 And we're looking at this morning first Timothy chapter 6 first Timothy chapter 6 verses 3 through 5 And the title of the sermon discern and depart and we are as is our custom. We're working verse by verse Sometimes clause by clause even word by word through first Timothy I think we're coming up on over a year now that we've been in this letter and it has been a blessing Hasn't it to our church? It's been a blessing to me So that were all that I'd be happy with that you guys can fend for yourselves. It's been a real blessing to me No, I hope it's been a blessing to you, too. It's been a blessing to our church and I'm grateful for this letter We've learned a lot and so we have come now to first Timothy chapter 6 and we're beginning to look at verse 3 and here at verse 3 Paul has wrapped up a section that ran through chapter 5 into chapter 6 verses 1 and 2 Where he was dealing with how we interrelate with different groups of people in the church And so now in verse 3 it's really sort of an unfortunate placement of the chapter division there But he changes thought now changes thought in verse 3 and Paul is going to Wrap up if you will or begin concluding this letter and in verse 3 He turns his attention is concluding remarks for the church and Ephesus To the issue of false teaching He began with that subject in chapter 1 verse 3 where he charges Timothy that he's to charge some They have no other doctrine or teach no other divergent doctrines and now he comes back to it in first time Chapter 6 it's almost an inclusio or a book ends if you will on this letter Paul's concern for false teaching in the church at Ephesus and certainly false teaching throughout the church in all ages and our church today False teaching corrupts the gospel It impacts whether people are saved or not whether people go to heaven or go to hell false teaching corrupts Holy living it impacts the holy living of God's people it has Devastating effects in the church and so it is something that Paul's concerned about and it's certainly something that we need to be concerned about And scripture clearly affirms this in chapter first of the chapter 6 beginning in verse 3 The Bible says if anyone teaches otherwise and does not consent to wholesome words Even the words of our Lord Jesus Christ and to the doctrine which accords with godliness He is proud knowing nothing But is obsessed with disputes and arguments over words from which come envy Strife Reviling evil suspicions useless wranglings of men of corrupt minds and destitute of the truth Who suppose that godliness is a means of gain and from such withdraw yourself The scripture clearly affirms that the word of God revealed to us in the Bible the words of God are the truth of God the Bible is true God cannot lie Everything that God says everything that God reveals is the truth of God and it can be trusted Without compromise the words of God are true The Romans 3 verse 4 says let God be true, but every man a liar But in addition to men being liars the Bible also affirms that Satan is a liar Satan is the father of lies. He is a worker of lying wonders He is the adversary against the truth a deceiver seeking whom he made of our His lies began in the garden with Adam and Eve where he first began subverting the word of God by saying has God really said Has God not said and Satan from the beginning was a deceiver Satan in the garden Approached Adam and Eve with a false teaching that Adam the Eve then accepted and acted on and plunged the world into Death plunged the world the entire human race into sin and with that first foray of false teaching the conflict the damning conflict began Satan now attempts at every turn to subvert the truth of God Satan spreads lies because he's a liar In spreading lies. He spreads confusion. He's the father of confusion in spreading confusion. He spreads deceit And in spreading deceit. He spreads death and damnation and this devastating process has continued To the point where the manure pile today a false doctrine is deeper now than it ever has been 2,000 years since the time of Christ Satan has been able to and has counterfeited error after error after error counterfeited Christianity Flooding the world and flooding even today the so-called church with lies and heresy Satan knows that if he can flood you with worldly philosophy competing notions Competing ideas improvable ideas that he can continue to raise Challenges to a thought the authority of God's word and the authority of God's word is undermined in that It's interesting this week. I started looking at the screw tape letters by c.s. Lewis We've ever taken a look at that the screw tape letters Are a fictional account of letters between demons and it gives you a demons perspective And so you have letters from uncle screw tape to his nephew wormwood like those names right demon names And these letters sort of give a demonic perspective if you will on what satan is trying to accomplish And listen to this in letter number one from uncle screw tape to his demon nephew wormwood He says your man your man is the person that wormwood has been assigned to As it calls his calls him his patient assigned to take the hell to persuade the hell Okay, this is someone that wormwood is working on he says your man has been accustomed Ever since he was a boy to have a dozen incompatible philosophies dancing about together inside of his head Now we can say that that is true today Hasn't always been the case but today that's the world's aim That's satan's aim satan's effort is to get into your head Contradictory and competing notions worldly philosophies worldly reasonings and all those are to dance around in your head even though they are contradictory He says he goes on to say he doesn't think of these doctrines as primarily true or false But as academic or practical outworn or contemporary conventional or ruthless Screw tape says jargon Not argument is your best ally in keeping him from the church in other words satan is bent On flooding you with jargon flooding you with philosophy flooding you with competing notions That all scramble around in your head to distract you from the truth of god, which is perfect converting the soul Let me give you another example in letter 23 Uncle screw tape talks about introducing a false teaching a useless wrangling as it's called here called the historical jesus Now listen to uncle screw tapes Persuasion of wormwood to get him to introduce this false teaching this historical jesus mind you is an error It's a heresy. It was something that was introduced 250 years ago That has scholars quote unquote pursuing a historical jesus outside the bible And it sort of assumes that the bible is just a myth and the bible is all wrong It's a movement so to speak that has been Useful in damning souls Listen to this tactic that uncle screw tape tries to teach He says you'll find that a good many christian political writers Think that christianity began going wrong and departing from the doctrines of its founder at a very early stage Now this idea must be used by us to encourage once again the conception of a historical jesus Listen, the bible is wrong all the people down the ages who have Translated the bible. They're all wrong. Who can trust the bible has changed so much since the time it was first written And so there's all kinds of errors in the bible. What's it doing? It's undermining the authority of god's word in your life the bible is not to be trusted And so that's the error here that uncle screw tape is is dealing with He says the advantages of these constructions which we intend to change every 30 years or so are manifold I think they change them. It seems like every 30 minutes or so It's always some new heresy always some new error always something else that somebody is deceived by it seems constant but he says that these Constructions which are changing in the first place they all tend to direct men's devotion to something which does not exist For each historical jesus is unhistorical In other words, here comes this empty philosophy. Here comes this worldly reason Here comes this notion of jesus christ, which is outside the bible that says that jesus christ the life of christ The miracles christ are nothing but myths and fables Which is untrue and somebody is all too ready to believe it People just believe that nonsense. They don't believe the bible And it says the documents when he says the documents. He's talking about scripture here The documents say what they say and cannot be added to each new historical jesus Therefore has got to out of them either by suppression at one point or Exaggeration at another in other words by suppressing the truth of god or exaggerating the truth of god such that it becomes untrue And people believe the lie He says by that sort of guessing which is exactly what it is And he calls it brilliant by the teach the teach the humans to call it brilliant He says that sort of guessing on which no one would risk 10 shillings in ordinary life But which is enough to produce a crop of new napoleons new shakespheres new swifts in other words new lost people spreading lies in every publisher's autumn list These are fabrications. These are lies. These are deceits that Aren't in the word of god because they don't conform to the word of god They undermine the authority of the word of god, but these are lies and deceits that people Wouldn't ordinarily risk 10 shillings for he says in ordinary life But they're willing to risk their soul for They're willing to put their hands their soul their eternal soul Into the hands of some man Who has devised a satanic deception against them that will send and damn their whole their soul to hell And will shipwreck their faith We so easily place our eternal soul into the hands of some man when we have the infallible Inerrant words of god that we can believe in and take to the bank because god is true The people are deceived so easily deceived so willing to be deceived the book of mormon That lies and deception of a man The watchtower the new world translation the lies and deceptions of men world religion islam Catholicism they're making up the rules as they go along the lies and deceptions of men And we have the words of god which are true We're so easily deceived So easily and so readily pulled away from the truth of god's word and all along Satan and his men his devices his people Undermining and subverting the authority of god The reason it's so important is because souls are at take at stake. This is a battle for men's souls Unless you believe this is mere fiction. Okay, this little device of uncle screw tape here has infiltrated the hearts and minds of So-called christians throughout history. It is infiltrated Buildings they call themselves churches and seminaries listen to this in a survey by jeffrey haddon For pulpit helps magazine Protestant pastors now, I don't mind you. These are Protestant pastors were asked if they believe that the bible Is the inspired inerrant word of god? And here you might think that well, that's crazy. Of course the bible is the inerrant infallible word of god Not so among professing christians professing christianity so-called churches today listen to this They asked them Protestant pastors if they believe that the bible is the inspired inerrant word of god 80 percent 87 percent of methodists said no 95 percent of episcopalians said no 82 percent of presbyterians said no 67 percent of american baptists said no Now this survey was done in december is the most recent one that I could find december 1987 Do you think the things have gotten worse now or better? worse worse Whereas this compromise or the word of god landed professing the professing church today the professing church Fully accepts with no question homosexuality Fully accepts the ordination of homosexual pastors men and women women no matter The so-called professing church today in many cases fully accepts divorce adultery fallen pastors hiding pedophilia Generations now of abandoned homes abandoned wives abandoned husbands abandoned children Rampant unchecked sin in the church among god's people supposedly rampant unchecked sin among those who call themselves christians every kind of imaginable perversion of the gospel This is readily accepted the unchecked spread of liberalism which undermines everything that christian christianity holds to liberalism Which has undermined every single necessary tenet of the faith that we hold dear every tenet of christianity A charismatic movement that has gone absolutely mad out of their minds People binding the demon in their car Binding the demon in their coffee maker binding the demon in their mother-in-law. I mean Being slain in the spirit is not in the bible. What does that does that mean? Colts are the fastest growing organizations. Colts are the only ones out evangelizing We never run into anyone else out evangelizing with the true gospel And we were witnessing to just a sweet lady yesterday And joeva's witnesses had come to her door. They're out witnessing cults are out witnessing Denials of the deity of christ denials of salvation by grace alone not of works unless anyone should boast Preachers are revered for getting rich and teaching other people how to get rich TV preachers virtually everything they say is false. You can turn on tbn watch for 30 minutes and in here 30 minutes straight of error lies So-called christians Believing in an evolution believe that abortion is acceptable Believe that other religions are just another pathway to god So-called christians who change their theology at the drop of a hat to justify their sin To justify their lifestyle so-called christians who believe that obeying the lord is somehow optional If you're out witnessing at all if you spend any time talking to people about the lord talking to people at the bible You're gonna hear one deception after another it is Epidemic they are a dime a dozen. It's often very difficult for new christian um I grew up under false teaching in a false church many of you grew up in false teaching under in false churches Hearing one deception after another and so when you come to christ and you realize Everything that i've believed has been a lie Everything that i thought i knew about the bible is wrong and that guy is wrong and that one is a false teacher And that church is a false church It can sometimes be very daunting for a new christian because there's so much ever That is just openly widely acceptable today And we as god's people we have got to be faithful about discerning truth from error That's why paul in acts 20 he says he warned everyone night and day for three years that after his departure Savage wolves will come in among you not sparing the flock. It's not among the outside not among muslims Not among jovis witnesses not among catholicism not among it's among the church among us Savage wolves will come in not sparing the flock It's also from among yourselves men will rise up speaking perverse things to draw away the disciples after themselves paul warns in colossians chapter 2 verse 8 He says beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit According to the tradition of men according to the basic principles of the world and not according to christ Jeremiah warns of those that make you worthless By speaking a vision of their own heart and not from the mouth of god How do preachers do that today? Now pick a topic anything they want to talk about i think i want to talk about this today and they scramble through scripture finding passages of scripture to Support their idea to support the vision of their own heart to support the philosophy of their own mind Let me preach on that all the while supporting it from scripture Boy, it sounds right. You got a lot of bible verses supporting that Right and it's not a word from god It's why we take pains to go verse by verse through scripture wanting to know what god says not what some wicked man says We want the truth of god John adds in second john chapter 1 verse 10 if anyone comes to you and does not bring Biblical doctrine does not bring this doctrine Do not receive him into your house. Don't even greet him As if john is saying listen. Oh that I got the false teacher. You slam the door and you run the other direction Don't even greet him Peter says there will be false prophets among the people Even as there will be false teachers among you who will secretly bring in destructive heresies even denying the lord who bought them And bring on themselves swift destruction Many will follow their destructive ways because of whom the way of truth will be blasphemed by covetousness They will exploit you with deceptive words for a long time. Their judgment has not been idle And their destruction does not slumber The bible spends a great deal of time dealing with false teaching and with false teachers Why is that? because there's a hell because souls are at stake because God is holy and just and will not tolerate sin Will not tolerate error We have to teach about it. We have to faithfully warn people about it We have to be clear with the word of god precise with the word of god Because souls are at stake We must take warning and learn these lessons as we get into this text in first Timothy chapter 6 verse 3 We're going to be exhorted In four ways from these verses here one The title of our sermon is discern and depart discern and depart because it's the the main point of the text here But we're first going to discern the content We're going to look at the content of false teaching and discern the content We're going to look at how to do that from verse 3 Next we're going to discern the character And here it's the character of false teachers And we're going to see that from verse 3 and 4 Then we're going to discern the consequences Dissern the consequences Which are severe And lastly we got to get out of dodge got to depart Dissern and depart so we're going to discern the content discern the character discern the consequences and depart The bible teaches we are to separate We're to come out from among them We're to have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness. We are to avoid them. But that guy just so nice So nice in a conversation. He's so good. He's like a nice guy False teaching sends people to hell It cultivates a spiritual sickness a spiritual but they're so nice There may be nice people but that false teaching will damn your soul will cause shipwreck of your faith We are as the bible says to avoid them and that is for our good So point one we are to first Dissern the content from verse three the bible says if anyone teaches otherwise Does not consent to wholesome words even the words of our lord jesus christ and to the doctrine which accords with godliness He is proud knowing nothing but is obsessed with disputes arguments over words He begins paul begins this statement here in verse three With a conditional statement a conditional statement is an if then statement if this happens Then this will be the result. Okay conditional statement if Anyone teaches otherwise doesn't consent to wholesome words even the words of jesus christ and to the doctrine which accords with godliness then He's proud knowing nothing obsessed and you see the consequences which come behind. Okay, there's an if then conditional statement Now there's a point to take from this for you greek guys. This is a first class conditional statement Which means it's being said With the certainty that it will come to pass This is going to happen paul is saying to timothy Expect it You're going to have to deal with false teachers false teaching This is going to happen and we know that to be true even in their context and emphasis in chapter one paul tells timothy listen deal with false teachers teach them charge them don't teach any of their doctrines They even had to kick out right? We've already seen hymen a s and alexander kicked out of the church because of false teaching error And we've seen as the bible says there many Who have made shipwreck of their faith because of false teaching? So they're dealing with this now in emphasis as paul is writing this letter to them But just as they dealt with false teachers Just as the church throughout the ages has dealt with false teachers and even our church. Is that not happened in our church? Yes, it has Expected we deal with false teaching false teachers as well. This is to be Expected and it's to be expected among us The enemy does not slumber. He's always plotting Always attacking and that's why we have the tear filled pleadings of paul and scripture to be aware of this He has great concern great love for the church. That's why we spend time as the bible does talking about it because we have great love Great concern for the church He says there if anyone that word anyone Very broad in scope. It means that that false doctrine that false teaching can come from anybody It can come from any source And we are to identify it. We are to discern it and hear what distinguishes that false teaching From good teaching is that it is a different doctrine the words there teaches other words That's one word in greek and it literally means Another doctrine another of a different kind a whole different kind of doctrine that is not biblical doctrine It's a divergent doctrine a corrupt doctrine And so the first thing we have to do here is to discern the content of the doctrine that you're under If you want to spot false teaching discern false teaching discern a false teacher You have to discern the content of their teaching. Is it biblical? Or is it unbiblical? Is it truth from the bible? Or is it ever is it false? Now again that can seem daunting because there are literally Thousands of heresies right so you have a couple of options here You can spend all of your time Going error by error by error learning each one individually Right the intricacies of that error the detail surrounding that error why that error is damning why it's so dangerous So that if you ever come across it you can avoid it and then you go to the next error You learn all the details you study that error why it's so dangerous How to avoid it what it looks like if you ever come across it and then you go to the next error, right? Or you ever heard the example of how a counter-fitter A counterfeit expert learns how to spot a counterfeit Many many many many many different counterfeits that get created One authentic bill right and so the way that a counterfeit expert learns to spot the counterfeit is by studying the true bill Studying the original in great detail with great faithfulness with great carefulness with great precision Studies the original so that if any error comes along If any counterfeit comes down the pike he can spot it instantly It sticks out like a sore thumb because he knows the original so well How does that apply to us with false teaching false error? You have the original truth in your hands And if you have multiple translations of it Multiple copies in your house. You can click a button and in two seconds get to multiple other copies of it You can get to original manuscripts. You can get to teaching of godly men about it You can get all kinds you have more access to resources about the bible and of the bible of anyone in history You have the original at your disposal. So what do you do? You devote yourself to the word of god and you learn the truth And in learning the truth if an error comes down the pike if some counterfeit comes across your desk You're going to be able to spot it because you know the truth so well You are to spot counterfeits if you're to spot counterfeits. You must be well grounded in the bible Bible says you're to be a diligent workman. We're going to study that text together You must study be a diligent workman rightly dividing the word of truth Those who know the word of god easily spot error and contradiction. So let me ask you apply that now to yourself This is a matter of life and death. This is a matter of your eternal soul Are you investing yourself in the word of god? Are you investing yourself in the truth? Are you faithfully and regularly and daily studying god's word? You must If you don't get yourself invested in the truth of god, you will fall for the lie If you don't understand the truth, then you'll be sucked away swept away by the error You have to know the original you have to be invested in the word of god You must see regular progress in your knowledge of the word of god It's the that young weak lamb on the outside of the flock that is most dangerous of being eaten by the wolf, right? But when that becomes a big fat lamb On the inside of the flock fat in god's word. That's Safer amen. You need to make yourself a fat lamb Get in the word of god If you're in the word of god that spiritual discipline of regular intake regular progress in the not in your knowledge of the word of god Must be a spiritual discipline that's in your life Must be a spiritual discipline in your life must be there by that you're sanctified you're matured in the faith Your faith is increased your love for the lord increases your joy increases your hope increases Your prayer life will be matured your worship will be more fervent All by the work of the spirit in you through the word of god And the absence listen the absence of the truth will lead to acceptance of the false If you don't have the truth, you're gonna accept the false That may show up in a denial of the trinity a denial of the deed of christ unbiblical thinking unbiblical application unholy living sin Disobedience difficulty with sin in many areas all comes from a failure To avail yourself of the grace of god through his word It is a gift to us. We must learn his word. Let me give you an example of that turn with me to hebrus chapter 5 hebrus chapter 5 And the bible teaches us about this It is incredibly important Talk to to professing christians I'm struggling with this I'm struggling with that. Well, how's your bible reading going? Oh, yeah, I'm not reading This must be a spiritual discipline is built into your life. How can you live for the lord without his word? Must be in his word hebrus chapter 5 look beginning in verse 12 Okay, this if you're heading on your bible this text here Mine says spiritual immaturity Heading in my next text says the peril of not progressing. I want you to listen to it with that in mind This passage here Is built on a diagnosis That is communicated at the end of verse 11 look at verse 11 It says of whom we have much to say and hard to explain Since you have become dull of hearing he makes A diagnosis a spiritual diagnosis about the audience to this letter and says that they are dull of hearing A bark of immaturity In your christian faith and your christian walk a mark of immaturity is being dull hearers being a dull hearer means lazy Means sluggish a dull hearer a sleepy hear a lazy hearer is one who hears And doesn't put into practice the word literally in greek means no push No push in other words you hear the word of god and there is no effort whatsoever on your part to put what you hear into action And in not putting in action it might as well. You might as well not have heard it It doesn't mean you heard it at all. You are lazy. You're sluggish. There's no discipline There's no push in their neglect of the word of god in their neglect of learning and applying the word of god They become dull of hearing So if you thought to yourself, man, I just Feel dull hearted feel apathetic feel sluggish feel lazy You know feel indifferent Feel dull of heart means you're not applying what you hear Means you're not putting into practice what the word of god teaches you to do Hear the word of god and then do the word of god Don't be doers or hearers and not doers deceiving yourselves Put the word of god into action and you won't be a dull hearted hearer You won't be a dull hearer. You must apply what you hear They became dull apathetic and different lethargic because they weren't fervently living According to the doctrine that they were hearing they weren't putting into practice And the more that you hear it and don't do it the more sluggish and dull hearted you become The more lazy the more Apathetic the more dull you become and when you get into this condition If you're in this condition you are hard to teach Because you don't accept instruction Time and time and time again, you hear instruction from the word of god You hear instruction from the classes that you attend Instruction from the preaching instruction from an older brother older sister who loves you cares about your soul And yet you're hard to teach you won't put it into practice. You become dull The way to avoid becoming a dull hearer is to put what you hear into practice Wake up and get to work And it's likely that you became that way slowly over time. It happens in increments Right, you just didn't wake up one day and all of a sudden i'm dull No, it's been your neglect of applying the word of god over time that has made you dull That has made you apathetic or sluggish It happens slowly in small increments over time. You need to wake up and do something about it starting now Put into practice what you hear stop saying that you believe And then consistently fail to live it You're making it harder and harder to apply god's word Verse 12 chapter 5 says this for though by this time you ought to be teachers You need someone to teach you again the first principles of the oracles of god And you have come to need milk and not solid food As much time as they had spent under god's word, they should be teaching it by now Okay, but because they didn't apply to themselves god's word and apply the word they heard they failed to grow They didn't apply it and so they failed to grow because they had failed to grow They needed just basic repetition all over again. They needed to hear the basic fundamentals Again, and they were uninterested in deeper truths unable to comprehend them Here the author of hebra is talking about milchisadec It was a glorious truth They simply couldn't understand because they hadn't applied what they had already heard and now needed to have repeated to them again Just basic fundamentals they had failed to grow. Is that you? Is that you? Are you stuck in your ways so to speak in your christian life such that you haven't made progress If you say you're a christian for five years What would you imagine that a five year christian Would understand from god's word. Are you there? Like many of you i've witnessed the people i've been a christian for 20 years and they can't find the first verse in the bible They're biblically illiterate and you're not a christian God through the spirit of god through the word of god sanctifies and teaches The word of god to the christian Over time you're going to learn the word of god. Have you made progress in the word of god? Or is it such for you that you're adult here you've made no progress And you're just as biblically illiterate as you always have been Have you made progress If you've not made progress, what are you going to do about it? Are you going to wake up and start applying what you hear and growing in the lord? Or are you going to continue in this dull hearing dull-hearted sense? verse 13 goes on to say for everyone who partakes only of milk Is unskilled in the word of righteousness for he is a babe a spiritual babe Can't eat steak A spiritual babe can't eat spiritual steak any more than a real baby can eat real steak Right you can't take it you need to have to go back to Book or back to the beginning At some point when you read right you move from pop-up books to textbooks At some point spiritually in the word of god, you need to leave the pop-up book and get to the meat Move on They need to move on but they are here because of their Inability their unwillingness to apply what they've heard they've become dull and now they're unskilled in the word of righteousness They're babies in the bible verse 14 goes on to say but solid food Belongs to those who are full of age. That is those who can get this by reason of use Have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil now That's what we're talking about in first Timothy chapter 6 verse 3 discerning truth from error good from evil Okay here in verse 14 it is those who by reason of use. What does that mean? They hear the word of god and they apply the word of god They hear the word of god They put it into practice in their lives and they live by it in living by it The holy spirit through the word of god grows them and matures them in the faith They become more obedient christians They become more faithful christians through the word of god They grow and they mature and here by reason of use use of what the word of god They have their senses exercised to discern So back to the importance in first Timothy chapter 6 verse 3 the importance of having a regular Disciplined daily diet of the word of god built into your life If you don't do that, you're going to wind up dull-hearted You're going to wind up illiterate in the bible and you're going to wind up not applying anything in here You're going to prove yourself to be lost You must have the word of god Here you're going to discern the content truth from error good from evil. You must devour god's word and grow A baby will just put anything in his mouth Right, you have kids. You know that anything Anything goes into the mouth If you're a baby christian a baby in the word of god, listen, you're gonna put anything in your mouth You're going to be lured away by some deceptive philosophy That you just readily put in your mouth because you're a baby and you don't know the word of god Grow up grow up in the word of god. Apply what you hear mature in the face such that when that You see babies do that in front of the dog dish. You're in front of the dog dish. You're not going to put the dog food in your mouth Right, you're going to put good healthy food in your mouth steak Right, you're going to learn Baby will put anything in their mouth The more you are in the truth the more you are matured and changed by the truth grown by the truth It's like a muscle, you know, right angel. It's a muscle the more you work it the bigger it gets The stronger it gets the more that you build a work a muscle the more developed it becomes the more it builds Being the word of god, yeah, you got to work that muscle. Okay If you're not exercising yourself in the word and applying it you are in great danger Goes on to say here therefore leaving the discussion of the elementary principles of christ Let us go on to perfection Not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works and faith toward god Or the doctrine of baptisms or laying on of hands of resurrection of the dead of eternal judgment And this we will do if god permits you must leave elementary principles You must leave this life that you've been living of hearing and not doing Leave that dull hearted approach to god's word and you must go on to perfection Will you do it will you do it if you're here today and you think to yourself Man, I'm not made the progress that I want to make in my christian life Why is that it may be that you heard heard heard heard and you've not put into practice you've not done it You've not applied it You just persist in hearing and not doing it does not a a love for christ compel you to move on to perfection Don't you have any desire in your heart to learn all there is to know of him in his word And to live for him fervently There's no gratefulness in your heart for all that he's done Listen stir yourself up and get into his word these it is astounding to me that the god of the universe that created me I have his words in my hand I can hear what he says in his word I don't hear it in visions or dreams or it's in his word We have the word of god It goes on to say in verse four. It's impossible all of this. Listen leads to trouble for you It leads to trouble if you're not going to discipline yourself in his word It leads to danger in verse four. It's impossible for those who are once enlightened Have tasted the heavenly gift have become partakers of the holy spirit Listen to you do all of that by coming to a church just like this You become enlightened in god's word god's word is taught to you You've tasted the heavenly gift You've seen what you've seen what god has done in the lives of people who have been changed by god People have been genuinely converted you become in that sense partakers of the holy spirit in the sense that you see the work of god amongst us You come to a church like this. That's evident. God is at work here. We praise the lord for that It says goes on and have tasted the good word of god the powers of the age to come If they fall away if they fall away, which they'll do if they're not grounded in the word of god It's impossible to remove renew them again to repentance Since they crucify again for themselves the son of god and put him to an open shame This passage here was written to those who were never saved to begin with Never saved. They were dull-hearted Their failure to grow and to make progress gave evidence. They were never saved never christians their failure to understand It is the natural man who cannot accept the things of god because they are spiritually discerned Right these they cannot accept the things of god because they're not spiritual discerners As a result, they're dull-hearted lethargic. They're in a perpetual state of immaturity They've turned to a form of christianity, but they don't have christ Wake yourself up out of that condition if that is you and invest yourself in the word of god Your soul depends on it Listen to the words of god If this describes you Turn from sin turn from being in that that state of being dead in your sin Dead in your trespasses and live for him Cry out that god would give you a new heart that god would give you a new nature that he would Cause your eyes and ears to be open that you could receive the things spoken by paul and believe for the saving of your soul Cry out that god would give you discernment Cry out that god would give you a a love for his word a need for you have a desperate need for his word But many of you don't even see it It's like the guy who says stage four terminal cancer and doesn't know it Because you are dead in your sins. You don't realize that judgment is coming and you don't realize how awful that judgment is You just don't see You first have to begin by admitting that that is you Are you growing in the lord? Do you have a love for his word? Do you apply what you hear? You must and if you don't then come to grips with where you are And say lord, I need you to save me I need you to give me a new heart No one we have a gracious god. No one should go to hell No one should pay for their own sin Christ went to calvary Turn from your sin and live for him I said just persist persist In that condition And somehow somehow we'll talk about this as we go swept away by the deceit of your own heart By some empty philosophy in your own mind By some love for this world that you're unwilling to give up by some You know here's a tactic of uncle screw tape Is to put one distraction after another in your way such as you never think about these things And you'll just happily go along until you die And when you die you'll wake up in torment Saying lord lord Wasn't I in church that sunday? leaving somehow that your actions Gain you merit or favor with god And you will spend the rest of eternity paying off your sin debt to god With your own burning your own torment in hell Turn to christ and there is such grace such mercy such cleansing such forgiveness such joy such hope Anything can happen in this world. That's an i'm a citizen of heaven And the lord promises if you'll turn from your sin and put your faith in him He'll save you and I tell you when the lord saves you god's word comes to life The lord in his grace and his mercy by his spirit just opens your heart to understand Opens your mind to hear what's being said gives you his spirit his power to apply it You don't even have to eke it out in your own strength god supplies everything you need to live for him And then gives you the the unspeakable joy the unspeakable blessing of all of that being exactly what you want to do because it lines up with your new heart And all you want to do is live for him. All you want to do is please him And the thought of worshiping christ in heaven for all eternity gives you great joy That's possible in christ if you'll just turn from this wicked world turn from your own wicked life Will you do it? Will you do it now is the time Right now Is not some mystical magical thing Right now resolve your heart. I will not live for myself. I will not clutch to my sin I don't want it I know that i've offended god and i'm sick of it and you let all of that go you turn from that You resolve in your heart never to go back and you turn christ. I'm just trusting you you alone I've made a disaster out of my life and I can't get there by myself I need you to cleanse me. I need you to save me. You turn to him and he'll do it And you can be saved But instead And you'll sit there week after week with a dull heart Just letting the words wash over you Then doing nothing Is it right that you should pay for your sins in hell? Yeah, you better believe it is if you're going to reject christ that way Don't do it Today I'm going to live for the lord today Lord, please save me. Give me a new heart. Help me to live this life But today god, I'm going to serve you with all my heart soul mind and strength. It's all I want to do Will you say that god be merciful to me the sinner Allow the lord to save your wicked soul And you'll be a trophy of god's grace You'll be worshiping In supreme joy and bliss forever Or you can go on blissfully ignorant now and die in your sins Turn to christ and live will you that's great Father in heaven God, thank you for the amazing gift of the gospel. I thank you for The gift of christ and salvation from sin at the cross Paying the penalty of sin breaking the power of sin All the glorious riches and blessings that we have in christ. Thank you lord And thank you for your word. Thank you for the power that we have in your spirit to live the christian life to be pleasing to you Thank you lord, you're so gracious so merciful so kind to undeserving sinners We love you lord and we worship you in this in jesus name. Amen