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All right, we're in Matthew chapter 24, and look down at your Bibles at verse number 11. It says here, and many false prophets shall arise and shall deceive many, and because the iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold. Skip down to verse 23. It says, then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there, believe it not. For there shall arise false Christs and false prophets and shall show great signs and wonders in so much that if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect. So here we see that, of course, Matthew chapter 24 is a chapter in the book of Matthew that deals a lot with end times Bible prophecy. We can go to Revelation chapter 6 and different portions of the Bible that emphasizes this aspect here, but I want you to focus on the fact that it talks about that many false prophets shall arise. It says there shall arise false Christs and false prophets, and obviously we understand that in the latter end, in the end times, one antichrist will arise. One false prophet will arise, and this is whom the Bible is referring to, but up until that point, the Bible also explains to us that there will be many false prophets who shall arise before that false prophet. There will be many antichrists that shall arise before the main antichrist, and why is that? Well, because the world has to be conditioned by the devil about false doctrine, and he needs to raise up false teachers and false prophets to teach damnable heresies and help churches to basically go on apostasy in order to prime them for end times Bible prophecy. Now, we're living in these days here, and I'm not referring to the fact that we're in Daniel's 70th week or anything of that sort. I'm referring to the fact that we are in the days where many false prophets shall arise, false teachers, so on and so forth. Now the title of the sermon this evening is The Traits of a False Prophet. The Traits of a False Prophet. I was thinking about this, and I thought to myself, you know, maybe I've preached on this enough already. You know what I mean? I mention it in church. I always, you know, there's some sort of point that deals with this, but the more I think about it, the more I realize, you know what, we need to teach on it more, and we need preaching on marriage. We need preaching on raising our children. We need preaching about just the regular responsibilities of the Christian life, but every once in a while, we need to hit on this topic of false teachers and false prophets. Now why is that? Go to First Timothy chapter four, and I'm going to explain to you why. First Timothy chapter number four and verse number one, you say, man, I've already heard enough about false teachers and false prophets. Well, you know, it's interesting that we talk so much about it, yet there's so many people who are in churches who are still ignorant about it. And when we just hit on it over and over and over again and talk about the attributes of these wicked people, you know, people are still defending false teachers and false prophets. Why is that? Well, it's because obviously they're ignorant of what the Bible is actually teaching here. Now here's the reason why we need to continually talk about this. Obviously, not every sermon is going to deal with this. You know, last week I didn't preach on false prophets. What did I preach on last week? Well, I preached on, you know, giving tips on soul winning. I preached on the office of a priest. I preached on the priesthood of the Old Testament and the New Testament. You know, that was simply doctrine teaching what the Bible says about the priesthood and just explaining biblical doctrine in regards to the priesthood of the Old Testament and the New Testament, gave some tips about soul winning, about the difference between confrontational soul winning and being combative, okay? But today, you know, we need to hit on a topic in regards to false teachers and false prophets. And obviously, I'm alluding to the fact that what we did today, we excommunicated Eric Ballesteros out of our church, and he's no longer welcome here because of his heresy and his railing. But obviously, he's defending a oneness heretic, oneness heretics at that. So I just want to drive in the point as to why we need to talk about this more often. Look at verse number one. It says, now the Spirit speaketh expressly that in the latter times, some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of devils. Now here it says that in the latter times, now what is the latter times? What's the times that we're living in now? This is the latter times. And it tells us here that some will depart from the faith, depart from the Bible, they'll go into apostasy, in other words, why? Because they're giving heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of devils. Now this is not referring to like some spirit that's around the corner speaking to you and like deceiving. That's not true what the Bible is saying, right? That's not true what the pastor is saying. We're not at this Pentecostal church that believes that like there's a demon of heresy and then there's a demon of drunkenness, there's a demon of all these things. It just talks about these seducing spirits and doctrines of devils, but it's referring to the people who are teaching these false doctrines. So the people who are teaching these false doctrines are possessed by seducing spirits that are teaching doctrines of devils because look what it says in verse number two. Being lies in hypocrisy, having their conscience seared with a hot iron. This is referring to someone who's been given up, who's been given over to a reprobate mind because their conscience is seared. Now what does it mean to have a seared conscience? Well your conscience is that aspect of your being that allows you to distinguish and differentiate between good and evil. You know, you understand that murder is wrong. You understand that adultery is wrong, that lying is wrong, that it's sinful, but someone who is a reprobate no longer has had that moral compass removed from them. That's why the Bible tells us in Romans chapter one that these people who are reprobates are filled with all unrighteousness. They have no governor on their conscience to tell them this is wicked and this is wrong. So another way to put that is someone who has a seared conscience. What does that mean? To sear something means to burn it. Okay, when you sear something, and when you sear something, it basically removes, like for example, if you were to sear your arm, right, it would be very painful, but after the years pass by, that portion of your body would be completely numb. You wouldn't be able to feel that is what I'm saying. So someone who has a seared conscience is someone who no longer feels, they're what the Bible would refer to in Ephesians chapter four as being past feeling. In other words, they can't differentiate between good and evil. These are wicked people. Now please understand that every false prophet is a reprobate, but not every reprobate is a false prophet. What do I mean by that? Well, your neighbor across the street from you could be a reprobate. Some homo, some sodomite who has been given over to a reprobate Biden, but they may not hold the position of a leader in a local New Testament church. They may not be a pastor or a deacon or an evangelist. They're just regular people out in the world who are reprobates. But the Bible tells us that false teachers and false prophets are all reprobates because these are people who have leadership position and they're actually far more wicked than just the regular reprobate who's out across the street from you because they've taken the position of leadership in order to teach dandable heresy and to make merchandise of people that have an agenda behind that to destroy people's lives. Look at verse number three. Forbidding to marry and commanding to abstain from meats, that's how you know they're teaching false doctrine, right? When they command you to abstain from meats, which God has created to be received with thanksgiving of them which believe and know the truth. So the chapter in 1 Timothy chapter four starts off with telling us, hey, the Spirit is speaking expressly clearly that in the latter times, some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of devils. And that should strike fear in the hearts of people to understand, hey, false doctrine is rampant. False teachers are rampant. Now what is the remedy to this? Because God's not just going to tell us this and not tell us what to do about it. What can we do to make sure that doesn't infiltrate the church, that false doctrine doesn't permeate the local New Testament church? Here, we'll look at verse 13. Till I come, give attendance to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine. Neglect not the gift that is in thee which was given thee by prophecy with the laying on of the hands of the presbytery. Meditate upon these things. Give thyself holy to them that thy profiting may appear to all. Take heed unto thyself and unto the doctrine. Continue in them, for in doing this, thou shall both save thyself and them that hear thee. Now where do they save themselves from? Seducing spirits and doctrines of devils? What are they saving others from? From seducing spirits and doctrines of devils. So what the Bible's teaching us here is that the pastor who gives attendance to reading will save himself from false doctrine. But also the pastor who gives attendance to doctrine. What is doctrine? Teaching the congregation. He's going to save his people from seducing spirits and doctrines of devils, okay? Now go with me if you want to, let's see, go to Acts chapter 20. I'm going to read to you from Matthew chapter 7 verse 15, it says, beware of false prophets which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns or figs of thistles? Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit, but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down and cast into the fire. Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them. Not everyone that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven, but he did do with the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? What does that talk about? That's a person who's preaching. Prophesy means to preach. And in thy name cast out devils, and in thy name have done many wonderful works, and I will profess unto them, I never knew you, depart from me ye that work iniquity. So one thing you have to understand when you study this topic, this subject of reprobates and false teachers, false prophets, the main scriptures you need to go to in order to get an extensive understanding of it is 2 Peter chapter 2, which works in tandem with the book of Jude, 2 Timothy chapter number 3, Matthew chapter 7, and then there's spots of it in different portions of the New Testament. Now one thing you have to understand is that, for example, Romans 1 is not necessarily dealing with false prophets, though it's applicable to them because they are reprobates. It mainly hits this subject of reprobates from a standpoint of them being sodomites, wicked people who are filled with uncleanness, men with men burning in their lusts one toward another, women with women, et cetera. Whereas when you read 2 Peter chapter 2, it's the same exact person, but it hits it from an angle of someone who has a leadership position who is teaching false doctrine, okay? Who has infiltrated a church, for example. Look at Acts chapter 20 verse 28. This is Paul giving instructions to the disciples here, and he says, Take heed therefore unto yourselves, verse 28, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God which he hath purchased with his own blood. For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock. So keep in mind, in verse 28, he says, To take the oversight, feed the flock. Now when he says that, what is he talking about? Well, according to verse 29, feeding the flock is working in tandem with teaching them about false prophets because he says, For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock. Also of your own selves shall men arise, verse 30, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them. And by the way, this is also applicable to the fact that we need to teach doctrine so that we are not fooled and deceived into believing false doctrine, okay? Now notice that it says there, also of your own selves. Does that mean that someone who is saved within our church becomes a false teacher, becomes a reparate? No. It means that they've infiltrated that congregation and that assembly, and they went out from among us because they were not of us. Does that make sense to you? Now go to 2 Corinthians chapter 11, I'm giving you an introduction here. So keep in mind that Matthew 7, Acts chapter 20, refers to these false teachers as grievous wolves. Now why is that? Well, simply for the fact that they're not going to spare the flock. You think of a wolf who is hungry, who's going after the sheep. In like manner, a false teacher is not harmless, or excuse me, yeah, yeah, is not harmless. In other words, they're trying to create harm within the assembly of God. They're not just going to come here and just keep their mouth shut and just not teach any false doctrine, not hurt anybody. The Bible says here that they're not going to spare the flock. In other words, they have no mercy. They are without compassion. They are without mercy. It's these same people who end up molesting children within the church. It's these same wicked people, these reprobates, who take advantage of people, molest children, you know, molest women, molest men, doesn't matter why, because they don't spare the flock. They're trying to destroy people's lives. They have no goodness dwelling within them because their conscience is seared with a hot iron, okay? Now look at 2 Corinthians 11, verse 13, for such are false apostles, deceitful workers transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ. Now keep in mind that one of the attributes of a false teacher is that they need to look like us. That's why Matthew 7 says that they're wolves in sheep's clothing. Now interestingly enough, I don't know if this is true or not, I heard Joe Olstein literally has a clothing line called sheep's clothing. That's what it's called. And you know what? He's telling, his people are stupid. I mean, you talk about stupid, you shouldn't tell people, no, they're stupid, they're stupid. He's literally bringing on clothing that says sheep's clothing. Why? Because he is a wolf in sheep's, in fact, he's not even a wolf in sheep's, he's like a wolf in wolf's clothing. He just didn't even put on the sheep's clothing. He's selling the sheep's clothing to his people. Verse 14, and no marvel for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light, therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness whose end shall be according to their works, the Bible says. Now go to 2 Peter chapter 2, so in 2 Corinthians chapter 11 tells us there, hey, don't marvel. In other words, don't be surprised. And this is what I was mentioning this morning is hey, you know, it shouldn't come as a shock to you when this happens every once in a while. Now the initial reaction is shock, right? When you hear about someone who, you know, who you admire or you knew or someone you're associated with involved in false doctrine or false heresy or in heresy is that you're shocked. You know? But when we're shocked, we need to go to 2 Corinthians 11 and recognize, hey, no marvel. Don't marvel at these things. This is something that's going to happen until the second coming of Christ and in fact, it's going to get worse as we approach that day. It's going to become way worse as we enter into the end times when Christ comes back. Why? Because it has to culminate into the antichrist, deceiving the entire world. Not just false teachers and antichrists sprinkled throughout the world deceiving congregations. Now it's going to culminate to one man deceiving the entire world, of course, with the exception of Christians. But it tells us here don't marvel because Satan is transformed into an angel of light. His ministers are also transformed. So as I mentioned in the beginning, 2 Peter 2, in my opinion, is the most extensive chapter in regards to this topic of false teachers and false prophets. Now you can compare 2 Peter 2 with Jude and they basically fit like a glove. One says the same thing just a little different to basically expound upon us and help us to understand what we're referring to here. But I'm going to go through 2 Peter 2 and just give you the traits of a false teacher just as a refresher to all of us. Now look down at your Bibles in verse number one. Let me turn to myself. 2 Peter chapter 2 verse number one says, but there were false prophets also among the people even as there shall be false teachers among you who privately shall bring in damnable heresies even denying the Lord that bought them and bring upon themselves swift destruction. So point number one, trait number one of a false teacher or a false prophet is this. Their infiltration is inevitable. Their infiltration is inevitable. Now you say how do you know that because it says there, there were false prophets also among the people even as there shall be false teachers among you. What does that mean? God's telling us they're going to be there. Not in my church. Yeah, in your church. Not with my congregation. Yes, in your congregation. Why? Because he tells us there that it's inevitable. It's going to happen. And the reason I want to make this point here is so I kind of help condition you to alleviate the shock of when you find out that there's false teachers and false prophets among us. When there's a reprobate who comes in and they get booted out, you're just not like. It's more like, wow, that really sucks. But you know, the Bible says there shall be false teachers among us. It's going to happen. Okay. Now go to First Kings chapter 22. Hold your place there in Second Peter. Now why is that? I mean I wish we lived in a world where like this was not true, where we could just come to church, teach the Bible, win souls to Christ. You know, fellowship, and we never have to like worry about this or concern ourselves with this type of thing that's taking place. But you know what? That's not reality. Reality is that this needs to happen. You see, he's not just saying that there shall be false teachers because God can't do anything about it. It's not a matter of God has no control over the situation where false teachers and false prophets enter into the assemblies of God. Why is it that he says that it's going to happen? Well, let me read to you from First Corinthians 11. You're in First Kings 22 and verse 18, it says here, for first of all, when you come together in the church, I hear that there will be divisions among you and I partly believe it. For there must be also heresies among you that they which are approved may be made manifest among you. See God is saying here that there has to come these divisions, these strives, these false teachers and false prophets, why? So that we can be approved. So that God can test us. Number one, so we can purge out the leaven, purge out the false teacher, but guess what it does? It takes out the trash as well. It takes out the people who are good for nothing. Why? Because it says there that they which are approved may be made manifest among you. What does that mean? You can really see who's in it to win it, who's in it for the long run, who's grounded in the word of God, who's grounded and settled in the Bible and doctrine, who has their convictions straight from the Bible, who's not going to be swayed, who's not going to be moved so they can be made manifest among you. That's what it's there for. Now look at First Kings 22 and verse 19. This is a story of Ahab, I referenced this I believe on Thursday. King Ahab is the king of Israel, which is the northern kingdom. Then you have King Jehoshaphat, which is the king of the southern kingdom, which is Judah. And Jehoshaphat made a mistake of having an affiliation and affinity with Ahab. Ahab was a wicked king, Jehoshaphat was not. Jehoshaphat was a good man, he was a good king, he was a righteous king, which the majority of the kings who ruled Judah were. Whereas the stigma that Israel had, that northern kingdom, was that they were wicked. All kings were pretty much wicked, including Ahab. Well, you have Jehoshaphat, Ahab, joining forces together to fight against Ahab's enemies and before they go up, Jehoshaphat says, hey, is there not a prophet of God here that we can inquire of to see if we should go up? So they call all these prophets, right, and these prophets come and they're like, go for it. I'm paraphrasing here, okay. They're like, do it, man, it's yours, the battle's yours, God's gonna deliver them into your hand. And then they say, well, isn't there someone else that we can inquire of? So they find Micaiah, Micaiah comes and he says, yeah, go for it. And he says, why don't you tell me the truth? You never tell me the truth. And Micaiah says, all right, God's gonna deliver you into his hand, you're gonna die. He says, see, that's why I don't like this guy. I hate this guy because he always tells me the truth. He throws him into prison. Now look at verse 19. It says here, and he said, hear thou therefore, this is Micaiah preaching, the word of the Lord. I saw the Lord sitting on his throne and all the hosts of heaven standing by him on his right hand and on his left and the Lord said, who shall persuade Ahab that he may go up and fall at Ramoth Gilead? So think about what's taking place here. God is looking for a spirit to go into the mouth of a prophet to convince and persuade Ahab to go to war for what reason? So he can die. God wanted Ahab to die. Verse 20, and one said on this manner and another said on that manner and there came forth a spirit and stood before the Lord and said, I will persuade him. And the Lord said unto him, wherewith? And he said, I will go forth and I will be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets. And he said, thou shalt persuade him and prevail also, go forth and do so. Now therefore behold, the Lord hath put a lying spirit in the mouth of all these thy prophets and the Lord hath spoken evil concerning thee. So when these false prophets were coming, they would say, yeah, go for it. God allowed that for what reason? To destroy Ahab. Micaiah came and guess what he said? He said the same exact thing. Because why? Because he understood that God wanted to kill Ahab. But then when he told him, tell the truth, he's like, all right, well, you're going to die if you go. That's what the truth is. And he wasn't lying the first time and he wasn't lying the first time. He was simply stating, this is what God wants to do to you. And what happens? Ahab is struck dead by the opposing army. Now this lying spirit came into all of these prophets here to lie to him, these false prophets. But it worked because that's what God wanted them to do. Why? Because it was to prove, it was to purge that kingdom from that wicked king. So you see, sometimes people have this misconception that, you know, it's God versus Satan, you know? It's God versus Satan and they're just battling one against another. No, actually, God has Satan on a short leash. Okay? God is far more powerful than Satan. He's far more powerful than the devils that are in this world. In fact, he uses them for his purpose, to destroy evil and wicked people. That's what they're there for. Putting a lying spirit, allowing that lying spirit to go into the mouth of the false prophets. Why? So the false prophets can deliver them unto destruction. So when a false teacher or a false prophet arises among us, don't get scared. Don't be scared, you know? Understand that they're here to take out the trash. Go to Deuteronomy 13. I'm going to read to you from Proverbs 16, verse 4, it says, the Lord hath made all things for himself, yea, even the wicked for the day of evil. Now keep in mind that in 2 Peter chapter 2, it states, there were false prophets among the people, even as there should be false teachers among you. Now what is he referring to? He's referring to the Old Testament. You read through the Old Testament, there's a lot of false prophets. So this is not a new concept within the New Testament, this is a concept of old that God even instructed in Deuteronomy 13, what to do when there's a false prophet that arises among them. Okay? Now look what it says in verse number 1 of Deuteronomy 13. This will reinforce what we just read in the book of Kings. Look what it says in verse number 1, if there arise among you a prophet or a dreamer of dreams and giveth thee a sign or a wonder, and the sign or the wonder come to pass whereof he spake unto thee, saying, Let us go after other gods which thou hast not known, and let us serve them, thou shalt not hearken unto the words of that prophet or that dreamer of dreams, for the Lord your God, look what it says, proveth you to know whether ye love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul. Ye shall walk after the Lord your God and fear him and keep his commandments and obey his voice, and ye shall serve him and cleave unto him. And that prophet or that dreamer of dreams shall be put to death, because he hath spoken to turn you away from the Lord your God, which brought you out of the land of Egypt and redeemed you out of the house of bondage, to thrust thee out of the way which the Lord thy God commanded thee to walk in, so shalt thou put the evil away from the midst of thee. So what is the purpose of this false prophet? To prove you, to try you. That's what he says that they're there for. So when a false prophet arrives in Israel teaching false doctrine, the Bible says that he's there to test you out, that's what he's there for. To prove you, to see if you'll keep the commandments of the Lord. What if I don't? Then the Bible tells us, you're out. You see, God is not interested, God is interested in the salvation and the souls of men. But after they're saved, really, they have an option whether they want to work for God or not. They have an option if they want to obey God or not. And the Lord's army is to be filled with just that, soldiers, right? Endure a harness as a good soldier. But in order to have good soldiers, God has to prune and cut away the trash. How does he do that? By allowing false teachers and false prophets into the church to prove people. That's what they're there for. Now what's the application to you? You better get in your Bible. You better start getting serious about the things of God. You better read your Bible cover to cover. You better be faithful to church. You better be faithful to your responsibilities. You better love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength. And don't take this Christian life, this subject of the Christian life lightly, oh, I'm just being lazy. Stop being lazy. Oh, I just don't want to, I don't feel like reading the Bible, you better start reading the Bible. Oh, I just don't feel like, you better start feeling like it. Because there's going to come a time when God's going to allow a lying spirit go through the mouth of a false prophet to come in to prove you, to prove you. Okay? Look what it says in verse six. If thy brother and the son of thy mother or thy son or thy daughter or the wife of thy bosom or thy friend which is as thine own soul enticed thee secretly, saying, let us go and serve other gods which thou has not known, thou nor thy fathers, namely of the gods of the people which are round about you, nigh unto thee or far off from thee from one end of the earth even unto the other end of the earth, thou shall not consent unto him nor hearken unto him, neither shall thine eye pity him, neither shalt thou spare, neither shalt thou conceal him, but thou shall surely kill him. Now, let me just say that this is not applicable today. You find someone teaching false doctrine, it's like, deuteronomy 13. You know, I didn't spare, you know. We're not laying hands on anybody or causing harm to anybody, even a false prophet. We're not gonna kill them today because quite frankly, this is not the law that we're under in as of now. Now, we believe this law, we hold it to be true, and the fact of the matter is, regardless of what Brian Dunlinger thinks, we're gonna be executing this in the millennial reign, Brian. He put out a video saying, Pastor Bruce Mihiel wants to kill people, and he puts a clip of me talking about the millennial reign, okay. And now in the millennial reign, we're gonna be executing the law of Moses here, which is the law of God, and then he takes me out of context and says he wants to kill people. What a fool, okay. But it says there, but thou shalt surely kill him, thine hand shall be first upon him to put him to death, and afterwards the hand of all the people. So this is to prove this person. I mean, this is pretty heavy, because it says here, your brother, the son of thy mother, or thy son, or thy daughter, or thy wife, or thy bosom, thy friend, I mean, he doesn't excuse anybody. He says if this is for you, if this is a person you know and you hear about first, your hand shall be upon him. Why? Because you're to love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, soul, mind, and strength. God, his name is jealous, the Bible says. Okay. Verse 10 says, and thou shalt stone him with stones that he died because he had sought to thrust thee away from the Lord thy God, which brought thee out of the land of Egypt from the house of bondage. So infiltration is inevitable. You know? We're not necessarily, this may sound weird, but we're not necessarily trying to keep false prophets out, because we don't know when they come in. We just, we're just trying to throw them out as soon as we find out that they're in. So don't have this attitude of suspicion that everyone's a false prophet. You don't want to have that attitude either. We're just suspecting everyone, it's like, I don't know, man. That guy, he slipped up one time and he said something weird. I think he's a reprobate, you know? That's not the attitude we want to have. Everyone is innocent until proven guilty, okay? So don't just start suspecting everyone and start claiming that everyone's a reprobate and everyone's unsafe just because they're different than you, okay? Or just because they don't adhere or they don't have your attitude or your spirit or they're not as zealous as you are, don't just write them off as being a false teacher or a false prophet. I don't know, man, I think this is, I don't know. You know, hey, Eric, you know, the guy we threw out, til last week, I really liked him. I just gave him the benefit of the doubt, just like I do everyone, you know? And that's the attitude we need to have towards everyone. Innocent until proven guilty, but balance that out with recognizing that infiltration is inevitable. It's gonna happen, so it doesn't catch you off guard. Go back to 2 Peter chapter 2. The infiltration is inevitable because it's gonna clean out the church. Look, and I'm not prophesying this. I may be wrong about this. I may be right about it, I don't know. But our church is going independent in August, all right? If all goes well, the church is going independent in August. And you know what God's gonna probably want to do, he's gonna probably want to take out a lot of trash. You know? But it could be that we don't have trash here. And that's my prayer, that's my goal, that's my hope, is that there's no trash. You know? That we don't have to do necessarily a lot of spring cleaning because we've been cleaning throughout the last year and a half that we've been here. But it could be that that's gonna take place. Don't let it come as a surprise when it does, though, okay? So attribute number one, we talked about that, is that they infiltrate and their infiltration is inevitable. But number two, their fate is sealed, okay? Let's look at verse number one again. But there are false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privately shall bring in damnable heresies, I'll get to that point in just a bit, even denying the Lord that bought them and bring upon themselves swift destruction. So please keep in mind and understand this, and this is important, this is vital. Someone who is a pastor, who's a false teacher, who's doing things contrary to the word of God and they're blainly rebellious, they're just despising authority, despising dominion, they're covetous, they're doing all these things. The Bible tells us, it's like, because people will accuse us, oh, you're just, don't you believe in eternal security? Yes, I believe in eternal security, but the Bible tells us here that that person in particular has denied the Lord God that bought them. What does that mean? That means they were never saved in the first place. The reason they even got to the position that they have and because they're a reprobate is because they denied the Lord a long time ago. They denied the Lord God that bought them. This did not take place when you found out that they're a false prophet. This took place when they denied the Lord years ago. They were a false teacher a long time ago. And keep in mind, look at the order of sequence. One doesn't become a false prophet and then they become a reprobate. One is a reprobate first and then they become a false teacher. Okay, why? Because they reject the Lord. That's exactly how you become a reprobate is by rejecting Jesus Christ. And because they're filled with all unrighteousness, these particular people have seen fit to join themselves into a church in order to take advantage of the flock of God. That's so wicked. Yeah, they're filled with all unrighteousness. They're laden with sins. They have eyes full of adultery that cannot cease from sin, the Bible says. Okay, look at verse 17. It says, these are wells without water, clouds that are carried with the tempest to whom the mist of darkness is reserved forever. So these people have sealed their fate. In other words, they can never be saved. That is a hard pill to swallow for a lot of people, but just grab a glass of God's words water and just pound it. Do the thing that my mom used to do and the people, the older generation, they'll put a pill in their mouth and they'll go, how many know what I'm talking about? Yeah, how many still do that? Be honest. All right, Mark. That's weird. All right. I'm just kidding. I'm serious. I remember as a kid, how many know what I'm talking about? As a kid, like if she would take an Asperger's or something. Me, when I take my vitamins, put it in and just drink it. You know, the people of the older generation, and Mark, they put it in and just whiplash. They're just like, I'm like, mom, your head's going to fall off. You know? That's the older generation. But if that's what you got to do to swallow a pill of the word of God, a hard truth, do what you got to whiplash. Just do it. Take it. It's good for you. It's good for you. It's necessary. But the pill that you need to swallow is this, is that these people are not saved. And in fact, they will never be saved. And here's the verse to prove it. The mist of darkness is reserved forever. Now, what mist of darkness is it referring to? It's not referring to like the jungles of like some South American country or something. This is referring to the lake of fire. And the Bible's telling us that the lake of fire is reserved for them. Does anybody know what that word reserved means? It means it's saved for them. God says, I'm reserving the lake of fire for you. That means their fate is sealed. They can no longer be saved. Okay? Hold your place there in Second Peter. Go to Jude. Let's look at a comparison here. So, look, when you hear about these people, it's like, oh, they just got a little mixed up of false doctrine. No, they're teaching Danville heresy because they denied the Lord God that bought them. That's what it teaches. Because there's a difference between a church member, a babe in Christ who's mixed up a little bit on doctrine because they don't really know the Bible very well, a novice, and someone who actually studies the Bible week in and week out and still teaches false doctrine. Still denies the Trinity. Still denies that salvation is by faith alone. Someone who's studying the Bible, who's teaching the Bible. This is a different category of someone who's just unsaved. Okay? Look at Jude 12. These are spots in your feast of charity when they feast with you, feeding themselves without fear, clouds that are without water, carried about of winds, trees whose fruit wither it without fruit, twice dead, plucked up by the roots, raging waves of the sea, foaming out their own shame, wandering stars to whom is reserved the blackness of darkness forever. Now, when it says that they're twice dead, what is that referring to? Well, there is the first death, Romans 6 23, for the wages of sin is death. And that would be referring to the fact that when someone dies, they go to the center of the earth, which is called hell. Okay? But then there is the second death, which is referring to the lake of fire, Revelation 21, verse number 8. So they're twice dead. In other words, not only are they gonna go to hell, but they're also gonna go to the lake of fire. Not only are they dead in their trespasses and sin, they've already been reserved for that second death, which is the lake of fire. People who are just unsaved, they're not twice dead. They're only dead in their trespasses and sin, according to the Bible. And they can be made quick and they can be made alive. They can be saved still. Whereas a false teacher and a false prophet, according to Jude, is stating that these people are twice dead. That's why it tells us that they bring upon themselves swift destruction. Why? Because their demise is so fast, they're not even there yet, but God sees them as though they're already there. They're reserved for that blackness of darkness forever. Now, go to 2 Timothy, chapter 3. People hold your place in 2 Peter, chapter 2. So their fate is sealed. So there's no matter of like, well, let's just try to win them over, you know? Let's try to win, you know, Ray Comfort over. Pray for that guy, man. I like his accent. He could be used greatly of the Lord one day. What a testimony. That this lordship salvationist guy just completely changes and now he believes right. He's living in a fantasy world that does not exist at all. His fate is already sealed. He propagates false doctrine. False doctrine just spews out of his mouth because he's a false teacher. He's already reserved. Don't worry about him. You know, if you love people so much, go witness to the people who don't know any doctrine. Go witness to the people door to door who have no concept of any of these things who still have hope. By the way, there's more of them than there are of these fools. And these fools, if you don't go and win these people, are going to end up winning them. They're going to come across a Ray Comfort, a John MacArthur, you know, a Tyler Baker, not probably not him because he's too lame, but you know, just other guys. And they're going to fall into that. And at that point, their fate is sealed, okay? Look at 2 Timothy 3 and verse 7. They're ever learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. Now meditate on that for a moment. What does that mean? They're ever learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. Ye shall know the truth because the Bible says ye shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free. Once you come to the knowledge of the truth of salvation, you're made free, amen? But here it says that these particular people are ever learning but they're not able to come to that knowledge of the truth. So that means they can read the Bible cover to cover. You can send them sermons. You can debate with them. You can admonish them. You can just give them scripture after scripture. You can even have them memorize the entire Bible. And the Bible says here that they can be ever learning and still they will not come to the truth. Let's keep reading. Verse number 8, now as Janus and Jambres withstood Moses, so do these also resist the truth. So when these people are ever learning, do they really want to come to the knowledge of the truth? No, because the Bible says here that they resist the truth. Men of corrupt minds, oh, look what it says, reprobate concerning the faith. What does that mean? They're rejected because faith means a synonym for faith is belief, right? Reprobate concerning the faith, the faith to what? To believe. Okay. And I'll get back into 2 Timothy 3 in just a moment. Go back to 2 Peter chapter 2. So their faith is sealed. Their reprobate concerning the faith. Now, I want to just remind everybody that this is not the majority of the population. This is a select few, but unfortunately, these select few often have a lot of influence. You think of Joel Osteen, I mean, we mock him and stuff like that, but that guy is wicked as hell. He has a stadium of, I mean, someone throw out a number, does anybody know how many people attend his? 30,000, 60,000. Do I have 70,000? I'm just kidding. All right, in the tens of thousands, okay? You know, those people are damned. That's a lot of people he's taken with him to hell. He's going to be like sharing bunks with Judas, the scary hit, down in hell, you know what I mean? Talk about making your bed in hell. Yeah. He's bunk buddies with Judas down there. That's how wicked he is. He has a lot of influence. But it's one man who has deceived many, okay? But their fate is sealed, but a third characteristic is that they pervert the scriptures. Now, let me explain what that means. Look at verse number two. And many shall follow their pernicious ways, just as I just mentioned, by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of. Now, when it says that the truth shall be evil spoken of, that means they take the truth and they turn it into a what? A lie. They take scripture and because they're not just natural men, these are corrupt men. These are men of corrupt minds. They take the Bible and they twist it, because to pervert means to twist, to change the meaning thereof, to say something completely opposite of what it's actually saying. And God condemns a person who changes the word of God. To use certain scriptures for their own agenda to teach a false teaching is a very wicked act in the eyes of God. That seals your fate right there. When you take away from the word of God, when you add to, you know, we like to talk about taking away from the word of God, don't we? We talk about people who, like the editors of the NIV and so on and so forth, people who literally remove entire verses from the Bible. Well, how about the part where it says add to? That means they look at a verse and they actually add their own interpretation to that verse. You know, they that endure unto the end, the same shall be saved. See, you got to make sure you persevere if you want to be saved. That is a perversion of that text, okay? You know, for by grace are you saved through faith and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God. See, the gift of God is the faith, you know, by the Calvinists. You know, we mock that because we're saved and we understand that that's a stupid interpretation, but the people out there who are actually looking for the truth, that could actually deceive them. That's why God is ticked off because they're taking the scripture and they're corrupt and they're twisting it to making it say something, making it teach a damnable heresy. What is a damnable heresy? It's a false teaching that damns people to hell. You know, like when you say that Jesus Christ is not the eternal son of God, that's a damnable heresy. Let me see here. Go with me if you would to look down at verse 16. I'm going to read to you from Jude 4, verse 4 says, excuse me, Jude 4, verse 4, for there are certain men crept in unawares who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness and denying the only Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ. The Bible says in 2 Corinthians 2.17, for we are not as many which corrupt the word of God, but as of sincerity, but as of God in the sight of God speak we in Christ. Look at 2 Peter, I'm sorry, chapter 3, go to chapter 3 and verse 16 in 2 Peter. Just a page over. It says, as also in all his epistles, this is Peter speaking of Paul, speaking in them of these things in which are some things hard to be understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable rest as they do also the other scriptures unto their own destruction. So what is it saying here? That there are certain things that the apostle Paul wrote that were hard to be understood. These are what we would consider dark sayings. You may have run into some of these in the gospels, the parables, for example, in the book of Matthew that are dark sayings because you hear about the sermon being cast out into outer darkness, you run into certain scriptures that are very cryptic and they require a lot of study, to study to show thyself approved unto God. And here it says that what these false teachers will do is that they'll capitalize on those dark sayings, right? Those hard to be understood. And what will they do? They'll rest it, they'll twist it as they do also the other scriptures unto their own destruction. So they purposely look for the cryptic doctrine or teachings or scriptures in the Bible in order to twist it to make it sound what they want it to say. That's why it's not good to debate with the reprobate because here's the thing, you can give them a clear scripture and what will they do? They'll go to the cryptic scripture instead. You can give them John 3.16 but they're not satisfied with that because that's too clear. They need to go to the hard sayings. They need to go to the things hard to be understood because at that point, they can add their little interpretation to it and if you're not well versed in the Bible, they can cause doubt to you to doubt the word of God. It can cause you to say, man, I don't know how to interpret that, okay? Now go to Romans chapter one. Hold your place in second Peter. Look at Romans one verse 24 says, wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lust of their own hearts, to dishonor their own bodies between themselves who changed the truth of God into a lie and worshiped and served the creature more than the creator who is blessed forever, amen. These people, it says right there, they're changing the truth of God into a lie. They're making the word of God say something that it doesn't say. Now let me see if I should go into the, go to Jeremiah chapter 23. We got some time, amen? All right. Jeremiah 23, Jeremiah 23 verse 25 says here, I have heard what the prophet said that prophesy lies in my name, saying, I have dreamed, I have dreamed. Hey, this was before Martin Luther King, amen? So the same spirit that he had was the one right here in Jeremiah 23. Say I have dreamed. How long shall this be in the heart of the prophets that prophesy lies? Yea, they are prophets of the deceit of their own heart, which think to cause my people to forget my name by their dreams, which they tell every man to his neighbor, as their fathers have forgotten my name for bail. The prophet that hath a dream, let him tell a dream, and he that hath my word, let him speak my word faithfully. What is the chaff to the wheat, saith the Lord? Is not my word like as a fire, saith the Lord, and like a hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces? Therefore, behold, I am against the prophets, saith the Lord, that steal my words, everyone from his neighbor. Behold, I am against the prophets, saith the Lord, that use their tongues and say, he saith. Behold, I am against them that prophesy false dreams, saith the Lord, and do tell them and cause my people to err by their lies and by their lightness, yet I sent them not, nor commanded them, therefore shall they not profit this people at all, saith the Lord. Do you understand what it just said right here? It says that the false prophets use lightness. The New Testament refers to that as fair speeches, swelling words, and what does God say about the right prophet? That their word is like a fire, it's like a hammer that breaks, what is that, it's harsh. You see that? So before, you know, next time, don't get mad at me, you know, if I'm ripping face and I'm slobbering all over the place, you see the veins popping out of my head, because why? Because the Bible says right there, is not my word like as a fire, saith the Lord, and like a hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces, that's how my word needs to be preached, whereas these false prophets who are preaching lies, they use lightness. I love you, God loves you, he's not mad at you, don't judge, hey, we all have our flaws, you should not judge, judge, he that is spiritual, judges all things, the Bible says, you know, this is the distinction between a false teacher and a right prophet. God says, hey, hey, hey, before you preach my word, understand this, that my word is like a fire, my word is like a hammer, why, because it burns, why, because it smashes in pieces false doctrine. Whereas these false teachers and false prophets, they use lies, I've dreamed. That's the difference, that's what makes the difference right there, okay? That's why, you know, you should like hard preaching. Because at least you know I'm telling you the truth, yeah, but you say, the Bible says you should speak the truth in love, yeah, I'm loving you, therefore I'm telling you the truth. So the reason I'm telling you the truth is because it's coming from a heart that loves you. Okay, go back to 2 Peter chapter 2, I'm running out of time, and I still got two more points here. So we said there, and by the way, the Bible tells us that they will with vain words, vain words means that they're just trying to get something out of you, they're using swelling words, it sounds beautiful, right, like wow, I'm just so inspired, are you still an adultery? Yeah. You know? But I just, it's beautiful though. Are you still drunk? It's not helping anybody. But they go off from the congregation feeling happy-go-lucky, what is the fourth trait of a false prophet? They give lip service to make money, okay? Now you know, all false prophets are filled with all unrighteousness, but some false prophets just major in one sin more than the other. You have some false prophets that infiltrate a church for the sake of molesting children, you have another one that does it for the sake of making money. For the acclamations or whatever it may be, they have an ulterior agenda, and sometimes they differentiate between each other. One is to make money, one is to molest children, one is for both, okay? Look at verse 3, and through covetousness shall they with vain words make merchandise of you, whose judgment now of a long time lingereth not, and their damnation slumberth not. Skip down to verse 15, which have forsaken the right way and are gone astray, following the way of Balaam, the son of Bozor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness, but was rebuked for his iniquity, the dumbass speaking with man's voice forbade the madness of the prophet. So we see here that the false prophet loves the wages of unrighteousness. They love to make merchandise of people. They love to make money off of you. They love it when they take their three offerings, you know, Noel Jones over here in Los Angeles, taking three offerings, with one offering a mandatory $20 bill, mandatory, you know. They love that. The Bible says in Jude, verse 11, woe unto them, for they have gone in the way of Cain and ran greedily after the heir of Balaam for reward. Now I won't spend too much time on that, but an example of this in the Bible is Judas Iscariot, who no one would deny that he's a false teacher and a false prophet who's burning in the lowest hell. Now did the Bible record him teaching any false doctrine? No. He was probably teaching the right doctrine for three entire years, and that's why no one even suspected him. But the Bible tells us that he was a wicked person because he had the treasure, he had the money back. Let me read it to you. John 12, verse 4 says, then saith one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot, Simon, which should betray him, why was not this ointment sold for 300 pence and given to the poor? This he said not that he cared for the poor, but because he was a thief and had the bag and bear what was put there in, oh, whoa, hold on a second, John, you're judging that guy, man. Why are you calling? Are you saying like he's like a false teacher, a false prophet? Yeah. Yeah, but he's teaching right doctrine. Yeah, but he's a thief and a leader who is stealing. The Bible says that is a characteristic of a false prophet because they through covetousness shall with fain words make merchandise of you, they're going to make money off of you. They see you as dollar signs, okay? Now go back to 2 Peter and I'm going to give you this last point because I'm out of time. And there's so much more we can expound upon from 2 Peter chapter 2, but I'm giving you just the main traits here and this is an important trait. They despise authority. False teachers and false prophets hate having someone ruling over them. Now I don't know if you noticed, but the Christian life is about ruling. There's order all over the place. In the home, there's order. In church, there is order. Even in the Trinity, there is order because God is a God of authority. He esteems authority and he permeates it through every institution that he has established. Authority, okay? So these people, they actually hate it. They don't like authority. Why? Because just as God has placed authority to remind us of God's authority, they hate God, therefore they hate the authority that God has placed over them because it reminds them of God. Okay? Look at 2 Peter 2 verse 10, but chiefly, them that walk after the flesh in the lust of uncleanness and despise government. That doesn't mean like they despise the government of the United States. It just means that the ruling, the rulers, presumptuous are they, self-willed. That sounds a little familiar. They're not afraid to speak evil of dignities. Look, hey children, be afraid to talk back to your parents. I was afraid as an unsaved young man, I was scared to talk back to my mom. That's why. I was scared of my mom. I was fearful of my authorities. And the Bible says here that the trait of a false teacher is that they're not afraid to speak evil of dignities. They're not afraid to speak evil of their parents. They're not afraid to speak evil of the pastor. They're not afraid to speak evil of God. It doesn't cause any fear in them. They don't care. Why? Because they despise governments. You know what kind of young people we need in our church? Fearful young people of their authorities. See, I'm not talking about like, unless you're about to get it. I'm talking about fear. It's a good trait. Why? Because we need to fear God. We need to fear God, and the way we fear God is by fearing the authorities that He's given to us. So that means, young people, don't disrespect your parents. Don't roll your eyes at your parents. Don't mouth off to your parents. Yeah, but you know, my mom, my dad, they don't know. No, you don't know what you're talking about. You haven't lived that long in this world. Okay? You know, your mom birthed you. Your dad's providing for you. Respect them. Don't be like these who are not afraid to speak evil of dignities. Okay? Now, go to 2 Timothy chapter 3. All the parents are like, keep going, keep going, come on, come on, more, more. Park it. Shake that bush. Now, you know, when we think of someone who despised governments in the Bible, you think of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram, right? Who went up against Moses. You think of Miriam and Aaron, who also went up against Moses, but I'm gonna share a different example of someone who despised governments. Look at 2 Timothy 3 and verse 5, I'm gonna show you how this applies. It says here in verse 5, having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof from such turn away, for of this sort are they which creep into houses and lead captive, silly women laden with sins, led away with diverse lust, ever learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. Now as Janus and Jambres, excuse me, withstood Moses, so do these also resist the truth. Men of corrupt minds reprobate concern in the faith, but they shall proceed no further, for their folly shall be made manifest unto all men as theirs also was. I wanna use Janus and Jambres as an example of this. Now if you look them up, you won't find their names anywhere else in the Bible, but it is my personal opinion that this is actually referring to the magicians, Pharaoh's magicians in the book of Exodus, because they are the ones who withstood Moses. Now go to Exodus chapter 7, Exodus chapter 7. Now why is it that the Apostle Paul chooses to use Janus and Jambres as an example of reprobates, or people who despise governments? Well, we see here that they withstood Moses, and we're gonna see what the end result of that was, okay? Look at verse number 10 of Exodus chapter 7. And Moses and Aaron went in unto Pharaoh, and they did so as the Lord had commanded, and Aaron cast down his rod before Pharaoh and before his servants, and they became a serpent. This is an amazing miracle that stems from the hand of God. God said, look, you take the staff, you throw it down, turns into an anaconda or whatever, and this is the miracle that they're gonna see. This is the display of my power so that people can see this and know that you're from God, verse 11, then Pharaoh also called the wise men and the sorcerers. Now the magicians of Egypt, they also didn't like manner with their enchantments. For they cast down every man as rod, and they became serpents, but Aaron's rod swallowed up their rods. And look what it says, and he hardened Pharaoh's heart, that he hearkened not unto them as the Lord had said. And the Lord said unto Moses, Pharaoh's heart is hardened. He refused to let the people go. Now look, go down to verse 20. And Moses and Aaron did so as the Lord commanded, and he lifted up the rod, and smote the waters that were in the river in the sight of Pharaoh and in the sight of his servants, and all the waters that were in the river were turned to blood. And the fish that were in the river died, and the river stank, and the Egyptians could not drink of the water of the river. And there was blood throughout all the land of Egypt, and the magicians of Egypt did so with air enchantments, and Pharaoh's heart was hardened. Neither did he hearken unto them as the Lord had said. So notice that the magicians did the same exact thing that Moses did. But here's the difference. Though it was a serpent, this was a serpent, they had a form of godliness, but they denied the power thereof. Because we know that that was from Satan, that was not from God. And what was the result of this? The result is that Pharaoh's heart was hardened. What does that mean? He became a reprobate. Because God began to harden Pharaoh's heart. Why? Because Pharaoh rejected the truth when Moses came with the staff, when he came with the word of the Lord, when he said, Thus saith the Lord, let my people go. He resisted that. And what happened? He showed him the power, he denied it, and therefore we see the example in 2 Timothy chapter 3 that now as Janus and Jambres withstood Moses, so do these, referring to who? Those who are ever learning, never able to come to the knowledge of the truth, those who creep in unaware, those who have a form of godliness and deny the power thereof, as Janus and Jambres withstood Moses, so do these also resist the truth. The Bible says reprobate, men of corrupt minds, reprobate concerning the faith. Because the same result, the same outcome of Pharaoh is what these false teachers and false prophets want to do to people, to harden their heart. Now the point that I'm giving here though is the fact that Janus and Jambres, they hated government, they hated Moses' authority. So even in the midst of the miracle, I mean come on, if this guy were to come and he just dropped it, I was like, you know Pharaoh, I think he is from God, and I can't give my staff back because he just ate my snake. But over and over again, these amazing miracles, look, they gave them the truth, and the truth didn't help. In fact, it caused them to be more hardened. What did they do when they were given the truth? They came back with another miracle, so-called, another magic trick. It wasn't like, oh man, maybe, yeah, you're right, you are from God. No, it's just like, no, we can do exactly what you just did. It's like when you debate with the reprobate, and you give them a scripture, right? And they just come out with some obscure scripture, and they just want to continue to argue with it. What are they doing? They are resisting the truth that you're giving to them. So we're out of time, I'm completely over time here. What is the message today? When you look out for these traits, not be suspicious of everyone, but understand that in the years to come, because Lord willing, we'll be here for decades on end, until I die and someone else who is qualified takes over, or until Christ comes back, you know, false prophets and false teachers will arise. And when they do, we need to open up Second Peter chapter two and be reminded of these things. Don't judge. No, we're going to judge. Okay. I just don't appreciate. You better get in the Bible. You better start getting in the word of God. Because if you're not in the Bible enough, then you probably are not even qualified to judge. Because the Bible says, he that is spiritual judgeth all things. That means they understand what the Bible actually says about these topics. Amen? Let's pray our hands in the name of the word of prayer, Father.