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I think this is the first time we've broken our tradition of reading the whole chapter. So I don't know, should we get Matt to just finish the whole chapter? Let's start again. Let's start with verse number one. Let's just get through it all, right? Psalm 119. I just wanted you to notice, well first of all, when it comes to this, why is it so long? Why is this Psalm so long? It's quite a poetic Psalm. I mean, a lot of Psalms are poetic. If we could hear it in Hebrew, it'd be a lot more poetic, I think. We see that basically, it's broken up, Psalm 119 is broken up in 22 stanzas, which represent the 22 characters of the Hebrew alphabet. So you might have noticed that as Brother Matt was reading that, he mentioned Lamed, Mem, Nun, these are all part of the Hebrew alphabet. And so it's broken up into 22 portions, or 22 stanzas, and Brother Matt just read through three stanzas. But the verse that I want us to look at is verse number 104, Psalm 119, 104. It says, through thy precepts I get understanding, therefore I hate every false way. The title for the sermon this afternoon is I hate every false way. Did you know you're allowed to hate in the Bible? Praise God. We can hate certain things. Hey, we're commanded to be of great love, we're to love the things that God loves, we're commanded to hate the things that God hates, and one thing that we're allowed to hate are false ways. Now when it comes to the clearest false way, you know, Jesus Christ said, I am the way, the truth and the life, no man cometh unto the Father except by me. And so any other religion, any other faith that adds something more to what Christ has said, some false gospel, you're allowed to hate that false way. That's fine, you can go ahead and hate that. Look at verse number 128, Psalm 128, it says, therefore I esteem all thy precepts concerning all things to be right and I hate every false way. Just in case you had any doubts, it's repeated twice for us, okay. We're allowed to hate certain things, hate the things that God hates. And so we're going to be looking at four false ways, four false things that we're allowed to hate, that we should hate, okay, as Christians. Please go to Exodus now, go to Exodus 20, we're not going to stay there in Psalm, but if you can go to Exodus 20, verse number 16 please, Exodus 20, verse number 16. When I was looking at, you know, in the Bible, what are things that are false, what does God want us to know about things that are false things to turn away from, the most obvious thing is the false witness, okay, the false witness. You know what Brevin, we are to hate the false witness, okay. Now people are going to speak falsely about you, that's an expectation, hey, but we have to be careful about not giving false witness as well. It's easy to criticise or to say, you know, speak against those that say false things about us, but listen, we've all lied, I mean, when we go door to door soul winning, we often say to somebody, have you ever told a lie? And we're open enough to admit, yeah, you know what, I've told lies, maybe hundreds, maybe thousands of lies, we've all been a false witness, okay, in our lives. And this is something that we ought to hate. Verse number 16, Exodus 20, verse number 16 reads, that shall not bear false witness against thy neighbour, one of the 10 commandments, Brevin, we are not to bear false witness against thy neighbour. Now listen, of course, all the commandments of God are important, but I do love the 10 commandments because it gives us a snapshot of, I guess, the most important commandments. All the commandments basically can be summarised into those 10 commandments and those 10 commandments can be summarised further into the two commandments to love the Lord God with all our hearts, minds, but also to love our neighbours as ourselves, okay. But it is one of the 10 commandments that I mentioned. Now please go to the book of Deuteronomy, Deuteronomy chapter 19, please. Deuteronomy chapter 19 and verse number 15, Deuteronomy chapter 19, verse number 15, a false witness, God hates a false witness. God hates it when you tell lies about your neighbour, okay, when you are called to give an honest account, a true account of what you see and of what you know and you lie about it, okay. Now the church is the pillar of the ground of truth, okay. This is a place where we ought to be guaranteed to hear the most true things, okay, the things of God. I don't want to come to church and hear lies. I don't want to come to church and hear some false witness, okay. But when it comes to, you know, giving a false witness, sometimes, hey, there might be a time in your life when you have to give a witness of an account of something that you know about, right. And in Deuteronomy chapter 19, verse number 15, it says, it says one witness shall not rise up against a man for any iniquity or for any sin in any sin that he sinneth, at the mouth of two witnesses or at the mouth of three witnesses shall the matter be established. Brethren, if you hear something about your neighbour, something that is critical, something that your neighbour has done wrong, you've heard it once, listen, one witness is not enough to justify that. That witness could be telling you a lie. That witness could be a false witness, okay. Now listen, when it comes to dealing, you know, I'm not in government. Of course, this has to do with passing laws, how to incriminate certain people, how to listen to true witnesses. But listen, sometimes there are going to be things that happen in the church. There is something called church discipline that if a brother in the Lord is doing some wicked sin, hey, there are certain wicked sins that if a brother is doing, they are to be kicked out of the church. But it's not enough for me to hear one witness. It's not enough for me to hear from someone and say, you know what, I saw a brother so and so drunk the other day, okay. One witness is not enough. I need at least two or three. Every matter should be established with at least two or three witnesses. And I say this to the preachers. When you preach God's word, make sure you have the two or three witnesses, okay, to support what you're teaching, to support what you're saying, okay. Now look at verse number 16. If a false witness rise up against any man to testify against him that which is wrong, then both the men between whom the controversy is shall stand before the Lord, before the priest and the judges which shall be in those days. And the judges shall make diligent inquisition and behold if the witness be a false witness and have testified falsely against his brother, then shall you do unto him as he had thought to have done unto his brother, so shall thou put the evil away from among you. Brethren, if you come and you just hate brother so and so in church, sister so and so, you start making up rumors about that person, okay, yeah, you say, look, I found out he's a drunkard and we do, you know my call, the judges, those that are in charge are to make diligent inquisition. I've got to find out if that's true and if I find out you're lying to me, then the same thing is going to happen to you. You're going to be kicked out of the church. Instead of that person being kicked out, it's going to be you for the false witness that you've given. In fact, that's railing, you know, just a railer, you know. A railer is supposed to be kicked out of the church, okay. These are things that we ought to hate, a false witness. Learn to hate that. Brethren, when you're tempted to tell some lie, just remind yourself I hate every false way. When I'm commanded to hate a false witness, I better give a true account. No matter what it costs, I better give that true account, okay. Now there are some times in the Bible where people do give a false witness, okay, and the Lord does honor and, you know, give, you know, is thank worthy toward those that have given a false witness, okay. One day I'll preach about that, one day that'll come. But look, those are exceptional cases, exceptional cases, and it usually ties in with saving a life, okay. If you tell a lie and you end up saving a life because of that, you know, that is something the Lord looks down upon and thinks that's good, okay. But more often than not, the main teaching, right, the rule of thumb when it comes to giving a witness, it ought to be a true and faithful witness, okay. You give a false witness, don't be surprised if you find out to be the one that's being judged. Look at verse number 20. It says, and those which remain shall hear and fear and shall henceforth commit no more any such evil among you, okay. So a false witness here, the Bible tells us, is evil, okay. Telling lies is evil, okay. Now if you can please go to Proverbs chapter 6, go to Proverbs chapter 6. And I'm going to read to you from Psalm 35 verse 11. We've got a lot of verses to go through today, but I'm going to read to you from Psalm 35 verse 11. The psalmist says, false witnesses did rise up. They laid to my charge things that I knew not. They rewarded me evil for good to the spoiling of my soul, okay. False witnesses did rise up and laid to my charge things that I knew not, okay. So what's the false witness going to do? You as a believer, okay, want to understand and just understand and accept this. People are going to lie about you. People are going to lie about your faith. People are going to lie about what you've done. Just like the psalmist says, I don't know about this stuff. They're making it up. It's all a lie. You know what that reminds me of? When I went soul winning with brother Matt in Caboolture and we knocked on the door of a lesbian. I mean, I didn't know she was a lesbian when I knocked on the door, right. And she's telling me that, you know, she can't be saved because she's an LGBT or whatever like that. And like eventually, you know, I realized, okay, I don't think I asked this, are you a lesbian? And she said yes. And I said something like, what did I say? And I said something like, so that's unlikely to change, right. That's unlikely to change. And she goes, no. So I was like, yeah, well, you know, moved on to the next person, right. Went to the next house, went next door, you know, tried to give that person, I think it was brother Matt this time, trying to give that person the gospel, you know, then we walked off. As we walked off from the next door neighbor, that lesbian tracked me down, right. She came out, she says, can I ask you a few questions before you go? I'm like, okay, you know. She says, you know, when you said that that's something you ought to change, all right. I said, no, I didn't say that's something you ought to change. I said, that's something that is unlikely to change. And she kept going, no, no, no, you said that's something I ought to change. You know, that's hatred. That's hate speech or something like that, right. I was like, that's not what I said. I kept, you know, I said it like twice, three times. Matt goes, let's get out of here. I'm like, yeah, let's go. Turn that back. We kept going, right. But what is she trying to do? She's trying to make a false accusation, trying to be a false witness to say that, you know, we're going there basically trying to convert her from her homosexuality. Look, she's doomed. She's a reprobate, you know. I'm thankful that she's telling me that she can't believe the gospel so I can move on and waste, not waste my time. But she's trying to put words into my mouth, right, trying to make things sound different way, you know. I mean, she's got our church tracts, possibly, I don't know if she was recording me, trying to get something out of me, probably to go to the media and try to, you know, you know, try to disgrace our church in some sort of way, you know. I'm ready to move on if someone's a reprobate, you know, I'm not going to waste my time. But those people are ready to rise up against you and make false witnesses. But don't be surprised when it happens. Don't be upset when it happens, okay. It's normal. It's part of life, okay. Proverbs 12, 17 says, hear that speak of truth, show forth righteousness, but a false witness deceit. Okay, so that's the purpose. Why do people give false witnesses? Why do they lie? Because they want to deceive, right. They want to deceive. You're in Proverbs 6, 16, Proverbs 6, 16. It says, these six things doth the Lord hate, yea, seven are an abomination unto him. So the Lord hates things, hey. And if these things are things that God hates, you can hate them too. Praise God. What are they? Verse number 17, a proud look, God hates pride. I can hate that too. A lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, and heart that deviseth wicked imaginations, feet that are swift in run into mischief, look at verse 19, a false witness that speak of lies. And hear that sort of discord among brethren, a false witness that speak of lies, right. God hates it, okay. And we're asked, hey, the Psalmist says, I hate every false way. Please learn to hate a false witness, okay. Because I promise you this, you're going to tell a lie. You know, at some point, you know, I don't know when your life is going to end, brethren. I don't know when you're going to pass away and be with the Lord. But at some point between now till then, you're going to tell a lie, okay. And when that temptation comes, just please remind yourself, I hate every false way. God hates lying tongue, lying lips. He hates the lying tongue, okay. Let that spur you to tell the truth no matter what it costs, okay, the false witness. Go to Proverbs 19, Proverbs 19, verse five, please, Proverbs 19. I hate every false way because God hates it too. Proverbs 19, verse five, what's another reason you should not tell a false witness, not tell lies? What's another reason? Yes, because God hates it. You ought to hate it too. But number two, you will not go unpunished. God will punish you for your false witness, okay. Proverbs 19, verse five says, a false witness shall not be unpunished. And he that speaketh lies shall not escape. Brethren, just tell the truth, okay. You've done something wrong, all right. You were, man, you were asked to do something on the job, you were meant to get it done by the end of the day, you didn't do it. Don't lie about it. Just go to your boss and say, boss, I'm sorry, I didn't get it done, okay. You try to lie about it, you think you might get away with it today, but you're not going to get away with it, okay. The promise is there, right. He that speaketh lies shall not escape. At some point, it's going to come out. The worst thing about lying is, I remember as a child, you know, just telling lies, right, going to school, your friends telling lies, and then you've got to back up that lie with a lie. Because people don't forget, you lie, you think, oh, hopefully they just forget about it. And then you've got to, oh, man, they ask you about it, so I'm going to make up another lie to back up that lie. And then you've got to make up another lie to back up that lie. And before you know it, you've got the spiderweb of lies. And it's hard to keep up now, you know, you're going to be found out. At some point, someone's going to pull that spiderweb and it's going to fall apart, okay. You're going to be exposed for the liar you are, okay. Look at verse number nine, same chapter, Proverbs 19, verse nine, a false witness shall not be unpunished, and he that speaketh lies shall perish, okay. Brethren, please, don't be a liar, okay. And it's easy to lie, it's so easy to lie, okay. It's so easy to just say something that is not true. You know, God's going to punish you for it. Just before you lie, just say to myself, man, God hates it. If I lie, God will make sure it gets exposed and I will be punished by God, okay. That's going to help you, right. Just run that through your mind. That's going to help you to tell the truth. Can you please go to Proverbs 25, Proverbs 25, verse 18, Proverbs 25, verse 18. The next thing I want to tell you, brethren, when it comes to a false witness is don't make friends with people that are habitual liars, okay. Now look, you might, I might find out that you lied about me or I lied to you, okay. You might find out, you know, because we all lie. We've all done it, right. It's going to come out. But I'm talking right now about the habitual liars, okay. Those that are just constantly, you may not even notice at the beginning, but eventually, like the Bible tells us, they're going to be exposed, eventually it's going to come out. You know, people are just habitually lying. They're the worst people to make friends with, okay. Look at verse number 18, Proverbs 15, verse 18. A man that beareth false witness against his neighbor is a maul and a sword and a sharp arrow. What is it saying, okay? I want you to think about this. So the one that tells a false witness, the habitual liar, he's a maul, he's a sword and a sharp arrow, okay. Don't make friends with habitual liars. Look, these are weapons to damage you, okay. People lie to you because they want to hurt you or they want to damage somebody else's reputation, right. When we get given these weapons, okay, what is a maul? We won't probably think about it too much in our day and age, but a maul is a club or a mace, like a heavy hammer, okay. It's something that you really need close proximity for. You know, what I'm looking at here, the maul, the sword and the sharp arrow speak about the proximity of damage someone can make, okay. You've got a hammer, you can only, you can cause some damage with that, like a big mace and cause some damage to that, someone that's pretty close to you, right. And then you've got the sword. The sword is another weapon of close combat, but it's a little bit longer, right. You can get a bit further. You can stab someone a little bit further away with the sword, but then you've got the sharp arrow and this is a long distance weapon, right. The arrow, the bow and arrow, you can get someone from far away. And so what this is telling me is that the person who's the habitual liar, the one that bears false witness, all right, first of all is like a maul, so you know, he'll lie about his own family. He'll lie about himself, his own family, those people that are the closest to him. He'll lie about them and when he comes to the sword, he'll probably lie about his friends, right. And then when he comes to the arrow, he's going to lie about everybody else, all right. Have you ever met people like that, that are just constantly lying, constantly making you think one way or another, they're trying to manipulate your thoughts towards somebody else. They're liars. They're damaged, they cause damage, right. And the thing about these people that are false witnesses, you know, when they come to you and they tell you lies about other people, you know what they're also doing to you? They're lying about you to someone else. It's the same thing. They're lying about you. You think they're your friend, they come in and tell you all this gossip and all this stuff. Listen, they're doing the same thing to you, all right. Be careful about the friends that you make, you know, gossip is one of the most destructive things. You know, it's kind of interesting, oh man, what happened, yeah, don't get involved, all right. They're shooting a sharp arrow, they're hitting you to someone else, okay. They're causing damage. And you know, I just remember this person, I won't even name who it is, right, this person that I, you know, would lie about this person, you know, somebody in their family, would lie about that pastor, would lie about that church. I didn't know at the beginning, at the beginning I thought this person is honest and needs some help. Before I know it, they're lying, okay, because they're lying, I found out they're lying about me. That's why, okay. And they're telling me about these problems with that person, problems at work, problems with their family, problems at their church and I just turned around and said, listen brother, it sounds like you're telling me that you just can't get along with people. You're telling me that everyone you interact with, you have problems with. And they responded with, what are you saying, are you saying I'm the problem? I said yeah, you're the problem. How can you blame everybody else, how can everyone else be the problem? It's got to be you, okay. And you got to be careful, listen, sometimes it's just, you know, there are some people you just got to walk away from, they're just no good to you, they're just causing damage. Please go to Matthew 26. Go to Matthew 26. When someone lies about you, you have to make a decision, someone gives a false witness, you just got to make a decision, do I defend my honour or do I not, okay. My go to is I'm not going to defend myself. Like if someone in this church lies about me, okay, and goes to another brother or sister in the Lord and lies about me and that brother or sister believes it, you know what, believe it if you want, like if you love me, if you cared about me, you would come up to me and ask me if that's true, okay. So the one that does come up to me and ask me if that's true, I'm going to tell them the truth. I'm going to tell them exactly what the truth is, right. I mean I'm not talking about, I'm just talking about, this has been my life, you know, since a long time now. I've learned how to deal with lies and false witnesses. Those that want to come and ask me, I know they love me, okay, and I'm going to tell them the truth. Those that want to believe the false witness, okay, they don't love me, they don't, okay, and that's the same for you, brethren. If someone's believing a lie about you, it's because they don't love you. If they didn't come to you and seek the truth, they don't love you, all right. Look at Matthew 26 verse 59, Matthew 26 verse 59. The reason I don't retaliate when people lie is because I just see Christ example, right. Jesus Christ was lied about. Jesus Christ had false witnesses raise up against him, Matthew 26, 59. Now the chief priests and elders and all the council sought false witness against Jesus to put him to death. Now I don't think I've ever faced that. I don't think anyone's ever, you know, given me a false witness to put me to death. I don't think that's happened, right, but Jesus faced this. Look at verse number 60, but found none, yea though many false witnesses came, yet found they none, and at the last came two false witnesses, okay. So remember you needed at least two or three witnesses for a matter to be established. So there were many people that wanted to witness against Christ, but they just had conflicting stories. They couldn't establish a case against him, all right, and that's the situation. When someone lies about you, you know, I'm just like, I know at some point there's going to be conflicting stories. That lie is going to be backed up with a lie, got to be backed up with a lie, at some point that person bearing false witness against me, they'll be exposed, okay, and I'm going to be delighted when they get exposed, all right, because I hate every false way, all right. Can you go to Matthew chapter 10, Matthew chapter 10 verse 24. And here's the thing, if they've lied about Jesus, who had no sin, they couldn't even get a story together. They couldn't find a reason to kill him, but they somehow still lied about him, they still made false witnesses about him, well guess what, that means there's going to be false witnesses against you, okay, because you've done sins. You've actually done some wrong things, all right. So look at Matthew chapter 10 verse 24, Matthew chapter 10 verse 24. The words of Jesus Christ, he says, the disciple is not above his master, nor the servant above his Lord. It is enough for the disciple that he be as his master and the servant as his Lord, if they have called the master of the house Beelzebub, how much more shall they call them of his household? Fear them not, therefore, for there is nothing covered that shall not be revealed and hid that shall not be known. Listen, if they're able to make false witnesses about Christ, they ever say, hey, Jesus is of the devil, he's of Beelzebub, they're going to say the same thing about you, okay. They're going to say the same thing about you, you know, I don't believe the Jews in the Middle East there are God's chosen people, unless they're saints, and there's very few that are saints. God's people today, God's holy nation are believers, Jews and Gentiles, I'm not racist. You know what, me believing that, I've heard people that I care about say, that's teaching of the synagogue of Satan. That what I teach this church is the synagogue of Satan, that what I'm teaching is from the devil. Can you believe that? Should I be surprised though? No. Okay, if they said Jesus is of the devil, they're going to say the same thing about us, okay, because we're not racist, can you believe it? Because we believe everybody that believes in Jesus Christ is his chosen people, are the elect, people call that teachings of the devil, and so listen, there's no surprise, I don't care, I'm going to preach the word of God, if people are going to say that's of the devil, so be it, I'm going to preach the Bible. I don't care what they have to say, okay. What did Jesus say? He said, for there is nothing covered that shall not be revealed, and here that shall not be known. They're going to be exposed one day, you know, in due time, Christ will make sure he punishes those that lie about us. Now I really want you to go to 1 Corinthians 15 please, 1 Corinthians 15. Because there is a group of, well, there are religious people that walk around the Sunshine Coast and pretty much all over the world, and they claim to be witnesses, they claim to be Jehovah witnesses, okay. First Corinthians 15 please, 1 Corinthians 15 verse 15, 1 Corinthians 15, 15. What is one of the strangest doctrines of the, well there's a lot of strange doctrines of the JW's, but what's one of the strangest ones? They don't believe that Jesus Christ was resurrected bodily. They do believe he came back to life, but just in spirit form. They don't believe he bodily returned from the dead, right. 1 Corinthians 15, 15, Paul was already dealing with Jehovah witnesses in his day, okay. It says here, yea, and we have found false witnesses of God, because we have testified of God that he raised up Christ, whom he raised not up, if so be that the dead rise not. So what is Paul saying here? You know, it's rhetorical, in a rhetorical way. He says look, if we're preaching that Christ did not rise from the dead, then we're false witnesses. That's what the Jehovah witnesses teach, all right. So what are the Jehovah witnesses? They are Jehovah false witnesses. It's not just a smart name somebody came up with, it's true, they are false witnesses. And listen, we're commanded to hate their doctrine. They've got a false gospel, they've got a false Jesus Christ, okay, we're to hate every false way. Hey, Jehovah witnesses are pretty nice people, when you meet them, okay, but they're teaching, they have a false witness, okay. They're making a mockery of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. You are permitted, brethren, you know, take it to the bank, you are permitted to hate what they teach, okay, what they promote, all right. Now I do want you to turn to, let's go to Luke 19, go to Luke 19. Because I am focusing on others, right, I am focusing a lot on others that, you know, tell false witnesses about us or whatever, but as I said, we've all, we've all given some false witness in our lives, we've all lied, we've all done it, right. And this can happen in church, okay, this can happen in church, when, I'm going to read to you from Titus chapter two, verse three, Titus chapter two, verse three, because Paul, remember who's Titus, Titus is a pastor, right, and he's instructed for his church in from Paul, in Titus chapter two, verse three, it says, the aged women likewise, that they be in behavior as become of holiness, not false accusers, not given to much wine, teachers of good things. Now ladies, this is for you, you know, whenever, listen, sometimes people say the Bible just has a lot about the men, doesn't mention the ladies all that much, but then when you preach about the ladies, it's like, why don't they preach about the men, it's like, what, there's not much for the ladies, like just specifically, and so when there's something specific for the ladies, pay attention, okay, because, you know, men and women, we are different, now we can all be false witnesses, we can all be false accusers, but when it's specifically speaking to the ladies, this tells me, this is an issue that ladies can struggle with, okay, and in the church, they can struggle with this stuff, okay, the aged women likewise, so ladies pay attention, that they be in behavior, so what should your behavior be like, as become of holiness, what is holiness, separated, different from the world, right, separated for God, that's what your behavior should be like, not false accusers, you know what Paul is telling Titus, you've got some aged women in your church that are false accusers, you've got to teach them to be holy, okay, this is the gossiping, this is the telling stories about this person and that person and that child and that family, that's false accusations, ladies, if a woman in the church comes to you, or even outside of the church, in their home comes to you, gossiping, telling you bad news about some family church, don't listen to it, or you're contributing to the false accusation yourself, just don't listen to it, change the topic, okay, that's something I don't want to talk about, okay, or just, you know what false accusers hate the most, is after they've told you something negative about somebody, that you respond with something positive about that person, they hate that, because they're trying to get you on their side, to hate so and so, okay, and if you lose that friend, you lose that friend, okay, they're there to cause damage, so ladies, please be careful in our church, I love this church, I love the men, I love the ladies, I love the children, I love everybody in this church, I don't want to see a false accusation made about anybody in this church. Not given so much wine, teachers of good things, it's said there, now you're in Luke 19 verse 8, Luke 19 verse 8, and as I said, you know, the gossiper thinks they're going to get away with it, the gossiper thinks if I just, you know, influence somebody, you know, to be negative about brother or sister so and so, you know, they're going to do the dirty work for me. No, they're going to be exposed, okay, they're going to be embarrassed, they're going to be shown up for the lies that they've made, okay, now listen, just because you've done that, maybe you've done that already, okay, and it's not good, okay, so what do you do? You confess it before the Lord, you repent and you make it right, okay, because in Luke 19 verse 8, we have Zacchaeus, and you know the story of Zacchaeus, a short man, he invited Jesus Christ into his house, right, he was excited, other people were looking at that, they were criticising Zacchaeus, Jesus, they're saying, how can you hang around with sinners, and he says here in verse number 8, and Zacchaeus stood and said unto the Lord, behold Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor, and if I have taken anything from any man by false accusation, I restore him fourfold, you know, Zacchaeus is just confessing his sins to God, Jesus, he says, Jesus, I've been a false accuser, I've told lies to make myself rich, okay, I've cheated my fellow man, and he says, I'm going to restore fourfold, I'm going to make things right, he says to Jesus Christ, verse number 9, and Jesus said unto him, this day is salvation, come to this house, for so much as he also is a son of Abraham. So brethren, listen, if you've made false accusations about people in this church, you go and fix it, okay, you've lied about somebody, you've turned the heart of a brother or sister in the Lord, in this church against a brother or sister here, you go and fix it, you go to that person and say, you know what, I should not have said that, I exaggerated, yeah, you know what, I was discouraged when he did that, or she did that, I was, but I really added to the story, I shouldn't have even brought it up to you, I'm sorry, then you go and sort it out, you restore it fourfold, okay, that's what you do, you make amends of things, you don't just leave the damage lingering forever, you go and fix it. So that's our response, yes we hate it when people lie about us, but have you lied about other people? We probably all have, you need to make amends of it, you need to go and fix it, okay, can you please go to Proverbs 11 now, Proverbs 11, so we've looked at the false witnesses or the false accusations, I hate every false way, we'll look at Proverbs 11 verse 1, Proverbs 11 verse 1, what else is false, what else are we to hate, Proverbs 11 verse 1, it says, a false balance is abomination to the Lord, but a just weight is his delight. You know what else we are to hate, a false balance, a false balance, what's that, it's a scale, a false balance, now, I remember, you know, when I was, I used to go to my mum's shopping, I was a kid, and mum, you know, she used to buy fruits and veggies and stuff, and so she'd get a bag, let's say bananas, whatever, she'd get a bag of bananas and put it on a scale, does that still happen today, are they still around, I feel like I don't see, I know I'm missing them, I don't know, but anyway, she got, you know, fruit and veggies, she put it on the scale, okay, that's about one kilo, she works out the price, because you know, my mum's got so much money that she needs to spend, and she doesn't want to overspend, she works out roughly what it's going to be, she puts it on the scale, right, she wants a kilo of bananas, okay, she roughly works out what a kilo is, but what if that scale was rigged, right, what if, and this is what it can happen, okay, where you think you've put a kilo of bananas, but then on the scale it's showing two kilograms, it's showing double the weight, and you're like, oh, this is too much, so you cut it in half, you've really got 500 grams, half a kilo of bananas, and you put it on, there's a kilo, you know, that's an abomination to God, you know, that shop owner that's rigged the scales is an abomination, you know, we're commanded to hate every false way, we ought to hate the unbalanced scales, okay, the unbalanced scales, it's an abomination to God, you know, and what this reminds me of is the Muslims, alright, you speak to a Muslim, are you sure that you're going to heaven, well, as long as my good works outweigh the bad works, okay, because they have this idea, and a lot of people, in fact, not just Muslims, a lot of people have this idea that on the day of judgement, God's going to bring up your good works, and he's going to bring up your bad works, and he's going to weigh it, and hopefully your good works are heavier, you've done more good works than bad works, and if that's the case, it's good for you, okay, and if your bad works are out of, you know, are scaled incorrectly or heavier, then it's hell for you, okay, listen, that's a false way, that's a false balance, the unsaved person, good works are filthy rags, okay, your good works are not going to be heavier than the bad things you've done, in James chapter 2 verse 10, it says for whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all, man, if you've kept every law that God says, everything, so you've done it all, brethren, but you lied once, you're guilty of all, okay, that means that one lie that you've done is going to be heavier than all the so-called good works that you think you've brought to the table, hey, that's a false balance, that religion is a false balance, hey, it's fine to hate Islam, it's fine to hate false religion, because they're false balances, false scales, you know, it's not right, brethren, yeah, all good works, good works, more filthy rags, you're just making the sin heavier, throwing all your filthy rags at God, trying to make your way to heaven, it's not going to work for you, brethren, we know that, it's not going to work for them, okay, and that's what a false gospel always is, it is a false balance, it's an abomination to God, okay, and listen, what's going to outweigh our sin, it's the fact that that sin needs to be put on Christ, and it has been put on Christ, okay, and then, instead of it being my good works, Christ gives me his righteousness, and puts it on a scale, man, I have the righteousness of God, that's what's going to get you to heaven, okay, better than perfection, alright, much better than that, look at Proverbs chapter 20, Proverbs chapter 20 verse 23, Proverbs chapter 20 verse 23, Proverbs 20, 23, it says here, diverse weights are an abomination unto the Lord, and then it says it again, and a false balance is not good, a false balance is not good, you know what I think about when I think of this, when you look at your bank account, don't we call it the bank balance, okay, the bank balance, alright, you know when it comes to our finances, we ought to be honest about it, okay, when it comes to paying your taxes, just pay your taxes, okay, I can't tell you how many times when it's time to do my tax return, alright, we're talking about, you know how different people talk to you, everyone's worked out how to get the maximum tax return, or the maximum way to not pay your taxes, well if you say this, if you say that you gave this much to charity, yeah but I didn't give that much to charity, yeah but if you just claim that you worked from home, now listen, if you work from home you can claim things, I'm not saying you can't, okay, but if you just say you worked from home this many times, then you'll get a tax return for the electricity, your internet, yeah but I didn't work from home, right, I mean everyone's got this way of how to lie, how to give a false witness, how to make a false balance to get the maximum out of the government, listen I've already preached about this, your taxes will be covered by Jesus, okay, he'll make a way for you to just pay your taxes, don't lie about it, it's not worth it, it's not worth it, okay, you're gonna have the guilt, you're gonna be concerned, what if the ATO finds out, you're gonna be going for years and years and years, what if they find out, what if they find out, just tell the truth from the beginning, just pay the taxes, I'd rather earn the side of caution, I'd rather pay a little bit more taxes, they're not paying off and maybe get in trouble with it, okay, there are loopholes, there are things you can claim, I'm not saying, like be honest, right, you know when it comes to my tax accountant, I don't even see him anymore, he's down in Sydney, I don't see him, I just send him what I earned and I let him work it out, I'm expecting him to, you know, do what's honest, do what's right, you know, I'm not telling him, hey, can you get this a little bit, add a bit of this and I did that, you know, things that are not true, hey, that's a false balance, hey, when it comes to the money in the church, hey, it needs to be accounted for, it needs to be taken care of, you know, it needs to be reported, it needs to be documented, alright, church money, it should be a, you know, a balance, you know, it shouldn't be a pastor stealing money from the church, stealing money from God, that's a false way we are to hate that, okay, you know, we need to keep, be accountable, this is why I give you guys financial reports from time to time, alright, because it's important that the whole church knows where the money is going to, you know, we should not lie about the things of God especially, okay, false balances. And also when it comes to false balances, the other thought here is, I'm going to read to you from Exodus 21, 22, when it comes to something that is balanced, you know, we can think of justice, you know, that the punishment must fit the crime, the punishment must fit the crime, how do I know that it fits the crime? You find out what God said, alright, you know, those that do abortion, the abortion doctors, the punishment for that crime is death, that's a right balance, you know, when God looks at the judgment of our nation, he says it's an abomination, right, I had a brother in the Lord say to me, why do you preach like, why do you preach that, you know, homosexuals should be put to death, why do you preach that, when the laws of our land, they're not going to change it anyway, that's because we're commanded to preach the truth no matter what the laws of the land are doing, no matter if I expect the laws to change or not, I'm still commanded to preach the Bible, we need to know what is the just balance, not a false balance, okay, Exodus 21, 22 says, if men strive and hurt a woman with child so that her fruit depart from her and yet no mischief follow, he shall be surely punished according to the woman's husband will lay upon him and he shall pay as the judges determine and if any mischief follow, then thou shall give life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burning for burning, wound for wound, stripe for stripe, you know what that's telling me, the abortion doctor that is intentionally tearing apart that child from limb to limb, you know how he ought to die, being torn apart limb to limb as well, same way, okay, a just balance, the punishment must fit the crime according to God's books, alright, God hates these laws that are just a slap on the wrist or no slap on the wrist, abortion is completely illegal these days, what a wicked country that we live in. Can you please go to 1 John chapter 4, 1 John chapter 4, 1 John chapter 4, what else are we to hate, to hate every false way, what else are we to hate, well, we are to hate false prophets, no, no Pastor Kevin, we should love them, no, no, no, no, no, we hate them, we hate every false way, 1 John chapter 4 verse 1, beloved, believe not every spirit but try the spirits whether they are of God because many false prophets are gone out into the world, you know I wish it said many faithful preachers are gone out into the world, I wish it said that, many false prophets, many false prophets are in this world, hey we are commanded to hate every false way, we are to hate the false prophets, okay, the false prophet, now listen we are commanded to try to test the spirits, one thing that annoys me the most about the IFB world, okay, is that if some young man goes through Bible college, takes all the boxes, passes his grade, whatever, gets his certificate, oh man, what a godly young man, is he saved, who cares, what gospel does he preach, well, who cares, he is one of us, he is an independent Baptist, went through the Bible college, listen, the man is probably unsaved, it happens, it happens, I know too many Bible college graduates that are unsaved, you know what that tells me, when they have been sent out to preach, they are false prophets and I am commanded to hate every false way, I hate the false prophets, okay, I hate the false teacher that will use the word of God and teach lies, lies, I mean I did not become a pastor to teach lies, I might say something wrong from time to time, I might misspeak, I might even tell a lie, not intentionally, I might miss, you know, just because of my lack of knowledge or something, right, it can happen, but there are some people that knowingly, knowingly are false, knowingly come to just lie to God's people, can you believe that there are people like this, they are out there, many, many false prophets have gone out into the world, if you can go to 2 Corinthians now, go to 2 Corinthians 11, 2 Corinthians 11 verse 13, 2 Corinthians 11, 13 reads, for such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ 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. What is this passage telling us brethren, that the false apostle, the false prophet, the false teacher, it's not like they're just mistaken, alright, what did it call them? Verse number 15, therefore it is no great thing if his, that Satan's ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness, when the false prophet goes into the world, when he goes and starts a church or he gets behind the pulpit preaching, you know, someone that preaches a false gospel, the Bible's telling us he's a minister of Satan, that's what he is, okay, he's not a minister of God, he doesn't love the church, he doesn't love the brethren, he's coming to lie, and I just look at that life and say what is wrong with that person, go do something else with your life, they come to lie to the people of God, their minister means servant, they're servants of the devil, how do we know, and listen, it blows my mind brethren, just you know, people that say oh, did you hear pastor so-and-so, you know, say yeah, you know what, he's a false prophet, you know, people love the false prophet, I don't know why, Christians that should know better, oh but pastor so-and-so has gone post-trib, I don't care, can you stay as a pre-tribber and at least get saved, that's what matters, get saved, preach the right gospel, stay a pre-tribber, I'd rather you be a, you know, instead of being a post-tribber, preaching a false gospel, false prophet, what other damage are you doing, minister of Satan, so many of them out there, even in the IFB world, even in IFB churches, so many false prophets, so many false teachers, and again, it's said there, you know, that they transform themselves into apostles of Christ, right, Satan transforms himself into an angel of light, they transform themselves into ministers of righteousness, you know what this is telling us, it's hard to know, it's hard to know, right, I mean, pastors that you probably look up potentially, listen to it today, could be ministers of Satan, because they transform themselves into that, we're going to try every spirit, I'm not going to get a guy come behind this pulpit unless I've heard at least from their own mouth, a clean gospel, salvation by grace through faith and that not of yourselves it is the gift of God, not of works lest any man should boast, if I can hear that at least I'm just rejoicing, thank God there's a real man of God here, now listen, they can still lie about that, it's possible, you know, it's not unusual for false apostles and false teachers to come in a good church that tries to do their best to work it out, but what boggles my mind brethren are IFB Baptist pastors who are openly preaching a false gospel, and they still don't know it's a minister of Satan, they still haven't grabbed that, they still haven't understood that, what is wrong with you people, this is the most important doctrine, we're commanded to hate every false way, and you're surprised when I hate them, when you're surprised when I hate what they preach, just because they're Baptist pastors so and so, who cares, he's transformed himself, he's transformed himself, how do we know, how do we identify a false prophet, we do get some, you know, a teacher from the word of God, some red flags that should, you know, warn you of these people, I'll just read a passage to you, and you know, I'll just read them to you, Luke 6 26, Jesus says, woe unto you when all men speak well of you, for so did their fathers to the false prophets, listen, when the world speaks highly of you as a pastor, listen, if the whole world, this wicked world, because they're like, we love pastor Kevin Sepulveda, that's a red flag, that's a red flag, right, listen, I'm never going to be invited on the news media, because people want to hear the word of God being preached, it's never going to happen, I might end up on the news media, but it's more to mock me or something, right, try to make fun of Christianity, make fun of the Bible, make fun of the things that we believe, listen, the pastors that the world loves, just chalk it up, that is a false prophet, I don't care what you've heard them say, if the world loves them, they're a false prophet, okay, that's number one, number two, Jesus says in Matthew 7 15, beware of false prophets which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves, okay, it's not, oh, he's a little bit mixed up, no, he's a wolf, he's wanting to take on the sheep, he wants to destroy your life, verse number 16, Jesus says, ye shall know them by their fruits, do men gather grapes or thorns or figs or thistles, this is how you know the false prophet, by their fruits, say what is their fruits, and you drop down to verse number 20, it says whereby by their fruits ye shall know them, then he tells us what they are, not everyone that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven, but he that doeth 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, and in thy name have cast out devils, and in thy name have done many wonderful works, and then will I profess unto them, I never knew you, depart from me, ye that work iniquity, hey, what's the fruit of the false prophet, that people are trusting in their many wonderful works to get to heaven, that's what they said, have we not done many wonderful works, hey, their gospel is a works based gospel, that's how you know a false prophet, and I want my Baptist pastor friends to wake up sometimes, the guy you're supporting, do you even know what he believes, do you know what gospel he preaches, how do I know, this is how I do it Brevin, okay, I don't jump down every pastor that says you've got to repent of your sins, I don't just immediately think that person's a false prophet, because I understand, I understand the Bible college system, you get told this and you parrot it, and you pass the test, people say you've got to repent of your sins all the time, in fact I do believe you've got to repent of your sins, okay, if you're trusting in a false god, if you're trusting in a false religion, if you're not believing the gospel, if you believe it's your good works that gets you to heaven, yeah, you've got to repent from that, it's not going to get you saved, okay, I don't jump down to someone that uses that phrase, the next question I want to understand is, what do you mean by that, okay, and as soon as that person says, well you know, the alcoholic has to turn from alcohol, you know the fornicator, he's got to turn from his fornication to be saved, also he's got to keep the law then, he's got to do the works of the law, that's a false prophet, mark it down, the person that says those things is not just misguided, okay, it's not just he can't explain, you know, he's struggling to explain, he's telling you exactly, he's telling you, when he says those things, he's telling you, I'm a false apostle, that's what he's telling you, that's how I know, okay, I like to give people the benefit of the doubt, but as soon as they're listing sins that you've got to turn from to be saved, that's a false prophet, and I hate that false prophet, I hate their false ways, okay, the other one that marks salvation by grace through faith, just believe, come on, just what, just believe that just died for you, yes, just believe, that whosoever believeth in him shall not perish but have everlasting life, oh, that's easy believism, yeah, if it's easy, if it's hard, if it's so, so hard, whatever it is, it doesn't matter how hard or easy it is, as long as they believe, that's what saves somebody, believe the death, bearing resurrection, they mock that, that's a false prophet, just mark it down, it's a false prophet, okay, that's how I know, they're just, they're telling you, and I'm right now, if there's a Baptist pastor friend of mine listening to this, they're telling you right there and then that he's a false prophet, he's a minister of Satan, just believe him now, he's letting you know, okay, he's letting you know, please go to Jeremiah 23, Jeremiah 23, I better hurry up, you sound upset pastor Kevin, I do, and I'm trying to be even more upset, I'm trying to preach with hatred toward these things, Jeremiah 23 verse 28, Jeremiah 23 verse 28, Jeremiah has a lot to say about bad pastors and you know, bad prophets, things like that but I just, I like this passage here, Jeremiah 23, 28, it says, the prophet that hath a dream, let him tell a dream, now this prophet that's dreaming this thing and telling the dream, okay, he's a false prophet, I'll show you soon why, okay, so what God is saying is, if that false prophet, you know, I got a dream from God, yes, just let him tell it, that's what God is saying right now, okay, that's the false prophet but then now we got the true prophet, that's next, he says here, and he that hath my word, let him speak my word faithfully, okay, so the faithful prophet of God, the true prophet of God, you know what he's going to preach, he's going to preach the word of God faithfully, hey, what prophets do you know today that dream the dreams and want to tell you all about the dreams, the Pentecostals, the Charismatics, alright, that's a false prophet, hey, Bible saying let them tell you, okay, because then it says here, at the end of it, it says, what is the chaff to the wheat, sayeth the Lord, you know the chaff is that which blows away, okay, the wheat is what you eat when it comes to making flour and stuff like that, he's comparing the false prophet as chaff to the wheat which is the one that's faithful to the word of God, isn't the true prophet will preach God's word, the false prophet will come up with his dreams and that's why it's a sermon, all about his wonderful visions and dreams that he has, okay, that's his chaff to the wheat, you know, God wants them to tell the dreams so you can differentiate between that which is false and that which is true, okay, let's keep going, verse number 29, is not my word like as a fire, sayeth the Lord, and like a hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces, therefore behold, I am against the prophets, sayeth the Lord, that steal my words from everyone from his neighbour, behold, I am against the prophets, sayeth the Lord, that use their tongues and say, he sayeth, behold, I am against them that prophesy false dreams, sayeth 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 they shall not profit this people at all, sayeth the Lord, they shall not profit the people at all, you know the charismatic pastor does not profit his people at all, no profit to them, okay, but when I think about this, I also think about us as preachers that I want to be faithfully preaching God's word, we have to be careful as well, okay, because you know the idea of a dream is kind of like this is something of your own imagination, this is your own thoughts, okay, I don't want to preach before, I don't want to come to you and say, you know what, brethren, this is my opinion, this is my thought, I think it's like this but I'm not really sure and I'm going like that, man, what is this, isn't God's word like a fire, isn't it like a hammer, shouldn't this just be hammering down doctrines here instead of just up in the air all the time, you know if you as a preacher get up here and you're going for a passage and you're just not sure what that is, just don't preach it, no one wants to know just what you may think about it, you know, just this is what I, you know, you got to have confidence in what you're preaching and if you haven't got the confidence, just don't go there, okay, I don't want you to be like these other guys, they come up in your own dreams and imaginations and try to teach that to God's people, be careful how you preach. Now please go to 2 Corinthians, go to 2, no, no, no, go to Galatians, go to Galatians chapter 2, we're almost done now, almost done, okay, so I had four things, four false ways that we ought to hate, number one is the false witness, number two is the false balance, number three is the false prophet but I think this is the scariest one of all that I'm about to tell you guys, so you guys go to Galatians chapter 2 and I'm going to read to you from 2 Corinthians, okay, 2 Corinthians 11 verse 25, Paul is, you know, is preaching to the church, the Corinthian church and explaining how he's gone through a lot of trials and a lot of difficulties and he says in verse number 25, thrice was I beaten with rods, once I was stoned, thrice I suffered shipwreck, a night and a day have I been in the deep, in journeys often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils of mine own countrymen, in perils by the heathen, in perils by the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea and this part just gives me shivers, in perils among false brethren, in perils, in perils, in perils, injury, loss or destruction among false brethren, okay, you know what is a false brother, you know I look at this whole church and I believe all of you except the youngest of children, I believe all of you are brothers in the Lord or sisters in the Lord, I'm confident, I'm confident, I look at this group that you are saved, okay but what is a false brethren, with that same level of confidence that I have about your salvation, the same level of confidence that I believe right now you're a brother in Christ, there could be someone in our church that's a false brethren, okay, they're not even saved, you know they're not a child of God, they've put on the show, it looks like they're saved, that's the scariest thing of all, to think that there could be someone in my church that's not saved, that's such a sad thing, right, in perils, listen what is the point of, what does a false brother want to do, bring perils, bring loss, bring destruction to the people of God, now I get the false prophet, they're doing it for money, they're doing it for fame but the false brother in the church, what is he there for, what purpose, I mean you got to be extremely wicked, just to be in church, just sit down in church, put on the smiles, pretend to love everybody, pretend to be saved, hey they might even quote to you the gospel the way you know it, they might even say I've believed on Christ, it takes time, just like the false prophet, they're masquerading, they're pretending to be something they're not, I don't want to even think about that, anybody in this church to be that way but it's possible, you know, Judas Iscariot was a false brethren, not only he was a false prophet, he was a false apostle, he was all of it, right, and they didn't know, you're in Galatians chapter 2 verse 3, Galatians chapter 2 verse 3, why do false brethren come into the church, I'm not talking about someone that walks off the street and is unsaved, I'm not talking about just the average person that just wants to be in church, he thinks he needs to be in church or he's seeking God and he walks in, you know, even somebody that might even believe a false gospel thinks he's saved and they walk in, they believe, they're just trying to do what's right they think, okay, they're not trying to pretend or anything, right, there are some that really try to pretend to be one of us, Galatians chapter 2 verse 3 says, but neither Titus who was with me being a Greek was compelled to be circumcised and that because of false brethren, unawares brought in who came in privily to spy out our liberty which we have in Christ Jesus that they might bring us into bondage, alright, so he says look, this is why false brethren come in, they're spies, spies, they come in to spy the liberty that you have in Christ Jesus, they say well this person believes that salvation is by grace through faith and not of any works, not of any effort of their own, I want to check them out, I want to see what they're all about, spying, pretend to be one of us and what they're ultimately trying to do is to bring us into bondage, when it came to Titus, they're trying to get Titus the Greek, you got to get circumcised, you're not right with God until you get circumcised, you know, and Paul say hey, these are false brethren and it takes time, it takes a while, okay, because they look like one of us, they talk like one of us, okay, they preach the gospel like one of us but eventually comes out, eventually, oh no, there's more than believing, you got to do this, you got to do that, you got to, what is wrong with this person, this is the scariest thought of all, you know why, because I genuinely love each one of you, I, with all my heart, I love each one of you, it would break my heart to find out one day, brother so-and-so was a false brethren, was a false brother, that would break my heart, you know, it'd be so hard to accept but they come into churches, it happens, it happens, right, look at verse number five, to whom we gave place by subjection, no, not for an hour, that the truth of the gospel might continue with you, Paul says look, as soon as we found out they're a false brother, as soon as we found out they're trying to preach the false gospel, we didn't give them an hour, we just kicked them out of church, that's the right approach because they're coming to damage us, they're coming to hurt us, they're coming to bring us into bondage, hey, the church is not for that person, okay, and listen, they might be sitting in the church right now, who knows, eventually it's going to come out, eventually it's going to come out and when it comes out, they're getting kicked out of church, all right, so why did you kick our brother so-and-so, because he was false, that's why, I'm sorry, be careful with that, the one that's coming trying to bring us into bondage is false, you know, there are times you've got to kick people out of the church, not false, they're just wrong, they've just done sin and they need to repent and get right with God, I'm not saying about that person, the average person, but the person that's trying to spy the liberties that we have in Jesus Christ, such wickedness, such, you know, a worker of Satan that we could have in our midst and so, you know, it doesn't, again, you know, there are some sermons that just don't, I don't really get a lot of delight preaching or studying it, you know, but we've got to understand that there are wicked people, okay, there are things that we are to hate, I hate every false way is a total for the sermon this afternoon, hey, hate the false witness and hate the fact that you've been a false witness in the past and if you've made false accusations about somebody in this church, go and fix it, okay, go and make amends of it, alright, hate the false prophets, hate the false balances and brethren, yes, even hate the false brethren, okay, we've got to be careful and not allow these people to damage our church, okay, let's pray.