Transcript for:
2 Corinthians 13:1,14 -Taking Inventory- Pastor Rick Beaudry 2025-06-29

Second Corinthians chapter 13 beginning with verse one. Lord willing, we're gonna finish with, second Corinthians today and next week. What book should we do next week? Where where should we Oh, Galatians. That's Alright. Alright. I didn't know if you want some topicals. Got any topics you wanna oh, okay. Alright. Okay. Galatians. Alright. Galatians. Alright. So don't don't bring a different Jesus, right, or a different gospel. Okay. Second Corinthians chapter 13 verse one. This is the third time I am coming to you in the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every word be established. I told you before and foretell you as if I were present the second time and being absent now, I write to them which heretofore have sinned and to all other that if I come again, I will not spare. Since you seek a proof of Christ speaking in me, which to you word is not weak, but is mighty in you. For though he was crucified through weakness, yet he liveth by the power of God. For we also are weak in him, but we shall live with him by the power of God toward you. Examine yourselves, whether you're in the faith. Prove your own selves, know ye not know know your own selves how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates. But I trust that ye shall know that we are not reprobates. Now I pray to God that ye do no evil, not that we should appear approved, but that ye should do that which is honest, though we be as reprobates. For we can do nothing against the truth, but for the truth. For we are glad when we are weak and you are strong, and this also we wish even your perfection. Therefore, I write these things being absent, lest being present, I should use sharpness according to the power which the Lord has given me to edification and not to destruction. Finally, brethren, farewell. Be perfect. Be of good comfort. Be of one mind. Live in peace, and the God of love and peace shall be with you. Greet one another with a holy kiss. All the saints salute you. The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Ghost be with you all. Amen. Father, thank you for this book. We've enjoyed first, second Corinthians and, getting to know the church of Corinth a bit and kinda look into the mirror of your word and see the areas that it reflects who we are and who we, need to be as we get a better glimpse of you. And, Lord, our heart, goes out to the apostle Paul and Timothy and any of these other pastors, Lord, that met with such incredible opposition, from the very people that, that they led to Christ. Could it be happening today, Lord? Is it possible those kind of attitudes and things could creep in the church today? Lord, I I I hope not. I pray, Lord, that we're all in sync. We're all of one accord, of one mind, like minded with you, and that we go with the flow of the Holy Spirit. And we not have to deal with, false prophets, false doctrine, crazy stuff coming in. And, Lord, that we could we could enter into all that you have for us and not be so distracted in these last days. Help us, Lord, to cherish and love your word and be our teacher now, Lord. Let your word sink down deep within our hearts to transform and change us, Lord, in the image of your son. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Would you please be seated? How many of you have a cell phone, everybody? How many of you have a satellite phone satellite phone, ham radios? How many of you are preppers? You're prepping for the end of the world. You got food stocked up. You got, big screen TV you can take with you in the wilderness, whatever. And, and so you're you're, you're getting ready for the apocalypse, the end of the world, and that sort of thing. Supposed to hit, you know, by July 1 and all. Big, apparently, big fencing going up around the White House today. It been going up and around the treasury department. People are talking about the great reset gonna hit and, you know, collapse of the economy and those sort of things. And we've been hearing about these things for quite a while. But I wanna ask you another question. How many of you are prepared spiritually? You're ready spiritually for the Lord to come, whatever. How many folks within the church are not prepared? How many people within the church are what we would call reprobates or posers or people that, you know, they're not saved. And they're gonna hear the Lord say one day, away from me. I never knew you, you that practice iniquity. And that's a very tragic thing for people to be in the church and, a part of it, you know, kinda like it becomes like the Elks Club. And, and we got all the, you know, got the big bible, got the car, the bumper stickers, you know, the haircuts. We're looking like our Christian superstars, you know. Maybe you got a mega hat, you know. You got it all. You are the conservative Christian in the last days. And, and maybe one day the Lord says, away from me. I never knew you. You that practice iniquity. The apostle Paul is having trouble with the church of Corinth because the Judaizers have come through, which you're we'll see in book of Galatians, some more of this. But, basically, some heavy some some guys that come through and maybe from Jerusalem, they come on down and they say, well, you know, your guys' faith needs to be, stronger and rooted stronger in the keeping of the law. And, and you guys just, you shouldn't be listening to the apostle Paul because, you know, he's he's weak and he doesn't speak well and he's got a poor appearance. And and they began to undermine and degrade the apostle Paul. And, what we find in many cases is that when this kind of thing takes place, it's not so much that people find fault with doctrine. They're not coming against Paul in his doctrine and what he's taught. It's more of personal. They're hitting him personally. They're saying, oh, he's unloving. Oh, he's got a hooked nose. Oh, he's ugly. Oh, he's poor. And, oh, his kid you know, and they go on and on and on and on. And so Paul's bringing it back to them. He's this is the third time. And he's trying to get these guys to realize that, they're being beguiled. They're being seduced by false prophets. And he doesn't want he doesn't want them to, you know, go down that path. He's invested eighteen months originally, in in planting this church. And, he loves them. And he wants them to, you know, come to their senses and not be so belligerent toward him. And, and so how many of us are prepared spiritually for what is coming upon mankind? In Matthew twenty four twenty one, you know, a lot of times we think we're prepared, but when, when it starts to break apart, then we find the people that are melting down and haven't prepared. So as we walk out of here today, we need to just see that deep within our heart that we're not gonna be surprised, that it's not gonna take us unaware, that we're those in first Thessalonians five that, are he's not coming as a thief in the night for you and I. We're seeing the birth pangs. We're seeing the, building up of the beast system and such, and we're not in denial. And here's a key component in this is we're not in love with the world. If you're in love with the world, I'm not gonna be able to get through to you. You're gonna hate me. Because if you're in love with the world and in love with Jesus, you have to be in love with Jesus completely. We're told to love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. All that's in the world, the lust of flesh, lust of the eye, pride of knife, is not of the father but of the world. And the world perishes and the love thereof, but he that doeth the will of God abides forever. Friendship with the world is enmity with God. The biggest obstacle I have is trying to expose the times we're living in, the lies, the deceit, the whole thing, and yet people reject it because they love the world. They're so in love with the world. They don't wanna believe it. They don't wanna think that that, you know, normal isn't gonna come back and that we're gonna live this peace and prosperity and all that sort of stuff. And so, I'm I'm looking at it as not as doom and gloom. I'm looking at it as very, very exciting because everything I've ever learned, everything I've studied is coming to pass right now. And Jesus is coming again. He's coming quick. And, and I'm looking up knowing my redemption draws nigh. So in Matthew twenty four twenty one, Jesus said, for then shall be great tribulation such as not since the beginning of the world, nor to this time, nor ever shall be, in Matthew 24. And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved. So if you were to take inventory of your life today, are you ready for the return of Jesus Christ? Yeah. I'm ready for the return of Jesus Christ. And many times, it's just like, well, Lord, you know, not now. I wanna get married. Not now. I want a bigger house. Not now. I want more vacations. Not now, lord, I gotta raise my kids. Not now, lord, and you can fill in the blank. Are you ready or not? You know? I'm ready. And, I I, I it's the answer to every problem you may have. You know, as pastor Barry Stankner said, you know, what problem do you have that the rapture won't solve? You know? All your grandkids, everybody are safe and sound. Everybody's okay. You know? You don't put your confidence in man. You put your confidence in the Lord. In Matthew 25 verse one, it says, then shall the kingdom of heaven be likened unto 10 virgins, which took their lamps and went forth to meet the bridegroom. And five of them were wise and five were foolish. What camp are we in? Are we of the wise or the foolish? They that were foolish took their lamps and took no oil with them, but the wise took the oil in the vessels with them in, you know, in their lamps. And so there's people in the church today, they don't have the Holy Spirit. They're attending just like you are. They think they're saved. They think they're going to heaven. Their name's not written in the Lamb's Book of Life. So we would look at this passage, this portion of scripture, and we'd say, alright. For some, you're simply still a babe in Christ. And our objective is to help you to mature. Because Paul said, the natural man understands not the things of God neither can he know them in in, first Corinthians chapter two verse 14. But he goes on to say in first Corinthians chapter three that you're babes. He was describing them as babes, you know, of being in the flesh. Greek word sarcos, that they were fighting and contending. And I'm of Paul. I'm of Apollos. I'm of Cephas. And all of that that bad behavior, immature behavior was indicative of a group of people that aren't growing. They're, still operating in the flesh instead of the power of the Holy Spirit. So what is the truth of your life as we take inventory today? Number one, the established truth. We can establish the truth of the apostle Paul. We can establish the truth in a courtroom of law, today. So verse one. This is the third time Paul said, third time I've had to deal with this. I'm coming to you. In the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every word be established. That word established means legally and conclusively proven. Alright? We're gonna get the proof, you know, on the table right now. Is there enough evidence to convict you of being a Christian? If you were arrested, if being a Christian was illegal, if you were in Iran, let's say, and the fastest growing church in the world is in Iran, and you were apprehended by the authorities, and they brought you into courtroom of law and they began to bring witnesses, family, friends, coworkers, would there be enough witness, would there be enough evidence to convict you of being a Christian? You think so? Have you been operating under the radar, a secret Christian? Secret and and don't get me wrong. Operating on the radar for them is is is is fine. But I mean to the point of in a free society like ours, like, you don't want anybody at work or anybody to know you're a Christian, but you know what? You got fire insurance and, hey, when you die, you think you're going to heaven, but maybe you've been spinning your wheels. Maybe you're not growing. Maybe you're you're just really don't possess the the the new nature. And so is there enough evidence to convict you of being a Christian? Could family, friends, enemies testify in court that, yeah, this guy's a Christian? I remember hearing a story of some Russian soldiers. They came to a home that, knocked on the door and and and said, we heard that there's some Christians here. And, they were having a little bible study. And, and so they threatened them. And they they told them, if you wanna live, then you get out of here. You get outside if you wanna live right now. And, several of them got up and left. And and then a couple of them stayed there. And they said, we just wanted to fellowship with the real Christians. You know? They stayed there to fellowship with the real ones. You know? They scared off the other ones. So we'll see. When when pressure comes against the church, we're gonna see who refuses to say no to Jesus. In the tribulation period, we're gonna see who the real believers are because they say no to the mark of the beast. And they're willing to die for their faith. They're willing to, allow their heads to be taken off. So what is the established truth of your profession of faith in Christ Jesus? Are you really one of his? We know that there's sheep and there's goats. We know that there's wheat and there are tares, infiltrating the church. And, so how do we how do we discern? How do we know if someone's real or not? How do we know if we're we, in fact, are believers? So Paul was having to prove what? He was having to prove his apostleship. In Matthew eighteen sixteen, it says, in the mouth of two or three witnesses, every word may be established. He said, I told you before, foretell you, as I was present the second time, and being absent now, I write to them which heretofore have sinned, and to all other, that if I come nigh, I will not spare. So Paul's saying, hey, I'm ready to discipline. I'm ready to bring a taser gun to you guys. You know? Imagine if a pastor had the authority to use a taser gun to people who are rebellious. You know? What do you do with sheep? What do you do with rebellious sheep? How do you deal with rebellious sheep? Shepherds look at Psalm 23. I forget the name of the author, but a great book. A guy that's actually raised sheep. And, you know, rebellious sheep, you know, they get whacked. They the the shepherd deals with them with the staff and the whole thing. But at a certain point, the sheep will become lamb chops, you know, or whatever, mutton, you know, because they're not gonna tolerate an aberrant rebellious sheep leading other sheep astray. So they have a tendency to follow the leader or whatever. And then they have a concept, they have an idea of of of actually what they call a Judas goat. And the Judas goat is in the herd of the sheep, the flock of the sheep, and that Judas goat will actually lead the sheep to the slaughterhouse. And then the Judas sheep the Judas goat is the one that gets to be free, and then the other sheep are led to the slaughterhouse. And so we have to be so careful of infiltration. In Acts chapter 20, Paul said, you know, I've been here three years, and I'm I'm innocent in the blood of every single person here because I cease not night and day with tears to give you the full counsel of God. But I fear, take heed over these sheep, because after my departing cell, wolves come in from the outside and from within among you that are already there. And so it's important for the shepherd to protect the sheep from the wolves and those who have infiltrated and tried to and and typically, it's power struggles. They'll they'll try to develop little factions and power things, just like in the church of Corinth. I'm a Paul, I'm a Paul, so I'm Cephas, you know. And, but keep your eyes on Jesus. And that's that's that's a real delicate balance. And a lot of times, you have to be willing to, lose a lot of people to maintain the integrity of the church. Because you can't let it be man centered, man run, man leveraged, and people threatening the pastor and saying you're you know, you gotta do it this way or we're out of here or whatever. And so it's, you're gonna have opposition. And Paul, the apostle Paul, if he has opposition, how much more the rest of us? And it says against an elder, receive not an accusation, but before two or three witnesses. So if you want the evidence, you wanna bring a an accusation against the pastor, against the apostle Paul. You need two witnesses to establish this fact to, this evidence thereof. And you have to remember that in many cases, I've explained to several of you, the angst against a pastor is not necessarily false teaching. If I teach falsely, every single one of you has to confront me because the authority is the word of God and Jesus is the head of this church. Everyone needs to jump in and say, pastor Rick, that's not what the bible says. But my accusers that have accused me for thirty years, it's never to my knowledge been over what I'm teaching because I let the Bible teach the Bible. So you're gonna have a hard time finding fault with the teaching because it's not my words, it's his words. I don't stand up here and say, I think, and I God spoke to me. I don't do that. And then change the scripture. So many people today have been taught in these churches of I think, and I had a dream, I had a vision. Well, wait a minute. Is it consistent with God's word? Well, he's he's Jonathan the con, and he had a he had a vision. He had a dream. He had a well, did it come to pass? No. Then that means he's a false prophet. It it goes against the word of God. So if you think the authority that you have is such that you're gonna contradict me based upon you what you think or what you feel or your vision or your dream, I'm gonna say, prove it. Prove it. If you can't prove it from the bible, then I'm gonna reject what you think. And so to me, if if what I'm saying I stand up here and say, I'm gonna allegorize the bible. I've interpreted that there's no millennium. That's my opinion. That that's not something I could substantiate or prove with the text, with the word of God. There's overwhelming proof of a literal millennium that's coming. And all of the old testament messianic kingdom fits in to Revelation 20, a thousand year rule and reign of Jesus. So where do leaders think that they can twist the scriptures and act like they're so intelligent, so much smarter than everybody else that I discovered something? I found something that nobody else has ever discovered. Well, I don't do that. I fear God, and I know I'm gonna answer to God for that. So very, very seldom will you hear me say, I think or God told me. Because how can we prove that? I'd rather say Jesus said, the bible says, and let the bible speak for the bible. But typically, what happens is we reach a place where, like with the apostle Paul, people have been seduced and moved in a direction that if I ever say anything bad about Donald j Trump, people hate me. They leave the church. They're angry. Well, don't you love me enough for me to have an opinion? Don't you love me enough to disagree with me and still stay here because I'm teaching the bible? What kind of love is that? So I'm not allowed to have a political opinion about this leader of this country? No. You can't do that. That's sacrilege. Well, that that's evil. You're an evil man. I'm a patriot. I'm a this. I'm a that, and I wear a mega hat. Well, I disagree with you. I disagree. Can't prove it with the bible. And as I look at the track record, he's still war speed Donnie. And tons of people, millions of people have died from the jab. I won't let him get away with that. I won't let him move any further than that. I don't care what he says. And I've lost a lot of people because of that. Because why? Because people are in love with the world. And when I pop your MAGA bubble, you can't cope. And now you can't come up a verse of scripture against me, but, boy, you're mad at me. You're so mad. And that's what they were doing to Paul. They can't come up with a verse of scripture. He's the one that's loved on him, tried to mature him and help him to gain discernment, but they have no discernment. They can't discern between good and evil. They don't know if it's a Judas sheep leading them to the new world order, a new economic system. And so I told you all when we voted for Trump that I voted for him because he would get us to the beast system sooner, which means the return of Jesus Christ sooner. And it's happening. It's happening like crazy. But I wanted to illustrate how nonsensical it is for people to hate me and then begin to accuse me because Revelation 12 verse 10 says, the devil is the accuser of the brethren. These accusations become personal. It's personal attacks against Paul. It's not a scriptural thing that he's done wrong. So he's saying, bring the evidence. And so in second Timothy three verse eight, Paul says, these guys were ever learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. Now sometimes I I hear you guys tell me about the churches that are out there, you watch the videos of them. It's a clown show. It's a it's a talk show of each person trying to get the other guy, you know, set him up for a laugh. And it's it's it's it's unbelievable, clown. In fact, I was thinking this week as I was praying about this. I would not be a Christian. I would walk away from the Lord if that's what Christianity was. It's that bad. There's no way I wanna be a a club member to a clown show dishonoring Jesus. It wouldn't attract me. It wouldn't keep me because I I don't need therapy. I don't need a self help and to feel good. I need the word of God. I need Jesus to speak to me and to transform me from within. And because it's real, because my pastor taught the word of God and didn't hold back and didn't water it down, me and my family began to grow, and my marriage began to become stronger. And we've we've lasted. It's it's a journey. It's a battle. It's getting harder and harder, the attacks and the lies and things that are coming against us. And as a pastor, you know, surviving here for thirty years is a phenomenal miracle. I keep hearing about people wanting to be warriors and stuff, and and they wanna go to foreign countries and, you know, save people and help people that are being murdered or whatever. Well, how about ministering in Kitsap County? Kitsap County is a hard place to minister. You can be a warrior here. You can be a savage warrior here. You know? If you truly are teaching the truth here, you're gonna come under fire. You're gonna you're gonna be maligned, and people are gonna say in a general way, well well, we know what's wrong with pastor Rick. He's just evil. Generality. Oh, he he's unloving. Well, okay. Those are generalizations. What what did I do that was unloving? How am I evil? And Paul's saying in second Timothy three verse eight, ever learning three seven. Ever learning, but never able to come to the knowledge of truth as Jannes and Jambres. So who's Jannes and Jambres? Well, if I'm in Exodus chapter seven, Exodus chapter eight, Aaron and Moses are up against the pharaoh, and the pharaoh brings in his magicians, his sorcerers, his soothsayers. And Paul, with the help of the Holy Spirit, tells us their names. As Jannes and Jambres withstood Moses, you know, so do these men of corrupt minds resist the truth that they're that they're of a reprobate mind, he says in verse eight. He says, as they as Jannes and Jammres resisted Moses, so do these resist the truth. Men of corrupt minds reprobate concerning the faith. The word reprobate means a castaway. It means disqualified. It means you're not legit. You're not real. You're not a Christian. In fact, you're a wolf. And so that's what Paul's leading up to here. You need to examine yourself. Make sure that you're that you're in sync. He says, verse three, since you seek a proof of Christ speaking in me so they need a proof now. If if you need a proof in me, it's the word of God. I'm using the word of God to teach the word of God. I'm not I don't have a new book for you, a new vision, a new dream, a new direction to try and steer you in. I didn't find something in the scriptures nobody's ever found before. I just simply go through the bible, old, new testament, and try to discover Jesus, try to get to know Jesus through the study of his word, Which to you, or was not weak, but is mighty in you. So we can bring discipline if you want. For though he was crucified through weakness, so speaking of Jesus, that he went to the cross and it looked like it was weak, it looks like the devil is gonna win, Yet he liveth by the power of God, raised himself from the dead. For we also are weak in him, but we will live with him by the power of God toward you. So Paul's saying, we may be weak. You may be finding infirmity and things that are weak about me, but we operate in the power of the Holy Spirit. It's the power of the resurrection that, same with Jesus as he said in John chapter 10 verse 18, I have power to lay my life down. I have power to take it again. And then Luke twenty three forty six, he didn't just die. He said, father, into your hands, I commend my spirit. Completely in control, Pontius Pilate. You might think you have power to crucify me, but no man takes my life from me. I willingly lay it down. I have power to lay it down. I have power to take again. That's what Paul is saying. You may find fault in me. You you may you may see me weak as a human being, but we operate in the power of the Holy Spirit. Now something that I have a have to get off my chest as if I haven't already. Why is it people are coming up to me saying, are you okay? I'm at the gym and the guy's like, are you okay? Are you doing alright? Yeah. I'm doing fine. Why are you looking at me like that? And I think it's because I got gray hair. These guys these young guys, they they're looking at me like I'm out of place. And and, are are you okay, man? Are you gonna have a hard tech right here? Dude. Dude, you're not strong? I am. No. I don't go there. But but, you know, it's just so funny the way that they they assume. You know? And, so I I don't want senior discounts. I don't want any of that stuff. You know? I'm I'm strong. And yet, we're all weakening. We're all corrupting. We're all getting our owies and all that sort of thing. But Paul's saying, that's not how we operate. We operate in the power of the Holy Spirit. We rely upon the Lord Jesus. So don't allow these guys to malign and undermine me and say, well, he's just got a weak appearance and all that. He's not mighty in this way as, you know, Apollos or whatever. But we don't trust in that. Our sufficiency is of Christ. It's the Lord Jesus that works through us by his grace. And so he says, for though he was crucified through weakness, yet liveth by the power of God. For we also are weak in him, but we shall live with him by the power of God, toward you. So what is the truth of your life? The established truth. Secondly, the examined truth. Let's examine. Let's look in the mirror rather than pointing a finger. When you're pointing a finger at somebody, first of all, Satan's the accuser of the brethren. I go through the room. Oh, what do I know about her? What do I know about her? Would would you want me to tell everybody what I know about you? Would you want me to be the apostle Paul and really have insight into human nature and what people are capable of? Do you know how much stuff comes across to me, what people are into in this church and doing? You know? So what am I gonna defend myself by saying, look at you? Well, the bible says that Satan's the accuser of the brethren. The bible indicates that that there's now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus who walk not after the flesh but after the spirit. And if we learned anything about first Corinthians 13, we're to love, and love covers a multitude of sins. We sin against each other all the time. That's why I'm saying some of you are incredibly gracious to me and loving because you 100% disagree with me about Donald Trump. And for some people, that's a huge thing. They are mega people with the coins, the whole thing. And you said to your friends when they were leaving, I'm gonna forgive him for this. I'm gonna wait and see what happens. I I forgive him. I'm gonna give him the space to find out for himself maybe. Maybe I'm wrong. But you love enough like you're loving a teenager, like, well, when they get a little bit older, they'll understand. And I'm saying, well, I think I understand, so I'm waiting on you. So that's love. There's a mutual forgiving of each other. Right? There's a mutual space, you know, for each of us to operate how we think we're hearing from the Lord and such. But, people that are dogmatic and it's my way or the highway kind of people, one way, you know, man, they're they're intolerant. They're intolerant of maybe they could be being deceived, you know? And so you gotta wait. And, the irony of it is, we're the church that didn't mask up. We're the church that didn't shut down. We're the church that had the discernment during COVID. And where are these people now? They ran back to the churches that closed. The churches that masked up. The churches that took the money. So why? Well, because we've got a campaign to reelect Donald Trump to make America great again. So you're gonna run back to that? That's what's drawn you to that church? Because they're MAGA people? And there's some big Calvary Chapel pastors that that run that Trump train, and they they draw a lot of people by being in that groove. That Christian nationalism and all. You go against that and, man, you're in trouble with Charlie Kirk and everybody. You better be careful. So the examined truth, verse five. Examine yourselves whether you be in the faith. Prove your own selves. Know you not your own selves how that Jesus Christ is in you, except you be reprobates. This word examine means to scrutinize, to judge, to test, or to essay. It's a word that's used in in metallurgy. And so take inventory of your life. Are you truly a Christian or a reprobate? Are you a fraud? Are you a castaway? The Greek word is adakimos, which means rejection. You failed the test and you failed the trial. So the trial comes along and you melt down. You go away. You quit. And I'm not saying going away from this church. I'm saying you quit Christianity. Hopefully, there's a church out there that helps you to grow and and to mature, and and I just I just bugged you. You're just bugged by me. And that's fine. That's why the Lord has lots of different churches out there. So it means to scrutinize, to judge, to test, or to say, and to prove who you are. Jesus said, you know them by their fruit. So it's the fruit of their life. A woman recently said my fruit is rotten. You got rotten fruit. Well, what makes her a judge? What do you mean by that? Rotten fruit. Unloving, unkind, mean. He's mean. Is there love? Without love, we're nothing. Is it true love? Because many of you find out when you're on Facebook and you expose something as being evil, they start calling you a hater. They start saying you're unloving. So we're talking true love is the fruit. True love, faithful are the wounds of a friend, a kiss of an enemy, or deceitful. To be silent, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, you know, spoke in the time of the Nazi Germany. To be silent in the face of sin is sin itself. You've gotta speak up. So if we were to go to Ephesians five eleven to help me understand this, have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them. So if I'm gonna expose the unfruitful works of darkness, bringing people into bondage and deception, and then now I'm the hater because I exposed it, the devil hates to be exposed. The devil hates for the truth to expose the lies, to expose the darkness. And so Jesus said, you'll know them by their fruit, these false prophets. So true love true love hates sin. So will Jesus reject you? Will he say, away from me, I never knew you that you that practice? And the key there is practicing iniquity. We all sin. If we say we have no sin, we're a liar and the truth isn't in us. But in first John, the emphasis upon practicing sin. Your lifestyle hasn't changed. You cannot Christianize your natural, unregenerate lifestyle. You can't say, well, I'm a Christian stripper. Does that sound funny? I'm a Christian stripper. Well, what do you do for a living? I'm a stripper. I'm a gigolo. I got three wives. I got girls everywhere. But I'm a Christian. Really? You're gonna Christianize. I'm a Christian drug dealer. I'm a Christian alcoholic. I'm a Christian child trafficker. Doesn't that sound strange? It's an oxymoron, as Cathy would say. So we we look at that and we say, well, you know what? Maybe you're not saved. Maybe you didn't don't understand what it means to be saved. Have you heard the word repentance? Did you hear the gospel, but the pastor didn't let you know the importance of repentance, of turning from your sin and turning unto God, and crying out to God, be merciful to me a sinner, And for God to transform and change you, you may have once been an alcoholic. You may have once been in your BC days, these type of guys or women, but not anymore. You're not practicing that sort of sin. Now you may have thoughts. You may fall, but you don't practice. We all sin. We all fall. But when we're convicted by the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit's shown you your heart right now. Some of you guys, some of the folks we've had here, when I let them know that smoking pot is sorcery pharmakeia, and, and that God doesn't approve that it is sin, they quit smoking their their dope that they've been smoking for forty years thinking they were Christians. They repented because they got convicted. And it's more of a recreational use or even even the means of calming you down. You know? What do you turn to? We talked this morning about that, about when you're under pressure, when you're feeling pressure, what do you turn to to calm you down? You can turn to drugs, alcohol. You can turn to shopping, your Amazon account. I need to buy more stuff. I need to calm down. When Kathy wants to calm down, she gives me her arm and she has me just rub it. Then I take her hand and I knead her, her fingers and all that. I do all that and just calms her right down. She just puts her hand across me. We're laying in bed, and I know I'm gonna for the next hour, I'm gonna be doing this to her arm. You know? Just soothes her and calms her down. Whatever it takes. For me, it's cookies. You give me some sugar, give me something sweet, and it calms me right down. The cortisol levels go down. And, I have a tendency to turn toward food to try and calm me down. I gotta be careful of that. And I gotta learn new habits. But I don't think it's gonna get me into hell. You know? It, I just need a bigger body, I guess. That's all. He says, verse six, but I trust, so I love the but. He's putting out there the possibility of reprobates among us. And there is that possibility. But he loves the folks. He's not accusing anybody. He's saying there is this possibility. This does happen in churches. There are goats among the sheep. There are tares among the wheat. I want you to examine yourself because the for three times now, I've been trying to get through to you, and I can't get through to you guys. So maybe part of the problem is you're not a Christian. Kathy says that to me all the time. Not not to me, like, Rick, you're not a Christian. But I said, Kath, we're having so much trouble. This what's going on with this person? Why are they so so aggro against me? Why are they so angry? Why are they coming against us so hard? Rick, maybe they're not a Christian. Maybe they're not saved. You know, Jesus said there'd be those who think they do God's service when they cause you to be taken to prison and killed. They actually think they're doing God's work. Do you think these people are doing God's work to undermine the apostle Paul? They think they are. So you think the holy spirit sent you to this church to destroy this ministry and to character assassinate pastor Rick? You really think you're being led by the holy spirit? That's your objective, your goal in life. Boy, if it wasn't for you, oh, wow. You know? And then they do the fruit thing. Well, where's your fruit? Why why don't you go teach the bible study? Why don't you show us what you got? Why don't you teach the truth and and be able to weather the storms that come? That perseverance, Paul's gonna point to what he suffered, the perseverance he's gone through to the show, the credibility of his ministry. That you're willing to go suffer and go through all that should prove who you are. Will you pass the test? He says, but I trust that you shall know that we are not reprobates. We're not reprobates. Praise the Lord. Wow. I passed the test. I'm a genuine, real, authentic Christian. I'm not a poser. Now I pray to God that you do no evil, that we should appear approved, but that you should do that which is honest, though we be as reprobates. So don't worry about me. You do what's right. That's what I was pointing out when I was pointing at you. Pastor Romaine used to say, when you're starting to point the finger at somebody, notice how many fingers are pointing back. You know? And what you'll discover is the people that are pointing out fault all the time, that they're masquerading. They're posers. They're they're projecting upon you so that nobody will find out what they're involved in, what they're doing. Their home is unstable. Their home doesn't have spiritual leadership, but they wanna point the finger at you. Some of those guys that I had to deal with years ago, they totally melted down later. Kathy was right. Trying so hard to win them to win them over. And where are they now? All they need to do is just prove it. Prove it. That's why sometimes you hear me say, how much you bench press? Quit talking. Show me your power. Show me what you got. Too many talkers. Like I said, you evangelize. You lead people to Christ. You risk everything to plant a church in Kitsap County. Why do you think God's called you to destroy me and my family in this work? I'm not speaking to you in this way. I'm speaking in a general way, the people that that hate me. But the thing is is Jesus said, if they've hated me, they're gonna hate you. Woe unto you when all men speak well of you. If it was politics, I know how I could be popular and liked. But it's not politics. The objective is to be pleasing to Jesus and to teach his word. And if teaching his word makes people hate you, then you have to say, you know, the devil sent them. The devil hates me because we're exposing the lies of the wicked one. He wants more and more people to be deceived. He wants more and more people to take the jab, to be deceived by the whole vaccine thing. If I speak out on it, there's gonna be a whole lot of people that hate me. If I don't speak out on it, then their blood's on my hands. And I don't want their blood on my hands. I don't wanna be responsible for that lie. And many of the pastors that took the jab and shut down and all, they're having heart attacks. They're having strokes. And people in their churches are having heart attacks and strokes and all that. And this is it's not over yet. It's coming again. And so, hopefully, what we learned in this one will apply to the next one. You know? That's how that's how life is. We don't always get it right. So you can do nothing against the truth. You do what's right. For we can do nothing against the truth, but for the truth. So the word of God holds us all accountable. Proverbs twenty one thirty says, there is no wisdom nor understanding nor counsel against the Lord. So God's not mocked. When the apostle Paul was asked to by the Lord in a vision in Acts 18 to go into Corinth and plant this church, Paul really didn't want to. Paul just got whooped on at Lystra. He just got stoned at Lystra, left for dead. He's letting everybody know that we threw much tribulation in in the kingdom of God. And now he's gonna be in this decadent, wicked place called Corinth. And Jesus appears to Paul and says, Paul, no man's gonna set on thee to hurt thee. And Paul, I have much people in this city. That's all Paul needed to hear. And he went in there and risked everything to plant this church. And now many in this church have turned against each other and they've turned against him. How tragic that is. How how how heartbreaking that can be. I mean, you baptize them, you watch them come to Christ, you're trying to get them grounded in in the faith, getting strong, be able to read the bible and discern on their own, like getting your kids going, you know. And then they become teenagers and turn on you. And you're scratching your head like, what's up? And but you love them so much, you're gonna let them mature, let them grow, and find out later that you weren't the enemy. I wasn't the enemy. And so God's not mocked. There's no wisdom nor understanding or counsel against the Lord. You're not fighting against me. You're fighting against the Lord. What is the examined truth of your life in relationship to God's word? The mirror of his word exposes us. And so we're to take inventory. Examine yourselves whether you're in the faith. Prove your own selves, lest you be a reprobate. Now in Psalm a hundred and thirty nine twenty three, the psalmist says, search me, oh God, and know my heart. Try me and know my thoughts. See if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting. The Psalmist is saying, I don't even know my own heart. I can't trust my own heart because the heart's deceitfully wicked above all things, and who can know it? Oprah doesn't know her heart. Don't follow your heart. Don't follow your feelings. Follow the word of God. Your feelings are gonna lie to you. Your feelings are gonna entrap you and victimize you. A lot of times, you don't feel like going to church, but just go to church anyway. Don't rely on feeling. Go by faith. Come by faith and allow the lord, to send you away afterwards saying, I'm so glad I went. I need to hear that. How many times that's happened to me? Search me, oh god. Know my heart. God knows your heart. God's omniscient. He knows everything about you. He knows your thoughts, every thought. And lead me in the way everlasting. Listen to the Holy Spirit. Unless, of course, you attend a nonjudgmental church. People like to take Matthew seven, judge not lest ye be judged. And they try to say that none of us can make any judgments. Well, this word examine means to judge. You be the judge. Examine yourself. Check for the evidence. Is there any evidence that proves that you're a Christian? Is there any evidence there that may say you're not a Christian? That you're just a poser? They profess that they know God, but in works, they deny him being abominable and disobedient and under every good work reprobate, Titus one sixteen. They're professors. Are you a possessor? Are you regenerate? Or you oppose her? They profess a professor. They profess that they know God, but in works, their lifestyle, the way they live, denies the profession of faith. That's not how a Christian lives. You're not the born again lesbian. You're not the born again homo. You're not the born again thief, the born again adulterer, or one that I used in school when they tried to Christianize those terms. Say it was a gene, they were born with it, or they tried to generalize sin that, well, why is that sin any worse than any other? So in the class with the doctor there and all, I said, well, to try and illustrate a point. I said, well, I'm I'm a born again murderer, and you're making me real angry. Well, wait a minute. That's wrong. Hey, don't judge me. You can't judge me. Judge not lest you be judged, man. And then they start to realize, well, where did we go wrong there? Well, the Greek word is kryno, krino, k r I. It's krino, the pronunciation. The word judge there. And it speaks of condemnation. You're not the judge that can condemn, like the woman caught in the very act of adultery. They said the law says the letter of law kills. Let's kill her. She should be stoned. And Jesus said, he that's about sin cast the first stone. And from the eldest to the youngest, they're convicted. Because we've all sinned. And then Jesus said, where are thine accusers? See? The devil's the accuser. He's the he's the Revelation twelve ten. He's the one condemning you, finding fault. Maybe you're in your marriage. Your wife would find fault with you. Your husband would find fault. And it's a character assassination. It's means of control, to control you by constantly condemning you, nitpicking, finding fault. And that's what the devil wants. The devil wants to steal the joy and steal the blessing of your marriage and your relationship. So Jesus, where are thine accusers? Nowhere, lord. And he says, neither do I what? Condemn thee. Go and sin no more. Why? Because sin is bondage. I don't want you to live in bondage. Go and sin no more. Be free. Be free to live right. His his law is there to protect us, not to enslave us or entrap us. He's not a killjoy trying to keep you from having fun with sleeping with a bunch of people. No. It leads to death. It leads to disease. It leads to emptiness. You're being hollowed out. The intention of the sexual union is the two come together and become one. An intimacy on the human plane, there can be no greater except the spiritual plane. The spiritual unity, the oneness of communion, a spiritual unity of two believers becoming one. And so these posers, you're just a poser. You're a professor, not a possessor. It's a dakimasu, a castaway. Now when I was growing up in California, I lived, at the beach there in Huntington Beach, and we'd see these posers come into town. And, they'd, they'd get this stuff and put it on their skin called QT. And this QT would turn their skin orange, so they have orange thing all over, you know? And, because they're really white, you know, and they're gonna go to California, and they don't wanna stand out as a tourist, you know, as a poser. So now they got QT. Then they take and they get some hydrogen peroxide and make their hair all white. You know? And then they, you know, they get some, you know, the kids that don't surf, they posers, inlanders, we used to call them. They weren't locals. They're tourists and kooks. And they would take their cars. They have a brand new car. And, they'd have two racks on top, brand new racks, and, no surf wax on them or anything yet. And then they got a new board, a brand new board that daddy bought them. And they got the board on there wrong rather than, you know, the upside down with the scag at the front and the thing across it. They'd have it going backwards and all. And then their windows are down. They're cruising around looking for chicks. And they got the Beach Boys playing, you know, and they're, you know then they then they have the dastity to go out in the water and to get it in our way. And, I saw a lot of them get beat up in the day. They get pounded for taking off and getting in the way and all. But we know that they're tourists. We know that they're posers. You know? Us kids that grew up surfing, my friends, we barely could afford a car. Our cars barely ran and we couldn't afford two surf racks. We'd have to shove the board in the back or maybe one that we you know, somebody had one on the there and it'd be up there. And and the reason we couldn't afford a good car is because to afford a good car, you either have to have a rich dad or you have to work. And we don't wanna work. We wanted to serve. So we're beach bums and you're at that age where you're beach bummed. And and, you know but the weird thing was is we always had the beautiful girls with us because we were real. We were it's legit. You know? And these posers come to town. They think they're gonna get they're gonna live the surf culture without even being able to surf, never surf. And, it's hilarious. Absolutely hilarious if you see it happening. So, Kathy and I still go down to California once a year. And, I don't know why, but the people there still think we're locals, you know? So I guess we got it. I guess that's where we're from. Now here in Bremerton, what makes you a local here in Bremerton? Wearing Carharts? Wearing boots? If you don't have the boots and the Carhart and the hat and the whole jacket and the whole rain gear and all that, you know, then maybe they'd say, oh, you're from California, and we don't like it because you're from California. You're too tan. People come up to me sometimes and they say, how are you so tan? And they're angry at me. What's the business of yours? You know? Who cares? What's everybody wanna have that that v, that blue vein in their forehead popping out, you know? I mean, so we can be prejudiced, can't we? We can be prejudiced. I'm from Oregon. I'm from Cali. I'm from I'm from Washington, you know? And we can be posers, because as Christians, we're to be loving. And that's that's the weird thing is I'm of I'm of this church. I'm of that church. Well, I thought we're part of the church, the the Lord's church. So what is the truth of your life? The established truth, the examined truth, and thirdly and finally, the encouraged truth. Verse nine. For we are glad when we are weak and you are strong. And this also we wish even your perfection. So picture a parent looking at the kids, and the kids, we're glad when you're strong. We're glad when you exceed us. We we labored so that you'd have a better life than we do. We we sacrificed so that you'd get the degree in college and make more money and all that. We're we're elated about that, but don't use it to treat us as we're losers, you know, that we're not even talking to anymore, that we can't even see the grandkids anymore, you know, because you're so perfected. Well, we're praying for your perfection. We're praying that you would grow and continue growing, maturing, and reset place of perfection. And so some of them are just babes in Christ, and others are reprobates. How do we know which? How do we know who's the babe in Christ and who's the reprobate, the unsaved, the frauds that are among us? And we have to say, who am I? Who are you? Take inventory. That word perfection means spiritual maturity, to be fitted, to be equipped. It's a medical term. A medical term to set a bone. So you come in here, you're broken. You've been broken by life. The objective is for the pastor, with the word of God, by the help of the Holy Spirit, to help you mend that wound. The great not with psychology, not with therapy of men, philosophies of men, but the word of God's living and powerful and sharper than any intuitive sword, dividing us under soul and spirit and joint and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. It's the word of God that can permeate your heart, that sees your heart. Your heart's revealed. Your thoughts are revealed to God. And he sets the bone to adjust a twisted man. That guy's twisted. It's a twisted bone. The diagnosis, you're a little twisted. Boy, can I relate to that twisted? Twisted sister. No. Twisted. Little off. Little different. Basically, a sinner. And when I lived in a sinful house twenty years, still a sinful house, but I mean, when you when you're nowadays, they try and say, well, I come from a dysfunctional family. Well, Jesus came from a dysfunctional family. Welcome to the human race, you know? All of us have dysfunctional families. Brothers, sisters, uncles, aunts, moms and dads that we have no control over. And we all sin, come short of the glory of God. So don't think that your problem's unique because you came from a, you know, a twisted dysfunctional family. We've all been there, done that. The objective is, Jesus, you're here so that Jesus can put your life back together. So that you don't perpetuate and continue down that twisted path. He wants you to learn what it means to be a father, to be a husband, to be a brother, to be a sister, that you don't impose that aberrant behavior upon your sphere of influence with your wife, with your children, with your family. So you come in asking the Lord for help. Lord, I just can't stop drinking. I'm twisted. I'm messed up. Lord, deliver me. Lord, help me. Lord, change the desires of my heart. And God, from the inside, begins to change you and mold and shape you and give you the power, a greater power of victory over the sin that's brought you out of balance. It also means to outfit a ship for voyage or an army for battle. Jesus wants to outfit you. He wants you to be outfitted. He wants to spiritually prepare you for the voyage ahead for all eternity. God wants to prepare you. He's getting us ready for heaven. He's getting us ready for the jobs that we're gonna do during the millennium. But you say, I'm such a mess. My life is coming apart. The word also means the mending of a net. There's holes in the net. The net's just in balls. I I've been having to, tend to the three goats lately. I don't know if any of you ever had to do goat duty, but I've had goat duty since the kids are gone. And they're tethered on ropes. And I cannot believe how big a ball that rope can become and their neck stuck to something. You know? How did you get to singing a ball like this? And how is your brother tied with you? And how if there's a stick on the ground, how's the stick wind up in the rope? You know? What are you guys doing? And even this morning, I had to go out there, you know, and and untangle him. I got one. I I I tethered him to a wheelbarrow, and I turned the wheelbarrow upside down. It's hilarious. He's pulling the wheelbarrow all over the yard, you know? But, a couple days ago, the goats got loose and they went over and started eating Kathy's garden. And she's preparing this garden because it's really Britney's garden. And it really broke her heart because, man, Kathy's been working so hard on this garden and, you know, we're city folks. We're not farmers. We're not garden people. And, ma'am, she's buying this the prop ups and getting everything to grow up and spread out. And she goes out there in the morning. It's all eaten. And she's so bummed. She's even crying. She'll get mad if I tell her that she's crying. I said, you can't cry about this. There's no crying in baseball. You can't do that. And so she went to Port Orchard and she got some already grown plants. And she's trying to get them going. And what broke her heart was these plants started with little seeds, and her grandkids are the ones that started them. You know? And she wanted so much for them to come home and see that. And so, you know, life's not perfect. The mending of nets, the Lord made a way for us to get it. And, and I have to deal with those goats. I tell you, their nets their nets get all of my hair and all the bugs and biting and I'm going like this. And and there's poop everywhere. And it's just like, but you just gotta do it, man. Jesus heals. In Luke four eighteen, the spirit of the Lord is upon me, Jesus said. He's quoting not Isaiah sixty one one and two, but not fully. He pulls back a little bit in from the day of vengeance. But he said, the spirit of the Lord is upon me. The Lord has anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor. He has sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, recovery of sight to the blind, and to set at liberty them that are bruised to preach the acceptable year of the Lord. That's what church should be. It should be a work of the Holy Spirit through the teaching of the word for the Lord to meet you right where you're at. No matter how twisted, how broken, how in a knot, however messed up your marriage is, the only one capable of putting you back together, Humpty Dumpty, is Jesus, the creator of the universe. He says verse 10, therefore, I write these things being absent, lest being present, I should use sharpness according to the power which the Lord has given me. Notice to edification and not to destruction. So the goal is to build you up, not tear you down. Are you a reprobate? No. You're not a reprobate. I don't think you're a reprobate. I don't want you to be a reprobate, but examine because a reprobate means you're disqualified. It means that I'm fighting against the grain. I'm trying to get an unbeliever to act like a believer. And the problem is you're not a believer. You're a poser. So if you're a believer, then follow me. Follow the word of God. Allow the word of God to transform and change you because there's healing, there's help for you here. But if you keep resisting the Holy Spirit and keep fighting against me, then I'm not gonna be able to edify and build you up. You're not what we call teachable. Are you teachable? Now turn to Hebrews chapter five. Hebrews chapter five. This week, I was meditating on this and thinking about this, and and the Lord led me over to Hebrews because I've been really, really trying to figure out how do I get rebellious sheep to yield to the Holy Spirit. To just be willing to grow. It's it's you can't force people. Now verse 11. Here's where I think the church, since the church has not been taught the word of God, I think what's happened now I got I got Shannon and I got Sean here who got saved and baptized, and they didn't go to any of the other churches in the community. I got them fresh. I got them brand new. And they have a desire, and they could tell you their testimony. They're worse off than any of you. Shannon will tell you she's bipolar and she's on 15 different psychotropic drugs. Okay? So no matter how deep your rabbit hole goes, she's lived that and Sean too. Now, they're here. And as I'm talking with her, she has a working knowledge of the scriptures already. Two, three years. She can problem solve and think through problems because she has a working knowledge of the scriptures. She can discern between good and evil because she's developing a working knowledge of the scripture. And she has an appetite and he has an appetite to keep learning all week long. My job's easy. My job's to edify and build them up. So watch what happens here. This is what we're up against. Of whom we have many things to say and hard to be uttered seeing you are dull of hearing. Whole lot of people are dull of hearing. They're like, I think, I think, I think, I feel, I feel, I feel. I don't like that sermon. I didn't feel good. Who cares how you feel? Is it the truth or not? Quit relying upon the sensory apparatus of these churches that get you to feel the warm fuzzies. The warm fuzzies go away so quickly, and the psychology goes away so quickly. You're dull of hearing. Remember how Jesus said to the seven churches, he that has an ear to hear, let him hear what the spirit is saying to the churches? How can I how can I get through? Communication is, I'm gonna send it over, and then it's in your court now of how you're gonna receive it or not. You're to be a Berean and analyze it to see based upon the scripture whether it's so or not. If it's not food, if it's not palatable, if it's not the truth, then you reject it and you come back to me and say, hey. You misquoted that or you said it wrong or that's not what that means. That was just your idea. But that isn't it. They for when for the time you ought to be teachers, so many of you, you've been Christians twenty, thirty years. You ought to be teachers by now. You have need that one teach you again, which be the first principles of the oracles of God and are become such as have need of milk and not strong meat. That's what you're dealing with. You're dealing with babes in Christ. They've been babes for forty years in arrested state of development. And it's not entirely your problem. Most of it has to do with your pastors that surveyed you and realized you don't want the word of God. You want teachers having itching ears that'll tell you what you wanna hear. Now those people are at those churches still. You've engaged here and weathered it, and it's hard, but you're growing. You're getting past it. And you can sit through an hour long sermon now. How about that? No sermonettes for Christianettes. And you're growing. Teachers have need that one teach you again, which be the first so getting grounded in the faith. What's it mean? The foundational truths of Christianity. First principle of the oracles of God are become such as have need of milk and not of strong meat. So I like to give milk and meat in a mixed group. For everyone that uses milk is unskillful in the word of righteousness, for he is a babe. So you don't have a good working knowledge of the scripture. You can't think biblically. You are a prisoner to your feelings or to false prophets telling you what they think to be the truth because they had a dream or a vision on YouTube. But strong meat belongs to them that are a full age. Even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised. And here's the key, Be not deceived. We're living in a time of great deception. And I'm trying to expose the lies of the wicked one. I'm trying to expose the lies of the culture. And I'm fighting against people who can't discern between good and evil yet. To discern both good and evil. Therefore, leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on to perfection. So So he's talking about the basics. Not laying again the foundation of repentance. The gospel is taught today and they don't put in repentance. People said they preach the gospel, but you can't use the word repentance in these seeker sensitive churches. It might offend somebody. Repentance from dead works and faith toward God of the doctrine of baptism and of laying on of hands and of resurrection of the dead and of eternal judgment. A lot of them don't mention hell. You're not allowed to mention hell or sin in these churches. What kind of Christians do you think you're gonna produce? And this will we do if God permit, for it is impossible for those who were once enlightened and have tasted of the heavenly gift and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost. So you've tasted, you've seen, you had your experience. I'm I'm a Christian. I'm born again. And I've tasted the good word of God and the powers of the world to come. So you're excited about prophecy in the world to come. New believers in first Thessalonians, they were Christians for three weeks. These churches don't teach prophecy. 2% of the churches teach prophecy. One third of the bible's prophecy because they say the people aren't mature enough, strong enough to have it. Well, it's babes are taught prophecy. The second coming of Jesus Christ is the gospel. It's not just John three sixteen. And then you stop there. If they shall fall away to renew them again under repentance, seeing they crucified themselves the son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame. For the earth which drinks in the rain that cometh off and upon it and brings forth herbs meet for them by whom it is dressed, received blessing from God. But that which bears thorns, so you'll know them by their fruit. Right? But that which bears thorns and briars is rejected. And there's your adakimos. There's your Greek word, the same word for reprobate. Is rejected and is nigh in the cursing whose end is to be burned. But beloved, I love the contrast. But beloved, you're the beloved. But beloved, we are persuaded better things of you and things that accompany salvation, though we thus speak. For God is not unrighteous to forget your work and labor of love which you have showed toward his name, and that you have ministered to the saints and do minister. And we desire that every one of you do show the same diligence to the full assurance of hope. So keep continuing your walk. Persevere and you'll gain the the, assurance of salvation you're looking for. That you be not slothful, but followers of them who through faith and patience inherit the promises. So let's go back to our text. Edification. To edification, that's the goal. To help you to grow up, to mature. He gave some apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors, teachers, for the perfecting of the saints. That perfecting means to mature you, to help you to grow. For the work of the ministry, once you're mature, once you're, gaining, maturity and growth and discovering your gifts, now you're gonna do the work of the ministry. It's not your Christian celebrity that does it all. All of us collectively exercise our gifts. We all are involved in the work of the ministry. But you have to, first of all, receive before you can give. You have to be taught God's word and have a working knowledge of the scriptures. And and remember, when you study the characters, the apostles that the Lord Jesus took on, they were fishermen. Right? Seven of them were fishermen. You don't think of fishermen as the guys with the credentials, the guys that have been to seminary, the guys that would be a priest or whatever. These are common people like you and I. Just common people. The common people heard him gladly, heard Jesus gladly, because he taught as one with authority. But what you'll discover is these same fishermen, when you put them in a crisis, and it's Peter there in Acts chapter two on the day of Pentecost, He's got such a good working knowledge of the scriptures, even though they're fishermen. They're in God's word, the Old Testament. And now they're able to connect the dots of what's happening in addition to being with Jesus for three and a half years. When the religious leaders took knowledge of them in acts four, they said they were ignorant and unlearned men, meaning they didn't have formal education, but that they had been with Jesus. So you spending time with Jesus in his word is going to equip you, build you up, and strengthen you so that you can do the work of the ministry. Do you see what it's saying there? For the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ to build them up. So all scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God would be equipped, thoroughly furnished for every good work. It's the scripture. It's the word of God that equips you. That's why we are a bible teaching church because we know that you need to be equipped. And that's our job, to equip you. He says, finally, brethren, farewell. Be perfect. Press toward the mark of the prize, the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. Be of good comfort. Be of one mind. Think of the division they've all had. Live in peace. All the factions and fighting and everything, he's exhorting them. Live in peace. And the God of love and of peace shall be with you. Greet one another with a holy kiss. Be affectionate to one another. Hug people like Brenda hugs them and just squeeze the life out of them. You know? Hug them like you mean it. You ever had those kind of hugs where they in your back, don't get near me. Not Brenda. All the saints salute you. You're a saint. You're not an ape. You're not reprobates. See, Paul's not Paul's not slamming like, you're a bunch of reprobates. He's wanting them to examine. His part of the problem, maybe you're not saved yet. I don't think that's it. I think you're the beloved. I think you're saints. I think you're doing well. But you need from time to time to examine because you sure have been incorrigible, incorrigible. You sure have been obstinate. You've been sucked into a a Korodathin and an Abiram kind of a coup against me. Do you really wanna go there? Do you want the ground to open up and swallow you? Don't go there. Now notice verse 14. I love this verse. In this verse, you're gonna see the trinity. We say, pastor, the word trinity is not in the bible. I know. The teaching is one God and three persons, father, son, holy spirit. Well, pastor, the word rapture is not in the bible. Yes, it is if you read the Latin Vulgate. But more importantly, in your King James English bible, it's the phrase caught up, the Greek word harpazo in the Latin rapturus. So don't form your argument against the rapture because the word rapture is not in the bible. Because then I'm gonna have to say to you, well, the word trinity is not in the bible. But the truth is in the bible. You see what I'm saying? So here you go. The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, second person of the trinity. And the love of God, first person of the trinity, God the father. And the communion, communion, the oneness of the Holy Ghost, the third person of the Trinity, be with you all. Amen. So somebody says to you, hey, there's many gods. No, there's not. There's one God. One god in three persons, father, son, holy spirit. Explain that to me. I can't. I can't explain it. It's just true. One god in three persons. Well, it's like water. You got the liquid water. You got the ice, and you got steam. It's all water. You know? You can go there if you want. Try it. But, really, you don't understand. I don't understand it. One god and three persons. Right? The triunity of the Godhead wants fellowship with men. That's the important thing. The only requirement is that you are in Christ Jesus. Notice the phrase, in Christ Jesus. You're a reprobate, lest you be in Christ Jesus. Examine yourselves. Are you in the faith? Are you in Christ Jesus? If you're not, then you're outside of Christ Jesus. Christ is not in you, and you're a reprobate. You're a castaway. God will say, away from me, I never knew you, you that practice iniquity. Are you born again, Nicodemus? You gotta be born again. It's not about joining the church. It's not about being a member of the Elks Club or the VFW or Baptist or Calvary Church. There's no membership. You gotta be born again. You gotta be born into the church. You must be a new creation in Christ Jesus. Body, soul, and spirit. Jesus must be in your heart indwelling you, transforming you, lest you be a reprobate. Take inventory. What is the truth of your life? Do you have Jesus? In Matthew twenty five ten, and while they went to buy, the bridegroom came, and they that were ready went in with him to the marriage, and the door was shut. You remember Noah, the preacher of righteousness for a hundred and twenty years? And then there came a day where the door was shut, and nobody could get in. The door is still open. Whosoever will, let them come. And so the bride, the posers, you had five wise, five foolish. They all look like they're brides. But the actuality, the real genuine authentic ones were the ones with the oil. What's the oil symbolic of? The Holy Spirit. People are in churches without the Holy Spirit, without being regenerated, without being transformed. There's still body and soul. They need to be born again. And that's why at the end of the service or within the sermon, I'm always preaching the gospel, inviting people to receive Christ. You say, wait, everybody in here is saved. I don't know that. I know that I'm saved. And you might invite a friend or a relative, and they might think they're saved, but maybe they're not saved. And maybe they need to hear the gospel. Maybe they need to hear the Holy Spirit tugging on their heart saying, hey, as you examine yourself, you know what? Why don't you just get rid of all doubt? Why don't you just get rid of all doubt and surrender your heart and life unto me and quit trusting in your good works and how good a person you are? Why don't you just come as a child? Come as a sinner. God, be merciful to me a sinner. And the door was shut. Afterward came also the other virgin saying, lord, lord, open to us. But he answered and said, verily I send to you, I know you not. Your reprobates, your castaways, your counterfeits, adokimas. Why? There's no oil. You're unprepared. How prepared are you for the return of Jesus Christ? Are you prepared? Got your satellite phone, got your food, got your water storage, your ammo, your guns. You got all that stuff for the apocalypse. Do you know the word apocalypse is the word for revelation? The book of Revelation is the apocalypse. You know the definition of apocalypse? The unveiling. The unveiling of Jesus Christ. The volume of the book is written of him. So the apocalypse, the end of the world is the beginning of the new world, isn't it? The beginning of the kingdom age at Armageddon. He's gonna he's gonna destroy the Antichrist and the false prophet with the sword of his mountain, the brightness of his coming. In Jeremiah 66 verse 30, reprobate silver. Shall men call them because the Lord has rejected them. So the silversmith, he gets rid of the dross. He gets rid of the impurities. And how does he know it's authentic, real, genuine? When he can see his face in the reflection of the molten metal. Can people see Jesus in you? Can they see his face? He says, watch ye therefore, Matthew 25 verse 13. For you know neither the day nor the hour when the son of man cometh. So don't be left behind. Don't be left behind because you have no oil, because you're not a believer. The five wise are believers. The five wise are the ones with the indwelling holy spirit living and dwelling within them. They're born again. You are secure. You're assured. You're not a reprobate. You don't need to worry about not being ready or being left behind. But if you are left behind, then don't take the mark of the beast in the tribulation period. Don't take it. Have you taken inventory of your life? Are you ready? Are you prepared for eternity? Examine yourselves whether you be in the faith. Prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you? I love that. Jesus Christ is in you. Except you be reprobates. Now that's a new word that I've taught you today three times in your text. So anybody that gives you trouble, just say, you're a reprobate. You're just a reprobate. It's a great word. I'm a what? Yeah. You're a depraved reprobate. See how that goes for you. Let's pray. Father, we come before you. And Lord, we thank we're so thankful for the buts, the but gods. We're thankful for the contrast, the conjunction that as Paul lays out as you lay out a scenario, a picture of reality for many that don't know you. And as we can look and and take inventory, Lord, we're reminded, Lord, that that we're in the beloved, that we're in Christ, that we're a saint. We're not an ain't. That we have you living and dwelling within us, and our spirit bears with us witness with your spirit that we're children of God. And, Lord, we we know that we know that we know that you've transformed and changed changed us, and you continue to transform and change us, Lord. We have no fear of losing our salvation, Lord, because no man's gonna ever be able to pluck us out of your hand. And that work that you've begun in us, Lord, we're confident that you're gonna complete it until the day of Jesus Christ. So, Lord, we wanna rest in you. We wanna rest in your finished work as you said, it is finished. Father, we wanna grow in faith. We wanna be equipped. We wanna be edified and built up and strengthened. We don't wanna remain in a rested state of development, Lord. We don't wanna remain as babes. So, Lord, give us a great appetite. A great voracious appetite for your word. To study your word. To be students of your word. To attend a church that teaches your word that can take us through the scriptures. And Lord, help us to have discernment when we're watching YouTube. Help us to know the videos that are good and and the videos that are junk based upon your word. Help us to have that discernment in these last days that we be not deceived. Continue to lead and guide us into all truth. And help us, Lord, to lead others to the cross. Lead others to that place of repentance. That place of confessing Jesus Christ as Lord. And while your heads are bowed and your eyes are closed, as you maintain a posture of prayers, you continue to pray. Maybe there is somebody here this morning that doesn't know Jesus. Christianity is not a membership. It's a relationship with Jesus Christ. He wants you to know him. He said to the others, the reprobates, away from me. I never knew you. Do you know Jesus? The seven sons of Sceva, the demons, they said, Paul, we know. Jesus, we know. But who are you? And they leaped upon him and stripped him of their clothes and all. Do you know God? Do you know the true living God? The demons, they believe and tremble. Do you believe? Have you deposited your trust? Are you dependent? Have you surrendered your eternal destiny upon the person of Jesus Christ? That he's sufficient, that his blood's sufficient for all your sins and trespasses. Anyone here this morning, just lift your hand up. We wanna lead you in prayer as you receive Christ. The bible says there's rejoicing in heaven among the angels when just one sinner repents. God saves by few, not by many. God used 300 with Gideon, not 30,000, not even 10,000. Just 300. God can do great things with you. Anyone here this morning? Just lift your hand up. Father, thank you for the assurance of salvation. That there's no reprobates in the room. That we're all saints. That we're all believers. We've all been born again. That our name is already written in the lamb's book of life. That before the foundation of the earth, Lord, the foundation of the world, that your sons, the lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world, that you knew us, that you predestined us, and in your foreknowledge, you called us. Lord, you've you've saved us, Lord. And you even see us glorified already. So father, we pray evermore that we would enjoy our relationship with you. That we'd rest in you by faith. That it's not a works relationship. It's a love relationship resting in you, Lord. Live your life through us, Lord. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.