 Titus chapter 1, let's begin at verse 10, we'll read to verse 16, and we'll get into our study. What we're going to be looking at is a subject of dealing with deceivers, dealing with deceivers. So beginning at verse 10, reading to verse 16, for there are many in subordinate, both idle talkers and deceivers, especially those of the circumcision whose mouths must be stopped, whose subvert whole households teaching things which they ought not, for the sake of dishonest gain. One of them, a prophet of their own said, Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, lazy glutton. It sounds like my staff, but anyway, continuing. Anyway, I better keep going, right? This testimony is true. And therefore rebuke them sharply that they may be sound in the faith, not giving heed to Jewish fables and commandments of men who turn from the truth to the pure. All things are pure, but to those who are defiled and unbelieving, nothing is pure. But even their mind and conscience are defiled. They profess to know God, but in works they deny him being abominable, disobedient, and disqualified for every good work. So allow me to give you a reminder and a bit of an introduction and then we'll move into the verses before us. Let me remind you that the Apostle Paul and Titus had come to the island of Crete when they were on a missionary journey. Now when they were there on the island, they would have encountered believers who were actually living throughout this small island. You see, these people had come to faith in Jesus because of Peter's preaching on the day of Pentecost. When you read the book of Acts and you see the day of Pentecost, they're fulfilled in Acts chapter 2. The Bible speaks concerning how that on the day of Pentecost that the Holy Spirit baptized 120 who were in an upper room, and they had begun speaking in tongues. And so pouring out of the upper room, they began glorifying God in languages that were unlearned. So when you read that account that were present at that time in Jerusalem, some 16 different nations and regions. And the people were listening, and as they were listening, they had a different response to what they were seeing. Some were saying whatever could this mean? And others began to mock saying, well, these people are simply, they're drunk, they're filled with new wine. When Peter heard them saying that they're drunk with new wine or full of new wine, Peter responded by pointing out that this was a prophecy that had been fulfilled. And he quoted the Old Testament book of Joel chapter 2, verses 28 and 29, which spoke of God pouring out the Holy Spirit on all flesh. So as Peter was preaching, they began to hear the gospel and many came to faith in Christ. And the one who had denied Jesus spoke openly and fearlessly now to the people. The response to the message as we see in Acts 241 was extremely powerful. It says those who gladly received his word were baptized. And that day about 3000 souls were added to them. Now among those various regions and nations were people from Crete. And undoubtedly they had returned to the island and they began meeting as believers. So Paul had a fruitful work on Crete. He knew that they needed teaching. He knew that they needed discipling. And he had begun this work, but he had to leave Titus behind. Remember we saw in verse five that Paul had said to Titus, for this reason I left you in Crete, that you should set in order the things that are lacking in appoint elders in every city as I commanded you. See Paul had already begun to do a work, but he had to leave. And so now Titus has to set in order or finish the work. He had to complete the work that had been started. So when Paul left Crete, the churches began to come under the attack of Satan. And as true as throughout church history, Satan began to attempt to undermine the work. Now let me develop this little because we're going to be looking at this in some detail in a moment. Satan usually uses one of two tactics when he tries to destroy a work of God. Either he simply attacks the church from the outside or he undermines it from the inside. In Acts chapter 20, Paul was saying goodbye to the elders of the church of Ephesus. And in his final goodbye, he gave them a warning. It says in the book of Acts in chapter 20, verses 29 and 30, Paul said this, he said, I know this, that after my departure, savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock. But he goes on to say also from among yourselves, men will rise up speaking perverse things to draw away the disciples after themselves. So either they come in amongst you or they rise up from within. And that's what the devil normally does. He destroys or attempts to destroy the work by either infiltrating or influencing through leadership. So false teachers began entering the church very early in the history of the church. Satan moved to insert false teachers that would undermine the truth of the gospel. And Jesus actually warned us about that. Because in Matthew 13, 26, Jesus spoke of these people as tears that had been sown amongst the wheat. And that's what's taking place in the churches of Crete. So because of this, Paul has told Titus to finish the work that was started and he needs to appoint elders. Now these elders are what we would call spiritual sheep dogs. They protect the sheep from wolves. You see wolves can appear to be genuine, but are in fact evil. Matthew 7.15 says, Jesus speaking, beware of the false prophets, notice who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves. So when Jesus said they come to you, he was saying that they're evangelistic. They come to you. They approach you. You're not necessarily looking for them. They may come to your door, knock on the door. They may speak to you on the job they come to you. They're evangelistic and they present themselves as true and the innocent can be deceived. Very often the message that they give is appealing and they're saying the things that people want to hear. Jeremiah in the Old Testament, a prophet said in chapter 5, verses 30 and 31, a horrible and shocking thing has happened in the land. The prophets prophesied lies. The priests ruled by their own authority and my people love it this way. And that's what happens. The false teachers will enter in to begin to share things that appeal to the people and before you know it, they begin to take them away from the truth. They have a way of appealing to what people are already inclined to believe. Again, Jesus said they will come to you in sheep's clothing. Sheep's clothing is another way of saying that they're going to appear to be shepherds. Prophets were identifiable by the way they would dress. When you look in 2 Kings in chapter 1, verse 8, it tells us that the prophet Elijah wore a garment of animal hair. Matthew chapter 3, verse 4 says that John the Baptist was clothed in camel hair. So during Jesus's and Paul's day, shepherds would actually wear garments of wool. And this in a practical way revealed the shepherds because the shepherds would smell like the sheep. False prophets wore sheep's clothing, not to impersonate sheep, but to appear as shepherds. So they looked like and they talked like and they appeared to be true prophets, but they were destructive. Jesus said they're ravenous wolves. They're seeking to turn us away from the Lord. And wolves are infiltrating the churches. And when they do, instead of ignoring, you have to deal with them. And that's why Paul commanded Titus to appoint elders in every city. Now, as we've been going through chapter 1, we've seen that Paul has outlined the qualifications that are necessary to lead a church. We looked at verses 5 through 8. And in verses 5 through 8 of chapter 1, he had listed 14 character traits that Titus was to look for when he was going to appoint an elder. You see, that's because the gospel is to be presented as well as defended by men of character. A bad elder's life will call into question the gospel that he's representing. If he's not living, what he's giving is going to undermine the efficiency and effectiveness of the gospel. That's why when Paul was telling Timothy, in 1 Timothy chapter 3, verse 7, as he was going over the qualifications there, he said he must have a good testimony among those who are outside, lest he fall into reproach in the snare of the devil. And so Paul is telling Titus to appoint men who are men of character. But notice in verse 9, he spoke and said, holding fast the faithful word as he's been taught, that he may be able by sound doctrine both to exhort and convict those who contradict. So not only are they to be men of character, they're also to be men of the word. And so in this way, because they have spiritual stability, because they're unwavering, because they have knowledge of scripture, well in this way they're going to be able by sound doctrine to convict, he says, those who are contradicting. In other words, they're knowledgeable of doctrine, and they know it well enough to correct the error of an opponent. And that's what he's speaking about now, because one of the reasons why men must be highly qualified is now given, because false teachers have infiltrated the church. These men of character, and these men of scriptural understanding are the spiritual sheep dogs that are going to protect the sheep, and reveal the dishonesty of the infiltrators who are entering into the church to undermine the work of grace, to bring in the law, and cause people to be brought into subjection to legalism. So in verse 10, he says it this way. He says, there are many insubordinate, both idle talkers and deceivers, especially those of the circumcision. And so he begins to share with us that false teachers had infiltrated the church. Notice he says there are many false teachers who are infiltrating the church in large numbers. And these false teachers are guilty of adding to or changing God's word. And that's a great danger, because life itself, spiritual life, eternal life rests on the proper message being given and people receiving. When you read your Old Testament from Israel's earliest days, God had made it clear that Israel as a nation were to honor his word. It was a source of life. It was a source of guidance. They were to hold fast to it. In the Old Testament book of Deuteronomy chapter four, verse two, we read, you shall not add to the word that I command you, nor take away from it, that you may keep the commandments of the Lord your God that I command you. In chapter 12, verse 32 of Deuteronomy, whatever I command you, be careful to observe it. You shall not add to it, nor take away from it. So they were to not add or take away from the word of God, but they were to live it out as it was given to them. When Israel was about to enter it into the promised land, God gave them a promise in Joshua one verse eight. It says, this book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it, for then you will make your way prosperous and then you will have good success. So stay in line with the word of God. Well, the church has handed down God's word from generation to generation. We have been given the word of God and the word of God is to be preserved. It's to be protected and it's to be presented in such a way as to give honor to God and rightly be divided. Jesus in Matthew 28, 19, and 20 said, go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. You went on to say, teaching them to observe all things that I've commanded you, you hold on with you always, even to the end of the age. So you don't hold anything back, but you teach all things that I have commanded you. And when he says, go therefore and make disciples of the nations, many people have emphasized the word go as the main verb of that scripture and go is not the main verb. He's not saying go as the center of the idea. He's saying, as you go, when you go, where you go, while you're going, make disciples, the main verb, the main emphasis is not the going. The main emphasis is the making of disciples. And how do you make disciples? He said, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you. You see, so that's the key guys. You know, Calvary travels over the years. We have been handed this as not just a tradition, but as something that we know is biblically very important. We have always centered on the teaching of the word of God line upon line, precept upon precept. Why? So that we may know the whole counsel of God. And so that's what we're called to do. And that's how you do it by teaching through the books of the Bible, by sharing the things that God says. That's what Jesus commanded us to do. You see, when the church was born, God inspired writers to give his word to people. And these men who were inspired by the spirit gave us the New Testament. And he gave us church leadership that would ensure the health of the church. Ephesians 411 says that he gave as gifts to the church some apostles, and some prophets, and some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers. So the pastors and the teachers were intended to continue faithfully teaching the word of God. Paul knew that he had apostolic authority. And Paul would refer to it. In 1 Corinthians 11-2, he said, I praise you, brethren, that you remember me in all things and keep the ordinances as I delivered them to you. In 1 Thessalonians 4-1-2, he said, We beseech you, brethren, exhort you by the Lord Jesus that as you have received of us, how you ought to walk and please God, so that you would abound more and more, for you know what commandments we gave you by the Lord Jesus. And so the word of God was intended to be communicated to the people by those who had the authority to do so. So the early church was built on the teachings of Scripture, both old and new. And what the early church did as they gathered together, according to Acts 242, is they continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship in the breaking of bread and in prayers. So the apostles had what is called apostolic authority. They gave God's message to men. They handed the gospel to others who met certain requirements, and the message must not be lost. In 2 Timothy 2, verse 2, the things that you heard from me, among many witnesses, commit these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also. And in 2 Thessalonians 2.15, stand firm and hold to the teachings we passed on to you, whether by word of mouth or by letter. So those who were delivering the message were not to deviate from what was given to them. This didn't mean that the message would remain without being changed or attacked because attacks on the message began very early in the history of the church. Again, that's what Paul was telling the elders of the church of Ephesus that men would arise. What they would do is draw disciples after themselves. And that's what's occurring here in verse 10. God's word is being undermined by wolves. Notice how he says there are many insubordinate, idle talking deceivers that are present in the church. Now who are these people? Well, he tells us in verse 10, especially those of the circumcision. These are Jewish rabbis and they're undermining the work of the gospel message. What they're doing is contradicting the message of the gospel. They're adding their own understanding of the message and in doing so are twisting it. They're contradicting. When it speaks concerning these insubordinate, these people who resist authority, he speaks concerning them as people who are contradicting. He had said that in verse 9. What that means is denying or opposing. They were denying scripture and deceiving people, which is a great sin. He says that they are insubordinate. They are idle talkers and they're deceivers. So there was a good amount of false teachers and that has to be dealt with quickly. So how did he describe them? Let's look at that for a moment. He said they're insubordinate. That means rebellious. They were rejecting Paul's authority as well as the word of God. And by rejecting the gospel, they were rejecting the Lord of the gospel. And they refused to be corrected by those who are in authority. Does that happen today? Absolutely. Does it happen within church fellowships even like this one? Yes, it does. Has it happened here on occasion over the years? We've been here over 40 years. You can imagine that on occasion over the years there have been those who have risen up, those who have drawn disciples after themselves and those who have had insubordinate rebellious hearts. There's no doubt about that. They don't want to hear when corrected. They don't want to listen when corrected. They're going to do what they do on their own because they don't care what you have to say. So that attitude is still around. They're referred to also as idle talkers. And that's interesting. The term idle talker speaks of being an impressive speaker. They're an impressive speaker. They have what would be called great swelling words. They're eloquent. They're very impressive. But the words that they're giving serve no useful need. They're idle talkers. And then they're deceivers. That word deceiver is literally a mind deceiver. It speaks of the seducer of the weak. One, they're deceived themselves. But two, they deceive others. These are those who have an appearance of godliness, but they deny the power of the Holy Spirit. Do we see that ever? Is there anything like that? Well, you know, without appearing cruel. Well, it's going to appear cruel to some. But there we go anyway. When I first got saved, and you have to understand that was ancient history. I know many of you weren't even born when I first got saved. Some of you were born and you just forget. But you know, that was in the midst of a youth revival. And so I was young. I was 20 years old. And I had the long hair and I didn't wear shoes. And I wore the raggedy clothes and the tight eyed t-shirts and the granny glasses a whole nine yards. That's what I looked like. That's the way I was. But when I would share with people, the generation above my parents age, in other words, generation that was before me, didn't want to hear people like me. Because they looked at us as just dirty hippies and kind of brainwashed or kind of out there. They thought we were kind of just wild eyed. And they didn't listen. The older people often would not listen to us. But they would listen to Mormons because Mormons had real short hair. Because Mormons had white shirts and ties even back then. And so the appearance of people who were not given the true gospel was more appealing to the ones who actually were, you know, more appealing than the ones who actually were given the true gospel. We may not have looked like the stereotype believer, but we had the faith of Christ. And even today, we need to be very careful because I've seen this, that these kinds of things don't go away in the church, even Calvary chapels. You know, I've had conversations with people who have said, you know, these Christians, Christians shouldn't wear tattoos and have piercings and things like that. And I've shared this with you many times. And, you know, and you get people who are uptight over the outer appearance. You know, and the fact is, is a lot of people get themselves marked up when they're young and when they're older, they feel bad about it because, you know, there's hardly anything uglier than to see a tattoo that's covered up with wrinkles. You know what I mean? So, I mean, that's true. And the guy who got, you know, the battleship on his chest, it becomes a submarine. You know, I could go on, I'll stop. You know, so trends come and trends go. And if we always are judging the book by its cover, we're never even going to read the book. You need to be aware that God cleans up the insight. And that's the key, right? But sometimes deceivers have a more appealing appearance than the genuine believer. They actually do. And they can have that eloquence. They can have that ability to articulate. They can have that winsome personality, that winning kind of smile and all of that. And they, and they can manipulate words and make false promises in the whole nine yards and the innocent are deceived. What they're doing is they are mind deceiving. They are drawing people to themselves. You know, Paul would say that they had the appearance of godliness, but deny the power of the Holy Spirit. False teachers seem to always have a group of people who listen to them through the personalities, through the way that they talk by their apparent knowledge. They're able to convince and seduce people. And so this is what's taking place. They're in support in it. They're idle talkers. They're deceivers. Then he says, especially those of the circumcision. So he identifies them. They're identified as Jews. That's what of the circumcision means. They identified, they're identified as Jews who insist that people hold to the law of Moses. Apparently they're combining the law of Moses with the grace of Jesus Christ. And in doing so, they're undermining the work of Jesus. They especially would encourage Gentile men to become circumcised. You see that in the book of Acts in chapter 15, when the council had to deal with this. In chapter five, verse six, Paul said, in Christ Jesus, neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything but faith working through love. It wasn't the circumcision that saved anybody. It was the faith of God, the faith within them in Christ. And so, because of this, Paul is telling Titus to deal with it. He says in verse 11, whose mouths must be stopped, who subvert hold households, teaching things which they ought not for the sake of dishonest gain. He says their mouths must be stopped. That word stop simply means put a bridle on them, muzzle them, or gag them. Instead of tolerating them, they need to be silenced by Titus and the elders. Now, why must they be stopped? Because notice in verse 11, they are subverting entire houses. They're going into people's homes, like having home Bible study kinds of things, and sharing misinformation. And as a result, they're responsible for dividing and undermining entire families. Not only that, but notice how he says, for the sake of dishonest gain, they're making money, they're profiting from their lives. Because their entire goal is to make merchandise of the people. Now, in 1 Timothy 6, verse 5, Paul speaks of useless wranglings of men of corrupt minds and destitute of the truth, who suppose that godliness is a means of gain from such withdrawal yourself. You see, what happens is they sell their religion, they sell, they profit very often personally off of the people that they're speaking. Do Jesus spoke of that kind of mindset already occurring in the nation of Israel in Matthew 23? When he spoke of those who were actually ripping off widows and for a pretense, he said, making long prayers. And so what these rabbis were doing is they would say, I will pray for you, but the amount of money you give to me is going to determine the length of prayers that I pray for you. And so they were profiting off of religion. It's the same mentality that provoked Jesus when he went into the temple on two occasions and cleaned it. It's because these people were making merchandise off of God's people. And so those who are making money off of God's people, that's a terrible thing. It's something that God just really, really not only prohibits, but that's something that he hates. You know, for somebody to be selling the grace of God and profiting off of the innocent is a horrible sin. It's a terrible thing. And it ought not to be done. He goes on in verse 12 and he says, one of them, a prophet of their own said, Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, lazy gluttons. And he goes on to say this testimony's true. Therefore, rebuke them sharply that they may be sound in the faith. It's interesting how he says this. Cretans are always liars. And this is, incidentally, he says a prophet of their own, a prophet of their own. Notice their liars. When he says evil beasts, it's another way of saying their savages. When he says lazy gluttons, he's talking about the men's ministry here. No, he's got to give them a burrito to come to a Bible study. No, no, lazy gluttons. Lazy gluttons are lovers of pleasure. That's what they are. They're liars, they're savage, and they love pleasure. So Cretans have a reputation. This was a cultural stereotype that was attributed to them. And if I'll say it this way, and I'll probably, I'm going to insult somebody. So here we go. But there are such things we know as cultural stereotypes. French. The French, some of you have been to France. The French have a cultural stereotype of being abrupt or rude. Some of you know that. If you've been to France, I've been to France more than once. And there's a truth to it. Sometimes they can be pretty rude. And so that's a cultural stereotype. The English used to have a cultural stereotype where they were really proper at one time. That was a cultural stereotype. You have the Scots, the Scottish, and they have a cultural stereotype of being fairly reserved. Germans have a cultural stereotype. They're intellectual or unemotional. A lot of people would say that. The Japanese are looked at as being extremely efficient. The Italians are known to be cultural stereotype. Very emotional, emotional people. Americans, I can tell you this for a fact, are loud. We are loud. When you go into another country, you will know we're a group of Americans. You will know we are a very loud people. And I've seen it more than once. I was in China, I was in Beijing. And we were in a restaurant in Beijing. And we were laughing and carrying on. And before you know it, we looked around in the restaurant and these Chinese people were just looking at us like how rude you are. And I looked at them and I said, these people are rude. I'll sit with you. No, I didn't do that. You know, Mexicans, we have a cultural stereotype. We're all low riders. So you have your cultural stereotypes. But he speaks of this. He says, one of them, a prophet of their own said, cretins are always liars, evil beasts and lazy gluttons. Which incidentally, let me say this to you really briefly. This is something that people will speak about. Because if one of them has said this, one of them being a cretin prophet has said that they're liars. The question has to be then if they're all liars, is he lying? When he said that, that's something I'll let you think about for a while. Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, etc. And so he's simply referring to a philosopher that lived 600 BC, epitome, epimenides, and he's speaking concerning this particular person who had said that. Well, in verse 13, when he says this testimony is true, rebuke them. He's simply saying that that can be a truism within the culture. So train them out of that kind of way of life. How do you do that? Teach them the word of God, Titus. Exort them to live for Jesus Christ and reprove the false teachers for this kind of sin. And if you do so, you'll train the others to fear God. Verse 14, not giving heed to Jewish fables, commandments of men who turn from the truth. Don't give yourself over to the Jewish stories, the various myths that many Jews cling to. And don't follow the commandments of men. When it comes to the Jewish religious traditions, stay away from the myths and the traditions and walk in the grace of God. For why? Well, verse 15, to the pure, all things are pure. But to those who are defiled and unbelieving, nothing is pure. But even their mind and conscience are defiled. They profess to know God, but in works they deny Him, being abominable, disobedient, and disqualified for every good work. So those, he says, in verse 15, who are the pure, to the pure, all things are pure. When a person's heart is pure, their perspective on life is also going to be pure. One of the things that I've discovered about those who have a pure heart is they have a discernment, very often a discernment. They can see through the lie. You know, when my wife, Marie, and I were first married and all, my wife has a pure heart. Anybody who knows or would know that, and I'm not just saying that, it's just the truth. My wife has a very innocent pure heart. And it took a while for me to actually learn this. But the Lord taught me this with my girl, with my wife. And He said this to me through experience, listen to her when she speaks. Because when we first began our work and ministry together, there were times, not often, when she would say to me, I don't really trust that person. And I would look at her and I would say, well, you know, God's grace. And I would argue the grace of God with her. And she never, she never argues back to her credit. She says what's on her heart and leaves it in the Lord's hand. And then I'd find out she was right. She was right. She was seeing something I wasn't seeing. She did it a few times. And she doesn't do it often, still to this day, after all these years. But when my wife speaks to me, I listened very carefully. Because to the pure, all things are pure. My wife was able to see through things. Me, I'm trying to make excuses for what I might see, but I don't want to be someone's judge and this and that. But when Marie would say, you know, I'd watch out, I do know, I will listen very carefully. Why? This scripture has become something I'm very familiar with, because to the pure, all things are pure. There's a discernment that she has, because she didn't do the kind of life I lived. She has a purity of heart that even to this day, I'm still trying to grow to have. So when a person's heart is pure, the perspective on life is pure. But he says also in verse 15, but to those who are defiled and unbelieving, nothing is pure. And that's true too. When they have not had their hearts cleansed by the blood of Jesus Christ, their entire life is really still defiled. And they can even be hostile towards the things of God. In Colossians 1 21, Paul said, once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior. And so to the pure, all things are pure. When you come to faith in Christ and the blood of Christ washes you, cleanses you from all sin, your perspective does change. You gain a discernment and a capacity to see through. But when somebody remains in sin, very often they can't tell when they're being caught. They can't tell when someone's lying to them, because they're not familiar with the truth. In verse 16, he goes on to say they profess to know God, but in works they deny him in abominable, disobedient, and disqualified for every good work. Their very lives demonstrate that they don't know God. You see, if these Jewish teachers truly knew him, they would know Jesus. And because they're rejecting Christ, they don't know God. The one who has the Son has the Father also. When you have a relationship with God through Jesus Christ, then you have what God has intended you to have, a relationship with them that is based on what Christ has done for you. But a person who doesn't have a relationship with God through Jesus Christ may have a concept of God. They may have an understanding that there is such a one as a God, but they don't have a relationship and a knowledge because they don't have the Son, Jesus Christ. In John 5.23 it says, all men should honor the Son, even as they honor the Father. He who honors not the Son honors not the Father who has sent you. And so when you have Christ, you have a relationship with God. That's how you have the relationship with God. But these Jewish people, these Jewish infiltrators who are bringing in legalism are actually causing the people to move into a life that is not really lived by grace, but actually coming under harsh and rigid laws. And he's saying what happens is you don't have a real relationship with God when you don't know the grace that comes to you through Jesus, the Son. In 1 John 2.23 no one who denies the Son has the Father, whoever acknowledges the Son has the Father also. So somebody, and this happens all the time today, somebody can say well I do believe in God, I just don't believe in Jesus. Well the problem is is you can't really believe in God if you don't believe in the Son. You can't because Jesus said I'm the way the truth in life. No man comes to the Father, but by me. And the whole purpose of Christ coming to earth was to make it possible for us to know his Father. That's why he came. And so when we don't have a relationship with Jesus Christ, we may have a concept of an other or some God out there, some great being of some sort, some spirit, some mighty whatever. But when you know him through Jesus Christ and the love of God and is expressed to you by the word of God, then you have what is called the truth and that truth sets you free. So Paul says Titus I left you behind to set in order certain things that are still lacking. Deceivers are entering into the church. They're bringing in legalism and Jewish fables and traditions. In doing so they are undermining the grace of Jesus Christ. This has to be dealt with. This is taking place in many places because many deceivers are entering in. Therefore, what you need to do is you need to get highly qualified men, men of great character and are knowledgeable of the word of God. You need to delegate them with authority within the church and they need to deal with these who are entering in. They need to do it strictly and they need to do it immediately because if you allow this kind of thing to occur, the faith of Christ will be wiped out on that island. You need to move on these things quickly. There are people who believe, I can't tell you over the years because very often, especially when I was younger, I was a lot more point blank when I would teach and I can't tell you the number of letters I would get and comments that I would get about being harsh and judgmental and why are you calling people out by name because that's what shepherds do. That's what sheep dogs do. They go after the wolves and somebody once said this and it's true. He said, look at the forearms of every shepherd because every shepherd is going to have scars on their arms because that shepherd fought with the wolves and it's true. Every shepherd has scars on their arms from fighting for the sheep and so very often the sheep get mad because you said something about their favorite wolf. Father, bless you and thank you, Lord.