(Disclaimer: This transcript is auto-generated and may contain mistakes.)

The title of my sermon this morning is people who are too nice. People who are too nice. Now of course being nice is a virtue. It is good to be nice. We should all strive to be nice people, but there are people who are too nice. You say, well what does it mean to be too nice? Well when you're nicer than God, you're too nice at that point. When you're nicer than the Lord Jesus Christ himself, you're too nice. And it's amazing today how many people are so puffed up and arrogant that they think that they have the right to be more loving than God, who is love. Or that they're more loving or kind or nice and gentle than the Lord Jesus Christ himself. There are people today who are too nice when they think that way. Now this story really illustrates that well. Let's dig into this story. Let me just explain to you the beginning of the story because we're going to jump in in verse 31. But earlier in the chapter of course we see this wicked king Ben-Hadad. I mean this man is a tyrant. This man is a bully. He's a violent, drunkard, wicked man, just you name it about this guy, horrible person. At the beginning of the chapter, he starts out by demanding the wives and children of the king of Israel. Now that's a wicked demand, right? To come and abduct someone's wives and abduct their children? But because the king of Israel sees the military superiority of Ben-Hadad, he says, okay, fine. Take the wives, take the children. And the silver and gold, you know, here's the money that you wanted. But then whenever you give a bully what they want, they usually just push you around even more, right? So then Ben-Hadad comes back and says, well I know before I just said your wife and your kids and your money. But now I want to actually send my representatives into your house and they're going to walk around your house and they're going to take all your favorite stuff. So he doesn't even say they're going to take the stuff that they want. He says they're going to see what's the most pleasant in your eyes and just take it away from you. I mean is this a wicked person or what? He's an evil person. Now King Ahab was not a great guy. The king of Israel, Ahab, was a very weak leader and he's a spiritual weakling. In fact, most of the time his wife was controlling him to the point where she's got him serving bail and worshiping other gods and persecuting the believers in the Lord. But he's still the king of Israel and God keeps giving Ahab more chances and trying to be merciful to Ahab. So God tells Ahab, I'm going to deliver you. I'm actually going to help you. You're actually going to defeat Ben-Hadad. And King Ahab is saying, well how in the world is that going to happen? And he says, I'm going to use these young men that I've chosen and I'm going to use the princes of the provinces and they're going to fight. He's like, well who's going to order the battle? You are, Ahab. So God puts Ahab in charge and there are 7,000 men that haven't bowed the knee to bail. Those are the 7,000 men that God's going to use. There are 232 princes of the provinces. God's going to use those men. And so Ahab goes out and defeats Ben-Hadad in battle. It's a great victory. Well a prophet from the Lord comes to Ahab and warns him, look Ben-Hadad's coming back. It's not over. There's going to be round two of this fight. So Ben-Hadad and his other kings that he's confederate with say to themselves, well the only reason that we lost is because we were fighting in the mountains and their god is the god of the mountains. Our gods are gods of the valleys because these are pantheistic types or polytheistic types where they have the god of the trees, the god of the river, the god of the mountain, the god of the valley, the god of whatever. And the Lord is associated with a mountain, Mount Horeb where it's called the mountain of God and so forth. So they thought, well he's a mountain god. He's not a valley god. So let's do the exact same battle, horse for horse, man for man, same army. And this time we're going to fight in the valley and we're going to win. That's obviously a blasphemous thing to say about the Lord. So the Lord wants to show his power that he's the god of the valleys also. So anyway, they go out to battle and they just destroy Ben-Hadad and his armies. They beat him so bad that Ben-Hadad pretty much thinks he's about to be killed. I mean he's dead meat. It's over for him. Game over. So somebody tells him, look at verse 31, we'll jump into the story. And his servants, that's Ben-Hadad's servants, this guy who earlier in the chapter is drunk, blowing off his mouth and he's a bully and a tyrant and he's a violent, wicked person. His servant said unto him, behold now we've heard that the kings of the house of Israel are merciful kings. Now that's a good reputation to have, right? I mean we should, you know, blessed are the merciful for they shall obtain mercy. And Christians have that same reputation, don't they? Today Christians should have a reputation for being merciful, forgiving, kind, nice, right? So they have that reputation for being merciful. But he says, let us, I pray thee, put sackcloth on our loins and ropes upon our heads and go out to the king of Israel. Peradventure he will save thy life. It's not that these guys have any real repentance. They're just trying to save their butts. So they're just going to, you know, make themselves look really repentant. Hey, let's put ashes and ropes on us and look really destitute and say how sorry we are just to get out of here with our skin is what they're doing. Peradventure he'll save thy life. Look at verse 32. So they girded sackcloth on their loins and put ropes on their heads and came to the king of Israel and said, thy servant Ben-Hadad saith, I pray thee, let me live. And he said, is he yet alive? He's my brother. So that's what Ahab says. Now the men did diligently observe whether anything would come from him and did hastily catch it. And they said, thy brother Ben-Hadad. Then he said, go ye, bring him. Then Ben-Hadad came forth to him and he caused him to come up into the chariot. And Ben-Hadad said unto him, the cities which my father took from my father I will restore and thou shalt make streets for thee in Damascus as my father made in Samaria. Then said Ahab, I will send thee away with this covenant. So he made a covenant with him and sent him away. Now a casual reading of this story, you're probably thinking to yourself, you know, boy, Ahab's a really nice guy. He did the right thing here. He's showing mercy to Ben-Hadad. What a good guy. But see, that's not the way God sees it. Because when we read this chapter, it becomes apparent that God had commanded him to destroy Ben-Hadad. And if God says you're to destroy Ben-Hadad, he doesn't have the right to show mercy on someone who God is not showing mercy on, who God has said this guy is too wicked. He's gone too far and I have appointed this man unto utter destruction. Ahab should have honored that. This battle was not Ahab's idea. This victory was not through the strength or might of Ahab or his military genius. This battle was won because the Lord caused the battle to be won. And it was the Lord's instruction that said, destroy Ben-Hadad. So God sends a prophet to rebuke him. Now it's a very odd story, very peculiar story. But it actually is the perfect story to convey this truth. It says in verse 35, a certain man of the sons of the prophets said unto his neighbor in the word of the Lord, smite me, I pray thee. Now that's kind of a funny statement, isn't it? So this preacher, this prophet of God, goes up to another person and says to him, basically thus saith the Lord, I mean he's speaking in the name of the Lord. He says, hit me, smite me. Basically he walks up to him and says, hey, you need to punch me in the face right now. And this guy just won't do it. And look what the response is, because it says at the end of verse 35, the man refused to smite him. And this isn't just some dork in junior high saying, hey, punch me in the stomach as hard as you can. I mean, this is a guy who's a prophet of God saying, look, thus saith the Lord, you need to hit me right now. I need you to punch me. And the guy won't do it. So then it says in verse 36, then said he unto him, because thou hast not obeyed the voice of the Lord, behold, as soon as thou art departed from me, a lion shall slay thee. And as soon as he was departed from, a lion found him and slew him. Now you might think, you know, I don't agree with that. Well, hold on a second. Are you God? Who do, who should we, who should we go with? What you think is right or what God thinks is right? You know, if God says, hit me, then you need to hit me. That's what the Bible says. And so this guy's disobeying God. And we need to make sure that when we read our Bibles, we understand that God's God, and we were born just yesterday in the scheme of things, and we need to defer to his will, his wisdom, what he thinks is right. And so the Bible here says that because this guy refused to obey God's commandment, it didn't matter what the command was, he's refusing to obey, even if it seemed silly to him, even if it didn't make sense to him, he didn't do what God told him to do, and God punished him. So then it says in verse 37, then he found another man and said, smite me, I pray thee. And the man smote him, so that at smiting, he wounded him. I mean, this guy did a really good job. I mean, he smote him so hard that he wounded him. I mean, this is an obedient guy. He's like, sure, you know, and hits him. And then it says in verse 38, so the prophet departed and waited for the king by the way and disguised himself with ashes upon his face. Now what was the purpose of this guy wanting to get smitten? Because he's trying to look like he came from the battle. He's trying to look injured, so he wants to be wounded. He wants to have a bloody nose, black eye, whatever, and have these ashes on his head because he's going in disguise and he needed that disguise. He doesn't want to hit himself, right? So he needed somebody to hit him. So it says in verse 39, as the king passed by, he cried unto the king and he said, thy servant went out into the midst of the battle, and behold, a man turned aside and brought a man unto me and said, keep this man, if by any means he be missing, then shall thy life be for his life or else thou shalt pay a talent of silver. And as thy servant was busy here and there, he was gone. And the king of Israel said unto him, so shall thy judgment be, thyself has decided it. And he hastened and took the ashes away from his face, and the king of Israel discerned him that he was of the prophets. And he said unto him, thus saith the Lord, because thou has let go out of thy hand a man whom I appointed to utter destruction, therefore thy life shall go for his life and thy people for his people. And the king of Israel went to his house, heavy and displeased, and came to Samaria. So this guy in disguise says, hey, I had a prisoner of war, I had a POW, and I was supposed to watch this guy, and I was strictly ordered by my superior that if I let this guy go, then my life's going to go for his life. Basically, I'm going to receive a death penalty if I let this guy go, or I'm going to have to pay a talent of silver. And Ahab said, well, you know, so what? That's your problem. It sounds like you messed up. You goofed off. You didn't keep the guy prisoner, so you're condemned. Then the guy uncovers his face, and he recognized him as a well-known preacher, you know, because he's one of the prophets that Ahab had probably been preached against by this guy or preached at by this guy before. So he recognized him as a prophet, and he realizes this is kind of a thou art the man situation, sort of like when Nathan confronted David. And he tells him, you know, you're the guy who was supposed to make sure and finish off being hey, Dad, and you didn't do that. Now your life's going to go for his life, just like you just condemned me 20 seconds ago. You know, now you're the one that's being condemned by your own mouth. So then, of course, Ahab goes away heavy and displeased. Now what we have in this story are two people that disobeyed the Lord, and two people who were too nice, right? Because the first guy is supposed to punch him. He says, hey, smite me, but he's too nice. You know, he's too nice to ever, he would never punch anyone, you know, he doesn't want to ever hurt anyone. Okay, well then you're about to get wiped out by a lion. And then the next person who's too nice is Ahab, who just says, oh yeah, sure, I'll be glad to be buddy-buddy with this horrible Ben-hey-Dad person who God wants to destroy utterly, and he's so kind and merciful and gentle. On the surface it seems right, to the world it seems right, but when it comes to God's word, what he was doing actually turned out to be wrong. Flip over, if you would, to 2 Chronicles chapter 19 verse 2. You see, a lot of things in the Bible, obviously they have a literal meaning, but they also have a symbolic meaning or significance. And what we see here, this man who refused to smite his fellow, you know, that pictures somebody who is just afraid to attack anyone. You know, we have preachers today, they'll never preach against false prophets, they'll never attack anyone, they'll never speak out against false religion, they just want to be nice all the time. They only want to preach positive, they only want to uplift, they only want to encourage, and it's great to uplift, it's great to encourage, it's great to preach on love, but you know there's a time when God tells us, hey you need to smite that guy. Oh, I'm not going to smite him. Now look, in the New Testament we're not commanded to physically smite anyone, let me make that real clear. In the New Testament the Bible's clear that our battle is a spiritual battle. We are not in a physical fight, we don't physically assault people, we don't physically punch people in the face, or go out and slay people with the sword, because in the New Testament the battle is a spiritual battle, but let me tell you something, it's still a battle. The Bible says we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but we do wrestle against principalities and powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places, and so we need to be willing to fight when God says fight, and smite when God says smite. Not physically, but spiritually. What's the weapon in the New Testament, is it a physical sword? No, it's the sword of the spirit, which is the word of God. This is the weapon, we need to get up and preach hard, and preach against the things that God tells us to preach against, and preach for the things that God tells us to be for. But there are people out there who are just too nice, preachers who are too nice. Now look, it's even worse when it's a preacher who's too nice. He's only preaching half the message, because he's not preaching the negative side. He only wants to preach the positive side. He's too nice. Well guess what? A lion's gonna come and devour him, and that lion's name is the devil. The lion walketh about as a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. It's not a coincidence that the man who refused to smite his neighbor ended up being attacked by what? A lion. Because that shows that when you're one of these who's too nice, bleeding hard, always wanting to be compassionate, even to those who the Lord has appointed for utter destruction, you won't speak out against anything, you won't be negative about anything, you won't condemn anything. You know what? You're just a target for the devil to wipe you out. That's what the Bible's teaching here. So on the surface you might say, that's a peculiar story, but when you dig in deeper you say, man, this story is important. It teaches us valuable spiritual truths. And when you're in Ahab, and God puts you in a position of authority, and he puts you in a position where you're to carry out his will, you better follow instructions. And say, well, I'm too nice for that. No, you're just too nice then. Because you're even nicer than God. God wasn't that nice in that chapter. Now God's very nice, amen? But not toward those whom he's appointed for utter destruction. Look at 2 Chronicles 19 verse 2. There's a similar idea here, and this is around the same time period in the history of the children of Israel. The Bible says in 2 Chronicles 19, 2, And Jehu, the son of Hanani the seer, went out to meet him, and said to King Jehoshaphat, Shouldest thou help the ungodly, and love them that hate the Lord? Therefore is wrath upon thee from before the Lord. You see, some people's attitude is, well, I'm just going to err on the side of caution, and just be nice to everybody, and just be positive about everything, and just give everybody a chance, and just be nice to everybody. Well, here's the thing. Did that work for Jehoshaphat? No, because he got God's wrath on him for being nice to the wrong person. When God said, Shouldest thou help the ungodly? Should you love them that hate the Lord? Therefore is wrath upon thee from before the Lord. Jehoshaphat wasn't even the one who's worshiping false gods. Jehoshaphat's not the one who's murdering innocent people, and shedding innocent blood, and doing all this wickedness, but you know what he did? He helped the guy who did. He was friendly to the guy who did. He made an alliance with the guy who did. He got yoked up with the guy who did. He loved the guy who did those things, and God said, Okay, well, then you're guilty by association, you know, because you're helping the ungodly. You're loving them that hate the Lord. You don't have to turn there, but in 2 John, the Bible tells us about false prophets, and it tells us in verse 9 of 2 John, Whosoever transgresseth and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ hath not God. He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ, he hath both the Father and the Son. If there come any unto you, and bring not this doctrine, receive him not into your house, neither bid him God speed. Watch this key verse. For he that biddeth him God speed is partaker of his evil deeds. See, some people have this attitude of just, Well, I just want to bless everybody. Just tell everybody I love them. I just love everybody. I just want to bless everybody. I just want to be good to everybody. Well, what does the Bible say? The Bible says if somebody comes to you specifically for the purpose of bringing a false doctrine about Christ, you know, teaching lies about Christ, I'm not talking about just, you know, a little off on some finer point of prophecy. I'm talking about they're actually attacking who Christ is. You know, they come to you, they're denying the Trinity, or they're teaching that Jesus is just a man, or whatever they're denying, and whatever they're preaching lies about Christ. You know, the Bible says, Do not receive that person into your house. Do not bid that person God speed. Don't say, Have a great day. God bless you. You know, I wish you the best. Here's a glass of water. You know, here you go. Wrong. Because the Bible says, Look, this guy is on a mission to damn souls. Let him be accursed. And he says, If you bless him, you are a partaker of his evil deeds. Now look, we all have enough sins of our own to worry about. The last thing we want is to get in trouble for other people's sins. You know what I mean? Like, I already got my own sins to worry about. Last thing I want is God saying, Oh, well, now I'm going to hold you accountable for his sins, because you're propping him up. You're blessing him. You're helping him. So that's a pretty sobering thought, isn't it? Now go to Titus chapter 1. A lot of this is through pride. Anyone who thinks they're nicer than God would have to be a pretty prideful person, wouldn't they? Anybody who thinks they're more loving than God, boy, that's pretty prideful. When you think, Hey, I'm a lot more merciful. I'm a lot kinder. I'm a lot gentler than the Lord. You're puffed up and arrogant, because obviously the Lord is perfection in all of those virtues. He's perfect when it comes to his love. He's perfect in gentleness. He's perfect in kindness, meekness, longsuffering, forgiveness. So when you say, Hey, he's not loving enough, I'm going to take forgiveness farther. I'm going to take love farther. I'm going to take mercy farther. You're arrogant. You're prideful. You're puffed up. That's why the Bible said in Psalm 10, verse 3, For the wicked boasteth. What is boasting? Bragging, being prideful, arrogant, puffed up. The wicked boasteth of his heart's desire and blesses the covetous, whom the Lord abhorth. So here's a guy who God abhors. What does abhor mean? I mean, he hates them. He loathes them. Abhorrence is like a very strong word for hating something, right? If I said, I abhor mustard, you know, I mean, does that mean I like it a little bit? It's like, get it away from me, right? And I'm not a picky eater. I love virtually all food. But one thing I hate is mustard. I just don't like mustard, okay? But anyway, I like pretty much, I'll eat exotic, weird food. I just, there's something about mustard, I don't know why. But the thing is, I don't do very well in Chicago because I put ketchup on my hot dog and you know, people freak out. But anyway, the point is that, you know, abhorrence, it says the Lord abhors this guy. But Mr. prideful blesses the guy whom God abhors. God hates somebody and Mr. arrogant, proud boaster says, oh, I love him. I'm so kind to him. I'm so loving to him. You know, it just isn't right. Look at Titus chapter 1 verse 10. You see, false prophets, people who preach lies about the gospel, who twist scripture, twist the Bible, they add to God's word. They remove from God's word. These people are super evil, these false prophets and false teachers of religion. And that's why God said, don't bid these people gossipy when they come at you with a false gospel. In fact, he tells us to rebuke them sharply, rebuke them sharply. He doesn't say be nice to them. Now here's where we need to differentiate between members of a false religion and the preachers of false religion. You see, if I run into a Roman Catholic, I'm going to be nice to them. If I run into a Muslim, I want to be nice to them. If I run into a Hindu, I'm going to be nice to them. If I run into whatever the false religion, a Jehovah's Witness, a Mormon, I'm going to be nice to them. Why? Because in many cases, they're just deceived. You know, they were brought up that way. Maybe they haven't heard the gospel or whatever, but they're in darkness. You know, I want to try to pull them out of the darkness and into light. But when I run into a pastor of those religions or a missionary of those religions, somebody who's preaching that false gospel, you know what, I'm not going to be nice to that person. I don't want to be their buddy. I don't want to be their friend. I don't want to treat them well because there's a big difference between the people who are sucked into false religion and the architects of false religion or the preachers and promulgators of false religion. Hey, I'll be nice to the Catholic. I'm not going to be nice to the Catholic priest. Nothing nice to say to him. He is a wicked person. And then you say, oh, well, you're just not nice. Well, you're too nice because you know what? What is it like for one person to go to hell and spend all eternity there? It's a tragedy, isn't it? So what do you call a person who goes around and spends their whole life damning people to hell with lies about the word of God? Pretty much the worst person imaginable. I mean, what's worse? Nothing's worse. Oh, you're too hard on Mohammed. Too hard on these Muslim imams. No you're not. Oh, you know, Pastor Logan Robertson, he's too. No he wasn't. Everything he said was right and they need to be rebuked sharply. Look, the Bible says in Titus chapter 1 verse 10. And by the way, just while we're on the subject of Islam, you know, let me tell you a story just from a few days ago. I was out soul winning on Wednesday and I knocked on the door of a young man who was a Muslim. And he looked to me to be in his early 20s. He could have been anywhere from 18 to 25. It's hard to, you know, put a number on it. But I knocked on the door of this young man. He told me he's a Muslim and I said, could I show you from the Bible how you can know for sure you'll go to heaven? And he said, sure. So I began to open my Bible and show him the Gospel. As I start showing him the Gospel, within like 20 to 30 seconds of showing him the Gospel, there's this woman's voice from the back of the apartment screaming like a banshee. And I'm not exaggerating. I mean like a banshee. Just like a demon, you know. And it was a mixture of English and another language that I didn't recognize. And she's just screaming like a banshee. I could kind of get the gist that she was saying, go away. Stop preaching to him. You know, we're not interested. He doesn't want to hear this, whatever. But even in spite of this banshee screaming in the background, I'm still giving this guy the Gospel and just kind of ignoring it. So I get through maybe like four minutes of my Gospel presentation. So I got about five, six Bible verses in. So I got some good meat out there for him. I got a seed planted. But the whole time you could tell he was real uncomfortable about the yelling. But I could read him that he wanted to hear what I had to say. There's no question about the fact that he was interested in the Gospel and he wanted to hear what I was saying. But it was a little hard for him to focus because he was a little embarrassed about the fact that, you know, this demoniac in the background is screaming. So then finally it got to the point where it just got even louder. It got so ridiculous that I had to acknowledge it. And so I finally just said to him, I said, you know, who is that that's yelling in the background? And he says, my sister. And so I said, okay, you know, because if he said it was his mom, then I might have figured like, okay, well, you know, maybe I should get out of here or something. But you know, I'm like, well, if it's his sister, what right does she have to just melt down and freak out and tell this guy that he can't, this isn't his boss, this isn't his parent or his authority figure, you know? So anyway, I keep giving the guy the Gospel. But then like 30 to 45 seconds later, then the guy's dad comes out from deep in the apartment and says, hey, we're not interested. But you know, isn't that sad? There's a Muslim that wants to hear the Gospel, but I'm telling you, there are some Muslims out there that are wicked as hell. They're wicked. How could they not be when the religion was started by a literal pedophile who literally married a six-year-old and consummated that when she was nine. They admit that. I've never had a Muslim deny that to me. They all admit that. And just all of the wickedness and the violence and the evil of that religion. But can there be nice people that are mixed up in that? Sure. I mean, this guy, I don't think it's his fault that he grew up with that sister and that parent and he wanted to hear the Gospel. And I pray to God that someday somebody will be able to finish what I started there and water that seed and get that young man to Christ. So we don't want to just hate Muslims and have this attitude of just kill them all and let God sort them out and let's bomb them all. No, no, no. There are a lot of nice people that are Muslims. They're deceived. They're not the enemy. But you know what? That screaming banshee, that's wicked as hell. And you know, there are imams and false prophets that teach all this stuff and push all this stuff. You know, a guy like Zakir Naik who gets up and he's an apologist for Islam and debates against Christians and everything like that. That guy is a reprobate. It's wicked. I can't understand the difference between, you know, a person who's just in a false religion and a person who's preaching the false Gospel because I tell you this, a person who opens their mouth and begins to preach lies about the Lord Jesus Christ, that person is incurring the wrath of God. The wrath of God. And look, some people don't agree with me on this. Some people are bothered by this but I've believed this for a long time and this is where I've always stood. You know, when the Mormon missionaries come to me with their name tags on to come preach the Gospel to me, I never witness to them because a lot of people say like, oh, well you need to give them the Gospel. Look, they're coming to me as a false prophet. I curse them in the name of the Lord and get away from them as fast as I can. And when the Jehovah's false witnesses come to me and preach another Gospel, I don't invite them in, give them food and water and tell them about Jesus. I tell them to go to hell and I get away from them as fast as I can. Why? Because they're coming to me in the capacity of an evil false prophet. They're going to a door and preaching lies and damning people to hell. Then they go to the next door, preach lies, jam people to hell. I mean, that's what they're doing. It's horrible. It's wicked. Now, if I go and knock on the door of a Mormon, I'll give them the Gospel. If I knock on the door of a Jehovah's, I give them the Gospel. And whether they get saved or not, I say, God bless you. Have a good day. I'm nice to them. I'm kind to them. I'm loving to them. But when they come to me in the capacity of a false prophet, doing the work of a false prophet, the Bible says, if they're coming unto you and preach another Gospel, let them be accursed. I'm not going to sit there and kindly and lovingly, no, no. They need to be rebuked and then maybe they'll quit doing it. I've chased them out of my neighborhood more times than I can count. And there's nothing wrong with rebuking a false prophet. Because a false prophet is not a church member. A false prophet is one who is actively damning souls. You don't see Elijah sitting there and talking to the prophets of Baal and trying to win them to Christ. You know what you see Elijah do? He preaches to the children of Israel and says, don't halt between two opinions. You need to either serve Baal or serve the Lord. As for me and my house, I'm going to serve the Lord. I'm mixing in a little Joshua there. But Elijah basically gets up and says, look, I'm here to show the children of Israel. I'm here to show the people who these liars really are, these prophets of Baal who are cutting themselves and crying out to their false god. And you know what? When they lost that face off, he threw them all off a cliff. He slew 850 prophets of Baal and he threw them off a cliff. Well, did he give them the gospel first? They're reprobates. They're false prophets. He threw them off a cliff. They're false prophets. Look, some people, they get so caught up in the sodomites being a reprobate, they think it's the only reprobate. Guess what? False prophets are reprobates too. You know, let's not forget about our other reprobates. And by the way, that's why so many Catholic priests are caught molesting little boys. Because they're reprobates. That's how so many other false pastors are caught doing that. Because they're reprobates. That's why they go after strange flesh. Look at Titus chapter 1 verse 10. For there are many unruly and vain talkers and deceivers, especially they of the circumcision, whose mouths must be stopped. I mean, listen to what Paul is telling young Titus. He tells him, look, there are some deceivers out there. There are some false prophets out there. There are some false religion out there. And he says, their mouths must be stopped. He said, who subvert whole houses, teaching things which they ought not, for filthy lucre's sake. This isn't just a church member who's mixed up on doctrine. I mean, this is a guy who's taken a paycheck to send people to hell. Right? He's teaching things that are not not. Why? For filthy lucre's sake. He's in it for the money. He'll preach lies. He'll twist scripture. He'll add to and remove from God's word for the money. And he says, in verse 12, one of themselves, even a prophet of their own, said, the Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, slow bellies. Now where does this come in? Well, verse 10 says that these guys are mainly of the circumcision. What's the circumcision referring to? The Jews, right? So these false prophets in Crete that Paul is rebuking, because Crete's an island in the Mediterranean Sea, right, part of Greece, or part of the Greek culture, the Greek world. And he basically is telling Titus, look, you've got this group of false prophets. They're wicked. They're deceivers. You've got to shut these people up. I mean, you've got to put these people to silence. And he said, their mouths have to be stopped. They're preaching lies for money. And he gives an example of the kind of junk that they're teaching. He says one of themselves, one of these false prophets, even a prophet of their own, said, the Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, slow bellies. Now when it says this witness is true in verse 13, it's not saying that it's true that all the Cretans are like that. The witness is true that the prophet really said that. He's basically saying, look, one of their prophets preached this message where he said, the Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, slow bellies. And he says, you know what? I'm telling you the truth right now. This witness is true. They really did say that. Therefore rebuke them sharply that they may be sound in the faith. Did you hear that? Rebuke them kindly, gently. Now how many other times did the Bible tell us that we should be gentle and meek, instructing those that oppose themselves, that God peradventure would give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth, and that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil who are taken captive by him as well? These aren't people who are in the snare of the devil. These people are the snare of the devil. These people are the minion of the devil. Do you see the difference there? That's how you can synthesize 2 Timothy 2 and Titus 1. 2 Timothy 2 is talking about the guy who's deceived. Titus 1 is talking about the guy who's a deceiver. And so it makes sense that the people of the circumcision, the Jews, they're going to basically speak ill of all the Cretans. Why? They have this attitude that all the Gentiles are scum. So they're like, all the Cretans are evil beasts. You're living in Crete, buddy. You parasite. So, you know, these Jews are living in Crete, and instead of loving the Cretans, getting along with them, being a productive member of society, they're like, all these Cretans are evil beasts. When in reality, these apostate, false-preaching Jews, they're the ones who are wicked. They're the ones being rebuked by Paul. There's nothing wrong with the Cretans as just, oh, they're all these evil beasts, slow bellies or whatever. So Paul said, rebuke these people. Rebuke them sharply, that they may be sound in the faith. Not giving heed to Jewish fables, right? They're giving, you know, don't fall for that stuff. And commandments of men that turn from the truth. Look at verse 15. Unto the pure, all things are pure. But unto them that are defiled and unbelieving is nothing pure, but even their mind and conscience is defiled, they profess that they know God, but in works they deny him, being abominable and disobedient, and unto every good work, reprobate. Do these people know the Lord? No, it says they say they know God, right? I mean, look down at your Bible, verse 16. They profess that they know God, but in works they deny him, being abominable and disobedient, and unto every good work, reprobate. Okay? Now I heard somebody say, oh, well, the people here, these false prophets are saved because it says that they may be sound in the faith at the end of verse 13. No, they're not saved because it says that these people teach lies for money, they're deceivers and they're reprobates. I mean, if you read this passage in context, these are not brothers and sisters in Christ. Good night. It says in verse 10, they're vain talkers, they're deceivers, their mouths need to be stopped, they teach lies for filthy lucre. It says that they need to be rebuked sharply, that they may be sound in the faith. It's not saying they're in the faith as in that they're saved, it's saying rebuke them sharply so that other people can be sound in the faith, or the people that they're going in and deceiving and corrupting, or even if you wanted to apply the being sound in faith to them. If somebody's that far gone that they're a false teaching false prophet, somebody needs to hit them hard with the gospel and rebuke their religion hard at that point. For example, is it even possible for a Catholic priest to get saved? I don't know. I've never seen that happen. I've never heard of that happening. Why? Because when you preach lies, you're probably a reprobate when you're twisting the gospel of Jesus Christ. But let's say it were possible to get a Catholic priest saved, you'd have to rebuke him sharply. I know people aren't comfortable with this because some people are just a little too nice. But it is what the Bible says. You know, pray tell me who should we rebuke sharply? I say we rebuke sharply people who go into other people's houses and teach lies, because that's who is telling us to rebuke sharply. They go into houses and they teach lies. That kind of sounds like the Mormons. Do they go into somebody's house and teach lies? Rebuke them sharply. Do the Jehovah's Witnesses go into someone's house and teach lies? Rebuke them sharply. You know, some Pentecostal oneness teacher who's out soul winning in some restaurant parking lot, rebuke him sharply. Say hey, you're teaching lies. The Lord rebuke you. You're teaching a false gospel. You're a false prophet. There's nothing wrong with telling that to some false teacher. There's nothing wrong with preaching against Muslims, preaching against the Mormon Church, the Catholic Church. You know, look, that's what the Bible tells us to do. But some people are just like, well, I just don't want to smite anybody. You know, I don't want to say anything negative about anybody. I just want to be Joel Osteen and be a motivational speaker and get along with everybody. I don't believe that. I believe that there are some people that need to be taken to task, need to be called out. They need to be named by name. That's what I'm talking about. And I think it's totally appropriate to do so. Flip over, if you would, to 1 Corinthians chapter 5, 1 Corinthians chapter 5. These people that are preaching a false gospel in Titus chapter 1, the Bible says they're an abomination. The Bible says they're reprobate. And you know what? I used to have an example of a person I would point to, and I would say, you know, there's one, and I've said this more times than I can count, you know, there's one person I know who used to preach a false gospel for years, but then later they got saved. So I guess some people who preached a false gospel for years and were a false prophet for years could possibly get saved. And you know who that example was? Garrett Kirschway. And you know what he ended up being? A reprobate, a Judas, a false prophet who denies the very Trinity. That was my example, because he was a charismatic, Pentecostal, false prophet for years, evangelizing as a Pentecostal, ordained as a Pentecostal youth pastor, going out and teaching lies. And you know what? Isn't it amazing that he turned out to be a reprobate? Why? Because teaching false gospels will do that to you. Now people will bring up and say, well, the apostle Paul, you know, he used to persecute Christians and so forth. Yeah, he did. He persecuted Christians, but did he teach a different version of Christianity? Did he teach a twisted, perverted form of Christianity? No, he didn't. No he didn't. You know, it takes a special kind of false prophet to read the New Testament of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and teach lies and twist it. They're reprobate is what they are, my friend. Now I'm all for being nice, and to 99% of people I'm going to be nice. But when I come across people who teach lies, false prophets, you know what, I love the people that they're deceiving too much. I want to shut them down. I want to shut their stupid mouth. I want to get up and preach hard and rip some face and put it on YouTube in front of God and everybody for the whole world to see it. What these people are, expose them, preach against them, rebuke them. And when they come to my door, I just tell them, you're a false prophet, you're teaching lies. I quote one Bible verse to them and I shut the door. Or sometimes if I'm too busy to even do it, I've just written it out on a piece of paper when I was on the phone or something and just put it on the door, said you're going to hell, you damnable heretic, get off my street or whatever. Prove me wrong. Change my mind. Prove me wrong. Show me where I'm supposed to lovingly, gently, and kindly take Satan's ministers next to me, literal angels of the devil, and sidle up next to them and love them to Christ. You know what, I'd rather, I'll love the 1.6 billion Muslims to Christ, but you know, those imams, I'm not going to love them to Christ. They need to be ripped a new one. There's nothing in the world, and you know why I'm saying this, you know why I'm preaching this sermon, is to defend my friends. To defend people that are basically, that I agree with, that I believe in. Like guys like Logan Robertson, you know what I mean? I just want to make it clear that I support Logan Robertson. Pastor Logan Robertson, he's not trying to be hateful toward Muslims. You know what he's trying to do? He's trying to reach Muslims with the gospel, that's what he's doing. If he hated Muslims, you know what he would do? Just ignore them. Just let them go to hell. Logan Robertson is trying to shine the light on a very dark, wicked, perverted, sick religion. And just because it has 1.6 billion members, does not prevent it from being wicked, perverted, blasphemous, and violent. Just ask the people who are suffering in these countries where the Muslims run things. Look, there's nothing in the world wrong with Logan Robertson going there, trying to make his documentary, trying to talk to them, making his DVD, and then some imam gets in his face. Some Muslim leader gets in his face, and he rebuked that guy sharply on the evening news. Amen! And you know what, maybe then, the Australians who are sitting at home watching the evening news can know that a prophet has been among them. That's not a bad testimony. That's a great testimony. I guarantee you that there are a ton of people sitting at home that saw Logan Robertson, rebuke that imam, and rebuke him hard, and you know what they thought to themselves? You know what? There's a guy who tells it like it is. There's a man of God. There's the fullness of the Spirit of God, boldness. Without this milk toast weakness, this Ahab style Christianity where everybody pushes you around and you never take a stand for anything, I don't believe in it. And I think Logan Robertson did a great job, and then he got to be on Info Wars, and more people could hear about it. You know, I hope that people will download his sermons and listen to what he has to say and learn some doctrine, learn about soul winning, and I hope that he can finish his documentary and that many Muslims will be woken up by it. And you know what? I've given Muslims to Christ door to door and through my online preaching. So you know what? Whatever your methods are, show me the fruit, show me the results, okay? Because we need hard preaching today in 2018, not this join hands kumbaya with every wicked false prophet, false teacher, false religion. That's a new thing. This Christianity being cozy with Islam, that's a new thing. That's new, okay? You know, we shouldn't, oh, we all have the same God and everything, no, we don't. We have the true God of the Bible who is the triune God, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. That's not who the Muslims have, that's not who the Jews have, that's not who the Mormons have, that's not who the Jehovah's Witnesses have. They don't have the Trinity, they don't have the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. And so I, you know, I stand with Pastor Logan Robertson, I stand with the rebuker of the false prophets, you know, and anyone else like him. And I commend him and I think that we need hard preaching today. I don't think there's anything wrong with calling out and rebuking, not the people who are deceived, but the architects of false religion and the deceivers of false religion. I mean, what, you know, you love the Pope? No. I mean, you know, he said don't love the, don't love those that hate the Lord, don't help the ungodly. We shouldn't have anything positive to say about the Pope. Oh, but we just need to be more loving and love the Pope and love the imam and love, no. These people are scum. They're worse than Ben Haydad. And Ben Haydad was a bad guy. So, you know, and some people, they struggle to comprehend the difference, but that's your problem if you can't tell the difference, between the guy who is a false prophet and the guy who is just ignorant and deceived. You know what the Apostle Paul said? The Apostle Paul said that God showed him mercy who before was a blasphemer and a persecutor and injurious, but he said this, but I obtained mercy because I did it ignorantly in unbelief. That's what the Apostle Paul said. So why was the Apostle Paul still able to be saved? Because he was actually just ignorant. He honestly thought he was doing right. But when somebody makes a conscious decision, I'm going to do wrong on purpose. I want to get that paycheck. I want to be popular. I want, you know, I'm going to get, I know what the Bible says. I'm going to preach the opposite because it's what people want to hear because I'm going to get paid. Or, you know, hey, if I go out and do my two year Mormon mission, hey, you know, I'm going to climb the ladder in my company because everybody knows that that's how Mormons work. They own the company and they hire all their Mormon buddies and the Mormons climb the ladder. You know, so they are often going on that mission not because they love the Lord. They don't even know the Lord. They're not even saved. But often it's just because they want to be a member of that community where they're going to be, you know, get their back scratched. I scratch your back. You scratch mine. They climb the ladder. They talk about their buddies, their community. It's wickedness. Mormons, Muslims, Jehovah's Witnesses, you know, when they come to you to evangelize you, boy, they need to just be sent away. Just sent away. And not with, I don't even say the word goodbye to them. I don't even say the word goodbye because goodbye has good in it. And it's kind of like a shortened way of saying, like, God, actually what it comes from is God be with you. And it was shortened to, like, goodbye. But it used to be, like, God be with you. It's just, you know, words, it's weird where words come from, right? Things just get shortened and whatever. So the point is, I don't even say goodbye. You know what I say? See you later. And you know where I'm going to see them? At that white throne. At the great white throne judgment when they're being cast into hell. I just say, see you later. That's true. I don't want to, I don't say God bless you, goodbye, have a good day. Now look, but when I run into Joe Muslim or Ahmed Muslim, you know, when I run into Joe Mormon, when I run into Joe Jehovah's Witness, I'm going to be nice to them. I'm going to be kind to them, right? Because I want to pull them out of that false religion and you catch more flies with honey. But the false prophet, I just want to shut his stupid mouth and go on with my life. And you know what? If I can expose him to the world, that's great too. If Logan Robertson can go in with a camera and talk to these guys and get them to admit that their prophet was with a nine year old, that message needs to go out to the whole world so everybody can be warned. Amen? I mean, look, if I can go in and interview Jews for marching to Zion and get them to just spill out all their blasphemy against Christ and everything like that, you know, people are like, well, but did you witness to that old man that hated Jesus and hated God and was breathing out foaming hatred toward Christ? Well, no, but I made a movie that was viewed by millions of people, many of whom got saved and that old Christ rejecting crone can go burn in hell. He hates Jesus. He hates the Lord. Let him be a curse. And he knows the gospel. He knew all about the New Testament. He hates it and rejects it. I was more interested in talking to him and getting him on camera so that everybody can find out what he's really about so that millions of people can watch a movie and thousands of them can get saved. But you're a lot more loving than I am. You're a lot nicer than I am. You would have just gone there and just been like, can I give you the gospel, James White? Can I give you the gospel, Rabbi Abrami? Can I give you the gospel, Rabbi Wiener? Can I give you the gospel, Rabbi Mann? That's his name, okay? I didn't make it up. Can I give you the gospel? You know, it's like, well, you know what? At the end of the day, false prophets, false teachers, you know, can they even be saved? I hope so. I hope so. You don't really see it though, do you? I don't see it happening. Maybe it could happen, right? Who knows? I mean, maybe there's a guy out there who's like an apostle Paul and he's just ignorant. He does it in unbelief. But you know, most of the time, by the time somebody gets through a whole Bible college or a whole seminary or a whole monastery or whatever they're going through, you know, usually by that time, they probably had plenty of chances to get saved and rejected and rejected and rejected. And when you add to God's word, God turns you over to a reprobate mind. That's what the Bible says. And God said, if you take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away your part out of the book of life. God will take your part out of the holy city. God will take away your part from all the things that are written in this book. That's talking to unsaved people who tamper with God's word. He says, you just sealed your fate, buddy. You're doomed now. You're doomed. It's a scary thought. But you know what? You know, I've been soul winning now for 20 years and you guys have been soul winning a lot of you for a long time. You've seen a lot of people saved, right? We've seen a lot of people saved, right? We could all get up and tell stories of lots of people that we've won to Christ, right? Isn't it amazing how we don't have stories about winning the pastor of the Oneness Pentecostal Church to the Lord, though? Out of all the thousands and thousands of people that we've won to the Lord, isn't it funny how we don't have a story about that time we won that Catholic priest to Christ and he got baptized and joined the church? Isn't it funny how we don't have a story about how the Mormon missionary came to our door and we won him to Christ and he got baptized and joined the church? Isn't it funny how we don't have any of those stories, but we have stories about tens of thousands of people who were members of these false religions who got saved, but isn't amazing how the pastors don't get saved? And even if you had one in a million, the exception proves the rule. You know, like that wonderful exception that we had, Garrett Kirschway, who ended up being a reprobate. So the point is, why would I sit here and spend my time and spend my life and spend my energy worrying about the soul of some poor little heretic, some poor little false prophet, some poor little missionary that preaches lies? You know what? I'm going to go worry about all the people that they've been deceiving and get them saved. But some people are just a lot nicer than I am. Maybe they're a little too nice, in fact, because they just love Ben Haydad so much. You know, and they just love the false prophets so much. Let me hurry. I'm out of time. I'm just going to close it right there. I'm just going to leave it at that. Let's bow our heads in our word of prayer. Father, we thank you so much for your word, Lord, and Lord, we pray that you would help us to be loving, kind, gentle, nice people, Lord, because those truly are virtues. But Lord, help us never to get to the point where we're just too nice, where we want to coddle false prophets, and where we want to rebuke pastors and preachers who preach hard against false teachers and rebuke false religion, Lord, because we ought to be siding with men of God against false teachers, Lord. And help us to realize just how bad false prophets are, Lord, and how they've incurred your wrath and how you have appointed them to utter destruction, Lord. Help us understand that there is a time to be nice and that we need to lovingly approach the deceived, but that when people come to us just teaching damnable heresy and their one of the architects, Lord, let them be accursed. It should be our attitude. In Jesus' name we pray, Amen.