interpretation of the parable of the seed. He says, those by the wayside are they that hear. Then cometh the devil, and taketh away the word out of their hearts. Notice this. Lest they should believe and be saved. So notice he just gave an agenda of the devil, of Satan. Satan, when that seed is sown to that person, and in one other scripture, another parallel to this passage, it speaks about when they don't understand it. It says here, the devil cometh. It said, then cometh the devil, and taketh away the word out of their hearts. This is the main reason. Lest they should believe and be saved. Satan's main agenda is that people do not get saved. That's his main agenda. He wants people. He hates humanity. And this is what kills me about all these witchcraft and the dark side, and people who really, oh, hell, Satan. Listen, you're deceived. Satan does not love you. You're deceived. And Satan's main purpose is that he wants people to roast in hell with him. That's the main purpose. And that is the same thing that bar Jesus want to hear. You can go back to Acts chapter 13. Bar Jesus wanted this man, because he's seeking to turn him from the faith. He wants this man to die and split hell wide open. Same thing that Satan want, and any false prophet. They all want you to die and go to hell. They don't love God. They don't have the love of God in their heart. They have the love of money in their heart. False prophets are under the influence of the devil, of the devil, because they are children of the devil. So you know they're saying, like father, like what? Like son, right? They are children of the devil. So they're just like their father. They're liars. We already seen that, right? And the fact that they just are influenced, and they do whatever their father does. Notice verse 10. In the previous verses in this chapter, we see the Bible calls bar Jesus a false prophet. And he's desiring to seek to turn him out of the way, the deputy out of the way. But notice verse 10. Notice what Paul says. Verse 9. Excuse me. Then Saul, who also is called Paul, filled with the Holy Ghost, set his eyes on him and said, O full of all subsidy and all mischief, thou child of the devil, thou enemy of all righteousness, wilt thou not cease to pervert the right ways of the Lord? I just said these false prophets are of the devil, like father, like son. They are children of the devil. And it's interesting here that Paul, and it's not just Paul coming out just saying something out of his own heart. The Bible says here that in verse 9, he was filled with the Holy Ghost. So who's saying this, that bar Jesus is a false prophet and he's a child of the devil? The Holy Ghost. And as I mentioned, they are children of the devil. And you don't see this often being spoken by Paul. Paul just didn't walk around calling people children of the devil. But this guy bar Jesus, who's roasting in hell right now, listen, the Bible says thou child of the devil because these false prophets are children of the devil. You say, what does this have to do with me? I'm saved. I'm saved. So the people like the deputy, they would not be able to thrust me out of the way. They would not be able to seek me, or excuse me, they won't be able to turn me away from the faith because I already believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. I receive him by faith. I believe the gift of everlasting life. I can't lose that. So what does this have to do with me? Where's the application for me? Well, look closely with the text. We learn from the deputy a mistake. We can learn from his mistake at that. You say, well, what's the deputy mistake? Well, look closely at verse 6 again. Here's his mistake. And when they had gone through the hour to pay for it, they found a certain source of a false prophet, a Jew whose name was bar Jesus. Here's the mistake, which was with the deputy. Do you see that? What's the mistake there? The false prophet, a Jew whose name was bar Jesus, was with the deputy of the country, Sergius Paulus. If you didn't catch it, let's break this down here and how we can make this application here. The Bible says in the same verse, look at the same verse, which was with the deputy of the country, Sergius Paulus. Notice what the Bible says about the deputy, a prudent man. What is a prudent man talking about? A wise man, a man who has wisdom. But what we see is that this wise man, he may have some earthly wisdom, but his fellowship is with the false prophet. The Bible said that bar Jesus, the false prophet, he is with the deputy. So they had some type of fellowship and friendship to the point that when Paul can come up and just start preaching, the false prophet can just be right there and turn him out of the way and say, no, no, no, you don't need to listen to this. What we see is that this man was prudent, but prudent men, prudent women can make mistakes because you're human. And one mistake that you can make, although you're prudent, although you're wise, is have bad company. You can keep bad friends around people who should not be in your life. You may be wise. You may have some wisdom. But guess what? You can still make mistakes. We can learn from his mistake with the fact that the deputy had the false prophet with him. I don't know if they were best friends. We don't know. No, but he's hanging with the false prophet. That's the mistake that we can learn from here. And what we've seen, if this was his friend, we can see that the man he was hanging with did not have his best interests at heart. Why? Because he's seeking to turn him away from the Lord. He's trying to keep him from getting saved. Let me pause right there. Any young people who may not be saved yet, who have not come to that understanding of the Lord, and even an adult, if you have a friend and all they do is blaspheme the Lord and try to thrust you out of the way of the Lord and just seek to put a wet blanket on the things of the Lord, that is somebody you should not hang with. That is somebody who you should not make friendships with. This false prophet did not have his best interests at hand. He wanted to literally send him to hell. Here's the application. We have to understand that false prophets, although we're saved, you still need to understand that false prophets do not have your best interests at hand. And we're not talking about a false prophet and we're not talking about a false prophet. I wouldn't call someone a false prophet if they were wrong on the doctrine. If they're saved and let's say they were wrong on the pre-trib or something like that, you can't necessarily say that that person is a false prophet. But I'm talking about the damnable heretics. I'm talking about the ones who know that he or she is a false prophet. They know what they're doing. That person does not have your best interests at stake. So you say, well, how can I, as a saved individual, how can I be like the deputy where I'm hanging with the false prophet? I can't necessarily go in and shake the false prophet hand and have a lunch with him or so. Well, be careful because they have these television shows like TBN and all Daystar Network and all those things. And I know this because I used to watch it. So I can ramble off these TV shows because they had me deceived. And guess what I was doing when I was unsaved? Hanging with the false prophet, having lunch with him? No, no, no, no. Watching TBN, watching Daystar, and watching all the televangelists. And guess what? You're hanging with him that way, just like the deputy is hanging with the false prophet bar Jesus. You're just hanging with him online. That's what it is. So you have to be careful with that. You say, well, who in the mainstream can I be having fellowship with? Or who, what false prophet? Yeah, somebody like a TD Jakes. You know that I've been amongst crowds that if you say anything about TD Jakes, it's just like blasphemy. Like, you better not say anything about him. You know, Joel Osteen, or Kenneth Copeland, or Creflo Dollar. You know, and these are just the people, Joyce Meyer, who, by the way, I found out driving up 85, she's coming here to Gwinnett. And don't go buy tickets, by the way. But she's coming to Gwinnett. We, as safe people, shouldn't look to hang with someone like that, because they do not have your best interests at heart. Steven Furtick, he's a new one that's on the scene, and he's becoming really popular. And most people are like, I don't know, I don't know. Well, listen, I first heard about this guy when TD Jakes allowed him to come preach at his church. You don't have to say anything else. I know everything I need to know because of the company that he's keeping with. You preach at TD Jakes' church, you're a wicked man. This is who else I seen preach at TD Jakes' church. Joel Osteen, wicked man. How many other examples do you need? So we, as safe individuals, we do not need to be looking to these people and hanging out with them and listening to their doctrine and taking it as biblical sound doctrine, because it's not. Because ultimately, they're looking to thrust you out of the way and turn you away from the things of God. Here's a good example. Last month, I had a privilege. Pastor Jonathan Shelley invited me out to Houston to preach at Peer Words Baptist Church. And when I was there, I went out soul winning between service. And I was a silent partner at this particular door. And my partner, who was doing the talking, knocked on the door. It was a very tough neighborhood. The neighborhood was predominantly just all Indian. And these were young people at that. And what was consistent that I was seeing is that they all had U of H on, University of Houston. So I figured, I'm like, man, the campus must be somewhere near here, because everybody who opens up this door, they're Indian, and they have these University of Houston shirts on. But it was a very tough area. We got no one saved. We was out there for about two and a half, three hours. Well, we come across the door where this young lady is saved. And it was great. It was bittersweet, though. You say, well, why is that? Well, we knocked on the door. My partner asked, hey, you know, we're coming from Peer Words Baptist Church. And then he asked, hey, do you have a church you go to? She said, yes, I go to Lakewood Church. Anybody who knows what Lakewood Church is, I heard it. I said, oh, man. But I admit, I shouldn't judge so quick, because when he asked her about salvation, she was spot on. Said that it was the Lord Jesus Christ, and solely on him for salvation. And not only that, it was eternal life. He said, great. Then my soul went apart, and he said, great, that's good. You're saved. He said, let me tell you something. I realize you said that you attended Lakewood Church. Is that Pastor Joel Osteen? She's like, yes. He said, hey, you know that what you just told us, do you know that he does not believe that? You said that you received salvation by faith alone, and that you can't lose your everlasting life. He said, do you know that your pastor don't believe that? Immediately, the conversation went south. She said, here's what I'm going to do. She literally said that, here's what we're not going to do. That's what she said. Here's what we're not going to do. I'm not going to let you stand here and talk about my pastor. Matter of fact, this conversation is over with. Thank you, man. Bye. And slam the door. You say, why are we talking about this? Because saved people who hang around false prophets. Saved people who, just like Bar Jesus and the deputy, is hanging with the false prophet. She's a saved individual, spot on with salvation, but would not receive any correction about the fact that you're hanging, you're in fellowship with the false prophet. And that should not be spoken of by saved individuals. And why is that? Yeah, because he's probably just tingling the ears. No, probably he is. Just tingling the ears and telling them exactly what they want to hear. So false prophets, number one, people who can turn and thrust people out of the way. Number one, the first people of this group is the false prophet. Number two, the second group of people who can turn people away from the faith is not only the false prophet, but the fake Christian. The fake Christian, turn back to Acts chapter 13. You're probably still there. Acts chapter 13, the fake Christian. This is a lengthy chapter. But remember, Paul and Barnabas are sent out of Antioch. Later on, I'm just kind of breezing over this chapter here with my notes. But they stop in Perga, and now they're in Antioch in Pisidia. And while they're there in Antioch in Pisidia, they run into a group of people who really seem godly, a group of people who wanted to hear the word of God. And not only that, they specifically wanted to hear from Paul and Barnabas. So on the surface, you look at these people, you look like, man, these are some godly people. Well, notice verse 14 and 15. The Bible says, but when they departed from Perga, they came to Antioch in Pisidia and went into the synagogue. Notice the location. Went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day and sat down. This is all about Paul and Barnabas. Verse 15, and after the reading of the law and the prophets, the rulers of the synagogue sent unto them, saying, ye men and brethren, if ye have any word of exhortation for the people, say on. So notice these people. They literally just asked Paul and Barnabas to preach. They showed up, didn't even ask to preach. They see Paul and Barnabas. They say, hey, we're in the synagogue. The law was just read. Hey, if you guys got anything to say, say on. We here. We believe the word of God. We're here to hear it. That's what they said. Notice the location again. The synagogue. You say, what's the significance with the synagogue? Well, the synagogue is where people came to hear the word of God. It's where the law is being read. Remember the Lord Jesus Christ, one of his first sermons. Where did it take place at? In the synagogue, right? You think the synagogue, every time something goes on in the synagogue, you think it's all good, right? That's what we assume. But let's jump down to verse 43, because these previous chapters, as we read, as these previous verses in this chapter, we see where when they say, say on, if you have any exhortation, what Paul and Barnabas decided to preach was the gospel. They decided to tell them about Christ dying for their sins and how he was buried and how he was resurrected. And in verse 39, he said, and by him, talking about Jesus, all that believe are justified from all things from which ye cannot be justified by the law of Moses. So he just preached the gospel to them. And he said, you're justified. You are saved by believing. So verse 43, notice what the Bible says. The Bible says, those previous verses, verse 40 through 42, is Paul summing up his message, where he says, at the end of this, he told them how to be justified, which was by believing. He then tells them that, listen, you need to believe on the Lord now. Don't let that come upon you. As he said in verse 41, behold, ye despises and wonder and perish, for I work a work in your days, a work which ye shall in no wise believe, though a man declared unto you. He's saying, listen, don't let that come upon you. This is written in Habakkuk, but he's saying, beware. Beware, verse 40. Beware, therefore, lest that come upon you, which is spoken of in the prophets. He's saying, basically, you need to believe the words that I just spoke to you about salvation. Notice verse 43. Now when the congregation was broken up, many of the Jews and religious proselytes, what is that? Converts. Many of the Jews and religious proselytes follow Paul and Barnabas, notice the words, who speaking to them persuaded them to continue in the grace of God. They told them to say, listen, guys, keep going. Keep going. Keep preaching, is what they said. The Gentiles, in the previous verse, it said that they asked Paul to come back the next Sabbath. So they're asking Paul, saying, listen, come back the next Sabbath, and let's talk this out again. The Jews, everybody who's in the synagogue, say, hey, great message. Hey, continue in the faith. But then notice verse 44. And the next Sabbath day came almost a whole city together to hear the word of God. But when the Jews saw the multitudes, they were filled with envy and spake against those things which were spoken by Paul, contradicting and blaspheming. Now, I know it's late in the day. We've been soul winning. We've been out. We've been in church earlier today. So your mind is probably kind of wondering, I want to get to the bed. I want to eat. But I hope you caught what just happened right there. The week before, these people said, hey, come back next week. Let's talk this over. The same people who said, hey, continue in the faith. But then it said the next Sabbath, when they were joined, the whole city came out. And these same people who said, come back and preach are now blaspheming. They're contradicting the Bible. But wait a minute. These are the people who come to the synagogue. These are the people who show up, and they're consistent, too, because they were there last week, and now they're here this week. So you think that they are sincere. You think that they want to hear the word of God, but they actually start contradicting and blaspheming. Well, what are they contradicting? Well, the previous verses where Paul is saying that you're saved by faith. You're saved by believing. You're saved by the resurrection of Jesus Christ. It was all good just a week ago, right? And now this week, they're blaspheming. But you would say, well, wait a minute. These are the people who come to the synagogue. Don't they believe the word of God? But now they're contradicting. Look at chapter 14, verse 1. The Bible says, and it came to pass in Iconium that they went both together into the synagogue of the Jews and so spake that a great multitude of the Jews and also of the Greeks believed. Notice the location again, the synagogue, where people gather to hear the word of God. It said many people believe, Jews and Greeks. But notice verse 2. Verse 2, but the unbelieving Jews stirred up the Gentiles and made their minds evil-affected against the brethren. But wait a minute. They're at the synagogue. Now all of a sudden, not only the previous chapter, people are blaspheming and contradicting the same people who were just in the synagogue and saying keep preaching. But now the same people just in Iconium, it's the different people, but they're in Iconium now. They are now, because they don't believe the word of God, they're trying to make their mind evil-affected against the brethren. Well, what does that mean, evil-affected? Basically just trying to paint them out to be the bad guys, make Paul and Barnabas to be the scum of the earth. And basically when it says that they made their minds evil-affected against the brethren, practically that means just turning them out of the way. That's what that is, turning them out of the way. Don't listen to these guys. Don't listen to them where they thrusted them out of the way, where the Lord would have them to be, which is turning to him. I'm not going to go into Acts chapter 17, but we see that these people were so deep into it, they started traveling. These Jews literally followed Paul and went into these synagogues and stirred up the people. But they come into the synagogue and you look at them and say, man, these are some godly people. You say, what's the summary to this point? Well, here it is. These people showed up to the synagogue consistently. The place where God's word was taught, the place where God's word is being expounded on, they show up to the synagogue. They have a form of godliness, but it was fake. It was fake. The same people who told Paul, continuing the faith, preach. They asked Paul and Barnabas to preach. They didn't come in there saying, hey, can we have the pulpit for a minute? No. They asked them to preach. And yet, they were found out to just be fake. Because when the Bible actually started being preached, the truth came out that they did not believe what was actually in the Bible. I put these people in a fake Christianity category because, as I mentioned, these people were showing up to the synagogue, where the word of God is to be preached. And we found out they really didn't believe the word of God. And in the same way, we have this same form of fake Christianity today. People who would show up to the church every Sunday, show up at Grace Point, show up to Divine Ministries, and any other church. And you're like, man, these people must be godly. They showing up to the church. Look, you're in police traffic over here when you leave the church. These must be some godly people, right? Well, it's a fake Christianity. Because when you really pin these people down and start dispelling on the Bible, you'll realize they don't believe the Bible, just like these other people in the Bible, who were saying, hey, preach on, Paul. Great sermon, buddy. Telling you great sermon, but they really don't believe the word. And it's that same fake Christianity today, where you have people who go to church every Sunday. And as I mentioned, you open up the Bible and say, hey, you know, this is what the Bible says about sodomy and about fornication. That's not what the Bible says. Like, wait, but don't you go to Grace Point? Grace Point? I had this situation not too long ago, a couple of years ago, actually, where a very well-known pastor around town who obviously is teaching on workspace salvation, faith without works is dead. And that's what they strive on. We was out on the Monday group, and I was trying to show the young lady, and she believed that it was by works. And I showed her. Ephesians 2, 8, 9 took her to Titus 3 and 5. And the result of that is, well, I don't care what you say. My pastor said that faith without works is dead. I'm like, but hey, I know you go there. You go to church. But I literally said, but look at what the Bible says. Well, my pastor, obviously, that didn't go anywhere. But that's what I'm talking about, that when you actually open up the Bible and say, hey, here is what it says. The fake Christianity come out that they don't really believe the Bible as it is written. This scripture needs no interpretation. If a man also lie with mankind as he lie with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination. They shall surely be put to death. Their blood shall be upon them. That's not what the Bible says. You need to preach more like Jesus. You're not loving. Where is the grace? Where is the mercy, bro? That's what you hear. That's not what the Bible says. You guys need to be more like Jesus. That's what we say about you Baptists. You say, wait a minute, but you go to church. You go to divine apostolic ministries. And I thought the Bible opened up every Sunday there. But then, as I mentioned, pen them down. They really don't believe it. And it's this type of attitude where this fake Christianity started contradicting the Bible, just like they were contradicting Paul and Barnabas, and what they were saying about the gospel. It's this type of attitude that then sets a person's mind to be evil-affected against people who are speaking the truth. People who may be on the fence, oh, I don't know what the Bible say. And you say, yeah, it says this. And then you've got the fake Christianity. No, that's not what it says. Well, the person who's on the fence, if it sounds good to them, what side are they going to go with? The side that sounds good. Hey, yeah, this sounds more like a loving Jesus right here. I'm going to come on this side. Yeah, you Baptist, you're a little bit too hard. So they're setting their mind evil-affected against people who really believe the gospel and believe the Bible. Here's a statement from this point. And I will move on to the last one. And we'll close it out. The statement from this point is that fake Christianity, fake Christians, also are in the category with a false prophet who can turn people away from the Lord. The fake Christianity, be on guard. I thought about this when I was preparing for this message as I was speaking about the fake Christianity that turns people away. This is a rare situation. But I had to work on a Sunday a few months ago. And on this Sunday, I'll tell you, before I get deeper into the story, in the business district of my office, next door is a Pentecostal church. And I don't have to deal with, there's no type of wall installation or anything. So you know, therefore, you can hear right through those walls then. So we don't have to deal with them throughout the week. But this conference, that was a mandatory conference. And people were coming from everywhere, the north, the south, the east, the west. People came from Florida, some people from out west. And they pretty much made it mandatory. It was a three-day conference. It was Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. Friday and Saturday is pretty quiet. And then on Sunday morning, we were holding our conference at the same time as the Pentecostal church. And it was rowdy. It was rowdy to a point where they were asking, can you turn the mic up? Turn his mic up so we can hear him? You couldn't hear the speaker. And then it got to a point where the service, and I'm not exaggerating when I say this, for about 20 minutes straight, for about 20 minutes. And everybody started to look at each other. And I knew what was going on. I'm like, oh, man, the fake tongues. And everybody, it got to be over 75, 80 people in there. And people are trying to hear the speaker. And they're looking at each other like, man, what's going on over there? And then they call, practically what I call the time out, they say, hey, we're going to take a break. We're going to take a break right now, maybe a 15 minute. You guys get a drink or so, whatever you want. And I know what they were saying. They're like, we can't go on. We can't even talk because what's going on over there? And then you will walk past and you will hear people. Man, what's going on over there, man? I don't know, man. It sounds crazy over there. And I was sitting there like, I know exactly what's going on. And you know what? It reminded me, I was thinking about this verse right here, 1 Corinthians chapter 14, where it's speaking about tongues. And I like what he says. He says, if therefore the whole church be come together into one place and all speak with tongues, which these people were doing the fake tongues, all speak with tongues. And there come in those that are unlearned or unbelievers, will they not say that ye are mad? What is he saying, ye are mad? You're crazy. That's what every face was like in there. What's going on? Man, you can't hear. Can you turn it up? Those were the look on the faces. These people are crazy. And I'm like, yeah, that's what God was saying. That, listen, there ought to be some structure. Now, the reason I bring this in, because this did not compel someone to say, oh, man, I got to go to that church and that's the door. I got to see what's going on in there. The Spirit is calling me. I'm sure nobody felt that way. But they felt that these people are mad. That type of Christianity was not turning people to the Lord, where they're saying, man, I got to hear what the word of God is. Man, the day of Pentecost has returned over there. It was none of that. But they considered these people mad, crazy. The fake Christianity, sorry, is not friendly, although it has the word Christ in it. It's not friendly. It's an enemy. And it can turn people away from the Lord. Last part here, last point, and we're out of here. People who can turn people away from the faith and from the things of God. Number one, the false prophet. Number two, the fake Christian. Number three, the believer. The believer, the saved, born again, believes salvation by faith alone on the Lord Jesus Christ. The person who believes you can't lose your salvation, that person can turn people away from the Lord. Turn to Romans chapter 12. I'm sorry, Romans chapter 2. Excuse me. And let me deal with just a sub point to this, what I'm about to get into, about the believer that can turn people away from the Lord. I want to deal with the fake turning away first. Because there is a fake turning away where people will blame Bible believing people who believe the Bible and say, see, this is why people don't want Christianity. This is why people don't want to come to church. They will confuse it and say, well, that's not right. You guys shouldn't be teaching that. And that's why people won't come to church now. That's why people don't want God now. Wait a minute. If what the Bible says is offending you and that's keeping you to stay away from the Lord and thrusting you away, then that's your problem. The truth is the truth. And you can either receive it or reject it. And if you're saying, because I stand up and preach the word of God, that this is turning people away from the Lord, that is a fake turning away. So don't fall for that where people are saying, people are saying, see, you guys believing this reprobate doctrine, you're believing that sodomy is the death penalty and fornication is wrong and drinking is wrong and adultery is wrong. See, that type of belief is why people, because you're so judgmental, that's why people don't want to come to church now. No, that's fake. That's fake. And we ought to continue to stand up and preach the word of God and believe it. So don't fall for that fake turning away. But there is a legitimate turning away. There is a legitimate turning away that believers can be blamed for. Look at Romans chapter 2 and notice what the Bible says. Behold, thou art called a Jew, and restest in the law, and makest thy boast of God, and knowest his will, and provest the things that are more excellent being instructed out of the law, and are confident that thou thyself are the guide of the blind, a light of them which are in darkness, an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of babes which has the form of knowledge and of the truth in the law. Thou, therefore, which teaches another, teaches thou not thyself. Thou that preaches a man should not steal, does thou steal? Thou that says a man should not commit adultery, Thus thou commit adultery? Thou that oars idols, does thou commit sacrilege? Thou that makest thy boast of the law, through breaking the law, dishonors thou God? Notice these words, for the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles through you, as it is written. So notice that. The name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles through you. You're the cause of it. Let's break that down. See, in these verses here, he's practically talking about being a hypocrite. That's what he's talking about. And since he's talking about a hypocrite, we can look at this at the fact that this hypocrisy, this statement here, is being aimed at people who know the law of God, people who are skilled, and people who know what the Bible say. So you can also just look at this and understand as we go through this that at any given time, a believer can fit this bill right here of the verses that we just looked over. Let's look at it. Verse 17. Behold, thou art called a Jew. Well, for one, we know really what a Jew is. It's not an ethnicity. It's not a skin color. Just look at the text in the same verse, verse 28. For he is not a Jew which is one hourly, neither is that circumcision which is outward in the flesh. But he is a Jew which is one inwardly. And circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter, whose praise is not of men, but of God. He's saying, listen, that circumcision, you being a Jew is not hourly. It's not based on your skin color and your hair and because you basha sha everywhere and stuff. That has nothing to do with it. He's saying a Jew is one inwardly. So let's see ourselves, even as a subpoint to these scriptures here, how at any given time we can fit this bill. So if you are saved today, you are a Jew inwardly. And that is what really matters. Behold, thou art called a Jew. And rest is in the law. And make is thy boast of the law. Hey, you saying, hey, the law of God, I love the Lord. I love his word. You make your boast in the law that you know it. Verse 18, and know it's his will. Hey, if anybody asks you, you say, yeah, I know what the Bible says. I can quote these scriptures right off the top of my head. He says, and know it's his will, and approve is the things that are more excellent, being instructed out of the law, and art confident that thou thyself art a guide of the blind. You say these blind people, they don't know the word of God. These people, they're off on the reprobate doctrine. They're off on the pre-trib and everything. You're confident, he said, and are confident that thou thyself art a guide of the blind. You figure you can lead anybody and teach anybody. He says, a light of them which are in darkness. Those who are in darkness, you say, I got the light. I got the light right here. I can tell them everything that they want to know. Verse 20, an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of babes. You're pulling people to the side, listen, man. Let me explain this doctrine to you. An instructor of the foolish, those who don't know anything. You say, I got this. I can teach them. A teacher of babes, those who are new in Christ. You figure, well, let me bring you up to speed on this doctrine, which has the form of knowledge and of the truth in the law. You know what the law says. Verse 21, I love this. Thou, therefore, which teaches another, teaches thou not thyself. Basically saying, hey, yeah, you're sitting there, and you're teaching him about adultery, and you're teaching a reprobate, and you're teaching this doctrine, and that doctrine, and that doctrine. He said, yeah, while you're teaching, do you teach yourself? You know, a good thing, especially for those who are preachers, one thing I make sure that upon preparation, one of my prayers is that, Lord, get me right first. Because I can't get up here and try to get other people right when I'm not even right myself. I have to make sure that what I'm preaching goes for me as well. So he says, thou, therefore, which teaches another, teaches thou not thyself. Hey, you up here, you stand, and you bring forth the word, and you're giving it to the masses. Do you receive that as well? Don't you teach yourself as well? Thou that preaches a man should not steal. Does thou steal? You're teaching, hey, man, don't steal. That's wrong. Don't commit adultery. That's wrong. But then on Saturday night, you going off to commit adultery as well? Let's talk about being a hypocrite. Thou that preaches a man should not steal. Does thou steal? Thou that says a man should not commit adultery. Excuse me. I was a verse earlier. But thou should not commit adultery. Does thou commit adultery? As I just mentioned. Yeah. Don't do it. That's wrong. It deserves the death penalty. Then you're going out and doing the same exact thing. Thou that says a man should not commit adultery. Does thou commit adultery? Thou that abhors idols. Does thou commit sacrilege? Thou that maketh thy boast of the law. Through breaking the law, dishonor is thou God. Notice this again. For the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles through you. He's saying you're the cause. You're the reason why people are blaspheming the Lord. And you figure like, whoa, I'm saved individual. I only bring people to the Lord. I will never turn people away from the Lord. He just said, you're hypocrisy. That's what he's talking about. You're hypocrisy. Let's understand here. To some form and extent, everybody will have a form of hypocrisy. We're not perfect. We are sinners. But with some of these huge and major sins and sins that ought not to be named among us, come on now. We have to stay away from such a thing. But it's the hypocrisy that can cause people to blaspheme, as he said, through you. The name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles. What is he saying among the Gentiles? He's talking about the world through you as it is written. This is the last verse we turn to, 2 Samuel chapter 12. Let's see that as an example. Remember those words, through you, people blaspheme. You're the reason why. 2 Samuel chapter 12. This is Nathan coming to talk with David. David has taken another man's wife, has laid with her, has got her pregnant. She conceived. She's with child. David is trying to cover up. He calls her husband back from the field, from the war, and trying to get him to go sleep with his wife, lay down with his wife, get some drunk, and then ultimately just say, hey, man, this man got to die. He won't go back home. He has too much integrity. I just got to kill him now. Notice what the Lord tells David through Nathan. Verse 11 says, thus saith the Lord, behold, I will raise up evil against thee out of thine own house. And I will take thy wives before thine eyes and give them unto thy neighbor, and he shall lie with thy wives in the sight of this sun. For thou didst it secretly, but I will do this thing before all Israel and before the sun. And David said unto Nathan, I have sinned against the Lord. And Nathan said unto David, the Lord also hath put away thy sin. Thou shall not die. Howbeit, notice these words, because by this deed thou has given great occasion to the enemies of the Lord to blaspheme. The child also that is born unto thee shall surely die. David, who's a man after God's own heart. David, who wrote the psalms. David, who has the unction of the Holy Ghost upon him and that oil poured upon him. The Lord says he has given great occasion to the enemies of the Lord to blaspheme. David, this saved individual, is the cause of people blaspheming the Lord. He's the cause of that. And you know, one thing we need to realize is that the enemies of God are already looking for a reason to blaspheme. They're already looking for a reason to stay away from the Lord and continue to turn away from the Lord. We don't want to be the ones to add fuel to that flame. We don't want to be just like the Lord said, you have given great occasion. He's saying you've given them a reason to blaspheme. You've given them a reason to speak evil against me, is what he's saying. And you have people who basically will look at this and say, if this is how believers act, if this is how saved people act, I want nothing to do with God. And why is that? Because the name of God is blasphemed. Now the Gentile, he says, through you. You're the cause of it. You can be the cause for someone not wanting any part of the Lord. As I mentioned, the world is already looking for a reason to stay away from the church. And you say, well, what should we do? You know, so people won't turn from the Lord, but turn to the Lord. Because we're supposed to be saving souls. We're supposed to seek and save that which was lost. We're supposed to teach all things whatsoever the Lord has commanded us. What should we do? You don't have to turn there. But I'm just quoting this verse here. 1 Timothy 4, 16 says, take heed unto thyself and unto the doctrine. Continue in them, for in doing this, thou shalt both save thyself and them that hear thee. He said, take heed unto thyself. You know what? Watch your life. Watch the way you live. Watch the company you keep. Take heed to thyself. But not only that. You say, how can I keep myself in order? How can I make sure I don't sin against God? He said, take heed unto thyself and unto the doctrine. Hey, make sure that your life match up with the doctrine. What you teach, make sure that your life is matching that as well. As the scripture say in Romans, thou that teaches a man shall not steal. Does thou steal? Do you teach others? Do you teach yourself? Basically, let your life line up with the doctrine. Take heed unto thyself and unto the doctrine. Continue in them, for in doing this, thou shalt both save thyself. So he say, you're going to save yourself. You say, well, how can that be? Well, this is not talking about salvation. He can't save himself, of course. But what does he talk about when you save yourself? He's talking about basically escaping youthful lust, falling into sins, and things of that nature. He's saying, you will save yourself from a lot of traps. Save yourself from a lot of pitfalls. Save yourself from a lot of Satan's devices that are out there. But he says, in doing this, thou shalt both save thyself. Here's the key word, too, as well, a key phrase. And them that hear thee. So yeah, I'm not saying that your life will be so good that someone will just come falling down. You're living so holy, what must I do to be saved? But if your life is lining up with the doctrine, you have a great chance to win many. Because especially if you're around people every day at your job and just family all the time, when you're one day trying to talk about the Bible, but then the next day, yeah, let me get a drink, too. Let me get that. You're smoking with them. You're doing all type of just wickedness with them. But then the next day, you're trying to whip out the Bible? It don't work that way. So let our life, let us make sure that we take heed unto our life. And he says, and the doctrine. You know, the world, as I mentioned, this Romans 2 is talking about hypocrisy. The world can be hypocrites all it wants, and people will forgive. People will forgive and forget. In politics, they can be hypocrites. In entertainment, in sports, the people can be hypocrites. In any area of life, people can be hypocrites, and people will forgive. They will forbear, and they'll forget about it, and they'll just act like it never happened. They'll forget and move on. Tiger Woods, right? Now you mention that name, Tiger Woods. It used to be over 10 years ago, oh, they're adultery. They're adultery. Oh, he lost Nike. He lost Nike. He lost this. Now 10, 12, 13 years later, what adultery? What adultery, right? Ellen the gentleman, right? Ellen comes out in the 90s as a sodomite. What happens back then? Because it was a shame she's canceled. People just hammered on her to a point where she just kind of just lost everything she had. Nobody was dealing with that. But now, you fast forward 10, 15, whatever years later, she got her own show. She's hosting Oscars, Grammys, whatever show it is, whatever. And guess what? They forgiven. They have forgotten. You know what? You want a current event? Will Smith smacking people. You know, walks on stage, smacks Chris Rock. Whether it's fake or real or not, most people came down on them. Oh, man. You know, that's bad. That's bad. Oh, we're never going to work with him. Seeing something on Google yesterday. Will Smith and Martin Lawrence are working together again for Bad Boys 4. I mean, people are going to forgive and forget. That's how it is with things of the world. They will forebear with the hypocrites of that industry and on the news and all of that. But you know, one group of people they would never forgive? One group of people they will always give a hard time to? Bible-believing, saved individuals. You would never be able to get off the hook. You would not get off the hook where they forbear and forgive. They're going to use it as fuel to the flame as to say, hey, this is why I don't come to church. Because of you, hey, that's why I don't want anything to do with the church. And as I mentioned, let us not be the blame to turn people away from the Lord. The false prophet is already doing it. The fake Christian is already doing it. Let us not join that party of people that are just turning people away from the Lord. We're here at Stronghold Baptist Church to seek and save that which was lost. Once they get saved, we're looking to get them baptized. We're looking to teach them all things that the Lord has commanded us. That's what we want to do. You know, with that being said, let's have a word of prayer and let's be dismissed. Lord God, we thank you for your word this evening, Lord. I pray, Lord, that the message was pleasing in your sight. I pray, Lord, that we strive, Lord God, to live holy lives. And, Lord, that we win many of the lost unto you. I pray, Lord, that we will not join the false prophets and the fake Christianity of this world that don't believe your word. The false prophet is trying to damn people to hell. The false Christian is not believing anything your word says. But, Lord, help us, Lord, to stand on your word, believe every word, and teach others, Lord, that they might be saved as well. Bless us as we leave this gathering this evening. In Jesus' name, amen. All right, church, let's close up the service with one last song. You can turn your handles to a song of 165. Song of 165, we'll worship the king. Song 165. Let's sing this out on the first. Hope, worship the king, all glorious above. And gratefully sing his wonderful love. Our shield and defender, the ancient of days. A villain in splendor and girded with praise. Hope, tell of his might and sing of his grace. Whose robe is the light? Whose canopy's face? His chariots of wrath the deep thunderclouds pour. And dark is his path on the wings of the sword. Thy mountiful care, what tongue can recite. It breathes in the air. It shines in the light. It streams from the hills. It descends to the plain. And sweetly distills in the dew and the rain. On the last rail, children of dust and people as frail. In thee do we trust, nor find we to fail. Thy mercies, how tender, how firm to the end. Our maker, defender, redeemer and friend. Thank you so much for coming, you guys.