Subtle Practices that Destroy Souls - Pastor Daniel Batarseh

What a precious time in worship this morning. Thank you for including your voices today. Would you please meet me in the second letter to Timothy in chapter two, beginning in verse 14 in our bibles. So we open up God's word together. Second Timothy chapter two beginning in verse 14.

Remind them of these things and charge them before God not to quarrel about words which does no good but only ruins the hearers. Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth. But avoid irreverent babble, for it will lead people into more and more ungodliness and their talk will spread like gangrene. Among them are Hymenaeus and Philetus, who have swerved from the truth, saying that the resurrection has already happened. They are upsetting the faith of some.

Let's pray. Lord, this is your word. We acknowledge it as a supreme authority. We acknowledge it as perfect. We acknowledge it as God breathed and that it is sufficient to make us godly.

We ask, Lord, that you would help us understand what you're saying in these verses, and that they would apply to our lives. Give us your heart. Give us the grace to know your will for us. We ask these things in the name of Jesus we pray. Amen.

There are many hooks in this world that have the ability to lure any soul into destruction, both in this life and in the life to come. And unfortunately, these spiritual dangers are not few, but they are many. And so vast and extensive are these threats that many of them may not even be in the radar of our understanding. Nonetheless, we have to understand all that God has given us concerning warnings. And there are some professing believers who may not recognize how particular practices put them and others in great jeopardy.

And whether the warnings that you and I are about to explore this morning apply to you, are relatable to you, it doesn't really matter. Because it is our duty to identify as many lethal things as possible, so that we would not be caught unaware by the enemy of our souls. We must be familiar, we must be studied, and we must be prepared, lest at any time in your own life or even in the life of this church, we would see these looming hazards affecting the faith of even some. And the menacing tricks that we are about to discover this morning, do not have to deal with the danger of lust, or pride, or divisiveness, or anger, or jealousy. They focus on the misguided discourse of various kinds.

More specifically, arguing, debating, and even teaching that is not aligned with God's word or God's ways. And before we continue, we might fall into the temptation to think this is really not applicable to me. This is not something applicable to me. I don't think I really need to to really pay attention and I would say, no, you must pay attention. Look at verse 18 again very quickly as we look at the last phrase.

They are upsetting the faith of some. Paul brings up that there's certain behavior that is disturbing certain Christians within the church of Ephesus. That's where pastor Tim was was leading. And that was enough, just a handful even of people within that church were being disturbed and Paul saw it necessary to intervene. Just one part of the body was being affected and Paul says this has to be dealt with from the leadership.

This has to be dealt with as a whole entire congregation. What's the point that I'm trying to make? If one part of your body was in pain, if one part of your body was injured, afflicted in some way, would you not take care of it? Would you not give it great attention? Even if your finger was out of place, you would do all that you can to make sure that it was restored to perfect health.

And like manner, as the body of Jesus Christ, we are one. We are connected, and we must be fully aware and alert even if some, even if one member is affected in some way. It is our duty. We are accountable to one another. And so when we look at these things, consider not just a danger to yourself, but perhaps a danger to others, in which you must also be aware of.

There are three things we have to avoid. These are subtle practices. These might not be so dangerous to the immediate eye, but they are in fact dangerous, and we must avoid these things. And the first thing that is mentioned is in verse 14. We are told here that we are to not quarrel about words.

The first thing to avoid is to not give into things that are not sensual. Paul says, remind them. Who are them? The people in his church, The people in his congregation. The people in Ephesus.

Remind them not to quarrel about certain words. And what's amazing here is that this command is so serious in Paul's mind, more importantly in the Holy Spirit's mind, that Paul does something that he often doesn't do before he gives a command. He invokes the presence of God. Does he not say it? Charge them before God.

Charge them before the presence of the Lord. And why is he doing this? Because before he's about to give this instruction, he is trying to remind the people of God of a truth that we often forget and that is this, God is in the midst. God is surgically supervising and taking into account whether or not we are taking seriously any of his commands. And what Paul is trying to do by saying, charge him before God, is to provoke a fresh fear of the Lord in the people.

God is watching you. And the believer must be continually aware of the unbroken attendance of God in all of our activity, including our conversation. And I can tell you this from the scripture, and I can even tell you this if this means anything from personal experience in ministry, That one of the greatest ingredients in order for a church to be clean spiritually and healthy, is for every single individual of that church to be convinced that God is in the midst. There's an interesting verse in acts nine thirty one where we're told about the church, and walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, it multiplied. Walking in the fear of the Lord.

What does it mean to walk? To do all life, to be in conduct in the fear of the Lord. And in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, it multiplied. That was the thing that set it for growth, the fear of the Lord. Something that Satan has made us afraid of.

And I can tell you that the opposite of this truth is just as effective negatively. Listen, all you need as you're gonna find out by the end of this message, is one person in a church. To not be convinced that God is in the midst. To not be convinced that God is taking into account what you say, what you do. To not be convinced that God is watching for havoc to ensue and for chaos to erupt.

Just one. Just one. But let me tell you something, in case you're that person, that you don't believe that God is watching at all times. You're in for the shock of your life when you stand before the judge of the earth and how you dealt with his bride. You're in for the shock of your life, brother.

You're in the shock of your life, sister. Charge them before God. And what does Paul want the people of God to realize that he is observing? Do not quarrel about words. He's listening.

And this may be a little difficult to interpret because what does Paul mean by words? Is he talking about empty words? Is he talking about theological terms? Is he talking about controversial spiritual subjects? Is he talking about gray areas that are not so clear in the bible?

What does he mean by words? Here's one thing that we can be secure about. Paul is not implying that Christians should have a relaxed attitude about the precise meaning of the Bible. In fact, Paul himself gets caught up in words sometimes. And you don't have to turn there, but let me read this to you as a reference.

In Galatians, when Paul is defending the gospel of grace from heretics that are coming into the churches of Galatians trying to say, you know, yeah, Jesus died on the cross, but it's Jesus plus your efforts. He's making a defense and he uses this argument out of many arguments in Galatians three sixteen. Now the promises were made to Abraham and to his offspring. Now look, he's quoting Genesis. It does not say and to his offsprings, referring to many, but referring to one, and to your offspring who is Christ.

So he takes one word from the Old Testament to make a case that the offspring is Jesus Christ. So that's that's somebody getting caught up in words. That's somebody who is who is fighting with words, defending a word in the bible. There is an appropriate application, listen, of getting caught up in specifics in the Bible, of being serious about doctrine, especially when it deals with foundational truths of our faith. But listen, there's a very fine line between being on the quest for truth and quarreling about things that are not sensual.

And that don't benefit one person in the end of it. As sincere believers, I hope you're a person that loves the Bible. And I hope you're a person that wants to go beyond elementary truths and you wanna you wanna dig deep in the terrain of the scriptures and get a grip on everything that the Bible has to shed light on. That should be your pursuit in life. That should be your joy in life.

And I believe that you and I should understand all that the Bible has to offer. Whether it's weightier matters or things that are not so clear, we should want to know God's mind and God's heart. And Paul's not saying here, do not come to the point where you don't study or even discuss the details of divine revelation. I believe what the Holy Spirit is trying to say here is more about the attitude. Do not quarrel about words.

What are some examples of this? You have some people who orbit all their energy around words. You have some people for example, that make their entire ministry and their spiritual journey convincing people that creation is not six literal days, but more expansive time because the Hebrew word can be a broader definition and and they'll fight Christians about that. Or you have others who will say, because the Hebrew word for Adam is man. Adam was not a literal figure.

Eve was not a literal person, but they represent their allegorical of humanity. And they creep into churches and they clash with believers about these things, upsetting the faith of some. Paul says, don't quarrel about words. Don't get caught up with these things. He's not saying don't defend truth.

He's not saying don't get caught up in serious study of the bible. He's saying don't quarrel about it. When he says, it will ruin the hearers, the word ruin is catastrophe. He says, if you get caught up in this as a church, it will be catastrophe upon catastrophe. Really brother?

Are you sure? I'm not saying that the Bible is. Subtle ways that people can destroy souls. And the catastrophes are many. I read an example of a young man who was headed towards Bible college, and as he was being prepared to go and study theology, he approached a man that he believed was a man of God, and you might believe the same, A.

W. Tozer. And he came up to A. W. Tozer and he said, A.

W. Tozer. I don't know if he said it like that. Pastor Tozer. I'm headed to bible college.

Can you give me some insight about Calvinism and Arminianism? Oh. And this is what the man said as he received an answer from Tozer. Quote, and I'll never forget the advice he gave me. At the time, I thought it was rather inconclusive and not too helpful, but I listened carefully.

He said, my son, when you get to college, you're gonna find that all of the boys will be gathered in a room discussing and arguing over Armenianism and Calvinism night after night after night. I'll tell you what to do Cliff. Go to your room and meet God. At the end of four years, you'll be way down the line and they'll still be where they started. Because greater minds than yours have wrestled with this problem and have not come up with a satisfactory conclusion.

Instead, learn to know God. Now, am I against going back and forth with people concerning these doctrines? Absolutely not. Am I against not having clarity on certain themes of the Bible? Absolutely not.

But I personally refuse to allow myself to be given into living by the adrenaline of arguing. To the point where I cause unnecessary friction between genuine brothers in Christ and sisters in Christ. To the degree will I neglect my personal pursuit of holiness. Doesn't say don't discuss about words. Don't study words.

Don't quarrel about words. You have many unsanctified debaters in Christendom and they're good at it. And their entire spiritual journey is all about arguing and not about becoming like Christ. This is the great warning that we have today. If you get caught up in quarreling about words, you might just be ruining your spiritual progress.

Again, am I saying that we should not pursue knowledge? No. What I am saying is that we must avoid the motive and the attitude that Paul ascribes to false teachers. What do you mean? Paul brings up quarreling about words before and he associates it with the attitude of false teachers.

Go to first Timothy chapter six and look at verse four with me. This is Paul's description of a false teacher and this is what he says among other things. He is puffed up with conceit and understands nothing. Now look at this. This is the important part.

He is an unhealthy craving for controversy and for quarrels about words. There it is. Which produce Look at the fruit of it. Which produces envy, dissension, slander, evil suspicions, and look at the next part in verse five, and causes friction. It causes friction among people who are depraved in mind, deprived of truth.

Imagine that godliness is a mean of gain. So, here's the thing, I mean, it's a very fine line. You can get caught up in these things, but you have to look at the fruit. I personally am willing to sit with somebody all night about whatever subject they want to talk about, as long as I can discern that they are genuinely wanting to grasp truth. But I am not interested in speaking with somebody that just wants to quarrel, because they find some cheap thrill from it.

I don't have time to waste. There's so much that I need God to do in my life and if you're gonna rob that time, go find some other place, with all due respect. Don't quarrel about words. Don't get caught up in these things. But he comes to the next point, the next thing to avoid in verse 15 of second Timothy two.

Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth. Avoid being careless with the Bible is the second thing. This is a more obvious malpractice to us. We we understand this pretty clearly. It's pretty straightforward.

And sandwiched between the negative command of do not quarrel about words and in verse 16, avoid irreverent babbling is the the cry to handle the the word of God rightly. But notice what he says before. He says, do your best. Do your best. Just like the verse before this, he he is trying to emphasize the seriousness of this.

Do your best to show yourself as one approved before God. White knuckle devotion, immovable Immovable discipline. Laser sharp focus. To what? Get the approval of man?

God forbid. To receive your acceptance from God. And the idea they are being approved by God is listen, is to be severely tested to go through much scrutiny and investigation only to find yourself in the clear. Only to find yourself in the past. This is what he's speaking about and he's saying, I want you Timothy, pastor.

I don't want you to give all your energy to win the respect of your congregants, though that is important to some degree. I want all of who you are, your priority, your main ambition in life to win God's acceptance. What would the church look like in America if every single believer had that as the banner over their life? What kind of heights of holiness would we reach? What kind of purging and draining of corruption in the church would we know?

What kind of power from the Holy Spirit can we see flow from vessels who have cleansed themselves from all other motives except this one? Make sure that you do your best of all things to seek and to receive your approval from God and God alone. And there's an example if you were there last Friday, a bible study that I can't get out of my head, so I have to share it this morning. About a contrast between a man who was concerned about God's glory and a bunch of other men who were concerned by inferior motives. If you want to turn there, you can.

It's in first Samuel chapter 17. This is when Goliath comes on the scene and he's roaring from one hill and he's intimidating the Israelites. And in first Samuel 17 verse 24, if you were there last Friday, repetition is good. It gets in your soul deeper. First Samuel seventeen twenty four.

Look at the reaction of the Israelites. All the men of Israel, when they saw the man being Goliath, fled from him and were much afraid. And the men of Israel said, have you seen this man who has come up? Surely he has come up to defy Israel. And the king will enrich the man who kills him with great riches and will give him his daughter and make his father's house free in Israel.

What a reflection of the poor leadership of Saul. Saul had to stoop down so low that he had to actually bribe his men with cash prizes, his daughter for marriage and a tax free house. With the hopes to motivate at least one man to stand before Goliath and do something about it. And look at the attitude of the soldiers, never mind Saul. What was their concern?

They said, surely he has come up to defy Israel. Israel. And here you have, unfortunately, a commentary of the modern church to some degree. Like Saul, you have much leadership that needs to use worldly means to try to wake up the people to be faithful to the Lord. To get involved in serving God.

God's glory is not enough. Walking for him is not enough. No, no, no. We we need to give you toys and we need to we need to pet you and we need to give you some kind of entertainment, something of the world to persuade you that God is worthy of your service. And like these men, when opposition comes, you have many believers that are only concerned about themselves.

He's come to defy Israel. My safety, and my comfort, and my needs. Where's God in all of this? Where's God? I'll tell you where God is.

After this, David shows up on the scene. And I want you to see how he responds in verse 26. And David said to the men who stood by him, what shall be done for the man who kills this Philistine and takes away the reproach from Israel? For who is this uncircumcised Philistine? Now look, that he should defy the armies of the living God.

So David shows up on the scene. You know how these men including Saul interpret what's happening to Goliath? Oh, he's gonna kill us. And here's some here's some money and here's a beautiful girl and here's an easier life if somebody's willing to stand up. And David, this teenager shows up on the scene he goes, do you guys hear that he's blaspheming our God?

David possessed something that the entire armies of Israel lacked. You know what it was? A fierce loyalty to the glory of God. And guess what? Because he had that, he didn't need promotion.

He didn't need man's approval. He didn't need your toys. He didn't need your product. God's glory was enough. You wanna dishonor my God?

Then I will stand for him even if I stand alone. And that's the thing that drove him into that valley and to look up into the eyes of a man that could have crushed him. At the expense of the risk of his own life, he said, because God's glory is at stake, I will give my life. That is the key ingredient that will produce an endurance and great acts of faith from your life. And that is unfortunately the thing that keeps many people because they lack it from doing things for the Lord, like these army show.

Get a church filled with people that wanna honor God and you don't have to use worldly means to try to keep them. That's what Paul is trying to say to Timothy. Don't worry about your approval. Do your best for God's sake. For God's name, for God's approval.

And you will see great strides in your faith. And he says, rightly handle it. So this is the this is the context. Get your approval from God as you defend the truth, as you stand for it while there's opposition and criticism and heresy. But more than that, not just defending it, rightly handling it.

What does that mean? Very straightforward, isn't it? To not include your interpretation into verses. To honor the context in which things are presented. To, as a pastor, dissect the word of God in a way that doesn't cause more confusion but brings more clarity.

To apply it to your life first before you dare even teach it to another soul. Rightly handle the word of truth. In the original language, it simply means this, cut it straight. Cut it straight. Honor it.

Respect it. Revere God through it. And this imagery is very impressionable when we understand that the word of truth is also referred to what? As the sword of the spirit. So you can translate it this way, rightly handle the sword of the spirit.

If handled faithfully, the sword of the Spirit can kill the old man and make way for the new man to live in the newness of Christ. If handled faithfully, this sword is able to slaughter the power of sin so that holiness can flow through your bloodstream as a blood bought Christian. If handled with love, this sword can cut out unbelief and the great physician of your soul can replace it with faith. But unfortunately, if handled without God in mind, this sword can be turned into a tool to to itch to itch you and to satisfy your flesh because someone refuses to take out the sharp blades of the word of God that cut your heart with conviction. In the opposite way, this sword can also be mishandled by by frightening sinners unnecessarily.

Because someone is out for blood and they desire to wound people without healing in mind. And they're out just to make a statement even at the expense of your soul. And listen, even some genuine believers can cut out portions of this favorable parts of the Bible and they have an imbalanced diet making them malnourished in the spirit. Can I prove that to you? Go to Luke chapter 24 with me.

I wanna show you something quite interesting in the Bible. I this portion of the gospel of Luke is arguably one of my favorites. There's so much meat in this chapter of the book of Luke and what you see here is those two disciples on the road to Emmaus. They were sad. They were sad because the Messiah, the one that did all these miracles, the one that made so many promises in their understanding, has been crucified.

And news spread throughout all Jerusalem. This man is dead. And their heads were hanging low. And Jesus shows up on the scene and he veils himself. He doesn't reveal that he is Jesus.

And he begins to have a conversation with him and he asked, why are you sad? And they look at each other and they look back at him and they they Are you are you new to this place? Did you not just hear what's what's transpired over the past few days? And they begin to express their sorrow and their grief and their disappointment And and here's counselor Jesus. Here's pastor Jesus.

You know what he's gonna say? What would probably cause people to leave the church? He's very insensitive. That pastor doesn't doesn't sympathize with me. You wanna see what Jesus said?

Look here in verse 25 of Luke 24. And he said to them, oh foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken. He calls them fools. He calls them fools. That seems insensitive.

You have two men who put their hope in the Messiah, their hope in in the Christ, and it seems like their faith is being challenged and and you come, Lord, and you tell them, you're foolish. Why? Was it because they sincerely believed and they were going through a trial? No. It's because what?

What did he say? Slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken. They believed some of what the prophets have spoken, not all. Why? Just like many of the Jews, including the disciples.

When they read the Old Testament scriptures, you know where they gravitated towards? The triumphant Messiah. The messiah that would save Israel from its oppressors. The messiah that would deliver this nation and would rule the world. That is the thing that they were attracted to.

That is the thing that they interpreted solely and they missed the suffering one. They miss the one that would die and would be buried and would resurrect. And guess whose fault it was? Theirs. Some people question, how can Jesus be so strong against the leadership of that day?

They were just understanding what they seem to understood. No, they misunderstood. The bible wasn't confusing, they just chose the parts that they wanted to receive while neglecting the others. And that's what many Christians do today. They don't take all of the word of God.

They take some of the word of God. Preferably the ones that don't disturb their sin and don't challenge them to be prayerful, and serious, and zealous. Give me the ones that will coach me and will help me pursue my dreams and my ambitions and that's what's the most popular preaching today. It's self help sprinkled with some Jesus on it. And then you wonder why there's so much compromise, so much powerlessness.

And not just that, just like these disciples consider this, that because of their lack of balanced understanding of the word of God, they invited unnecessary sorrow. The reason why Jesus rebuked them was because the very sorrow they were experiencing was their own doing. And what about the depression in people's lives? And what about the weakness? And what about the spiritual anemic state of so many believers?

It's because like these two on the road to Emmaus, they took some of the Bible and not all of it. You didn't consider the rest of the scriptures, you two. So listen, what does Jesus do to these heavy hearts? What does he do to provide healing and restoration? Look at verse 26.

Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into glory? And then look at verse 27. He says here, it says here about him, and beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them all the scriptures, the things concerning himself. So you know what Jesus does? The great expositor, he rightly handles the word of truth.

So your fault is you didn't listen to all, so you know what I'm gonna do to you right now? I'm gonna give you all that the prophets have said. And I always say this whenever I references this this part of the Bible. Don't you wish that the Holy Spirit recorded that Bible study? He didn't.

They just summarize it. Oh, I would have loved to know what Jesus said as you walk with those two. Do you realize what was said in Moses? Do you realize what was said in the prophets? Do you realize what was said in the Psalms?

And And this is what happens, we know this later on. These heavy hearts, listen, they invited that pain by their negligence. They invited that sorrow by their laziness, by their presupposition, by their desire to choose and and eat the meat and spit out the bones, whatever that means. And by the end of that bible study later on when Jesus appears to them in that house and he disappears, they look at each other and say, did not our hearts burn within us? So that was that's what happens when you honor the Bible for what it is.

You take the scripture for what it is, that you rightly handle it. You will know a burning sensation that will cause your affections for Christ to increase, that will burn away all other things of the flesh and will cause you like those two to run out of that house and tell others about this Jesus. Don't be deceived by those who are filling stadiums and when that talented worship team goes up, there's a hoopla and there's amazing passionate expression of praise. If there's not a right handling of the truth, it's all a facade. It's misguided at best.

Jesus rightly handled the word of truth. Listen, the implications of this is great. Pay attention now. To rightly handle the truth has the power, as we know, to save a soul from hell. And listen, it has the ability to save the saved from unnecessary sorrows.

Honor the Bible. Read it. That's why personally, this isn't Bible, this is personal, but I'm sure the Bible can be proven by this statement. Read your Bible entirely. Let me be practical now.

Read it cover to cover. And listen, I say this in love. If you're a believer who's been a believer for many years and you haven't read through the entire Bible, shame on you. Shame on you. You have to know the Word of God from cover to cover.

If you believe that this is the word of God, the most important truth known to mankind and you haven't covered it after many years, why? Get into the word. Honor the context. Have conversations about it. Seek reputable men who fear God and interpret it correctly, and you will know something in your soul.

You will know a great protection and provision that you can't even imagine. Rightly handle the word of truth. And we come to the final warning in second Timothy in verse 16 down. We're told to avoid one more thing. First thing, avoid quarreling about things that are not central.

It ruins its hearers. Secondly, avoid mishandling or being negligent or lazy with the bible. You are inviting like those two perhaps unnecessary sorrows and ways of thinking. And lastly, avoid people who are given to irreverent babble. This may seem like an introduction to a different version of polluted speech.

It may seem like the impression here is don't be around those who entertain sin with their tongue, who are entertaining foul language, who don't honor Christ in their dialogue, but the the context suggests otherwise. Paul seems to be suggesting that this irreverent babble actually speaks of false teaching. False teaching. Now we hear that and we go, okay, I get it. Don't believe false teaching.

But I believe the emphasis is different here. It's not saying don't believe what is wrong. I believe what it is saying here is don't be around. Don't invite, don't leave an open door in your life of those who contradict core teachings of your faith. We are in no doubt called to be associated with this world, in every sphere of life.

Even those who have heard the gospel and refuse to believe it. You're supposed to have contact with such people. That's where your light shines. But there is a different responsibility by the leadership of a church to make sure that the right people are in attendance within the assembly. And pastors have a call to make sure that those within are not promoting a teaching that would upset the faith of some.

And he brings up two people by name, Hemeneus and Philetus or Philotus. Now here's what's interesting. Hemeneus has been mentioned before. Go to first Timothy chapter one verse 20. Actually verse 19.

And And look what we're told about this man. In verse 19, holding faith in a good conscience, by rejecting this some have made shipwreck of their faith, among whom are Hemeneus and Alexander, whom I have handed over to Satan that they may learn not to blaspheme. So you know what Paul did with this Hemeneus guy? He apparently was in the church of Ephesus, and he started going around teaching weird things. He's having people over for Bible study at his house and now he's getting into some strange stuff.

One of them being, you guys realize the resurrection already happened. Right? And they're all looking at each other like, what are you talking about? Yeah. And we don't know what he taught specifically.

He could have said that the resurrection already happened, that there is no bodily resurrection, that your spirit is resurrected. It's all done. There's no resurrection to look forward to. Now here's the problem, that's a core tenant of our faith. That's not secondary issues.

That's serious. That is foundational. Paul hears about it. Paul must have confronted him. Perhaps they went back and forth and Himeneus was convinced.

Paul says, you're out of here. You can't be in this church and teach such things. You need to go. That's what it means to be handed over to Satan. You wanna you wanna act like Satan with your sin, the final stage of church discipline, you can't stay here.

We're sorry. We're people called to holiness. You wanna believe what Satan believes? Then go into his world and preach it all you want. Don't preach it in the house of God.

Now here's what's amazing. Hymenaeus was kicked out and he seems to still be pursuing the faith of those within the same church. Like even though he was excommunicated, he's still trying to He's still trying to deter what people believe in the same church that he was kicked out of. And guess what? It worked to a certain degree.

Because we read of Himeneus and Alexander and now we go to chapter two of the second book and we read of Himeneus and Philotus. He got another one. He got another one. And he was upsetting the faith of some. And this man had to be warned about.

And this concerns the first point about this message, doesn't it? Listen, all it takes is one guy in a church, man, to not believe that they will be held accountable before God, to not hold to this truth. All it took was one himeneus to cause trouble on the church. And this is the warning, failing to be prompt, failing to be serious about someone in the midst who is intentionally trying to sway others away is nothing short of deadly. I know in this place many of you, if not all of you love the truth and you can't even fathom how this is relatable to our context.

If God by his mercy and his will decides for this church to grow, don't be shocked who comes in. Don't be surprised. It's a scheme of Satan. And it is so deadly, Paul says, it can spread like gangrene. Another translation says it can spread like cancer.

Many of us have seen that over the past year and a half. With many narratives from the world including a false view of justice and black lives matter and all these weird ideas of what the Bible says concerning these issues, and how fast did it corrupt churches like gangrene? People ate it up. And within just a matter of a few months, you had churches that were faithfully preaching and teaching the Bible, now electing elders based on their race. This is not something to play around with.

And it can just start from one. And so Paul is telling Timothy, you got to pay attention to this. And here's here's a call for you, pray for your pastors. Pray for all pastors because pastors are like surgeons. When they see something that's deadly and is lethal, they must be prompt to do something.

They must be prompt to make an operation to make sure that it doesn't spread and to deal with that as soon as as soon as possible. I pray that that would never be an issue in this house that fears God's word. Pray for your pastors and pray for your people to have a watching eye. Now, you might be hearing this and saying, that's great, that's wonderful, but I'm not a pastor. This doesn't apply to me.

That's a duty that belongs to you and maybe the elders. So how does this really apply to my personal life? And it does in many ways, but I'll reinforce what I said earlier. Here's your duty. Here's your duty in a world where you can, it's almost impossible to ignore false narratives and teachings.

It's in the form of songs. It's in the form of quick reels on your phone. It's in the form of so many different means by which the enemy is trying to persuade you from rightly handling and understanding the truth. And we've seen it and some of you have seen loved ones over the past year and a half get caught up in it. Here's your duty.

Let me say it again. I know this isn't glamorous, but let me say it again. Know your Bible. Know your Bible, and I will quote a preacher who said this and I am in full agreement, because if there is anyone who owns a Bible and does not read it regularly and does not seek to understand it, they deserve to be deceived. They deserve to be deceived.

And there will be an increase of deception in this world that you won't be able to look in any direction without seeing it. You think it's bad now? When Jesus in that discourse concerning the end times in Matthew 24 warned and gave the signs to his disciples of what the end times would look like. Remember what the first thing was? See that no one leads you astray.

That was the first thing Jesus said. See that no one leads you astray. The first sign that Jesus gave of the last days was mass deception. And so great is this deception just like these two, look at verse 18, who have swerved from the truth implying that they were once in the truth. They once held to it.

They once claimed it and professed it and then they they swayed away from it. But you just said, know your Bible. You just said, know your doctrine. You're saying here that they swear from the truth, so what's the truth got to do with me and protecting me? Well, I'll take it to the next level.

It's more than just knowing the truth. Because you can sit in a place like this and hear faithful bible preaching for weeks and years, and still be deceived in the end. Brother you're scaring me. Good. I wanna show you in our final verse what you must do.

To know a protection Listen, this protection will be so great that even the Antichrist won't be able to deceive you. This protection is so powerful that even with false signs and wonders, you'll be faithful to the word of truth. Second Thessalonians chapter two. In this chapter, Paul describes the Antichrist, the timing of the Antichrist, the ways of the Antichrist. Let's begin in verse nine.

Second Thessalonians two nine. The coming of the lawless one is by the activity of Satan with all power and false signs and wonders. You have many believers today that have made their Christianity not just about quarreling about words, those are those who belong to the debate society. There are those who have an unhealthy craving for signs and wonders. I believe God can do miracles.

I believe God can heal the sick. I believe that God can intervene and do supernatural things because my bible says God can do it. But then there are those like many extremes who just want signs and wonders. Their Bible is collecting dust because they don't believe this is supernatural. They want tangible things.

Those people are setting themselves up for deception. When you neglect the word of God and want miracles and power and manifestations, all it's gonna take is for the Antichrist to show up, perform signs and wonders and you got some people who attended church their whole life saying, I don't know, this is pretty convincing. With false signs and wonders, now look at this verse 10, and with all wicked deception. So this is how bad it's gonna be. You're not just gonna have a persuasive person with charismatic abilities, calling people to believe something that's not true.

He's gonna back it up with miracles. And look at the people who are gonna be deceived. For those who are perishing because they refuse to love the truth and so be saved. Did you catch it? It didn't say because they refuse to know the truth and so be saved.

To love it. You can have people that can quote verses and still be deceived. But here's the the factor that makes it different. It's a love for the truth. That your heart is convinced within yourself that no matter what the truth is, whether it offends your flesh, whether it lines up with your understanding of life, you're willing to submit to the truth because you know that this is God's voice and this is God's will and God's ways and you love God so you love his truth.

It's a heart that says I want truth at any cost. I'll submit the truth in any way. It's that love for the truth, not just having and acquiring information about it, but with a heart of worship willing to absorb it and apply it. It is that love for the truth that God will honor and by the power of his Holy Spirit reveal to you more truth. And will be the great teacher in your life.

And will be the great discerner in your soul because he sees a heart that says, I love truth. I want truth. I may not understand all truth, but oh, Lord, I want all that I can get. You know what begins to happen? You develop a discernment.

And it's an amazing amazing sensation. It's not mystical. God doesn't sprinkle something on you. It's the word of God in you. And then you have a filter.

And so when you when you visit a church and you hear something and you're like, a lot of that sounded right, but there's something off about it. It's not because you're misjudging the person or you don't like his style of preaching, it's because they're not rightly handling the word of truth. And the Holy Spirit sees your heart that loves truth and says, I will discern for you. I will show you. I will protect you from deception.

But unfortunately you have many people who are lazy with the truth because they don't love the truth. And because of that you might be setting yourself up for some dangerous things, brother. You must love the truth. Priority, your prize, your supreme delight in life. And many things come, great are the rewards for those who love the truth.

And one of them is, by God's grace, you won't be deceived. Avoid quarrel about things that are not central. It ruins your spiritual progress. It ruins it causes faction and frustration and friction amongst people. Let's not fight.

There are many things that we need to fight for. Let's save our energy. Avoid mishandling the word of truth. Yeah, that's for pastors but it's also for disciples who like certain parts and don't take the whole. And avoid people.

Avoid any form of teaching. Avoid this idea that they might be wrong, but they're right in other things because you don't know what you're digesting while you listen to that guy. Avoid people and those who are into irreverent babble, and we will save our souls from much destruction. Let's pray. Lord, we thank you for the word of God.

We sense its power this morning. We sense its authority this morning. We sense your wisdom, Lord. You have blessed this generation with a full revelation of your word. Forgive us for our negligence.

Forgive us for not being serious. Forgive us even for a season where we have not loved the truth. Help us love the truth. Help us taste the truth as the psalmist did, like honey on our lips. Lord, in this moment, we pray that you would refine us more into the image of your son.

Perhaps these dangers were not on the radar of our understanding, but now they are. We want to be as godly as you've called us to be. Lord, we pray that this church would rightly handle the word of truth. And that Lord, when it comes to issues that are not central, that we would know how to because we are people who love to know the deep things of God. We would know with the right attitude how to discuss these truths and even argue these truths in holiness, but help us to not quarrel.

And Lord, protect this church from false teachers, from wolves. We have not yet have to deal with that and we thank you for it and we pray that that would remain. But Lord, may we have a church that is discerning because they know their Bible. Not just the leadership, Lord, but every person in here to be like the Barayans. Honorable men and women who search the Scriptures, who even search the Scriptures after they hear a sermon from their own pastors.

We love you, Lord. We thank you for these warnings because your warnings are always in love. And thank you for the fresh jolt to master the Bible and to know all that you have to say from cover to cover. We give you all praise and glory in Jesus name. Amen and amen.

Let's stand and worship the Lord together. Shall we?