Well, last week we stopped at Miletus, which
is about 28 to 30 miles south of
Ephesus.
Lord willing, we'll be visiting Ephesus next year
on our Israel tour, and again, one of
the most amazing cities that they have on
the face of this earth.
An amazing thing to see and walk through,
to see the amphitheaters and the administration buildings
and the theaters and the public bathhouses, things
that just really blow your mind because of
the advanced technology and things that they had
way back in the Apostles' day, back in
60 A.D., when it was flourishing.
And so Paul is passed by this very
city, and he feels in his heart that
he'll never see them again in this life.
He's on his way back to Jerusalem.
He wants to keep, at least get there
by Pentecost.
Now, he doesn't know that in God's sovereignty,
he is losing his freedom as he knew
it.
The next few years of his life will
be as a prisoner of Rome, and yet
God uses him in the most dynamic way
by God overriding Paul's choices and decisions, and
yet still anointing him on high with the
Holy Spirit and using him in the government
of Rome, Caesar's household, in a powerful way.
But he had such a concern.
One thing I noticed about the Apostle Paul
and about most godly men, they wept a
lot because of sin.
Now, certainly they wept because of their own
sin, but it's interesting as you look at
the Bible how real men can weep and
are not ashamed of it.
You remember Jesus wept openly at the tomb
of Lazarus.
Jeremiah is referred to as the weeping prophet.
And there are several places in Paul's letters
where he confessed, he wept, he shared weeping,
and his concern most of all was the
false teachers and the heresies and the apostate
teachers that would come in and try and
ravage the church and lead people astray after
he left the scene.
We'll find out there is no such thing
as the apostolic succession.
Many cults claim to have apostolic succession, that
certain keys are handed down from the apostles
to the men following behind them, and Paul
shows us that that is not so.
After the original apostles, there can be apostles,
but never like the original twelve that he
handpicked.
But we see that in Mormonism, we see
that error in Roman Catholicism as they pass
the keys to Peter and after Peter to
the popes and things like that.
But Paul contradicts that here.
So as he sent for the elders, as
they represented the church in Ephesus, they came
to meet with Paul.
Probably down near the dock, he didn't go
far from the ship.
And when they were come to him, he
said unto them, You know from the first
day that I came into Asia, after what
manner I have been with you at all
seasons.
You've seen my life.
It's a wonderful thing to see the life
of a godly man or woman and watch
the consistency and the pattern of their life
that glorifies God.
What a beautiful example.
We see the consistent manner of life of
Billy Graham.
I happen to have been given the privilege
to see the pattern and the consistency and
manner of life of my own pastor, Chuck
Smith.
I have been given the privilege of serving
here for many years with several pastors and
being around many elders and families in this
church.
And I do nothing but thank the Lord
for their consistency and their holiness and their
faithfulness to Jesus Christ.
I've seen many, many people start out great.
And we hear the tragic story of on
the way, what a tragic fall.
Someone who has left the Lord.
Someone who has apostatized.
Or as Paul said, Demas loving this present
world has forsaken me and gone back into
the world.
What an honor and a privilege to see
life and see the manner and the consistent
pattern of someone who really loves Jesus Christ.
Tremendous for the body of Christ.
Paul said, You know in all the times
you've been exposed to me what I've been
like.
Serving the Lord.
Notice Paul did not serve man.
Paul was anything but a man pleaser.
He said, If I be a man pleaser,
I'm not the servant of Christ.
And so it didn't matter if the person,
what their social status was.
What their importance or their non-importance were.
Paul was equal and just and fair and
loving to everybody on an equal basis.
He didn't show preference.
He wasn't influenced by pomp and wealth and
position.
And if somebody at position needed a rebuke,
Paul was faithful to Christ and gave the
rebuke.
He wasn't afraid of offending or losing friendships.
He was more concerned about the glory of
God.
He loved God.
And so you've seen that.
He didn't disregard somebody in the crowd if
they had less material things or if they
had less importance.
Everyone was equal in the eyes of Paul.
Because everyone in the eyes of God are
equal.
No man of power or importance has any
kind of an advantage over the common person.
Everybody is accountable and must abide by God's
rules equally.
That's the way God operates.
But notice how Paul served.
Serving the Lord with all humility of mind.
He wasn't an arrogant sort of a guy.
Drawing attention to himself.
Verbalizing the things of the Lord in such
a way to draw attention to himself.
We can be clever.
And I've been around people and they have
a way of touching the glory in a
very subtle way.
Maybe raising their voice a little bit louder
in the crowd.
Or maybe trying to stand out a little
more in the music group.
Dressing just a little, just a notch.
Or somebody's like, you know, they've got to
dress bizarre.
Now they act like they're humble, but they
dress so weird just so you'll notice them.
And then when you meet them, you wonder
what is there to notice?
There's always somebody that needs to draw attention
to themselves.
Well, and touch the glory.
Or say that, you know, it was their
prayer or their faith.
In a way to draw attention to themselves.
But see, that's not humility of mind.
When you have humility of mind, you know
that apart from Jesus Christ, we are worthless.
Apart from the work of the Spirit of
God in our lives, we can accomplish nothing.
And so when something is accomplished, there's nothing
to boast about.
There's nothing to swell up a little bit
about and get a little pompous and act
a little more spiritual than somebody.
Humility of mind?
Well, praise the Lord.
Somebody thought that, you know Billy, you don't
get excited.
Someone walked in the other day and they
were just all excited.
They were listening to our radio program and
the Lord healed them.
And they came to the church to tell
me that while they were listening to the
teaching, they just were getting so into it
and God healed them.
I said, oh, praise the Lord.
I did.
How can you get excited?
God did it.
I said, isn't the Lord good?
It had nothing to do with the radio
program.
It certainly wasn't my voice.
And I know I don't have the gift
of healing.
You can tell by listening to me.
If I had the gift of healing, I
wouldn't be all clogged up right now.
And I like this, with many tears.
The tears, particularly the false teachers.
All of the disruptive, false things that, remember
Paul brought out in his letter to, I
think, to 2 Thessalonians, about the mystery of
iniquity that does already work.
That Satan was seeking to infect the church,
put the leaven in the church, so to
speak.
Knowing as soon as the apostles were gone
to come in with some kind of a
weird thing.
And temptations.
His life was constantly being threatened.
Physical abuse.
People turning on him.
His own friends.
It's unbelievable the things that Rosemary and I
have heard about ourselves.
And we get home sometimes and we hear
things that are said about us.
And we go, why in the world would
they say those things about us?
What have we ever done to them?
We have never had dinner together.
We've never gone anywhere together.
We've never asked them for money.
We've never asked them to do something for
us.
Why would they say those things about us?
We can't figure it out sometimes.
Why they would, and some of it seems
like it's so filled with hatred.
Just resentment and hatred.
What did we ever do to them?
Now multiply that in Paul's life.
Multiply that.
As God is using him so powerfully.
Because he wasn't a man pleaser.
Because he was faithful to God.
Invariably, on a regular basis, somebody would, you
know, have trouble.
Maybe they could get along with Paul until
they're confronted with their own walk with Christ.
And rather than change to maintain the friendship,
Paul would be faithful to the Lord.
And so they'd have to react at Paul.
Because they weren't going to change.
So Paul becomes the bad guy.
And it shows that he hurt.
It hurt him.
Many tears and temptations.
Which befell me by the lying in wait
of the Jews.
His own countrymen.
People that he at one time worshipped with.
But now he's walking with Christ.
And now there's this deep resentment and animosity.
And attempts to harm him.
Now we know that Paul taught to the
Ephesians that we wrestle not against flesh and
blood.
He knew that behind human agency and actions,
there's the invisible realm of Satan to try
and harm.
To combat the gospel.
But still, you know, when you look at
the person and say, well, what is your
reasoning?
I think one of the most difficult things,
and you've probably experienced this, is to hear
someone say something about you.
And begin to draw a little crowd of
tail-bearing and back-biting and whispering about
something.
And yet they've never come to you to
verify it.
They just run around repeating the story, talking
about you.
But they've never come to your door and
said, you know, is this true?
I heard this about you.
Is this true?
You're the one person they never go to.
Yet they spread the lies.
Well, Paul lived under that.
Maybe that's happened to you.
But yet, look at the love that he
has to get the truth out.
And how I kept back nothing that was
profitable unto you.
Paul didn't serve the Lord for his own
profit.
He served the Lord for the profit of
others.
All he wanted to do was explain and
get the truth of Jesus Christ to other
people.
Not to manipulate or throw an obligation, or
maybe six months down the road, remind them
of a favor.
A spiritual favor.
All Paul wanted to do was to get
people excited about Jesus Christ.
To follow Jesus Christ.
Paul didn't even want people to follow him.
Now he said, now watch my life for
an example.
But follow Jesus Christ.
That's who you follow.
I've showed you and I've taught you publicly.
And from house to house.
Not stadium to stadium, air-conditioned auditorium to
air-conditioned auditorium.
The great apostle Paul, probably the greatest servant
in the New Testament other than Jesus Christ,
didn't mind teaching home Bible studies.
For his own ego and satisfaction, he didn't
need large crowds to serve.
A house.
If the door was open, Paul said, hey,
I'll teach the study.
Testifying both to the Jews and also to
the Greeks.
Repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord
Jesus Christ.
Change your opinion about God.
Find out about Jesus Christ, how wonderful he
is.
Know that he's the Savior.
He's the only way for the forgiveness of
sins.
The only way to heaven.
The way.
The only way to heaven.
And now, behold.
I go bound in the Spirit.
In other words, his own spirit.
He said, I do not have the freedom
to try and protect myself anymore.
I go bound in the Spirit unto Jerusalem,
not knowing the things that shall befall me
there.
Save that the Holy Ghost witnesseth in every
city, saying that bonds and afflictions abide me.
Now, the question is, was Paul out of
God's will?
Not necessarily.
The Spirit wasn't saying, don't go.
The Spirit was saying, this is awaiting you.
It's going to be difficult.
The Holy Spirit didn't say, don't go.
We know that in other cases in Paul's
life, he was smitten with a sickness to
change direction because of his self-will.
There were times when God used Satan to
change the direction of Paul.
He was so determined to go to a
certain area to share the gospel.
But if he did go that way at
that time, he may have been taken out
of this earth before his time.
Satan may have been victorious over his life.
And so God actually used the enemy, used
sickness to change his direction, to hinder him
and close doors.
He recorded that.
The Spirit often spoke audibly to Paul.
And the Holy Spirit will speak audibly even
in this day to our hearts.
The thing is, today there is so much
external noise that often we don't hear the
voice of the Lord.
He does speak day in and day out.
But there's just so many other distractions that
we just don't hear the voice so often.
It's still a small voice.
So I don't believe he was out of
God's will.
The Lord didn't say, don't go.
He's just saying, if you continue in this
direction.
Much like he told the Apostle Peter, remember
he told Peter after he was baptized in
the Holy Spirit and he no longer feared
death and no longer tried to control and
preserve his life, the flesh, was ready to
deny himself daily, take up his cross and
follow the Lord wherever he led him.
Remember, the Lord has shown him by what
manner of death he's going to die.
And he said, now I know shortly I'm
going to put off this, my tabernacle, my
tent, this temporary thing that I'm dwelling in,
the real you, the real me, my spirit
and my soul.
And Peter didn't flinch.
That's why it's so important to be baptized
in the Holy Spirit.
Remember, Jesus said, Terry in Jerusalem, until you
are baptized from on high in the Holy
Spirit, with the Holy Spirit, that you may
be a witness unto me, a martyr, or
not afraid to die, not to speak in
tongues, not to have the gift of miracles.
Those things are all, they follow along and
God adds those things in later.
But the purpose of the baptism in the
Holy Spirit is, I'm not afraid to die
for Christ.
I'm not some coward when I'm not sitting
in the pew.
And you see, Paul was no longer a
coward.
In fact, Paul could care less about his
life anymore.
All he lived for was Jesus.
Notice, after the Spirit warned him and told
him what was awaiting him, he said, but
none of these things move me.
Neither count I my life dear unto myself.
Paul was at a point now where he
didn't care.
I have no goal or agenda to have
a little chunk of money set aside so
I can serve more fully down the road.
Well, if I have a guarantee of, you
know, blue cross and blue shield, then I
might just get a little more involved, you
know.
But you've got to take care of the
future.
You know, Y2K, you don't know what's going
to happen here.
The computers all may go down.
And after all, man's got to have food,
you know.
I don't know what's going to, where am
I going to live?
You know, you've got to think.
Paul said, you know what, I don't care
what happens to me tomorrow.
I am so filled with Jesus.
He has got so much of my life
now.
I don't belong to myself anymore.
It says, you see, he that denies himself
will save his life.
He that seeks to save his life in
this life will lose it.
And then Jesus is going to say, what
does it profit him in?
So you get your financial security, you've got
everything laid out and played out for the
future, and you're all set, and you lose
your soul.
What does it profit you?
To get to a point in your life
and there's no eternal rewards.
You haven't lost your salvation, but no eternal
rewards.
There's been nothing stored up and planned in
glory where moth does not eat and rust
doesn't corrupt.
You see, Paul said, hey, my life doesn't
belong to me anymore.
I don't care.
He's promised to take care of me tomorrow,
the day after, whether the computers go down,
whether there's a Y2K or a third world
war before the rapture or whatever.
I'm not afraid.
He's promised to take care of me.
I'm free.
I've denied myself.
I'm taking up my cross and following him.
It's amazing.
You can tell the degree of death to
self by the panic and the fear of
the future in an individual.
No matter what they profess, but you see,
their degree of fear of the future, what
if, and their actions prove how much they
have died to self like Paul or like
anybody.
That's it.
I'm trusting God.
Now, I'm not going to act like a
fool.
I'm not going to be irresponsible as a
rational human being, but I'm not going to
be afraid either.
The Lord's got control of my life.
And he's not an evil God.
He's a faithful provider, you see.
And neither do I count my life during
to myself.
I'm not going to try and save my
life.
I want to lose it for Christ's sake
so that I might finish my course with
joy.
You know, Jesus taught, said, He that having
once put his hand to the plow, and
even looking back, not turning back and going
back, but looking back, is not fit for
the kingdom of God.
So, Paul, you see, and what's he saying?
You know, there's a lot of people that
start out serving the Lord and then they
back off.
They quit.
The pressure, someone talks them out of something,
the fear, or maybe, I don't know, that
God will provide for them in the future.
Then all of a sudden, they aren't doing
anything anymore for the Lord.
They're just preparing down here.
You see, they're seeking to save their life,
and they lose all their joy.
Paul said, I don't count my life during
to myself that I may finish my course
with joy.
Six years later, you remember in that Roman
jail, he's writing to Timothy, 2 Timothy, I
think it is, in chapter 4.
He says, you know, my time is at
hand to be offered up.
It's there.
As the final sacrifice for my Lord, my
time is at hand.
I finished my course.
I fought the good fight.
And he had joy.
He's about to be beheaded, and he had
joy.
Now, that's the work of the Spirit, you
see.
That's the grace of God.
That's the faithfulness of God.
No matter what the future holds, he's going
to be there with you and for you.
I see people, they're so concerned about making
it down here that they've lost all their
joy.
He says, you keep serving your joy.
You'll have this joy.
You'll finish your course with joy.
And the ministry which I have received of
the Lord Jesus to testify the gospel of
the grace of God.
Oh, the unmerited favor of God.
The grace of God.
All that I need from God, whether it's
spiritual, emotional, physical, material, the grace of God
will impart it to me.
So I don't have to worry.
I don't have to be bound up with
fear and worry.
I can be totally released and free to
take the cross, whatever it is for me,
and follow him.
He's going to provide for me.
He's going to protect me.
And there's nothing more joyful than serving God,
following God, the unmerited favor of
God.
I've discovered that he's done things for me
that I don't deserve, ever.
I ever could deserve.
That's his grace.
That's where God loves to operate the most.
Mercy and grace.
His unmerited favor.
Now, some people deal in justice.
Justice is you get what you deserve.
They can be, you know, fairly easy to
get along with.
But if you do something wrong, you're going
to receive justice.
Justice is you're going to get what you
deserve.
Now, there's mercy.
You don't get what you deserve.
I deserve to go to jail.
But the judge showed me mercy.
And I don't.
I get what I don't deserve.
Or what I do deserve, I don't get.
Then there's the epitome, the greatest thing, is
the grace of God.
I'm getting what I could never deserve.
It's superior to justice and mercy.
I don't deserve it.
I could never earn it.
Yet God is pleased to impart it to
me.
To show his love for me.
That's what Paul said.
He wants to testify the good news of
the grace of God.
In other words, you don't have to be
afraid to hold back from God.
You open yourself up to his grace.
To constantly give to you, to me, what
we could never deserve.
And that's what pleases God.
To operate in grace.
And now, behold, I know that you all
among whom I have gone preaching the keno
of God shall see my face no more.
Wherefore, I take you to record this day
that I am pure from the blood of
all men.
Paul was faithful.
Now, why was he pure from the blood
of all men?
For I have not shunned to declare unto
you all the counsel of God.
He taught all the scriptures.
He didn't try to start a movement of
just faith.
Or a movement of end times only.
Or a movement of taking all the scriptures
and his pet scriptures, holiness.
Or build a church on the baptism of
the Spirit and the gifts of the Spirit
only.
And that's all you'd hear from Paul over
and over again.
Wherever he was with teaching on, oh, why
you need tongues today.
And the baptism of the Spirit and the
gifts of the Spirit.
And there's the weakness of the church today.
You can just about identify what portion of
truth is their favorite topic when you walk
in.
He shared it.
And that's what's so wonderful, why it makes
us so joyful to serve the Lord.
He gives you everything you need from Genesis
to Revelation.
He says, now, just share it.
It will automatically keep the sheep healthy if
they'll partake of it.
If they'll take all the counsel of God.
Now, I have never, in all the years
I've been a pastor, had someone knocking on
my door with continual troubles that read their
Bible.
That read all the counsel of God.
Once they begin to get all the counsel
of God in them.
And it's an interesting thing.
Remember, David writes in Psalm 119 that he
delights in, I delight in my testimonies, oh
Lord, for they are my counselors.
All the professional help you need.
All the counseling you need.
Really, if you just read this from cover
to cover, all the counsel of God, you'd
be very, very healthy.
You'll have no problems whatsoever.
And the Spirit of God will reveal to
you doctrine, the balance of all the teachings
of the Bible, a clear picture of Jesus
Christ, the Trinity, the second coming, the baptism
of the Holy Spirit, love, redemption, everything you
need.
And God wrote the book so it's perfectly
balanced.
What do they do?
You know, when you go to an athlete's
training table, when you're playing football, they have
special dieticians to balance the meals so these
guys can be these human machines, healthy and
powerful.
And all the nutrients are going into the
body to keep these athletes healthy.
They have trained dietitians to give balanced meals
continually so the body, the machine that God
designed can function, getting all the nutrients, all
the vitamins, all the elements that it needs,
the amino acids and the trace elements, everything
to keep the body fit and healthy.
Well, God did the same thing spiritually.
And when someone's not reading their Bible like
they should, it's amazing how they're knocking on
the door, I don't know what's going on
in my life.
I've got problems.
Sometimes it's very legitimate.
And if you can get them into the
Word.
Now, sometimes they come in and they try
to make you their Jesus.
That's all they want to do is spend
the rest of their life coming back, please
counsel me, say something nice to me.
I think I lost my salvation.
Tell me God still loves me even though
I'm fornicating.
Tell me I'm not going to get lung
cancer.
I still smoke.
I know it troubles me and I'm tormented
with it.
And you try to tell them, look, God
still loves you.
But you don't have to go through this.
You don't have to be knocking on our
door all the time.
If you'll just read your Bibles, Jesus Christ
is the great physician.
Whatever your emotional makeup and whatever this blind
spot in your life may be right now,
if you just read your Bibles on a
continual basis, you're going to get everything you
need.
It's the light.
He is the light of the world.
He'll shine light in the darkness.
It'll direct you.
It'll give you spiritual health.
Everything you need will take place.
And please don't get the idea that we
don't counsel.
But it's amazing how people get a little
upset because we keep saying, now, read your
Bible.
Have you read this?
No.
Well, how long have you known the Lord?
Well, I got saved in 1983.
And you haven't read this yet?
Well, I go to a lot of Christian
concerts.
I listen to the radio.
But don't you read your Bible?
Well, I don't have time.
Why?
Well, I go to concerts.
And pretty soon, you see, if that persists,
I'll start going to the wrong concerts again.
I want to go to all the concerts.
And yet they're tormented.
I can guarantee you, if you just read
your Bible, you'll have no problems.
You'll have no problems.
God will honor it.
You'll be the healthiest, most joyful, strengthened, balanced
Christian there is.
It'll take you.
There'll be no emotional problems, no torment, no
fatigue, no Satan can't come in and deceive
because you'll have discernment.
You'll learn the wiles of the enemy.
You'll know everything.
God's promised it.
He's promised it.
So Paul said, I've not shunned to declare
unto you all the counsel of God.
Now take heed, therefore, unto yourselves.
You know, so many times I think I
make the mistake of taking heed of someone
else.
Let's take heed of ourselves.
Let's get the speck out of our or
the beam out of our own eye before
we try to take the speck out of
someone else's eye, Jesus said.
Take heed to yourself.
Lord, search me.
Search my heart, Lord.
See if there's any wicked thing in me.
Now take heed, therefore, unto yourselves and to
all the flock over which the Holy Ghost
hath made you overseers.
Now, remember they were bishops.
Now there's three different words that mean the
same office here.
Bishop, Presbyteros, Elder.
They're all the same office.
Kind of like a teaching, like a pastor,
a teaching pastor.
He said, now God's made you overseers and
look at the responsibility of the pastor.
Feed the church of God.
That's all you have to do.
Please, feed them.
Don't turn the church into an entertainment center.
Feed them.
Don't manipulate them.
Don't coerce them.
Don't beat them.
Feed them.
You remember Peter after his failure and then
Jesus recommissioned him and Jesus knew that Peter
loved him.
You remember as he brought him and drew
him back into the ministry, he said, Peter,
lovest thou me more than these?
His friends were standing there in the fish
and the nets and everything, his job.
He said, Lord, thou knowest I love thee.
He said, if you love me, if you
want to prove you love me, feed my
lambs, my little lambs.
In other words, take care of the little
children.
Make sure they're taught the word of God.
That's how you prove you love God, by
feeding his sheep as a pastor.
He didn't say, love my people.
That's automatic.
But if you love God, he said, Peter,
if you want to prove you love me,
feed my church.
Nothing else.
Don't put pressure on them to give or
to serve.
You just feed them.
Teach them the truth and I'll take care
of the rest.
And remember, he said to Peter, my sheep,
they don't belong to some organization in Rome
or in St. Louis.
You don't belong to some organization that meets
in a skating rink.
You belong to Jesus.
You're his.
And I have the privilege to tell you
that.
He's a wonderful shepherd.
He'll never forsake you.
He'll always rescue you if you call on
him.
Which he hath purchased with his own blood.
Now, isn't that interesting?
Here's a direct statement that says that Jesus
Christ is God.
A lot of people miss that.
He has feed the church of God which
he hath purchased with his own blood.
Well, certainly that can't be God the Father
because God is the Spirit.
So here's a direct reference that Jesus Christ
who shed his blood is God.
And you know something?
The Lord told me what his blood type
was.
It's the same as mine.
Yeah, it is.
Be positive, Bill.
I know.
For I know this, that after my departing
shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not
sparing the flock.
Also of your own selves shall men arise,
speaking perverse things to draw away disciples after
them.
Now, notice Paul says, I'm going to depart.
He didn't pass his mantle on to somebody
else.
Now, after my departing and then someone steps
in succession in my apostolic office.
It's not in the Bible.
It's an invention of certain groups in the
body of Christ to make themselves sound important.
But he said there are going to be
departing wolves, or after I depart there will
be wolves coming in.
Grievous wolves.
And they'll try to make disciples after themselves.
In other words, instead of really teaching in
such a way to have you follow Jesus
Christ, they teach in such a way to
make you dependent upon them.
And you begin to follow them.
And you get enamored with them.
You should never be enamored with a man.
Be enamored with Jesus.
Respect a man.
Respect somebody that God may use.
Admire what God has done in his life.
But, you see, you only love Jesus.
You follow Jesus.
That's someone Jesus is using.
And to be a faithful witness, you don't
quote the man that Jesus is using or
that you're impressed with.
You quote the Bible.
You share Scripture.
Well, how do you know that's right?
Well, Pastor So-and-so said that.
That's wrong.
You share Jesus.
You want people to follow Jesus.
And you can see it.
You can see that maybe somebody ignorantly or
immaturely is following someone that Jesus is using
because all they talk about is the individual
more than Jesus Christ.
Pray for them that they begin to follow
the Lord.
Jesus taught about wolves.
It's important to know there are two characteristics
about a wolf.
First of all, wolves run in packs.
And wolves kind of watch the flock and
look for someone who's weak.
Like a wolf will attack if you watch
any of the National Geographic specials or Discovery
Channel.
There's some great channels, you know.
I love to watch them.
And it shows how wolves operate as they
follow maybe a herd of caribou and they
begin to pick out someone who's weak or
lagging behind.
And you see, that's how a false prophet
or a wolf will go after a sheep.
Begin to look at someone who's starting to
take things for granted and lag behind or
getting a little weak.
And then they come in after them to
devour them.
And it's interesting.
Jesus describes them emphatically what their ministries are.
And the apostle Paul does.
And Peter, there are two characteristics.
First of all, they're always after your money,
and usually it'll come out they're sexually impure.
I'll turn to Matthew 7.
I think we should just show you what
the Bible says about wolves because Paul spent
three years in one place warning about wolves.
Matthew chapter 7, I say Jesus is the
greatest authority.
And look at verse 15.
Beware of false prophets.
So that shows you there are true prophets
and there are false prophets which come to
you in sheep's clothing.
I mean, they'll look like a real evangelist.
They'll talk like a real evangelist.
They'll have a TV program.
They'll have a radio program.
They'll come to town with a good praise
band.
They'll stand in a pulpit.
They'll speak at some churches.
They come to you in sheep's clothing.
But inwardly, they are ravening wolves, or literally,
they're extortioners, always after your money, inventing some
way to get more of your money, ravening,
or they rake it in.
And then they design some false teaching to
justify their materialism and the wealth and the
standard that they're living.
You shall know them by their fruits.
Now, that's wonderful to know that Jesus said
you can know these men when you compare
their life with what the Bible describes as
a real prophet is.
First of all, do men gather grapes of
thorns or figs of thistles?
You begin to partake of their teaching and
begin to apply it to your life.
Eventually, you're going to be hurt down the
road.
Something's going to collapse.
You're going to go for the fruit, and
inside is a horrible thorn or thistle that's
going to pierce you with many sorrows.
So even a good tree bringeth forth good
fruit, but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil
fruit.
Something evil and unclean will be exposed in
their life.
You'll find something out about them.
It'll be evident.
A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit,
and neither can a corrupt tree bring forth
good fruit.
Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit
is hewn down and cast into the fire.
Wherefore, by their fruits you shall know them.
Then Jesus describes what they do, basically what
their ministries are.
Not everyone that saith unto me, Lord, Lord,
shall enter into the kingdom of heaven, but
he that doeth the will of my Father
which is in heaven.
Many will say to me in that day,
Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy
name?
Not Buddha's name, not Confucius or Muhammad or
Joseph Smith or John Russell, but we've prophesied
in thy name, Lord.
We put on the big show, thus saith
the Lord, in front of the TV and
in these churches.
And we, in thy name, we've cast out
demons.
We really, we like to cast out demons.
That's another thing that we do a lot.
And we've done miracles.
We've performed miracles.
The wonderful works are miracles.
Then I will profess unto them, I never
knew you.
Depart from me, you that work iniquity.
That is amazing to me because someone can
have a demon cast out of them.
Someone can be healed.
Someone could go to a ministry and they
could be prophesied to.
And Jesus says, it's a work of iniquity
because I didn't raise that man up.
He's a wolf.
He's doing it all just to get the
money from the people and fame.
He's a wolf and he's unclean.
Turn to Philippians chapter 3.
Here's where Paul, his heart breaks here.
In Philippians chapter 3, in verse 17, he
said, Brethren, be followers together of me and
mark them which walk so as you have
us for an example.
For many walk of whom I have told
you often and now tell you even weeping.
Here he's weeping again.
That they are the enemies of the cross
of Christ.
In other words, denial of self.
Walking in humility.
They deny the cross of Christ.
Whose end is destruction.
Whose God is their belly.
They use the name of Jesus just to
fill their bellies for the easy life.
And they deny taking up your cross and
following Jesus.
They deny the cross in their teaching.
They teach materialism, ease, pleasure.
Their God is their belly.
And whose glory is in their shame.
They're not even ashamed of it.
They glory in it.
They glory in their false teaching.
And they mind earthly things.
Materialism.
This life.
They mind earthly things.
But notice what Paul said.
But our conversation is in heaven.
From whence also we look for the Savior,
the Lord Jesus Christ.
Turn to 2 Peter.
Here's one of the classic examples of a
false teacher that Peter said the church should
beware of.
A wolf.
He plainly declares, again, that they will make
merchandise of people.
Go after people's money.
But usually they are sexually impure or unclean.
It will come out.
They're licentious.
There's no holiness.
There's no real holiness in their walk.
They'll talk grace, but there's no holiness.
It's not pure.
Look at verse 14.
It says they have eyes full of adultery.
They'll come in and sit next to you
in a pew and act like a Christian.
Or maybe come into a setting and act
like a pastor, an evangelist.
Maybe looking for someone to take advantage of.
And they cannot cease from sin.
You hear about it, and it's in the
papers again.
Then you hear about it again.
Then they've done it again.
They cannot cease from sin, and they beguile
unstable souls.
A heart.
They have exercise with covetousness.
Covetous practices.
In other words, a desire for material things.
Cursed children.
Which have forsaken the right way and gone
astray, following the way of Balaam, the son
of Bozar, who loved the wages of unrighteousness.
All they want is money in the ministry.
Remember, Jesus told the disciple who asked about
serving him in the fire, he said, hey,
be content with your wages, and if somebody
asks you to go an extra mile, go
two if you want to glorify God.
But he was rebuked for his iniquity.
The dumbass speaking with a man's voice forbade
the madness of the prophet.
These are wells without water.
They don't have the Holy Spirit.
Water is a symbol of the Holy Spirit.
Clouds that are carried with a tempest, to
whom the mist of darkness is reserved forever,
for when they speak great swelling words.
In other words, they bulge with insolence and
defiance of vanity.
They allure through the lusts of the flesh.
Through much wantonness, those that were clean escaped
from them who live in error.
While they promised them liberty.
Oh, you're free in Christ.
This is the age of grace.
God is love.
It's okay if you do this.
Calvary covers that.
Christ took care of the cross.
You can do that.
You see, there's no holiness.
They're wolves.
They promised them liberty.
Oh, you're free to do that.
But they themselves are the servants of corruption.
They smell alcohol on their breath.
Their personal lives will give them away.
For of whom a man is overcome, of
the same he is brought in bondage.
These are wolves.
These are men who profess to be teachers
of God, prophets, pastors.
This is what Paul said.
After I leave, they're going to come in
with a flurry into the church to try
and beguile and lead people astray.
You can discern.
You can begin to know.
And the Bible describes them.
You can discern them and know.
You don't have to be deceived.
Therefore, watch and remember.
We're back in Acts 20.
Watch and remember that by the space of
three years, I cease not to warn everyone
night and day with tears.
Again, the concern for false teachers in the
church.
And now, brethren, I commend you to God
and to the word of His grace, which
is able to build you up and to
give you an inheritance among all them which
are sanctified.
Isn't it wonderful to know, again, the word
of grace builds you up.
Read your Bibles.
You want to be built up in the
Lord?
You want victory over sin, over temptation?
Do you want joy?
Read the word of God.
It's the word of His grace that's able
to build you up, or you'll never change.
And you may be one of those sheep
that's on the verge of lagging behind the
rest of the flock, and the wolf's going
to get you.
It doesn't have to happen.
You and I are promised by the Lord
in 2 Peter 1.10 that if we
make our calling and election sure, you'll never
fall.
The Lord will preserve you unto the end.
He loves you so much.
He's given everything that you need to persevere
unto the end, to receive a full inheritance.
And it's amazing, Satan in the world says,
well, here, I'll give you this.
And saints go after it and are destroyed.
They fall by the wayside going after things,
making the same effort to go after something
illicit or something that's vain and worthless to
read or watch.
They'll take the time to read something worthless.
They'll take the time to watch something worthless.
And God says, I've given you something that's
able to make you stand and build you
up and give you an inheritance.
When you read it, it renews the mind.
It purifies your heart.
It strengthens you in these areas of holiness.
It opens you up to the gifts of
the Spirit, the fullness of the Spirit, the
fullness of my love.
And so, notice, that's all he could do.
Paul said, I commend you to the Word
of His grace.
God will not force anybody to experience this
wonderful life.
He just says, here it is.
Here it is.
The Word of His grace.
The Word of His unmerited favor.
His unconditional love.
Love that jumps out of every page of
the Bible for you.
Encouragement.
Hope.
Direction.
Forgiveness.
Strength.
I have coveted no man's silver or gold
or apparel.
Ye yourselves know that these hands have ministered
unto my necessities and to them that were
with me.
I have showed you all things, how that
so laboring you ought to support the weak,
and to remember the words of the Lord
Jesus, how He said, it is more blessed
to give than to receive.
See, Paul received so much from the Lord,
it didn't bother him to give at all.
He discovered you cannot give the Lord.
You give it away, He's just going to
give it right back to you.
Whether it's emotional, spiritual, some gift, whatever it
is, you give it away.
You see, God just gives it right back.
It says, when you cast your bread into
the waters, God just gives it back and
multiplies it and just presses down and just
overflowing in the container.
It says there is that person who's not
wise, and he tries to withhold, and it's
not necessary.
And he holds it back and says he
hurts himself.
So there's that person that gives everything away,
and he has everything.
And when he had thus spoken, he kneeled
down and he prayed with them all.
And they all wept sore and fell on
Paul's neck and kissed him, sorrowing most of
all for the words which he spake, that
they should see his face no more.
And they accompanied him unto the ship.
Last time he saw them in this life.
Now, just think, they're all with him now.
They're all together again.
And isn't it amazing?
They were only separated for three years.
Now, they didn't know that.
Some of them were only separated from Paul
for three years, four years.
But now they're all together again forever.
Just think, we are going to dwell together
forever in the presence of the Lord, never
to be separated again.
Now, there's something, just a little sidebar before
we go home.
And I'd like to share with you.
Paul wrote this about 60 A.D. Six
years later, he was beheaded and went into
the presence of the Lord, full of joy.
He sought an offering, his final offering for
Jesus, his own life.
He's going to be beheaded, the sacrifice.
The Lord was finished with the ministry.
He had nothing else to do down here.
He finished his course.
Now, remember, this was probably one of the
most powerful, healthy churches in Asia.
Now, here's the tragedy.
After he said all these things, just 35
years later, when John wrote the book of
Revelation, one of the letters that Jesus said,
send this to the pastor at Ephesus, just
35 years later, he said, you've left your
first love.
You're doing everything that Paul said.
You're discerning those false teachers.
You're doing all, you hate the Nicolaitans.
You've got good doctrine, but I have someone
against me.
You don't love me anymore like you used
to.
You're just settled down in the church, going
through the motions, and your heart isn't the
same toward me anymore.
And as I thought of that, I was
thinking, wow, Lord, you know, we've been here
20 years.
Actually, we came here in 1977 and started
teaching the Bible house to house all over,
down to the southern tier, Corning, all the
way up into the city, all over, at
a radius of 85 miles, practically every night
of the week, just going and teaching Bible
studies house to house.
God quickly formed a group of people and
became Calvary Chapel.
Some 20 years ago, I'm thinking, Lord, what's
happened to us?
Has anything happened to us?
Do we still love you?
Do I still love you, Jesus?
Or is it all just a religious job
now, going through the motions?
Do I really worship you, or have I
memorized the words?
Do I go because I want to, because
I still love you?
Lord, if that could take place in just
35 years to that right on church, what's
Calvary Chapel right now?
I hope that we all still love him
like we did in the beginning.
Let's all stand.
I want to pray that we do.
I want to grab the hand next to
you.
Let's pray together.
Yeah, go through the aisle.
We're a family here.
Yeah.
Praise the Lord.
Dear Father, we are so thankful that you
touched our lives and you formed this fellowship,
just a family of believers.
And Lord, we pray that we still love
you as we did at first.
In fact, Lord, we pray that we love
you more, with a greater understanding and more
maturity and more balance.
Oh, Jesus, we fear so much that you
might have to say you have somewhat against
us as a church, as individuals.
So, Lord, please search our hearts.
We do love you, Jesus.
We are so thankful, Lord, that we can
gather together and worship you, and we pray
that we've not left our first love.
That if you choose to tarry in a
few more years, every night we gather together,
we truly worship you from our hearts.
And we thank you, Lord, that you will
watch over us, that you've given us all
that we need for that inheritance.
And most of all, you've given us your
word of grace, which can build us up
and guarantee us eternal life, once we've put
our faith and our trust in Jesus Christ.
And we thank you for tonight, dear Father.
In Jesus' name we pray.
Amen.