Faith - Part 2

Temple Baptist Church - 11-27-2019

Hebrews 11:1-3, 6

Introduction:

A.  Last week, we saw that true or biblical faith has both substance and evidence.  Our faith is real, not some blind following of man or some manmade book.

1.  Its Substance is seen in its past and present work.

2.  Its evidence is seen through the adherence of nature to the Word of God.  Everything in nature works just as the Bible says it does.

B.  Tonight, I want to take a short look at four aspects of our faith.  I know that tomorrow is Thanksgiving and I know of no better way to show our Thanksgiving to God than through faith.

1.  A Faith That Saves.  Hebrews 10:39  But we are not of them who draw back unto perdition; but of them that believe to the saving of the soul.

a.  Saving faith is through faith alone, not works.  Ephesians 2:8-9  For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:  (9)  Not of works, lest any man should boast.

b.  Saving faith is Bible based, not opinion based.  Romans 10:17  So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.

c.  Saving faith is anchored in what Christ did for us.  Romans 10:9-10  That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.  (10)  For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.

2.  A Faith That Endures.  Hebrews 10:38  Now the just shall live by faith: but if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him.

Philippians 4:12-13  I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound: every where and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need.  (13)  I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.

3.  A Faith That Trusts.  Hebrews 10:36  For ye have need of patience, that, after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise.

Proverbs 3:5-6  Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.  (6)  In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.

4.  A Faith That Pleases.  Hebrews 10:35  Cast not away therefore your confidence, which hath great recompence of reward.

Colossians 1:9-10  For this cause we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to desire that ye might be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding;  (10)  That ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God;

THOUGHTS ON HOW TO OBSERVE THANKSGIVING

Count your blessings instead of your crosses;
Count your gains instead of your losses.
Count your joys instead of your woes;
Count your friends instead of your foes.
Count your smiles instead of your tears;
Count your courage instead of your fears.
Count your full years instead of your lean;
Count your kind deeds instead of your mean.
Count your health instead of your wealth;
Count on God instead of yourself.
—Anonymous

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Remembrance

Temple Baptist Church - 11-24-2019

2 Timothy 3:1-5

Introduction: 

A.  One of the signs of these last days is that of ingratitude. 

1.  2 Timothy 3:2 says, “For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy.”  Unfortunately, it is a characteristic of the professing Christian as well as the religious lost person. 

2.  The word thanks is found in many places and in several forms in the Bible:  Thanks – 71x  Thank – 26x  Thankful – 3x  Thanksgiving – 27x.   When is the last time that you said, “Thank you!?

B.  The key to being “thankful” is to reflect upon or to reflect back.  Most people are not thankful because they do not take the time to reflect upon just how good the Lord has been to them!

1.  The Person of Thanksgiving - Psalms 69:30   I will praise the name of God with a song, and will magnify him with thanksgiving.

2.  The Person of Thanksgiving - Psalms 30:4   Sing unto the LORD, O ye saints of his, and give thanks at the remembrance of his holiness. 

      Psalms 106:1   Praise ye the LORD. O give thanks unto the LORD; for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever.

3  The Places of Thanksgiving

a.  In The Presence of The Lost - Psalms 18:49   Therefore will I give thanks unto thee, O LORD, among the heathen, and sing praises unto thy name. 

b.  In The Presence of The Church - Psalms 35:18   I will give thee thanks in the great congregation: I will praise thee among much people.       

Psalms 100:4   Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name.

Psalms 105:1 O give thanks unto the LORD; call upon his name: make known his deeds among the people. 

Psalms 106:47 Save us, O LORD our God, and gather us from among the heathen, to give thanks unto thy holy name, and to triumph in thy praise.

c.  In Presence of Your Children - Psalms 79:13   So we thy people and sheep of thy pasture will give thee thanks for ever: we will shew forth thy praise to all generations. 

d.  In The Presence of The Lord - Psalms 95:2   Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving, and make a joyful noise unto him with psalms. 

4.  The Period of Thanksgiving - Psalms 30:12 To the end that my glory may sing praise to thee, and not be silent. O LORD my God, I will give thanks unto thee for ever.

5.  The Publishing of Thanksgiving - Psalms 26:7 That I may publish with the voice of thanksgiving, and tell of all thy wondrous works. 

6.  The Price of Thanksgiving - Psalms 116:17 I will offer to thee the sacrifice of thanksgiving, and will call upon the name of the LORD.

Conclusion:  Unthankful?  Just look back, just look around, and then look up!

IN Everything Give Thanks

Temple Baptist Church - 11-24-2019

1 Thessalonians 5:18

Introduction:

A.  This is one of those verses that has been greatly mis-understood because of casually looking at the verse and making a wrong interpretation.  A wrong interpretation makes for a wrong application.  The key to the verse is the word “in.”  The Bible does not say that we are to be thankful “for” everything but “in” everything.

B.  Just exactly is Thanksgiving?

1.  Thanksgiving Is A Sign Of Realization - James 1:17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.

2.  Thanksgiving Is A Sign Of Acceptance - 1 Timothy 6:6-8  But godliness with contentment is great gain. 7  For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. 8  And having food and raiment let us be therewith content.

3.  Thanksgiving Is A Sign Of Gratitude - Matthew 6:31-33 Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? 32 (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. 33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.

C.  We can trust Him to supply our every need as they come - Philippians 4:19 But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.  

D.  This is one of the tough verses in the Bible, but one of the most blessed when we get a hold on it.  If Romans 8:28 is in the Bible and means what it says (and we know that it is and does), then God is guiding us and giving us each day that which is pleasing to Him and beneficial to us!  1 Thessalonians 5:18 is also in the Bible and means what it says.  In the worst of situations, there is still much to thank the Lord for.

E.  I have so often said that life is hard and disappointments come often.  There are so many things that we do not and cannot understand and, at that point, have to learn to trust the Lord with them.  I believe that we need to do the best that we can and then trust God with that which we cannot do.  The great Apostle Paul said that he had learned contentment in spite of his circumstances.

F.  In spite of all that seems bad, there is so much that we need to be thankful for:

1.  Our great salvation that we cannot lose!  Saved by Grace!  Saved forever!  Billions will die without Christ and we are saved and heaven bound.

2.  Our great temporal blessings that we have come to expect!  Our homes!  Our food!  Our clothing!  Our freedom!  Our transportation!  Most of the world has nothing and we have everything.

3.  Our wonderful health that we too often take for granted!  We are not in the hospital tonight!  We are not in the care of hospice tonight!  We are not at home and in bed sick tonight!  I feel good and am blessed with good health!

4.  Our wonderful church!  Good churches are both special and scarce.  The unity and peace that permeates the church tonight!  A place where we feel at home.  A place where the Bible is still upheld and preached.  A place where our children can get to know the truth without compromise.  A place of prayer where we lift up each other as well as or lost family and friends.  A place where we meet missionaries and have a small part of their ministries around the world.

5.  Our blessed hope!  This present evil world is not our home!  One day just like today and it could be today, we will be finally and eternally home.  We will not see all of the bad things come to end in our days upon this earth as things progressively get worse but we will one day see God remove the sin and restore the earth back to what it once was in the days prior to Adam’s sin.

6.  Our settled peace!  I do not know what lies on tomorrow nor do I want to know.  I do not want the knowledge of tomorrow destroy the peace that today holds.  But I am so glad that I know Who holds tomorrow and Who will hold my hand and walk with me through it!

Conclusion:  I did not make a long list but just wanted us to know that we have much to be thankful for in the midst of hard times.  “In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you!”

Faith

Temple Baptist Church - 11-20-2019

Hebrews 11:1-3

Introduction:

A.  Hebrews, chapter 11, has often been called “The Hall of Faith.”  Throughout recorded time, God’s people have been a people of faith and there is a list found in chapter 11 or great men and women who exercised faith in perilous times and circumstances.

1.  In Luke, chapter 18, we find the story of the widow pleading without ceasing to an unjust judge.  Because of her tenacity, he gives her what she desires.  The Lord commends her faith and then asks a question in verse 8.

Luke 18:8  I tell you that he will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?

2.  This is not faith to be saved but faith to endure.  These early Jewish Christians, the “strangers scattered” in 1 Peter, withstood great persecution from both Jew and Gentile.

3.  Thus chapter 11 of the Book of Hebrews is about enduring faith, not saving faith.

B.  The first word of chapter 11 is “for.”  Chapters 10-11 are found in the same context.  Chapter 10 ends with these words:

Hebrews 10:35-39  Cast not away therefore your confidence, which hath great recompence of reward.  (36)  For ye have need of patience, that, after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise.  (37)  For yet a little while, and he that shall come will come, and will not tarry.  (38)  Now the just shall live by faith: but if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him.  (39)  But we are not of them who draw back unto perdition; but of them that believe to the saving of the soul.

C.  Faith Defined.  Merriam-Webster has several different definitions for faith, so I chose the one that the Bible defines: belief and trust in and loyalty to God.

The Bible defines faith as persuasion, credence, conviction, reliance, constancy, assurance, fidelity.

D.  The Apostle Paul said it this way:

2 Timothy 1:12  For the which cause I also suffer these things: nevertheless I am not ashamed: for I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day.  (Faith – absolute assurance)

E.  Everyone, saved or unsaved, has “faith.”  God gives to every man “the measure of faith” to be exercised in salvation but most choose to reject Him.  Still, even the unsaved have faith in things, be they right or wrong.

F.  The world believes that God’s people have a “blind faith,” but they are wrong.  Our faith is not blind.  Unsaved individuals have no biblical comprehension of what true faith involves because the Bible is a spiritual book that must be spiritually discerned.

1 Corinthians 2:9-16  But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.  (10)  But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God.  (11)  For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God.  (12)  Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God.  (13)  Which things also we speak, not in the words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual.  (14)  But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.  (15)  But he that is spiritual judgeth all things, yet he himself is judged of no man.  (16)  For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ.

G.  Now, let us look at verse 1.  In the Bible definition of faith, we find two things that descriptive concerning our faith: substance and evidence.

Hebrews 11:1  Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

1.  Faith is the substance of things hoped for.  Substance can be touched.

2.  Faith is the evidence of things not seen.  Evidence can be seen.

H.  Verses 1-3 define both aspects.

1.  Now faith is the substance of things hoped for.  “For by it the elders obtained a good report.”  They had to be saved before they could have a faith to endure.

a.  The Path of Faith.  I see biblical salvation in our spiritual fathers.  Their salvation did not make them perfect, but it changed their lives.  They “obtained a good report.”  As we continue in chapter 11, we will find a people of faith that caused them to endure hardness, disappointment, persecution and—in many cases—suffer a martyr’s death.  The history of their lives has substance!

b.  The Performance of Faith.  Salvation is not reformation, it is transformation.  Saving Faith that makes a new creature in Christ Jesus.  I am not speaking of religion.  I am speaking of biblical salvation.  The finest people that I have ever known have been born again Christians.  The best neighbors, the best friends, the best citizens have been God’s children.  I am not ashamed to call them brethren.  I am not ashamed to be counted as one of them.  Their lives have substance!

c.  The Personalization Faith.  I have experienced the New Birth!  I have experienced that dramatic change in life.  I did not “turn over a new leaf.”  The Holy Spirit of God came into my being and my life was and is forever changed.  From darkness to light in a moment when I asked God to forgive my sin and save my soul.  My wife saw it; my family saw it; my friends saw it.  It has substance!

d.  The Promise of Faith.  To all who repent and believe.  I have heard people say that they tried it and it did not work.  They did not repent and believe!  “Who will have all men to be saved!”  Too many people want the world and they want Jesus Christ; they want self and they want Jesus Christ; they want their sin and they want Jesus Christ.  Someone once said, “God will always give you what you want but it will always cost you what you have got.”  The Bible is a life changing book.  It has substance.

e.  The Perseverance of Faith.  True saving faith brings about true persevering faith!  The “good seed in the good ground,” brought about “good fruit.”

2.  “Now faith is” the evidence of things not seen.  “Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear.”

a.  In Creation We See Design.  Nothing has never created anything nor can it.  Draw a complete vacuum and it will always be a complete vacuum!  An explosion has never created perfection.  In the history of mankind, there has never been an explosion that made anything other than destruction and disorder.  Everything that we see around us is perfectly designed.  Evolution is randomness while creation is design.  When I look at the different species of plants, birds, animals, fish and sea creatures, I stand amazed.  When I think about the human body with of its different parts and each part having different cells (you cannot take a piece of your liver and make a new heart; you cannot take a piece of your flesh and make a brain; etc. as they are all different cells that make up your perfect body), I stand amazed.  Completely designed with no unnecessary parts to make up the whole.  Everything in our world has its own place and does its own part to make up perfection.  God created it and saw that it was very good.  In creation, I see evidence!

Genesis 1:31  And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.

b.  In Creation We See Distinction.  There is distinction in everything that I see.  Every animal, every bird, every fist, every man is distinct.  In Evolution, every cell should reach that same way when placed in the same conditions.  This is not so in what we observe.  Trees are different, grass is different, birds are different, animals are different, fish are different, stars and planets are different.    God made a distinction between the species. 

1 Corinthians 15:39-41  All flesh is not the same flesh: but there is one kind of flesh of men, another flesh of beasts, another of fishes, and another of birds.  (40)  There are also celestial bodies, and bodies terrestrial: but the glory of the celestial is one, and the glory of the terrestrial is another.  (41)  There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars: for one star differeth from another star in glory.

c.  In Creation We See Order.  Everything reproduces after its own kind.  No dogs with cats, lions with elephants, bass with crappie, eagle with sparrows, etc.  Everything brings forth after its own kind.  Oak trees do not cross with pine trees, crab grass with centipede grass, roses with tulips, etc.  Bees, etc. help to pollenate all types of flowers but the flowers maintain their physical integrity.  God made it so!  The creation is orderly.

Genesis 1:24-25  And God said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind, cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the earth after his kind: and it was so.  (25)  And God made the beast of the earth after his kind, and cattle after their kind, and every thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind: and God saw that it was good.

Conclusion:  We that are saved have a biblical faith that cannot be either moved or removed!  It has substance and evidence.

Smyrna - The Wheat and The Tares - Part 1 - The Persecuted Church

Temple Baptist Church - 11-17-2019

Revelation 2:8-11; Matthew 13:24-30; 34-43

Introduction:

A.  The second of the seven churches of Asia was Smyrna, the Persecuted or Crushed Church.  100 A.D-312 A.D.

B.  There were problems from without and problems from within that started with the conception of the local church during the Apostolic Age that had now gradually gotten worse.

1.  The enemy from without, persecution, had escalated after the death of the apostles.  It had gone from sporadic and individual to universal.  The more Christians were persecuted from without, the more they bonded together.

2.  Though Satan had attacked the Word of God and God’s people from the beginning, his greatest ploy was to attack from within.  Infiltration, had gotten worse with the apostles now gone.  A house divided cannot stand!

3.  The churches must rely upon the Word of God, the Spirit of God, and—in the local church—the man of God.

C.  The Parabolic Interpretation deals with the infiltration that had taken place.  With indiscriminate sowing, the good seed of the gospel falls on both good and bad ground.  Therefore, you find different kinds of hearing and reception or the lack thereof of the gospel message.

1.  There are those that are Possessors of salvation and are Planted.

2.  There are those that are Pretenders of salvation that break down into two classifications, thus often making it hard to discern which:

a)  Some make a profession of faith and then fall away.

b) Some are wolves in sheep’s clothing and are Planted by Satan.

D.  The Parable of The Wheat and The Tares deals with the most dangerous, Satan’s “Planted” workers.  These also fall into two categories:

1.  Those who are deceived but follow in the footsteps of Satan’s ”wolves.”  2 Timothy 3:13  But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived.

2.  Those who know what they are doing.  Jude 4  For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ.  (This is not Calvinism, it is a choice that they make, willfully rejecting God and pretending to be on God’s side while destroying His “vineyard.”)

E.  We are to never underestimate Satan’s hate for God, the things of God, the people of God, and the house of God!

F.  Let us look at the parable.

1.  A Church That Is Sleeping – 25

Romans 13:11  And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed.

2.  An Enemy That Is Busy - 25

1 Peter 5:8  Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:

3.  A Tare That Is Sown - 25

Philippians 3:17-19  Brethren, be followers together of me, and mark them which walk so as ye have us for an ensample.  (18)  (For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ:  (19)  Whose end is destruction, whose God is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who mind earthly things.)

4.  A Rooting That Is Dangerous - 28-29

John 10:7-10  Then said Jesus unto them again, Verily, verily, I say unto you, I am the door of the sheep.  (8)  All that ever came before me are thieves and robbers: but the sheep did not hear them.  (9)  I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture.  (10)  The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.

5.  A Separation That Is Eminent - 30-31

Matthew 3:11-12  I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance: but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire:  (12)  Whose fan is in his hand, and he will throughly purge his floor, and gather his wheat into the garner; but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.

6.  A Payment That Is Just - 30-31

Jeremiah 23:1-2  Woe be unto the pastors that destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture! saith the LORD.  (2)  Therefore thus saith the LORD God of Israel against the pastors that feed my people; Ye have scattered my flock, and driven them away, and have not visited them: behold, I will visit upon you the evil of your doings, saith the LORD.

A.  A CHURCH THAT IS SLEEPING – “While men slept”

1.  The Sleeping Saints - Romans 13:11  And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed.

a.  They Sleep From Lack Of Commitment.

b.  They Sleep From Lack Of Concern.

c.  They Sleep From Lack Of Character.

2.  The Sleeping Shepherds.

a.  They Fear The People – Jeremiah 1:4-9  Then the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,  Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations.  Then said I, Ah, Lord GOD! behold, I cannot speak: for I am a child.  But the LORD said unto me, Say not, I am a child: for thou shalt go to all that I shall send thee, and whatsoever I command thee thou shalt speak.  Be not afraid of their faces: for I am with thee to deliver thee, saith the LORD.  Then the LORD put forth his hand, and touched my mouth. And the LORD said unto me, Behold, I have put my words in thy mouth.

b.  They Fear The Pay Check - John 10:11-13  I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep.  But he that is an hireling, and not the shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, seeth the wolf coming, and leaveth the sheep, and fleeth: and the wolf catcheth them, and scattereth the sheep.  The hireling fleeth, because he is an hireling, and careth not for the sheep.

c.  They Fear The Persecution - Matthew 5:11-12  Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake.  Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.

B.  AN ENEMY THAT IS BUSY – “His enemy came and sowed”

1.  Satan Is Seeking - 1 Peter 5:8  Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:

Job 1:6-7  Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan came also among them.  And the LORD said unto Satan, From whence comest thou? And Satan answered the LORD, and said, From going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it.

2.  Satan Is Sifting - Luke 22:31  And the Lord said, Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat:

3.  Satan Is Sowing - Jude 1:4  For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ.

2 Corinthians 11:13-15  For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ.  And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light.  Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works.

Zechariah 3:1  And he shewed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the LORD, and Satan standing at his right hand to resist him.

C.  THERE IS A TARE THAT IS SOWN – “sowed tares among the wheat”

1.  False Prophets (Bring in False Doctrine) - 1 Tim 1:18-20

a.  Jude 3-4 - Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints.  For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ.

b.  Galatians 2:4 - And that because of false brethren unawares brought in, who came in privily to spy out our liberty which we have in Christ Jesus, that they might bring us into bondage:

c.  Ephesians 4:14 - That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive;

d.  2 Timothy 3:6 - For of this sort are they which creep into houses, and lead captive silly women laden with sins, led away with divers lusts,

e.  2 Peter 2:1-3 - But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction And many shall follow their pernicious ways; by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of. And through covetousness shall they with feigned words make merchandise of you: whose judgment now of a long time lingereth not, and their damnation slumbereth not.

f.  Romans 16:17-18 - Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offences contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid them.  For they that are such serve not our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly; and by good words and fair speeches deceive the hearts of the simple

g.  Matthew 7:15  - Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.

h.  Acts 20:29 - For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock.

2.  False Professors (Indiscriminate Sowing in verses 19-23 brings false profession)

a.  The Problematic Kind.

1)  The Mal-content- Proverbs 6:16-19  These six things doth the LORD hate: yea, seven are an abomination unto him:  A proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood,  An heart that deviseth wicked imaginations, feet that be swift in running to mischief,  A false witness that speaketh lies, and he that soweth discord among brethren.

2)  Lovers of pre-eminence - 3 John 9-11  I wrote unto the church: but Diotrephes, who loveth to have the preeminence among them, receiveth us not.  Wherefore, if I come, I will remember his deeds which he doeth, prating against us with malicious words: and not content therewith, neither doth he himself receive the brethren, and forbiddeth them that would, and casteth them out of the church.  Beloved, follow not that which is evil, but that which is good. He that doeth good is of God: but he that doeth evil hath not seen God.

3)  Withstand the pastor - 2 Timothy 4:14-15  Alexander the coppersmith did me much evil: the Lord reward him according to his works:  Of whom be thou ware also; for he hath greatly withstood our words.

4)  Disorderly - 2 Thessalonians 3:6 Now we command you, brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye withdraw yourselves from every brother that walketh disorderly, and not after the tradition which he received of us.

5)  Sinful - 1Corinthians 5:11 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 an one no not to eat.

b.  The Pathetic Kind.

1)  Have no faithfulness

2)  Have no victory

3)  Have no faith

4)  Have no joy

D.  A ROOTING THAT IS DANGEROUS – “lest while ye gather up the tares, ye root up also the wheat with them”

1.  We Are Not A Capable Judge - 1 Corinthians 4:5  Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord come, who both will bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and will make manifest the counsels of the hearts: and then shall every man have praise of God.

            2.  Good Intentions Messes Up Good Wheat!

E.  A SEPARATION THAT IS EMINENT – “Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn”

1.  There Will Be A Mixed Multitude In The Church.

2.  God Not Only Knows The Heart, But Will Separate The Saved From The Hypocrite.

F.  A PAYMENT THAT IS JUST – “Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them” 

1.  There Will Be A Final Reckoning.

2.  Hell Will Be Hot For The Hypocrite Who Has Sat Under The Truth.