 Amen. Finishing up Acts chapter 20, so Paul is getting ready to leave, he's getting ready to finish up what's known as his third missionary journey, really his last missionary journey before he heads to Jerusalem and then to Rome. But Paul, it's an interesting story at the end of Acts chapter 20 because Paul gives kind of a unique speech to a unique group of people and that's what I want to look at this evening. So we'll get the first couple verses here and then we'll look at the main point of the sermon this evening. Look at verse number 13 of Acts chapter 20, of course he's already raised the young man from the dead, we talked about that so we'll pick it up at verse 13, it says, and he went before to ship and sailed unto Asos and they're intending to take in Paul for so he had appointed, minding himself to go afoot. So he, they separate here and I don't really want to get into the details of who went where but they kind of went all around again. And in verse 14 it says, and he met with us at Asos and we took him in and came to Mydeline and we sailed thence and came the next day over to Chios and the next day we arrived at Samos and tarried at Trogoleum and the next day we came to Miletus. So the point is they're going all around and they're getting ready to head out of Asia. Look at verse number 16, the Bible says, for Paul had determined to sail by Ephesus because he knew he would not spend the time in Asia for he hasted, if it were possible to him, to be at Jerusalem the day of Pentecost. So Paul knew that he was heading to Jerusalem, he couldn't hang out for a long time at Ephesus. Ephesus of course, if you look at verse number 31, just skip ahead and just take a peek at verse number 31 and we already know this from studying through the last couple of chapters but Ephesus is near and dear to Paul's heart simply because like he has spent a lot of time there, he's spent three years he says in verse number 31, the space of three years and what did he say he was doing? Warning them. So he's spending three years with these people. He's got a very tight connection with this group at Ephesus and he wants to make sure that he gets a message across to them before he goes to Jerusalem. Nobody wants him to go to Jerusalem but he's called by the Spirit to go, he's being led by the Spirit to go to Jerusalem. So and in Miletus he sent to Ephesus verse 17 and from Miletus he sent to Ephesus meaning he sent a message and called the elders of the church. So what we're going to see this evening in the last part of Acts chapter 20 is Paul's final words to the leaders of the church at Ephesus. Now of course we know that he wrote letters but this is his final face to face and look here's the thing. He knows it. He knows that this is the final time he's going to see these people. They know it and you know just think about the last time you know I mean how many stories or you know stupid movies have there been like okay you have one day left on earth or whatever you know you have one day left what would you do. So this is a really unique situation here because Paul is meeting these men these leaders of this church that he's very close to that he built he's meeting with them for the final time what is he going to say you know what's he going to say to them. So tonight I want to go through Paul's final words to the leaders of the church at Ephesus and I want to give you six points or six things from this speech that will help you understand Hold Fast Baptist Church. That will help you understand you know the things you say what can I expect from Hold Fast Baptist Church. Well Paul Paul's final words I'm going to point out six things in Paul's final words to the Ephesians that the Ephesian leaders here that will show you what you can expect at a church like this. You know I mean look I mean this is a we need to pay attention to these things that he's saying he's not just like having small talk here. This speech to these leaders will show us the difference between you know our church and other churches that we've all been to. Other churches that you've been to other churches that we've all been to. Maybe you come to this church and you say this church is different. You know maybe you think I like this church. Maybe you think you know I like this church but you can't really maybe put your finger on it on what exactly it is I'm going to give you six specific things tonight and look because of these six specific things you may say you like the church but because of these six specific things a lot of people won't like this church. That's another thing you need to understand about these six points that I'm going to give you from Paul's words you say well you know I just I like the church I like coming here I just not really sure why it's different well I'm going to just narrow it down for you out of Paul's words this evening look back down at Acts chapter 20 and look at verse 18 Acts chapter 20 and verse number 18 so Paul is bringing these elders to him these leaders the elders meaning the pastors elders bishops pastor they're all used interchangeably in the New Testament look at verse number 18 it says that when they were come to him he said unto them you know that from the first day I came into Asia which is where Ephesus is it's down on the coast of Asia after what manner I've been with you at all seasons he's been there a long time he's been there years serving the Lord with all humility of mind and with many tears and temptations with befell me by the lying and weight of the Jews and how I kept back nothing that was profitable unto you but have showed you and have taught you publicly and from house to house look at verse 21 testifying both to the Jews and also to the Greeks repentance toward God and faith towards our Lord Jesus Christ so just before we even get into the six points turn to Jonah chapter three let's talk about repentance just real quickly on before we even get into the six points of his speech remember Ephesus is in Asia which is you know typically a would be a Gentile area even though these Jews are all over and they're just chasing them all over the place you know this is a mainly Gentile area that he's at but look at Jonah chapter three Jonah would be in the end of the Old Testament after Obadiah which is hard to find to because it's like a page long and before I believe Micah so look at Jonah chapter three and look at verse number 10 let's talk about repentance because a lot is made falsely about this word repentance today in the Bible you know everyone says today people that twist the gospel and add works to the gospel say you need to repent of your sins to be saved repenting of your sins you know and what does that even mean well it depends on who you talk to repent your sins means you need to turn from your sins like you need to stop sinning in order to be saved first of all you know that's our works to stop sinning all right repentance simply means to change one's mind repentance simply means to turn from one thing to another thing you could repent about anything you could repent about you know I was gonna wear a blue shirt today but I decided to wear I repented and I wore a red shirt I just changed my mind about that you say show me from the Bible look at Jonah chapter three and verse number 10 Jonah the story of Jonah is one of the unique stories in the Bible where people actually listen to the prophet the man of God went and preached to a city that God was going to destroy and for once they listened I mean it's like what in the world you know it's a really unique story in the Bible and you know the the prophet was like kind of upset about that he's like I wanted God to destroy people but anyway that's beside the point but look at Jonah chapter 3 and verse number 10 if you actually look at who repented the most in the Bible it's God himself so if you say oh repent means repent of your sins or turn from your sins this thing that is not in the Bible anywhere repent of your sins to be saved is nowhere in the Bible you don't see repent of your sins in the Bible God repented more than anyone so if the word repent means repent from your sins God's a sinner that can't be what it means folks if you actually look up repent in a like a modern dictionary it will literally say repent of your sins in a modern dictionary repent just means to change your mind look at Jonah chapter 3 verse number 10 look at verse number 10 it says this talk about Nineveh they actually got right they listened to the prophet they listened to the man of God and look what it says it said and God saw their works so first of all what their works God saw what they did their works we know that salvation is not of works and God saw their works that they turned from their evil way so he defines what their works were so God saw that they turned from their evil God saw that they turned from sin. God saw this. So that shows you right there that turning from your sin is a work. That's the first thing that you need to understand. Look, it's good to turn from your sin, but it's a work. It's a work that we do. And now look at the next part of the verse. And God repented of the evil that He had said that He would do unto them and He did it not. So here it says God repented. Can God sin? We say, well God repented of the evil. In the Old Testament, especially evil means hurt or harm. That God was going to bring evil upon them, meaning God was going to punish them. He was going to bring pain and suffering and judgment upon Nineveh. But God saw that they turned from their sins. Look, nations are judged by their works. That's what you need to understand. That's what should scare you about the nation that you live in. Because we're saved by grace through faith, by trusting on Jesus. We are not saved by our works, but nations are judged by their works. And God saw their works in Nineveh and He repented, meaning He changed His mind. I've preached whole sermons on God changing His mind, but this proves, you say, well was it a mistake? Was it a mistake that God was going to bring judgment upon them? No. God reacts to our free will decisions. He wants us to do the right thing. God didn't create a bunch of robots down here. We have free will to turn towards God or turn away from God. Whether you're saved or not, you have that free will. So God saw their works and He repented of the judgment He was going to bring upon them. And He said that He would do unto them and He did it not. So all this to say this, go back to Acts chapter 20 in verse number 21. Now this will make more sense to you. Verse number 21 will make more sense. So here you have these Gentiles. They don't even believe in God. The Gentiles, they don't even believe in God. So what do they, you know, they got all, they got all, they got a bridged across here. In order to get saved, these Gentiles need a bridged across. It's one thing, if I believe in God and I just don't know who the Messiah is, then I just need to trust on Jesus. I just don't know that the Messiah came. I just don't know about that. And then Jesus came and I just need to trust on Him. But look at what He says. He says also to the Greeks, repentance towards God. So first of all, they need to like throw away all their Diana statues and turn towards the one true capital G-O-D, the one true God. They need to turn from their fake idols that aren't even gods and turn towards the real God. But then what else do they need to do? Look at this. And faith towards the real Lord Jesus Christ. So look, they need to, repentance, look, they need to turn from all that garbage to these things is what Paul is saying. That's what he was doing. He was just testifying to the Jews and to the Greeks. All that to say is, repentance just means to change your mind. It means to turn from one thing to the other. You say, oh, what about where, you know, Peter said, you know, repent and, you know, but it says repent ye and be converted in Acts chapter 3. It says repent ye and be converted, meaning change your mind about what you think, who you think Jesus was and be converted by believing on Him is what it's talking about. You know, it says repent and be baptized. Yeah, change your mind and believe and then be baptized after you've believed. There's nothing that says like, you know, turn from your sins and you'll be saved. There's nothing like that in the Bible. It's just, it's made up. It's made up. It's false gospel. It's people adding works to salvation. Look, Christians have been dying for thousands of years because they wouldn't add works to salvation. So we need to hold our ground on all of these things. And like, oh, it's just gray area. It's not gray area. If you're adding any works to salvation, it is a false gospel and that person that's teaching that is a curse, the Bible says. It's very simple. Okay. Repentance is simply from to. It's very easy. Okay. It could be anything. Look back at Acts chapter 20, verse number 22. Look into our six things tonight from Paul's speech to his last conversation with the leaders at Ephesus. Look at verse number 22. It says, and now, so he's saying, look, I've been testifying all these things that have been profitable to you. He's like, I've showed you everything. I've held nothing back. He says, and now behold, I go into the spirit unto Jerusalem, not knowing the things that shall be following me there. This is why everyone was so upset. He's being chased around and persecuted by all these Jews. And he's like going into the heart of the beast. And like, of course, people that love Paul don't want him to go there. He's like, I'm being led by the spirit. This is where I'm going. Verse 23, save that the Holy Ghost witnesses in every city saying that bonds and afflictions abide me. But none of these things move me. So he's literally saying, these Jews have been chasing me around and look, we've been studying through Acts. It's just the stories getting old. They're just they're building up gangs. They're coming after them. They're trying to kill them in every city. It's crazy. And like, they're just chasing them down. Now he's going to go to Jerusalem, where the heart of their religion is. But look what he says in verse 24. He says, but none of these things move me. He says, neither do I count my life dear unto myself. So that he's like, I don't care about my physical life on this earth. So that I might finish my course with joy and the ministry, which I have received of the Lord Jesus to testify the gospel of the grace of God. So you say, what about these six things? Here's the first one. Here's the first one that you need to understand that will help you understand coming to a church like Hold Fast Baptist Church, there will be persecution. It's not that there might be, there will be. There will be persecution. You say why? Because all that live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. The Bible guarantees it. You say why? Because the world doesn't want to hear this, that's why. As a matter of fact, it's not only does the world not want to hear the Bible, the world hates the Bible. The world hates the Lord. And look, it's just becoming more and more and more obvious. They're not even hiding it anymore. I saw a headline this week that, you know, there was this, I don't even, I'm not even going to mention the guy's name, but there was the Music Awards or whatever they are. And there was some famous artist or musician that's, you know, is a homo. And he comes out dressed as Satan. Comes out dressed as Satan with a bunch of satanic. Don't look it up. It's not appropriate to look at. But CBS News put a tweet out and said, oh, you know, I guess he's pretty popular. I guess, you know, and CBS News tweeted after his performance, we're ready to worship, they said. Look, they're all in it together. I've been pointing out this alphabet people and Satan worship connection for years. But here's the point I'm trying to make. They're not even trying to hide it anymore. That's how bold it is now. They're not even trying to hide it. They're not even trying to say like, hey, you know, we're just like you. We don't know, like, they just hate the Lord. They hate everything about the Bible. They hate the Lord. They hate everything about Christians. They hate it. They're not even hiding it anymore. You say, so, you know, and here's the thing you need to understand. Turn to Genesis chapter 6. This isn't anything new. This isn't anything new. You're like, oh, this is the worst. It's nothing new. Look at Genesis chapter 6 in verse number 11. You look at our society today and all our moron leader politicians, they don't know what's going on. The Republicans, they don't know what's going on. The Democrats are like, oh, let's take away all the guns. This is getting bad out there. And the Republicans are like, no, we'll give us our guns and all this kind of stuff. And look, you guys all know where I'm at on that. But the point is, like, things are just getting more violent today, and they're going to continue to get more violent. I don't like to report that to you. But it has nothing to do with guns and knives and cars and all this stuff. It has to do with, you know, turning on the Lord. That's what it has to do with. The more a nation turns on the Lord, the more violent it will be. Read the Old Testament. Read the Old Testament. What's going on in these cities with the minor prophets? What's going on in Nineveh? You know what's going on in Nineveh? The streets are filled with blood. They're just killing innocent people left and right in Nineveh. Just everywhere you see just bloody city, bloody city, bloody city, sacrificing children. Just violence, violence, violence, violence. Why? Because they turned on the Lord. It's the same thing every time. Are you in Genesis chapter six? I better, let me turn there myself. Look at verse number 11. Why did God destroy the entire world? He flooded the world. Why? The earth was corrupt before God. They hated the Lord. They took the Bible and sickened them. They hated the Bible. They hated God. They hated who God was. They hated what God said. They were corrupt before the Lord. They were the opposite of what God wanted. And what was the result of that? Look at the next part of the verse. The earth was filled with violence. So look, there's going to be more violence. That doesn't make me happy to say that. It's just going to get worse and worse and worse. Because why? Because we just, we keep turning on the Lord. More and more and more. And it's always the innocent people. It's always the children. It's always the most innocent that are, that are, you know, that's, you know, part of the, that's violence, violating. That's what the word means. So the point is, there's going to be persecution. There's going to be persecution, you know. And when you know, here's the thing. It's kind of a good thing. You say, how could that be a good thing? What are you talking about, Pastor? Because here's the thing. When they come to persecute you, you know you're over the target. When they come to persecute you, you know you're following the truth. You're like, oh, this is what they did to Paul. Oh, they hunted Paul. They just, they wouldn't let him go. They just, they were just relentless. Look, folks, we are never going to be the majority. We are never going to be the mega church. It's, it's, that's, even amongst churches, we're not going to be the majority. So that's the first thing you need to understand is the world hates what the Bible says. Because they hate who God is. And from that will come persecution. It's a guarantee. So just look, I tell you these things so you won't be offended when that happens. Go back to Acts chapter 20. There will be persecution. That's point number one. Let's continue with Paul's message to the Ephesians. Acts chapter 20 verse 25. And now behold, I know that ye all among whom I have gone preaching the kingdom of God shall see my face no more. Wherefore I take you to record this day that I am pure from the blood of all men. That's a strong statement right there. Paul says, why is he pure from the blood of all men? Why? Look at the very next verse. He kind of references, you know, the same thing that we see in Ezekiel chapter 33. With the watchmen blowing the trumpet. Why? How is he pure from the blood of all men? You know, in Ezekiel chapter 33 we see the same reference with, with a watchman. A watchman. If a watchman sees, you know, the enemy coming and he doesn't warn the people, then the watchman is to blame. But if the watchman sees and he blows the trumpet, then the watchman is free from the blood of all men. Just what Paul said here. You say, why is Paul specifically free from the blood of all men? Because you say, the blood of all men, what's the danger? Because look, if you're not saved, you know what abides on you? If you are not saved, wrath of God abideth on you. And Paul is saying, I am free from that. Is he saying that I've gotten everybody saved? Everybody saved now. Know what he's saying. Look at verse 27. What Paul is saying is, for I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God. That is our responsibility. And that is why this man of God is free from the blood of all men. He can't force people to accept the message that he's preaching. But his duty was to not shun anything. His duty was to declare everything to those people that he preached to. Look, in order for the man of God to be free from the blood of all men, he must declare everything. That's point number two. All will be declared here. That's a difference here versus all other places that you've been. Is all will be declared here. You say, what will be declared? Everything. Anything in the pages of this book will be declared. All the sin, all the things you shouldn't be doing, all the things that you should be separating from, you know, just you name it. You know, I kind of categorize it as a pastor. I categorize it in like two categories. You know, I categorize it as declaring all the outside stuff, which is the easy, that's the easy sermons. I preach a lot of those sermons on Sunday mornings. You know, I call them kind of the gummy bear sermons, the jelly bean sermons, where I preach against the wickedness of this world. The things that you're seeing every day in the world and how you should deal with those things, what the Bible says about those things. Those are the sermons where you hear them preach and you're like, yeah, preach it. You're like, nobody's saying this stuff anymore. Those are the outside sermons. Those are the easy ones to take. But then there's the inside sermons. Those are the hard ones. But the Bible says all must be declared for the man of God to be free from the blood of all men. Those are the inside sermons, the ones that maybe the pastor hits on something that you got going on. And you're like, oh, I feel like I kind of got my face torn off in that sermon. But look, I'm telling you, those are the hard sermons to preach. Those aren't, I mean, it's easy. It's easy when I preach the sermons, you know, against the wickedness of this world and devil worshipers and sodomites and all this stuff. And everybody's like, yeah, you know, and you all want to hear that. But then when I preach on things that, you know, are struggles for the Christian or struggles for you. And a lot of times I don't even know that what people are struggling with. But it, that those are the hard ones to preach. Those are the hard ones to preach. This is why, this is why, like, you know, I've said this before, a pastor can't really be your friend. You say, what do you mean that hurts my feelings? That has really hurt some people's feelings when I've said that before. But what do I mean by that? I mean, a pastor can't really be, you know, your buddy. You really need to understand this. And look, I don't like this fact either. Because I mean, like, I like to have friends. This means that, like, I'm kind of by myself. But it's a duty of a pastor. It's just that it's just the nature of the position. Meaning, I can't just, I can't just, you know, you need to really understand this, what I'm saying, though. Because if you don't understand it, you put me, the pastor, at a real disadvantage in your life. And you say, what do you mean? What I mean is you have some buddy that comes along and the pastor gets up and preaches something and you're like, oh man, that really like punched me in the face. You know, maybe even we're a little offended or something, you know. And then you go to your buddy and your buddy's like, oh yeah, that's fine, whatever. Your buddy's just kind of like, hey, you're great. You're the greatest, no matter what you do. But see what I have to understand is this, your buddy doesn't have the same responsibility as your pastor. As a matter of fact, some people in this church, nobody here, but some people in this church have had the type of buddies that are like, hey, come on. They walk them right up to a cliff. Let's walk up to this cliff at the end, at the bottom of the cliff is the death of your Christian life. And they walk with them like, hey, everything's fine. And just keep going. And then they take a step back and they watch them walk right up the cliff. So maybe your buddy's not your buddy in cases like that. But when I say like, look, I want to be close to all of you. And look, I'm better than your friend. I'm better than your friend because I am literally charged by God to tell you the truth. And look, I take that seriously because you know what? I fear God. I fear God. It's one of the things that I really thought about before I even went into the ministry is like, am I going to be willing to stand up and declare it all no matter what? Because I was not going to go into something where I was going to go 80% on God. Why? For your sake? No. Because I'm afraid of God personally. Personally. So look, your buddy, your friend, look, your friend should sharpen you. Your friend should sharpen you. A true friend will sharpen you just like a pastor will maybe not as as hard as a pastor will sometimes. But a lot of friends maybe aren't your friends if you know they're leading you down the wrong path. But they're not your friends. Just remember your friends aren't held to the same level of responsibility of declaring everything to you. So don't put your pastor at a disadvantage is all I'm trying to say. It can happen. Okay. It probably will happen. Alright turn to Acts chapter 20 again. So that's the second one. All will be declared here. Whether it's pleasant or not. All will be declared because that is the charge of the man of God. That's that's his duty. And Paul you say, you say, why? Why is that his duty? He continues. He explains it even further. Look at verse number 28. So that's the second one. That's the second difference about whole fast Baptist church. And look, church is like ours. Any pastor that you see come here. Any place that you see me go guest preach, they're just like this too. And that's why you know, we fellowship with the we're not any denomination or anything like that. It's just we have like minded friends that are like this too. Look at verse 28. So why? Why? Why is that? Why declare everything? Why not just tell you what you want to hear? Take heed therefore unto yourselves and to all the flock. Now he remember he's speaking to the leaders here. He's saying you are going to need to take care of these people now. You are going to need to watch over this flock. He's saying take heed. He's like be careful therefore unto yourselves and to all the flock over the which the holy ghost hath made you overseers to feed the church of God. Turn to Hebrews chapter 5, which he had purchased with his own blood. You think he takes this seriously? You think Jesus Christ takes what happens in this church seriously? You know I had better follow these rules. Jesus Christ purchased this or this organization, this what's happening in this building tonight. He purchased with his own blood. He's the head of it. Turn to Hebrews chapter 5 but he tells these men he's like you need to feed the flock, feed the church of God. Look feeding you know what feeding leads to? You all know this that have kids. Feeding leads to growth. Feeding leads to strength. More feeding, more growth. That's why everyone's constantly measuring like how healthy a baby is and all these types of things by how much they're eating you know and how much they're able to eat you know they get older they can eat more. They get older they can take more milk. Look at Hebrews chapter 5 verse number 12. This is an analogy used talking about people's spiritual growth. Look at verse number 12 of Hebrews chapter 5. He tells these leaders in Ephesus to feed the church of God for when for the time he ought to be teachers he have need that one teach you again. He's kind of chewing these people out here. Which be the first principles of the oracles of God. He's like you're supposed to be the teachers he's saying in Hebrews chapter 5. And I got to go back and somebody's got to teach you the basics. He's like you're supposed to be the algebra teacher and we got to go back and teach you you know the multiplication tables. What in the world? That's what he's saying here. And it becomes such as need of milk and not of strong meat. Notice that difference. They need milk again. Not meat. You've heard me say many times this is a simple thing in the Bible. This one's not so simple. Look there's some simple doctrines in the Bible. The Gospel being the most simple. You know hey you're saved by trusting on Jesus. Nothing of yourself. You then get much simpler than that. You know like an eight year old. You know many kids even younger that have been in church will get saved. You know because it's very simple. A child can understand it. But then there's very complicated things in the Bible. Talk about strong meat. For everyone that uses milk is unskillful in the word of righteousness. For he is a babe. Talking about somebody who's a babe, a spiritual babe. We're not talking about somebody physically being a baby. We're talking about the spiritual state of people. Look at verse 14. But strong meat belong it to them that are full age. Again we're talking spiritually here. People that are full age even those who by the use by reason of use of that meat have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil. I just love that so much. You know what that is? You ever heard people say don't judge? You ever heard people say that? You know what people are saying that say don't judge? You go to churches now they say that all the time. Don't judge. I don't want to judge. You'll hear that out soul winning. I would never judge. What people are saying is here's what they're really saying according to the Bible. They're saying I'm a fool. Like they're saying I'm an idiot. People are saying to you don't judge. They're saying you should be a fool too. You know what judgment is? Judgment is the ability to discern good and evil. You know what will happen to you? You know what will happen to you? When you start listening to the word of God preached. When you start coming to church and getting the milk and understanding the milk and you're like I'm ready for some solid food now. You start getting some solid food. You start getting some. You're gonna you're gonna see the world differently. I'm telling you it's gonna open your eyes. But you know what's happening? What's happening is Hebrews chapter five. That's what's happening. What's happening is your discernment is getting sharpened. You're getting sharper. Pretty soon you're gonna get that meat. You're gonna walk out in the world and you're gonna have your kids and you're gonna be out there and you're like whoa man don't go near there. Don't look at that. This stuff is gonna this stuff is gonna punch you in the face. Why? Because your discernment is growing stronger. That's why. And you know what that you know what discernment means? It's a synonym. You know what synonyms are? The words mean the same thing. It's judgment. What is the Solomon asked for? A discerning heart. To what? To judge the people. Good and evil. Who here wants to raise kids? I wanna raise kids that don't judge. You're saying I wanna raise fools. You're saying I wanna raise kids that don't recognize evil. When evil comes after my kids. Because is evil coming after kids today? When evil comes after my kids, I don't wanna recognize it. And I don't want them to recognize it. The more you get into this meat you are gonna look at what they are trying to teach you in the world and it is gonna blow your mind. You are gonna look at the people that are even maybe even closest to you that are persecuting you because of your beliefs that don't have this meat. That don't have this discernment. And you're gonna look at them and be like you're nuts. They're like you're crazy. Like no, you're crazy. It's like you're feeding your family and your children into a meat grinder and you don't even understand it. Why? Because you have no discernment. Don't judge. Oh no. Judge. Judge righteous judgment. Judge righteous judgment. That's what the Bible says. It says it right there. First Corinthians chapter three, I'll just read for you. Paul uses this reference again. He says, And brethren I should speak unto you as unto spiritual but as unto carnal, even as to babes in Christ. He calls them babes. He said, I fed you with milk and not meat. For hitherto he's saying up to this point you were not able to bear it. Neither yet now are you able. He's kind of chewing them out for not, you know, for not getting in their Bibles and not figuring this stuff out, not coming to church, not learning these things. Look, he's saying I'm still feeding you with milk. You're not growing. He's like you're not growing. You ever ask yourself the question why is a church like this? Why do we have church services three times a week? Many people when they start the church, common question, is it three different services a week? Of course it is. I'm like, man, I could just preach one sermon three times a week. It's brilliant. No, but the reason is is because that wouldn't feed anybody. And guess what? You say why, why come to church three times a week? I don't know because if you eat three times as much you'll grow faster. That's why. That's why. And once you start growing, you're gonna start to like it. You're gonna start to see that discernment sharpening up, starting to figure it out and you're gonna like, you know, I grow faster. And that's how you do it. That's how you do it, folks. That's why we have church three times a week. And so we can feed, look, I'm feeding the flock of God up here. I'm feeding the church of God up here. And that is what Paul is telling these pastors that they need to do is feed the church of God. Go back to Acts chapter 20. Look, I don't preach. I'm not like a known for preaching over an hour but, you know, it might take some time tonight. All right. Acts chapter 20. I think we're at we're at point number three. So he declares that they must feed the church of God. What does that mean? They must declare. They must be preaching the word of God constantly to these people, starting with milk and, you know, even the meat, the whole thing. All right. Because look at any point. Look, and here's another thing you need to understand. Throughout the this church's life there's going to be people that are drinking milk and there's going to be people that are eating the meat. It's just it's just the way it is and that's okay. We're all growing. We all started at different places. It has nothing to do with age either. We all started at different places and, you know, we're all maybe one person's coming to church once a week and another person's coming to church three times a week and they're reading and it's going to grow much, much faster than somebody who's not doing those things. But what is the point of all that? You say, okay discernment, judgment, but here's really what Paul's getting at here. Look at verse number 29. My third point is this because he he must declare everything. He's declared everything, Paul said. He's free from the blood of all men. Then he tells them feed the church of God. Here's the third point. Strength must be achieved. Look, not everybody's going to be strong. Just like I said, there's going to be people, you know, at different stages of growth in their Christian life in a church always. But strength must be achieved. And guess what? The more strength, the more individual strength, the more people in the church that are eating meat, the stronger the church will be. I mean it just makes it makes sense, right? It makes sense from any perspective of any kind of team philosophy. Right? The more people that you have that can, you know, I used to be like baseball. So, you know, I used to play baseball. And the more people you have that could bat over 400, the better your baseball team's going to be. Pretty simple. Right? So strength must be achieved. Why? Look at verse 29. What does it matter? Why can't we just all be drinking milk for the rest of our lives? Why can't I just preach the simplest things all the time? A bottle and just drink milk and sip milk the whole time. The problem is is that, you know, a church like this wouldn't survive. Because a church like this must have strength. That's why. I'll get to that at the end. But strength must be achieved at point number three. Look at verse 29. Four, that means, you know, because he's like, here's why. Here's why you need meat. For I know this. Did he say I think this might happen? He said, I know this. That after my departing, shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flocks. Which brings me right to point number four. People will try to destroy this church. You're like, what? Yes. That will happen. He's talking about like literally outsiders. We'll kind of, we'll come in and try to destroy the church. In Matthew chapter seven verse 15, Jesus even says this. He says, which come to you in sheep's clothing. They don't say like, hey, I'm a false prophet. They come in, they sneak in, but inwardly they're ravening wolves. People will come in here teaching false things. I've already had that here. All these things that I'm talking about tonight have all happened here already. People will come in here. Perverts will come in here. And they will try to come in here. Why? To damage the church. To destroy the church. But God said, but Jesus said the gates of hell will not prevail against this church. But only if you do it my way. That's why we follow the Bible where family integrated church. There's no opportunity for anything here. We're not going to send the kids to some other building with Sunday school teacher or something here. It's never going to happen here. Why? Well, for obvious pragmatic reasons, but mainly because the Bible. And if we follow the Bible, I mean, if bad things happen in churches before? Hello? Look around. We have found out that bad people were in this church and within 15 minutes they were kicked out of here. And that will continue to be the case. And God will show these things. As long as we are the type of church that is going to follow the Bible and follow Jesus commands, God will reveal these things to us and God will protect us. It's a promise. The gates of hell will not prevail against this church. People will come in. They'll pretend to be part of us and they're only here to damage. You're like, that is shocking. Evil exists, folks. I hate to tell you that. Evil exists. Look at verse 30. You say, that's bad. It's worse. It gets worse. There's good news at the end. Verse number 30, it says also themselves shall men arise speaking perverse things, meaning twisting things, saying things that aren't true. To draw away, why would they do that? To draw away disciples after them. People you would consider brothers will try to take people from the church. This is what the Bible is saying here. This will happen. This will happen here. Look, the more meat eaters we have here, the less likely this will affect anything. This is the idea of getting strong because like, you're listening to this, you're like, this is crazy. Look, it is crazy. I agree with you. I agree with you. It is crazy. Look at 3rd John, chapter one. Look at 3rd John, chapter one. You say, why would people do that? It says, trying to draw disciples away from themselves. That's why Paul, if you've noticed anything about Paul, he says, I humbly, I came up, Paul was taught by Jesus Christ himself. If anybody had the ability to be prideful, it would be him. If anybody had the ability to be like, hey, I have more knowledge than everybody here, you know, it would have been Paul. But Paul kept his humility. Paul kept his humility. God helped keep Paul's humility. As we looked at last week. Look at 3rd John, chapter one. But people will come in trying to be the Paul. They want to outdo Paul. They want to come in, and they want to, they want people following them. You know, they want to stand at the gates like Absalom did against David. Look at 3rd John, chapter one, verse number nine. Paul ran into this, or John ran into this. I wrote to the church, but diatrophies who love it to have the preeminence among them, receiveeth us not. Look, here's a guy that just, he wanted to be the one everyone was following. You know, he wouldn't even receive the disciples. Why? Because he was trying to draw disciples after himself. These are the type of people that, like this is where personality cults come from. This is where personality cults come from. You say, what's a personality cult? We were talking about this just the other day. A personality cult is where, oh, we were talking about because there's a church like that in town here. I won't mention the name. But it's basically, you know, it's where people are following the man. They think I'm a good preacher and all this stuff and, you know, be happy with your pastor. But look, I mean, we're following the Bible here. We're not following me. I mean, I'm the under shepherd of Jesus Christ here. Okay, I'm not trying to form some, you know, personality cult where you'll follow me no matter what the Bible says. No, no, no, you read the Bible, Catholic church really. That's why they don't want you, they don't want you to read the Bible. So, throughout history, the Catholics are like, we have a village over here that has the Bible. We need to burn that. They're literally killing people. Thousands of people, millions of people have been killed by that organization. And one of the reasons why, the main reasons why is because they're reading the Bible. They had the Bible. They were translating the Bible. Translating the Bible into English, into a tongue to understand, we must kill these people. That's a personality cult. That's somebody who's trying to get you to follow the man right there. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, And by the space of three years I see as not to warn every one night and day with tears. So this isn't the first time that they're hearing this message from Paul. He's warning them once again. And that brings me to point number six that you need to understand about hold fast Baptist church. There is a spiritual war. It is real. It is real. Why here? I've never dealt with this before at any other church that I've gone to. Maybe that's the case with you. First of all, like I said, any church like ours will deal with these same things because there is a spiritual war. That is point number six. And you must never forget that. You must never forget that. You say why here and not other places. And the reason is very simple because other places are one, they're not in the fight. You only attack an enemy. You attack an army that's attacking you. You don't go and attack. You attack the part of the army that is engaged with you if you're in a battle. So Satan will attack places like this. You say why? So other churches aren't dealing with that because most are not in the fight. Actually as a matter of fact most are on the wrong side altogether. Most are run by false prophets teaching a false gospel. They're working for Satan. The others are just, they're just, you got a church that's preaching the right gospel but they're doing nothing. They're just not in the fight. They're just not a threat. It's very simple. If you're fighting a battle against an army, you are going to fight the soldiers that are in front of you fighting you. You are not going to fight the reserves in some other country, no, you're going to fight the ones in front of you. It's because of the gospel. That's why. That is why Paul has to warn all this. All this will come here because of the gospel. Not just the gospel though. What we are doing with the gospel. That is why. Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. That's milk. Did you know that? That's milk. Is that hard to understand? You kids understand that? Go preach the gospel to every creature? The kids understand that because it's milk. But that is why. It's the gospel and what we're doing with it. That's why we are on the front line of the spiritual war. And that's why Paul's message is reflecting directly upon this church. Look at verse 32. And now brethren I commend you to God and to the word of his grace which is able to build you up and to give you an inheritance among all them which are sanctified. I've coveted no man's silver or gold or apparel. You yourselves know that these hands, he's talking about his hands, administered under my necessities and to them that were with me saying I have credibility. I didn't come to take anything from you. He's like please listen to me. I have showed you all things. How that's so laboring we ought to support the weak and to remember the words of the Lord Jesus. How he said it is more blessed to give than receive. He's telling them they're charged and look he is just he is imploring these elders to protect these people. Paul loves this church. He has a really strong connection to this church and when he had just spoken he kneeled down and prayed with them all. I'll prove it to you. Look at this. And they all wept sore. All these men, these tough grown men are crying they fell on Paul's neck and kissed him, sorrowing for most of the words which he spake that they should see his face no more and they accompanied him unto the ship. But look this speech is so important that Paul gave because it will reflect directly on him. Now go back to verse number 24. You say pastor this is all very depressing. Thank you for this sermon tonight. This is depressing. All these bad things are going to happen but let me just cap it off with this. Look at verse number 24 and I skipped over this on purpose. Look at this statement that Paul makes in verse number 24. This speech he gives this incredible warning of these six points that I gave you. And it shows us how things will be different at this church. How things will be different at a church is actually carrying the gospel to the lost in our communities, carrying the gospel to the lost all around this world, South America, across the world in the Philippines, wherever we may go, you know, he's warning us so we can be strong to continue this battle. But look what he says will come from this. He's like, after all he's talking about all this persecution, these Jews chasing him and then he's going into the heart of this beast in Jerusalem. Look what he says. He's like, I want to finish my course with joy, he says. They're like, how could that be joyful? Because when he says joy, you know, we don't even know what that word means. You know, we know what happiness means. You know what people in America, they're like, oh, you know, I'm going to go and get high or I'm going to go and get drunk and that's going to make me happy or whatever. No, he's talking about true, godly joy here. You know what he's talking about? He's talking about knowing his course in life is what God wanted him to do. You know what? That's extreme joy right there. Knowing that what I am supposed to do in my life, people are wandering around in this world in their life, they don't know what they're doing. They don't know why they're here. They don't know what their purpose is. We know, we know what we're supposed to be doing. We know what we are called to do. And guess what? When you go do it, that will give you extreme joy because you will know. You will know that you are doing what God put you on this earth to do. That's a joyful thing. Everybody's, all these PhDs and these morons and universities are going around looking for the meaning of life. We know what it is. That's joyful. It's not always easy. It's not always going to be the easiest thing in the world. It's very simple though. It's very milk-like. And once you know that, and look, in order to actually pursue that and be successful at that, you know what? You got to get a lot of junk out of your life. You got to get a lot of sin out of your life. You got to know, you got to have some. What was that word that we just learned? You got to have some discernment. Or what was that sin in him? You got to have some judgment in your life. And then you'll be able to execute through your works what God wants you to do with this flesh that he's given his spirit into in your life. And look, that's a, I'll testify it to you tonight. It's a very joyful thing. There's pain that comes with that. There's persecution that comes with that. But being able to preach the gospel to somebody and watching them get saved, watching them receive the milk of the gospel. Somebody that if you weren't there, would spend an eternity in hell. Hell is real. Hell is real. That's another thing you won't hear in other churches today. If hell's not real, why am I here? Why are you here? Why would we carry the gospel? Hell is plastic or made up. Every word in this book is true. And once you understand that and follow this and learn it and grow strong and are able to carry that gospel to people and pass them from death to life, you will never experience joy like that anywhere else in your life. So that's why. That's why you do it. It will be different here, guaranteed. Let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer.