Protecting The Church Against False Prophets

[0:00] Welcome. Thank you for choosing to listen to this Spirit-filled word by David Inshu. When you catch a word, you have caught God. May you catch a word today that will cause God to change your story.

[0:13] Be blessed. I want to read 2 Peter chapter 2, from verse 1 to 4. But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers amongst you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction.

[0:42] And many shall follow their pernicious ways, by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of. And through covetousness shall they with feigned ways make merchandise of you, whose judgment now of a long time lagareth not, and their damnation slambareth not.

[1:08] For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment. Let me add to verse 5.

[1:21] And spared not the old world, but saved Noah, the eighth person, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood upon the world of the ungodly, and turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah into ashes, condemned them with an overthrow, making them an example unto those that after all shall live ungodly, and deliver just lots, vexed with the filthy conversation of the wicked.

[1:48] For that righteous man dwelling amongst them in sin and hearing, vexed his righteous soul from day to day with their unlawful deeds. The Lord knows how to deliver the godly out of temptation, and to reserve the unjust unto a day of judgment to be punished.

[2:07] Here ends the reading of God's holy word. Now, our previous session we spoke about how Peter said we haven't followed carefully devised fables, but we are eyewitnesses of his majesty.

[2:21] So in other words, what we are telling you is not fake. We have experienced it ourselves. We know what we are talking about. We have not concocted it. It's not fiction. It's a reality.

[2:33] And so based on what we experience, we can boldly tell you that the power and the coming of the Lord is sure. And when you study the text very carefully from the verse 1, he actually was telling them about two essential things.

[2:49] Now, the focus of his teaching was the power and the coming. Did you remember? The power of the Lord and the coming of the Lord. But what gives us the power according to the verse 3 is that, verse 3, according as his divine power has given unto us all things that pertain to life and godliness through the knowledge of him that called us unto glory and virtue.

[3:11] So his divine life is what gives us the power. Okay? His divine life. So the focus of the verse 1 is talking about the life of God we have. Listen, when you are a Christian, you are not an ordinary person.

[3:27] A Christian is not someone who is just religious. A Christian is someone who carries the life of God. We actually are possessors of the divine nature.

[3:42] He said, by which, verse 4, by which he has given us great and precious promises, that by this we might be partakers of the divine nature. So you can be a human being but living a supernatural life.

[3:55] That's why Jesus had to come as a human being, so that he can fuse humanity and divinity in one. Because before Christ came, there's no way you can have...

[4:08] Moses, they didn't have divinity. Elijah never had divinity. David never had divinity. They just had the Spirit of God coming upon them to use them. All they had, at best, was humanity.

[4:19] But Jesus Christ, God and man fused together. Now, he became the prototype of what we are to be. But this is very important to understand about Christianity.

[4:32] Many people say, oh, Jesus came to live a life to show us how to live a good life. They don't know what they are talking about. He didn't come to live a life to show us how to live a good life.

[4:42] Or how to live a godly life. Those are the people who focus godliness on behavior. Godliness is not predicated on behavior. It's predicated on nature.

[4:55] The reason why the sheep bleeds, the birds sing, is because they have bird nature or sheep nature. You can mimic it.

[5:06] Meh, meh, meh. You sound like that, but you are not. You understand that. The reason why you can't have a dog sitting on your, I know you like your dog, but sitting on your sofa, changing the channel, and say, I want to watch Sky News, is because he doesn't have the human nature.

[5:25] A chimpanzee, it doesn't matter how much he shaves, cannot win prime ministerial elections. American president, a chimpanzee has been shaved and has been trained.

[5:39] No, he can't win elections, because you are talking about nature. So it's not about existence, but it's about nature. The reason why you are a Christian is not just because of your behavior.

[5:51] It's because you have the seed of God in you. He says that, and I didn't intend to go to find that, but I think, let me do that. It talks about 1 John chapter 3.

[6:02] Anyone who is born of God does not sin. And he said, we cannot sin. Why? Because the seed of God abides in him. So whoever is born of God does not sin.

[6:14] I don't know who I'm talking to, but you can't define whether you are born of God or not. Whoever is born of God does not sin. Why? For his.

[6:25] You see the capital? God's seed remains in him. The reason why you behave the way you behave to the glory of God is first, the nature of God in you.

[6:38] So someone can copy your behavior, but he can't copy your nature. So there are people who are behaving like Christians behave, but they are not Christians. So you can stop stealing, stop lying, stop fornicating, stop all the bad stuff.

[6:55] In fact, there are people who are not in church, but they behave even better than other people in church. So you're telling me, I'm asking you, is that boy born again you want to marry? And so, but he's not born again, but he's such a good person.

[7:07] Come on. You don't understand the essence of Christianity. Christianity is not behavior. It's nature first. We behave the way we behave because of our nature.

[7:19] It says that 1 Peter chapter 1, 23, it says that we are born again. How do you become born again? Not by your behavior, but by the incorruptible seed.

[7:30] Incorruptible. It said being born again, not by corruptible seed, but incorruptible. So it takes seed to be born. Is it true? You are a product of your father's seed fertilizing your mother's egg.

[7:44] That's how it works. That's why everybody's going to, you have a father. Even if you freeze the spams, it still can, spams can come from women. Women don't have spams.

[7:56] And two men can meet a woman one after the other within the same, within 10 minutes. But it's only still, it's going to be one.

[8:08] What person is here? It always takes one seed, a seed from one man. So to have new life, there needs to be a seed.

[8:22] So to have, be born again, that's what it means. You are, you already been born by your mother, but now you have to be born into the life of God. You have to be born into divinity. That's what born again means.

[8:32] And he said it takes a seed, and that seed is not corruptible. So the reason why we behave the way we behave, in fact, Bible talks, I think, Ephesians chapter 5, verse 1, talks about that we should imitate God as dearly beloved.

[8:47] It said, therefore, be imitated of God as what? Dear children. Now, this is very important. We imitate God. You can't ask a cat to imitate me in the way I treat my wife, in the way I drive.

[9:01] No, you can't. But you see, for him, the Bible to ask us to imitate God, it's because we have the seed of God in us. We have the nature of God, and so we can afford to be like God.

[9:12] It doesn't mean we are gods, but we can afford to express God. You can't express God if God is not in you.

[9:24] At best, you can have good morals. Civic behavior. That's not bad in itself, but please don't confuse it with godliness. Godliness is the expression of God.

[9:35] Morality is a good behavior, virtue. Virtuous behavior. And every Christian should have some virtue. Or a lot of it. God, add to your faith virtue. And so, when you become born again, it's the seed of God in you that makes you born again.

[9:53] That is why a Christian is not an ordinary person. When your ex tries to get to you, let them know, I'm not an ordinary person. I'm different. I'm no longer a slave to sin.

[10:06] When your former friends, your cronies, you used to, you know, do stuff with. And they didn't realize. They relocated to America, and they are coming by, and they didn't realize that you are now.

[10:18] They say, but we all go to church. No, tell them, no. You go to church, but I'm a child of God. That's a different thing. You might go to church. Going to church doesn't make you a child of God. But being a, I go to church because I'm a child of God.

[10:31] And so, when you are born again, something changes. And it says, oh, thank you, Jesus. It says, because you are sons, Galatians chapter 4, verse 5 and 6, because ye are sons, God has sent forth the spirit of his sons.

[10:47] Magadasha. Amen. Because you, let me put it this way, for politicians to get it, socialists to get it. Because you are a Christian. There's nothing like a Christian who is not born again.

[11:00] So, tell that auntie who says, are you also one of those born again people? Tell them that the Bible doesn't know of any Christian who is not born again.

[11:15] Because to me, a Christian means you are born into the life. That's it. What it simply means. You have new life. If any man be in Christ, it's a new creation. This is a new life thing.

[11:27] It's not going to some community. They have gathered, I'm going to look for a miracle. I'm going to look for a breakthrough. You can't. Usually, that can attract you here. But when you come here, we will get you born again by the incorruptible seed of God's word.

[11:44] So, when you are a Christian, you are not an ordinary person. Say, a Christian is not an ordinary person. A Christian is not an ordinary person. But they don't know. They say, okay, you practice this one.

[11:56] So, this one is practicing Hinduism. And this one is Shintoism. This one is Islam. This one is Judaism. You two are doing your Christianity. And I'm also a Catholic. What is wrong? Those Catholics who separate themselves from Christians.

[12:13] Don't do that. If you are a Christian, you are a Christian. Whether you are Methodist, you are charismatic, you are charismatic, you are Pentecostal, you are Church of England or Baptist and all those things.

[12:25] It does not matter. Listen to me, the Bible says, for we are all one in Christ. So, as soon as you say, oh, but me, I am, and you bring denomination, there's a problem.

[12:36] You don't actually understand Christianity. But because we are sons, because we are Christians, God has sent for, this is a strong scripture. God has sent for, actually, he sent for the spirit of sonship.

[12:48] So, our sonship is not an idea. It's not an opinion. It's a reality. God has sent for the spirit of sonship into our hearts.

[13:01] That heart there is not the blood pumping organ. It's the residence of God in you. The core, the center of your being is your heart.

[13:12] I'm not talking about the organ. So, when the Bible says heart, right, he has sent for the spirit of sonship. And the spirit of sonship that enters you becomes responsible for your, your discomfort when you are going around sin.

[13:30] It becomes responsible for your, your, you became, you become so disturbed when you begin to disobey God. This guy came to me years ago and said that he used to have a problem with masturbation.

[13:47] So, every now and then. And then, but, he watched a certain American preacher who said, it's a healthy way of relief.

[14:00] Yeah. So, what, he felt like that's license and I'll touch on it, it's there. That's license. There's nothing wrong with it. It's just, everybody, you have to be able to, every now and then, detox and release the stress from your system.

[14:20] It will relieve you from all kinds of anxiety. He was told that it can give you mental health problems. So, anyway, he started, he thought, finally, I've had a man of God who has relieved me.

[14:35] So, he engaged it. Now, that's a Christian. He went ahead engaging it. But, I said, after every engagement, he knows that, his mind is ready for it.

[14:46] There's nothing wrong. But, there's something inside him that makes you feel that, no, this is not, this is not for me. When you have the seed of God, it's in your heart.

[14:58] And, the seed of God cries out, Abba, Father. So, when you are going off, there's something in you that makes you know that you are going off. You are going off.

[15:10] And, based on the strength of God's word, it's not, it's not an issue of just your conscience being massaged or you have been told something so you feel guilty about it. But, some of the people think that, for instance, if I say, I will not insult my wife or I will not do something wrong and I've done it and I feel bad, they will tell you, it's because of the way you were raised.

[15:30] That's why you think it's wrong. No, it's not that you're not getting it. It's because of the seed inside me. There's a seed of God. He said, whoever is born of God, 1 John 3, 9, does not sin.

[15:42] Why? Because the problem is the seed. The seed of God remains in him and he cannot sin. Why? Because he's been born of God. Now, that, just let me throw light on it.

[15:53] It doesn't say you are, it doesn't say you are sinless. That's not, it's not talking about sinlessness, but definitely you sin less. In other words, when you sin, you don't feel comfortable and continue and continue.

[16:07] You don't stay in sin. Since you became born again, you know, there have been times where you've gotten it wrong. You've, you've, you've, you've, you've missed the target big time, but you didn't stay there.

[16:19] There are people who normally are, they come, they sit at the back of the church and they feel like, this is my sin thing, this is my sin thing, this is my, it's good to respond to stimuli.

[16:32] If, if you are not responding to stimuli, then there's something wrong. Your, your, your, your, the body's dead. But if they hit your fire or something picks you and you respond, it's good.

[16:43] So it's good to respond to sin. Yes, yes, yes. When you begin to, when you do something, you feel uncomfortable about, uncomfortable about it, knowing that is not, doesn't please God. That means that you are still alive unto God.

[16:54] Yes. It is different from remorse. Yeah. Repentance is different from remorse. Remorse is you feel sorry because you've been caught. You feel sorry because it went bad.

[17:05] You feel sorry because, you know, you've got STD. You feel sorry because some, that's remorse. But repentance is, it's, it's predicated on God's word. It's this, it's sweet conviction.

[17:16] You feel, you feel like, God, God, I've sinned against you. Yes. It's on 51. It's that only you have I sinned against. So you just know that you've gone outside of God's jurisdiction and it begins to make you feel uncomfortable.

[17:31] Why? Because there's, God has sent forth the spirit of sonship. It's, and it's, it's so deep in, in our core. And this spirit cries, daddy, daddy, daddy.

[17:43] Sometimes you are not even interested in doing anything, God, but because you are genuinely born again, there's this, there's this, this, this discomfort. Something is drawing you. You become so vulnerable to God.

[17:54] When God's word comes, it gets you so much. You are so determined that I will never forgive this, my husband, or this, my wife, but God's word comes and it gets you so much. You feel like God has an upper hand over your life.

[18:05] That's just a sign that you are genuinely born again. That's a sign that you are genuinely born again. But if the word of God doesn't, what? Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, can I tell you what?

[18:20] Whoa, you are on your way to hell. Hush, that's, ah, ah, you don't like the truth?

[18:31] I'm not a false prophet. That's where we are going now. And so, he began, wow, haven't even gone into the chapter one, verse two, chapter two, let me just, so we began to see how our life is based on the divine nature.

[18:46] The divine nature gives us the divine life, right? But that's not the only thing emphasized in chapter one. He also emphasized the enlightenment, the light that we have through God's word.

[19:01] So, the enlightening truth, if you remember, as we spoke about how you do well if you look into the perfect law of liberty, as unto a light that shines in darkness, unto the days that arises here, and the day dawns, in the, in the verse, um, 20, second Peter chapter one, 20, 19 and 20.

[19:23] So, we have two major things. The life that God has given us, and his word, the light in his word. Those are the two things that make you progress, and make you do well as a Christian.

[19:39] Once one of them is missing, you will be struggling with your Christian life. Now, watch this. Satan is not happy you are a Christian. Satan is not happy you are now doing church.

[19:51] Satan is not happy you are working with God. So, you have to find every means to distract you. So, in first Peter, he wrote to them to encourage them, to show them that we have power, and we have the life of God, and we have the light of God to live this life.

[20:07] And now, the life of God, and the light of God, the light of God, that's the word of God. Watch this. It becomes like a jab, or an inoculation, against satanic sway, satanic injections, or satanic distractions.

[20:22] And so, when, the more you are exposed to God's word, watch this, the more it's difficult for Satan to distract you. It's very important. And so, in the time of apostasy, now, Peter wrote this just close to his death, because if you remember, he said, I know that the time of my departure from the verse 14 of chapter 1 has come, because Jesus has revealed it to me.

[20:44] So, he wrote this at the time of, very close to the time of his death. But, at that time, Paul had already died. Paul had been murdered. So, Paul had died, and people were wondering, so, what's going on?

[20:57] Peter had to encourage them, that as a Christian, first Peter, he encouraged them to suffer for Christ, and then, in second Peter, he gives them the tools to stand against satanic attacks against the church.

[21:09] Now, attacks against the church, not from outside, but from inside, because, what happens is that, I don't know how many of you have eaten an apple, or, a fruit like that, which has not got any hold on it, but has gone well inside it.

[21:28] Yeah, you beat the apple, you were eating, especially when you're close your eyes, and then later, you feel something salty. What's that?

[21:44] Oh, no. But, the apple looked okay, there was no hole around it. How did the worm get there? It didn't come from outside. The eggs were laid right, at the beginning of that apple.

[21:56] When the apple was being formed, the egg, the worm's egg was laid by the mother, or something, inside. So, it grew up. Now, the same way, every church, the church life, has embedded in it, destructive, I'll explain all this, heresies, false teaching that can destroy the church.

[22:16] And so, the most dangerous thing to the church, is not the attacks from outside, from society, from politicians, from leaders. No, that is not the problem. The problem for the church, is the attacks from inside.

[22:30] So, Paul said, to the leaders of the church of Ephesus, in Acts chapter 20, he said, I know, after my departure, Ravenos will come. So, in the verse 20, from verse 26, he spoke to them, all the elders.

[22:43] He spoke to them, in the verse 28, he said, therefore, take you, pastor, church leader, take it to yourself, not only yourself, and to the flock, over which, the Holy Spirit, has made you, an episkopos, an overseer.

[22:58] What are you supposed to do? Shepherd the flock of God. The Greek word, shepherd is, poimen, which means, to feed. The job of the shepherd, is to feed, and to nurture, and to care for.

[23:10] He said, feed the flock of God, and keep an eye on them. Watch where they are going. Watch who is coming in. Keep an eye. Why? Before you can do that, pastor, feed yourself.

[23:21] Take it to yourself, and to the flock of God. And it's the Holy Spirit, that makes you, an overseer, over a church. It's not your phonetics. It's not your suit. It's not your training. It's not even your gift, that makes you, an overseer.

[23:33] That makes you, a pastor of a people. There are people, sitting here, I don't even know. I never knew you. But you just know, that this is my church. This is my pastor. When, because you are born again, God gives you, the witness of his spirit, inside you.

[23:47] When you meet your pastor, you know this is my pastor. When you find your church, you know this is my church. Shout hallelujah. He said, over with the Holy Ghost, has made you overseer, to shepherd the flock of God, which he purchased, with his own blood.

[24:01] Why? Why, Paul? For I know, that after my departure, savage wolves, will come in amongst you, not sparing the flock.

[24:12] Not sparing, a church that is not giving, to teaching, will scatter with time. That's it. That's true. The only thing, that can protect the church, from scattering, is their job.

[24:29] The inoculation, of the word. Oh man, I need preaching, preaching, I don't like preaching, preaching, I don't like preaching, preaching. You're on your way out. Satan will have, an upper hand over you.

[24:41] The only thing, Satan can stand, is God's word. And, watch this, and God can actually work, in the absence, of his word.

[24:53] So, your claims, of enjoying God, without his word, is phony. No, you're enjoying something. Maybe, Satan is deceiving you.

[25:04] I like that one. It's very suspicious. If you don't have, an affinity, an attraction, a desire for God's word, you have to be very worried. It's just like a child.

[25:15] You know, when babies are not eating, mothers get very worried. Yeah. If your child, has not been eating, you give it, the child food. Two days old, you should be okay, it's better, because it's nighting.

[25:30] Yeah. I mean, children don't die. In the same way, Christians don't die, when it comes to spiritual meals. If you are losing appetite, for spiritual meal, for the word of God, you are, it's a concern.

[25:47] You are on your way down. Yeah. Yeah. So, just wake up. Yeah. Wake up. Wake up. Wake up. Wake up. Wake up. Please, don't substitute, the word, intake, with, musical, enjoyment, or, activities.

[26:07] Sometimes, you are busy, active in church, doing all things, but you know, the word intake, is practically, zero. Your, your water level, is going low. Your water level, you are leaking.

[26:21] You are leaking. Bro, wake up. And feed, and gain some strength. When you feed, and gain strength, Satan can say, you can say, hey, get off.

[26:32] But even though, you don't want to do it, when Satan comes, it's like they put, it's a kryptonite, right? Kryptonite, on your head. You are just weak.

[26:43] You are just weak. You find yourself, doing the same thing, over and over. When you finish, you say, God, I vow, I will never do this again. The next time I do it, kill me. Kill me.

[26:58] Listen, if you have never prayed, that kind of prayer, if you have never prayed, that kind of prayer, and you are still doing some things, maybe you are not hungry enough for God, you are not.

[27:11] But when you are hungry for God, and you break God's soul, something in you makes me, what is it called? The seed of God. So, anytime you go, into sin, and you feel so uncomfortable, and you are so down about it, I just feel like, I should give you a hug, you are still alive.

[27:33] I'm happy for you. But those of you, eh? After church, you are going. You are going. You, you, you are the one I'm talking about.

[27:44] After this, how can you finish watching this message, and watch pornography? I really feel sorry for you. Because God can't help you.

[27:54] You, you, you're not, you're not responsive to God. You are comatose. Dead meat. So, what attacks the church more effectively, is the internal issues.

[28:12] You know, the thing that will pull you down, it's already inside you. Yeah, the habit that will spoil your marriage. Yeah, that habit, that character, that will make them suck you from there.

[28:25] It's already inside you. That's why the way you raise a child is so important. Some of us, the way we are raised, that's why no one can show you where to sit. It's not like they are annoying.

[28:35] It's just the way you are, from home. No one tells you what to do. That's why you've not been able to keep any healthy relationship. So selfish. The world is, the world evolves around you.

[28:48] You are the son. You are like the son of the, no, no, but it's not because you are bad. You are such a, a nice person. Just that you, you, you are, so you, you need proper discipleship.

[29:01] Discipleship. Mentoring through God's word. Because it's only God's word that can change all of us. And every one of us has a job to be done on us. Yes. If I were you, I would lift up my hand and say, Lord, do it, Lord.

[29:14] Do your work on me, Lord. Work on me, Lord. Say, work on me, Lord. Work on me, Lord. Work on me, Lord. So, now, so he, he, he spoke to the church about how, how to inoculate them against the attacks that can come from within the church.

[29:36] And it's not about habits and behavior. Your belief will influence your behavior. Your behavior will be, always be at the mercy of your belief.

[29:51] Some people behave in a certain way. Don't be too quick to write them off. Check what they believe. Yeah. Amen. And so, for a church to be healthy, we have to check our doctrine.

[30:02] The health of the church, hey, let me tell those people who think church is about music. The church, the health of the church has everything to do with the doctrine of the church.

[30:16] He said, it is not desirable that we should leave the word of God and serve the table. Because the, what keeps the church going is the word. He said, it's not appropriate.

[30:28] It's not, it's inappropriate behavior for a pastor to leave the word of God and focus on all other things. He said, it's not desirable that we should leave the word of God and serve the table.

[30:39] So, let people who can do that kind of table job. And he said, but we will give ourselves continually to the, to prayer and the, did you see that?

[30:50] Watch this. Not studying on the word, but ministering of the, that is what keeps the church strong. And Bible says, when they had done this, the church multiplied. The church, verse seven or so, the church multiplied greatly.

[31:05] And many priests became obedient to the faith. Because the leaders made sure that the word of God is held at the very highest in the church.

[31:17] So, Bible says, they continued in the apostles' doctrine. Start with doctrine, not duty. Start with doctrine. They continued with the apostles' doctrine.

[31:29] Every strong church has strong doctrine. Dying churches have bogus doctrines. Here's the truth.

[31:42] So, doctrine, the teachings, the teachings, the teachings, to inoculate a church against the attacks from inside, it takes teachings. One of the things God has used to help carries is because we are teaching oriented.

[32:00] Our teachings are longer than our music. When we close service, what you remember is not the singing, it's the word that stays with you.

[32:13] That has been keeping, that's what is keeping our church. I have witnesses of many people who came to me and said, during the pandemic, they rather grew stronger because of the word we were teaching, the word we were teaching.

[32:27] But the pandemic, the teaching didn't have a lot of stories. A lot of, somebody told me, a lady came, my friend, you know, we just stayed on the phone call teachings. And there are people sitting here who have joined this church after the pandemic because you heard the word.

[32:42] It takes a word to grow a church. It's the word. And some of you, it doesn't matter what Satan throws at you, it's too late because you have eaten too much word.

[32:57] So, I want you to notice something very carefully from chapter one towards the end where he brings so much focus. Look at verse 20. Can we all read it from the screen?

[33:07] Let's go, if you can see it. Know what? The scripture is full of prophets.

[33:18] There is no prophecy of scripture that is of any private interpretation. Then the verse 21 says that, for prophecy came not in old times by the will of man. Prophecy, you can't tell me, if you see someone and say, me today, if I choose to prophesy, I'll prophesy.

[33:34] He's not a true prophet. Prophecy did not come by the will of man. Prophecy is God speaking through a person. So, it says that the prophecy came not in old times by the will of man, but holy men.

[33:50] That's another big statement. Holy, the holy one. Holy. You want to prophesy? Give respect to holiness. Holy men, God, speak.

[34:04] They speak as they were moved. Is the Holy Spirit, I like, what I like about the Holy Spirit, he's always hiding himself. If you are filled with the Holy Spirit, you always desire to be seen.

[34:18] There are people who want to always be seen. I can't do this. It's because the Holy Spirit is very less in your life. The more you are filled with the Holy Spirit, the more, every great man of God who is filled with the Holy Spirit sometimes doesn't even want credit to come to him.

[34:32] Sometimes they don't. In fact, during the, these guys, Jeffrey Brothers, I think the Jeffrey Brothers, I think so, or some of the revivalists of old in the United Kingdom, I think one of them particularly had to always put bean bag on his head.

[34:50] That's his own way of trying to say, don't see me, I don't want to be the one to be noticed. I'm wearing bean bag, I'm not that important. It's the Holy Spirit. Everybody who is full of the Holy Spirit does not bring attention to himself.

[35:02] Oh, singer. Oh, musician. So-called Christian musician full of showmanship. Pastors, teachers, prophets.

[35:16] You can easily sway into that where you become the center of attraction. You become so important. so important. So important to yourself. The more you are filled with the Holy Spirit, the more you don't go around saying, you know me, God speaks to me.

[35:31] You know me, ask for me, ask for me. They say, they're full of me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me. Me, me, me, me, me. That's the same thing that's done in heaven. I will ascend.

[35:42] I will. I will. Me, me, me, me, me, me. S-I-N, sin. The center of it is I. That's where things come from. When you are the center of your life.

[35:55] It's not the bad things you've done. It's the center you have taken. So, so it's important to understand. It says that for prophecy did not come by the will of man.

[36:07] So it goes into holy men of God spoke. Now, look at it. Flip to the next verse. Flip to, oh, we go into chapter two. So he was speaking about prophets of old, how they spoke by God.

[36:22] Then he says, the next verse, the next verse said, but there were false prophets also among the people. Even that time. And he's talking about in the days of Moses, whilst Moses and the leader of Israel, there were false prophets amongst them.

[36:39] To the extent that there had to be a whole Deuteronomy chapter 13 to address these issues of false prophets. Deuteronomy chapter 13, I think we should look at verse one, possibly to verse five and see how it is.

[36:50] He said, if there arise, if there arise among you a prophet, say a prophet, say a prophet, if there arise amongst you a prophet or a dreamer of dreams or give a, and give it thee a sign or a wonder, you can see what he's giving you.

[37:07] A sign of the, look at verse two. And the sign or the wonder comes to pass. Whereof he spake unto thee, saying, let us go unto other gods which thou hast not known and let us serve them.

[37:21] What should you do? Look at another. Thou shall not harken unto the words of the prophets. Yeah. Because he's distracting you away from Christ. It doesn't matter the miracles. It doesn't matter the great things.

[37:33] He's distracting you away from the word of God and from Christ. Please, run for your dear life. God is not in it. God is, even though there are signs there, God is not in it.

[37:46] Because if God is in it, it does not distract from Christ. Any preaching that distracts from Christ, watch it, God is not in it.

[37:58] In spite of the testimonies that are following it. He said, if someone gives these signs and it comes to pass and yet he said, let's go and worship another God.

[38:09] He said, draw your attention to what is not, this is not the God we know in the scriptures. And he said, no, no, God speaks, God can speak to different means so you can close your Bible and he said, you can add ancient tradition.

[38:20] Sometimes it's traditional mindset that has been projected onto Christianity. Yeah. Everywhere. Even in United Kingdom, there are people who have projected their traditional religious mindset onto Christianity.

[38:36] Christianity. So you come to church and there's singing going on. You say, I can't dance. No, no, no. This, this, this, this, this, this, this, you know. You see, you see, you see, you don't, find out from scripture that practice.

[38:51] Look for what scripture says and practice it. And don't, don't bring, we are all like that. Human beings, we have the proclivity, the tendency of bringing our existing mindset and tradition.

[39:02] Now, that is where heresy starts from. And Bible calls it, it said, damnable heresies. I think in, and then one other translation, in fact, the translation read, it said, I put you on the screen, chapter two, chapter two, it says that, but there were false prophets amongst the people just as there will be false teachers amongst you.

[39:24] See, you see how he just opposes the teaching and prophecy. Those days he's prophetic, this time he's more teaching. That's why he said that we'll give ourselves to the word of God and prayer. We can't leave the word of God and give ourselves to the, so it's teaching, in teaching.

[39:38] Now, apostle, prophet, evangelist, pastor, and teacher, that's the five, it's normally called five-fold ministry, Ephesians chapter four, he said, when you are standing on high, he gives some apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, so pastors and teachers.

[39:52] They call it five-fold ministry. But when you look at the next verse, it tells you why they were given. Why? For the perfecting of the change. So when he, the perfecting of the same, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body, now watch this, it's important, when you use, I think, old King James, what does the old King James say?

[40:10] Perfection of the new King James, one of the translations says, for the equip, that's it, equipping, equipping of, perfecting the same, is equipping them, equipping them. The Greek word is kathetizo, kathetizo.

[40:22] Those of you who are, who have Catholic background, Methodists, I don't know if Methodists, Presby, we go through catechism. I've been, I've been catechized, catechized.

[40:33] Yeah, I've been through catechism. Catechism is to be taught systematically, the basic tenets of faith, to be taught, and the Catholics do it. Presby does, Methodists, you do it, Methodists also do it.

[40:46] You see, so, that's why those churches have lasted, because they make sure you get the foundation, they keep teaching the same thing over and over. Charismatical, we just come, Pastor prophesied, I need a miracle, hey man, hey man, the music is nice, show your power, and that's it, that's all there is to your Christianity.

[41:04] You become born again, you won't even, when we said, let's go for foundation class, you will not do it. Come from a music class, you will not do it. You are not, yes, come from a care group, you don't want it, because you are, so, too big, to be, to be with people studying the word of God.

[41:25] Boy, you won't go anywhere with this thing called Christianity. You won't go anywhere. Humble yourself before the mighty hand of God, and he will lift you up. He will lift you up.

[41:37] Jesus said, learn of me, for I am meek. Tell him, he didn't say I do miracles, he said I am meek. Meekness is score, when it comes to Christianity. Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.

[41:50] Matthew chapter 5. So, every one of us needs some level of meekness. Let's, let's get to the verse 1. Verse 1. But there, there were false prophets also among the people, even as there will be false teachers among you.

[42:07] Who, ah, there's so much to do. Pastor, he said, they will privately, privily, secretly, secretly, they shall bring in damnable heresies.

[42:20] Damnable heresies. Penitial teachings. Heresies. What are heresies? It's very important to understand. Heresies are various opinions based on your personal choice and preferences, different from the mainstream accepted belief.

[42:39] Heresies. They will bring in, now, he said, they will be amongst us teaching and bringing in damnable heresies. False prophets have always been there and false teachers will be there.

[42:54] In fact, Jesus puts it this way, Matthew chapter 24, verse 11. He says that there will be, when he was telling them the signs of the end times, he said, and many false prophets shall arise and shall do what?

[43:07] So, because they will deceive many, Peter, as a good leader, had to inoculate his congregation against the deceptions of false prophets. And as I was reading in Deuteronomy chapter 13, it told them that if they come and suggest something else, don't follow them.

[43:26] They are not of God. They are not of God. In the days of Elijah, in 1st Kings chapter 18, verse 19, he said, bring the 450 prophets of Baal and 400 prophets of Asherah.

[43:40] They gathered them. They gathered them because the false prophets have always been around. Jeremiah chapter 14, verse 14, is even concerning. Jeremiah chapter 14, verse 14, it says, And the Lord said unto me, the prophets prophesy lies in my name.

[43:56] I have not sent them. I have not sent them, commanded them, nor spoken to them. They prophesy to you a false vision, divination, a worthless thing, and deceit of their heart.

[44:11] They will come. It is normal. Listen, the fact that you are a Christian means that you come across someone who tries to speak to you in the name of the Lord, but God hasn't sent them. The fact that they are using a puppet, they are using a puppet, there's a difference between saying something and adding a quotation.

[44:30] There's a difference between that and teaching the word of God. Two different things. That is why, usually, expository preaching is quite encouraged.

[44:42] Now, what is expository preaching? What I'm doing? You take the verse by verse, keep explaining, and so the Bible does the speaking itself. Line upon line, pray itself.

[44:52] If you teach the Bible verse by verse, you end up touching on a whole range of subjects because there are times you come across something that by yourself you didn't want to tackle.

[45:05] But because you are teaching line by, you have to tackle it. That's the most effective way of feeding a congregation. Systematic, expository preaching because the church that is not exposed to solid teaching is exposed to a lot of heresies and lies.

[45:25] And heresies can come easily in some countries when you go to, in fact, there's a whole lot of nonsense about prophets. And some people, watch this, this is some people's response.

[45:37] But if God has spoken, what shall we do? We are going to go further into this text where it says that they do this for aggrandization, for merchandising.

[45:49] Sometimes when God wants to punish you, he will allow you to fall into the, oh yes, into it. I think 1 Kings chapter 12 verse 6 or 6 verse 12, the king and Jehoshaphat, it says that, I think I should read that one so that I can close on it.

[46:05] in the book of, 1 Kings chapter 22, yeah, verse 6. Look at 1 Kings chapter 22 verse 6.

[46:18] The king of Israel gathered the prophets together, about 400 men, and said unto them, shall I go, shall I go against Ram of Gilead to battle or shall I forbear?

[46:30] And they said, go up, for the Lord shall deliver it into the hand of the king. May God deliver us from false prophets.

[46:42] Let's look at the next verse, I think. You ought to know this story. There are some interesting, and Jehoshaphat said, is there not here a prophet of the Lord besides this one? These ones are all saying, they say, don't you have a prophet of the Lord besides?

[46:55] It's not like I want a negative story, but I want someone who speaks on the behalf of the Lord that we might inquire of him. So, in fact, I have to end, but go for God's word.

[47:14] Go for God's word. God will help us all. Amen. The essence of church is to receive God's word that inoculates us against satanic heresies, distractions, something that will divert your focus away from God.

[47:33] That's the essence of this kind of teaching. And I see you will do well. Amen. If you are strong in the Lord, this year will answer positively for you.

[47:44] Amen. Even if we don't command. Yeah. Yeah. Listen, if you are working with God, things will just fall in place the way they should be. Yeah.

[47:56] But if you are not working with God, then you want to use the pastor's declaration as an opium. Amen. Yeah. Because you don't want to pay the price. You don't want to walk with God.

[48:07] You don't want to walk with God. There will be false prophets. And the false prophets will feed your desires so they can get your attention and your money and benefit from you but not your destiny in God.

[48:20] We will continue on next week. How to spot false prophets. Thank you for listening to this message by David Entry. When God speaks, works show. And the works will surely show in your life.

[48:34] To hear more from David Entry, follow him on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, and subscribe to Caris Church on YouTube. Don't forget to share and subscribe to our podcast so you're always up to date.

[48:46] Be blessed. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.