(Disclaimer: This transcript is auto-generated and may contain mistakes.) Amen. All right, Matthew chapter 16. So just to start off before we get into Matthew chapter 16, let me say this. So Matthew chapter 16, so as we're going through these chapters, one thing that I'm trying to do, and I'm hoping I'm getting better at it, is it's really easy when you preach through these chapters in Matthew chapter whatever, one, two, three, four, five, to pick a story and kind of go off on an application or something like that. But I never want to miss the overall theme of the chapter. So I mean, this is a Bible study, right? We're learning what the Bible actually says. This isn't really just for me to get up here and tell you interesting applications, which you know, that should be, hopefully, I can be interesting every now and then. But the point is, we're trying to get the overall theme of what's happening, what's being taught across as well, okay? And let me just say this about Matthew chapter 16. The overarching theme of Matthew chapter 16 is this. The overarching theme of Matthew chapter 16 is who Jesus is, okay? That's the whole kind of what's happening here, okay? It's just this idea of who Jesus is. It starts off right away with the Pharisees causing these problems because they're trying to, you know, get Jesus to say who He is and, you know, show them who He is or get Him to at least say it out loud. And I mean, really, you know, this idea of who Jesus is is really what got Him physically killed in this world when you think about it, all right? When you just think that through. But Matthew chapter 16 is a very interesting chapter because that is kind of the focus, the overall theme. There's lots of different things happening, but that's the main theme of the whole chapter. All right? So with that in mind, let's continue, let's start preaching through Matthew chapter 16. Look at verse number one. Like I said, the Pharisees also with the Sadducees came and tempting desired Him that He would show them a sign from heaven. And He answered and said to them, when it is evening, you say it will be fair weather for the sky is red and in the morning it will be foul weather today for the sky is red and lowering. Oh, you hypocrites, you can discern the face of the sky, but you cannot discern the signs of the times. Do you understand what Jesus is saying here? Here's what He's saying. I mean, they're like, show us a sign. What has Jesus been doing? What have we been talking about for the entire chapter of Matthew? He's feeding 5,000 people with a couple pieces of bread. He's been doing all these miracles. He's been healing people left and right. And these guys are like, show us a sign, man. He's like, what? He's like, are you guys a bunch of morons? He's like, you guys can predict, you look at the weather and say, oh, it looks like rain tomorrow. He's like, you can see that coming, but you got this guy sitting here doing all these miracles in front of you. He's feeding all these thousands of people. He's doing miracles left and right. Everybody's talking about all the miracles that he's doing. It's well known. And they're like, show us a sign. He's like, he's irritated. So look, he's like, hello. And then these are the people that are supposed to know all the prophecies. They're supposed to know all the foreshadowing. When you read Hebrews, it's all about foreshadowing Jesus from things that were in the Old Testament. These are the people that should have this figured out. These are the people that should be like, oh, yeah, that's what this is, oh, it's all coming together, here he is, it's the Messiah. These are the people, and he's like, right over your head. He's like, show us a sign. He's like, what in the world? They missed the whole thing. So I mean, he's irritated. And then he says, you know, you say, is he irritated? Look at verse 4. A wicked and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign, and there shall be no sign given unto it but the sign of the prophet Jonas. Turn back to Matthew 12. And he left them and departed. So look, he didn't try to convince them. He's like, you've seen enough, you're never going to get it, I've said enough. You're not going to get it. He's to the point where he doesn't even want them to get it, remember? He's like, nah, you've seen enough. Look at verse 12. He talks about the sign of the prophet Jonas in verse 12. He's already explained this. In verse 12, look at verse 40, chapter 12, verse 40. For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale's belly, so shall the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. They're pushing him in this chapter to say who he is too. So look at, go back to Matthew chapter 16, verse number 5. So they were asking him, they're pushing him to try to get him to, you know, do a sign or do something. He's like, forget it. You're not going to get it. You've seen enough. Look at verse 5. And when his disciples were come to the other side, they had forgotten to take bread. Then Jesus said unto them, take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the Sadducees. So here he's warning his disciples now. Now he's left the Pharisees and the Sadducees and he's just warning his disciples about these people. And they reasoned among themselves saying, it is because we have taken no bread. You know, they didn't get it. Which Jesus, when Jesus perceived, he said unto them, O ye of little faith, why reason ye among yourselves because ye have brought no bread? Do ye not understand, neither remember the five loaves of the five thousand and how many baskets ye took up, neither the seven loaves of the four thousand and how many baskets ye took up? How is it that ye do not understand that I spake it not to you concerning bread, that ye should beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees? Then understood they how that he bade them not beware of the leaven of the bread, but of the doctrine of the Pharisees and the Sadducees. So there they got it. He's talking about false doctrine of the Pharisees and the Sadducees. So he's comparing it. It's a great comparison. He's comparing it to leaven, right? He's comparing it to leaven, which is, leaven is yeast, right? So if you've ever baked bread, which I have never baked bread, but you know, you can read about it and watch people do it, right? But basically, the yeast is what, you know, makes the bread fluffy. It's what makes the bread rise. And the thing about leaven is you can keep making more leaven. You don't have to buy more leaven. You can keep growing more. You just add flour and water. So I've read and more leaven creates itself. It's a bacteria, basically, all right? It grows. Leaven will grow. So it's a great turn to Luke chapter 22 in verse number one. Look at Luke 22 in verse number one, the Bible says, Now the feast of unleavened bread drew nigh, which is called the Passover. So look, the Passover feast was to use, we're not going to preach through it, but is to use unleavened bread. Leaven in the Bible many times was used to describe sin. It was used as an analogy to describe sin. And in this case, you know, underneath that sin header, we're talking about false doctrine in this case, okay? And it's an uncleanness. That's why they were to eat unleavened bread. So unleavened bread, you know, will be like a flat bread or this, you know, bread that's not fluffy, you know, it doesn't have the reaction of the carbon dioxide or whatever happens, right? Not a chemist or a cook. So but it's something that signifies uncleanness in the Bible, it signifies sin, and it's something that leaven is such a great analogy because it spreads. And it can just create, it can recreate itself. So he's warning them about this leaven, about this doctrine of the Pharisees, all right? Go to Galatians chapter 5, and I'll just read you one more verse. Look at Galatians chapter 5. And then keep your place in Galatians because we're going to go back to Galatians quite a bit during the sermon. But look at Galatians chapter 5 in verse number 9, and we see this idea that leaven can spread and it can, it can really cause problems. Remember it says in a very simple verse here, a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump, meaning a little bit of false doctrine gets in somewhere, and it can just spread and just wreck the whole lump. And we'll talk about that later, okay? Go back to Matthew chapter 16. Now, let's go back to our theme. What's the theme of Matthew chapter 16? Let's remember the theme here. It's that who Jesus is, it's this fact that Jesus is the Messiah, right? The Pharisees, the Sadducees, you know, they don't believe it, alright? Look at verse 13. When Jesus came into the coasts of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples saying, whom do men say that I the Son of Man am? And they said, some say that thou art John the Baptist, some Elias, Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets. He sayeth unto them, but whom say ye that I am? And Simon Peter answered and said, thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. Turn to John chapter 8. And Jesus answered and said unto him, blessed art thou Simon Barjona, for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto you, but my Father which is in heaven. Look at John chapter 8, and look at verse number 19, where the Bible says, then said they unto him, where is thy Father? Jesus answered, ye neither know me nor my Father. If ye had known me, ye should also have known my Father also. If ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also. So here we see Jesus, so we see that Matthew 16, 17 matches perfectly with this idea that Jesus says if you know the Father, you'll know me, and vice versa. If you know me, you'll know the Father. If you know Jesus, it's because you knew the Father, you see? It's the same thing. So basically, the Pharisees, the Sadducees, they didn't believe in the Father. Because if they believed in the Father, if they believed in the true God, God the Father, they would have known that he was the Son, that he was the Messiah, you see? So that's the connection. So that's why he says in verse number 17, he said, flesh and blood, it's not that you're just smart, Peter, it's not that you just figured it out when these other guys figured it out. My Father revealed it to you. Because you believed the Father, you believed in me, see? So I mean, it's a nice little connection there, doctrine, right? There's some doctrine. Now let's look at this idea because I've heard this idea several times over my life that, you know, not from Christians, not from saved people, that Jesus never claimed he was the Messiah. You ever heard people say that? Did you know that Jesus never claimed that he was actually the Messiah? People say that all the time. Turn to John chapter 10. So I mean, first of all, Peter just said, thou art the Christ. And Jesus said to him, blessed art thou that God has shown you that. I mean, you know what I mean? So turn to John chapter 10. John chapter 10. Here's another good thing about like reading through the Bible, just reading through chapters in the Bible, books in the Bible is, you know, a lot of times we get stuck with, we quote verses, especially if you're a soul winner, you're going to go out and you're going to quote John 10, 28, like a million times, right? But it's always good to just keep yourself reading through the Bible, so you always kind of remind yourself of the context of those verses and where those verses came about and why they were applied the way they were, right? It just gives you that overarching context, just like Matthew 16, you know, that overarching theme of Matthew 16 is Jesus being the Messiah, okay? That's the theme of Matthew 16. Look at John chapter 10. Look at verse, well first of all, let me just give you John chapter 10 up to verse 24. He's basically speaking in parables and analogies. He's talking about, you know, he's the shepherd that went through this door and then he got in the door and he gathered up the sheep and he led them out the door and the sheep, they heard his voice and they recognized his voice, but then, you know, they won't recognize the voice of a stranger, he says. He's giving all these sheep analogies, right? And look, I'm not going to go off on sheep, but he's giving all these sheep analogies were great analogies because like a lamb can recognize the voice of its mother, it's amazing. We had hundreds of lambs and the mothers would find their lamb in just a few minutes just by the sound of the lamb's voice and the mom's voice, they would just find each other. It's a great analogy. So Jesus is using all these analogies with sheep and a shepherd and the voice and all that stuff, right? You know, they will not follow another, that, you know, the shepherd will sacrifice himself for the sheep. He says in John 10, you know, that, you know, a hirelings, a hired hand will not sacrifice himself for the sheep. When a wolf comes, the hired hand is going to run because he doesn't really care about the sheep, right? But the real true shepherd will care about the sheep. Now look, we read that and we're like, this is great. We're saved. We know Jesus is the Messiah. We're reading that and we're like, this is great. And the Pharisees though, they're just so confused, right? They're so confused because they don't understand what he's saying. So in verse number 24, this is what they say. They say, then came the Jews round about him and said unto him, how long does thou make us to doubt? If thou be the Christ, tell us plainly. I mean, he's going through all these analogies and parables and all this stuff, like I just explained to you. And they're like, just tell us if you're the Christ. I mean, can you just say yes or no, check the box, right? I mean, they're just confused. But then look at John 10 25 and Jesus answers them. So after going through all these parables and them asking this question is when we get into the verses we've read so many times. He says, Jesus answered them. I told you and ye believed not, he said, I already told you. So if you come up to me and say, Hey, you know, is your name Jared? And I'm like, I already told you that. Am I not saying you know, my name's Jared? The works that I do in my father's name, they bear witness of me. He's saying he's doing and then then they're asking for a sign. Think of it. He's like the works that I do, the miracles, all these things. They tell you that I'm the Christ. They bear witness of me. But ye believe not, because you're not of you are not of my sheep, as I said unto you, he goes back to the parable, my sheep hear my voice, and I know them and they follow me. My sheep are those you know, he's talking about those that believe on him that they know, and then john 10 28, and I give unto them eternal life, they shall never perish neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My father, which gave them me is greater than all and no man is able to pluck them out of my father's hand. Then you're like, you're like, but he still really hasn't said, Oh, I and my father are one. He just claimed to be God. I mean, he just claimed deity right there, john 10 30. I and my father are one. He's like, Hello, I'm God, I am the Messiah, you don't believe it. I've told you you don't believe it, john 10 31. Then the Jews took up stones to stone him. So I mean, he's like, you wanted to know I just told you they're like, let's kill him. Jesus answered, many good works have I shown you from my father, for which of those works do you stone me? And the Jews answered him. So you say maybe they didn't understand, right, maybe they didn't understand, maybe he was too cryptic. They understood exactly what he said. Look at verse 33. The Jews answered him saying for a good work, we stone thee not, but for blasphemy, because that thou being a man, make us thyself God. The Jews knew exactly what Jesus was talking about. They knew exactly what he said. They didn't confuse anything. They just didn't believe it. They knew that he claimed to be God. They knew that he claimed to be the Messiah. They just didn't believe it. They didn't believe that it was true. All right, go to john five, we could do this all night long, we'll do we'll do like one more. Okay, we'll do two more. john five and verse number 17. Look at what the Bible says here. But Jesus answered them, my father worketh hitherto and I work. For the Jews sought the more to kill him because he had not only broken the Sabbath, but said also that God was his father, making himself equal with God. Again in john eight, turn to john eight, in the temple now he's in the temple. And in john eight, in verse number 23, the Bible says, and he said unto them, ye are from beneath, I mean, I am from above, ye are of this world, I am not of this world. I said, therefore, unto you that you shall die in your sins, for if he believed not that I am he, ye shall die in your sins. He basically said, I am from above you are from below. He said, I am not of this world. He is telling them, I am the Messiah, I am equal with God. You know, the arguments ridiculous, right? I mean, look, it's the reason in john chapter five, it's the reason that they sought more to kill him, because he made himself equal with God. The reason that they sought to kill him is because they knew exactly what he was saying. There was no confusion, right? So people shouldn't be confused today, but people are going to be confused today. Right? I mean, the Pharisees and the Sadducees back then were confused. Go back to Matthew chapter 16. So that was a fun little side trail. Let's get back to the chapter. Matthew chapter 16, look at verse number 18, where the Bible says, and I say also unto thee, so here he's just, he's just kind of given Peter some praise for hey, you know, my God, you know, you, you're blessed for knowing that, you know, God, the Father has shown you that that's why you know that then he says, also unto thee thou art Peter and upon this rock, I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. Now, I know I've preached through this before, but turn to First Corinthians chapter 10. Let's look at just one thing very quickly. So this is the importance, by the way, of knowing what you're reading. Because the actual I mean, you know, the Catholics are like, oh, the rock is Peter, and he's the pope and all this. And even if look, even if he was saying that Peter was the rock, the pope, what, there's nothing it's, it's, it's completely made up. It's out of nowhere. But look, it makes sense. When you look at the theme of the chapter, when you look at the theme of the chapter of Jesus being the Messiah, you understand that that is the truth that he is talking about that he's going to build his church on. It's that truth that I am the rock that this church will be built on the fact that I am the Christ period. That fact that Peter just confessed with his mouth is what is going to be what the church will be built on. Look, it's what this church is built on. This church isn't built on Peter. The Bible doesn't teach anything about a church being built on Peter, but it teaches that church should be built on Christ. Right? I mean, look at 1 Corinthians chapter 10 and verse 4. It doesn't make any sense if you apply the rock to Peter here, right? Verse number 4. And the Bible says, And did all drink the same spiritual drink, for they drank the, they drank of that spiritual rock that followed them, and that rock was Christ. Look, I mean, Romans 9, you know, Psalm 118, I mean, it's all the rock is Jesus. The rock is Jesus Christ, all right? The chief cornerstone, we can go on and on and on about Jesus being the rock, all right? Psalm 89, 26, He shall cry unto me, Thou art my Father, my God, and the rock of my salvation. It's not Peter, it's Jesus, okay? All right, so he's talking about this idea. So don't you think it's important to know, look, kids, do your book reports, all right? When you read a book, do book reports, homeschool kids, because it's important to understand what you're reading. It's important to be reading something and to understand the context that you are in at that time, right? Like I'm reading a book and I'm in this context of this book, so things make more sense when certain things happen, see? So it's important to understand the context of what we're reading. That's why you can't just grab Bible verses, because you're going to mix something up. If you don't understand, you know, the context of what the Bible's actually saying, okay? Go back to Matthew chapter 16. Look at verse 19, where the Bible says, And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. Then charge thee the disciples that they should tell no man that he was Jesus the Christ. So I mean, again, right? I mean, he's like, don't tell anybody, don't tell anybody that my, you know, my name is Jared. Did I just tell you that my name is Jared, right? So I mean, it's a stupid thing that people say that have never read the Bible, right? I mean, how many people have you met that aren't saved, that don't have never been in church? They're like, oh, I've read the Bible. I've read the whole thing. It's not true. Like liar, no way you're going to read a book, you're going to get three pages in if you're really, really determined, you're going to get three pages in, and you're gonna be like, this makes no sense to me, right? So I mean, I can't tell you how many people lie about that, too. But anyway, all right, Matthew chapter 16. So Jesus basically says, don't tell anyone that I am the Christ, because he doesn't, you know, look, that's what's going to get him killed. He's got more preaching to do, more teaching to do, more things to fulfill, okay? So look at verse 21. But now these guys know everyone's on the same page. So he starts revealing some things to them. And it says, from that time forth began Jesus to show unto his disciples, how that he must go on to Jerusalem and suffer many things of the elders, and the chief priests and scribes and be killed and raised on the third day. Then Peter took him and began to rebuke him saying, be it far from the Lord, this shall not be unto thee. But he turned and said unto Peter, get thee behind me, Satan, thou art an offense to me, for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men. So Peter was getting in the flesh, he doesn't want to see, like, I mean, Peter wasn't being a horrible human being here. He's just like saying, I don't want you to die, Jesus, right? But Jesus is saying, no, there's something that's bigger than just your feelings here. There's something that's bigger than just, you know, you being sad that I die. It's like it's the whole world is dependent on the whole, the eternity of every single person that has ever lived depends on me doing what I have to do. So you don't know what you're saying, right? Look at verse 24. Then Jesus said unto the disciples, if any man will come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it, whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it. For what is a man profited if he shall gain the whole world and lose his soul? For what shall a man give in exchange for his soul? For the Son of Man shall come in glory of his Father with his angels and then he shall reward every man according to his works. Verily I say unto you, there be some standing here which shall not taste of death till they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom. Now that right there is a verse that is a little bit confusing. When you look at what he's talking about here and he's talking about in verse 27 that the Son of Man is going to come in glory, so he's revealing some extra things to them. He's revealing them basically prophecy of what's going to happen because to them, even him dying is prophecy, right? Him dying on the cross is something that hasn't happened yet. He's showing them the future. He's showing them what's going to happen. So in verse 27, he's telling them even more prophecy. He's saying the Son of Man is going to come in his glory of God the Father with his angels and he shall reward every man according to his works. Verily I say unto you, there be some standing here which shall not taste of death till they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom. That's a pretty clear statement. So who's he talking to? Who's standing there? The Pharisees and the Sadducees are gone. It's just the disciples standing there. And he basically says that there will be some of you who will not die until you see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom. What does this mean? Turn page over, or just one chapter over, to Matthew 17. Now here is the general consensus on what he means here. And this is what I believe too, and this is what, of course, Pastor believes as well. Look at Matthew 17 and verse number 1. Immediately after this happens, look what takes place. And after six days Jesus taketh Peter, James, and John his brother, and bringeth them up unto a high mountain apart. So here we see that Peter, James, and John go with Jesus up to this mountain. And the Bible says, and was transfigured before them, and his face did shine as the sun, his raiment was white as light, and behold there appeared unto them Moses and Elias talking with him. So here you have Jesus, he's transfigured, he's turned into his glorified state, which we see elsewhere in the Bible. Turn to Revelation chapter 1. I'm going to keep reading for you a couple more verses here. But the Bible says, and behold there appeared unto them Moses and Elias, then answered Peter and saith unto Jesus, Lord, it is good for us to be here. If thou wilt, let us make their three tabernacles, one for thee, one for Moses, and one for Elias. For all ye yet spake, behold a bright cloud overshadowed them, and behold a voice out of the cloud, which said, This is my beloved son, in whom I am well pleased, hear ye him. And when the disciples heard it, they fell on their face, and were sore afraid. I mean, this was the voice of the Father. And Jesus came and touched them, and said, Arise, and be not afraid. When they lifted up their eyes, they saw no man save Jesus only. And they came down from the mountain, and Jesus charged them, saying, Tell the vision to no man, until the Son of Man be risen again from the dead. So they saw Jesus in his glorified state here. He was, he was transfigured. Transfigured means to be changed into a higher state, into a more beautiful or a better state, you know, as opposed to disfigured, which would be a lower state, right? Look at Revelation chapter one. This is what they saw. This is who they saw. In Revelation chapter one, in verse number 14, the Bible describes in more detail the glory Jesus in his glorified state here. It says his head and his hairs were white like wool, as white as snow, and his eyes were as a flame of fire, and his feet like undefined brass, as if they burned in a furnace, and his voice as the sound of many waters. So look, there's this Jesus who was the man on earth, and then there's Jesus in his glorified state. And the funny thing is, is Jesus in his glorified state is actually described in some decent detail in the Bible, so you would think that like the fake Jesus paintings would be closer to that, at least, right? I mean, if you're going to make a fake painting of somebody, at least, you know, listen to what the Bible's saying, and paint him in his glorified state. But this is the Jesus that they saw when he was transfigured in front of them, and he was standing with Moses and Elijah. Turn to 1 Thessalonians chapter three. So here's Jesus in his glorified state, which is the state Revelation tells us that Jesus will be in when he comes back. I mean, that's, this is what Jesus will look like when he comes back. And who is he standing with? He's standing with Moses and Elijah, Old Testament saints. He's also standing with James, John, and Peter, New Testament saints. Look at 1 Thessalonians chapter three and verse 13, where the Bible says, to the end that he may establish your hearts unblameable in holiness before God, even our Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, what? With all his saints, Old Testament saints and New Testament saints. So look, this is the picture, the fulfillment of what Jesus said in chapter 16, that they will not die until they've seen Jesus coming in his glory. This was it. This was a picture of Jesus coming in his glory. It was a foreshadowing of that event. Jesus in his glorified state, he's standing there with New Testament saints and Old Testament saints. And look, I mean, there's no other options, really, for what he could have been talking about. When you think about it, there's no other options that make any sense, other than, you know, I'm just not really sure, I guess that could be a position, which, you know, that's fine. If you're just like, I'm just not really sure. Or, you know, I'm sure there's somebody that has this belief of, you know, that these guys are still walking around today. I mean, that James and John and Peter are still alive. I mean, there's probably like, as when we've studied all the Mormons and Jehovah's Witnesses, and I'm sure there's got to be some kind of cult that thinks that Old Testament saints are still alive, right? And that you have to build me a mansion so I can live in it, and then they'll come visit me, right? So I just take notes on this stuff. Look, it's a picture. So this was the fulfillment of, and look, I don't think it's an accident that, you know, it happens right after he says it, right? I mean, it just answers it for us right there, right? I mean, it's great. So that Matthew chapter 16 is basically the theme of Jesus being the Messiah and telling us who He is, right? He just clears up all doubt, as He does in many other places in the Bible that we looked at a little bit. But as an application tonight, I want to look at this idea that He told the disciples to be careful of. Be careful. He's like, beware of the leaven of the Pharisees. That's what I want to apply this evening. What He was talking about was false doctrine. He was telling them, it spreads, it's dangerous, beware of it. He's basically telling the disciples, He was irritated with the Pharisees and Sadducees, He just got away from them. But then He told them, and He even talks about, you know, the church in this chapter. He tells them, look, beware of this, it's dangerous. You're going to deal with it. So let's look at this idea of false doctrine, just the general idea. We're not going to go through specific false doctrines, but let's look at the idea of the danger of false doctrine. All right? Turn to 2 Peter in chapter 2. So I want to break it down into like two categories for you tonight. I understand you could probably break it into more categories than just two, but let's keep it simple. All right? Let's break it down into two categories. You know, we'll talk about, you know, we'll talk about damnable heresy first. And then we'll just talk about some, you know, doctrinal, you know, other doctrinal problems other than that. But let's look at damnable heresy first. Look at 2 Peter chapter 2. Look at verse number 1. The Bible says, But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction. And many shall follow their pernicious ways, by the reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of. And through covetousness they shall with feigned words make merchandise of you, whose judgment now of long time lingereth not, and their damnation slumbereth not. So right away he says, like, look, he's like, these people are going to be damned, that's for sure. These false prophets that are bringing in damnable heresies, you know, Galatians chapter 1 says the same thing. We'll look at that in a minute. But look, he's saying that people will come in amongst you to teach damnable heresy. I mean, that's kind of scary. He said they're going to come in and, you know, they're going to teach doctrine that's going to keep people from salvation. That's damnable heresy, right? Damnable heresy is heresy that if it's taught to someone, it will keep them from the gospel. It's not the true gospel, right? So that's damnable heresy. Now look, turn to Galatians chapter 1. And it says, you know, he doesn't only say that they'll come in, but he says people are going to follow them. He's like, people are going to listen to them and follow them. And you know, typically, you know, what's it for? So they can make merchandise of you. So they can get money, right? It's for themselves. It's for vanity and money. They're going to make merchandise of you. So you say that will never happen in a good church, you say, right? Well turn to Galatians chapter 1. Well spend some time in Galatians, because guess what? It happened there. It happened in Galatians. Look at Galatians chapter 1 in verse number 6. And Paul says, I marvel that you're so, he's like, I'm shocked that you're so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel, which is not another, but there be some that trouble you and would pervert the gospel of Christ. But though we, he's saying, look, he's like, listen, if we, look, he's already taught these people. He's already been there preaching the gospel to these people. He's like, I'm shocked of what I hear. Somebody came in, Paul was there, they were there, they preached the gospel to these people. They left. And then they're hearing that somebody has come in and is teaching all this stuff. And he says, he's like, but listen, he says, listen, though we or an angel from heaven preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed. Let him be damned. Let him go to hell. As we say before, so I now say again, if any man preach any other gospel unto you other than you have received, let him be accursed. He's saying, listen, listen, maybe I should have said this the first time. If anybody comes back, including myself, and preaches something different than you've just heard, let them be damned. Let them be accursed, he says. But false prophets came in and perverted the gospel. They followed them. And they followed these false prophets. So look, serious heresy like this is something that needs to be guarded against. If I mean, look, I'm not all about, you know, a rat ship or something like that, you know, but I mean, look, if somebody is in this church, going around spreading a different gospel, you know, that is something that needs to be brought up. Because that is something that will send people to hell. That is something that it will spread like heaven. That's what Jesus was talking about. Right? And look, the Bible says it will come in. You know, it's not here, hopefully. It's not here. But look, it will come in. I mean, as the church grows, we will have these problems. These things will come in. So just I mean, don't be offended when it happens. But we need to be on guard for it. Right? Look, we don't need to be paranoid. But we need to be like, what the Bible says, just be watching for it. All right. So that's damnable heresy. But what about things that are just less serious? You say, you know, I mean, there's a lot of doctrine in the Bible, right? I mean, there's a lot of doctrine that doesn't really pertain to the gospel. Okay, look, I had a friend in I just thought of this just now I had a probably my best friend that I went to church with in North Dakota, he didn't believe that Jesus went to hell. He didn't believe Jesus went to hell. The guy was as saved as the day was long. But he went see, here's the here's the thing with Bible prophecy and me. Here's why I'm such a great test case for Bible prophecy, because I was like a blank slate when I got saved when it came to Bible prophecy, because Lutherans talk nothing about Bible prophecy. They don't understand anything about Revelation, they steer away from it. I've never met a Lutheran pastor that's like, let's study Revelation, they don't understand it. They're just like, it already happened. That's that's what they do. It's a cop out, right? And we think most of that's already done. That way I don't have to read it. So I was pretty much a blank slate. I didn't know anything about end times. I read all the left behind books because like, I was just thirsty for that type of stuff. But I mean, I knew that wasn't doctrine, wasn't a moron. So look, I was kind of a blank slate. So I listened to you know, both sides, like the pre-trib thing, the pre-trib, post-trib, pre-wrath debate, right? Look, that is something that was pretty clear to me when I saw one side and I saw the other side because I was never actually able to find anybody who could completely explain in a decent way the pre-trib thing to me according to what the Bible said. It was such this convoluted path through the Bible and it led, the worst thing about it is it leads into other things like dispensationalism and some real serious doctrine problems, right? So there is that about minor doctrinal issues is they can turn into major things, right? Because it's what? It's what? Leaven that grows, right? But these smaller things on their face, you know, look, the guy was saved. He didn't believe, you know why he believed that Jesus didn't go to hell? Because the Bible college that he went to for five years to get his Master of Divinity degree, the head of that Bible college didn't teach that. So he had that in his mind and there's nothing I was going to tell him, so we just really didn't talk about it because I didn't really feel like arguing about it and like, whatever. You know what I mean? It wasn't keeping the guy from believing that Jesus, you know, he believed on the Lord Jesus Christ, period. All right? So look, there is less, I mean, so there's doctrinal differences, there's small doctrinal differences maybe, you know, will we, will you and I, you know, agree on everything for the rest of our lives? I hate to break it to you, but probably not. Probably not. Look, I mean, End Times Prophecy is a great one, right? I mean, this whole thing that happened in the last few months made me realize that there's probably a lot that everybody doesn't know about End Times Prophecy as far as how it's all going to play out. Like, you may think that, you know, the two witnesses are, you know, Moses and Elijah and I think, you know, they're like somebody else, right? Not an issue. Not a big deal, right? Those are things that, you know, the 144,000, maybe somebody has a different opinion. Babylon, maybe someone has a different opinion. Those are things that, you know, they're not, people have different ideas on how that's all going to play out. Those aren't damnable heresies, right? We get people, we get people that have come to us, my wife and I, that go to other churches since we moved here. And they're like, this, they teach this at this church and they teach this at that church and just, and I'll be honest with you, I really don't want to hear it. Here's what you have to do, right? For those types of people, what you have to do, and they're all things, they're not gospel things. They're not, you know, is Jesus the Messiah? They're not grace through faith. They're not repenting your sins. It's not works-based salvation. It's not those types of issues. It's small things, right? It's End Times Prophecy stuff. It's all these different things. Sunday school, right, look, those are things I feel strongly about. But look, if you feel strongly about those things, you need to draw a line in your life and you need to say that this is something that is a line for us. We're not going to put our kids in Sunday school because the Bible doesn't teach that. That's a line for us. Maybe that's not a line for somebody else. So either draw that line and go to a church that fits your doctrine or shut up. I mean, don't like cause problems in church. Don't go to, you know, stay in some church and just, you know, just beat the pastor to death on, you know, the pre-trib rapture. If it's a line for you, look, if you want to make that a line in your family, men, make the line. Then don't do that to some pastor. It's not right to do that, right? So you're not, you know, don't try to change and go around passing out stuff to people and just make, I mean, look, that will cause a small issue to be a big issue. Just draw your lines and just make your decisions. It's the better way to do it, right? So look, I mean, but here's another thing. If you do have a doctrinal issue, like say that you have something that you think to two witnesses are this and I think the two witnesses are this or whatever, I mean, you should be able to go talk to your pastor about it. You should be able to come talk to, you know, me about it and look, 99% of the time that should solve it because look, if I believe something that I can't really explain very well, that's not a good thing, but there may be a situation where maybe some pastor does believe something that he can't explain very well and he's not going to change his mind on it. Just decide if that's a deal breaker for you or not and make that decision. That's the right thing to do, all right? So be quiet or, you know, if you're not convinced, be quiet or be gone, but, you know, you should have an open door relationship with the leader of the church, the pastor of the church, right? So just decide what your deal breakers are and go from there, right? Spreading something around a church that is against the pastor is not right. I mean, you got a saved guy there that's got the right gospel, you know, he's not one of these damned-able heretics, right? He's not a damned-able heretic. He's a saved guy, he probably grew up in a house, he's got these cultural things. That's how we end up with these small different doctrines because we're all like geared with these cultural things that we grew up with or the Bible college that we went to. I just happen to be a blank slate in most areas like that, so I mean it worked out well in that case, but, you know, it's going to happen, right? So that's just a couple thoughts on false doctrine, but let me get back to the Galatians real quickly and let's just end on this. Let me talk to you about this paradox of the Galatians and I've talked about this in Bible studies in my family for a long time and I just want to give you some things to think about here because look, here you had a bunch of Galatians that had received, had had the gospel preached to them, right? And supposedly got saved, right? And then you had somebody come in and preach false doctrine and they followed that false doctrine, like damned-able heresy stuff. Yeah, we'll see what that was, right? So it's a paradox when you think about it. It's a paradox to think, you know, so what is a paradox, first of all? A paradox is something that at first glance seems to not make sense, but it kind of has a point, okay? It seems at first glance to be contradictory. Let me give you a couple examples. A statement that says save money by spending it. That's kind of a, that's a paradoxical statement, right? But if you're going out and you're buying something that holds value, you're spending your money on something that holds value, you know, not Cheetos and video games, you know? But look, if you're buying something that holds value, you're saving your money, right? I brought up Animal Farm a few weeks ago. All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others. That's a paradoxical statement, but it has a point to it, right? You understand the point that it's trying to make because you can't be more equal, right? So look, here's the paradoxical statement of the Galatians. It's this. How much false doctrine, and I've thought about this question for years and years and years and I'm going to give you the answer. I'm going to close the logical loop for you tonight, so put your thinking caps on, alright? How much false doctrine can you believe and still be saved? You ever think about that? How much false doctrine can you fall into and still be saved? Once saved, always saved, right? I mean, don't we believe that? Isn't that what the Bible teaches? So it's a paradox to think of a saved person who got that way believing the Gospel to fall into a false Gospel. That's a paradox, right? So here we go. The Galatians, turn to Galatians chapter 3. Somebody came in and started teaching works-based salvation. Because what does it always come down to, really? It always comes down to works, right? We know that, right? And look at Paul in verse number 1 of Galatians chapter 3. O foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched you that ye should not obey the truth before whose eyes Jesus Christ had been evidently set forth, crucified among you? This only would I learn of you, received ye the Spirit by the... This only would I learn of you, received ye... Now he asks a question, okay? Received ye the Spirit by the works of the law or by the hearing of faith? He's like, how did you get saved? Did you get saved by the law or by faith? So he's kind of preaching the Gospel to him again right here, right? Verse 3. Are ye so foolish, having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh? So he's saying, you know, you began with the right Gospel in the Spirit, he's like, are you now made perfect by the flesh, the law, right? Verse number 4. And he says, have ye suffered so many things in vain, if it be yet in vain? So he's basically saying here, he's saying, are you guys even saved? It's kind of what he's saying there, right? He's like, are you guys even saved? He's like, you're getting persecuted for your faith? And he's like, has it been all in vain because you're not even saved? Is what he's saying. And look, here's another thing, here's another thing. He's not saying, hey Bob, what's up man? He's not talking to an individual here. And that's important, right? He's saying, hey, foolish Galatians. He's talking to them as a whole, right? He's talking to the group. It's damnable heresy for sure, but damnable for the saved people? We don't know who believed what, right? We know that there was a bunch of people, somebody came in, I'm sure some of them got saved when Paul was there, right? I mean, for sure. There were saved people there. Somebody came in, started preaching false doctrine, and some people believed and followed the false doctrine. We don't know who. He never said Bob, Tom, Joe, Sally, you guys believed what I told you and then you believed this guy. He never said that. He's talking to them as a group as a whole. Compare it today to churches that became repent of your sins. It's a good comparison to Galatians. Okay, now think about this. This is Jared's opinion land, okay? The saved people in those churches, if you look at what happened in those churches and do any kind of research or ask people or talk to people, look at the pastors of those churches, the saved people sat by and allowed it to happen as the doctrine changed. They sat by and allowed it to happen. Some saved people left the church after it started happening, right? But most importantly, the newcomers to the church, you started getting these newcomers that were coming in and this false gospel getting, so you got unsaved, unsaved, unsaved, and you got these people that are saved and they're seeing all these, the unsaved ranks. I mean, it's Gresham's law is what happens. The bad drives out the good. Pretty soon you end up with a church where nobody's saved. And many times the switch happened when the pastor either died and somebody else took over or the pastor was just, you know, he was just, he was twisting his words and he was saying things and he didn't think they were a big deal. I mean, if he was saved, he didn't think that certain wording of certain things were a big deal. But look, it affects the people that come in and how the church grows because you end up with a church full of unsaved people. It doesn't affect the saved people other than they probably just leave after time. So you got people coming in, end up not getting saved. You know, soon you'll end up with a church where no one is saved is what happens. The bad drives out the good. Ultimately. So you see that I don't believe that anybody in the Galatian church became unsaved, obviously. And of course we can obviously say that, and we'll get into this in a minute, but I believe that some people who weren't saved believed a false gospel and the people that were saved allowed it. The people, you know, they didn't beware of the false doctrine. They allowed it in and they allowed it to continue and it started, I mean, it spread like leaven. That's what happened. They lost their salvation. But ultimately, look, if you're still confused, you can always back, you can always fall back to this position. Realize that it, because you can always say, well, if this guy, because look, I believe that once you believe in Jesus Christ, you believed on the word Jesus Christ, you will not stop believing. I believe that. I mean, I believe that you did stop believing you'd still be saved because that's the promise God makes you. But I believe that the Holy Spirit's in you, you're sealed. You will never fully stop believing. You may look like an unsaved person and live like a heathen or whatever, but I believe that that Holy Spirit will always have that ernst, that down payment in you and it will hold you, you know, forever, right? So I don't believe that you will ever fall into, you know, a false gospel like that either. But I do believe that you may become a person that just allows it to happen, that just sits back and says nothing while somebody comes in and starts preaching false doctrine, right? So but ultimately, so I mean, you could say somebody that, oh, you know, he used to believe the gospel, now he totally believes works. You could always say that, you know, that person was never saved or whatever. But look, ultimately, in those types of cases, it's not our responsibility on planet Earth to know exactly who's saved and who's not. We can always fall back to that default position, right? So that's how you can mentally make it all work with Galatians, okay? I mean, the leaven is everywhere. It can be so confusing. But look, in the end, God will sort it all out, right? I mean, when we go out soul winning, I mean, I pray that every single person that, you know, accepts the Lord Jesus Christ and that I pray with get saved. But I'm sure that there's some that probably don't, because guess what? I don't know. I don't see their hearts. All we know is what men do and what men say, right? God will sort it out. It's that simple, right? And thank God that we don't have to be responsible for knowing that, right? Because there's so much confusing things where the people are wrapped around so many different axles today with all these different false doctrines from small doctrines to big doctrines to little doctrines that turn into big doctrines. I mean, it's confusing to be unsaved today. I can't imagine, right? So that is Matthew chapter 16. The overall theme is who Jesus is. He's the Messiah. That's what it's about. Let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer. Dear Heavenly Father, I thank you for this evening. I thank you for all these people that would be faithful to Bible study on Wednesday night. I thank you for your word. I thank you for this wonderful chapter in the Bible and just showing us and proving to us from your word who Jesus was and making it so clear to us and just showing us all these different doctrines, Lord. I just thank you for just the clarity of the Bible. Lord, we love you. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.