(Disclaimer: This transcript is auto-generated and may contain mistakes.)

All right we're in John chapter 15 look at verse number one it says I am the true vine and my father is the husband man every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away and every branch that beareth fruit he purgeth it that it may bring forth more fruit now you're clean through the word which I have spoken unto you and the title of the sermon this morning is he purgeth it he purgeth it now throughout the Gospels you often see Jesus Christ comparing himself to objects that carry a specific attribute that will basically shed light on a spiritual truth you see that he often compares himself to a door or the bread of life the light of the world he will compare himself to the Great Shepherd right and here we see that he uses a vine to also illustrate the spiritual truth and in verse number one it says that he's the true vine well what does that insinuate well that there are false vines out there in this world right and it says there that his father is the husband man which by the way shows that there's a distinction between the father and the son why because the father is the husband man and the vine is the son according to this passage of Scripture but we see a third element in this chapter that is not the vine is not the husband man it's the branch and the branch here in John chapter 15 depicts the believer the Christian the one the person who is saved now here we see that he does that because anybody who's saved is in Christ you think of Romans chapter 16 where the Apostle Paul is honoring Christians because of the work that they do he talks about Andronicus who is in Christ before him that's referring to the fact that he was saved long ago so anybody who's saved is in Christ and we're already in the vine he said well hold on a second then why is it telling us to abide in the vine you know if we're already in the vine why is it telling us to abide in the vine well ask yourself this in the book of Galatians it says as we live in the Spirit let us also walk in the Spirit you see we're already in the Spirit why because we're saved we're indwelled by the Holy Ghost but we have to make a daily decision to walk in the Spirit not to grieve the Holy Spirit not to quench him but to be filled with the Holy Ghost and that doesn't come automatically when you're saved you're indwelled by the Holy Spirit but we have to make a daily decision daily actions in order to be filled with the Spirit to walk in the Spirit and likewise we're already in Christ but guess what in our flesh we have to do our due diligence to abide in the vine as well okay and here he gives us a strong warning to those branches he says every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away now you can translate that or however you want I don't want to know what that means and I don't want to be the one who's not abiding in the branch because I don't want to be taken away taken away could simply mean someone they just become useless you know they're no longer useful or it could just mean that God just kills you and I believe God kills Christians amen they can get to a point where they become so useless and so involved in sin and so unrepentant that God simply just takes their life you see that throughout the scriptures that God will do that and he'll take you away and it says here that if the branch does not bear fruit he will take it away he will take it away by the way it doesn't say he will lose his salvation and John chapter 15 has been used by a lot of false cults and these representing your sins type Christian groups to teach that if you don't abide in the Word of God if you're not doing the work that you can lose your God will take you away he'll take your salvation but that's not what it's teaching look at verse 6 of John chapter 15 it says if a man abide not in me he is cast forth as a branch and is withered and men gather them and cast them into the fire and they are what burn now a lot of people who teach that false doctrine will point to verse 6 and say see there you go if you don't abide in the vine God's gonna throw you into hell you know you're cast forth you're withered and you're thrown into hell but here this is what you this is what happens when you take an overly literal interpretation of these parables because here's the thing we obviously understand you can't lose your salvation but let's say that this was we have to take this just that face value that you know he'll cast us into the fire well then you got to say that every Christian is an actual branch you gotta say that Jesus Christ is an actual vine that God is an actual husband men but that's an overly literal interpretation this is a parable to basically shed light on a spiritual truth that if we want to be useful for the work of the Lord we need to make sure we abide in the Word of God that we're abiding in the vine which is Jesus Christ he said well why does it say that it's withered and it's cast forth as a branch and it's thrown into the fire because that's what you do with sticks right you get you gather sticks you don't get the whole tree you get the sticks that have fallen from your tree and you throw them into the fire they're a burden they're useless it's like in Matthew chapter 5 when it says ye are the salt of the earth but if the salt hath lost its savor wherewith shall it be salted it is thenceforth good for nothing but to be cast out and to be trodden under the foot of men does that mean you're literally salt does that mean that if you're useless we're just gonna kick you out of faithful word Baptist Church and say lay down in the street right there and let's just let all the church members let's just go ahead and walk all over you okay no it's illustrating a principle that we don't want to be good for nothing we need to meet salty Christians we need to make sure we're abiding in the vine let's go ahead let's keep reading verse number 2 says every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away that's a good motive to make sure that you're bearing fruit in your Christian life amen and it says every branch that beareth fruit he purgeth it that it may bring forth more fruit okay now the word purge simply means to remove to clear whatever is in pure or undesirable from a specific plan and a term that we would use in regards to that when it comes to plants is pruning I mean you understand what pruning is okay removing the branches removing the undesirables the impurities of the plant and in fact when it comes to pruning plants that's essential in order to have a healthy vibrant fruitful plant of whatever sort it is why is that well because pruning actually helps prevent insect and decay from entering into the tree not only that but it helps maintain a normal form of growth and also it can stimulate growth and encourage it in sparse areas of the plant so if there's an area in the plant that's not doing too well it's not bearing a lot of fruits not very not very green you can prune that area and it'll help it'll encourage stimulate growth now if you're to apply that to our Christian lives that makes perfect sense why would God need to purchase why would he need to prune us well to prevent false teachings to enter within us to prevent you know from us going to strafe to being children tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine by the sleight of men and cunning craftiness whereby they line way to deceive it prevents that but none of that it helps us to grow appropriately right to recognize hey in order for us to grow we need the structure of the local church not just YouTube Baptist Church not just social media we need to make sure that we get our rear ends in a local New Testament hellfire damnation preaching church where they teach doctrine in order for us to grow appropriately and have a right form because look if you don't prove trees can go all over the place actually trees are just completely crooked you know what I mean it's a tree but it's crooked same thing with Christians if you don't have a local church you know you're you're sowing he's probably gonna get crooked you're probably gonna do it right you know you can look at all the videos you want but at the end of the day the way you learn soul winning is by getting into a local church where there's better soul winners than you who can teach you how to preach the gospel okay who can inspect your presentation who can teach you new things that's how you can grow appropriately not only that but it can stimulate growth right within us when God prunes us he purges us what happens it helps us to grow and even in sparse areas of our life you know the certain areas are in our life that maybe we have down packed maybe it's church attendance maybe it's your Bible reading but maybe there's another area where you're lacking in you're wanting in you're lagging in okay those areas need to grow and we need to make sure that our Christian life is constantly a balancing act where we're strengthening one area and when we recognize there's a weakness in this area we start focusing on this area to get it to be strong again and once that area is strong we look for another area that is lacking that is wanting so we can get that area to grow as well but that growth is stimulated through purging it's stimulated through pruning and pruning and and purging is not a comfortable thing to do it's painful it hurts and we're gonna go through some of them today but it's necessary in order for you to grow you see the Christian who hears hard preaching and bucks at it and and just gets offended and they get out of church for months on end they're not gonna grow in fact they're gonna regress they're gonna backslide they're gonna get away from the things of God why is that because purging and pruning is a part of the Christian life to help us to grow okay now go with everyone to Hebrews chapter 12 Hebrews chapter number 12 now let me start off by saying that we need to purge ourselves obviously in John chapter 15 we see the concept of God pruning us right he's purging us but that's not to say that we're not to do it to ourselves in fact the Bible tells us in 1st Corinthians 11 31 if we for if we would judge ourselves we should not be judged you see one thing that motivates us to make sure that we're living right doing right and growing so that God will not judge us or excuse me so that we can grow is that God would not judge us we want to make sure that God does not chastise us now he'll do it and if he does it thank God for it and grow through it but we want to avoid that you know what I mean we want to avoid God's judgment on our lives we want to avoid his affliction and his chastening and all these things that can hurt us in order for us to learn a biblical principle and learn it on our own learn it through other people you see other people make mistakes learn from their mistakes don't be a stubborn just you know I don't know what other word I'm thinking of a Spanish word vehicle they use this word called vehicle just a stubborn Christian who just does not want to change because here's the thing if you don't want to change guess what's gonna happen God's gonna change you he's gonna change you he's going to chasing you he's gonna purge you because why because pain is a great instructor and pain instructs us to change okay but look we need to purge ourselves and we have to do that on a daily basis the Bible says but he have not started learning Christ if so be the I've heard him and have been taught by him as the truth is in Jesus and it says that he put off the old man according to the deceitful lust and put on the new man which is in Christ Jesus which is it created in Christ Jesus so we need to make sure that we're constantly putting off the old man and put it on the new man that's not something you do on a yearly basis that's something you're supposed to do on a daily basis okay look at Hebrews chapter 12 and verse number one we're talking about purging ourselves here it says where foreseen we are also compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses let us lay aside every weight and the sin which doth so easily beset us and let us run with patience the race that is set before us looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross despising the shame and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God for consider him that endured such contradictions of sinners against himself lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds so here the Apostle Paul who I believe wrote the book of Hebrews is telling us hey use Christ as an example of someone who endured contradictions lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds but how do we do that well number one he says you got to lay aside every weight you know some of us can lay aside some physical weight amen and the sin which doth so easily beset us now let me start off with that one first besetting sins right because he's referring to the fact that we're all in a race you think about the Apostle Paul who stated you know I had finished my course right I kept the faith he's referring to the fact that the Christian life is like a race the only difference is we're all gonna finish because we're saved amen but the question is who's gonna finish well who's gonna actually finish keeping the faith and during to the end doing things that are right in the sight of the Lord finishing off honoring God winning people to Christ raising their children right and look the Christian life is not all about soul winning the Christian life is about raising children right being the right type of husband being the right type of wife being the right type of church member being the right type of employee yes so winning falls right into that but it's it's within the midst of many responsibilities that we have as Christians and we need to make sure that we're keeping all of those intact and at the forefront making sure that all those aspects are taken care of all those elements are being taken care of so we can finish our course you know with joy so we can finish well but the way we do that is by setting aside even the sin which does so easily beset us now besetting sin would mean something basically that surrounds us it attacks us on a daily basis and that sin could be different for you than it is for me you know you can struggle with covetousness struggle with with anxiety lust pride we all struggle with all these but some struggle with these with some more than others and the Bible tells us it tells us that every man is tempted when he's drawn away of his own lust and enticed right so we need to make sure that on a daily basis we're getting we're repenting of our sins we need make sure we're getting right you know when we first get say we have a boatload of bad habits bad characteristics bad things that we have in our life but the fact remains is that when as you grow older in the Lord you need to make sure you're getting rid of some of those things be holy for he is holy amen you need to make sure you're putting off the old man examine your Christian life over the last year what are some of the sins that you've actually been able to get rid of in your personal life we're not sinless but here's the fact remains that God wants us to not sin right and so we need to get rid of those because those can actually keep you from finishing the race well you know if you had a drinking problem before he came to this church you know if that's a besetting sin of yours that thing that can cause you to finish the race you know not in a good way if you smoke weed if you did some sort of drugs if you're involved in immorality whatever may be these are sins that can cause you to not finish your race well and don't be so prideful and arrogant and just you know naive to think that you will never struggle with those things again that's the Calvinist crowd the Calvinists believe they come all you know ready to go batteries included type of Christianity that's a foolish way of thinking we need to recognize we're sinners we can definitely you know go back to certain sins that we've struggled with before so we need to make sure we put up safeguards in our personal life to protect us from those things oh what are you trying to say you're weaker yeah we're weak I'm weak so therefore we in order for me to finish my race correctly and well I need to make sure I put up safeguards to protect me from the sins that I struggle with the sins that I am tempted with okay we need to lay those things aside on a daily basis on a yearly basis now you may say you're like oh I don't struggle with weed you know I don't struggle with alcohol I don't struggle with smoking or whatever whatever it is sin that you can highlight but you know maybe there's other sins that you do struggle with like pride being an arrogant little pompous jerk yeah that's pretty that's pretty sinful right there instead of being humble right how about a lack of faith you know that's sinful there's there's many areas or how about just doing maybe it's not necessarily not doing the wrong things but maybe you struggle with doing the right things which is sinful as well because he that know what to do good and do it or not to him it is sin Bible reading prayer sowing you know confessing your sins doing things that you know is right to do but you don't do it and you make the excuse well at least I'm not smoking pot but yeah but you know that which is right to do and you don't do it that is also sinful but that may be a besetting sin how about how about just rebellion towards authority your attitude towards your authority whether it's your mom and dad or how about your your boss at work how about in the church how's your view and perspective on authority so we see there the besetting sin but we also see the weights that's the first one that he mentioned he says lay aside every weight now when I first got saved what I learned from this passage of Scripture is the weight is basically and I'm not against this interpretation I believe it's correct I believe it's applicable when it refers to the way it's referring to things that are not necessarily sinful but they're not expedient they're not necessarily sinful but they're not profitable you see we need to get to a point where yeah we're repenting of our sins we're getting right we're cleaning up our lives but we're also getting away from things that can cause us to not be as profitable for the Lord you know what I mean things that are not necessarily sinful but they're not helping us to move forward in the Christian life the Bible says all things are lawful unto me but all things are not expedient all things are lawful but I will not be brought under the power of any in another passage of scriptures it says but all things edify not see it takes a level of maturity to recognize hey yeah I need to make sure I stay away from sin but I need to make sure I even stay away from things that would hinder me that it's not necessarily sinful but that would hinder me from even reaching my potential as a Christian okay and those are dangerous you know why because they're not sinful so it's just like well I'm not doing anything bad yeah but are they keeping you from actually reaching your potential as a Christian you know at that point you know it can it can hinder you greatly now go with me if you would go to 2nd Corinthians chapter 4 but I believe when it's referring to the weight I refer it's referred to something else because when you think of a weight what do you think of something that's heavy right we think of something that's burdensome okay and you know in the Bible there's obviously there's there's two definitions of a burden referring to an animal ox or when you have oxes that are doing work but a burden also is translated something that weighs heavy on you when you're discouraged disillusioned okay maybe you experience a loss in your personal life and it's become burdensome to you that can actually take you out of the race as well why because I've known people who become disillusioned for whatever reason and they get just become bitter they get out of church they don't read their Bibles they just get away from the things of God and they don't finish their race well why because of the weight that does so easily beset them the weight that basically helps them that hinders them from running the race look at 2nd Corinthians 4 16 says for which cause we faint not but though our outward man perish yet the inward man is renewed day by day for our light affliction you see an affliction is weighty but when you compare it to the glory that's going to be revealed in us it's lighter for our light affliction which is but for a moment workers for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory we're not saying that the burdens of this light are not waiting they're heavy they can they can drain us emotionally but at the end of the day in comparison to the eternal weight of glory it's a light affliction okay go to Hebrews chapter 11 and this is important because you will go through discouragement in your life this isn't a Joel Osteen sermon okay Joel's thing that's all he wants to talk about now this is we need to talk about this obviously because people get discouraged oh you know that people just need a man up you know just get into yeah I agree with you amen but guess what not everyone's gonna listen to you so and people are gonna get discouraged it's gonna happen and discouragement comes through many facets and avenues through financial loss through the loss of a loved one through a relational situation that you experience things discourage us and some as human beings were easily discouraged sometimes and that could actually slow you down because you know one of the marks of a Christian that helps us to really delve into Christianity and to serve in the Lord is zeal but when we experience a discouraging moment in our life that can often suck that out of us we're like I don't want to get out of bed I don't want to go to church I don't want to go sewing I'm just the things aren't going well no you just need to plow through that season okay and set aside that weight look at Hebrews 11 which is the chapter right before what we just read it says in verse 35 women received their dead raised to life again and others were tortured not accepting deliverance that they might obtain a better resurrection and others had trial of cruel mockings and scourgings yea moreover of bonds and imprisonment they were stoned they were sawn asunder were tempted were slain with a sword they wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins being destitute afflicted tormented so on and so forth so it's giving us these people who have gone through much affliction this is a weight on them I mean when they're seeing their family members sawn asunder they're going through all these difficulties and trials that can weigh on them and it's no wonder that we hop into Hebrews 12 where it talks about laying aside the weight and look at verse 3 of Hebrews 12 for consider him that endured such contradictions of sinners against himself lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds so we we're supposed to recognize this great cloud of witnesses we see in Hebrews chapter 11 and take them into consideration because they went through trials they went through a lot of these difficulties and you know I learned in times past if you're going through a hard time just remember this there's someone out there is going through a harder time than you are when you're going through a difficult time just recognize that there's people out there there are going through a more difficult time than you lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds you see before we faint physically out of church we faint up here right now we need to make sure that we're constantly doing now what does it mean to lay aside a weight what does it mean to lay aside discouragement how do you do that well the Bible tells us to cast our cares upon him for he cares for you amen and look that's why Jesus said come unto me all ye that labor on a heavy laden and I will give you rest take my yoke upon you and learn of me for I am meek and lowly in heart and ye shall find rest for your souls for my yoke is easy and my burden is light see when we concern ourselves with the burdens of the Lord God helps us with our burdens when we comfort others God comforts us we're able to plow through afflictions and hardships when we cast our care upon him but if you're constantly living discouraged you know first and foremost you can't live your life like that depressed discouraged disillusioned you're gonna become a worthless Christian and in fact you even become a selfish Christian because it's all about you you know obviously we all have to go through hard times but we need to make sure that we stay consistent in our spiritual responsibilities when we're going through those difficult times okay now go with me if you would to go to Colossians chapter 3 excuse me so God will often excuse me we have to purge ourselves but we understand that God will often purchase us as well as we read in John chapter 15 but having those two elements in mind how is this process carried out how do we prune ourselves how do we get purged how do we make sure that this process is being carried out well number one we need to make sure that we renew our minds daily okay what does it mean to renew it means to make new it means to get brainwashed and make no mistake about it when you come to church I'm trying to brainwash you you're brainwashed at that church yeah yeah you are I'm hoping you get brainwashed we got to wash our brain people say that like it's an offensive thing like oh you're brainwashing man I'm glad you noticed that I've been working on it I've been working on getting brainwashed you know wash my brain from all the filthiness and the culture the false ideologies the things that I was taught as a child as a teenager all these false concepts that are anti God anti Bible I want them out I want that trash out but how do we do that by renewing our minds daily because remember it says lest he faint in your minds that's what the Bible says to gird up the loins of our mind it all starts in the mind we need to make sure that we are renewing our minds daily I've met Christians that stay carnal for years as far as like they're not in church they're not doing the things of God and why is that because they're not renewing their minds daily they're not washing their brain the Bible says you'd have to turn there I'm gonna read to you from Isaiah 55 verse 7 let the wicked forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts and let him return him to the Lord and he will have mercy upon him and to our God for he will abundantly pardon for my thoughts are not your thoughts neither are your ways my way saith the Lord for as the heavens are higher than the earth so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts that's showing the separation of the way that God thinks and the way that we think and we need to make sure that on a daily basis we're bringing our minds into alignment to the way God thinks okay we need to make sure that we're checking it every single day and look this is a losing battle if you're constantly watching TV this is a losing battle if you're constantly watching the filth on the television or plasma screen or whatever people have nowadays that's a losing battle because television is not just a form of entertainment it's indoctrination and it does what the Bible also does but it can do it at a greater capacity more potential because you're sitting in front of it longer than you sitting in front of your Bible okay you know that's gonna cause you to be more stupid it's gonna cause you to be more foolish it's gonna cause you to dull your ears to the things of God that's why you can't pay attention in church that's why you can't stay awake in church well maybe that too because you stayed up late too you know but television could cause you to grow dull to the things of God or just your mind just you're just like not paying attention to anything it gets rid of your focus okay we need to make sure we bring our thoughts into alignment to the Bible all right the Bible tells us I'm gonna read another scripture before I get into Colossians 3 Proverbs chapter 16 verse 6 says by mercy and truth iniquity is purged and by the fear of the Lord men depart from evil when a man's ways please the Lord he maketh even his enemies to be at peace with them so the Bible tells us that God's mercy obviously purges that's why because we see the goodness of God that leads us to repentance but it also says that by truth iniquity is purged when we hear hard preaching that purges iniquity when you hear someone ripping face from the pulpit on your sin it causes you to get right because either you get right or you get hardened those are the only two options when you hear hard preaching you need to get right or you get hardened you either repent of that sin you fix it or you grow hard in your heart okay by mercy and truth iniquity is purged look at Colossians chapter 3 verse 5 mortify what does that mean kill mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth fornication uncleanliness inordinate affection uncleanness inordinate affection evil concupiscence and covetousness which is idolatry for which things take the wrath of God cometh upon the children of disobedience in which he also walked in some time when he lived in them but now you also put off all these anger wrath malice blasphemy filthy communication out of your mouth lie not one to another seeing that you have put off the old man with his deeds and I put on the new man which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him after so how do we get renewed after the knowledge you see when the Bible says to mortify means to just put to death now don't take an overly literal interpretation of that you just start stabbing yourself like a Catholic you need to make sure that we see this when it says mortify we need to put to death the old man is what it's saying you know and if you're not careful you kind of just breeze over some of these things because you're not involved in fornication and you just breeze over anger you know if you're if you're soon to wrath you got a temper problem you know just because you got a temper doesn't make you manly by the way actually makes you weak because he that has no rules over his own spirits like a city that has broken down without walls he that is slow to anger is better than the mighty and he that rules the spirit that he that taketh the city so a person who gets is soon angry guess what is weak because they can't control their emotions they can't control their temper you know what you need to do you need to put that off okay how do you do that being renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him okay go to first Peter chapter 1 you know as you read your Bible in 2019 as you read your Bible read it carefully you know read about the areas that you struggle with allow the word of allow the information to sink in but also allow the Holy Spirit to teach you through the Word of God when you look into the perfect law of Liberty don't walk away and forget what you just saw be a doer of the word and not just a here only okay we all want to debunk the heretics we all want to make sure that we got the right plan of salvation we got the right doctrine but you know what you need to correct yourself as well okay I know your post trip I know your replacement theology I know you hate the faggots that's great hallelujah but you know you need to make sure that you are actually correcting yourself as well okay you're actually cleaning up your own life that you have your house in order that you're actually being the father you need to be the wife that you need to be the children you need to be the employee that you need to be those things are important but these things are more important okay be renewed in your mind look at first Peter 3 verse excuse me first Peter chapter 1 verse 3 according as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness through the knowledge of him that hath called us into glory and virtue whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises that by these you might be partakers of his divine nature having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust and beside this giving all diligence add to your faith virtue and to virtue knowledge and to knowledge temperance and to temperance patience and to patience godliness and to godliness brotherly kindness and to brotherly kindness charity for if these things be in you and abound they make you that he should neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ so we see a lot of virtues here don't we knowledge temperance brotherly kindness well all of these attributes require for you to get rid of something first you know if you're gonna add virtue to your life that means you got to get sin out of your life if you're gonna add knowledge to your life you got to remove stupidity all right if you're gonna add temperance to your life that means you got to put off the old man and put off the wrath and the anger in order to be temperate and it says here if you do these things you'll never be unfruitful why because you're pruning yourself you're purging yourself and what happens when you prune you purge you become fruitful and look what it says here verse number nine but he that lacketh these things is blind and cannot see afar off and has forgotten that he was purged from his old sins now what does that mean he was purged from his old sins does that mean like he forgot that he was saved or something like like hey you know you're saying oh that's right I was I was forgiven of all my say I forgot about that I was forgiven of all my sins I didn't man thanks for reminding me that's not what it's talking about it's referring to the fact that if we're not consistent in growing what will happen we forgot that we were purged from the sins that we purged ourselves from by adding these things to our life okay we'll forget about the fact that we had victory over these areas in our life okay Romans chapter 12 verse 1 says I beseech you therefore brethren by the mercies of God that you present your bodies a living sacrifice holy acceptable unto God go to Romans chapter 12 we'll read this together Romans 12 verse 1 I beseech you therefore brethren by the mercies of God that you present your bodies a living sacrifice holy acceptable unto God which is your reasonable service and be not conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God so what is the outcome of renewing our minds well it says here that you're able to prove what does it mean to prove you're able to test what do you test that which is good that which is acceptable that which is perfect and now which is the will of God why because when you renew your mind you grow in discernment and so when you grow in discernment you're able to test and prove what is good what is acceptable what is perfect and what is the will of God in other words you're not tossed to and fro you're not halting between two opinions let me give you an example when there's like a false prophet found out to be a false prophet if you have your mind renewed you can see that that fools a wolf in sheep's clothing you know and you won't sympathize for something like that because you have your mind renewed but these bunch of idiots on YouTube land in the comments section backing up all these heretics they don't have their minds renewed they're not washing their brains with the Word of God therefore they can't prove they can't test certain things okay so what is the result of when we prune oh excuse me when we purge our minds through his word we're able to prove certain things we're able to have discernment we're not children you know Hebrews tells us in Hebrews chapter 5 this strong meat belonging to them that are a full age even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern between good and evil you know we want to make sure that we raise up some mature Christians in our church not just Sunday morning glories who just hear the Word of God and preaching once a week and they just that's where they they're fed no they're renewing their minds even at home so that when we kick out a false teacher in our church well there's a falsies you know there might be we'll get to that in just a bit you know there's gonna be false teachers that come that are in our church infiltrators and you're probably gonna like them but when they're found out to be heretics and I and I and I give them the nine and a half boot to the rear end if you don't have your mind renewed you know what are you doing you're not being loving enough hey we had in and out together hey we went to arts together we had we sing songs that we did all these things together yeah but he's a heretic have you have you washed your brain yet have you renewed are you able to prove what is that good perfect acceptable perfect will of God if you don't have your mind renewed you fall for anything we need to have our minds renewed in order to discern who are the wicked people of this world who are the people who are infiltrators and look infiltrators are not just an old IFP churches they're in our churches as well the only difference is the old IFP keeps them there hey brother you know they roll out the red carpet for them they keep them there and when you confront them about it they're just like well he's just a little off you know he's just a little off in that area we're working with him we're discipling him you know you know he he he repented of his homosexuality garbage they just keep them there they want to say that we have drama in our churches no here's the thing is that we're actually exposing the drama whereas an old IFP churches they just stinkin you know put makeup and perfume on a dead body is what they're doing they just make the sepulcher look beautiful on the outward but inwardly they're full of dead men's bones so we need them why is it important to renew our minds so we can prove so we can test certain things and as the husbands and leaders of the church this is for you you need to make sure that you are renewing your mind you're not some simpleton that allows anything to just filter through your home through the church we need to make sure we have washed brainwashed minds I'm here to wash brainwashing on a weekly basis three times a week go to 2nd Corinthians chapter 6 so when we prune ourselves from these things and we allow our minds to be renewed what happens we become more discerning okay we're able to prove certain things what is right what is wrong what is evil what is good we can we can tell the people of God the difference between good and evil bitter and sweet we can make that distinction okay but also we need to make the pruning or purging happens through separation from people okay now the first group of people is unsafe people you will never reach your potential as a Christian if you just hang around with unsaved people and I'm not talking about like at work obviously you're around unsaved people at work okay I'm talking about when you go out of your way and spend and spend your your extra time hanging around unsaved unregenerated people whether your friends family members cousins deals Diaz grandma's you know whatever you want to call them if they're unsaved and you're constantly with them that's gonna hinder you you need to purge yourself from those people well show me in the Bible okay second Corinthians 6 14 be not unequally yoked together with unbelievers we could stop right there yoked is that apparatus that they would put on oxen to keep them together to work together and it's telling us we shouldn't be like that with just every unsaved person now there's someone you're trying to win to Christ obviously that's a different story but if you've been trying to win them to Christ for like the last five years it's time to move on all right I just think I'm this close no you probably you probably harden them through the gospel by just and you probably not even giving them the gospel when you're with them anyways talking about other stuff that doesn't matter oh but he's my best friend we grew up together you need to prune yourself from people like that it says for what fellowship has righteousness with unrighteousness and what communion has light with darkness what concord has Christ with Belial or what part has he that believeth with an infidel what agreement hath the temple of God with idols for you're the temple of the living God as God had said I will dwell in them and walk in them and I will be their God and they shall be my people wherefore come out from among them and be separate saith the Lord and touch not the unclean thing and I will receive you you say oh man boy if I get rid of my I'm like my friends my unsafe friends I'm gonna have to make like new friends yeah good job hey you're smart you're a smart cookie where am I gonna find those well there's like a grip of people in here but I don't like everyone in here but you gotta like at least one person and if you know if you can't get along with everyone there's something wrong with you okay you know make some new friends make Christian friends yeah but if I hang around with Christians we're gonna talk about Christian things hey that's a freaking novel thought that's a good thing for you to do the reason you can't go forward in your Christian life is because you're talking about unchristian things with your Christian your unchristian buddies oh you know he's a pre Christian I'm trying to get him safe it's not gonna work get some new friends get some new fellowship that's why we stick around here to like tomorrow sometimes you know because we want to make sure people get their fellowship in because if not they're gonna find it somewhere else so you can't make the excuse that you don't have you know we don't fellowship no we fellowship a lot sometimes a little too much okay you know it's just like we stay there's like okay guys it's 12 midnight it's time to go home and there's a thing called sleep you know but find some new friends find some Christian friends the Bible commands is not to just hang around with unsafe people all the time unless we're trying to win them to Christ if you purge yourself from them it'll help you out but not go to 1st Corinthians chapter 5 but not just that that's a given but how about this purge yourself from save people yeah you know the same people who are just wicked or they're just ungodly they have simple habits or they're not in church they're saved but they're backslidden critical you know just they they just are not into the things of God you need to separate yourself from them they're gonna hinder you and if hey look separate yourself from people who are cynical of our church because here's the thing if you hang around with people who hate our church guess what's gonna happen you're gonna end up hating our church too oh man maybe he's right about that I never really liked his beard he does look like a Muslim you know yeah you're right at one point you're defending but you hang around that stinking backslidden person you're gonna be as cynical as they are about our church okay so you even need to separate yourself even from people like that these look oh but they're in church well obviously they're not listening to what they're hearing over there or they're not being they're not being taught which should you know Christian values and principles of how to act we need to get away from people like that look at 1st Corinthians 5 9 I wrote them to you in an epistle not to company with fornicators yet not all together with the fornicators of this world or with the covetous or extortioners or with idolaters for them as he needs go out of the world but now I have written unto you not to keep company if any man that is called a brother be a fornicator or covetous or an idolater or a railer or a drunkard or an extortioner with such and one no not to eat don't even have in and out with them let's hang out and catch up 1st Corinthians 5 right here I can't why cuz you're a railer you're covetous you're an extortioner verse 12 for what have I to do to judge them also then I'm with our without do not you judge them that are within but then that are without God judges therefore put away from among yourselves that wicked person what does that mean purge it and in fact earlier in the chapter it literally says purge out the leaven obviously in context talk about the church but this is a principle that we can apply as individuals as well I just don't know they need to go to the previous point about renewing your mind to prove if this person is genuine or not but if they're railing on us if they hate the new IFB if they're talking all kinds of crap then guess what they need the boot cuz it's gonna hinder you from going forward for God okay I keep in contact with people who are not in agreement with me but it's a very surface relationship that we have a lot of my in-laws are against the new IFB but you know when we see them during like Christmas what do we talk about very surface things I mean surface like the first layer is what we talk about and I do it for the sake of my wife you know I do it for the sake of her because she wants to see her family and they're not railing on me they're not extortioners or anything like that but I don't hang out with them very much because they're not for our movement they're not for necessarily everything that's going on you know my father-in-law is but you know the rest are not and you know if that's their prerogative that's a prerogative I want to be around people who are for us I want to be around the people who will encourage us to do more soul-winning who loved the hard preaching who loved the direction we're going in because that's gonna infuse me to continue to do more of what I'm already doing you know people who are anti us will try to put out your flame in your fire the Bible says that they're wicked people if they're railing on us go to 2nd Thessalonians chapter 3 2nd Thessalonians chapter 3 let me turn there myself it says here in 2nd Thessalonians chapter 3 verse 6 now we command you brethren in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ that you withdraw yourselves from every brother that walketh disorderly and not after the tradition which he received of us it says here for yourselves know how we ought to follow how you ought to follow us for we behave not ourselves disorderly among you so he tells us there we need to withdraw ourselves from certain people even Christians okay who behave in like manner now what is the result when we purge ourselves from people well the Bible says that we intermeddle with all wisdom because the Bible tells us in Proverbs chapter 18 verse 1 through desire a man having separated himself seeketh and intermeddleth with all wisdom you see why is that because people who rail on us the Bible says they're fools and when you separate yourself from a fool guess what happens you gain wisdom you gain wisdom and look let me just say this one thing that'll help you to separate from them is to live in such a way that they actually separate from you that actually helps a lot you know there's a reason why they keep coming back to you it's probably cuz you're sympathetic towards them or you probably give them leeway to do so but if you're the kind of Christian that you need to be guess what it's gonna do they're gonna they're gonna throw the garlic and the cross at you they're gonna be like holy water they're like I'm staying away from this person I can't I can't deal with this person you know amen good riddance see ya there's the door don't let it hit you on the way out don't let the door hit you where the Lord split you you know so be the right kind of Christian and people will just start separating from you okay now go to Acts chapter 20 so we're talking about purging ourselves we're talking about pruning how do we do that by renewing our minds how do we do that by separating from people you know unsaved and saved alike I don't know who the unsaved and the saved are then you need to go back to the first point renew your mind so you can prove who are the right type of people to be with okay but number three the way we purge ourselves is through the exposure of infiltrators and we're talking about within the context of the local church now within the lifespan of our church last year and a half you know we've only had one infiltrator as far as I know right did I miss anybody we've only had one infiltrator that's been exposed now with Samuel okay and when he was exposed he was thrown out he whined and complained or whatever on social media but he was thrown out okay and it was good that he was thrown out but you know what that's like level C of like infiltrators right there okay he's just like that didn't really cause people didn't really miss him let me just say that you wouldn't really miss Sammy when he left and if you if they miss them that they probably won't are they probably won't even in our church okay but the exposure of infiltrators purging infiltrators from our church will help our church now let's read some scriptures here on this look at Acts chapter 20 verse 28 take heed therefore unto yourselves and to all the flock over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers to feed the church of God which he hath purchased with his own blood for I know this that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you not sparing the flock also of your own selves shall men arise speaking perverse things to draw away disciples after them that is a promise so when like people were freaking out about Adam Fannin or even you know I don't know if Chad Morgan's an infiltrator maybe he's just an idiot but when they're when they're people were like like oh no it's like hey read Acts chapter 20 it said it was gonna happen don't let this catch you by surprise you know you're all jumping for joy when infiltrators are caught in other old IFB churches but it was with our there's like like how can this happen it said it was gonna happen renew your mind read the Bible will it happen here yes and guess what when it happens it's a good thing go to 1st John chapter 2 1st John chapter 2 in verse number 18 it says here verse 18 of 1st John chapter 2 little children it is the last time as you have heard that Antichrist shall come even now are there many Antichrists whereby we know that it is the last time they went out from us but they were not of us for if they had been of us they would no doubt have continued with us but they went out that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us now the Calvinist like to use this verse for like every any kind of Christian they backslide see you know they didn't continue with us cuz if there are others they would have no doubt continued you know that's not what it's talking about in context it's talking about what Antichrist infiltrators devils when they go out they're made manifest that they weren't really saved why because they're teaching damnable heresy because they're doing wicked things that only reprobates do so this verse is important because it teaches us you know when infiltrators are manifested let's say for example in our movement you know like Adam Fannin whatever it is it's an initial shock to people there's like an initial mo emotional shock we're just like it catches you off guard catches you by surprise and often what it'll do it is it'll evoke an emotional response of you know whether you're angry or just sad or you just don't want to believe it I you know we need all the proof you know it that's what it evokes naturally within a person but if you listen to point number one you will understand first John chapter 2 and you understand oh wait let me back up here this person was never even safe to begin with it's not like it's some person who just got off into false doctrine this is a person who infiltrated he didn't start off right and then got off into false doctrine he was wicked from the but he was a devil from the beginning that's what we need to understand so when things like that happen you know it may create an initial shock of like what but then we need to go to first John chapter 2 and say okay you know it was an infiltrator you know and we need to put our emotional ties aside when that stuff happens and don't allow your emotional ties to cloud your judgment to prove what is that good acceptable and perfect will of God Romans 16 17 says now I beseech your brethren mark them which caused the vision and offenses contrary to the doctrine which you have learned and avoid them so look when it happens in our church because it's going to happen when it happens it's okay to have an initial shock I was just like what but you need to make sure that you're renewing your mind so that you follow the leadership not blindly old IFP follows leadership blindly the pre-tribulation rapture is doctrine because I said it shut up shut up and just listen to what I have to say and don't quest question it that's not a right attitude to have the right answer is like hey fall follow the leadership but prove it for yourself look at the evidence it's right there don't be a simpleton but when it happens you know we need to make sure that we're on board and and look you know I think it's a great analogy to compare these infiltrators to trash cans or trash men because what happens is they take all the trash out of they purge our churches from stupid people oh you shouldn't call them stupid well okay silly people if you're here on Thursday it means stupid it purges the church from foolish stupid people who don't know how to prove things okay and so the result now what is the result of when we purge our churches are purged from infiltrators well the result is that we are realign our focus on God and not on man you know cuz then you're like oh man who can I trust God who do we know who's real the Lord how do we know no one ever changed well God never changes Jesus Christ is the same yesterday today and forevermore so when things like this happen don't get discouraged don't get disillusioned you know oh man like I everyone is just like there's so many infiltrators what it should do is say okay this just proves that God never changes and I can always trust in the Lord that he will never change there's no variableness neither shadow of turning with him he's never gonna change he's always there he's always right he's always gonna protect us you know he's always gonna be there this helps us to not focus on man so much we're to follow man as they follow Christ you know we're to we're to be in our place and in our positions and have order but at the end of the day guess what we need to follow Christ and not follow a man all those fools who are like backing Adam Fannin up they were never following Christ to begin with they're following this reprobate false teacher false prophet Adam Fannin okay so that's what that does go to 1st Peter chapter 1 we're almost done obviously there's the element of chastening that purges us we've talked enough about that but then there's you know we were also purged and pruned lastly through trials okay and I'm specifically referring to self-inflicted trials because sometimes we go through hardships and difficulties and it's not because God is doing it to us it's not necessarily because for whatever reason often it's because we brought it upon ourselves they're called self-inflicted wounds self-inflicted trials and there's still trials I mean you made your bed now you got to sleep in it yeah I understand that but it's still a trial it's still a difficulty look at 1st Peter 1 verse 6 says now trials whether it's self-inflicted or not you still have to respond the same way which is repent pray stay in church clean up your life plow through that thing and it says there that you might be you might be found unto praise and honor at the glory of the appearing of Jesus Christ what does that mean so you can finish your course with joy okay you know don't let trials get you out of church if you screwed up in certain areas financially physically relationally whatever may be stay in church you know oh is that the only element to the Christian life it's not the only element to the Christian life but it's one of the most important elements that should never be compromised is church it's very much necessary you know go to a go to chapter 4 of 1st Peter let me say this sometimes bad things happen for no reason it's just life life happens and it's not because you're a bad person it's not because you're involved in sin it's not because of those things it's just life happens bad things always happen in life and if you don't think that's true then you're not you're still a teenager you're probably still a teenager or you're acting like one you need to get out of La La Land bad things happen to good people all the time and we need to make sure that we respond to those things appropriately indoor learn from them so we can come forth as goal now look when trials happen what's the immediate what's the first thing you have to do pray yeah but what's what's what's another thing we have to do when when a bad thing happens in our life what is our initial response what should be our initial response what say that again evaluate yourself is there sin in my life is there some wicked way in me am I doing wrong and if the answer to all those questions is no then you know okay well this is just things that happen in life and I need a plow through it learn from it and come forth as goal okay financial physical relational transitional you know there's times in life where you go through a transitional stage and it's difficult it's hard whether it's a newborn it's you're moving to a new location you know you love you lose a loved one that's a transitional period you need to make sure that you don't compromise your biblical convictions during that time okay and what's the result of that when we come forth as goal we become better Christians because of it because there's two types of Christians the bitter Christian and the better Christian the bitter one blames God blames everyone for all their problems the better Christian says well I didn't do anything wrong but this is just life and I need a I see this as an opportunity to become better and what happens you become better you become more efficient you become more knowledgeable you have more wisdom you know talk to the people have wisdom in our church I guarantee you they've gone through a lot and they've learned through those trials and that's why God has made them wiser God has pruned them he's purged them and John chapter 15 what does it tell us we bring forth more fruit because of it so what's the sermon today hey you know we need to make sure that we're constantly being pruned that we're being purged and these are the areas we do and if you get nothing get this make sure you're constantly renewing your mind have the mind of Christ you let this mind be in you which is also in Christ Jesus why because we need that in order to to to facilitate and to help us to really discern the the events in our life so we can correctly rightly discern the events that are taking place in our life and deal with them biblically and accordingly amen let's fire heads and have a word of prayer father we thank you so much for your word and thank you Lord for John chapter 15 thank you for Hebrews chapter 12 thank you for the examples that we have in the Bible of those who were purged and prune and came forth as gold job comes to mind when we think about that and so many others Lord but not just the men in the Bible we have examples modern-day examples of people have gone through things and they came forth as gold I pray that you'd help us to continue to be pruned and purged and that it may not discourage us that it would not disillusion us but may cause us to become better and I pray God that you'd help us to endure the the pruning process in our lives whether it's through an affliction that you bring upon us because of our disobedience or or maybe it's just a an event that takes place for not because we were in sin but just because bad things happen to good people and I pray that you'd help us to respond biblically to every single one of those events and in Jesus name we pray amen