[0:00] Well, take your Bibles, if you would, and turn with me to the book of Job. Job chapter 1. We are in a very exciting story, and we're reading the Bible.
[0:13] And it's probable that you are thinking, this is a little much. And there's this meeting between God and the devil, Satan, comes there to meet with him.
[0:25] And they're in heaven, and Satan, God says to Satan, where you been? And Satan says, well, I've been going about throughout the earth. And then God says in the story that we have in the Bible, which we believe to be the Word of God, so we believe it's true.
[0:39] And Satan says, God says to Satan, have you noticed my man Job? And the devil said, yeah, I noticed your man Job. God said, well, nobody like him, buddy.
[0:50] He loves me. He loves me. He hates evil, does right. Man, I'm proud of him. The devil says, yeah, well, of course he does. You've built a hedge about him, so he can't get hurt.
[1:02] You're blessing everything he does. His whole life's going right. Why wouldn't he like you? But I'll tell you what, if you would let me, if you would just take away his stuff, he wouldn't love you.
[1:13] In fact, does he curse you to your face? And God says, have at it. Take his stuff and see if he curses me. And he doesn't curse him. And there'll be later on, and as we get into the story, there'll be more.
[1:27] But then I think about you. And I think about our church. And I think how you might be thinking to yourself, yeah, that's hyperbole. That's a big talk. Nothing like that happens today.
[1:38] That's Old Testament. That's even before the days of Abraham. That's probably not true for us. And so I just want to take today, and over the next few weeks, I'll take more than one time.
[1:50] And I want to talk to you about the fact that Satan is alive and well on planet Earth. And I would like to show you from the Bible how Satan attacks. I want you to understand that you are currently the subject of attacks.
[2:05] And so I want you to take your Bible with me. How many of you believe we have the Word of God in our hands? Say amen. All right, then take your Bible. Go with me, if you would, to 2 Corinthians 2 and verse 11. 2 Corinthians 2 and verse 11.
[2:18] And open your Bible there. And you're going to really need your Bible to look at these things and to mark them. Not just, I mean, I like electronics as much as anybody. But I hope you'll take a look at this.
[2:29] Now, I think that it would be very easy in 2019 to think that Satan doesn't really exist. That all of that was Bible stories and that's like Leviathan or the behemoth or some other big thing in the Bible.
[2:46] And it's not true. But the Apostle Paul in the New Testament believed it to be true. And the Holy Spirit records not only in the book of Job, but in the New Testament.
[2:57] And so what I would like to do is we are really going to step away from the book of Job for a little bit this morning. And you to look and see that Satan is attacking. The Bible says if you would look in your Bible at 2 Corinthians 2 and verse 11.
[3:13] Lest Satan should get an advantage of us. Look at that. Lest Satan should get an advantage of us. We are not ignorant of his devices.
[3:28] I'm not sure that last part is true about us. I believe it was true when the Holy Spirit said Paul could say that. And maybe even the Corinthian church understood that. But it is a very good chance that you and I are pretty ignorant of his devices.
[3:43] We live in a day and time when it's kind of like normal to say, Eh, I don't know about all that devil stuff. But what's the Bible say? Since we're a Bible-believing, Bible-teaching, Bible-preaching church, we're going to look at that.
[3:56] So go with me, if you would, to 2 Corinthians 2, verse 6. In the context where that statement's made, and I need you to understand that one of the devices, one of the ways that Satan messes up God's people is to get them to be too hard on people.
[4:13] It's like an attack on the church. When a church doesn't understand how to deal correctly with sin and how to deal with Christians that have done wrong so they can get right, then that is an advantage that Satan takes.
[4:26] So look, if you would, at 2 Corinthians 2, verse 6. Sufficient to such a man is this punishment, which was inflicted of many, so that contrarywise you ought rather to forgive him and comfort him, lest perhaps such a one should be swallowed up with overmuch sorrow.
[4:48] Wherefore, I beseech you that you would confirm your love toward him. Now, I want you to, Father, would you please deal with our hearts and help us? God, I don't want this to be just a lecture, and I don't want it to be just me explaining things, and I don't want them to just listen and pay attention out of interest or out of just respect, but Holy Spirit, I'm asking you to deal with hearts.
[5:11] I'm asking you to show us and wake us up and help us realize that we might be making some of these mistakes. We might be allowing Satan to gain advantage over us as believers, and we don't want that to be true, and I give you praise for what you do in Jesus' name.
[5:25] Amen. Look at 2 Corinthians 2, verse 7, ink pen in your hand. Underline this if you would. The Bible says that Satan wants to see people swallowed up with overmuch sorrow.
[5:38] You see what? The devil wants you to sin, but then if you're a born-again believer, he wants you to sin and feel bad about it, and then feel so bad about it, you just quit on God.
[5:50] You're going to meet people that mess up, and when they mess up, it's like, that's it. It's over. Might as well just take my life or might as well get out of church. If you're ever around people that don't go to church, you'll find a lot of them messed up bad and couldn't get right.
[6:01] But look at what the Bible says in 2 Corinthians 2, 7. See, the devil likes you to feel bad about yourself.
[6:18] The devil likes you to feel bad about what you did wrong. That doesn't mean doing wrong is okay. It means this person in this story did wrong, got right with God, and once they got right with God, the devil wouldn't let them forget what they did wrong.
[6:34] They lived on the past. They lived on the forgiveness. They were already forgiven, but they didn't live that way, and so Satan wants them swallowed up in overmuch sorrow.
[6:46] Now, here's the story. In the story, we have a man that most likely is the guy out of 1 Corinthians 5. He's done a horribly gross sin. It's a sexual sin. He's done very wrong.
[6:57] The church pulled back from them and said, as long as you're living in that sin and people see that sin and know you're doing that, we as a church won't be with you because we take a stand for purity.
[7:10] We take a stand for right. Can I get an amen there? And so they pulled away. Now, the apostle Paul writes and says, okay, guys, sufficient. Sufficient. We've done enough.
[7:21] He's recognized what he did wrong. He's sorry for what he did, and we don't want the devil to win by us being overly harsh. The Scarlet Letter Woman, Nathaniel Hawthorne's book, wearing a letter A all through town all along so everybody could constantly pour out their hatred towards her and the sin she's committed.
[7:41] He said, we don't want that to happen. We don't want them to be overmuch swallowed up. We don't want them to be drowning in sorrow for something they've gotten right and been forgiven.
[7:52] Thank God we're a bunch of people that have been saved from sin, and we have been forgiven, and forgiven people learn to forgive. Amen.
[8:02] Could you say with me the forgiven forgive? Are you ready? The forgiven forgive. You know, but oftentimes in churches, that's not the attitude. Somebody messed up 10 years ago.
[8:14] Somebody messed up last month. Somebody messed up 20 years ago, and we're all still walking around going, that's Rahab the harlot right there. That's the adulterer right there. That's the homosexual right there.
[8:25] That's the guy who really messed up right there, and we keep that. So the apostle Paul said, don't you know what the devil wants to do? He wants you to keep them labeled as what they were. And such were some of you, but you've been washed.
[8:38] You've been cleansed. You've been made different. You're not the same person you used to be, because Jesus saved you and changed you and made a new creature out of you. He took the righteousness of God and made you the righteousness of God.
[8:51] He took your sin, and he put that on Jesus, and Jesus paid for it. So what's a Christian to do? Here's what the devil's like. The devil's like, everybody needs to be mean.
[9:02] All Christians ought to walk around going, I look down on you. I look down on you. I see what you did wrong. I am not like you. We want to be lost people.
[9:13] The devil wants us to be like the Pharisee who's in the temple praying, and he lifts up his hands, and he says, hey, you know I'm a good guy. I tithe. I do everything else. I'm not like this guy you got right here besides you.
[9:25] Just be honest. Me and you, we know. Bad guy, good guy. Bad guy, good guy. You got it. That's right. And the other guy just tucks his head, pounds his chest, and says, I'm a sinner.
[9:36] I'm no good. And Jesus said that guy went home forgiven. So what's the devil's trick here? What's the devil's trick? In the book of Job, he just wipes out all that stuff, wipes out his family, wipes out all of his riches.
[9:49] And we looked at it, we're like, wow, that's horrible. But he's a really sneaky devil. And what he wants to do is have you have a critical, judgmental, angry, aggravated, mean spirit.
[10:03] And call it Christianity. Especially if you're independent Baptist. I mean, that's our brand. We're the meanest people out there.
[10:15] If you don't believe it, just ask us. But I want you to look at your Bible. You got your Bible open, 2 Corinthians chapter 2 and verse 7. Same verse again. Here's what he said. Underline it in your Bible.
[10:26] Contrary wise. Don't do what the devil's expecting you to do. Don't do what the devil's expecting you to do. But rather, I want you to treat repentant brothers and sisters this way.
[10:38] Forgive them. Would you underline that? We are to forgive. Now, we don't forgive sin like sin is nothing. And if a believer falls in sin, we stand together and say, that's wrong.
[10:50] We don't do that. We don't, we don't, we're not immoral people. We're not this kind of people. We're stepping away from that. We're not like that. But this person had done wrong, had gotten right.
[11:02] And Paul says, so guys, stop it with the beat up and start with the blessing. Stop it with the being angry and forgive him. Then underline in your Bible.
[11:14] And comfort him. Forgive him and comfort him. You know, I'm going to go to him and I'm going to say, hey man, don't worry about it. That's not who you are.
[11:25] That's not who you are. That's what you did wrong. That's what an action, but it's not who you are. And let me hug you. Let me love you. Let me tell you you're in. Let me tell you I believe in you.
[11:36] Let me establish very clearly to you that it's okay that God has forgiven you. Can I just remind you that all the epistles that the apostle Paul writes to the churches he never writes to the sinners.
[11:53] He writes to the saints. I think if we showed up here at church one day and we saw a letter on the door that said to the sinners at vision, we'd all be like, okay, got it. That's us.
[12:04] But if we showed up and said all the saints, we'd all be like, ooh, which one's he talking about? Who could that be? Because we tend to have this built into us. I'm just a sinner saved by grace.
[12:17] That's a nice thing to say, but it's not found in the scriptures like that. He made us saints. He made us saints. I want you to know one more thing in verse eight. Look at verse eight.
[12:29] Wherefore, I beseech you that you would confirm your love. Underline that. Confirm your love. There are three things written there that you ought to have marked in your Bible, maybe written somewhere.
[12:41] We are to forgive, we're to comfort, we're to confirm. We're to forgive, we're to comfort, we're to confirm. They feel pretty bad about what they did. You see, over here, they fell into sin.
[12:54] They were overtaken in a fault. They did what was wrong. They fell into sin. They were doing what they shouldn't be doing. And then they got corrected. And when they got corrected, they were like, man, I should have never done it.
[13:05] I was dumb to do that. I can't believe I did. I can't believe I did what I did. I hate what I did. And then I come along and I'm like, I'll never forget what you did.
[13:19] I ain't never forget what you did. You messed up. You're sorry. You're no good. No, no, no. I come and I say, let me explain something to you. He forgave you, so I forgive you.
[13:31] If he forgave you, I can forgive you. Amen. And not only that, I am going to comfort them. I'm going to say to them, God can use even this in your life.
[13:42] God can take even the mess ups and even the bad stuff, and he can work it all through your life and make it a message and a blessing to other people. And then I'm going to confirm that. I'm going to say it over and over.
[13:54] In effect, I'm going to forgive and I'm going to, in effect, I'm going to forgive and I'm going to comfort, but I've got to confirm it. They need some words of affirmation. They're feeling pretty lousy. They probably need to hear 10 times or 20 times more than a regular person because they know they messed up.
[14:08] Can I get an amen right there? They need a little help. I don't want y'all to be ignorant of Satan's devices and how he messed up. So I just thought I'd mention this, Paul said.
[14:21] Here's one. When somebody does wrong and they get right, forgive him, comfort him, and confirm your love to them. Now, before I leave this, you do understand, open your Bible to Galatians chapter six and verse one.
[14:34] It's born again people. We take a stand against sin. We don't want it in our membership. We don't want it amongst us. We hate it because we love Jesus.
[14:47] You can't love flowers and weeds. You can't love light and darkness. You can't love right and wrong. We love Jesus.
[14:58] So this is no verse to say we don't take a stand against sin. It is simply a verse to say that when somebody messes up, we're there to love them and help them get back on their feet.
[15:11] Look if you went at Galatians chapter six and verse one. Galatians chapter six and verse one. Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual.
[15:22] So here's somebody that messed up. They got overtaken in a fault. Then those of us that are spiritual, we restore him, this person in a spirit of meekness. We humbly, sweetly, kindly say, hey, come on back.
[15:36] Come on back. Come on back. Let's get things right with God. Come on back. Let's serve God together. We restore him. Consider ourselves lest we also be tempted. In Matthew chapter 18 and verse 15, you might just write that down and look it up later.
[15:49] It says, you know, when they do wrong, you want to win your brother. And if your brother gets right, you have gained your brother. Satan's goal is to destroy people. Satan's goal is to destroy people's faith.
[16:03] So Satan's out and he's like, sometimes, can I just be honest with you? God's people are used by the devil to hurt people. That's not who we are.
[16:15] That's not who he is. We hate sin, but we love that person. And Satan's goal is to make people, God's people out to be harsh and mean-spirited instead of full of love.
[16:28] If you understand that one, say amen. Well, first one is an attack, I think, on the church when he talks about how we would be mean to each other. The second one is an attack on the family.
[16:40] Look, if you would, at 1 Corinthians chapter 7 and verse 1. 1 Corinthians chapter 7 and verse 1. And every one of these verses, the Bible makes it clear, and every passage I'm going to take you to, that the devil is at work.
[16:54] The devices of Satan in that past passage. Now, if you've got your Bible open, just go with me to 1 Corinthians chapter 7 and verse 5 and underline this, that Satan tempts you not for your incontinency.
[17:06] See, Satan's got a device. And Satan wants God's people to be immoral. Satan wants us to not take a right stand on sexual relations.
[17:22] Satan wants us to accept sin and do wrong. I ought to love my wife and only my wife.
[17:32] I ought not have any flirting affairs or emotional affairs or sexual affairs with any other person. That'd be the devil winning. And the devil is strong at work in what would be immorality and sexual sin.
[17:49] In 1 Corinthians chapter 7 and verse 1, if you have your Bible open, they had written a letter to the apostle Paul, and he said, guys, it'd be good if a man never touched a woman. But in verse 2, he said, we got to avoid fornication.
[18:03] Underline, avoid fornication. We are to avoid fornication. Now, fornication is the word that would refer to every kind of sexual immorality.
[18:14] It's referring to pornography. It's referring to bestiality. It's referring to sex in marriage, after marriage, all the time. It's the most basic word of sexual immorality.
[18:25] I want you to avoid sexual immorality. And the way you're going to do that, you've got your Bible open, let every man have his own wife. You should underline, own wife.
[18:36] I ought to have my own wife. And every woman ought to have, look at it in the verse, her own husband. I don't want you doing wrong sexually, morally.
[18:49] So get married to the right man, the right woman. Get married, have your own wife, your own husband. Verse 3, let the husband render unto the wife due benevolence, and the wife unto the husband.
[19:04] Underline, let the husband. Husband, you are to render. That means you are to give. Benevolence, that means goodness. Due means owed goodness. I am to be good to my wife.
[19:15] I am to be kind to my wife. I am to meet my wife's needs. I am to be all my wife needs me to be. And my wife is to do the same coming the other way.
[19:26] The verse says, and the wife unto the husband. Verse 4, the wife has not power over her own body, but the husband. And the husband has not power over his own body, but the wife.
[19:38] I got married. Sex is a big deal. It's everywhere. You can't turn on the television. You can't listen to the radio. You can't listen to iTunes. You can't listen to any kind of music.
[19:49] You can't get you a song. Sex is everywhere. But God said, I want sexual purity. I want sexual purity. I want a man married to a woman.
[19:59] I want a woman married to a man, and I want it to stay there. That's where it belongs. That's where it belongs. A husband and a wife.
[20:10] Verse 5, defraud you not one another, except it be with consent for a time that you give yourself to fasting and prayer and come together that Satan tempt you not for your incontinency.
[20:24] Satan knows how immorality destroys people. Satan knows how immorality destroys people.
[20:44] We can like that or not like it. We can get as quiet as we want to get, but God has one place for sex, and that's between a man and a woman and their marriage. Nowhere else.
[20:57] It's never with another person. Never. It's a man and his wife, a wife and her husband. Look at verse 2 again. To avoid fornication.
[21:10] Don't do sexual immorality. Get you, verse 2, a wife. Get you a husband. No marriage before you're, no sex before you're married.
[21:25] No sex before you're married. No sex before you're married. I don't care what the world says. I don't care what TV shows. I'm telling you what the Word of God says.
[21:35] He said, I don't want you touching, but to avoid touching, get married. Get married. To avoid fornication. Get married. No sex outside of that. No sex with anybody else. No sex with your friend.
[21:46] No sex with somebody you know. No casual sex. Biblically, there's no such thing as casual sex. I'm just having fun with my friend. No, you're not. You're committing a fornication.
[21:57] You're sinning. Satan would lead us to use intimacy as a means of control. Everybody in this room needs to know that. In this Bible verse, it's very clear.
[22:09] The woman has no power over her body. The man has no power over his body. You see, what happens is, a lack of marital intimacy leads to temptation.
[22:20] Look at verse 5. Look at verse 5. Defraud you not. Don't hold out on the other one. Unless it be with consent, we've agreed, only for a time, and that for prayer and fasting.
[22:36] So the only time I'm not going to be focused on loving my spouse and fulfilling her or his desires and needs and working in this marriage is when I say, with your permission, I need to pray and fast and seek God.
[22:50] I'm not with anybody else. I'm not doing anything. I saw a, I don't know why things show up on Facebook, but I saw a post yesterday on my Facebook that said, it had a man and a woman laying in bed, and she's looking the other way and says, is he thinking of another woman right now?
[23:06] That's the way the world looks at it. Is he thinking of another woman right now? Well, we don't do that because we are married, and we don't, with all the seek, defraud not.
[23:17] Now look at it. You got your Bible open? Come together again. Get back together. Only time you can separate is when it's for prayer and fasting. And why not? Because Satan will tempt you for your lack of control, incontinency.
[23:32] Sounds like a big word. Every time I do marriage counseling, I use this passage of scripture. I say, do you know what incontinency means? And they're all like, nope, no idea. But old people get incontinent.
[23:43] They get where they lose control. That's why old people wear diapers, and I'm not wearing them. Just to clear that up. Huh? Just to clear that up.
[23:54] And so the whole deal is, I do want sex. That's what he's saying. They do want sex, and God gave you a way to have it with your spouse that you are married to, your own wife.
[24:06] You need to understand, boy, the devil wants to attack the family. And you can't help but turn the news on and realize that everything in this world screams against a man and a woman in marriage.
[24:20] It ought to be a man and a woman for a lifetime. It ought to be a man and a woman for a lifetime. It ought to be a woman and her husband for a lifetime. It ought not be. I'll swap out and go get somebody else.
[24:31] He wants you to avoid fornication. I don't know if you know this, but if you don't keep a strong marriage, your prayers don't even get through to heaven.
[24:47] Well, that doesn't make sense. How's that work? I don't know how it works. I just know it's what it says. Let me read to you what the Bible says in 1 Peter 3 and verse 7. Likewise, you husbands dwell with them, your wife, according to knowledge, and giving honor unto your wife as unto the weaker vessel and as being heirs together of the grace of life.
[25:12] Now, listen to what it says. That your prayers be not hindered. Did you know if a man won't treat his wife with respect and honor and do the right thing, God's up in heaven.
[25:23] You've got to pray. God says, don't hear you, buddy. It looks like you're not doing too good with your wife. So, not listening today. You say, he wouldn't do that. I don't know what it says. I mean, if you read that, if you read that, say amen.
[25:35] I mean, your prayer is trying to get through a clogged up pipe. God's up in heaven saying, it's not flowing this way. You're not loving your wife like you're supposed to. Look at the verse right here. You're not giving honor to your wife.
[25:47] And by the way, if you're having sex outside of marriage, before marriage, after marriage, while you're married, whenever it is, that's not honor to your spouse. Could you say amen right there? By the way, if you're looking at porn, you're not honoring your spouse.
[26:00] Huh? You're looking at porn, you're not honoring your spouse. You're having some kind of filthy conversations with people. You got somebody to talk to you. You're not honoring your spouse.
[26:16] I wish you'd underline in verse seven, heirs together. This whole nother message. I'll get to this another day when we're preaching through the book of first Peter. But you need to understand in God's eyes, my wife and I are on equal footing to talk to him.
[26:30] We're heirs together. That was a big deal. In those that, in fact, it's a little over a hundred years ago in this country itself, women didn't vote and women didn't have property rights like men.
[26:41] But in God's economy, God's always said, nope, you're my daughter. Come on. You're my son. Come on. You're heirs together. Husband can't look at her and go, eh. God likes me. He don't like you.
[26:51] You're a woman. That's not what the Bible says. God said, treat your wife right. Or Satan, who wants your prayers to be hindered, will get a victory there. So I want you to see, I've gone over two things with you.
[27:03] One, there's a problem in the church when there's meanness. And there's a problem in marriage when there's sexual meanness, which has become so normal you don't even think about it.
[27:15] Quit flirting with that person where you work. Quit flirting with her. Quit flirting with him. Quit saying intimate, sweet things to that person.
[27:26] That's for your spouse and only your spouse. Get married. Quit messing around. Get married. Now, are you mad yet?
[27:38] Well, it's either the devil's tools and since you're letting him mess with you, maybe you're falling for it. Here's a third one. Open your Bible to 2 Corinthians 11 and 14. There's a lot of false teaching in the world and that's the devil's game.
[27:51] That's the devil's game. Satan wants to deceive people with false teaching. Anything to get your focus off of your sin and Christ's sacrifice. This is what I'm about to tell you before we read the scripture.
[28:02] Most of what you know as Christianity is wicked. Popular Christianity is pretty wicked. The very idea that God's up in heaven and it's like he wants you to have your best life now, that's like the uttermost ridiculous thing you ever heard.
[28:17] Your best life's with him forever. So it's really not about your best life now. And I don't want to view myself as a sinner. One famous preacher who's now dead used to preach and say, I would never tell anybody to think of themselves as a sinner.
[28:30] That hurts their self-image. You need to think of yourself as a sinner so you find out you need Jesus and then you can be saved. 2 Corinthians chapter 11 and verse 14 underline it in the Bible.
[28:43] And no marvel, nothing shocking here. Don't drop your jaw when I say what I'm about to say. Don't be shocked when I say this. Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light.
[28:55] Did you know the devil who's the angel of darkness can look like an angel of light? You know, the devil doesn't walk around with a tail and horns and a pitchfork like coming in here going, we get you people to do all that.
[29:08] That's not what he does. He's a sneaky booger. He looks like a preacher. I'm going to prove it. He looks like a preacher who might even hold up a Bible.
[29:20] That's why you must carry a Bible. That's why you, we believe we have the Word of God in our hands and that's how you check every preacher including me. You need to look and say that's why it's always on the screen so you know I'm not just saying it.
[29:33] This ain't something Abraham Lincoln said. This ain't something George Washington said. This ain't something Confucius said. We're looking at the very Word of God and popular preachers today say you ought not be so worried about what the Bible says.
[29:46] Really? 2 Corinthians chapter 11 verse 15 Since the devil can be transformed into an angel of light there's no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as ministers of righteousness.
[30:01] Did you know that the people that are following the devil can look like people doing right? Can you believe that? Sometimes the nicest guys out there nicest people in the world they look so sweet so good and you're like oh they're such a nice guy but if it's not saying what the Bible says you need to be careful.
[30:30] You can't believe someone because they look good. you can't believe someone because they speak well. Anybody can deceive others outwardly. Satan likes to twist truth to get people away from the truth.
[30:48] Look if you went at 1 Timothy chapter 4 and verse 1. 1 Timothy chapter 4 and verse 1. Now the Spirit speaketh expressly that in the latter times some people will leave the faith.
[31:02] And look at this and I don't know maybe this bothers you but the Bible is clear they will give heed to seducing spirits. Spirits that can entice you and seduce you and get you to believe dumb stuff.
[31:20] And then look at the words and doctrines of devils. The devils up there saying they teach doctrine now at the church well so do I. The devil says I got a doctrine sex anywhere you want it.
[31:33] The way you want it just enjoy it. That's my doctrine. So that's Satan's doctrine. Better live for today. You never know what's going on tomorrow. Satan's doctrine. Today's your best life ever. Better enjoy it today.
[31:44] Satan's doctrine. The Holy Spirit warned us to be ready in these last days.
[31:56] By the way it's been 2,000 years almost since Paul wrote this and here we are. There are spirits that seduce or deceive. They cause people to be mistaken and led astray by an imposter.
[32:10] This guy it's funny this is funny funny funny funny funny. I know you don't read a lot of history but I like to read history. George Whitfield Whitfield County is named after him.
[32:21] George Whitfield is getting in trouble in the book I'm reading currently because he keeps saying I think all preachers ought to be born again and the church is saying well why what's that effect?
[32:34] Doesn't affect what they got to say and Whitfield's like yes it does and they say well maybe in their private life being born again would help them but in their public life it's all the same and Whitfield's like they're mad at Whitfield Whitfield's like if a preacher's going to preach you ought to know Jesus my daddy was a country boy but every time they interviewed a new pastor they'd get him in there in the room ask him about his plans and my daddy would say I got a question before we ever even get started I want to know if you're saved I used to think that's a dumb question he's a preacher my daddy said he got to get saved like the rest of us say amen I want to hear his story I think that's exactly what old George Whitfield would have said they cause people to be mistaken led astray by an imposter what they say can sound very biblical but just a little twist on the end of it 1 Timothy chapter 4 verse 2 where you are they speak lies in hypocrisy like I mean this with all my heart from the depths of my being
[33:50] I know this to be a truth and inside they're going hee hee hee I'm not laughing I mean this they're speaking lies by the way how do you know what's a lie because you got a copy so when a preacher starts preaching wherever you go you need to say hold on one minute sir gonna check what the book says you talk I'll check you know why you say amen because he says it you check it and you say yeah you're right keep on he says it you say amen amen oh no oh no you just messed up on that one right there buddy you say that's not very nice pretty biblical though the old testament the book of Nehemiah when he was teaching how to preach he had people stand on a platform with him and so when he would say something they'd go that's right that's right so there's a whole bunch of people on both sides he'd say right here it says this and they'd go yep that is what it says that is what it says somebody needs to do that but you didn't even bring a copy you just better pray we're putting the real stuff up there because you didn't bring your own copy to check it out real Christianity says don't trust me check it out their conscience is seared 1st Timothy chapter 4 verse 2 their conscience is seared with a hot iron their conscience is so messed up they don't even know it's messed up you know what kind of doctrines they got they want to mess with marriage look at verse 3 they want to mess with marriage boy isn't that like the biggest attack in the world now husband married to husband wife married to wife open marriages so I can have my wife and somebody else forbidding to marry next verse or next part of that verse commanding to abstain from meats that's foods they had a whole bunch of food rules had a whole bunch of food rules and the Bible not got food rules there were food rules for Israel not food rules for you
[36:07] I mean everybody in the world is running around saying this is a diet this is what you got to do and he said that ain't the Bible now you won't be able to die that's your business but going around judging by that's not right has marriage ever been under more attack than it is now how much preaching about what we eat that sort of thing last thing realize you need an authority in your life to teach you the truth you need an authority in your life to teach you the truth and you have it right here I need to be under authority you need to be under authority and we really don't need to know what you think or what I think we know what he says it's the word of God where you been devil going all over the earth like a roaring line seeking whom I might devour well have you thought about my servant
[37:12] Job we hear that we're like yeah I don't know that's a pretty big story of course if you're a real Bible believer you just read that and go yep believe that like I do all the rest of it okay man I believe in a flood yes I do and I believe in a creation yes I do and I believe about Jesus on the cross so a person can be saved yes I do and I believe he really loves the whole world yes I do I believe whatever if it makes logical sense or not if God said it that's fine you say how can God say in the beginning how does he know it was the beginning because he said it you have an authority get in the Bible this week open your Bible every time somebody teaches or preaches you go in that Sunday school class that guy starts opening the Bible saying stuff you say yeah amen amen oh no just be ready because it's the word of God that's what we believe I didn't get to my last two points that's poor planning on my part can't blame it on
[38:14] God but I will tell you this you know what his biggest goal in life is to snatch the word of God out of your heart I'll probably get that to you next week you know what when you hear the gospel preached it lands in your heart and you're like I don't know why I feel like I do but I need to get saved and then the devil comes along and does everything he can to snatch that out of your heart so you won't believe so all of a sudden you've got to go to the bathroom or your friend wants to talk to you but here's what the devil is doing everything in his power for you not to let the Holy Spirit of God speak to you and tell you what's right what's wrong what's amazing about the Bible is I can tell you what it says but it won't do much until the Holy Spirit tells you on the inside what it says and the Holy Spirit of God tells you on the inside do you know for a fact that if you died today you'd go to heaven if you don't know today's the day you need to be saved Jesus died on a cross for you to be saved the Bible says just as clear as day that all have sinned and come short of the glory of God the Bible says that the wages of our sin is death but it then says the gift of God's eternal life it says the gift of God's eternal life and it says
[39:29] God showed commended proved manifest his love toward us commended his love toward us and while we were yet sinners Christ died for us he's already died for you paid all your sin debt you can be saved now the devil do anything he can to keep you from listening to this the devil do anything he can to keep you thinking maybe later because he is in an all out battle with God to take you to hell hell was never even designed for you God didn't even have you in mind when he made hell made for the devil and his angels I trust God today get saved today know that you go to heaven today you can you