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and to be edified by your word, Lord. In Jesus' name we pray, amen. Amen. All right, we're in 2 Timothy chapter three, and we're almost done with the book of 2 Timothy. It's a great book, and just as a reminder of what the book of 2 Timothy really is emphasizing here is the importance of enduring. And we saw in chapter two that the Bible tells us here in verse number one, thou therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. He says in verse three, thou therefore endure hardness as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. So over and over again, you see the importance of just enduring, making sure that we endure through persecutions, and this is a letter written specifically to Timothy to encourage him to endure those afflictions, those persecutions, and the things, the trials that he's going through. We obviously see, according to this book, that Timothy might have had the tendency to fear. This is why he tells him that God did not give us a spirit of fear, but of power, love, and a sound mind. And a lot of the suffering that the Apostle Paul is instructing Timothy about is really in regards to suffering that is related to persecution, okay? Whether it's from the persecution of the world or just of wicked people. Now, up until this point, it's been a very general type of persecution that he's referring to, but in chapter three, he gets more specific, and he specifically references people, wicked people, who we would refer to, and the Bible refers to, as reprobates, okay? And these are they which hate the Lord, these are they which hate God, they hate his word, and because of that, they hate us as well. And this is a group of people here that will seek to withstand the word of God that we're preaching unto others, and this is who he's gonna warn him about here. Now, in verse number one, it says this note also, that in the last days, perilous times shall come. Now, obviously, we understand that today we're living in those last days, and what he's saying here is that, hey, perilous times shall come. He's not referring to global warming. He's not referring to the economy crashing. He's not referring to anything of that sort. He's actually referring to people. Why are they perilous? Why are they dangerous times in the last days? Well, because the love of many shall wax cold because iniquity will abound, and in fact, look down at your Bibles at verse number, let's see here, verse 13 says, but evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived. You see, back in these days, there was a bunch of false prophets, right? A lot of false prophets, a lot of reprobates, but today, there's so much the more, because as we near the end, as we near the last days, evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, and Paul is just simply telling Timothy, hey, it's only gonna get worse. The longer you're in the ministry, the longer you're in church, the longer you're preaching the Bible, the more you're gonna run into these wicked people who seek to destroy the work of God. They wanna be a hindrance towards the work of God. They wanna be a hindrance to you preaching the gospel and basically be your enemy, all right? So perilous times shall come. Now, we're living in perilous times today. I mean, good night in the morning. It seems as though almost every week, we hear about some wicked person, you know, doing some wicked thing in some church and infiltrator here and there, even people within our church, okay? Now, this is not something that's abnormal. In fact, it's very much normal, and the old IFB could look at a church like ours and say, oh, man, you guys have all these problems. No, you have them too. You just don't do anything about it, okay? That's the difference. You see, your church probably has as many infiltrators as ours, probably even more, because infiltrators who go there know that they have a safe haven to go to. The pastor's not gonna kick them out. The pastor's not gonna do anything about it. He's gonna allow them to run freely and spread their heresy and false doctrine and accomplish their agenda at that church, but that's the difference. You see, we don't hide anything under the carpet. If something happens here, there's an infiltrator here. We deal with it, right? We excommunicate them. We try to keep our church as safe as possible from people like that, but it's promised by God that we're living in perilous times, and then it says in verse number two, For men shall be lovers of their own selves. So what group of people are we talking about? Narcissistic type people who wanna fulfill their own desires. They're not living for others. They don't have another person's benefit in mind. They're lovers of their own selves. It says there they're covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy. Now, as you read this list, doesn't it sound familiar? Sounds like what? Romans one. So obviously we can take a list like this and maybe even apply some of it to ourselves as far as being disobedient to parents, being proud, unthankful, but hold on, folks. There's some things on this list that are just not applicable to us at all, okay? And the parallel passage to this list that we see here is Romans one. Now let's go to that. Go to Romans chapter number one, if you would. Let's look at some things here what we see in Romans chapter one in regards to reprobates. Now, what is the definition of a reprobate? A reprobate is someone who has been given a seared conscience by God, who is incapable of believing and being saved because they've rejected Jesus Christ. They hate God. They've gotten to a point where they've gone to the, beyond the event horizon, so to speak, where once they surpass that, they go into what's the black hole of being able to not believe, okay? That's what a reprobate is. They reject Jesus Christ so much to the point where God says, okay, I'm just gonna give you over to a reprobate mind. They're incapable of believing and eventually they begin to exert these qualities that we see here in Romans chapter number one. Look down at your Bibles at verse number 25. It says, who changed the truth of God into a lie and worshiped and served the creature more than the creator who is blessed forever, amen. For this cause God gave them up to vile affections. Well, what do we see in 2 Timothy 3? They're without natural affection, right? So what is a person without natural affection? Natural affection is when a man, the type of affection that a man has for his wife, the type of affection that a wife has for her husband, the type of affection that parents have for their children. Whereas the contrast of that is without natural affection is they don't have that, right? Vile affection, in other words, their past feeling. They don't really love people. They hate them. They have these wicked agendas underlying their motives, et cetera. It says in verse 26, for this cause God gave them up to vile affections, for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature. This is talking about lesbians. And likewise also the men leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lusts one toward another, men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompense of their error, which was meat. And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind to do those things which are not convenient. By the way, a synonym for reprobate is rejected, okay? So here's a simple way to put it. They've rejected God to the point where God says, okay, I'm gonna reject you. And that's not unreasonable, okay? God is not, we don't serve a Calvinistic God. God doesn't force himself upon anybody. He doesn't make anyone get saved. He doesn't just damn someone just because he doesn't like them. No, he's a gentleman, and you know what? If people don't want God, God's not gonna force himself on them, and in fact, he's gonna give them exactly what they want. He says, oh, you don't want me? Okay, I'll help you take it a step further. I'll help you to hate me, to become a hater of God. Look what it says, being filled, verse 29, being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness, full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity, whispers, backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, without understanding, covenant breakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful, who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them. Now, automatically, when we think about Romans 1 and the reprobate, we automatically think of sodomites, which that's definitely applicable when it comes to this. But it's not only referencing sodomites, because some reprobates are not sodomites as of yet. You know, they become a reprobate. There's people like, for example, you have Judas Iscariot, who was a reprobate, but he wasn't necessarily a queer. You understand what I'm saying? What was his thing? Covetousness. So he was willing to do, what was he willing to do? Well, to betray Jesus in order to gain 30 pounds or whatever silver or money in order for him to get that, he was willing to betray Jesus in order to get that. You know, there's other people in the Bible who are motivated by different things, but at the end of the day, it's still that reprobate mind. Now, I will say this. If a person is a reprobate, the longer they live, eventually, I believe, that they will become a sodomite, because there's no restraint, okay? Their conscience has been seared. They don't understand the difference between good and evil. It's all the same to them, and eventually, they will be led into that type of living where they're doing filthy things and doing that which is not convenient, but they're characterized by these things, and sometimes, people struggle, and they think, well, man, am I a reprobate? I don't know. I've had people tell me that, and it's like, am I a reprobate because of this and that? Well, let me just say this. If you have to wonder if you're a reprobate, you're probably not, because reprobates can care less if they're a reprobate or not. They're not worried. Why? Because they have a seared conscience, and a person with a seared conscience can care less whether they're a reprobate or not. They're just wicked people who are doing things which are not convenient. Now, here's another thing that I ask people. Well, let me ask you this. Do you hate God? And if the answer is no, then they're probably not a reprobate, because reprobates naturally, or unnaturally, should I say, hate God. They despise the Lord. Why? Because they know that God is the one who made them that way, okay? When they chose to reject Christ, et cetera. Now, go back to Second Timothy, if you will, Second Timothy chapter three. So, Romans chapter one deals with this group of reprobates from a perverse perspective, right? From the pervert, the sodomite, and it's no wonder that he is actually writing that to the Romans where sodomy prevailed a lot, okay? That was very popular in that society. Whereas Second Timothy chapter three, he's kinda hitting it from a false prophet perspective, the Second Peter chapter two perspective. And he says there in verse number three, without natural affection, truce breakers, false accusers. Seen a lot of that as of recently, right? Just make these false accusations, just put up these straw men. I mean, why are these people lying so much? Well, because they are false accusers, they're truce breakers. And look what it says, incontinent. Now, what does it mean to be incontinent? Well, incontinent basically means you don't have restraint. And in fact, that's often a description given to people who are incapable of retaining their urine, for example. They just kinda wet themselves. They often say this person's incontinent, okay? And that's a perfect description for a person who is a reprobate because they have no restraint, you understand? So, they're capable of fulfilling just wicked things and doing wicked things. They're inventors of evil things because they're incontinent, they have no restraint. That's why we say that homos are pedophiles. Because a person who's willing to commit that wicked act with the same gender will be willing to do it to a child. They'd be willing to do it with an animal, folks. Why, because they're incontinent. They have no restraint, okay? They no longer have a moral compass that says, this is disgusting, it's without natural affection, it's not natural, it's wicked. To them, they don't care, it's all the same, okay? So it says, they're without natural affection, they're truce breakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, traitors. Now, what is a traitor? Just a disloyal person, okay? Someone who just is all in at one point and just completely turns their back and goes the complete opposite direction the next moment. That's not natural, folks, okay? Even the normal person, if they don't get along with someone, they just won't mention it, they'll just move on with their lives. But people who are traitors, these are the people who are for you one minute and then they're just completely against you the next. And this is why I'm leery, and I don't know if I should even mention this, because there might be a Judas Iscariot around here somewhere, I don't know. This is why I'm leery when people are just like, oh man, we're gonna be here forever. This is our church, I love you guys, and oh, this is great. I'm kinda leery of that kind of talk. Why, because I've noticed that people who typically say things like that, just say buh-bye, you're typically not gonna see them. One, you're not gonna see them again, or two, they're trying to overcompensate for something else, for some underlying wicked motive that they have, some wicked agenda that they may have, and so they're trying to cover up that agenda that they may have. You know what I'm saying? To try to get you basically to think, okay, well this person seems like he's all in, and she's all in, and they're all in, they seem to be doing right. You say, well, don't give him ammo, Pastor. Well, the good thing about these people is that we see later on that their folly shall be made manifest. So even though we tell them things like this, eventually they're just gonna give themselves away. Because out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaketh, eventually they're gonna say, stupid things, they're gonna incriminate themselves somehow, which is exactly what we want, amen? So their incontinent fears despise of those that are good, traitors, heady, high-minded, lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God. Look what it says in verse number five. Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof from such turn away. Now what does that mean when it says that they have, they have a form of godliness? In other words, they basically look like you and I. Whoa, that sounds crazy. That threw me off there. You know, they look like a Christian, they talk like a Christian, they have a form of godliness. The Bible would say this, that they're wolves in sheep's clothing. That is having a form of godliness, right? Because sheep are associated with Christians, with believers, wolves are false prophets, so we see that if they have sheep's clothing, they're trying to deceive you, they have a form of godliness, they're trying to get you to think that there's something that they're not. Now here's what's interesting, okay? Because these people who have a form of godliness, who does Paul relate them to? We see later on, they're related to what? Janus and Jambres. We'll get into that in just a bit. So they have a form of godliness, but they deny the power thereof. In other words, they're not really saved. They're not being driven by the power of God. They don't have the Holy Spirit of God living within them, they just have that form, that look about them, but they're actually wolves in sheep's clothing. It says in verse six, for of this sort are they which creep into houses and lead captive, silly women laden with sins, led away with diverse lust. Now I wanna talk about this for a minute, okay? So it says that this sort, referring to those who have a form of godliness, but deny the power thereof, they creep into houses. What does that mean? They basically lie their way into the lives of people, into households, into relationships, they creep into houses, okay? And what do they do? They lead captive, silly women. Now, what does silly mean? That's probably what Adam's laughing, okay? Silly just means stupid, actually, okay? Take it up with God, that's what he said. Now, the way silly and stupid were used back then is not necessarily the way we use it today. There's some similarities to it. An insult will be like you're stupid, but stupid really just means ignorant, simple-minded, not able to discern, okay? Incapable of protecting themselves, just kinda naive is what we're referring to, right? And so who do these people go after? They go after the naive, silly, ignorant, yay, stupid women, okay? Why is that? Because they don't want anybody, first of all, they wanna take advantage of the innocent. They wanna take advantage of the innocent, but if a woman is silly, if a woman is ignorant, they're more easily deceived. I mean, Eve was easily deceived because of the fact that she was probably not under Adam's authority. Now, how do you avoid, how can a lady, if she's silly, how does she avoid falling trapped to this type of a person? Well, here's number one, you gotta be under authority. You're God-given authority, right? That is your mom, your dad, okay? That's it, your mom and your dad. And there's churches that say, well, what if they don't have their mom and their dad, can they just give veto power to the pastor? I don't believe you should, okay? I think that's kinda weird. I've seen ministries that they kinda do that, where they kinda give veto power to the pastor, and he kinda adopts her as a spiritual daughter or whatever, and he's just kinda leading her. I don't really agree with that. I understand the motive behind that. He's like a spiritual leader, but it just doesn't work because it's not God's, it's not part of God's order. You understand? Now, there's nothing wrong with a young lady even coming to me and saying, hey, can I get some advice about this? What do you think I should do? Well, this is what I think, but at this point, you decide, you have to talk that over with either your parents or whatever. If they don't come to church, they can still talk to them about it, whatever it may be. But at the end of the day, hey, the wife should be under her husband's authority, amen? The wife, in order for her not to be given over unto Satan, turn aside after Satan, in order for her not to be captivated by these people who have a form of godliness, they need to be under their husband's authority. Follow their husband's lead. Do as he tells you so he can protect you. He's your umbrella of protection. But if a lady's not married, well, you need to be under your parents' authority. And look, if you don't have a dad in your life, then you need to be under your mom's authority. That's still biblical authority. And there's nothing wrong with parents, if they don't have the wisdom or the discernment necessary to kind of judge a situation, nothing wrong with the mom coming to the pastor or going to a godly couple in the church and saying, hey, this is my situation, what do you think I should do? You know, there's safety in a multitude of counselors. That's what the Bible teaches us, right? But what I'm saying is this, is that, you know, here are a group of wicked individuals who want to take advantage of young ladies, and more specifically, silly women. Now, how many of you have ever met a silly woman? Okay. Mark. Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha. That was so funny. Oh, yeah. Ha ha ha ha ha ha. Oh, man, that threw me off. Good old classic Mark, eh, man? You know, just naive, okay? And here's the thing is, the Bible tells us that the women are the weaker vessel. That's just not physically speaking, but that's emotionally, you know, mentally weaker than a man is. Therefore, they need to be under someone's authority so they're not taken captive by these people. Let captive silly women laden with sins, led away with diverse lusts, okay? So here we see that the agenda behind this person is to basically destroy and creep into the houses of ignorant ladies, okay? Says in verse number seven, ever learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. Now, that's kind of funny, isn't it? They're ever learning, but they're never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. Why is that? Well, because Jesus Christ is the way, the truth, and the life. Now, a person who's a rapper, but even though they have a seared conscience, it doesn't mean they can't gain knowledge, right? They can gain knowledge as far as being, you know, learning the things of life or principles or even just book knowledge, right? They can gain knowledge, but they'll never come to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. So no matter how much knowledge they actually gain, how much, you know, books they read, no matter how many things they learn and how smart they can become, at the end of the day, they still will not reach the point where they can get saved. Why? They will still never reach the end of that truth, which is Jesus Christ, because their conscience is seared. They're not capable of believing anymore, okay? So they're ever learning, never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. Now, people who reject the reprobate doctrine, explain this verse to me. You know, people who say, no, I believe anybody can be saved and it's not too late for anyone. Well, explain this to me then. How can someone be ever learning, but never able to come to the knowledge of the truth, folks? That's proving right there that a person can literally live on this world, have been given a reprobate mind, and they'll never come to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. And if that's not enough proof, let's keep reading. Verse eight, now as Janus and Jambres withstood Moses, so did these also resist the truth. Men of corrupt minds reprobate concerning the faith. So if we were to take just a basic understanding of what the word reprobate means, it means rejected. So if we were to say, okay, well, if they're rejected, what are they rejected according to? Well, it says here, according to the faith. Reprobate concerning the faith. They're incapable of believing on Jesus Christ. They cannot place their faith in Jesus. Why? Because they're reprobate concerning the faith, folks. That's what that means. And look, that's a hard pill for some people to swallow, but it's right there, okay? And we as a church generally, we hold to this doctrine pretty strongly because of the fact that we understand that there's people out there that, you know, they're given the gospel or they're in church for so long but they're not saved, what happens is their heart becomes hardened and they actually become a reprobate in church. Churches produce reprobate sometimes, you know? Now, I don't know about these liberal churches. There's not enough Bible content to make anything in some of those churches. But you know, a church like ours, reprobates can be made. Because how is a reprobate made? Well, when a person comes to church over and over and over again and they know that they're not saved, they choose not to be saved, they choose not to trust Christ as their savior, but they sit under biblical preaching for hours every single week, what happens? They're hardening their hearts. Because a person who's not saved when they're hearing heart preaching, preaching against sin, preaching about salvation and the gospel, but they're not getting saved, they're basically saying, no, no, no, and you know what, there comes a point where literally God gets so upset that he says, okay, I've given you hours of preaching and you still, there's tons of soul winners in here. Tons of people who can preach the gospel. The pastor talks about salvation every week. You know what the doctrine is of salvation. You can easily go to someone and say, what must I do to be saved? But you refuse to do it. Okay, I'm just gonna give you over to a reprobate mind then. Because you keep coming here, sitting under biblical preaching and you just reject it over and over and over again and folks, there's been people in our church who have been made reprobates. Fact. Because they sit under biblical preaching and they just don't wanna hear it. And it's almost like a switch is flipped in their mind. Where literally, in one moment's notice, they just completely change, okay? And they become a reprobate. Now, you know, not everyone's like that, obviously. Some people backslide, they get away or whatever. They're saved, but they just get, you know, or even people, unsaved people come here, they just don't like it, they go somewhere else. But I'm telling you, people who come here for months on end, yeah, even years, and they just don't want nothing to do with the preaching, they just, you know, they hate me. Isn't that weird? That's weird. When you just sit under a pastor who you just hate, you know, you're basically, you're getting close to that, crossing that event horizon and going into that black hole, that point of no return. If you're sitting under a pastor who you just hate, okay? That's why you wonder about some of these people in these churches, it's like, how can they just flip on the dime like that? I'll tell you how. Because they were probably never even saved to begin with. They've heard so much biblical preaching that it's just like a light switch went out, and they just became a reprobate, okay? They're reprobate concerning the faith. Now, let me explain something, okay? Because it says there that they're reprobate concerning the faith, right? Now, let me just say this is that, you know, for example, in Spanish, the word for reprobate is often used interchangeably with the word rejected, and sometimes it's not always referring to what we're talking about this evening as far as a reprobate is concerned. Sometimes it's just referring to a person who's a castaway, okay? Which a Christian can become a castaway. You know, the Bible tells us, Paul said, I keep under my body, lest by any means, when I preach to others, I myself should be a castaway. I keep under my body and bring it into subjection, lest by any means, when I preach to others, I myself should be a castaway. And the word that's used there is the same word for reprobate, okay? You say, what in the world? You're saying the apostle Paul said he could have become a reprobate? Yeah, but it's not this same reprobate. And let me prove that to you, because in the Bible, in the book of Acts, when it refers to Jesus Christ being the stone, which the builders disallowed, in the Spanish version of the Bible, it says reprobate, reprobado, okay? Simply means rejected. So you gotta look at it in its context. But the context is pretty clear here, though. The context is that they're reprobate concerning the faith. What is faith necessary for? To believe. And people who just balk at this and they say, no, you guys are just completely wrong on the reprobate doctrine. You know, I believe homos can be saved. One of two things. Either you're just a little weakling, scared, sissy, and you're just scared of homos, which shame on you if you are. You're homophobic. I resent that. When people call me homophobic, I'm like, I resent that. I don't fear any homo, okay? Or two, they're just ignorant of the Bible. You understand? They're just ignorant of what this actually means. They're just like, well, you know, I just think all people can be saved, but what about, I just think God loves all people. What about the people in hell? Does God love the people in hell? Well, yeah, I mean, oh, there you go. You would say that they're reprobate. Well, you know what, the Bible just specifically says that there's people prior to going to hell that God no longer loves anymore. They're twice dead, plucked up by the roots. And listen, folks, when the Bible says that someone is twice dead, plucked up by the roots, when we talk about being twice dead, we're referring to the wages of sin as death, and then when Revelation 21a talks about the second death, Revelation 20 verse 14 talks about the second death, it's referring to the lake of fire. So someone who is a reprobate concerning the faith is someone who's not only dead as if they're in the current hell, it's as if they're in the lake of fire. God sees them as if they're already done. They're already damned. The only difference is is they're just the walking dead. They're living, they're here, physically alive, but their spirit is dead, they're twice dead, they're plucked up by the roots. They're done. And let me say this, this is one reason why I don't associate with any homos in my family. If there's any sodomite in my family, any dyke, lesbian, or fag in my family, I want nothing to do with them. Because they're no longer my family. They're twice dead. And look, folks, the Bible commands us to love God more than anybody. Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength. And you know what? If my family members hate God, then guess what? I don't love them, because I love the Lord. And He merits my loyalty more than anybody else. God merits my loyalty, He's my Heavenly Father, He's my God, He's my Savior, and there's people out there who hate Him, and you know what, I want nothing to do with them. It's funny, I actually have family members who are sodomites, and both dykes and fags. And my YouTube videos, they've caught wind of my YouTube videos from my dad's side of the family. And there's this guy who's, he was my former cousin, should we say, and he's a sodomite now. And you know, they talk about it, they're like, hey, Bruce is like, he's preaching some crazy stuff about the homosexuals, about the maricones, you know? And they called my mom, you know, they're like, hey, so Bruce, you know, they try to like, just kind of like be wise about it, they asked her, said, hey, so I saw Bruce on YouTube the other day, and my mom was like, yeah, he's, you know, he uploads his sermons and all this stuff, and he's like, he's really rough on the homosexuals, huh? He's like, yeah, he's just, they don't like him, you know, he just doesn't really like him. And you know, my mom doesn't agree with me 100%, but she's not against me. To her, it's like, well, that's what she wants, that's fine, you know? And she basically told me, like, yeah, he just doesn't really like them. And this family member said, does he know that his cousin is a, you know? And then my mom was like, yeah, he knows. He's like, yeah, because he like insults them, he like degrades them and says like all this bad stuff about them, you know? And my mom's like, yeah, he just doesn't like them. You know? And then he's like, well, you know, don't you know that they're like listening to that? He's like, yeah, he knows, you know? And you know what, like, and I appreciate the fact that even some of my unsafe family, you know, if they ever invite me to some social gathering, they always tell me, like, or they tell their family if there's like some sodomite that's gonna come, they're like, they can't come. Because if Bruce comes, it's just not gonna be well. It's not gonna turn out good, you know? Because just the thing is, like, you know, if I go there, you know, I'm not gonna lose my testimony. You know, if I go at it with some sodomite there, if I start going off on them, I'm not gonna lose my testimony to them. I'll lose my testimony to you guys if I compromise, you know, and befriend some sodomite within my family. And here's the thing, yeah, that's my blood family, but this is my family right here. Those who do the will of God, you understand? But this is why I don't associate with any sodomite, any wicked person of that sort. I don't care if they're in my family. And people have told me, oh, but they're your cousin. I'm like, I don't care, you know? They're a filthy reprobate. I want nothing to do with those people. And I've literally told my family before, if you invite me to something and this person shows up, I'm gonna blow a gasket on you. Because you know how I feel about these people. I hate them, I don't want them near my family, I don't want them near me. How can you hate your, I hate them, just leave it at that. I hate these people because I love my children and I don't want them to be around my children. I'm like, okay. So it's just like, all right, that's fine, you know? So don't be afraid to state that. You know, you never wanna compromise in that area. Or it's just like, well, yeah, I believe that, but you know, maybe this person is, you know, we can work with this person. No, they're not, they're reprobates. They are haters of God. Once you pass that event horizon, you become a hater of God. And folks, if they hate God, that means they hate you too. Oh, they don't hate me, we get along. Yeah, because you haven't told them that you believe in the Bible. They hate the Bible. And don't try to reason with them either. Like, well, I'm trying to like, you know, just trying to reason with them and show them from the Bible. They're implacable. They cannot be placated. Well, they say they agreed with me. Yeah, the Bible says that they're full of deceit too. They'll lie to you. These are wicked people, we should have nothing to do with them, period, okay? I don't know how I got off on that, but it was good. So here's the interesting thing. In verse eight, it says he relates these people who have a form of godliness with those, with Janus and Jambres. Now, who is Janus and Jambres? Well, Janus and Jambres, by process of elimination, basically is this, is the magicians that were sent forth by Pharaoh, okay? We know that for a fact because anybody who wasstood Moses had a name except for the magicians, okay? You think of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram, you know, even his sister, Miriam, all these people had names except for these people, okay? Now, why would we think that Janus and Jambres is referring to those magicians? Well, because of the fact that they wasstood Moses but they had a form of godliness. What did that mean? Well, do you remember, if you go back to the story there in Exodus, anything, any miracle that Moses would do, they were able to duplicate that miracle. You know, turning the water into blood, they duplicated that. The frogs, they duplicated that. The snake, they duplicated that. So they had a form of godliness but they actually denied the power of that. What does that mean? It wasn't from God. You see, who gave Janus and Jambres the ability to do those things? Satan. Satan is an angelic being who has supernatural powers and abilities who can enable his minions and the people that he possesses to do those things. But guess what? Look what it says in verse number nine. But they shall proceed no further. And here's what's interesting. They were able to cast down their rod, turn it into a snake. They were able to turn the water into, I was gonna say wine, into blood. They were able to do the wonder of the frogs but you know what? After that, they were able to proceed no further. Because when they tried to duplicate the lice, what happened? They couldn't do it. And it came to a point where they actually said, this is the finger of God. Like, we can't do this. This is the finger of God, they said. So they had a form of godliness by their enchantments. They had a form of godliness by their wicked devilish deeds. But here's the thing. After a while, they could proceed no further. So what can we gain from that? Well, that should be some comfort to us. Because if you're not careful, you can worry about these things. Oh man, who's the reprobate here? Don't worry about it. Because they shall proceed no further. They will not proceed any further. Eventually, they will be made manifest. And guess what? The finger of God will point them out. You understand? Their folly shall be made manifest by who? By the finger of God. Where God will just point them out. You know, some stupid thing that they say, some wicked thing that they do. And you know what? They get the nine and a half boot from Pastor Mejia. You understand? So they had a form of godliness, Janus and Jambres. But notice that it says they withstood Moses. These also resist the truth. So just as they fought ardently against Moses with these enchantments and tried to fight against them, even though it was the finger of God, guess what, they didn't care. They wanted to resist the truth. So what does that tell you? This tells us that reprobates knew the truth. Go to Hebrews chapter six, if you would. Hebrews chapter six. It says in Hebrews chapter six, verse number three. And this we will do if God permit. For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened and have tasted of the heavenly gift and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the world to come, if they shall fall away to renew them again unto repentance, seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh and put him to an open shame. For the earth which drinketh in the rain that cometh off upon it and bringeth forth herbs, meat for them by whom it is dressed, receiveth blessings from God. But that which beareth thorns and briars is rejected and is nigh unto cursing whose end is to be burned. So what does it tell us there in verse number four, they were once enlightened? And look folks, you cannot say that someone who comes to First Works Baptist Church for years or whatever is not enlightened. They got the word of God. And look, they didn't get it from no NIV. They didn't get it from no New King James Version or ESV. They got it from the King James Bible. They got it from the word of God. Once enlightened, they tasted of the heavenly gift. They knew about salvation. They were made partakers of the Holy Ghost. That means the Holy Ghost pricked their heart. He said, hey, you need to be saved and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the world to come. So what does it say? They were right there, but guess what? At that point, they cross that event horizon and enter into that black hole. You know what? Sometimes people think to themselves, yeah, but how can they do that? Well, we don't know because we've never crossed that horizon. You know, some people ask, what's on the other side of the black hole? Right? Don't they say that? What's there? No one will ever know unless you actually go there yourself. Only the people who actually gone through that will know. We will never know. And you know what? Christians will never know what it's like to be a reprobate. Why? Because we're saved. Now we can be castaways. We can get into wicked sin, but we'll never get beyond the point, the event horizon. Why? Because Christians can actually get to a point where they're committing so many sins that the Bible tells us, whosoever defiled the temple of God, him shall God destroy. So before you even get to some crazy amount of sins, there comes a point where God says, well, I'm just gonna kill you. God kills people. God kills his people. Okay? And people could get to that point. But here's the thing is, these people have just crossed the line. Okay? Go back to 2 Timothy. So in Romans 1, it talks about the reprobate mind, but in 2 Timothy 3, it talks about the corrupt mind, the reprobate concerning the faith. Verse 9 says, but they shall proceed no further, for their folly shall be made manifest unto all men, as theirs also was. So there came a point where Janus and Jamborees just couldn't do anything. You know, they're proving that they can, you know, they've cast down the serpent, and by the way, God's serpent swallowed up their serpent, just ate it whole. They did, they turned the water into blood. They did the frogs, but you know what? They could proceed no further, and then eventually everyone knew, okay, these guys are phonies. Well, in like manner, the same thing will happen here. The same thing will happen in any Bible-believing church. Eventually, people's folly will be made manifest. And over the last two years, two and a half years of our existence, we've seen some people whose folly, their folly was made manifest. Okay? People who I thought were saved. People who I thought, well, these people are saved, but then they get into some crazy weird doctrine. They get involved in some weird stuff, you know, and their folly is made manifest. And look, we've had, unfortunately, we've had reprobates in our church. And that's just part of church. You know, just doing ministry, you're gonna attract weird people, wicked people, reprobates, and what we need to do as Christians is just be vigilant, not be suspicious of everyone, but not be naive either, right? We don't wanna think everyone is a reprobate, but at the same time, we don't wanna be so naive to think that no reprobates would ever come here. You understand? And just have the balanced view that if there's a reprobate here, their folly shall be made manifest. Now let me just teach you something, okay? When dealing with these wicked people, without knowing first that they're wicked, if you have like a suspicion about someone. Don't tell them what they're doing is weird. You understand what I'm saying? If they have weird behavior, don't be like, hey, you're doing, you know, just let them do it. Just let them do it. And you know what, I'm not afraid to say that even if there's a reprobate in here, because they're gonna do it no matter what. Now if you come to me after service and say, hey, do I have any weird behavior? You know what I'm gonna say? No. Just keep doing what you're doing, man. Just keep doing what you're doing. Because they can't help but be, act like a reprobate. So eventually they're gonna say, they're gonna condemn themselves. They're gonna, they're basically gonna, you know, show themselves to be guilty. So just let people act the way they wanna act. You're like, well, I'm worried that someone might think, why would you be worried? You have nothing, I have nothing to worry about. Look folks, if we're saved, we have the whole spirit of God within us, we have nothing to worry about. I have zero to worry about, why? Because I will never behave like a reprobate. Because I'm not a reprobate. So I have nothing to hide. You could ask me anything, you can view my life here, view it at home, I'm the same everywhere I go. I have nothing to hide. Reprobates, on the other hand, have a lot to hide. And it comes to a point where they're just gonna leak out their own information of who they really are, and eventually they will be made manifest. Now, given some people, some reprobates, you know, they're far more discreet than others. Because there's people who remain in churches who are reprobates for years, and then they manifest themselves out. You know, I think of Garrett Kirschway, for example. Now, why is it that he was not made manifest sooner? Because I never talked. The guy never talked. And you know what, there's a reason why he never talked. Because once he started opening his stupid mouth, you see all the wicked stuff that he believed, and you know, this whole oneness thing that he was spewing out, because that's what was in his heart. But when you, I mean, how have you even met that guy? When he came here, he was just quiet. You know, he had a form of godliness, did he not? I literally remember him coming, and you would sit, and no one suspected him, he would sit here and just open up his Bible and just read his Bible before church, and everyone's like, whoa, man, Garrett. He's like, so spiritual, you know. Here we are, these stinking carnal Christians, just fellowshipping and laughing, and he's like, man, you know. But he's just trying to compensate for what he's doing. And he did fool some people, obviously. But you know, hindsight is 20-20, when you look back, you're like, wow. There's red flags all over, you know. There's a bag of red flags, right? When it came to that guy, he's like, well, there it is. Because they shall proceed no further. So look, don't be afraid of these reprobates, you know, of, you know, what if they come to our church? Don't worry, their fall shall be made manifest. They're not gonna proceed any further. We'll find out who they are, okay. Now look what it says in verse 10. But thou hast fully known my doctrine, manner of life, purpose, faith, longsuffering, charity, patience, persecutions, afflictions, which came unto me in Antioch and Iconium and Lystra, or persecutions I endured, but out of them all the Lord delivered me. So he's saying, look, look at the contrast. You know, these reprobates, they're covetous, they're boasters, they're proud, they're blasphemers. And he says, but you know me, you know my doctrine, you know my behavior, you know my conduct, you know who I am as a man of God. And in fact, the very fact that I'm being persecuted is proof that I'm not a reprobate. The only people that Paul was a reprobate to was the church at Corinth, remember? Because they were rejecting him. And he said, you know, though we be as reprobates. He's referring to the fact that he was being rejected of the Corinthians there. He says, well persecutions I endured, but out of them all the Lord delivered me. Yea, all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived. So he's saying, look, you know, men of God, people who are preaching the word of God, you know, they're gonna wax godlier and godlier. But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse. Okay? I find that interesting. Verse 13 says, deceiving and being deceived. So they're deceiving people, but they themselves are being deceived too. Verse 14, but continue thou in the things which thou hast learned and hast been assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them. So this is, basically what we can get from this sermon is this, hey, as Christians we just need to continue the things that we've been assured of and have been taught. You know, this is why we emphasize the doctrine of salvation in our church, right? This is why every couple of weeks or months I preach about salvation or I preach about the gospel, I talk about the doctrine of salvation, because these are things that we need to reinforce over and over again. Hey, we need to talk about false prophets. We need to talk about the reparate doctrine. We need to talk about these essential doctrines. We need to drive them into the church and help people to understand these things, because you'd be surprised. Number one, people forget. Number two, some people just don't understand it yet. Even in our church, it's possible, okay? And don't think, well, I understand it, I get it, I understand the reparate, well, that doesn't mean everyone else does though, because everyone in church is at a different spiritual level, you understand? And so these things need to be reiterated over and over again in order for us to understand and continue in them, okay? It says in verse 15, And that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation, through faith which is in Christ Jesus. All scriptures given by inspiration of God is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished, unto all good works. Now, one thing I forgot to mention is that the chapter's referring to these reprobates who are persecuting Paul. And he says in verse number 11, What persecutions I endured, but out of them all the Lord delivered me. So again, we see that concept of being delivered, being saved, being rescued, you know, from the clutches of persecution. And more specifically, he's referring to wicked people. You know, because wicked people could be a thorn in the flesh. You know, when they're just given this platform and they're just railing, they're saying all manner of evil. But you know what the Bible says here? The Lord delivered me out of them all. And we see that with David, don't we, in the book of Psalms? I mean, look, folks, if any time you feel like the wicked are prospering, just read the book of Psalms. Because David is just like, Lord, break their teeth. Help them to melt away like a snail. I mean, I love it. I read it and I'm just like, right on, David. That's how I feel, too. You know, Lord, just destroy them. You know, make their tents desolate. Make their back bend over always. Don't let them be ridden with the righteous. I mean, he's like preaching, he's praying some imprecatory prayers there, right? Because he was dealing with wicked people. People who hated him, people who sought to kill him, and he prayed against them. But you know what he constantly said? The Lord delivered me out of the hands of these people. The Lord saved me out of the hands of these people. And so this is something that we need to be reminded of because there's gonna come a time when our church falls under that type of persecution. Where someone defects from our church or someone comes to our church and they show their true colors, there's some wicked reprobate, and then they go out and they start criticizing us, start criticizing me, start criticizing you, and just go on this campaign against us. And you know what we're gonna do? We're like, man, I wish I would have known about that guy while he was still here. And what should we do at that point? Well, just vengeance is mine, say it to the Lord, I will repay. Just give it to the Lord and just know God's gonna destroy that person. That wicked individual, he's gonna destroy him. You know what that does? It teaches us patience too. Because in my flesh, in me that is in my flesh, I just wanna go find that guy. And just go deal with it the way I see fit. I wanna round up some of the men from the church, some of the homies, go find them and just go deal with it. But you know what, that's not right. Yeah, it's not right. What we need to do is just give it unto the Lord, right? And just say, Lord, just please take care of that person. Just destroy that person. This person's so evil and wicked, they hate you, they hate me, they're blasphemers, they're lying, they're railing, they're doing all this wicked stuff, please just break their teeth. Please just harden their hearts, please just destroy them. And you know what, I'll be honest with you, when you pray like that, it just makes you feel better. Even if the prayer doesn't come, the answer to that prayer doesn't come right away, you just kinda get it off your chest. You're just like, I feel a lot better about that. And here, here's the thing, it's like eventually God will answer those prayers. He does. If we pray, we know that he hear us, and if he hears, we know that we have the petitions for which we ask, the Bible tells us. So eventually he does do it, amen? But these are the kind of persecutions that we will endure one day. Where there's gonna be some person here who's gonna leave, and it happens in every church. It's happening in the churches of our good friends. You know, and what we need to do is prepare for that, and recognize when that happens, we need to just give it unto the Lord, okay? And it's necessary. A purge is always necessary in church. Spring cleaning, summer cleaning, always necessary, right? But don't let it come as a surprise to you, because perilous times shall come. And he finishes off in verse 17 by saying, the man of God, regarding the word of God, it says that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works. So he's just saying, look, continue in the Bible, and the instructions, and the reprovements, and all these things in doctrine, so you can just be perfect, okay? These things won't catch you off guard, you'll know how to respond, you'll know how to deal with these things, and you'll know how to endure these types of persecutions when they come, amen? Let's pray our hands and have a word of prayer. Father, we thank you so much for your word, and thank you for 2 Timothy chapter three, Lord. I pray, God, that you'd protect us from wicked people. I know they've been here before, and I know they're gonna come in the future, but I just pray that you'd give us discernment, give us wisdom, help us to deal with them on a case-by-case basis, and I never wanna just be suspicious of everyone. That's not the kind of ministry that I wanna run here. I wanna give everyone the benefit of the doubt, but I pray that you would honor that, Lord, and in light of that, that you would just make manifest the folly of these wicked people if they are here or when they do come, because I wanna have a good time at church. I wanna be with the brethren. I wanna fellowship with them. I don't wanna walk into this building wondering who here is a wicked person. I'd rather just believe everyone is good until you make manifest their folly, that they're wicked, and at that point, we'll deal with it, and I pray that everyone in this church would have that same attitude, that we wouldn't just suspect everyone, but at the same time, help us not to be naive. Help us not to be silly or stupid. Help us to have knowledge, to have wisdom and understanding, and not think that we live in a fantasy world where wicked people don't exist. In fact, often, the most wicked people are in churches because of the fact that churches are filled with people who trust people, and I just pray, Lord, that you'd help us, continue to protect us, place a hedge of protection about us, make manifest their folly, and in Jesus' name we pray, amen.