I'm always deeply honored to be able to minister the word of God to you. And we do that once again by looking at Second Corinthians chapter three. We're looking at verses 17 through verse six, actually of chapter four. I don't think I'll get all the way through this. But this is the second part of a little series on beholding the glory of the Lord. So follow along, as I read the text, and if you've not been with us, we go through the Bible verse by verse in whatever book we're in so that we don't miss anything, and we can apply all that the Lord has for us. So, second Corinthians chapter three, beginning in verse six, or 17. "Now the Lord is the Spirit and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. But we all with unveiled face beholding as in a mirror, the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit. Therefore, since we have this ministry, as we received mercy, we do not lose heart, but we have renounced the things hidden because of shame, not walking in craftiness, or adulterating the Word of God, but by the manifestation of truth, commending ourselves to every man's conscience in the sight of God. And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, in whose case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving, so that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. For we do not preach ourselves, but Christ Jesus as Lord, and ourselves as your bond servants for Jesus sake. For God who said, 'Light shall shine out of darkness,' is the One who has shone in our hearts, to give the Light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ."

Here we see the power of gazing upon the Lord Jesus Christ as he is revealed in Scripture. And certainly, this was the passion of the apostle Paul as he endeavored to defend himself against the attacks of the false teachers, and some of the sycophants that he had developed within the church of Corinth. Remember, these were false teachers that were trying to mix elements of the Mosaic Law, the old covenant, with the new covenant, trying to say that you've got to do certain rituals and you've got to be circumcised, and all of these types of things, in order to be saved. And we've talked much about that. But what he is wanting them to do is to look clearly at the glory of Christ in the new covenant. And to be sure, we need to do this often in these dark days of deception that we find ourselves in; days of violence and lawlessness, and mounting persecution against the church. I've had the joy, this last week of speaking with several pastor friends of mine. Some of them are black pastors, and in black communities, others are white pastors in inner cities, that where they're dealing with all of the Antifa and Black Lives Matter and all of this, and it's wonderful to hear their biblical understanding of what's going on that really echoes what I have been telling you, but certainly, the domestic terrorism that we're watching unfold before our very eyes; I agree with all of my brothers this is, this is just one of many evidences of God's judgment upon just a godless nation, a pagan idolatrous nation. We are witnessing frankly, the wrath of divine abandonment. You've heard me talk about this before. Romans one. God has given so many people over to a depraved mind to do things that are just not only irrational but immoral and bizarre. And beloved, mark my word, your faith is going to be tested in ways like you have never had it before. We've had it really good here in the United States for many years. That's drawing to a close. Marxism and Biblical Christianity cannot coexist. Paul told Timothy in Second Timothy 3:12, "Indeed, all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted."

Now we know biblically that most of the persecution is going to come from, (cough) excuse me, the unbelieving world; people that hate Christ. But it's also going to come from the unbelieving church that says it's Christian. By the way, this has been how it has worked down through history. I mean, the greatest opponents of God's people, even in ancient Israel, were the religious leaders. The greatest opponents of Christianity at the birth of the church, were once again, religious leaders, the Pharisees and so forth. And we're going to see the same thing continue in the era in which we live. Don't be naive, the greatest threat to the true church is going to be from other professing Christians. Now, I know many of you are afraid of what you're seeing happening with the kind of the leftist movement, the Marxist movement, we've talked about that before. It's, not just Antifa. It's behind the Black Lives Matter movement. And of course, most of the people that are a part of that don't even realize that they're pawns in a much larger game that's going on here. But we want to remember that there are people, for example, in the Black Lives movement that are just trying to expose what they perceive to be is ethnic. So social inequality, they want unity. And they're clueless about how Satan can use maybe some legitimate things to accomplish his nefarious diabolical purposes and ultimately, prepare the world for the Antichrist. Lot of people were ignorant of that. Some of my brothers that I talked with said that, that most of the people in there, as one brother said, most of the people in my community couldn't spell Marxist, much less know that anything was a part of what they're doing or that that's part of what's fueling much of this. But there are many people in these movements that embrace agendas that are absolutely an abomination to God. Especially the whole LGBT Q. What is it? AI plus movement. These are things that we must not partner with as believers. Second Corinthians six clearly states that; that Christians cannot partner with these kinds of ungodly movements. So righteousness has no fellowship with lawlessness, Paul says and so forth. But whether it's Black Lives Matter, Antifa, LGBTQ IA plus adoption agencies, the leftist political party, or even the godless conservatives, the godless, a lot of the people that are pro life absolutely hate Christ. Regardless of whatever the movement might be, you must understand that these people serve their father, the devil, and most of them don't know it. They serve the father of lies who was a murderer from the beginning. They love darkness rather than light, because their deeds are evil, and they need the gospel. And I'm convinced that at their core, the agenda of the whole social justice, Black Lives movement is to ultimately silence Christians, to silence those who preach the gospel and who pursue holiness. They have no fear of God. They bow to no authority other than their own. They hate all authority. They love darkness rather than light. They love the world, and they hate Christ and all who belong to him.

I know, I have been accused, and I'm sure you have as well, of being a conspiracy theorist. Well, you know what, I am a conspiracy theorist because I know the Word of God. And there is a conspiracy going on. We do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but powers and principalities. And we know according to Second Thessalonians two that the mystery of lawlessness is already at work that started even back in the in the first century when that was written. We know that the lawless one is going to be revealed and his coming is in accord with Satan, referring to the Antichrist, and all of these things. So folks, indeed, there is a conspiracy, it's been going on since the fall. And we're a part of it in terms of those that Satan and his people hate. I love what we read in John 16:33. "'In the world, you have tribulation, but take courage I have overcome the world.'" isn't that wonderful promise. Because there's no way we're going to elect enough politicians to overcome the world. Somebody told me the other day Pastor, you need to get woke. And, you know, the idea that you need to feel guilty because you're a racist, that you're, you know, the very fact that your white means you're a racist, and you need to feel guilty for your white privilege and he kind of went through this type of thing. You need to embrace critical race theory--that is utterly unbiblical. You need to embrace social justice and Black Lives Matter and all these types of things. And I tried to be kin-- I think I was--but my mind went to Ephesians five and I reiterated this a bit to this brother. In verse 11, the apostle Paul says, "Do not participate." Let me say it again, "Do not participate in the unfruitful deeds of darkness, but instead even expose them; for it is disgraceful even to speak of the things which are done by them in secret. But all things become visible when they are exposed by the light, for everything that becomes visible is light. For this reason, it says 'Awake sleeper.'" This is how I want to be woke, right? "'Awake, sleeper, and arise from the dead. and Christ will shine on you. Therefore, be careful how you walk, not as unwise men, but as wise, making the most of your time, because the days are evil." And sadly, much of the church today has no clue as to what's going on in our world. The church has really become like the world. In fact, we live in an evangelical era where people really don't know how to define a Christian. I mean, think about this, if you were to take, let's just take 1000 public school teachers, okay, let's just pick them at random. Let me ask you this question, school teachers. Do you believe that all men and women are born in sin that we have a sin nature? That all we do, and all we are is fundamentally offensive to a holy God. And therefore, the wrath of God abides upon all men. And the only hope of our salvation is placing our faith in the person and the work of the Lord Jesus Christ. And obeying His Word, which tells us that such things as the LGBTQ and so many of these other movements are an abomination to Him. How many of you believe that teachers? I don't know, we might get one hand, maybe two or three. Now, let me ask the next question. How many of you are Christians? Do I make my point clear; many hands would rise up or would raise up? Well, since the inception of the church at Pentecost, dear friends, Satan has been sowing tears amongst the wheat. And this will continue we know, until the Lord returns.

Dave Harrell

And this causes evangelism to take on a whole new image. I mean, you think about how so many evangelicals evangelize today. They have an obsession with church growth at the expense of Bible doctrine. And so rather than the church being the proclaimer, and the protector of divine truth, it has become an amorphous amalgam of social services and pseudo-Christian entertainment and prosperity hustling and political activism and on and on it goes. The church for the most part has become a cross between, I don't know, a circus and a country club. The church has gone out of its way to coddle unbelievers to make sure that they are culturally relevant. So they don't offend anybody. And therefore, no one who hears a pseudo phony gospel is truly going to be born again. But they're going to fill up churches. And therefore you have churches filled with unbelievers.

Now many evangelicals are trying to find some common ground with all of these lawless haters of God that we see in our world; trying to find some nuanced position between what we believe as Christians and what you believe out here with, for example, critical race theory and gender identity, and same sex marriage and all of that. Because after all, we don't want to be called a racist, or a bigot or a homophobe, or transphobic, or whatever else you hear. But pastor, we've got to build bridges. No dear friends, we don't, we have got to preach the gospel. There is no bridge between the sinfulness of man and the holiness of God. There is no bridge between heaven and hell. And there is but one mediator between God and man. And that is the man Christ Jesus. I hear people say why I'm just so confused. I just, I just don't know what to do. I don't, I don't know what to say. Then let me end that today, the Scripture is very clear about this. What we need to do is preach the word, we need to proclaim the gospel.

Folks, you really have to ask yourself, and by the way, I am going to get to the text in a moment because it does fit in. But you really have to ask yourself, do you really trust God? You know, when it's all on the line, do you really trust him? Come what may? Well, yes, but Pastor, I mean, I don't want to lose my job. I don't want to get beat up, right? I mean, these people just get in your face. They just intimidate you and they could burn my house down and all these types of things. Well, yeah, and I certainly hope that none of that happens, but it might. Jesus said, If you're going to come after Me, you gotta be willing to deny yourself, take up a cross. You know, are you willing to do that? Or maybe just up to a point. As long as it doesn't cost me anything, I'll follow Jesus. But when it comes time to stand up, and look the enemy in the face, and love them enough to say, Thus saith the Lord? Are you willing to do that? I've given you tracks to handout. I'm ashamed to say that most of them are still here. Are you linking these things on your internet? We're trying to do everything we can to give people the gospel. Are you serious about that? First Thessalonians, two, beginning of verse two, the apostle Paul says, "After we had already suffered and been mistreated in Philippi, as you know, we had the boldness in our God to speak to you, the gospel of God, amid much opposition. For our exhortation does not come from error or impurity or by way of deceit; but just as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel, so we speak a," catch this, "not as pleasing men, but God who examines our heart." Beloved, your faith is about to be tested in the days to come, the years to come, like never before. The question is, are you going to cower in fear? Or are you going to stand in the strength of the Lord our God? Did you not give your life to Christ? You said you did. Well, now it's time to, as we say, put your money where your mouth is right? Oh for boldness.

Jesus warned about the days that are coming upon us, Luke 21, beginning in verse 12, "'They will lay their hands on you, and will persecute you, delivering you to the synagogues and prisons'"-- in other words the religious authorities, and the-- "'prisons, bringing you before kings and governors, for My name's sake. It will lead to an opportunity for your testimony. So make up your minds, not to prepare beforehand to defend yourselves, for I will give you utterance and wisdom which none of your opponents will be able to resist or refute.'" Isn't that a wonderful promise? When they get in your face, and I've had this before, it's amazing to see how the Spirit of God gives you just the right words to say. "'But you will be betrayed even by parents and brothers and relatives and friends, and they will put some of you to death. And you will be hated by all because of my name.'" Folks, churches like ours are targets of the enemy. The voices like mine are going to be drowned out; voices like yours are going to be drowned out by the mob. It's inevitable. That's part of what's going to happen on this earth before our Lord returns. And as persecution mounts, those who resent the truth and love the world are going to leave Calvary Bible Church. It's inevitable. Of course, we've had this for years, every church has this. But others who love the truth and resent the world are going to come from other churches. We're seeing some of this mount even on the internet. Because the saints are starving for truth. And what's going to happen as persecution mounts is you are going to long for the glory of Christ and for his return like you never have before. Your hunger for the Word of God will become absolutely insatiable. Prayer will become the very air that you breathe. Payer meetings, which we want to enact once again here in the fall when things get back, hopefully to a little bit of more like normal, prayer meetings or will be attended like Sunday morning services. Fellowship will take on a whole new meaning. You're going to sing hymns with a renewed passion. I've been around people in other parts of the world. Like my Russian brethren, who know all about Marxism. And when you hear them pray, and you hear them sing, it's like you're in a parallel universe. We're all going to find ourselves invigorated with a zeal for evangelism like never before, and people are going to be saved. That's the amazing thing about persecution. God uses it to bring people to Himself. God's saving purposes are always concealed in calamity. But whatever God sends our way we can know that God is in it and that he is going to accomplish his good purposes in us and through us.

Well, all of that, by way of introduction here, Paul knew exactly what it was like to be persecuted in ways, frankly, that we can't imagine. And in this section of his letter to the Corinthians, he underscores the key to survival during suffering, and that key is the holding the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ, as he is revealed in Scripture. In this section, as you will recall, in our previous times together, seeing Christ in Scripture accomplishes at least five amazing realities in our life. I've delineated them as following; seeing Christ in Scripture number one, reveals the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ. Secondly, it transforms believers into the likeness of Christ. Thirdly, it emboldens believers to stand firm in their faith in Christ. Number four, it motivates believers to renounce sin. pursue holiness and proclaim the truth of Christ. And number five, it dispels the darkness of sin and ignorance concerning the person and the work of Christ. Just remember the five verbs seeing Christ in Scripture: reveals, transforms, emboldened, motivates and dispels.

Now remember Paul's line of argument here, he is reminding the folks who are being tempted to go back and arbitrarily mix some aspects of the Old Covenant Mosaic Law with the new. He's reminding them that unlike Old Covenant believers, New Covenant believers are able to see the face of Christ with an unveiled face as Moses did on Mount Sinai. Moreover, he's reminding them that the radiance of the glory of God that emanated from Moses’ face gradually faded, but the glory of the Lord that resides in the believer, through the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit, is reflected in the life of a believer, and it remains that way forever. In fact, it gradually increases and the more we gaze upon him in Scripture, the more we contemplate his perfections the more we reflect upon His person and work, the more we become like Jesus. That's Paul's whole argument here. The more his glory will emanate from us, the more our lives will redound to his glory. And as you will recall, our sanctification is a process, an ongoing transformation. But that transformation as we studied the last time we were together, that transformation is affected by-- in other words, it is brought about by--our quote, "beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord," referring to the gazing upon Christ as he's revealed in Scripture. And one day that process of sanctification is going to be completed. I cannot wait until that day. I was waiting for my wife to say amen. Won't that be something when one day we will be glorified? My my, my.

First John three, in the verse two, "We know that when He appears, we will be." what? "We will be like Him. Because we will see Him just as He is." By the way, do you remember when God was calling you and when he drew you unto himself, and suddenly you really saw who Christ was? Who He is? You could see it in Scripture. For most of us, that was a gradual process. It certainly was for me. But it was finally a time when the veil just came off. And I just, I just saw it. It was Elementary. I mean, I was only nine years old. But I knew enough that I was a sinner. I knew enough that God's wrath abided upon me, and that I knew that I needed to repent and ask Jesus to save me because I couldn't save myself. And I know that God saved me. You know, the natural man is incapable of seeing any of this, in order to be reconciled. In fact, he wants nothing to do with any of this. First Corinthians 2:14. But with the miracle of the new birth, suddenly, the sinner has given eyes to see his rebellion against the Most High God and he's given the ears to hear the truth of the gospel. You read about this in Matthew 13:16, and 17. By the way, this is often called the "effective" or the "efficacious call of God." An operation of the Holy Spirit through the word of God whereby individuals respond in faith, and they accept the gift of salvation that God has given us. I was thinking about this the other day, we read about this in so many places. I love the passage in Romans eight verse 28, and following, "And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. For those whom He foreknew,--referring to being for loved,--He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren; and these whom He predestined," here it is, "He also called and these whom He called he also justified'--and certainly that happens at regeneration, when were born again--"and these whom He justified, He also glorified." It's interesting in Scripture, the effective call of God in regeneration seems to happen simultaneously. For example, Peter states in First Peter one, verse 23, "for you have been born again," he goes on to say, "through the living and enduring word of God." And in verse 25, "and this is the word which was preached to you." Similarly, in James one in verse 18, James says, "In the exercise of His will," not our will, but "in the exercise of His will He brought us forth by the word of truth." You know, I always marvel at the power of regeneration; God's power to instantaneously and supernaturally impart spiritual life to the spiritually dead. And I remember once reading a poem called The Hound of Heaven, maybe you've read it. It's 182 line poem, very long poem, written by an English poet, Francis Thompson. It was first published way back in 1893. And it describes God's loving pursuit of a sinner, with his grace pursuing them, chasing after us, as we run from him until finally, he captures us with his love and saves us. Every believer knows what that's like. And I wanted to share with you a story as told by Andrea Wolf, she was on staff with CoMission in Raleigh, North Carolina, it was published by R. Kent Hughes under the title, "The Hound of Heaven and a Young Agnostic." And it reminds me of many of my conversations in my times in Siberia, with the pastors in the churches there. Let me read this to you. It's powerful. "In the 1930s, Stalin ordered a purge of all Bibles and all believers." By the way, folks, if things continue on and escalate, this is where we're headed. Okay? Don't be deceived. This is where we're headed. And Stavropol, Russia, this order was carried out with vengeance. 1000s of Bibles were confiscated, and multitudes of believers were sent to the gulags--prison camps--where most died, unjustly condemned as quote 'enemies of the state.' The CoMission was sent a team to Stavropol. The city's history wasn't known at the time. But when the team was having difficulty getting Bibles shipped from Moscow, someone mentioned the existence of a warehouse outside of town, where those confiscated Bibles had been stored since Stalin's day. After the team had prayed extensively, one member finally mustered up the courage to go to the warehouse and asked the officials if the Bibles were still there. Sure enough, they were. Then the CoMissioners--part of the mission organization--asked if the Bibles could be removed and distributed again to the people of Stavropol. The answer was, 'Yes!' The next day the CoMission team returned with a truck and several Russian people to help load the Bibles. One helper was a young man--a skeptical, hostile agnostic collegian who had come only for the day's wages. As they were loading Bibles, one team member noticed that the young man had disappeared. Eventually they found him in a corner of the warehouse, weeping. He had slipped away, hoping to take a Bible for himself. What he did not know was that he was being pursued by the 'Hound of Heaven.' What he found shook him to the core. The inside page of the Bible he picked up had the handwritten signature of his grandmother. It had been her personal Bible. Out of the 1000s of Bibles still left in that warehouse, he stole the very one belonging to his grandmother--a woman, who throughout her entire life, was persecuted for her faith." My what a coincidence. He goes on to write, "No wonder he was weeping--God had powerfully and yet tenderly made himself known to this young man. Such was his divinely appointed meeting with the sovereign Lord of the universe, the 'Hound of Heaven,' who had tracked him down to that very warehouse! Remember, Jeremiah's words, Jeremiah 23:24. 'Can anyone hide in secret places so that I cannot see him?' declares the Lord. 'Do not I fill both heaven and earth?'" declares the Lord. Then he closes saying "Jesus is truly the ever-present, all-seeing 'Hound of Heaven.' He can track us down wherever we're hiding! And once on the trail, he sets his heart with relentless zeal and undivided focus to the pursuit."

Well, what happened here is by the power of the Spirit of God. The Word of God was revealed to him. And in that word, he saw the glory of Christ. There, God miraculously saved him, and set his sanctification into motion. So indeed, seeing Christ in Scripture, not only reveals the glory of Christ, not only transforms us into the likeness of Christ, but now number three, and we finally come to our outline, it emboldens believers to stand firm in their faith in Christ.

Notice chapter four verse one. "Therefore, since we have this ministry," Paul says, "as we received mercy, we do not lose heart." A term in the original language means we do not become disheartened and act like a coward, very clear. Now, the false apostles and some of their sycophants were absolutely hammering the apostle Paul, as we have studied, and it would have been easy for him to give in, to cower. But no, he knew the truth of the gospel. He knew the truth of who Christ is, that he is the Creator, the Sustainer, the Redeemer and ultimately the consummator of all things. And so he did not cower, nor should we. O child of God, don't miss this. And this is Paul's point because of the New Covenant ministry of the Holy Spirit. He has now caused us to be new creatures in Christ, the old things pass away, the new things have come, He dwells within us. So now we can see Christ for who he is. And on that basis, we are able to speak candidly and forthrightly and boldly about Christ, and the glory of his saving grace.

We have no need to be ashamed of the gospel. For it is the power of God unto salvation to the Jew first and also to the Greek. Paul told Timothy in Second Timothy one and verse seven, "For God has not given us a spirit of timidity, but of power and love and discipline. Therefore, do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord or of me His prisoner, but join with me and suffering for the gospel according to the power of God." Oh dear friends, I grow weary of cowardly Christians, especially pusillanimous pastors that refuse to stand before men and women and open up the Word of God with clarity and conviction. Jesus said in Matthew 10, and verse 32, "everyone who confesses Me before men, I will also confess Him before My Father who is in heaven." But catch this now, "Whoever denies Me before men, I will also deny him before my Father who is in heaven. Do not think that I came to bring peace on the earth; I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I came to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother and a daughter in law against her mother-in-law, and a man's enemies will be the members of his household. He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me and he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me, is not worthy of Me. He who has found his life will lose it. And he who has lost his life, for My sake, will find it." Oh, dear Christian, I plead with you to look to Christ often, see His mercy for what it is and how he has extended it to you. And on the basis of that mercy, be bold in your gospel witness. So indeed, as we see Christ revealed in his Word, the Holy Spirit emboldens believers to stand firm in their faith in Christ; but number four, it motivates believers to renounce sin, pursue holiness, and proclaim the truth of Christ.

Notice in verse two, "but we have renounced the things hidden because of shame." "But" can be translated, "on the contrary," in other words, as opposed to losing heart, on the contrary of losing heart. That's the exegesis here. On the contrary of that, "we have renounced the things hidden because of shame." You see Paul completely and totally rejected all of the treachery and unscrupulous, underhanded ways that false teachers were dealing with other people. Unlike the false apostles, who were shrewd and treacherous and cunning in their manipulation of the truth; always trying to massage the truth to fit their agenda, to make sure everybody liked them. Paul just spoke the truth. And, of course, the hypocritical, even immoral lifestyles of the false teachers were just shameful practices that were devised and lived out in secret. And of course, all of this is, is energized by Satan and his minions. These things are designed to deceive people and promote the teacher, or the politician or whoever it might be. So he says, "but we have renounced the things hidden because of shame." And then he says, "not walking in craftiness." The term could be translated "cunning"; not walking in deceitfulness that's practiced by wicked people. We're not doing that. nor are we adulterating the Word of God. "Adulterate"-- an interesting term, it can be translated, "to falsify, to distort or manipulate or add something." I mean, this is what we see all the time, for example, with fake news. I mean, they'll take something that happened, and by the time they get through describing the event, it's not even anywhere near what the truth is. By the way, if you want to see what CNN really is, go to Japan, because in Japan, and I learned this the hard way, that's the only English-speaking station that you can get. And as I listened to CNN, I realized they're not even talking about the same country here. It is so deceitful. While many false teachers do this. I mean, for example, I've heard false teachers preach about loving your neighbor. And they use that as the basis for a social justice gospel that Jesus came to liberate the poor and the oppressed, something Jesus never taught, nor did he ever pursue. Social gospel, again, and part of that social gospel is the whole same sex, marriage, homosexual, all of that stuff; the unbiblical, presuppositions of critical race theory and on and on and on. And let me give you another example. Think of those who walk in darkness and adulterate the Word of God who are part of the whole word of faith movement, just an absolute total cult. Preachers who claim God that speaks to them directly, telling people that they need to go out and claim things, material things, in the name of Jesus. Fake healings, bizarre, frenzied, emotionalism nonsensical, babbling, uncontrollable laughter, falling on the floor and claiming that somehow, you've been slain by the Spirit. I mean, folks, only Satan and his minions can cause someone to prostrate themselves upon the grave of a deceased preacher to soak up the quote, "anointing." Something called grave sucking, absolutely wicked. Only a person bereft of the indwelling Spirit of God could possibly believe that the seizures and hypnosis and and hysteria and being slain in the spirit or works of the Holy Spirit. These are false teachers guilty of, as Paul said, peddling the Word of God, entrepreneurs trying to make a buck off of the gospel. Salesmen who seduce Christians, and mostly pseudo-Christians, into believing these lies. People who, as Paul said, in Second Timothy four, "will not endure sound doctrine." No, they don't want to hear that. We will not endure that. The wanting to have their ears tickled, they accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desire. Text goes on to say they "turn away their ears from the truth they turned aside unto myths." But what Paul is saying is here is this, look, New Covenant believers see the glory of Christ. They've been made new creatures, the Holy Spirit dwells within them. And we know biblically that when the Spirit of God dwells within a believer, he becomes, shall we say, their illuminating guardian. The one who guides all believers into all truth, as we read in John 16:13. He is the one that empowers us to know all things pertaining to the revealed word of God, as Jesus said in John 14, as well as in John 16. He is the believers, shall we say, resident lie detector. I mean, if you truly know Christ, and you're a part of those chaotic, wicked things, eventually, the Spirit of God is going to expose it to you and you're going to come out of it. First Corinthians two verse 12. "Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may know the things freely given to us by God, which things we also speak, not in words taught by human wisdom. but in those taught by the Spirit, combining spiritual thoughts with spiritual words."

You see, friends, the unregenerate know nothing of this. They are what the Word of God describes as fools. First John two and verse 19, the apostle Paul explains how that those who promote these types of false theologies and all the false teaching and those who embrace them are not believers. But then in first John two and verse 20, he says, "But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and you all know." He went on to say, in verse 27, "As for you, the anointing which you receive from Him abides in you, and you have no need for anyone to teach you; but as His anointing teaches you about all things, and is true and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, you abide in Him."

And in First John four verse 13, we read, "By this we know that we abide in Him and He in us, because He has given us of His Spirit." Well, folks, this is what Paul goes on to say here, as we begin to wrap this up here this morning in Second Corinthians four and verse two, he says, "but by the manifestation of truth, commending ourselves to every man's conscience in the sight of God." John MacArthur said this, "All people, even those who have not heard the gospel, have an innate, though limited, knowledge of God's law. The preaching of the Gospel activates the conscience, which bears witness to the truth of the message, even in those who reject it. That is true because," and then he quotes Hebrews 4:12. "'The word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul, and spirit of both joints and marrow, able to judge the thoughts and the intentions of the heart.'"

Now, what those false teachers were doing in Corinth is similar to what they do today. They tell you things that you never thought you could see before. Throw in a little bit of mysticism, a little secret knowledge--I bet you all didn't know that--yeah, well, God told me that. Yeah, let me tell you some of the things that he's revealed to me. Oh, and people say, Oh, my, whoa, I better listen to that guy. I better listen to that woman; God speaks to them. Man, can you believe that? Yeah. And then what they do is they cherry pick passages that support their position and advance their agenda that have nothing to do with the authorial intent of the passage, and people get sucked into their deceptions. This happens all the time. All you have to do is turn on the television or look at the hundreds of videos of of preachers, both men and women, who are constantly telling you about their private conversations with God. Folks, as soon as you hear that, don't walk. run to get away from it. That person is a heretic.

Paul didn't do any of these things. First Corinthians two four, he said "I determined to know nothing among you except here it is. Jesus Christ and Him crucified." Though it was, to Jews a stumbling block, and to Gentiles foolishness, First Corinthians 1:23, he knew that his uncompromising proclamation was the only truth that could save. And so it caused him to say in First Corinthians two, four, again, "my message and my preaching, were not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit, and of power.

I was thinking about the sanitized gospel that is preached so often today, this non offensive gospel that, frankly cannot save, you know, don't tell anybody about their sin, oh, no, you don't want to talk about that. Don't tell them that the wrath of God abides upon them. I mean, the people don't want to hear that type of thing. I mean, how do you expect people to come to your church if you preach that way? Of course, the point is, I care nothing about people coming to church, I want them to come to Christ. There's a huge difference. No, tell them how much God loves them. And how desperate he is to make them happy and successful in their life. Boy, there's the wide gate that leads to the broad way of destruction.

Let me tell you how their consumers typically respond to this kind of gospel message. And I wrote this based on numerous conversations that I've had with people who've come out of these types of churches. "Yeah, if God is real, I suppose I am guilty of ignoring him. I don't think about God very much, and I love lots of things more than God, so to that extent, I suppose I am living in prideful rebellion. And yeah, I have fallen just like the whole Satan analogy. I mean, just look at all the junk in my life. Relationships are messed up, my marriage is boring. My finances are a wreck. I hate my job. I basically feel as though my life is going nowhere fast. For sure, I need to be saved from all this stuff. Maybe God is the answer to my unhappiness, my lack of success, my negative emotions, my lack of purpose and direction in life. I'm just glad God loves me just the way I am. Because I'm not sure I could ever change. I mean, I am what I am. And I'm not sure why Jesus had to come and die for me, assuming all that's true. But I'm glad he did, I guess. I sure don't get all that stuff about the Father killing his son. And there's so much for a loving God. But I'm told I have to accept it that stuff by faith. So I guess I will. I mean, nothing else seems to be working. I suppose Jesus died on the cross. So he could demonstrate what selfless love is all about. Not sure. But anyway, I want to take advantage of anything God may have to offer to make my life better. So I think I'll accept Jesus as my personal Savior and see what happens." And then somebody says, repeat this prayer, they repeat the prayer, and then they say, welcome to the kingdom brother.

And some day, the Lord's gonna say to them, "depart from me you worker of iniquity, I never knew you." Ah, dear friends, this is what happens when you walk in craftiness, and you adulterate the Word of God. Well, we're going to have to close let me do it by first of all, we're going to look at the last point the next time we were together. Okay, we're together, I want to challenge you to do a few things. My list is very short here. But I want to leave you with something very practical. Based upon this passage, and all that we've examined here today. First thing I would love for you to do dear friends is get serious about your own personal pursuit of holiness. Turn off Fox News. Get rid of your MAGA hats. All of your Trump stickers. You get where I'm going here. If you're on the other side, get rid of your BLM shirts and quit putting hashtag Black Lives Matter. I mean, all of this political stuff, folks, put all of that aside and immerse yourselves in the Word of the living God. And get on your knees and begin to pray for yourself and your family and your church and the leaders of your country as we're going to see. Because when you immerse yourself in the Word of God, what's going to happen, You're going to see Christ in Scripture. And seeing Christ in Scripture reveals the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ; transforms that believer into the likeness of Christ, emboldens believers to stand firm in their faith in Christ, motivates believers to renounce sin, pursue holiness, and proclaim the truth of Christ and it dispels the darkness of sin and ignorance concerning the person and work of Christ. Folks get serious about your own personal pursuit of holiness.

And number two, get serious about evangelism. Beloved, God did not call us to protest he called us to preach. Get serious about that. Don't be ashamed of the gospel. Pass out the tracks, or whatever else you want to use. By the way, they're available up here on the piano with some of my books, and they're out there as well. I mean get serious about evangelism.

Number three, get serious about teaching your children especially if they're in public schools, which is basically a brainwashing machine, run by ungodly people that know nothing of Christ. And along with that, limit their screen time, social media, YouTube, all of that stuff. I mean, all of those things are Satan's way of just providing a conduit of deception. Ephesians six four, "Fathers," could be translated parents, "do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and the instruction of the Lord."

And then finally, pray for the leaders that God has placed over us. Don't hate them, love them enough for the sake of the gospel. Pray for them that God would save them and certainly that God would protect us from them. You say But Pastor, I mean, these some of these people, I mean, they're just, they're just satanic. Yeah. Aren't you glad that we have a saving God? Do you know? Paul told Timothy to pray for Nero and couldn't have been a guy on the planet that's ever worse than that guy. Here's what he said in First Timothy two beginning in one, "First of all, then, I urge that entreaties and prayers, petitions and thanksgiving be made on behalf of all men." Then he adds this, "for kings and all who are in authority,"--and here's why--"so that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity." Well, we've enjoyed that down through the years, haven't we? A tranquil and a quiet life in all godliness and dignity. I fear that that's coming to an end, but we pray that by God's grace, He will protect us. As we make these things a priority in our life, regardless of the level of persecution, we can know that the Lord will reveal Himself to us. And we will experience the soul satisfying joy of his presence deep within our souls. May God have mercy on all of us. And for those who do not know our precious Savior, let's pray.

Father, thank you for the eternal truths that you have given us in your word. Thank you that indeed they are a lamp unto our feet and a light into our paths. I pray that you will take what we've examined here today and by the power of your spirit, cause the seeds of truth to germinate in our hearts and bear much fruit for our good and for your glory. For it's in Jesus name that I pray. Amen.