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. . . . . . Great to see everybody here this morning. Great to see the smiling faces. And ready to sing praise unto God. Ready to hear God's word faithfully preached. Amen. So let's go ahead and grab our hymn books please. They should be underneath the chair directly in front of you. The red books, old stirring songs and hymns. Let's go ahead and grab that book and turn to number 198 Joy Unspeakable. And let's tell everybody about how great it is to be saved. And the joy we have inside. Number 198 Joy Unspeakable Full of Glory. Let's sing it out. On the first. I have found His grace His all complete and supplying every need While I sit and learn at Jesus' feet I am free yes free indeed full of joy unspeakable and full of glory full of glory full of glory it is joy unspeakable and full of glory oh the half has never yet been told I have found the pleasure I once enjoyed and peace within what a wondrous blessing I am saved from the awful gulf of sin His joy unspeakable and full of glory full of glory full of glory it is joy unspeakable full of glory oh the half has never yet been told I have found the hope so bright and in the realm of grace oh the Savior's presence is so near I can see His smiling face it is joy unspeakable and full of glory full of glory full of glory full of glory it is joy unspeakable and full of glory oh the half has never yet been told on the last I have found the joy no tongue can tell how twigs of glory roll like a great or flowing swelling up within my soul it is joy unspeakable and full of glory full of glory full of glory it is joy unspeakable and full of glory oh the half has never yet been told Amen! Great singing! Brother Moses, will you open us with a word of prayer please? Amen! Amen! Alright, let's go to song number 379 Bringing in the sheaves, amen one of the main reasons why we exist is to bring in the sheaves 379 bringing in the sheaves let's sing it out lift up our voices, 379 bringing in the sheaves sowing in the morning on the first sowing in the morning sowing seeds of kindness sowing in the moon touch and the twig with the harvest and the time of reaping we shall come rejoicing bringing in the sheaves bringing in the sheaves bringing in the sheaves we shall come rejoicing bringing in the sheaves bringing in the sheaves bringing in the sheaves we shall come rejoicing bringing in the sheaves sowing in the sunshine sowing in the shadows sowing in the clouds we shall come rejoicing by the harvest and the labor ending we shall come rejoicing bringing in the sheaves bringing in the sheaves bringing in the sheaves we shall come rejoicing bringing in the sheaves bringing in the sheaves bringing in the sheaves we shall come rejoicing bringing in the sheaves on the last sowing for the master for the loss of snake our spirit when the weeping's over we will bid us welcome we shall come rejoicing bringing in the sheaves bringing in the sheaves bringing in the sheaves we shall come rejoicing bringing in the sheaves bringing in the sheaves bringing in the sheaves we shall come rejoicing bringing in the sheaves amen alright good morning welcome to Shield of Faith Baptist Church if you need a bulletin or a pen or something like that just raise your hand we'll have someone drop one off for you so let's go through these announcements here weekly church service time Sunday mornings are at 1030 Sunday evenings at 6 and Wednesdays are at 7pm underneath that is a list of soul winning times soul winning is when we go out to the community to preach the gospel to the lost if you have any questions 208-391-5323 next page tonight will be in the book of 1 Kings chapter number 16 today is daylight saving time so if you forgot to set your clock back you're still here early so that was good also more important than all that we're going to have a thanksgiving dinner here at the church building and there's a sign up sheet on the table over here so if you're interested in bringing something write down what you would like to bring and if you can't bring anything obviously you can still show up don't worry about it okay we're Baptist they'll be playing food so let's see here look ahead December 10th ladies Christmas party more details to come for that birthdays and anniversaries for November so on the 18th we have big girl Kyla and then we have brother Skulk on the 24th verse of the week Matthew 10 16 which says behold I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves be therefore wise as serpents and harmless as doves so we are a family integrated church and what that means is we don't separate children from their parents for any reason if you need privacy moms there's a mother baby room right across the hallway dads this office is open and ready to go for you if you need it let's see here don't forget to turn your phone off or place it on silent so there's it's not a distraction and we did put some new stuff back there in the blessing rack so feel free to go rifle through that stuff if you want so with that being said we're gonna have one more song before we receive the offering alright let's grab those hymn books one more time we'll turn to song number 29 at the cross and I really like that last song where it says we're fearing neither clouds nor winters chilly breeze so we keep going soul winning even in the winter amen let's turn to song number 29 at the cross sing it out alas and did my savior bleed song number 29 at the cross alas and did my savior bleed and did my sovereign die would he devote that sacred head for such a worm as I at the cross at the cross where I first saw the light and the burden of my heart rolled away it was there by faith I received my sight and now I am happy all the day was it for crimes that I have done he roamed upon the tree amazing pity brace unknown and love beyond the green and the cross at the cross where I first saw the light and the burden of my heart rolled away it was there by faith I received my sight and now I am happy all the day well might the sun in darkness hide and shut his glories in when Christ the mighty maker died for man the creatures sin at the cross at the cross where I first saw the light and the burden of my heart rolled away it was there by faith I received my sight and now I am happy all the day but drops of green can repay the debt of love I owe dear Lord I give myself away tis all that I can do at the cross at the cross where I first saw the light and the burden of my heart rolled away it was there by faith I received my sight and now I am happy all the day Amen Alright don't forget also inside your bulletin there's a communication card so if you have a prayer request or a praise or something of that nature just drop it in the plate when it goes by. Let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer. Thank you so much Lord for allowing us to be able to meet here again this morning. Just pray that you'd bless the service Lord and be with us as we fellowship afterwards. Bring us back again safely tonight and again we do thank you for all that you do for us. In Jesus' name I pray Amen Good morning everybody turn to Matthew chapter 10 Matthew chapter 10 If you don't have a Bible there's a cabinet there with Bibles in it and one of the brethren can bring you one Matthew 10 starting in verse 1 And when he had called unto him twelve disciples he gave them power against unclean spirits to cast them out and to heal all manner of sickness and all manner of disease. Now the names of the twelve apostles are these. The first Simon who is called Peter and Andrew his brother James the son of Zebedee and John his brother Philip and Bartholomew Thomas and Matthew the publican James the son of Alphaeus and Lebias whose surname was Thaddeus Simon the Canaanite and Judas Iscariot who also betrayed him These twelve Jesus sent forth and commanded them saying go not into the way of the Gentiles and into any city of the Samaritans enter ye not but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel and as you go preach saying the kingdom of heaven is at hand heal the sick cleanse the lepers raise the dead cast out devils freely you have received freely give provide neither gold nor silver nor brass in your purses nor scrip for your journey neither two coats neither shoes nor yet staves for the workman is worthy of his meat and into whatsoever city or town you shall enter inquire who in it is is worthy worthy and there abide till ye go thence and when ye come into an house salute it and if the house be worthy let your peace come upon you but if it be not worthy let your peace return to you and whosoever shall not receive you nor hear your words when you depart out of that house or city shake off the dust of your feet verily I say unto you shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment than for that city behold send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves be they for wisest serpents and harmless as doves but beware of men for they will deliver you up to the councils and they will scourge you in their synagogues and you shall be brought before governors and kings for my sake for a testimony against them and the Gentiles but when they deliver you up take no thought how or what you shall speak for it shall be given you in that same hour what you shall speak for it is not ye that speak but the spirit of your father which speaketh in you and the brother shall deliver up the brother to death and the father the child and the children shall rise up against their parents and cause them to be put to death and you shall be hated of all men for my name's sake but he that endureth to the end shall be saved but when they persecute you in this city flee ye into another for verily I say unto you you shall not have gone over the cities of Israel till the son of man become the disciple is not above his master nor the servant above his lord it is enough for the disciple that he be as his master and the servant as his lord if they have called the master of the house Beelzebub how much more shall they call them of his household fear them fear them not therefore fear them not therefore for there is nothing covered that shall not be revealed and head that shall not be known what I tell you in darkness that speak ye in light what ye hear in the ear that preach ye upon the housetops and fear not them which can kill the body but are not able to kill the soul but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body and hell are not the two sparrows sold for a fathling and one of them shall not fall on the ground without your father but the hairy hairs of your head are all numbered fear ye not therefore ye are more value than many sparrows whosoever therefore shall confess me before men him will I confess also before my father which is in heaven but whosoever shall deny me before men him will I also deny before my father which is in heaven think not that I am come to send peace on the earth I am not come to send peace but a sword for I am come to set a man at variance against his father and the daughter against her mother and the daughter in law against her mother-in-law and a man's foe shall be they of his own household he that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me and he that love of son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me and he that taketh not his cross and followeth after me is not worthy of me he that findeth his life shall lose it and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it he that receiveth you receiveth me and he that receiveth me receiveth him that sent me he that receiveth a prophet in the name of a prophet shall receive a prophet's reward and he that receiveth a righteous man in the name of a righteous man shall receive a righteous man's reward and whosoever shall give to drink unto one of these little ones a cup of cold water only in the name of a disciple verily I say unto you he shall in no wise lose his reward brother Vic you want to preface amen amen amen we're going to be looking down at verse 16 for this morning's sermon look at verse 16 the bible says behold I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves be therefore wise as serpents and harmless as doves now the title of the sermon this morning is facing the wolf pack facing the wolf pack so basically what that means is you know all of us from time to time are going to find ourselves in the midst of wolves right people that want to devour us you know I don't know about you guys but I've found myself many times in life as the only Christian or the only one with you know certain values and it can be very difficult it can be very difficult to navigate that situation you know as baptists often times we preach you know the ideal situation obviously you have mom dad kids you know dad works mom stays home with the kids but you know that's not always possible for a lot of people so what about those that have to go to public school what about those women that have to work okay you have these ideals you have these standards you have these beliefs but yet you find yourself in a position unfortunately because of life in the midst of wolves does that mean you're just out does that mean there's no hope for you does that mean there's no help for you I think you guys understand the answer to that question obviously there is there's wisdom to live by there's wisdom to get us through life and it doesn't involve having to harm other people physically okay so we're going to be talking about that today we're going to learn what this verse means how to apply it to our lives and basically come out on top that's what this is going to be about now we talked about Matthew chapter 10 a little bit on Wednesday and we're going to come back and we're going to take apart this missions trip because basically Jesus calls the 12 disciples sends them on a special mission okay now he tells them not to bring their purse obviously not a purse today that women would have but obviously their bag you know it was a miracle mission okay there's a lot of these things that change when you read Luke chapter 22 you know right before the crucifixion Jesus says hey now you're going to bring your script right now you're going to bring the Bible now you're going to bring your bag you're going to go prepare okay we're going to talk about those doctrinal things probably this Wednesday but for now we're going to actually break this verse down so one more time verse 16 so Jesus says this okay he says behold I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves a lot of people do not like being called sheep but that's what people are right there's a saying out there people are sheeple and it's definitely true okay the idea here and the question is who is your sheep master who who's who are you following and so Jesus refers to his disciples as sheep in the midst of wolves now this would appear as a death sentence right I mean obviously what's stronger the wolf or the sheep obviously it's it's the wolf they have more they have more of more they're more ferocious they have more numbers they're they're they're they're predators sheep literally by itself harmless you know I mean in in many ways and so he says I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves be ye therefore so for that reason be wise as serpents and harmless as that so we're going to break that down now keep your place there in Matthew chapter number 10 but if you would go to John chapter number 10 and let's take a look at something here John chapter number 10 so John chapter number 10 look over at verse number 27 so Jesus here is battling obviously with the non-believing pharisees things of that nature and they're not believing anything he's saying they're not believing his doctrine they don't believe the miracles they don't believe any of this stuff here and they're always trying to trap him always trying to question his motives and things of that nature and he you know he basically says this to him look at verse 27 he says my sheep hear my voice and I know them and they follow me okay now he's not saying here that if you don't follow everything he says in the Bible that you're not saved we're not saved by works hopefully we all understand that but he's basically saying hey the reason why you guys don't believe these things the reason why you can't receive the word of God is because my sheep hear my voice and basically he's saying you're not of the sheepfold you are not saved you are not a Christian you are not a believer and to understand the things in the Bible you have to be saved okay these things are spiritually discerned is what the Bible says but he says my sheep hear my voice and I know them and they follow me he goes on to say they would not follow the voice of a stranger they're not going to do that so in other words when someone comes up to his sheep and says hey no no no okay the real way to heaven is based off of your own merits the works that you do or it's a team effort okay it's a little bit of Christ's sacrifice and it's a whole lot of what you're doing you know if you're saved you're listening to the voice of the shepherd you're not going to follow that individual that is the voice of a stranger but really what this means here is the voice of the shepherd is our only means to survival as Christians okay that's really what he's saying here so it's okay that he sends us as sheep in the midst of wolves because we have his wisdom we have his voice we have his instructions and the only way to survive the only way to survive the race to make it to the end and get your rewards and to actually be successful in the Christian life is by the voice of the shepherd okay now unfortunately today and you guys know this many churches want to downplay the importance of the Bible they want to downplay cast doubt on the word of God and say well these things don't say that in the original languages and all that kind of garbage what does that do that diminishes the voice of the shepherd thus making the disciples ineffective because then they have to rely on the voice of the world they have to rely on the voice of the scholar okay which is the voice of man it's another voice so I'm going to have you guys go back if you would to Matthew actually go to Galatians chapter number one go to Galatians chapter number one we'll come back to Matthew 10 here in a moment okay so Jesus says behold I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves be therefore wise as serpents harmless as doves now I think a very important way for us to understand the full impact of what he's trying to teach us is to understand that he's comparing our enemies to wolves they're wolf-like in behavior okay so you do a quick study on the animal kingdom you know you got your ambush predators right you got your lions you got your I mean even your your serpents are ambush predators okay what do they do well they lurk and wait you know for the right moment and they just come out and pounce you know there's all kinds of videos on YouTube of you know lions or jaguars you know just popping out and grabbing prey and oftentimes what you'll see is sometimes they bite off more than they can chew don't they they'll pick something that's maybe a little bit too big or a little too aggressive and it doesn't quite work out for them okay the other end of this are endurance predators and that's what wolves are wolves are endurance predators okay they're willing to chase you they're willing to observe you they're willing to basically go the distance and find weaknesses okay it's a different type of beast it's a different type of animal now I'm not saying that we're not going to face our lions we're not going to face our ambush predators because we certainly will but the most dangerous ones are the wolves okay the wolves are the ones that say in their hearts you know I'm willing to follow you for as long as it takes to find a chink in your armor to find a gap in your theology and the way you live your life or something of this nature and devour you at the right time okay and the way to defeat that the way to solve that issue is to basically emulsify these two characteristics which is the wisdom of a serpent and the harmlessness of a dove okay we're not old testament Israel we talk about this all the time our job is not to go out and to physically hurt people we're not like Peter and going to try to cut people's heads off for the kingdom okay we get that we understand that we have a different battle the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but they are spiritual okay they're words they're teaching doctrines and things of this nature now this verse confuses a lot of people because they say well aren't serpents in the bible largely negative and the answer to that is yes you know but what Jesus is not saying he's not saying combine a serpent like all the characteristics of a serpent and all the characteristics of a dove he's not saying that the verse says the wisdom of a serpent and the harmlessness of a dove and where Christians run into trouble is when they try to isolate the two too much now we spend a lot of time focusing on the wisdom of the serpent just because it's a little bit difficult it's deep it causes you to have to think through that whereas being harmless as a dove I mean it's pretty self explanatory you know we're not supposed to go out and engage in physical you know warfare things like that now so you're in Galatians chapter one okay so the first point that I want to bring up the first attribute if you will of wolves is that they are opportunistic hunters okay they are opportunistic hunters and that's not to say that the other prey the other beasts aren't but when I was studying this out wolves what they do is they test their prey sensing weakness vulnerability through visual cues and even through hearing and scent okay now your alligator your crocodile they get hungry they see something moving and boom it's just on they just just pounce right the wolf not so much okay they communicate they smell they look they see is this worth spending our resources on is this person or is this potential meal rather is this worth actually going after they're a little bit more methodical a little bit more careful in how they go about doing this you know there are people who have said online multiple times that they're going to wait you know they're going to wait six seven months before they try to come into this church and infiltrate and do something to us you know and it's like we're always ready you know we're always ready because this isn't our first rodeo we've had wolves in this place before we've had people come in here with the sole intention to try to drive a wedge and to cause problems and to stir up trouble so it's nothing new to us right but you know these things have to be preached these things have to be communicated because I mean it always happens there will always be somebody who walks through these doors wants to make friends wants to start trouble and to try to basically devour the church and I mean it's wolf like behavior you know there are people out there who literally messaged me and said you know I'm going to wait six or seven months until the media dies down until all this stuff happens and then I'm going to come to the church and I'm going to do this and do that to you it's like fine we're ready I'm waiting go ahead and try and see what happens okay I mean look we're not backing down from anything that we believe we don't back down from nothing that's just how it is that's how you have to be but you have to do it correctly you have to do it with wisdom and harmlessness we don't wish to have to harm anyone you know and what Jesus is saying here is he's not preaching against self defense right we are more than authorized to defend ourselves physically and obviously spiritually okay so please don't misunderstand what I'm saying but the point is so what does this look like spiritually okay wolves are opportunistic hunters what would the wolves that would come in here try to do what would they be trying to sniff out to draw disciples after themselves well it would be a weakness in your doctrine or it would be a weakness in your ability to apply the Bible the word of God in your life okay that's what they're looking for you know thinking back to some of the people who've come in here and have tried to draw away disciples after themselves those two things are exactly what they've done they go to people who they think are like minded and start talking you know oh you're not you don't really quite believe that doctrine as well yeah you don't really oh yeah yeah I'm kind of the same with you and they keep it quiet and they start talking about it and then before you know it they've drawn a disciple away after themselves you know what are they doing they're looking for weakness in your doctrine they're looking for weakness in your ability to apply the Bible that's it that's how they devour that's how they pounce and they will wait the distance they will wait they will they will come in here they will try to even multiply they will try to gather more people like themselves you know I've seen wolves part of this movement for six years before they were revealed seven years before they were revealed you know and by the time they're discovered I mean they've done some serious damage they've drawn some serious disciples away for themselves you know you're in Galatians chapter number one look at verse number six so Paul here dealing with this very same issue here you know establishes these churches in Galatia and what happens well people come in and they start causing division they start subtly preaching things that aren't true and look at what Paul says to the Galatian church in verse six he says I marvel that you're so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel okay Paul's like this happened so fast that it just bewilders me I'm just confused by how this could happen to you verse seven he says which is not another okay it's not like there's two gospels there's one gospel and everything else is false okay which is not another but there be some that trouble you and would pervert the gospel of Christ okay leave your place there go to Colossians chapter number four Colossians chapter number four so when you read the book of Galatians you read the epistles to the churches in the New Testament what you find are people coming into the churches and they're looking for people that are weak on doctrine and weak on application and those are the ones that they're going to try to attach themselves to follow sniff out observe listen they're looking for visual cues they're looking for everything basically that a wolf does that's what they do they just do it spiritually they do it on a different level if you would so you're in Colossians chapter four you say what do we do about this okay why is this important here why is application important isn't it just good enough for me to just know the Bible just just like with a head knowledge isn't that just good enough and you're going to see no that is not the case okay you're in Galatians chapter four look at verse number five so Paul tells the Colossians he says this walk in wisdom toward them that are without okay what does that mean what does without mean outside okay he's saying hey you guys that are saved you believers you need to walk in wisdom towards those that are without that are not in the church that are not saved that are not in Christ he says redeeming the time so your time here obviously on earth is limited we don't know how much time that we have but here's the other thing that's going to come to play later in this sermon okay this is part of being wise as a serpent okay opportunities come and opportunities go and you have to understand that in order to be successful so Paul says the best way to do that is to walk in wisdom toward them that are without so in other words you don't want to be a good holy Christian on Sunday and then Monday you're at work just acting like everybody else okay because they're going to sniff that out in you they're going to know that you're a hypocrite they're going to know that you're a fraud they're going to know that something is wrong and then what always happens after that they draw you away I've seen it we've all seen that in here I want to say a million times but honestly it's like 40 times you know it happens all the time look at verse number 6 let your speech be always with grace seasoned with salt that ye may know how ye ought to and here's the key answer every man this is why we teach things over and over again this is why we're always harping on application okay so verse 5 that's your application walk in wisdom towards them that are without now obviously we need knowledge okay but the Bible says that knowledge puffeth up so how do we stop our heads from getting so big and floating us around town like we're know-it-alls will you apply it okay you try these things out and in that process you're going to fail you're going to fall on your face you're going to make some mistakes and that's going to base you a little bit okay and through that experience of applying the word of God you're going to come into wisdom which is what you need to display towards them that are without we don't want to go up to people that aren't saved and act like we're the best thing I mean that's what the world Christians do you know oh I'm better than you on this oh I don't do this oh I don't eat pork oh I don't eat shoulders you know all this kind of garbage you know and they're just like thinking oh so that's what this is about it's a show right no that's not walking circumspectly that's not wise okay part of being wise is actually letting people know hey I'm a sinner just like you you know I make mistakes just like you probably even more the only difference between us and the last person is that we're saved we're saved sinners that's it okay Jesus is the one that paid the sin debt for the world okay and when we have that truth and we walk in that people see that and hopefully you know they'll start to oh right it's not about the works this guy struggles with this too nothing bothers me more than these people that just act like they have no problems I've got it all put together because we know that's not true everybody in here has things that they struggle with everybody in here has things that they don't talk about all of us do okay but the question is are you willing to work on those things are you willing to be honest are you willing to walk in wisdom towards them that or without and he says in verse 6 here this is your doctrine let your speech be always with grace seasoned with salt that you may know how you ought to answer every man okay think about the application here we're called to be wise as serpents and harmless as doves there's a lot of questions out there that the world has that we don't often times know the answers to so what do we do we go to the word of God and we look at what it says and we study these things and in the process of doing that what are you doing you're preserving yourself in this race called the Christian life okay so that's going to help you in your endurance because you have an interest like I need to be able to answer these guys I need to be able to answer these dispensationalists I need to be able to answer these atheists downtown who want to try to twist the old and new testament and say they don't mix and match and stuff like that right in the process of doing that okay you now are creating for yourself a system of endurance and guess what now you're able to hopefully outpace the wolves okay because what is the wolf doing the wolf is testing you that is what they do they are testing you they are trying to sense weakness or vulnerability through visual cues and even through hearing and scent now we've had people come in here before with the Joe Biden syndrome and trying to sniff little kids and that guy didn't last too long okay so you got to understand that most wolves aren't like that they're not coming in here smelling you you know that's too obvious that's just too easy but the application here the way that we resist the attack from the wolves is we become a group of people that is committed to learning doctrine but also applying doctrine that is how we grow that is how we strengthen ourselves as believers that is how we resist the opportunistic predator okay so go to 2 Timothy chapter number 4 2 Timothy chapter number 4 2 Timothy chapter number 4 so again point number 1 wolves are opportunistic hunters okay they are trying to test they are looking for people that are weak in doctrine weak in application now number 2 is this wolves are endurance predators been saying it all morning okay wolves are endurance predators they are willing to follow you for a very good distance go look up videos on YouTube about wolves they're willing to follow a buck for miles if they believe that there's something in that animal that they can actually exploit a weakness if you will that they can jump on to try to get that and also we need to remember this you know we're outnumbered you in the workforce you're outnumbered you and your families by and large are outnumbered unless your last name's Akers then you might be okay but not all of us are in Mike's family somebody take Mike to the daddy baby room for me he's not laughing he's over there angry all right 2 Timothy chapter 4 look at verse number 3 2 Timothy 4 look at verse number 3 so what Paul tells the pastor here he tells Timothy this in verse number 3 he says this for the time will come when they okay the Christians the people that he's teaching church members he says for the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers having itching ears and I believe that every church has this situation after him and Paul's like hey you're gonna have well-meaning believers in your church you're gonna have Christians that are with you that are learning that are studying he says but you know what the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine okay what is the wolf the wolf is an endurance predator the wolf is willing to go the extra mile he's willing to go with you in your journey and Paul says hey you know there are people that will not endure sound doctrine okay what was part of the application for point number 1 doctrine how strong are you in your doctrine are you applying your doctrine well not only are wolves opportunistic and looking for that but they have endurance okay and guess what doctrine is something that needs to be endured as God's people you know it's easy for us in the flesh to start to hear the truth about salvation it's like oh man salvation again oh man this doctrine again oh man the rapture again you know prophecy again you know and sometimes just any doctrine can wear on you because all doctrine in some capacity needs to be applied right and people and I'm people too you know we get tired of being told and having our toes stepped on okay I mean it's just a fact we get sick and tired of it but the question is can you reach your hand down into your gut and pull up some intestinal fortitude I mean that's the question you know can you man up or woman up or whatever it is okay can you endure sound doctrine that's the test of time that is the question here okay and for those that don't what do they do but after their own lust they shall heap to themselves teachers having itching ears how many of us have seen that over the years a lot of us have okay so the wolf the enemy he knows that you know the wolf comes in looking for that guy who's been here for a few years you know who may be on the brink of not being able to endure you know I just want something new tired of the same old you know something new and then he pulls out his phone have you seen this yea hath God said okay start giving a little bit of that serpent attitude and then the next thing you know you are off being devoured by the wolves look at verse 4 it says and they shall turn away their ears from the truth and shall be turned unto fables okay we've seen that early this year with a kid who used to lead a soul winning program in this church now he's running around town saying he would never even raise his own kids in this church how do you go from leading soul winning on Wednesdays to I would never raise my kids in that church how does that happen because you can't endure sound doctrine that's how it happens you know what and sometimes a wolf is you sometimes it's the old man sometimes you're just losing the battle between the new man and the old man and you wake up every day and you start putting on that old man and that old man is a wolf in itself that old man is looking to see if you can endure that old man is looking for an opportunity that old man is looking to devour you and he is strong because you can't put him off physically the only way to do that is to die okay so understand that and they shall turn away their ears from the truth and shall be turned unto fables unto fables that you can be some great one right the world is always coming after us look at what you're giving up oh you go to church on Sunday twice oh you gotta go soul winning oh you gotta read the Bible and pray you gotta do all this stuff look at all this money that you're missing out on hey look at your athletic ability you could really be someone man you could be like Lebron you could be like Michael Jordan you could be like Ken Griffey Jr. you could be like John Jones of the UFC no you can't most of you can't most of us can't oh you could be a body not many people here good I'm just being honest even on the gear even on gear most people in here are not going to get to that elite level so why spend your life trying for that what will it get you it'll get you to heaven saying man look at what I missed out on it's gonna cost you at the judgment seat of Christ that's what it's gonna do yeah you're saved thank God for that you could never lose your salvation but you can always be losing your rewards look at verse 5 so Paul says hey Timothy but watch thou in all things endure afflictions do the work of an evangelist make full proof of thy ministry so in other words hey you're gonna have to endure people not enduring sound doctrine you're gonna have to endure the affliction and the trouble and the emotions that comes from that so if you ever want to get into the ministry you have to be tough you have to be willing to look at people going this route and not let it affect you you have to be willing to endure that because it's always at the door it's always coming turn to Proverbs chapter number 30 Proverbs chapter number 30 so again here we see that we have to endure things as Christians not to stay once you're saved you're always saved but to finish the race because your options are this you either get devoured by the wolves or you defeat the wolves and if the wolves knock you out of the race they win you lose at the judgment seat you miss out you don't get to use the gifts that God gave you and the enemy wins so what do we do about it Proverbs chapter 30 look at verse number 30 so the Bible says this the Bible says a lion which is strongest among beasts and turneth not away for any we need to understand and realize that we are of the tribe of the lion of Judah we are of the Lord Jesus Christ in his word his wisdom is what we have to live by in order for us to survive the wolves in order to survive these attacks go back to Proverbs chapter number 28 we read this verse verse number 1 on Wednesday but we're going to read it again here so in the midst of wolves we want to be like the lion that doesn't turn away for any who's ever seen videos of like hyenas surrounding a lion and they're all coming at him and he just doesn't turn away even though he knows he's probably going to lose he just keeps going at him just keeps fighting that's how we have to be that's how you have to be in your family that's how you have to be at work that's how you have to be in your community that's how you have to be even in here sometimes you don't back down from any you don't turn away from people when the going gets tough you know the tough gets going GI Joe touched that if you're an 80's kid you know and he was partially right Proverbs 28 look at verse number 1 the wicked flee when no man pursueth you see this all the time in so called Christianity and I've been in churches before where somebody called and they're not even mad they're just like oh somebody left this invite on my door and I was sleeping and they're like oh ok no more you guys can't be knocking on doors anymore I've been to a church Northwest Baptist Church in Port Orchard soon as daylight saving time shows up and you knock on someone's door after 5 o'clock when it's dark and they call and they're not even that upset the pastor's like oh no oh no no more no more no more until spring ok guys what is that it's like brother Jeff said this morning that's being weak being scared that's what that is ok look we have a message to preach we need to preach the right gospel ok and if it's 0 degrees out that's what we're going to be doing because we don't turn away for any look at Proverbs 28 again the wicked flee when no man pursueth but the righteous are bold as a lion you need that boldness but how do you get that well you get that by doctrine you get that by application and making that consistent and understanding in your heart that you have to endure sound doctrine can you endure correction can you endure sound doctrine if you can guess what you're in good shape you're going to make it you're not going to have problems go to Deuteronomy chapter number 14 so number three so number one we took a look at the opportunistic hunter right the wolf seeks opportunity where as the ambush predator is just like I'm hungry there's something to eat I'm going for it bit off more than I can chew I love when that happens to us you know it happens to you guys all the time with the Lord you're knocking on the door and someone's like oh mix fabrics and you're like I'm hungry I'm going for it bit off more than I can chew I love when that happens to us you know it happens to you guys all the time with the Lord you're knocking on the door and oh mix fabrics and you're like bam they're like oh crap you know you know they didn't they didn't take the time to study you they didn't take the time to actually find a weakness they just tried you and then you smashed them and then they got humble and some of you have gotten people saved in that situation where they're like uh oh maybe I don't know everything maybe I am misled okay and so again the real threat though is from the people that are always around you at your job your family maybe sometimes even at church that are constantly looking constantly observing constantly trying to find a way to get to you okay that is far more dangerous in my opinion than the ambush predator so number three is this so wolves prefer large hoof game over small game now obviously they'll take the rabbit out they'll take small things out but they would prefer to take down a moose they would prefer to take down an elk or an antelope or you know just some large game okay why is that well we're going to take a look at that here so you're in Deuteronomy chapter number 14 we're going to read here in verse number six okay and I'm going to read this here we'll talk about the the application here in the picture here in just a second but look at verse number six obviously this is being preached to Old Testament Israel which basically guess what there was one law you know and in Old Testament Israel they mixed politics and religion it was the same it was one and the same what God said is what it was okay look at verse six so talking about food here verse number six says this so talking about clean versus unclean here we'll come back to that in a second look at verse seven okay verse eight so between these three verses here you have a picture of what is clean that is unclean okay and so in verse six it says you're able to eat of every beast that parteth the hoof again that is a picture of greatness that is a picture of purity that is a picture of cleanness or righteousness okay and so what would be the preferred meal obviously during this time well obviously it's something that is clean okay it would be very wrong for you in Old Testament Israel to eat the things mentioned here in verse seven verse eight now obviously in our times this has changed I don't have time to get into that right now but the idea here is the wolf is not necessarily looking for the unclean thing okay the wolves of today they're not worried so much about going down to create church or what is it tree city church of the Nazarene not so much worried about going in there because they eat of the unclean thing they part the hoof okay you say what do you mean they part the hoof they eat of the unclean thing well they bring the sacrifice of cross from up here to down here you say how do they do that because all of them teach that you have to do something in order to receive salvation meaning you have to have some sort of achievement you have to turn from your sins you have to do some kind of work okay for your salvation and also they don't believe that God has preserved his word as it was written for us today you know this they don't believe you say oh yes no they don't if you're using multiple Bible versions you are what I call an Omo original manuscript onliest the people you know sometimes we'll hand them an invite out in town they're like oh you're king James only well that's pretty uh divisive well that's pretty limiting okay look a church is one of two things they're either king James only meaning truth only in America in English-speaking countries okay you're either king James only or your original manuscript only if you're original manuscript only you're using the NIV you're using the ESV and we talk about this all the time they say different things they contradict each other it is unclean so the wolf's like you know that's not really going to satisfy I'd rather take down a large hoofed animal I'd rather take down something pure something uh very clean that could feed my whole clan or feed my whole ego in some regards okay go to Acts chapter number 20 Acts chapter number 20 and by the way wolves love going into these old independent fundamental Baptist churches they love going inside of there because there are some gaps in their doctrine and look there are some great old independent fundamental Baptist churches out there that I still respect and still love to this day but I'm telling you there are some gaps in their doctrine there are some gaps in their application and wolves are constantly coming inside of those organizations to destroy and to take down so the bigger the kill the more they can feed whether that's ego of two or whether that's a group out in town doesn't matter they're looking for the most righteous and to do the most damage okay Acts chapter 20 look at verse 29 so Paul here about to depart says this he says this I know in verse 29 says for I know this that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you not sparing the flock verse 30 also of your own selves shall men arise look at this of your own selves people that were around you that studied with you that applied with you that learned with you he says also of your own selves shall men arise speaking perverse things to draw away disciples after them so he's saying hey you guys need to understand there will be people who get bitter and want influence and those people will attempt to draw away disciples after them selves now some people might say oh well that was only for them back then no that was for us today because we've seen it even in this church you know and I'm not trying to say that those churches out there don't deal with that because they do you know if they can't get it going in here they're going to go somewhere because wolves have to eat wolves have to feed themselves but what I'm saying is they would love much more to take down a church like this where you have people obviously that are saved that are standing on doctrine and applying the Bible they would love to divide this up as opposed to that which is already divided they don't know which way to go oh is it NIV is it ESV is it works is it not works I'd love to take something like this down go back to Matthew chapter number 10 and so obviously the solution here is very easy it's what we've been talking about the more wise loyal people that we have watching and observing the better something that as a pastor we need to always be on the lookout for always on the lookout for this type of behavior where someone is trying to draw away after themselves we're so seeds of discourse we're not you know if I ever hear people not standing up for the church obviously I may not kick you out but I take note of that it's interesting why would you why wouldn't you try to to help this person it's a problem something going on here that's all I'm saying so Matthew chapter number 10 again look at verse number 16 behold I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves this is us okay now obviously this is part of the special mission trip okay but guess what the Christian life is a mission trip soul winning is a mission trip I mean just trying to run the race of being a Christian is going to place you in the midst of wolves so we have to understand every single one of you you're being hunted we are being hunted and our enemy has the the same characteristics of wolves they're not necessarily the ambush predators that we have to worry about yeah that happens yeah that comes up we talk about that from time to time it's the wolf it's the one looking for the opportunity it's the endurance predator it's the one that travels in packs okay it's the one who's willing to go in his mind or their minds the distance with us so he says behold I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves if we can be okay with the fact that we're sheep and we need the voice of the shepherd we understand that's the way that we're going to survive this thing that's how we're going to come out on top that is how we are going to basically live and survive he says this be ye therefore wise as serpents doesn't say be a snake be a serpent no be wise as serpents so look at how the serpent moves look at what he does how he operates the snake is very careful at how he moves when he moves right the serpent is discerning he's observing right what does the snake do put a snake out here what's the first thing he's going to do he's going to start looking around for a place to hide he's going to lay low in other words okay so this is the first thing that we need to understand here is that the snake is going to understand his surroundings understand his circumstance which is a great piece of application for us for example you start a new job or you get a new person maybe that's working with you you go to a new church you go to a new thing you know you need to kind of lay low because the tendency for us is oh I believe all this stuff and you know and you just come out power barfing with all this stuff it's not wise okay the serpent doesn't just come the serpent doesn't just knock on your door like hey I'm here you know look at all the stuff I can do no the serpent lays low watches gathers facts is discerning is careful okay you know these ambush predators what they do hungry I'm strong there's something I can devour I'm going to attempt it okay the serpent's not quite like that the serpent is very methodical very careful and then once the serpent gathers the facts once he has the information and understands the surroundings what does he do coils up that's how you can tell when a snake is about to bite you is if it's coiled you need to be extra careful now if I see any kind of snake I'm out it don't matter okay it's coiled or not I'm running the other way I don't like that stuff some of you are oh what's the big deal good on you you're better than me you're tougher than me I don't care I don't like them and some of you that's saying that you don't like the spiders so how about I put a spider on your pillow and see what happens we'll play this game all day so the first thing I just leave you with two things number one is the serpent understands the circumstances then coils up okay what does that mean well obviously in life there's a temptation for us to always act too quickly I find myself doing this all the time there's a temptation for us to act quickly make quick just you know judgments and just just rash decisions you know you've heard me say before I was taught this a long time ago it's better to act than to react I oftentimes like like Paul find myself just reacting you know sometimes I'm just like oh I gotta come get you it's not wise okay we need to be reminded that the best thing to do is to be like the serpent and to get into a position where we can coil up okay which leads us to number two this helps us to strike when ready but remember we're supposed to be harmless as doves okay so you're not coiling up right you're not you don't you don't want to be just coming to church all the time just like coiled up like ready to pounce on anybody who don't you know say hi to you or you know whatever you know we want to be harmless as doves so we want to be able to engage whatever situation we're in appropriately okay so like when people come in to the church and they're here for a few months maybe they say something a little bit different or they believe differently on a passage than you right you don't want to be like false prophet you're a wolf right you're a wolf we've had guys like we had two guys last year in here they were constantly like that right one kid sitting right there all the time you know a guy who hasn't been to this church for six months who's a good dude comes back for a visit right and this guy who's been here now for like eight months like he's a false prophet I looked up his YouTube page and I basically study him you know we need to get rid of him he's degenerate it's like you're degenerate it's like do you even think you even understand what you're saying right now you're out of line like that guy had no discernment no judgment you know nothing just just ambush predator you know who I'm talking about most of you this same guy would go to parks over in cuna and just go up to women and just start yelling at them for how they're dressed okay is that wise is that a good testimony is that walking wisely in front of them that are without no it makes us look stupid those are the phone calls I don't like getting another guy come knocking on my door the first thing he said is I'm going to hell we don't have that anymore but we used to have people that would do stuff like that hey you seen New World War bible versions huh hey you know Billy Graham's going to hell it's like whoa like at least tell them what church you're from first maybe say hi how you doing I mean come on man what is wrong with people so number one okay what does the snake do finds a place to conceal himself I'm not saying you know show up to church or just be quiet or talk to anybody no you don't want to do that you know you want to be friendly obviously but I'm talking about in your environment you know in your family you know when your unsaved family's around a lot of you know this okay you want to kind of lay low kind of see where they're at is this the right time to engage is this the right time for a discussion on the gospel some of you have had that recently you know because here's the thing if you don't discern the situation if you don't understand that those people may not be ready yet you're going to miss your chance you're not going to be able to strike you want to be coiled up you want to be ready for the right time because guess what like I said earlier these opportunities come and they go so let's say you're coiled up but you fall asleep right and the guy's sitting there like what must I do to be saved and you're just like oh I don't know you know you're just not thinking you're thinking about something else you're not ready you're not ready to give that answer then you miss that opportunity okay and that pray for you in that sense goes away it goes bye bye and then you know we lose and so the way again to survive in the wolf pack is to emulsify to mix the wisdom of a serpent and the harmlessness of a dove now when you isolate those two from each other you have a problem okay because guess what you know weak people are a problem and we've talked about this before you know a lot of Christians they just want to emphasize oh you just be harmless as a dove harmless as a dove meaning you don't ever want to tell anybody the truth because it might hurt their feelings you might start crying or this and that you know sometimes people need to have their toes stepped on sometimes people need to hear the truth even though it might turn them against you for a season even though they might walk away it doesn't matter people need to hear the truth so that obviously wasn't what Jesus was talking about okay what was he saying we don't want to be intentionally harmful to people that's what he's saying so when you can combine that harmlessness with that wisdom you're going to come out on top you're going to be the one with endurance you're going to be the one with the opportunity and you will be the one to seize the right moment you know and in the midst of wolves you'll be able to call them out at the right time we have to understand we've got a certain amount of energy and we need to use that energy appropriately we need to use that at the right time we need to pick and choose our battles is what I'm saying not every single little thing that someone does wrong to us is worth pouting and fighting about it's just not I'm sorry but it's just not it's not wise it's not okay and when you understand how the serpent behaves and you can combine his wisdom to conceal to lay low and to discern his circumstances you apply that spiritually just apply that in anything apply that in just your job you know maybe you see something at work that's a problem and you're wondering how am I going to explain this to the boss okay apply that wisdom don't just come out and be like hey you guys have been doing it wrong for the last five years who are you to say that there's a better way to go about doing it you want to do it in a tactful manner you know by maybe demonstration or asking questions that bring up thought that provoke thought so you know that's a good question that's the better way to operate as God's people and what else does that do well that helps us to walk in wisdom towards them that are without so they're not looking at us like oh this guy's just a nothing but a know-it-all knows everything just a clown right we don't want to come off that way to people which is why we need sermons like this and I'm going back to the public school kid there's a lot of believers out there there's a lot of people that agree with us on things you know and they're in public school and public school is a very crazy place today you know I mean I'm a public school kid came out all right but it's a total different animal today what about them they need to do the same things and it's really no different than being in the workforce you know in the workforce there's a lot of crazy stuff people believe a lot of weird things out there I guarantee wherever most of you guys work you're working with people that don't agree with our doctrine that don't like this church that don't like me you know that don't like you whatever it is okay there is wisdom in this for you to survive that situation because look we're not of the world meaning we're not born of the world the world is not our source it's the Lord Jesus Christ we've been born again we're in the kingdom of heaven we're of God but we're in the world we have to function in the world and so obviously we want to combine these two attributes so that we can be as successful as possible that doesn't guarantee you won't have any fights it doesn't guarantee you're not going to have any battles because you will okay but when you remember these things you're going to come out on top you're going to be better off and you know those people that just won't listen they just constantly attack you they're just the fools of the world is what I'm trying to say you know you can make them look foolish without telling them they're foolish simply by just laying low not letting these things bother you or at least not letting other people know that they bother you and then taking that right time looking for the right time to actually engage to make a decision or to strike if you will not physically but spiritually whatever that looks like okay take the appropriate action make the appropriate decisions you know you don't want to make these decisions before you've discerned your situation you know and Jesus sending these twelve disciples his twelve apostles sending them out they would have to do this in order to survive these people they're going into towns you know preaching things going against the Sadducees going against the Pharisees going against the scribes and so they were going to meet resistance they were going to have issue okay he said look you're not Benaiah the son of Jehoiada you're not Jehu okay this mission is different you're not going to go out there and lop people's heads off okay we're preaching the gospel that's what we're doing okay and that's a good reminder for us today and obviously you guys know this and so we're going to stop right there and we will cover more of chapter number ten on Wednesday so let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer thank you so much Lord for this church for everything that you do for us just pray you help us to remember these things and to apply them to our lives so that we may walk in wisdom towards them that are without in Jesus name I pray all right so for our final hymn this morning let's grab those books one final time we'll turn to song number 110 All the Way My Savior Leads Me a great song number 110 All the Way My Savior Leads Me on the first all the way my savior leads me what have I to ask beside can I doubt his tender mercy who through life has been my guide heavenly peace divine is come with nearby faith in him to dwell for I know what e'er befall me Jesus do with all things well for I know what e'er befall me Jesus do with all things well all the way my savior leads me cheers each finding that I tread gives me grace for every trial beats me with a living grin though my weary steps may falter and my soul a thirst may be gushing from the rock before me lo a spring of joy I see gushing from the rock before me lo a spring of joy I see all the way my savior leads me oh the fullness of his love perfect rest to me is promised in my father's house above when my spirit growing mortal wings its flight to realms of day this my song through endless ages Jesus lead me all the way this my song through endless ages Jesus lead me all the way Lord Anthony will you close us for the word of prayer please. Thank you for gathering us today to pray that you be wary of wolves that come into this church and anywhere Lord in the workplace or our family Lord. Bless the soul of many later. In Jesus name I pray. Amen. In Jesus name I pray. In Jesus name I pray.