1 00:00:00,010 --> 00:00:02,850 Welcome to From the Pulpit and Classic Sermons. 2 00:00:03,350 --> 00:00:04,930 Each week we bring you a different message 3 00:00:04,930 --> 00:00:06,830 from some of history's greatest speakers in the 4 00:00:06,830 --> 00:00:09,550 Christian faith and powerful sermons for modern preachers 5 00:00:09,550 --> 00:00:09,850 too. 6 00:00:10,370 --> 00:00:12,710 This week we have Parris Reedhead with his 7 00:00:12,710 --> 00:00:15,510 message, So Great is Salvation, Abiding in Christ. 8 00:00:18,220 --> 00:00:18,980 Thank you. 9 00:00:19,560 --> 00:00:21,820 Will you turn please to First John chapter 10 00:00:21,820 --> 00:00:22,260 2. 11 00:00:22,760 --> 00:00:26,980 I'd like to read verses 18 through 29. 12 00:00:27,940 --> 00:00:32,360 I like to read the portion because I 13 00:00:32,360 --> 00:00:33,540 want you to hear it. 14 00:00:33,580 --> 00:00:37,140 By the way, if you've been making notes, 15 00:00:37,320 --> 00:00:40,240 putting the little numbers in, I suggest you 16 00:00:40,240 --> 00:00:43,300 put number five next to the 24th verse 17 00:00:43,300 --> 00:00:45,160 of the second chapter. 18 00:00:46,240 --> 00:00:47,720 Beginning with verse 18. 19 00:00:47,800 --> 00:00:52,000 Little children, it is the last time and 20 00:00:52,000 --> 00:00:54,760 as you have heard that Antichrist shall come, 21 00:00:55,280 --> 00:01:01,210 even now are there many Antichrists whereby we 22 00:01:01,210 --> 00:01:03,209 know that it is the last time. 23 00:01:03,629 --> 00:01:05,450 They went out from us but they were 24 00:01:05,450 --> 00:01:07,710 not of us for if they had been 25 00:01:07,710 --> 00:01:09,470 of us they would no doubt have continued 26 00:01:09,470 --> 00:01:10,090 with us. 27 00:01:10,630 --> 00:01:12,470 But they went out that they might be 28 00:01:12,470 --> 00:01:14,670 made manifest that they were not all of 29 00:01:14,670 --> 00:01:14,970 us. 30 00:01:15,510 --> 00:01:17,830 But you have an unction from the Holy 31 00:01:17,830 --> 00:01:20,350 One and you know all things. 32 00:01:20,830 --> 00:01:22,830 I have not written unto you because you 33 00:01:22,830 --> 00:01:25,870 know not the truth but because you know 34 00:01:25,870 --> 00:01:28,210 it and that no lie is of the 35 00:01:28,210 --> 00:01:28,650 truth. 36 00:01:29,470 --> 00:01:31,530 Who is a liar but he that denieth 37 00:01:31,530 --> 00:01:33,110 that Jesus is the Christ? 38 00:01:33,810 --> 00:01:36,790 He is Antichrist that denieth the Father and 39 00:01:36,790 --> 00:01:37,330 the Son. 40 00:01:38,130 --> 00:01:40,590 Whosoever denieth the Son the same hath not 41 00:01:40,590 --> 00:01:41,190 the Father. 42 00:01:42,150 --> 00:01:44,750 Let that therefore abide in you which you 43 00:01:44,750 --> 00:01:46,090 have heard from the beginning. 44 00:01:46,770 --> 00:01:48,670 If that which you have heard from the 45 00:01:48,670 --> 00:01:52,070 beginning shall remain in you he also shall 46 00:01:52,070 --> 00:01:55,150 continue in the Son and in the Father. 47 00:01:55,770 --> 00:01:57,730 And this is the promise that he has 48 00:01:57,730 --> 00:02:00,110 promised us eternal life. 49 00:02:00,910 --> 00:02:03,150 These things have I written unto you concerning 50 00:02:03,150 --> 00:02:04,810 them that seduce you. 51 00:02:05,530 --> 00:02:08,150 But the anointing which you have received of 52 00:02:08,150 --> 00:02:11,670 him abideth in you and you need not 53 00:02:11,670 --> 00:02:13,690 that any man teach you but as the 54 00:02:13,690 --> 00:02:16,830 same anointing teaches you of all things and 55 00:02:16,830 --> 00:02:21,310 is truth and is no lie even as 56 00:02:21,310 --> 00:02:24,970 it has taught you you shall abide in 57 00:02:24,970 --> 00:02:25,310 him. 58 00:02:25,930 --> 00:02:29,430 And now little children abide in him that 59 00:02:29,430 --> 00:02:32,850 when he shall appear we may have confidence 60 00:02:32,850 --> 00:02:36,270 and not be ashamed before him at his 61 00:02:36,270 --> 00:02:36,630 coming. 62 00:02:37,210 --> 00:02:40,450 If you know that he is righteous you 63 00:02:40,450 --> 00:02:44,370 know that everyone that doeth righteousness is born 64 00:02:44,370 --> 00:02:44,950 of him. 65 00:02:45,870 --> 00:02:49,030 The main idea of this general epistle is 66 00:02:49,030 --> 00:02:52,370 still fellowship with God. 67 00:02:52,870 --> 00:02:53,910 That's what it's about. 68 00:02:54,090 --> 00:02:57,170 These things are written we might have fellowship 69 00:02:57,170 --> 00:03:01,390 with him said John in the first verses 70 00:03:01,390 --> 00:03:03,990 and our fellowship is with the Father and 71 00:03:03,990 --> 00:03:06,610 with his Son Jesus Christ. 72 00:03:07,310 --> 00:03:10,650 So with that in mind you'll understand that 73 00:03:10,650 --> 00:03:14,110 he is going to emphasize this again and 74 00:03:14,110 --> 00:03:14,510 again. 75 00:03:14,810 --> 00:03:17,830 In this portion I've read verses 18 to 76 00:03:17,830 --> 00:03:18,450 29. 77 00:03:19,710 --> 00:03:23,170 Fellowship with God is still the main thing. 78 00:03:23,970 --> 00:03:26,210 To remain is salvation. 79 00:03:27,230 --> 00:03:28,830 To go out is damnation. 80 00:03:29,710 --> 00:03:32,710 The Antichrist went out and sought to induce 81 00:03:32,710 --> 00:03:34,070 others to go out with him. 82 00:03:35,050 --> 00:03:38,770 To remain steadfast to Christ requires that we 83 00:03:38,770 --> 00:03:40,470 resist the seducers. 84 00:03:40,930 --> 00:03:43,230 That we recognize truth. 85 00:03:43,810 --> 00:03:47,430 That we remain faithful to the truth and 86 00:03:47,430 --> 00:03:50,270 that we rejoice in the prospect of his 87 00:03:50,270 --> 00:03:50,650 coming. 88 00:03:51,510 --> 00:03:54,730 Somewhere along the line I ran into an 89 00:03:54,730 --> 00:03:59,870 outline and as outlines sometimes have a way 90 00:03:59,870 --> 00:04:02,470 of doing it stuck in my mind. 91 00:04:03,270 --> 00:04:05,190 I'm giving it to you and will try 92 00:04:05,190 --> 00:04:06,910 to follow it as time permits. 93 00:04:07,550 --> 00:04:09,630 Now I don't remember from whom I got 94 00:04:09,630 --> 00:04:09,810 it. 95 00:04:10,090 --> 00:04:12,170 I know it's not mine and I don't 96 00:04:12,170 --> 00:04:14,070 know to whom credit should be given. 97 00:04:14,170 --> 00:04:16,690 I suppose I should do like one preacher 98 00:04:16,690 --> 00:04:18,610 said he did whenever he started to speak. 99 00:04:18,709 --> 00:04:20,350 He went like this and when he finished 100 00:04:20,350 --> 00:04:22,410 he went like that and he said it 101 00:04:22,410 --> 00:04:25,890 was quotation marks so that he could give 102 00:04:25,890 --> 00:04:28,750 full credit for everything that he had used. 103 00:04:28,890 --> 00:04:30,270 So I'll do the same now. 104 00:04:31,310 --> 00:04:35,630 Verses 18 and 19, deserters. 105 00:04:36,570 --> 00:04:40,890 D-S-E-R-T-E-R-S. 106 00:04:40,970 --> 00:04:41,750 Deserters. 107 00:04:42,530 --> 00:04:46,330 Verses 20 and 21, discerners. 108 00:04:49,400 --> 00:04:54,640 Verses 22 and 21, discerners. 109 00:04:56,060 --> 00:05:00,420 Verses 22 and 23, deniers. 110 00:05:02,200 --> 00:05:03,020 Isn't that nice? 111 00:05:03,160 --> 00:05:04,500 Oh I love a alliteration. 112 00:05:05,840 --> 00:05:09,120 I heard about the canon from a church 113 00:05:09,120 --> 00:05:10,940 in England who came to America and when 114 00:05:10,940 --> 00:05:13,240 he got back two ladies sitting in the 115 00:05:13,240 --> 00:05:16,300 congregation said, see he'd been here and he'd 116 00:05:16,300 --> 00:05:18,260 found how we do all this alliterating. 117 00:05:18,740 --> 00:05:20,800 He said when we sent him to America 118 00:05:20,800 --> 00:05:23,020 he was a canon. 119 00:05:23,160 --> 00:05:24,980 Now he's come back just a pea shooter. 120 00:05:27,000 --> 00:05:28,600 Everything began with pea. 121 00:05:28,840 --> 00:05:31,840 Well at any rate, verses 24 and 27 122 00:05:31,840 --> 00:05:33,460 are defenders. 123 00:05:36,410 --> 00:05:40,510 Verses 28 and 29, deservers. 124 00:05:41,090 --> 00:05:42,650 Well I hope that will help to make 125 00:05:42,650 --> 00:05:44,910 this graspable by you. 126 00:05:45,710 --> 00:05:47,530 At least I'll try to explain it. 127 00:05:47,670 --> 00:05:50,790 Now deserters, verses 18 and 19. 128 00:05:51,050 --> 00:05:53,390 This is a very crucial time of which 129 00:05:53,390 --> 00:05:54,750 the Apostle speaks. 130 00:05:55,250 --> 00:05:58,050 It is the last time. 131 00:05:58,170 --> 00:06:00,350 It is literally the final hour. 132 00:06:01,310 --> 00:06:04,050 It denotes that period, the beginning of that 133 00:06:04,050 --> 00:06:07,250 period that will ultimately conclude all things. 134 00:06:08,530 --> 00:06:11,570 Well we're still in that period and I 135 00:06:11,570 --> 00:06:13,710 would like to suggest that we're closer to 136 00:06:13,710 --> 00:06:15,730 the last of the last times than we 137 00:06:15,730 --> 00:06:17,630 were when John said it was the last 138 00:06:17,630 --> 00:06:18,030 time. 139 00:06:19,110 --> 00:06:22,110 And we shouldn't say well all things continue 140 00:06:22,110 --> 00:06:23,150 as they were. 141 00:06:23,550 --> 00:06:27,210 Nothing is changing because we must recognize that 142 00:06:27,210 --> 00:06:32,830 we're something like nearly 1900 years closer to 143 00:06:32,830 --> 00:06:35,870 the conclusion of all things than he was. 144 00:06:35,970 --> 00:06:38,150 But it's been the last time for this 145 00:06:38,150 --> 00:06:39,170 entire period. 146 00:06:39,890 --> 00:06:42,610 It marks a period of time, long or 147 00:06:42,610 --> 00:06:46,490 short, in which apostasy will occur. 148 00:06:48,110 --> 00:06:52,070 It marks the beginning of a crisis of 149 00:06:52,070 --> 00:06:56,850 enormous significance, that is the emergence of antichrists. 150 00:06:57,850 --> 00:06:59,090 That's in the plural. 151 00:07:00,910 --> 00:07:02,790 This will be marked, this time has been 152 00:07:02,790 --> 00:07:06,250 marked by a turning away from Christ on 153 00:07:06,250 --> 00:07:09,470 the part of many who profess to follow 154 00:07:09,470 --> 00:07:09,950 him. 155 00:07:11,130 --> 00:07:13,870 I think it's important for us to realize 156 00:07:13,870 --> 00:07:17,970 what Paul said in writing to Timothy that 157 00:07:17,970 --> 00:07:21,790 would characterize this period called the last time. 158 00:07:22,430 --> 00:07:25,490 In 1st Timothy chapter 4 verse 1, And 159 00:07:25,490 --> 00:07:29,850 now the Spirit speaketh expressly that in the 160 00:07:29,850 --> 00:07:34,010 latter times some shall depart from the faith, 161 00:07:34,870 --> 00:07:38,090 giving heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of 162 00:07:38,090 --> 00:07:38,730 devils. 163 00:07:39,650 --> 00:07:42,850 In 2nd Timothy 3rd chapter verse 1 and 164 00:07:42,850 --> 00:07:46,530 then part of verse 8, This know also 165 00:07:46,530 --> 00:07:50,110 that in the last days perilous times shall 166 00:07:50,110 --> 00:07:50,590 come. 167 00:07:51,410 --> 00:07:53,610 And in verse 8, Now as Jannes and 168 00:07:53,610 --> 00:07:59,330 Jambres withstood Moses, so do these also resist 169 00:07:59,330 --> 00:08:00,110 the truth. 170 00:08:00,850 --> 00:08:04,630 Men of corrupt mind reprobate concerning the faith. 171 00:08:05,670 --> 00:08:09,270 In 2nd Timothy the 4th chapter and the 172 00:08:09,270 --> 00:08:13,290 3rd verse, For the time will come when 173 00:08:13,290 --> 00:08:17,410 they will not endure sound doctrine, but after 174 00:08:17,410 --> 00:08:23,490 their own lusts or appetites and desires shall 175 00:08:23,490 --> 00:08:25,890 they heap to themselves teachers. 176 00:08:26,830 --> 00:08:28,590 Now there's a comma there. 177 00:08:29,370 --> 00:08:31,090 I used to think it was teachers that 178 00:08:31,090 --> 00:08:33,049 had itching ears, but it's not. 179 00:08:33,549 --> 00:08:37,070 The people who heap to themselves teachers select 180 00:08:37,070 --> 00:08:39,510 the teachers to put in the heap that 181 00:08:39,510 --> 00:08:41,270 are going to scratch their ears and make 182 00:08:41,270 --> 00:08:45,270 them feel comfortable with what is given. 183 00:08:46,750 --> 00:08:50,270 I've heard it said that the preacher of 184 00:08:50,270 --> 00:08:52,810 the truth should have two ministries. 185 00:08:53,030 --> 00:08:56,210 One is to comfort the afflicted. 186 00:08:57,330 --> 00:08:59,630 And of course that's a ministry with blessing 187 00:08:59,630 --> 00:09:01,710 and we all should rejoice in it. 188 00:09:02,310 --> 00:09:05,470 But the second is to afflict the comfortable. 189 00:09:06,550 --> 00:09:08,690 And I think that we should be just 190 00:09:08,690 --> 00:09:11,090 as diligent in the second as we are 191 00:09:11,090 --> 00:09:12,110 in the first. 192 00:09:13,070 --> 00:09:16,710 And therefore we would not be among that 193 00:09:16,710 --> 00:09:21,290 number that consider it their primary purpose in 194 00:09:21,290 --> 00:09:24,550 teaching and preaching to make people feel good. 195 00:09:24,650 --> 00:09:28,830 I think our purpose is to understand what 196 00:09:28,830 --> 00:09:32,650 God wants to say and not to be 197 00:09:32,650 --> 00:09:36,070 among that number that give heed to seducing 198 00:09:36,070 --> 00:09:39,130 spirits and turn away from the faith and 199 00:09:39,130 --> 00:09:40,370 withstand the truth. 200 00:09:41,250 --> 00:09:47,150 Now there have been last times of real 201 00:09:47,150 --> 00:09:49,270 significance in the past. 202 00:09:50,210 --> 00:09:52,870 And even as there will be some last 203 00:09:52,870 --> 00:09:54,310 times in the future. 204 00:09:55,570 --> 00:09:57,670 Our Lord spoke about it. 205 00:09:57,730 --> 00:10:00,230 He said that we should beware of false 206 00:10:00,230 --> 00:10:00,910 prophets. 207 00:10:01,730 --> 00:10:02,570 They would come. 208 00:10:03,310 --> 00:10:07,390 Many false prophets shall arise and shall deceive 209 00:10:07,390 --> 00:10:07,930 many. 210 00:10:07,930 --> 00:10:12,290 And because iniquity shall abound, the love of 211 00:10:12,290 --> 00:10:14,550 many shall wax cold. 212 00:10:15,170 --> 00:10:17,850 In the 24th verse of Matthew 24. 213 00:10:18,430 --> 00:10:22,770 For there shall arise false Christs and false 214 00:10:22,770 --> 00:10:27,450 prophets shall show great signs and wonders. 215 00:10:28,230 --> 00:10:29,950 And the 25th verse. 216 00:10:30,730 --> 00:10:34,710 Behold, I've told you before, times of great 217 00:10:34,710 --> 00:10:37,410 persecution are going to arise. 218 00:10:37,410 --> 00:10:38,890 Well, we see that. 219 00:10:39,070 --> 00:10:40,170 We recognize it. 220 00:10:40,270 --> 00:10:41,270 We realize it. 221 00:10:42,230 --> 00:10:43,550 Peter described it. 222 00:10:44,710 --> 00:10:49,490 Again, we find that in the last, the 223 00:10:49,490 --> 00:10:52,030 lifetime of many of you, perhaps not all, 224 00:10:52,110 --> 00:10:55,450 but certainly many of us here, more people 225 00:10:55,450 --> 00:11:01,570 have died for Christ, for persecution reasons, since 226 00:11:01,570 --> 00:11:06,730 1949 than in all the centuries from the 227 00:11:06,730 --> 00:11:07,390 time of Christ. 228 00:11:08,050 --> 00:11:09,490 Until 1949. 229 00:11:11,150 --> 00:11:13,710 I don't know that I made that quite 230 00:11:13,710 --> 00:11:13,990 clear. 231 00:11:14,110 --> 00:11:15,870 Let me repeat it so you're sure you 232 00:11:15,870 --> 00:11:16,570 get it. 233 00:11:17,090 --> 00:11:20,850 More people have died martyrs death. 234 00:11:21,770 --> 00:11:25,710 In behalf of our Lord Jesus Christ, since 235 00:11:25,710 --> 00:11:30,210 1949 than in all the centuries from the 236 00:11:30,210 --> 00:11:33,790 time of Christ until 1949. 237 00:11:34,910 --> 00:11:36,230 Hard to believe? 238 00:11:36,550 --> 00:11:42,290 Well, two months before Nixon went to communist 239 00:11:42,290 --> 00:11:47,250 China to open relations with that nation, Washington 240 00:11:47,250 --> 00:11:51,310 Post carried on page 16, column 4, 5, 241 00:11:51,470 --> 00:11:54,270 just a little two and a half inch 242 00:11:54,270 --> 00:11:57,830 summary of report that had come out of 243 00:11:57,830 --> 00:12:03,410 China that during the first 20 years from 244 00:12:03,410 --> 00:12:10,030 49 to 69, China had found it necessary 245 00:12:10,030 --> 00:12:19,700 to, quote, deprive of existence 30 million 246 00:12:19,700 --> 00:12:20,200 people. 247 00:12:22,060 --> 00:12:25,300 Half of them because of stubborn adherence to 248 00:12:25,300 --> 00:12:29,940 economic systems inimicable to the purposes of the 249 00:12:29,940 --> 00:12:30,620 revolution. 250 00:12:30,820 --> 00:12:33,040 That is, they didn't take kindly to having 251 00:12:33,040 --> 00:12:34,580 their money taken away from them. 252 00:12:35,900 --> 00:12:38,940 And the other half was for stubborn adherence 253 00:12:38,940 --> 00:12:42,900 to religions imported from the imperialist West. 254 00:12:43,440 --> 00:12:45,580 Now, I suppose you could say Buddhism had 255 00:12:45,580 --> 00:12:49,140 come from West and you could say that 256 00:12:49,140 --> 00:12:52,400 Islam had come from West of China and 257 00:12:52,400 --> 00:12:53,000 Christianity. 258 00:12:53,980 --> 00:12:57,260 Now, let's assume we don't know the figures, 259 00:12:57,440 --> 00:13:00,040 but let's assume that half of those were 260 00:13:00,040 --> 00:13:02,780 died for their faith in Buddha or in 261 00:13:02,780 --> 00:13:03,980 Muhammad. 262 00:13:04,620 --> 00:13:08,020 And the other half died for their faith 263 00:13:08,020 --> 00:13:08,560 in Christ. 264 00:13:08,840 --> 00:13:10,600 That would mean that about seven and a 265 00:13:10,600 --> 00:13:14,420 half million people died martyrs death. 266 00:13:14,580 --> 00:13:17,920 I remember hearing in those days about children 267 00:13:17,920 --> 00:13:22,040 that reported on their parents and the authorities 268 00:13:22,040 --> 00:13:24,360 would put a cross down on the ground. 269 00:13:24,520 --> 00:13:26,780 At one end would be the smiling child 270 00:13:26,780 --> 00:13:29,700 that had reported his parents as being believers 271 00:13:29,700 --> 00:13:30,460 in Christ. 272 00:13:30,460 --> 00:13:32,320 And at the other would be the parents. 273 00:13:33,040 --> 00:13:35,600 And if they would walk on the cross 274 00:13:35,600 --> 00:13:38,840 to the child, their life would be spared. 275 00:13:40,440 --> 00:13:42,620 But if they didn't, they would die. 276 00:13:44,500 --> 00:13:47,880 Most who were confronted with that test elected 277 00:13:47,880 --> 00:13:51,060 to die rather than to do as the 278 00:13:51,060 --> 00:13:53,080 government was asking to walk on the cross. 279 00:13:54,020 --> 00:13:58,580 When the Communists took over in Korea, we 280 00:13:58,580 --> 00:14:00,980 are told, and I think quite good authority, 281 00:14:01,600 --> 00:14:05,940 that in three months about 800,000 pastors, 282 00:14:06,320 --> 00:14:11,580 elders, Christians in North Korea were killed, were 283 00:14:11,580 --> 00:14:16,540 assassinated, murdered, sacrificed, martyred, call them what you 284 00:14:16,540 --> 00:14:16,780 will. 285 00:14:17,960 --> 00:14:20,420 Well, that's a great many more than you 286 00:14:20,420 --> 00:14:22,620 have listed in the entire book of Fox's 287 00:14:22,620 --> 00:14:23,460 Book of Martyrs. 288 00:14:23,520 --> 00:14:25,280 It covered a couple of centuries. 289 00:14:28,860 --> 00:14:32,620 In North, in Vietnam, we are told that 290 00:14:32,620 --> 00:14:38,740 300,000 people died as Christians in about 291 00:14:38,740 --> 00:14:41,820 eight months of persecution when the Communists took 292 00:14:41,820 --> 00:14:42,660 over North Vietnam. 293 00:14:43,620 --> 00:14:46,560 We know that on the Tet Offensive, two 294 00:14:46,560 --> 00:14:50,820 weeks over Christmas, there were over 5,000 295 00:14:50,820 --> 00:14:56,640 believers that were killed, lined up, a bulldozer 296 00:14:56,640 --> 00:14:58,880 dug a trench, they were machine gunned and 297 00:14:58,880 --> 00:15:01,980 pushed into the trench and covered with dirt. 298 00:15:02,680 --> 00:15:05,000 So just from those three countries, not counting 299 00:15:05,000 --> 00:15:07,080 what happened in Russia, not counting what had 300 00:15:07,080 --> 00:15:09,820 happened in other countries, I think it's safe 301 00:15:09,820 --> 00:15:12,660 to say that we may be living pretty 302 00:15:12,660 --> 00:15:16,500 close to the last times when more people 303 00:15:16,500 --> 00:15:18,520 died for Christ in a 20-year period 304 00:15:18,520 --> 00:15:23,900 than died in about 18 centuries from the 305 00:15:23,900 --> 00:15:24,680 time of Christ. 306 00:15:25,580 --> 00:15:28,800 In Revelation chapter 6, verses 9 to 11, 307 00:15:28,920 --> 00:15:32,120 we are told, And when he had opened 308 00:15:32,120 --> 00:15:35,220 the fifth seal, I saw unto the altar 309 00:15:35,220 --> 00:15:38,800 the souls of them that were slain for 310 00:15:38,800 --> 00:15:41,860 the word of God and for the testimony 311 00:15:41,860 --> 00:15:43,360 they held. 312 00:15:44,200 --> 00:15:46,300 There have been a great many that have 313 00:15:46,300 --> 00:15:47,240 died for Christ. 314 00:15:47,800 --> 00:15:51,260 There's a supreme test that's given here in 315 00:15:51,260 --> 00:15:52,660 this 19th verse. 316 00:15:53,300 --> 00:15:56,840 They went out from us, but they were 317 00:15:56,840 --> 00:15:57,720 not of us. 318 00:15:58,020 --> 00:16:01,100 Christ declared that a test is required. 319 00:16:01,840 --> 00:16:03,940 He that is not with me said, Our 320 00:16:03,940 --> 00:16:05,280 Lord is against me. 321 00:16:06,180 --> 00:16:08,780 And in the fifth chapter of 1 John, 322 00:16:09,100 --> 00:16:11,620 the Apostle said, He that hath the Son 323 00:16:11,620 --> 00:16:15,680 of Life, the person who refuses to recognize 324 00:16:15,680 --> 00:16:19,920 and enthrone Christ as God, the Son, is 325 00:16:19,920 --> 00:16:20,800 antichrist. 326 00:16:20,960 --> 00:16:24,160 Everyone who opposes the gospel, as our Lord 327 00:16:24,160 --> 00:16:27,220 delivered it, every teacher and writer who lowers 328 00:16:27,220 --> 00:16:30,400 the gospel standard to the spirit and taste 329 00:16:30,400 --> 00:16:33,980 of the world is an antichrist. 330 00:16:33,980 --> 00:16:36,440 I didn't say the antichrist, he is an 331 00:16:36,440 --> 00:16:41,660 antichrist, no matter where or among whom he 332 00:16:41,660 --> 00:16:42,560 may be found. 333 00:16:43,560 --> 00:16:46,480 This is a very sad statement, very sad 334 00:16:46,480 --> 00:16:47,060 fact. 335 00:16:47,860 --> 00:16:49,760 There had been in the time of John 336 00:16:49,760 --> 00:16:52,760 a defection from the ranks of the followers 337 00:16:52,760 --> 00:16:53,560 of Christ. 338 00:16:54,300 --> 00:16:56,720 They went out from us. 339 00:16:59,020 --> 00:17:01,980 Some of these went out because they loved 340 00:17:01,980 --> 00:17:04,400 this present world and did not want under 341 00:17:04,400 --> 00:17:07,859 any circumstances to be curtailed, as the scripture 342 00:17:07,859 --> 00:17:12,460 indicates, that we should live holy lives. 343 00:17:12,800 --> 00:17:15,859 Others went out because they had been seduced 344 00:17:15,859 --> 00:17:18,700 by some of the current heresies of the 345 00:17:18,700 --> 00:17:22,119 day, by Gnosticism, by Antinomianism. 346 00:17:23,099 --> 00:17:25,140 There were others who went out as teachers 347 00:17:25,140 --> 00:17:28,020 of these pagan philosophies that had crept into 348 00:17:28,020 --> 00:17:28,740 the church. 349 00:17:29,480 --> 00:17:32,560 And they went out because they were able 350 00:17:32,560 --> 00:17:39,640 to exploit that which they could now use 351 00:17:39,640 --> 00:17:42,460 to promote themselves as teachers. 352 00:17:43,540 --> 00:17:49,220 They went out disgracing the gospel. 353 00:17:50,240 --> 00:17:56,500 They had made their pernicious and evil opinions 354 00:17:56,500 --> 00:17:59,900 a merchandise that they were willing to sell. 355 00:18:00,080 --> 00:18:04,040 They had mingled pagan philosophies with biblical terms 356 00:18:04,040 --> 00:18:06,520 and so were able to confuse the people. 357 00:18:07,460 --> 00:18:09,500 They had turned the truth into a lie 358 00:18:09,500 --> 00:18:12,900 and slandered God. 359 00:18:15,150 --> 00:18:18,690 The Apostle declared, these are not our fellow 360 00:18:18,690 --> 00:18:19,130 believers. 361 00:18:20,110 --> 00:18:24,410 We abhor their creed and their conduct and 362 00:18:24,410 --> 00:18:25,990 we never sent them to teach. 363 00:18:27,150 --> 00:18:29,330 You've got to recognize they went out from 364 00:18:29,330 --> 00:18:32,330 us because they were not of us. 365 00:18:32,850 --> 00:18:36,850 And then it proceeds to say that they 366 00:18:36,850 --> 00:18:39,390 went out that they might be made manifest 367 00:18:39,390 --> 00:18:41,170 that they were not all of us. 368 00:18:42,610 --> 00:18:45,370 You know, it's interesting, isn't it, how easy 369 00:18:45,370 --> 00:18:49,510 it is for us to confuse external church 370 00:18:49,510 --> 00:18:52,810 membership with vital fellowship with Christ? 371 00:18:54,110 --> 00:18:55,970 By no means are they one and the 372 00:18:55,970 --> 00:18:56,210 same. 373 00:18:56,330 --> 00:19:00,050 They may be, but not necessarily. 374 00:19:02,030 --> 00:19:04,970 When John Wesley began to preach, everyone that 375 00:19:04,970 --> 00:19:08,690 he talked to were already members of the 376 00:19:08,690 --> 00:19:09,650 Church of England. 377 00:19:10,410 --> 00:19:11,730 They all had been baptized. 378 00:19:11,730 --> 00:19:14,190 There was only the one fellowship and every 379 00:19:14,190 --> 00:19:19,210 Englishman was inscribed in the local church records 380 00:19:19,210 --> 00:19:20,950 at his baptism. 381 00:19:22,550 --> 00:19:26,030 Isn't any wonder to me that the churches 382 00:19:26,030 --> 00:19:29,490 in England closed the doors to Wesley, even 383 00:19:29,490 --> 00:19:32,170 though he was in good standing as an 384 00:19:32,170 --> 00:19:33,350 Anglican clergyman. 385 00:19:34,190 --> 00:19:36,110 When he went to Epworth, where his father 386 00:19:36,110 --> 00:19:40,170 had been pastor for many years, the then 387 00:19:40,170 --> 00:19:43,430 rector of the church said, we'll not permit 388 00:19:43,430 --> 00:19:45,470 this man to stand in the pulpit. 389 00:19:47,170 --> 00:19:50,190 And so John Wesley went out. 390 00:19:50,490 --> 00:19:53,070 Actually, it really marked kind of the beginning 391 00:19:53,070 --> 00:19:54,510 of his open air ministry. 392 00:19:55,190 --> 00:19:57,410 He went out and stood on the grave 393 00:19:57,410 --> 00:19:58,190 of his father. 394 00:19:59,450 --> 00:20:01,830 And of course, they had a good crowd 395 00:20:01,830 --> 00:20:04,610 because the rector of the church got messengers 396 00:20:04,610 --> 00:20:07,430 to go all through the town saying, don't 397 00:20:07,430 --> 00:20:09,670 go listen to John Wesley, who'll be preaching 398 00:20:09,670 --> 00:20:11,370 in the cemetery this afternoon. 399 00:20:13,270 --> 00:20:16,750 About the only time the people obeyed what 400 00:20:16,750 --> 00:20:19,330 the rector said was when he told them 401 00:20:19,950 --> 00:20:21,630 what not to do and they did it. 402 00:20:22,130 --> 00:20:25,430 So the whole town was there and Wesley 403 00:20:25,430 --> 00:20:28,510 stood on his father's grave and preached the 404 00:20:28,510 --> 00:20:31,930 truth that God had revealed to him because 405 00:20:31,930 --> 00:20:33,750 he'd been a clergyman. 406 00:20:33,750 --> 00:20:35,490 He'd finished his training. 407 00:20:35,690 --> 00:20:38,470 He'd gone to Georgia as a missionary to 408 00:20:38,470 --> 00:20:39,210 the Indians. 409 00:20:40,590 --> 00:20:42,930 And while he was on the way over, 410 00:20:43,230 --> 00:20:46,110 he saw the Moravians and the difference between 411 00:20:46,110 --> 00:20:48,950 the Anglicans and the Moravians during that terrible 412 00:20:48,950 --> 00:20:52,610 storm, convinced him that they had reality that 413 00:20:52,610 --> 00:20:54,250 he and his people didn't have. 414 00:20:55,470 --> 00:20:57,390 And then he was still with them and 415 00:20:57,390 --> 00:20:59,250 saw that fellowship with them while he was 416 00:20:59,250 --> 00:20:59,910 in Georgia. 417 00:21:01,590 --> 00:21:04,810 And he was terribly abused by the powers 418 00:21:04,810 --> 00:21:05,850 of Savannah. 419 00:21:07,730 --> 00:21:10,350 In fact, they drove him out of the 420 00:21:10,350 --> 00:21:13,310 church because he refused to serve communion to 421 00:21:13,310 --> 00:21:16,070 the daughter of the mayor of Savannah, who 422 00:21:16,070 --> 00:21:18,870 was living in open immorality with a man 423 00:21:18,870 --> 00:21:19,710 in the community. 424 00:21:19,990 --> 00:21:25,910 And so Wesley shook the dirt off his 425 00:21:25,910 --> 00:21:26,230 feet. 426 00:21:26,390 --> 00:21:28,430 In fact, there's a monument down there in 427 00:21:28,430 --> 00:21:29,410 Savannah now. 428 00:21:30,490 --> 00:21:32,210 A plaque on a stone. 429 00:21:32,570 --> 00:21:36,630 This is the place that John Wesley shook 430 00:21:36,630 --> 00:21:39,150 the dust of Savannah off his feet when 431 00:21:39,150 --> 00:21:41,070 he left to return to England. 432 00:21:41,710 --> 00:21:44,890 When he got back there, he discovered that 433 00:21:44,890 --> 00:21:47,390 God had been working in the heart of 434 00:21:47,390 --> 00:21:49,650 his brother and from of his friends. 435 00:21:49,950 --> 00:21:53,250 And he attended a meeting at Aldersgate Street 436 00:21:53,250 --> 00:21:58,970 when a Moravian brother was reading Luther's introduction 437 00:21:58,970 --> 00:22:00,550 to the book of Romans. 438 00:22:01,370 --> 00:22:05,190 And as he read about justification by faith, 439 00:22:06,290 --> 00:22:11,310 Wesley said his heart was strangely warped. 440 00:22:12,010 --> 00:22:14,210 And he knew for the first time in 441 00:22:14,210 --> 00:22:16,910 his life that he had been born of 442 00:22:16,910 --> 00:22:17,370 God. 443 00:22:17,510 --> 00:22:19,810 And so that day at Epworth, when he 444 00:22:19,810 --> 00:22:22,630 stood on the grave of his father, he 445 00:22:22,630 --> 00:22:27,750 proclaimed to the people of England, that community 446 00:22:27,750 --> 00:22:30,750 at least, and it then subsequently went to 447 00:22:30,750 --> 00:22:34,890 the nation, that no one had the right 448 00:22:34,890 --> 00:22:39,090 to think themselves a child of God because 449 00:22:39,090 --> 00:22:41,310 they were a member of a church or 450 00:22:41,310 --> 00:22:42,130 they've been baptized. 451 00:22:42,690 --> 00:22:45,270 It was necessary for them to be born 452 00:22:45,270 --> 00:22:45,990 of God. 453 00:22:46,470 --> 00:22:48,490 And the evidence of the new birth is 454 00:22:48,490 --> 00:22:49,650 the witness of the Spirit. 455 00:22:49,650 --> 00:22:55,390 So this is an important truth that external 456 00:22:55,390 --> 00:22:59,450 membership does not mean vital fellowship with the 457 00:22:59,450 --> 00:23:00,590 Lord Jesus Christ. 458 00:23:01,470 --> 00:23:06,490 It is possible that even Antichrist can and 459 00:23:06,490 --> 00:23:08,770 do exist in the church. 460 00:23:10,530 --> 00:23:13,950 Now, the function of the word ought to 461 00:23:13,950 --> 00:23:18,030 be to divide soul and spirit. 462 00:23:19,210 --> 00:23:21,890 It will do that if people will hear 463 00:23:21,890 --> 00:23:22,210 it. 464 00:23:22,630 --> 00:23:24,970 But that doesn't necessarily mean that those who 465 00:23:24,970 --> 00:23:27,970 discover what the word is revealed are going 466 00:23:27,970 --> 00:23:29,870 to acknowledge it or deal with it. 467 00:23:31,090 --> 00:23:32,970 Sometimes the preaching of the word is a 468 00:23:32,970 --> 00:23:35,590 savor of life to life and sometimes to 469 00:23:35,590 --> 00:23:36,550 death to death. 470 00:23:37,190 --> 00:23:39,890 So what we have here then in these 471 00:23:39,890 --> 00:23:45,130 first two verses is this revelation that believers 472 00:23:45,130 --> 00:23:48,810 in every age, including ours, must recognize that 473 00:23:48,810 --> 00:23:50,510 there will be a falling away. 474 00:23:51,670 --> 00:23:54,110 But in verses 20 and 21, he talks 475 00:23:54,110 --> 00:23:57,990 to us about discernment, about being discerners. 476 00:23:58,650 --> 00:24:02,370 He says that we have an unction from 477 00:24:02,370 --> 00:24:03,470 the Holy One. 478 00:24:04,470 --> 00:24:05,790 That's an interesting word. 479 00:24:05,950 --> 00:24:08,530 I wanted to find out what unction was. 480 00:24:09,410 --> 00:24:13,390 And the Greek word is prism, and it 481 00:24:13,390 --> 00:24:15,130 literally means ointment. 482 00:24:16,270 --> 00:24:22,010 It's an ointment that was used when the 483 00:24:22,010 --> 00:24:23,650 Chi Hai priest was anointed. 484 00:24:25,210 --> 00:24:28,490 And remember when God gave the prescription for 485 00:24:28,490 --> 00:24:31,530 the ointment, he said, don't let anyone touch 486 00:24:31,530 --> 00:24:33,550 it lest they be judged. 487 00:24:34,130 --> 00:24:36,690 Well, this is an ointment. 488 00:24:36,910 --> 00:24:41,370 This is God the Holy Ghost touching those 489 00:24:41,370 --> 00:24:44,110 who have been born into the Father's family 490 00:24:45,070 --> 00:24:47,110 with an anointing. 491 00:24:47,530 --> 00:24:53,070 Here the English word is an unction that 492 00:24:53,070 --> 00:24:57,290 enables us to discern between truth and error. 493 00:25:00,250 --> 00:25:02,390 It's important for us to realize it. 494 00:25:02,390 --> 00:25:06,650 In Psalm 45 verse 7, thou lovest righteousness 495 00:25:06,650 --> 00:25:08,470 and hatest wickedness. 496 00:25:08,950 --> 00:25:12,850 Therefore, God, thy God, hath anointed thee with 497 00:25:12,850 --> 00:25:15,610 the oil of gladness above thy fellows. 498 00:25:16,290 --> 00:25:18,350 Those that have been born of God have 499 00:25:18,350 --> 00:25:19,150 been anointed. 500 00:25:19,410 --> 00:25:22,530 That's the word, an anointment put on the 501 00:25:22,530 --> 00:25:27,910 Holy Spirit himself, not some concoction made of 502 00:25:27,910 --> 00:25:30,250 various things that are put together as it 503 00:25:30,250 --> 00:25:33,690 was in the time back when an ointment 504 00:25:33,690 --> 00:25:36,070 was made for the dedication of the Chi 505 00:25:36,070 --> 00:25:36,410 Hai priest. 506 00:25:36,490 --> 00:25:38,610 This is God the Holy Ghost. 507 00:25:39,110 --> 00:25:41,250 The same one who witnesses to us that 508 00:25:41,250 --> 00:25:43,690 we're born of God is going to be 509 00:25:43,690 --> 00:25:45,590 to us the means by which we can 510 00:25:45,590 --> 00:25:48,470 discern truth from error, right from wrong. 511 00:25:49,770 --> 00:25:51,430 This is from the Holy One. 512 00:25:51,510 --> 00:25:55,250 We have an unction from the Holy One. 513 00:25:56,430 --> 00:25:59,530 He that baptized us with the Holy Ghost 514 00:25:59,530 --> 00:26:04,170 has given to us with the Holy Ghost 515 00:26:04,170 --> 00:26:07,970 this knowledge of truth and error. 516 00:26:09,490 --> 00:26:12,870 And it was done when we were born 517 00:26:12,870 --> 00:26:17,630 again, but more particularly when we were baptized 518 00:26:17,630 --> 00:26:18,790 with the Holy Spirit. 519 00:26:19,370 --> 00:26:21,850 Isn't it interesting to realize that in the 520 00:26:21,850 --> 00:26:25,290 New Testament, only kind of people that you 521 00:26:25,290 --> 00:26:27,690 have are Spirit-baptized people? 522 00:26:28,730 --> 00:26:31,670 But isn't it also interesting to realize that 523 00:26:31,670 --> 00:26:33,910 all of the teachings given in the New 524 00:26:33,910 --> 00:26:36,030 Testament were given to people that were baptized 525 00:26:36,030 --> 00:26:36,850 in the Holy Ghost? 526 00:26:37,430 --> 00:26:40,370 And all the exhortations in the New Testament 527 00:26:40,370 --> 00:26:42,730 were given to people that were baptized in 528 00:26:42,730 --> 00:26:43,410 the Holy Ghost. 529 00:26:43,690 --> 00:26:46,270 And all of the warnings in the New 530 00:26:46,270 --> 00:26:48,970 Testament were given to believers that were baptized 531 00:26:48,970 --> 00:26:50,010 in the Holy Ghost. 532 00:26:50,310 --> 00:26:50,910 You know why? 533 00:26:50,910 --> 00:26:53,250 Because that's the only kind of believers you 534 00:26:53,250 --> 00:26:54,210 have in the New Testament. 535 00:26:55,310 --> 00:26:56,950 It's the only kind there were. 536 00:26:57,390 --> 00:26:59,810 After they were baptized in water, they were 537 00:26:59,810 --> 00:27:02,570 prayed for, and the Spirit of God came 538 00:27:02,570 --> 00:27:03,030 upon them. 539 00:27:03,070 --> 00:27:05,430 So all the warnings, all the teachings, all 540 00:27:05,430 --> 00:27:09,710 the exhortations were given to Spirit-baptized people. 541 00:27:10,190 --> 00:27:13,790 But even so, with all those warnings, all 542 00:27:13,790 --> 00:27:19,010 those teachings, all those exhortations, we realize that 543 00:27:19,010 --> 00:27:24,030 the believer has this unction whereby we can 544 00:27:24,030 --> 00:27:26,310 know truth from error. 545 00:27:26,570 --> 00:27:30,450 And it's extremely important for us to accept 546 00:27:30,450 --> 00:27:34,590 the fact that we are so equipped and 547 00:27:34,590 --> 00:27:36,570 to pay attention. 548 00:27:37,930 --> 00:27:41,170 Have you ever been listening to something being 549 00:27:41,170 --> 00:27:44,750 taught on, oh, perhaps in a service or 550 00:27:44,750 --> 00:27:46,370 on television or radio? 551 00:27:47,090 --> 00:27:50,350 And you've said, that doesn't sound right to 552 00:27:50,350 --> 00:27:50,590 me. 553 00:27:51,610 --> 00:27:53,570 I can't put my finger on it. 554 00:27:53,610 --> 00:27:56,390 I don't have a verse, but there's something 555 00:27:56,390 --> 00:28:00,630 about that that just doesn't sound right. 556 00:28:01,570 --> 00:28:03,550 You know what could very well be happening? 557 00:28:04,250 --> 00:28:08,570 God the Holy Ghost is causing that unction 558 00:28:08,570 --> 00:28:10,630 to exercise in you. 559 00:28:11,590 --> 00:28:14,650 And it's therefore extremely important for you to 560 00:28:14,650 --> 00:28:17,670 become sensitive to what the Spirit of God 561 00:28:17,670 --> 00:28:18,810 may be saying. 562 00:28:19,190 --> 00:28:20,590 Why is it important? 563 00:28:20,910 --> 00:28:23,950 Because it's this unction that will preserve us 564 00:28:23,950 --> 00:28:29,750 against the antichrists now, for there are many. 565 00:28:30,470 --> 00:28:33,510 Oh, we have them in atheism, in pantheism, 566 00:28:33,730 --> 00:28:36,110 in deism, anti-supernaturalism. 567 00:28:36,550 --> 00:28:40,530 And I must say with tenderness, because I 568 00:28:40,530 --> 00:28:42,750 don't want to be less than tender, since 569 00:28:42,750 --> 00:28:46,230 I was among them so many years, misguided 570 00:28:46,230 --> 00:28:51,010 and misled, but nevertheless wanting truth, I have 571 00:28:51,010 --> 00:28:54,510 to include dispensationalism and dispensationalists. 572 00:28:55,050 --> 00:28:57,170 As I say again, among whom I was, 573 00:28:57,250 --> 00:29:00,170 but hungry for truth and looking for reality. 574 00:29:00,970 --> 00:29:03,770 Oh, what a burden that lays upon you. 575 00:29:03,770 --> 00:29:06,150 I remember years ago when I was pastor 576 00:29:06,150 --> 00:29:07,930 of the First Baptist Church of Little Falls, 577 00:29:08,070 --> 00:29:08,510 Minnesota. 578 00:29:09,030 --> 00:29:13,290 I was preparing a message from the Gospel 579 00:29:13,290 --> 00:29:16,530 of Matthew, and the message just seemed to 580 00:29:16,530 --> 00:29:18,410 fall there and open up. 581 00:29:18,510 --> 00:29:20,310 And I was thrilled by what I was 582 00:29:20,310 --> 00:29:20,730 seeing. 583 00:29:21,690 --> 00:29:24,190 I said, I better go to Gableyne's Annotated 584 00:29:24,190 --> 00:29:25,610 Bible and see if I'm kosher. 585 00:29:26,750 --> 00:29:29,010 And you know, I discovered when I went 586 00:29:29,010 --> 00:29:30,350 to it that I wasn't. 587 00:29:33,690 --> 00:29:37,110 To show you the tyranny, I didn't just 588 00:29:37,110 --> 00:29:40,470 crumple that sermon up and throw it into 589 00:29:40,470 --> 00:29:41,150 the wastebasket. 590 00:29:41,470 --> 00:29:42,490 I tore it in two. 591 00:29:44,470 --> 00:29:46,350 This lengthwise, not crosswise. 592 00:29:46,490 --> 00:29:47,690 See, you could read it if it was 593 00:29:47,690 --> 00:29:49,350 half of it anyway, if it was crosswise. 594 00:29:49,710 --> 00:29:51,710 I tore it lengthwise, and then I tore 595 00:29:51,710 --> 00:29:53,330 it in little bits, and I put half 596 00:29:53,330 --> 00:29:55,590 of them in one wastebasket and another half 597 00:29:55,590 --> 00:29:57,750 down the hall in another wastebasket so nobody 598 00:29:57,750 --> 00:30:00,250 would put them together and find out how 599 00:30:00,250 --> 00:30:02,410 dangerously close to heresy I'd been. 600 00:30:03,710 --> 00:30:06,610 Talk about living in bondage and living in 601 00:30:06,610 --> 00:30:07,570 a straitjacket. 602 00:30:09,790 --> 00:30:10,790 Well, I certainly was. 603 00:30:11,810 --> 00:30:15,270 All right, the Spirit of God wants us 604 00:30:15,270 --> 00:30:19,730 to be equipped so that we will not 605 00:30:19,730 --> 00:30:25,730 be misled and captured by the Antichrist. 606 00:30:25,810 --> 00:30:28,050 What is it that the Antichrist deny, verses 607 00:30:28,050 --> 00:30:29,370 22 and 23? 608 00:30:29,370 --> 00:30:32,910 They deny that Jesus of Nazareth is the 609 00:30:32,910 --> 00:30:35,690 Messiah, that he's the anointed of the Father. 610 00:30:36,750 --> 00:30:38,650 And in this respect, you can say that 611 00:30:38,650 --> 00:30:41,990 the Jews up until the present are blinded. 612 00:30:43,390 --> 00:30:47,110 They deny that Jesus Christ, our Lord and 613 00:30:47,110 --> 00:30:49,510 Savior, is both God and man. 614 00:30:50,550 --> 00:30:53,230 Originally, there was an attack on his humanity. 615 00:30:53,450 --> 00:30:55,850 They said he was a spirit and not 616 00:30:55,850 --> 00:30:57,490 man, that what appeared to be a body 617 00:30:57,490 --> 00:30:58,550 was a theophany. 618 00:30:59,470 --> 00:31:01,370 Today we live in a time when they 619 00:31:01,370 --> 00:31:03,610 see him as man and not God, an 620 00:31:03,610 --> 00:31:04,790 attack on his deity. 621 00:31:05,770 --> 00:31:07,870 But the Scripture teaches us that he is 622 00:31:07,870 --> 00:31:09,770 very God of very God. 623 00:31:09,890 --> 00:31:11,090 God come in the flesh. 624 00:31:13,880 --> 00:31:18,540 The Antichrists would teach us that Jesus is 625 00:31:18,540 --> 00:31:22,440 not the eternal Son of God, and consequently 626 00:31:22,440 --> 00:31:24,520 they would deny the Incarnation. 627 00:31:26,020 --> 00:31:30,400 They would deny the authority of God's Word. 628 00:31:31,760 --> 00:31:34,680 They would deny its inspiration and they would 629 00:31:34,680 --> 00:31:35,760 deny its truth. 630 00:31:36,040 --> 00:31:39,180 Oh, what attacks there are even today among 631 00:31:39,180 --> 00:31:42,460 some who nominally would think of themselves or 632 00:31:42,460 --> 00:31:45,100 have us think of them as being evangelical, 633 00:31:46,020 --> 00:31:49,080 attacking the authority of the Word of God. 634 00:31:50,060 --> 00:31:54,280 This denial involves the fact that they consider 635 00:31:54,280 --> 00:31:58,440 there is no personal revelation of God, nor 636 00:31:58,440 --> 00:32:00,600 is there any message of love from the 637 00:32:00,600 --> 00:32:01,360 eternal throne. 638 00:32:01,620 --> 00:32:03,260 No redemption, no Savior. 639 00:32:05,300 --> 00:32:08,360 God's Word is no longer binding upon people. 640 00:32:09,420 --> 00:32:12,900 We have something today that's approaching this. 641 00:32:12,980 --> 00:32:14,240 I'm troubled by it. 642 00:32:15,400 --> 00:32:17,300 I pass it on to you. 643 00:32:18,250 --> 00:32:20,160 It seems to me it's dangerous. 644 00:32:21,100 --> 00:32:24,020 I had talked to a pastor of a 645 00:32:24,020 --> 00:32:26,900 rather large church, and I said, why aren't 646 00:32:26,900 --> 00:32:28,740 you doing more permissions? 647 00:32:29,620 --> 00:32:31,860 You were talking about this 5,000 to 648 00:32:31,860 --> 00:32:34,480 7,000 people you have in attendance, and 649 00:32:34,480 --> 00:32:38,000 I see from your published report that you're 650 00:32:38,000 --> 00:32:41,540 giving just a very small amount of permissions. 651 00:32:42,400 --> 00:32:49,180 Well, we are not only controlled by the 652 00:32:49,180 --> 00:32:52,080 Bible, we're also controlled by the Spirit. 653 00:32:52,860 --> 00:32:55,840 You see, we have both Logos and Rhema, 654 00:32:56,540 --> 00:33:00,220 and we don't consider the Logos binding unless 655 00:33:00,220 --> 00:33:03,420 under Rhema the Spirit of God emphasizes it. 656 00:33:03,820 --> 00:33:06,640 I said, well, the people that have been 657 00:33:06,640 --> 00:33:09,180 carrying the responsibility of missions for the last 658 00:33:09,180 --> 00:33:11,360 200 years have the Word of God. 659 00:33:11,360 --> 00:33:14,060 Well, that's true, but to us it doesn't 660 00:33:14,060 --> 00:33:18,360 become binding until the Holy Ghost, by some 661 00:33:18,360 --> 00:33:19,140 means. 662 00:33:19,540 --> 00:33:22,540 And we've had so many prophetic messages, and 663 00:33:22,540 --> 00:33:25,940 none of them have been challenging us to 664 00:33:25,940 --> 00:33:28,960 do anything more about missions overseas. 665 00:33:31,090 --> 00:33:35,510 I submit to you that, first, I don't 666 00:33:35,510 --> 00:33:37,890 believe the Scripture teaches such a distinction that 667 00:33:37,890 --> 00:33:40,990 can be hard and fast between Rhema and 668 00:33:40,990 --> 00:33:41,290 Logos. 669 00:33:41,290 --> 00:33:45,550 Secondly, that whenever the tradition of the elders 670 00:33:45,550 --> 00:33:47,550 or the practice of the people makes the 671 00:33:47,550 --> 00:33:50,890 Word of God of none effect, it is 672 00:33:50,890 --> 00:33:54,370 approaching to this thing that we're talking about 673 00:33:54,370 --> 00:33:54,810 here. 674 00:33:58,930 --> 00:34:02,110 So we come to the test, the evidence 675 00:34:02,110 --> 00:34:07,630 of eternal life, verses 24 to 27, wherein 676 00:34:07,630 --> 00:34:11,370 we are told that let that therefore abide 677 00:34:11,370 --> 00:34:13,590 in you which you have heard from the 678 00:34:13,590 --> 00:34:13,989 beginning. 679 00:34:15,510 --> 00:34:16,929 What did you hear? 680 00:34:17,230 --> 00:34:18,850 What was it that God said? 681 00:34:19,010 --> 00:34:20,710 What did God's Word proclaim? 682 00:34:22,150 --> 00:34:24,429 Let that abide in you. 683 00:34:24,770 --> 00:34:27,630 If there remains in you what from the 684 00:34:27,630 --> 00:34:30,630 beginning you heard, you too, in the Son 685 00:34:30,630 --> 00:34:34,389 and in the Father, will continue to remain. 686 00:34:35,270 --> 00:34:38,510 That is the translation that Lenski gives that 687 00:34:38,510 --> 00:34:40,550 I find very refreshing to my heart. 688 00:34:41,469 --> 00:34:43,969 The light, the truth of the Word, the 689 00:34:43,969 --> 00:34:47,630 commandment, the teachings of the Word are the 690 00:34:47,630 --> 00:34:51,929 means of establishing for us the basis and 691 00:34:51,929 --> 00:34:55,130 the foundation of our fellowship—fellowship with the Father 692 00:34:55,130 --> 00:34:57,310 and fellowship with the Son. 693 00:34:58,230 --> 00:35:00,730 And that's the whole purpose of this letter, 694 00:35:01,290 --> 00:35:05,950 to make certain that we do understand and 695 00:35:05,950 --> 00:35:07,170 that we abide. 696 00:35:08,270 --> 00:35:11,350 Now, I've said in the past, and you've 697 00:35:11,350 --> 00:35:14,450 heard it, that in this day, as in 698 00:35:14,450 --> 00:35:17,710 other days, so it's nothing truly new, a 699 00:35:17,710 --> 00:35:20,490 great many people who profess faith in Christ 700 00:35:21,930 --> 00:35:23,310 fall away. 701 00:35:24,570 --> 00:35:27,570 You've heard the statement that I've made, and 702 00:35:27,570 --> 00:35:29,930 it's been made by many, and I'm not 703 00:35:29,930 --> 00:35:33,150 being challenged on it, so I'm assuming that 704 00:35:33,150 --> 00:35:36,450 however hard it is for us to grasp 705 00:35:36,450 --> 00:35:39,850 or to accept, we do to some degree 706 00:35:39,850 --> 00:35:40,330 at least. 707 00:35:40,610 --> 00:35:44,810 And that is that out of every 200 708 00:35:44,810 --> 00:35:48,770 persons that profess faith in Jesus Christ in 709 00:35:48,770 --> 00:35:53,110 present day evangelism, at the end of a 710 00:35:53,110 --> 00:35:57,490 year, there's only one that's going on effectively 711 00:35:57,490 --> 00:35:58,150 for Christ. 712 00:35:58,250 --> 00:35:59,610 Now, I know that you can find a 713 00:35:59,610 --> 00:36:03,850 particular situation where there's more than one, but 714 00:36:03,850 --> 00:36:07,570 you can find other situations where there aren't 715 00:36:07,570 --> 00:36:08,070 any. 716 00:36:09,030 --> 00:36:11,650 So this is the average, and it's not 717 00:36:11,650 --> 00:36:12,650 my average. 718 00:36:12,830 --> 00:36:15,390 It's from some very close to the main 719 00:36:15,390 --> 00:36:18,070 evangelistic streams of our nation. 720 00:36:18,870 --> 00:36:20,230 What does it mean? 721 00:36:20,890 --> 00:36:23,770 It means that multitudes of people are professing 722 00:36:23,770 --> 00:36:26,390 faith in Christ on some grounds or other, 723 00:36:27,050 --> 00:36:30,530 and then within days or weeks or months, 724 00:36:30,650 --> 00:36:31,750 they've drifted away. 725 00:36:34,020 --> 00:36:35,340 They've gone back. 726 00:36:35,420 --> 00:36:37,500 They're no longer found among the people of 727 00:36:37,500 --> 00:36:37,820 God. 728 00:36:40,240 --> 00:36:42,500 They're not abiding in Him. 729 00:36:42,560 --> 00:36:46,660 Now, in John chapter 15, the apostle writes, 730 00:36:46,800 --> 00:36:48,680 saying, Abide in Christ. 731 00:36:49,280 --> 00:36:51,820 But that abiding has to do with a 732 00:36:51,820 --> 00:36:53,420 relationship to Christ. 733 00:36:53,840 --> 00:36:56,780 Abide in Christ, crucified with Him, and buried 734 00:36:56,780 --> 00:36:59,220 with Him, and quickened with Him, and raised 735 00:36:59,220 --> 00:37:00,640 with Him, and seated with Him. 736 00:37:01,340 --> 00:37:02,900 And then he said, and I will abide 737 00:37:02,900 --> 00:37:03,460 in you. 738 00:37:04,000 --> 00:37:07,380 That is reciprocal indwelling, said F.B. Meyer, 739 00:37:07,800 --> 00:37:10,580 where we live in Christ and our identification 740 00:37:10,580 --> 00:37:12,980 and union with Him, and He lives in 741 00:37:12,980 --> 00:37:15,740 us to make real His presence and minister 742 00:37:15,740 --> 00:37:16,420 through us. 743 00:37:16,960 --> 00:37:20,000 That is the abiding of relationship. 744 00:37:21,220 --> 00:37:23,200 But that's not the abiding that the apostle 745 00:37:23,200 --> 00:37:24,100 uses here. 746 00:37:24,900 --> 00:37:29,480 This is the abiding of continuing, of standing. 747 00:37:30,280 --> 00:37:33,460 So when you're sitting across the table from 748 00:37:33,460 --> 00:37:35,480 someone who said to you, I am not 749 00:37:35,480 --> 00:37:38,440 sure that I am a child of God. 750 00:37:38,580 --> 00:37:40,700 I am not certain that I've passed from 751 00:37:40,700 --> 00:37:41,560 death to life. 752 00:37:42,440 --> 00:37:43,840 Please help me. 753 00:37:43,840 --> 00:37:47,720 And you've gone through, number one, if we 754 00:37:47,720 --> 00:37:49,740 say we have fellowship with Him and walk 755 00:37:49,740 --> 00:37:52,120 in darkness, we lie and do not the 756 00:37:52,120 --> 00:37:52,500 truth. 757 00:37:53,080 --> 00:37:54,860 If we say we know Him and keep 758 00:37:54,860 --> 00:37:56,600 not His commandments, we're a liar. 759 00:37:58,200 --> 00:38:00,800 Any man who doesn't love his brother is 760 00:38:00,800 --> 00:38:02,080 still dead in his sins. 761 00:38:02,500 --> 00:38:04,900 Love not the world, the things of the 762 00:38:04,900 --> 00:38:05,160 world. 763 00:38:05,260 --> 00:38:06,880 Any man loves the world, the love of 764 00:38:06,880 --> 00:38:08,140 the Father is not in him. 765 00:38:08,300 --> 00:38:10,360 You brought them one, two, three, four. 766 00:38:10,520 --> 00:38:12,080 Now you come to five. 767 00:38:12,640 --> 00:38:15,300 Let that therefore abide in you which you've 768 00:38:15,300 --> 00:38:16,320 heard from the beginning. 769 00:38:17,620 --> 00:38:20,780 And you're saying now, are you abiding in 770 00:38:20,780 --> 00:38:22,460 the profession of faith you made? 771 00:38:22,860 --> 00:38:26,020 Are you abiding and continuing in the repentance 772 00:38:26,020 --> 00:38:27,360 that you expressed? 773 00:38:27,840 --> 00:38:30,620 Are you continuing to trust in the finished 774 00:38:30,620 --> 00:38:31,480 work of Christ? 775 00:38:31,800 --> 00:38:32,960 Are you staying? 776 00:38:33,240 --> 00:38:37,020 Are you standing on that grounds in which 777 00:38:37,020 --> 00:38:39,940 you came into your profession of being a 778 00:38:39,940 --> 00:38:40,800 child of God? 779 00:38:42,120 --> 00:38:43,320 That's the issue. 780 00:38:43,740 --> 00:38:46,260 Because you see, the person that's gone out 781 00:38:46,260 --> 00:38:50,100 from us, the all of the argument, all 782 00:38:50,100 --> 00:38:53,020 of the evidence, all of the support is 783 00:38:53,020 --> 00:38:54,760 that they were not of us. 784 00:38:56,240 --> 00:38:58,840 And so when someone is talking to you 785 00:38:58,840 --> 00:39:05,340 about this, you'd better bring them right straight 786 00:39:05,340 --> 00:39:07,340 to the Word and let the Spirit of 787 00:39:07,340 --> 00:39:09,620 God speak to their heart through the Word. 788 00:39:10,180 --> 00:39:12,420 I've had people say, well, you know, my 789 00:39:12,420 --> 00:39:15,700 husband was saved, but he's been backslidden for 790 00:39:15,700 --> 00:39:16,740 many years now. 791 00:39:17,620 --> 00:39:19,300 I can't get him to go to church. 792 00:39:19,380 --> 00:39:20,780 I can't get him to do this. 793 00:39:20,860 --> 00:39:21,880 He doesn't want to pray. 794 00:39:22,040 --> 00:39:27,100 But I was in a church many years 795 00:39:27,100 --> 00:39:29,080 ago now, and I told the people, I'm 796 00:39:29,080 --> 00:39:29,860 here to help you. 797 00:39:29,940 --> 00:39:32,160 And if there's anything I can do, I 798 00:39:32,160 --> 00:39:34,880 want you to come to me and I'll 799 00:39:34,880 --> 00:39:35,800 join you in prayer. 800 00:39:35,900 --> 00:39:37,280 I'll be of all the help I can 801 00:39:37,280 --> 00:39:38,480 in the few days I'm with you. 802 00:39:38,480 --> 00:39:40,200 And the first one that came to me 803 00:39:40,200 --> 00:39:43,020 was a lady, and she said, you know, 804 00:39:43,180 --> 00:39:46,540 my husband made profession of faith in Christ 805 00:39:46,540 --> 00:39:48,220 when Evangelist so-and-so was here. 806 00:39:49,360 --> 00:39:51,780 And there's only one verse of Scripture in 807 00:39:51,780 --> 00:39:54,840 the Bible that he knows, and she quoted 808 00:39:54,840 --> 00:39:55,320 it. 809 00:39:56,020 --> 00:40:00,820 And the Evangelist told him that if anyone 810 00:40:00,820 --> 00:40:04,200 ever tried to say he wasn't a Christian, 811 00:40:04,860 --> 00:40:06,580 that he should use that verse. 812 00:40:08,500 --> 00:40:11,420 So he still continues in his drunkenness. 813 00:40:11,540 --> 00:40:13,780 He still continues in his immorality. 814 00:40:14,160 --> 00:40:16,520 And I know he's cheating and he's stealing, 815 00:40:16,780 --> 00:40:20,660 but he claims he's a Christian, and that 816 00:40:20,660 --> 00:40:22,520 it's just that he's weak. 817 00:40:23,720 --> 00:40:25,720 And she said, I wish you'd pray with 818 00:40:25,720 --> 00:40:28,080 me that my husband would be recovered from 819 00:40:28,080 --> 00:40:28,880 his backsliding. 820 00:40:29,920 --> 00:40:31,740 And I looked her square in the eye 821 00:40:31,740 --> 00:40:33,220 and I said, I'm sorry, I can't. 822 00:40:34,440 --> 00:40:36,800 And because I can't, of course, I won't. 823 00:40:37,620 --> 00:40:39,860 She said, here I am, the first one 824 00:40:39,860 --> 00:40:44,100 to come after you invited us to come 825 00:40:44,100 --> 00:40:46,560 to you and that you'd help us and 826 00:40:46,560 --> 00:40:46,940 join us. 827 00:40:47,260 --> 00:40:48,880 No, I said, you misunderstand. 828 00:40:49,980 --> 00:40:52,400 I didn't say I won't help you and 829 00:40:52,400 --> 00:40:56,800 I won't pray, but I can't pray the 830 00:40:56,800 --> 00:40:57,960 way you've asked me to pray. 831 00:40:58,120 --> 00:41:00,100 You've asked me to pray that he'll be 832 00:41:00,100 --> 00:41:01,760 recovered from his backsliding. 833 00:41:02,620 --> 00:41:04,520 I said, I don't know too much about 834 00:41:04,520 --> 00:41:04,660 it. 835 00:41:04,740 --> 00:41:06,280 The Word doesn't have too much to say 836 00:41:06,280 --> 00:41:07,160 about backsliding. 837 00:41:07,800 --> 00:41:11,500 But I know this, you can't backslide till 838 00:41:11,500 --> 00:41:13,460 your front slid sometime. 839 00:41:14,720 --> 00:41:16,660 I don't think he's ever moved. 840 00:41:17,380 --> 00:41:19,520 I think he's still dead in his sins. 841 00:41:20,480 --> 00:41:21,980 And, you know, she looked at me and 842 00:41:21,980 --> 00:41:24,940 she said, well, I've been suspicious about that. 843 00:41:30,140 --> 00:41:35,200 You know, if you see a bird and 844 00:41:35,200 --> 00:41:37,240 it's got a bill like a duck and 845 00:41:37,240 --> 00:41:39,680 it quacks like a duck and it's got 846 00:41:39,680 --> 00:41:41,620 webbed feet and it waddles like a duck 847 00:41:41,620 --> 00:41:45,000 and it swims like a duck, I don't 848 00:41:45,000 --> 00:41:53,540 think you're being prejudiced if you think that's 849 00:41:53,540 --> 00:41:53,940 a duck. 850 00:41:56,780 --> 00:41:58,540 Even though it may have a sign on 851 00:41:58,540 --> 00:42:00,020 its chest that says, I am an eagle, 852 00:42:00,020 --> 00:42:03,220 I still think you have a perfectly justified 853 00:42:03,220 --> 00:42:05,460 in thinking that perhaps it was a duck. 854 00:42:07,280 --> 00:42:09,340 And the Scripture tells us that by their 855 00:42:09,340 --> 00:42:10,600 fruits we will know them. 856 00:42:11,720 --> 00:42:14,400 And so it tells us also that the 857 00:42:14,400 --> 00:42:17,100 ones that come and identify with us and 858 00:42:17,100 --> 00:42:19,700 claim to be part of Christ and part 859 00:42:19,700 --> 00:42:23,240 of the body of Christ, that give ear 860 00:42:23,240 --> 00:42:29,120 to seducing spirits and follow heresy and go 861 00:42:29,120 --> 00:42:34,060 back into the world and leave that which 862 00:42:34,060 --> 00:42:35,580 they profess to have. 863 00:42:35,580 --> 00:42:39,640 We have reason to believe that they are 864 00:42:39,640 --> 00:42:43,500 in very serious problem and possibly have not 865 00:42:43,500 --> 00:42:44,440 been born of God. 866 00:42:44,940 --> 00:42:47,480 I think the apostle tells us that those 867 00:42:47,480 --> 00:42:51,480 that are born of the Spirit should, must, 868 00:42:52,120 --> 00:42:57,980 abide, continue to stay in Christ on the 869 00:42:57,980 --> 00:43:00,280 very basis in which they came to a 870 00:43:00,280 --> 00:43:01,940 profession of faith in Christ. 871 00:43:02,180 --> 00:43:06,280 Fifth evidence of being born of God is 872 00:43:06,280 --> 00:43:11,320 abiding, continuing in Christ, shall we pray. 873 00:43:11,460 --> 00:43:17,040 Father Jesus, look thou upon us now as 874 00:43:17,040 --> 00:43:20,160 a people that are concerned about ourselves. 875 00:43:20,760 --> 00:43:23,480 We want to be everything that thou and 876 00:43:23,480 --> 00:43:25,700 thy grace and mercy and love would have 877 00:43:25,700 --> 00:43:27,460 us be, and in turn we want to 878 00:43:27,460 --> 00:43:29,060 help everyone we can. 879 00:43:30,040 --> 00:43:32,120 And so we ask thee, Father, that the 880 00:43:32,120 --> 00:43:35,380 Word may have free course in us and 881 00:43:35,380 --> 00:43:38,520 be glorified, and that we will abide and 882 00:43:38,520 --> 00:43:40,200 continue to stand there. 883 00:43:40,560 --> 00:43:43,100 We will resist every effort of a defeated 884 00:43:43,100 --> 00:43:46,180 foe to deceive us, that we will permit 885 00:43:46,180 --> 00:43:49,100 that anointing, that unction to function in us 886 00:43:49,100 --> 00:43:51,820 to enable us to discern between truth and 887 00:43:51,820 --> 00:43:55,780 error, and that we will ever stand loyal 888 00:43:55,780 --> 00:43:58,400 and faithful to the truth as it is 889 00:43:58,400 --> 00:44:00,920 revealed to us in Christ and in thy 890 00:44:00,920 --> 00:44:04,680 Word, in Jesus' name and for his angel. 891 00:44:07,840 --> 00:44:09,620 You've been listening to the From the Pulpit 892 00:44:09,620 --> 00:44:10,800 in Classic Sermons series. 893 00:44:11,400 --> 00:44:13,580 This week, you heard Parris Reedhead with his 894 00:44:13,580 --> 00:44:16,240 message, So Great is Salvation, Abiding in Christ. 895 00:44:16,900 --> 00:44:18,280 Tune in next week to hear Tim Keller 896 00:44:18,280 --> 00:44:20,580 speak about A World of Idols on From 897 00:44:20,580 --> 00:44:22,140 the Pulpit in Classic Sermons.