The Fiery Arrow Of False Doctrine

I want you to turn in your Bible to 1 Timothy chapter 4 in the New Testament. This is part five in our series on the devil's devices. The devil's devices dealing with the fiery arrows or fiery darts of the wicked one.

And so we're dealing with his plans, his stratagems, how he thinks, how he attacks the saints of God or sinners. Reading from 1 Timothy chapter 4. My message here this morning, this is the fifth part. We've had five parts in this series.

This will be the third arrow. The first arrow we dealt with was the fiery arrow of unforgiveness. It can destroy you.

Unforgiveness in the heart. Someone does something to you. Someone says something and you get so bitter, so angry.

You can't release it. You can't get freedom. It can destroy you, make you bitter, make you angry, make you sinful.

Something like that getting into your heart can destroy you. Start thinking through little things that are of no consequence. And yet they eat away at you and destroy your entire Christian conviction.

And believe me, your peace, your joy, your righteousness can be stolen. There is a real devil. That was the first arrow we dealt with.

The second arrow was the fiery arrow of ecumenism, where we mix with a form of Christianity that is not biblical. It's erroneous in its teachings. But here, the third one in part five, there's my message.

The fiery arrow of false doctrine. Reading from 1 Timothy chapter 4 verse 1. Now the spirit speaketh expressly that in the latter times, some shall depart from the faith, given heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of devils. Speaking lies and hypocrisy, having their conscience seared with a hot iron, forbidding to marry and commanding to abstain from mates, which God has created to be received with thanksgiving of them which believe and know the truth.

For every creature of God is good and nothing to be refused if it be received with thanksgiving. For it is sanctified by the word of God and prayer. If thou put the brethren in remembrance of these things, thou shalt be a good minister of Jesus Christ, nourished up in the words of faith and of good doctrine, whereunto thou hast attained.

But refuse profane an old wife's fables and exercise thyself rather unto godliness. For bodily exercise profiteth little, but godliness is profitable unto all things, having promise of the life that now is and of that which is to come. And we'll stop there.

Let's pray together. Father, we just bow our heads and our hearts. We still ourself for these moments.

O God, we have sang and sang aloud, but O God, we still ourself in your presence. It's not man that we come to hear, not his ideas. I have wrestled and endeavored to study your scriptures given by the Holy Spirit, your words, your teachings, your commands, your warnings.

My entire message is an endeavor to hear what the Spirit would say to the church and to the church of this generation. And Lord God, I ask of you for grace that in an evil hour, when there is a flood, a tidal wave of deception about to be released and that we haven't even begun to see deception, as you warn in the scripture, I pray that you guard us, that the shield of faith would be grasped here this morning, that we would lay hold of the shield of faith that's able to extinguish the fiery, evil, wicked, dangerous, explosive darts and arrows of the wicked one. Lord God, we know the shield of faith, the body of doctrine, faith in the scriptures of God, faith in your word, and the teachings of the Holy Spirit puts out the fire and guards us and protects us from being hit by such fiery darts that would destroy us and damn our souls and corrupt our minds and lead us astray and confuse us and lead us into deception and disobedience and rebellion and wrong teaching.

Lord God, we know it's the Holy Spirit of truth that is here this morning leading us into scripture. And we love you and I rely upon you that the teaching might be of you and not of man. In Jesus' name, bless your word this morning.

Amen. I want to deal here this morning in part five of this series on the devil's devices, the fiery arrow of false doctrine. And under that, I could deal with 100 things, but I'm not going to.

There are thousands of false doctrines and teachings that are being fired at people in the church in this hour. And many arrows being fired at you sitting in this room have been fired, is being fired, and will be fired. False doctrine, wrong teaching, unbiblical, not according to scripture, are not rightly divided.

A false doctrine can be one scripture pulled out of scripture and not held in balance with others. If you're a person who only builds on individual scriptures, I believe this, this is what I've been taught. I'm not moving from this.

And yet it's not balanced with other scripture. That's a false doctrine. You may think, but it's a teaching from the Bible.

Yes, but you've added your own thinking and it's not balanced with other scripture. You never just take one scripture by itself out of context. You will get into deception.

Because when the devil comes to church, he comes with a Bible under his arm, quoting scripture on his lips. He doesn't preach in context, out of context, removing scripture from the context of all the scripture. A Bible preacher preaches one scripture in the context of the full body of doctrine of the Bible.

And so we are dealing here with the fiery arrow of false doctrine. We've already looked at Ephesians 6 and 11, put on the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wilds, the stratagems, the intelligent, well thought out plans of the devil. You need the armor of God without the armor of God, without a shield, a breastplate, a helmet, without a sword, without the shoes, without the belt of truth, without putting this armor on, you are actually wide open to the wilds of the devil.

You have no protection. You can't neglect the Bible and think you're free and immune from the devil. You're deceived if you think that.

If you think you can neglect the Bible, not walk in the light of scripture, not forgive your brother, not separate yourself from ecumenicalism, if you think that, you're in dangerous ground. If you think you can pull out scriptures that secure you in sin and yet don't convict you and draw you to repentance, I want to tell you you're vulnerable to the wilds of the devil. It says in verse 16 of Ephesians 6, above all, take in the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.

And that's the key to fiery darts. See, all the armor is important, but it's your shield of faith is essential for these arrows, above anything else. That's why I said above all other things, above every other part of the armor, take to yourself the shield of faith more than anything.

It's the shield that puts out the fiery arrows, puts the fire out, stops the arrows, not your breastplate, not your helmet. All of these things are important, but it's your shield. And that's why you take it above all else.

And you know what? Before we finish this series, I'm going to preach and preach thoroughly on the shield. So I could apply the shield to every message. I haven't done that yet, but I'm going to come back and do that.

I'm going to show you how the shield of faith deals with unforgiveness and is the remedy of it. I'm going to show you how the shield is the remedy to ecumenism. I'm going to show you how the shield is the remedy to false doctrine, but I'm going to come back and really apply that clearly.

The shield is the cure, but I'm dealing with the arrows here. I want you to be alert. See, if you don't see the danger of the enemy, if you don't take heed to the warnings, you're vulnerable.

I'm sure I'm okay. No, you're not. You disobey basic scriptures and you say, sure, I'm okay.

I know what I'm doing. No, you do not. Because as soon as you do that, you're wide open to lies, confusion, deception, ideologies.

Since you need to be very careful, you cannot disobey the word of God, walk in darkness and yet be okay with the devil or with God. Let me begin here with point one. And I want to expound this text here this morning as I deal with the fiery arrow of false doctrine.

I could deal with many doctrines, but I'm only going to stick to the two he mentions because they give you a taste. These aren't big major doctrines denying the virgin birth or denying the divinity of Christ. Far more subtle than that.

And I believe it will give you a taste of the wiles of Satan and of fiery darts that can damage men. My first point here, which spirit are you listening to? Can I ask you all that? All of you, what spirit are you listening to? Because there's many spirits in the world. There's many in the church and believe me, everyone in the church isn't listening to the same spirit.

No way. If I listen to all the great prophets and preachers of this hour, don't tell me the same spirit speaking through them. He is not.

It is not the same spirit. And I want to tell you all the Christians I have to do with, come in touch with and speak to, they are not listening to the same spirit. Definitely not.

It is such a mishmash of everything. People who are convinced they're hearing from the Holy Spirit, absolutely are not. And it's very easy to prove it because the Bible says, the Bible says, and the CEF and those going through it.

One thing you learn from CEF and it molds your whole life. The Bible says, the Bible says. Don't quote things without saying the Bible says, that's your authority.

When you're dealing with children, the Bible says, it's not your opinion. I don't care about your opinion. I don't care about my opinion.

I want the word of God. What does the Bible say? And so this first point, which spirit are you listening to? Look at verse one, chapter four and verse one of 1 Timothy. Now the spirit speaketh expressly.

Notice that word expressly. What does that mean? The spirit speaketh expressly. This is how the spirit speaks.

The word expressly there means explicitly, precisely, or I could say in a clear outspoken manner. How does the spirit speak? Openly, clearly, boldly, openly, not in a hidden manner or way. He speaks in plain words, clear words, concise words.

If you've got something in your life, he speaks in that. He doesn't avoid it. If your spirit avoids things in your life, then it's not the real Holy Spirit.

I've had people come to me and say, oh, the Holy Spirit told me something crazy to go and do this or go with this girl. I go, why isn't he telling you to be faithful in the house of God? That is not the real Holy Spirit. Why would the Holy Spirit speak about these things that you want and not deal with hundreds of things that you are plainly disobeyed? That's not the real Holy Spirit.

Immediately, I know that it's basic. It's obvious, but not when you're not walking with God. And so he says, no, the spirit speaketh expressly in plain words, in words to be understood.

The real spirit speaks out boldly in clearness. And I want you to notice here in this verse, when he says the spirit speaketh expressly, openly, clearly, what's he talking about? Actually, three things are mentioned here. So what spirit are you listening to? What spirit? Because listen, in 1 John chapter four, verse one, John writes, beloved, believe not every spirit.

There's many spirits in this world. I mean, supernatural, invisible, influential spirits that come to teach the Bible. There's many.

John says, beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits, whether they are of God. Because many false prophets are gone out into the world. If you just believe things without testing it carefully, if you say, oh, but I know, I know what I believe.

Do you? Do you? Do you avoid being challenged on what you believe? Is it biblical? Is it clear? Is it obvious? Does it line up with all of scripture? And so John says, try the spirits. If you think the spirit is leading you, is guiding you, what spirit are you listening to? What spirit? What invisible, influential spirit is guiding your life? Your marriage, your actions, your decisions, your beliefs, your convictions. And so John says, try the spirits.

You better know how to try the spirits, how to test them, how to identify. This is the spirit of God, or this is an evil spirit. Oh, brother Keith, sure, it's obvious.

Is it? Again, he says in 1 John 4 and 6, we are of God. He that knoweth God, heareth us. He that is not of God, heareth not us.

Hereby know we the spirit of truth and the spirit of air. How do you tell the difference between the spirit and two different spirits? What spirit is speaking to you? What spirit is influencing you, guiding you, or teaching you? Because I tell you, you can't be in this world without being influenced by something. So what is influencing you? What is whispering in your ear that you go, this is right, this is what I'm gonna do? John actually says here, you can know the difference between the spirit of truth, what is right.

Not out there, what is biblically right? And what is the spirit of air? Deception. That's a stark difference. He gives a way that you can test a no.

Says us that are of God. He that knoweth God, heareth us. It's all about the apostles, John, Peter, Paul.

This is the key. See those who don't hear the biblical teaching of the apostles, you're gonna be given over to a spirit of air. If you don't carefully weigh the scripture, if you're not in the Bible, I wanna tell you, Christian, if you're not reading your Bible, you're on dangerous ground, very dangerous ground.

Oh, I know. No, you don't. If you're not abiding in the word of God daily, meditating on it, you're wide open, vulnerable to a spirit of air.

Oh, I know the Bible. I know the gospel. No, you don't.

If you can't even abide in the word of God, if it's not a practice, I know you can miss a day. I know that life can get busy. I know there's so many things, but I'm talking about as a vital part of your life, week in, week out, where you take quality time to sit in the presence of God, meditate on the word, think on it, and for God to speak to your heart.

If you're not doing that, you do not know truth from air. You do not know the spirit of God. You do not know his voice.

Because I'm telling you, the written word of God, John is saying here, this is the mark. This is how you tell the difference. If you hear us, the apostles, you are of God.

If you have an inkling of that, I don't care what the Bible says. You're deceived. Oh, but I know.

But brother, it says this in the Bible. I don't care. I know what I believe.

You're on such dangerous ground. It's unbelievable. He that is not of God, hears not us.

Say someone who doesn't listen to the Bible, listen to me carefully. Think of those around you. Those who you think are Christians, they don't listen to the Bible.

They don't obey the Bible. They don't care what the Bible says. It carries no.

Oh, but I know. I know I'm okay. You can't speak to them in the word of God.

They are not of God. And they're in a spirit of error. They're deceived.

I know the world is out there. We all know that. But we need to understand what the Bible says.

There is a spirit of error, and there's a spirit of truth. Now, John says here, the spirit clearly speaks. Openly, clearly, expressly.

He opens his mouth. He opens his heart. How? He does it through scripture.

The real spirit speaks in bold clearness. And watch this. Warning about future deception.

There's three things here. But he expressly says, note with me here. Number one, apostasy, fallen away.

The spirit, the real spirit, the spirit of truth speaks to the church and actually speaks about apostasy. Those who once walked in truth, lived right, knew the real, and they seemed the real, they apostatized. That's the first thing.

The second thing that he deals with here is seducing spirits. So the Holy Spirit, watch this. Now you've got two spirits.

You've got the Holy Spirit speaking warning, and he begins to warn you about a other spirit that comes instructing, teaching, influencing. So the second thing he deals with is seducing spirits. The third thing he deals with is doctrines of devils.

So notice again, in this first verse, the spirit expressly speaks to the church, warning you that in the church, there is coming demonic evil spirits, another spirit, and you're what that other spirit, it speaks, it teaches, it leads, it guides, it influences. So you've got two spirits here. The Holy Spirit is warning the real church and real preachers and real Christians that there is another spirit in the church or tries to come into the church in the meetings, pulpits, movements, gatherings to bring another influence.

And we're gonna look here at these three things because I believe it's a warning. This is the fiery arrow this morning of false doctrine. Do you realize the devil has a stratagem 6,000 years old? He's used it again and again and again from the garden of Eden all the way down to our day because it's so effectual.

He is so good at firing this arrow. He used it against Adam, against David, against Judas, against Saul, against many men and women all through 6,000 years. It is the fiery arrow of false doctrine.

Not of those who reject the Bible, but those with the religious mindset sitting in churches who change the word of God, add to it, remove things, ignore it, shut off their mind, neglect it. That's false doctrine. False doctrine isn't just denying the virgin birth.

False doctrine is small changes from the clear teaching of the word of God. And you need to take heed to that this morning in a very strong way. Elsewhere in Scripture, we have the Holy Spirit writing through John and Jude, writing one John and the book of Jude were written by the spirit to deal with apostasy, falling away from the faith.

Falling away from grace. People argue, can you lose your salvation? No. Can you fall away from the faith? Yes.

Can you fall from grace? Yes. Can you depart from truth having once walked in it? Yes. I'm giving you clear biblical statements.

I'm not coming into the realm of theology. I'm giving you Scripture. See, when you get into the teaching of men, the five points of Arminianism, five points of Calvinism, you're moving into another realm.

You immunize yourself to Scripture. Very dangerous. You just go, that doesn't fit.

I know. Hold on. I'm giving you biblical statements here.

Look at these three teachings here because we have a warning about the teachings of or by demonic spirits. Either you're being taught by the real Holy Spirit or you're being taught by demons. And real demons teach the Bible.

Let that sink in this morning. Look at these three points for a second. It says here in this first one, in the latter times, some shall depart from the faith.

When it says some, it doesn't mean there won't be a lot. What it means is specific people, specific groups at specific times. When it says in the latter times, it's talking about later after their day when they're writing their warning.

This is a prophecy. I'm writing by the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit's expressly, clearly warning you of what's to come.

Since I want to tell you, you have not seen deception nationally, educationally, morally, religiously, or spiritually. You have not seen deception yet. It hasn't even begun.

I can prove biblically. You haven't even begun. And it's very bad at the minute, isn't it? Isn't deception very bad in the church, and in world, and in politics? They won't even say what a woman is.

God help us. Our world has gone crazy. But if you're in that world, that is your world.

That is your future. You don't walk in the light of Scripture. Bye-bye.

That's where you're going. Oh, I'd never believe that. Yes, you would.

Because my Bible says, if you don't love the truth, and you don't believe the truth, and you don't love Jesus Christ, God will give you over to a great delusion. And it's coming soon. Hasn't been released yet.

But it's going to get released worldwide. Those who do not love truth, do not believe the truth, do not walk in the truth, do not abide in Scripture, do not hold fast to the written Word of God. Not their mind, not their emotions, not their interpretation, not their understanding, not their conviction, to the written Word of God.

If you don't hold fast to the written Scripture, I want to tell you, you can't even imagine what is coming in the days ahead. And so he gives us these three points. In the latter times, some shall depart from the faith.

Notice that word depart. It's the word apisteme. It means to remove, be removed from where you are in the church, in Christ, in the Scripture, in the Word of God.

It means to instigate a revolt, a rebellion. It means to desist, to desert, to depart, to fall away. It means to refrain, withdraw yourself, to stand aloof or to stand far off from where you once stood.

Remove yourself from where you are and you go stand over there and you're standing away. Not talking about this local church, LCC. Oh, it's far worse than that.

You could still be in the church and you have fallen away. You could still say, oh, I'm reading my Bible. I listened to all the prophets online and you're a rebel.

You're a vulture against God. Oh, I'm interested. I'm always listening to preachers online.

You could be utterly deceived. And so here's the first warning. The Holy Spirit expressly, clearly, openly, strongly warns you about a coming deception.

Listen to me here this morning. There is coming a time. And when it says latter time, it means in the future, there's going to be specific points in time.

Repeatedly. But the greatest is going to be at the end. The great falling away.

I'll deal with that Tuesday night. What it is. The Bible actually prophesies right at the end, you're going to see the greatest rebellion.

And that rebellion's against the written scripture, the Bible, the word of God. We are actually going to live to see a church that rejects the Bible, the written scripture. I don't know how.

I can't even imagine. But deception is going to come in such a way. There's going to be a mass rebellion and it'll be called the rebellion, the fallen away, the departure.

It's going to be so extreme that worldwide we're going to notice. It's going to be timed. It's going to be clear.

It's going to be obvious. You're going to see many go AWOL from the Bible. I'm warning you, say stay in the word of God.

It's not just a book. I know when you read it, you get tired. Your mind wanders.

You yawn. I understand that. You begin to doze.

Within walk, pace and read. Listen on your iPhone. When you shave, when you drive, when you walk the dog, begin to listen to scripture.

I've got to get the word of God into my heart. The written scripture. Oh, I don't understand it.

Then let the Holy Spirit teach you. He's the great teacher. He is the spirit of truth.

You've got to get the word of God in you. Remember when you're young, some of you, some of you are still young. But when you're young and your mommy went and brought the medicine, you always dreaded that because when I was young, all the medicine was supposedly good.

Your mommy said, this is very good for you. It was always revolting. It was always horrible.

It was better. And you're like, oh, and you needed some honey after it or a little sweetie after it. But she kept telling me it's good for me.

Thanks to God. You could be there going, I can't read my Bible. I can't concentrate.

I can't understand it. It's life to you. Get into the word of God.

I was a dyslexic, failed all my exams. Couldn't tell the difference between a B and a D. You know what? I went and said, help me. I've got to get it.

It's not an academic program. It's your heart saying, oh God, this is truth. How does the Holy Spirit speak? Through the written scriptures.

The Holy Spirit speaks clearly that in the latter times, some shall depart. They're going to rebel from the faith. Notice the statement, the faith.

It's not, it didn't say faith. They're going to stop believing. It doesn't say that.

It says the faith. Underline the word the. The faith means the body of biblical doctrine.

The faith. Remember Jude said, the faith once entrusted to the saints. Jude was saying the faith was once delivered.

It wasn't at Nicaea. It wasn't at a church council. It wasn't by a Pope or a group of men or a denomination.

It already happened in Jude's day. The faith had been delivered written down, handed down from the apostles, Paul, Peter, John, don't add to it. Do not church councils to it.

Do not add anything to it. Take the scripture that Paul preached. Why are so many teaching something that's unrecognizable to Paul, contradicting Paul? There's something seriously wrong.

And so he says, they're going to depart. They're going to rebel. They're going to revolt from the faith, the biblical teaching of the apostles.

Since we've seen it all through the years, there's been periods and times of apostasy. There's what we call in English an apostasy, a falling away from the faith amongst those who used to believe it, used to preach it, used to desire it, used to know it, used to understand it, but they don't anymore. Oh, I don't believe that anymore.

You never would have said that before. So I think something's happened to you to change so radically, to be a Bible-believing Christian who loves Jesus, who died on the cross and say this is truth. And then to be led away.

Something's happened. That's not natural. It's not that you find a contradiction.

Oh, Brother Keith, there's lots of contradictions in the Bible. Oh, really? Would you show me? Do you know I've asked thousands of people that and none of them have been able to show me one man who came with about 50 pages in his pocket and went, God help me, what am I going to do here? And he started to go through every scripture and the Spirit of God gave me the answer and his mouth was stopped in one minute and he was left unfounded. And it took all the grace of God and all the wisdom of God in that situation.

Since that's the first thing is the departure from the faith, the Holy Spirit is expressly warning them of a future departure. Can I encourage you? Don't be alarmed at people falling away from the faith. I don't care how big it is.

I don't care who it is. I don't care when it is. Don't be disturbed.

The Holy Spirit speaking. Listen to the Holy Spirit. You see, you get long ago.

Oh, how can that happen? And how come they could go back to the Catholic Church? And how could this happen? And how could they sin like that? Don't be. Listen to the Holy Spirit. In Scripture, he expressly warns you of such things.

He is warning you. He tells you before it's going to happen. And that's the very first thing.

And 1 John 2 19 says, they went out from us, but they were not of us. For if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us. But they went out that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us.

And that's not talking about someone leaving LCC. It's not saying that. Do you know what it's saying? It's talking about antichrists.

There's more than one. There's one at the end of the age, but there's always been antichrists. In the early church, antichrists originated in the church.

They were antichrist. You know where they began? In the church, sitting under the apostles. Oh, the first generation must have really known the word of God.

Let's read the church fathers because they knew the truth. Are you kidding me? There's men who sat under John and Peter and Paul who fell away and who apostatized. Remember what Paul said? He says, all Asia has forsaken me.

Oh, they sat under Paul and Peter and James and John and Jude. They must really know doctrine. They could be the biggest heretics ever to walk the face of the earth.

See, if you don't abide on this, if you don't take care, you're on dangerous, dangerous ground. Jude actually says in verse 13, he calls them wandering stars. The word stars, there's the word for planet.

It's a Greek word for planet. Notice with me, stars give the appearance of being static. The planets keep moving according to those looking at them.

The planets and what he's actually saying here, these Lord, these apostates who fall away from Christ, often the teachers, they look like large planets, but they're moving. Do you know if you listen to someone online and they're always moving with the latest trend? Do you know what? I'm old fashioned. When I was 21, I want to tell you, I was like an old fashioned Puritan.

If you go back and listen to me preaching at 20 years, 22 years old, you'll be utterly shocked what I was preaching, the doctrines I was preaching, the truth, and you go, man, that's even better than I, that he's expound in the text. This is clear. Do you know why that is? I stuck to it.

I didn't have special revelations. I didn't have special testimony, special stories. I stayed with the text of scripture.

I preached the word of God. Multitudes aren't, I don't know why they don't. But if you go back and listen, since I'm still preaching the same message, I'm still standing in the same place.

I'm never going to change. If God gives me another 50 years, come back, you'll hear me. You'll go, I heard him preach that in 2025.

Yes. And I'll preach it again and again and again. Tell me the old, old story of Jesus Christ and his love.

Tell me of the atonement. Tell me of the cross. Second thing he says, given heed to seducing spirits.

And then notice the spirit is speaking about this. They have fallen away, departing from the faith. The Holy Spirit is speaking.

Saints, is the Holy Spirit warning you? Is the real Holy Spirit showing you? Has he been keeping you? Many, there will be those fallen periodically. They'll all go off rethinking their Christianity. Oh, we've had new revelation.

We've had new insight. Oh, really? You sound like an old fashioned apostate from the days of Paul, Peter and John. And these men warned us.

Jude warned us. They are clouds with no rain. They deceive you.

They come into our gappy feast and they sit there. They're liars. They're deceivers.

Oh, how dangerous. So this is the second thing. Given heed to seducing spirits.

The spirit warns you about you. You, not on the sinners out there. Not on the Catholics down the road.

It's talking to you in the real church, here in the real word of God. You who claim to be the real believers. He's warning you about seducing spirits.

Oh, I could never be seduced. He's warning you. There's an apostle of Christ warning you saying the Holy Spirit's speaking to you, warning about this falling away.

Warning about seducing spirits. In fact, given heed. See that word given heed is the cause.

Why do people fall away? This is why. Seducing spirits and doctrines of devils. Gives two reasons why.

Why do you get people moving away? They're not what they used to be. They've been seduced by spirits. Oh, they're intellectual giants.

Well, I thought it out and I realized and I've moved on and I've got a new kind of Christianity. You've been seduced. You're seduced by spirits.

And it says given heed. It means to hold the mind towards. This is what you do to be deceived.

You actually hold your mind towards. You pay attention. You give caution to.

You apply yourself to. You adhere to, attend to. You're aware of and you give regard to seducing spirits.

Do you know why you fall away? Do you know why individuals fall away and preachers fall away? I've had friends who fell away. They preach like me, believe like me and they departed from the scripture. They departed into a life of sin.

Do you know why? Seducing spirits. It wasn't just them. They had seducing spirits coming.

And you know what? What that spirit came with to seduce them. They began to listen. I go, that makes sense.

Oh, and they, they adhered. I can't understand people go on YouTube and they'll look up video after video of all the problems with the Bible. Do you ever look up the answers, the solid teaching? I met these people and I go, you're actually creating a problem.

You're adhering. You're giving your mind over to deception. You will be seduced.

You think it's men. You think you can naturally reason this out. You think it's mental faculties and you're intelligent and you've got the ability.

You're messing with spirits. Seducing spirits. Very dangerous.

What's the word seducing mean? Deceiving. Means to be an imposter. And our words, they're disguised.

Undetected. They're an imposter. They're standing in the place of the real spirit.

He said, I'm the real Holy Spirit. I'll teach you. I'll give you interpretation.

I'll show you new things. I'll show you the Eucharist. That it is the center of our faith or that Mary is to be adored.

I'll show you. This is a new revelation in the church. Are you kidding me? It's an old heresy.

Old, old, old. Oh, but I'm just listening to them. You're being seduced.

You think you're listening to men and they're educating you. They're seducing you. And so Paul here writes, you give heed.

You listen to. You give time to. You're listening to Benny Hinn.

You're listening to Joyce Meyer. I could go through them all. She went and got a tattoo.

Do you know why she got a tattoo? I'm part of the cause. Did you know that? She got so angry at people who believe young Christians can't go and get a tattoo that says, I'm so annoyed those legalists. I'm going to go and get a tattoo myself.

She done it. She went and done it. If you want to listen to a woman like that, go ahead.

I've seen the fruit over nations. Australia, South Africa, America, England. I've seen the fruit of that ministry.

You want to listen to her. She gives pep talks, not biblical doctrine. Oh, but it sounds right.

But it's encouraging. You're being seduced. It's lies.

Oh, but she says lots of right things. Oh, I know. Oh, I know.

The Pope believes in the Trinity. Oh, I know. Listen, these seducing spirits are deceivers.

They masquerade as the real Holy Spirit. They come to mislead. They cause you to wonder or to roam from the narrow way of truth.

They're deceivers. And that's what seduction means. That's what deception means.

It means there is a spirit coming to draw you away from the narrow path, the biblical path, God's path. And this spirit is in disguise. And I'm the real Holy Spirit.

There's a new revelation. This is a new way. This is broader.

Why not go back to the old heresies? No, thank you. I think I'll stay with my Bible. And so you're being seduced away from the narrow way of truth.

The straight path, the narrow path, the safe path, the sound path. This is a source of all men leaving truth. It's seducing spirits.

If you don't think you've ever faced the spirit of seduction, I'd be shocked. When you come into the church, you will have to encounter the spirit. Forget Jezebel.

People run all over the church, the spirit of Jezebel. Show me the verse that says spirit of Jezebel being a very strong-willed, dominant woman. Can you show me that? The weak man's an Ahab.

Where's that teaching? But this teaching's in the Bible. Seducing spirits that cause you to rebel against written scripture. It's clear.

Seducing spirits. It's so real that the real Holy Spirit has warned you. I, the real Holy Spirit, warn you about seducing spirits that deceive you.

In other words, they're supernatural. What is this spirit? They're invisible. They're supernatural.

They've got powers. I mean, they've got powers. Do you know deceiving spirits can do miracles in the Bible? They can predict the future, tell things about you.

You better be careful what you mix with. The third thing here is doctrine of devils. See, there's a fiery dart.

What's the fiery dart we're dealing with? Seducing spirits. Doctrines of devils. False doctrine.

It's the fiery arrow of false doctrine. Where do they come from? Demon spirits. The real Holy Spirit's warning you that there's another spirit that comes teaching doctrine.

Look at that statement. Doctrines of devils. The word doctrines there is didaskalia.

It's the word. It's not the act of stand here, preaching, teaching. No, no.

This word for doctrines, it means what is taught, the substance, the material, the message. It actually means an ordered systematic teaching, all laid out with information, ideas, thoughts, opinions, interpretations, teachings. But listen, it's taught by demons.

There's not only seducing spirits looking to allure you away from the real Bible and real doctrine. There are doctrines of demons. It is a laid out systematic teaching.

And listen, it's taught by demons. Or English says doctrines of demons. Or we could say demons who come teaching are teaching demons.

You need to be careful because there are demons specifically given over to teach doctrine. They know every scripture in the Bible. They know every trick in the book.

They know every argument. They've heard it all before. And they come with the Bible, with scripture, with half truths.

And they begin to teach those in the church. You better have your shield of faith up this morning, saints of God. You better have it.

And so there is a kind of demon where originating with that demon is teachings. They stir up certain ideas. They initiate, they equip you.

They will help you. They guide false teachers. Behind every wolf, false teacher, or man who starts a new movement that apostatized from doctrinal faith, behind them is a demon.

I promise you behind every false prophet is a supernatural demonic power. Many years ago, I was in Germany at a friend's house. And it was a girl.

She was like a sister to me, Christiana, who died in the car wreck. We were sitting in the house and her boyfriend was there. And the knock came to the door.

And it's all in German. At that stage, I didn't know German. I'm sitting there.

And these two nicely dressed folk were at the door and they invited them in, all speaking in German. And I'm totally locked out of it. I know nothing that's going on.

And then they sit down and then they get into a conversation. But it's these two folk doing all the speaking. And they're opening their Bibles.

And they're pointing and they're moving. And I'm so frustrated. I go, these are JWs, Jehovah's Witnesses.

And I was so frustrated because I couldn't speak German. I was just going, I want to get into a discussion, but I can't. And so I start to pray.

And I'm getting frustrated. Why are they not preaching to them? Why are they not witnessing to them? And they're going from Scripture to Scripture, these two heretics. And I'm getting frustrated.

They're an older couple and they know the Bible inside out. I mean, inside out. They know every Scripture.

They just turn, turn, turn, turn, quoting Scripture. But it's a lie. And then Christiana, she's sitting by me.

I said, are those JWs? Yes. Stop them speaking. Don't let them in your house.

Don't let them, God bless. Don't let them in your door. Don't let them preach to you.

But I'm frustrated. And I said, watch this. This is what I said to this toy.

I said, I was so frustrated and mad. I said, watch this. And I'm looking at her and I start to pray and I start to plead the blood of Jesus.

And I start to rebuke the devil. And I start to pray in the authority of Jesus' name. Guess what happened? Instantly at that second, they can't hear me.

They don't know what I'm praying or saying. Instantly, they can't find one Scripture. These are JWs.

They can't find any Scripture. And they're suddenly, they get confused. And they start going, it's here somewhere.

Then I said to the boyfriend, I said, now give your testimony, preach the gospel right now. And he begins to preach and testify and say, you must be born again. And they got so disheveled and confused, they got up and ran out.

Saints, I'm telling you, that is not natural. Those are doctrines of devils. And you need to have a shield of faith when you're dealing with these things.

Do you remember the devil in Genesis 3 speaking to Eve? That's doctrines of devils, ideas, thoughts, arguments, debates. You're dealing with the devil. It's very serious.

Jesus warns constantly about doctrines of men, doctrines of the Pharisees. Paul, as we dealt with, deals with winds of doctrine. Very serious what we're dealing with.

I've got about eight minutes that I've given myself. And I'm only a third of the way through. But listen, you're going to fully understand what I mean by this fiery dart of false doctrine.

Number two, that was only point one. Number two, the human vessel used for demonic teaching. See, God uses vessels.

And this is very important to understand. The devil doesn't just come and speak and drop things into your mind. He uses instruments.

He chooses vessels who can expound, who become supernatural, spiritual in teaching, because there's a spirit behind them. Very conniving, charismatic, supernatural, miracles. Oh, but there's a miracle that must be real.

People are being changed. It must be real. Just go to a campaign where Judas was preaching.

All 12 were sent out to preach with the 70. Go out, cast out demons. Do you not think Judas preached the gospel accurately in a way that nobody could have seen through it? Don't you think he laid hands on the sick? Don't you think he was involved? He was there when they're trying to cast demons out.

And when they did cast demons out. The human vessel used for demonic teaching. Look at verse two, speaking lies and hypocrisy.

That's not a demon. Demons do not speak lies and hypocrisy. And listen to the next part, having their conscience seared.

Demons do not have conscience. He's talking about men here. This is doctrines of demons, seducing spirits in men, in preachers, in the church.

These men are actually listening to another spirit, not the Holy, see the real Holy Spirit speaks expressly and clearly warning us about falling away, moving away from scripture, about being seduced from the narrow way. See anyone who comes teaching go, to walk with Christ is like this. No, it's not.

It's like this. Few there are who find it. Few there are.

If your way is a broad way, I want to tell you, sir. I want to tell you, madam, you're going straight to hell. Oh, I can drink.

I can do anything. I can take my hash. I can blaspheme.

Curse words come out of my mouth all the time. You're on the broad way to hell. Oh, but I believe this.

Well, why are you not living right? Do you see here? Notice these people who are being influenced, either influence or being used as the primary vessel of demonic spirits. They speak lies and hypocrisy. See someone you cannot be controlled, influenced or used by the devil as a false prophet and teacher or instrument.

You cannot be creating things that are going to damage the body of Christ and yet have the real Holy Spirit. Speaking lies and hypocrisy. This term speaking lies.

It's the Greek word. And I'm not being smart saying Greek words. It's important if you listen, suedo logos.

Do you know what logos is? It's the word. This is suedo logos. The word suedo in the Greek, it means are pseudo.

It means untrue. What is erroneous, deceitful, wicked. So look at these men.

They come speaking lies, speaking lies, pseudo logos. And in fact, the word logos comes from Lego. The key word in this is Lego.

Any of you have Lego growing up? Who had Lego growing up? Who has Lego? Some of you wish you had Lego. I had Lego when I was young. It's a Greek word used often in the Bible.

Do you know that? And listen to what it means. It means to lay forth, to explain, to spread out, to build. It is systematic teaching that gets built together.

And you begin to build something. So listen, speaking lies means that you are building an entire doctrine of teaching. They come with entire, very intricate teachings, very explicit, very detailed, all laid out.

They'll have 50 sermons on their teaching. They'll have books. They'll have laid out answers.

Whatever you ask them, they've got an answer for you. It's Lego. It all fits together.

It's not disjointed things. They've got a whole systemized teaching. But do you know what? It's deceitful.

It's erroneous. It's untrue. It's promulgating erroneous Christian doctrines, liars on a grand scale.

See, there's men in the church who are actually filled with control by seducing spirits or doctrines of devils. Devils that teach doctrine. One devil that teaches doctrine can deceive many, can impact an entire generation.

Many. Just think of it now with internet. The right person, the right place.

One person who's under the influence of a doctrine of devils, seducing spirits, begins to lie and lay out an intricate doctrine. Through the internet, you've got a platform. Everyone thinks they're a preacher today.

I've got the right to it. Who says that? Because you go on YouTube and you can get 50,000 people watching you. What's your character? What's your marriage? Who are you? Who commissioned you? Who ordained you? Who knows you? Where's your church? Who are you submitted to? Who you've been accountable to? What church did you sit in through the years? See, we don't ask those questions.

Oh, that's interesting. Oh, that's fascinating. Oh, listen, those testimonies.

I've got to be so careful. You don't know anything about them. It says speaking lies and hypocrisy.

They do this in hypocrisy. The word hypocrisy is the word, Greek word for an actor or a show, a stage show. It's all planned.

In other words, their message and motives are hidden by a stage act. They put on a whole display. You don't see what is behind that.

And you know what? Their good deeds. Oh, we're into the social gospel. We help the poor.

We help those that don't have. We're on the streets. We go to other nations.

We're involved in missions. We're involved with spreading the gospel. See, they put, that's hypocrisy.

Lies. Being covered by hypocrisy. Oh, they look real.

We were just watching two days ago about this evangelist called Steve Koku, who's an evangelist to Panama and South America. We hadn't heard about him. And I watched a video from about five years ago.

An advert and his sister speaking on it. And all these people impacted by him. Really impacts him.

He's got a passion for souls. He'll evangelize everywhere. He won't miss an opportunity.

He'll say, let's go reach the lost. And all these friends. Now it's all coming out suddenly.

He's been sleeping with girls. Abusing girls. Threatening girls.

Deceiving girls. Sleeping with multiple girls. And yet he's reaching hundreds of thousands for Christ.

Seeing many come to Christ. And his vision was for a million souls in South America. And across entire nations.

They say, this is a man of God. Now the problem is the people exposing them are saying, how do you persuade all these people in these nations who've been saved through him? That he's a deceiver. He's a liar.

He's abuser of women. See, speaking lies in hypocrisy. It's not always obvious.

If you don't stay in the Bible, you'll get deceived. Double lives. They do not live right.

People convinced they dogmatically know correct interpretations of doctrine. But they do not live right. We had a father, a husband, pull his entire family out of the influence of this church.

Because leading up to Christmastime, about several weeks before it, I just mentioned the word Christmastime. At Christmastime, I don't put a tree up in my house. I don't celebrate the birth of Jesus.

I like Christmas dinner. And if Anna wants to buy me a Christmas present, I'm very happy about that. And I'll buy her a Christmas present.

But I don't keep it. It wasn't Jesus' birth. He wasn't born then.

It's a secular event. What are you going to do? Stop using the word Sunday. It's a God's name.

Thursday, Saturday. How far do you want to go with this? See, you can get very pernickety. Oh, Christmas is a pagan holiday.

I know it is. And I don't celebrate it. But I like a good Christmas dinner.

And I like a family time. And I enjoy presents. And we're not celebrating either Baal or Jesus.

It's just in our culture. You enjoy Christmas? Praise God. Get on with it.

Read the scripture. Do something spiritual. If you don't, and you think it's a Babylon tree, a Nimrod pole, don't go there.

Just pretend it's another day. Go work. You'll get double pay.

You'll really get paid well. Just you do that. But listen, listen to me carefully.

Anton, what is a doctrine of devils? See, you may not understand what the Bible says. Doctrine of devils. What does it look like? This husband pulled his entire family out.

Godly wife, children that were open. The hearts of the children shut to us. Wouldn't listen to the word of God.

Because I had a father said, he mentioned the C word, Christmas. When he mentioned Christmas time. What if I mentioned Sunday? He's an apostate.

I'm talking about people who are radically. I mean, they're radical on stupid things. Or here's another one.

Someone sat in our home. Is that mains water? Or do you have a private well? Private well. Oh, that's okay then.

Because the new world order is poisoning all of us. They're going to get us all. I will not touch mains water.

Yeah. But a month after sitting under God's word. Do you know what you do? You come in.

Not another Bible study. Then you start going off secretly drinking. Taking your drugs.

Going out in relationships. Going to discos. The guy that impacted Sue's life brought him the gospel.

That's the guy. And before you realize it. See, he won't drink mains water.

But he'll go and sin. I'm tired of this. The new world order.

Antichrist. The mark of the beast. You're in sin.

You're under the power of hell. Your soul is going to be damned. And you're worried about water.

There's people who wouldn't even take the jab five years ago. It's the devil. It's the mark.

And they're not living right. They're deceived. You can be right in a point and wrong with God.

And I'm telling you, I'm giving a warning. Let's look here. These people speaking lies and hypocrisy.

And it says here. Having their conscience seared with a hot iron. How do you get to this place where you become an actor, a deceiver, a liar? You believe a lie.

You get moved away from the Bible. You can sin and sleep with women. But still preach the gospel.

You can say, you must be born again. God will forgive you. But you're sleeping with women.

How do you get there? You don't get there accidentally. You know what's happened? Having their conscience seared with a hot iron. What is your conscience? Right and wrong.

Some of you have a very tender conscience. It doesn't make you more holy. It's just you're more tender.

Some of us are more. In fact, that can be a problem because little things to think. And Judas, I've committed the unforgivable sin.

You haven't done anything. You're actually worried about it. You hate your sin.

You wish you weren't. You're fighting the devil. But you're there going, maybe God's deserted me.

But not these guys out there. No conscience. They're not bothered.

They can lie. They can bully. They can hurt.

They can beat people up. They can say things. They lie.

Lie is sin. See, if you're a perpetual liar, you're in such trouble. Listen to me.

If you're a perpetual liar, you are in such serious trouble. You can't even imagine. And I'm sick to death of lies.

Oh, everyone lies. No, they don't. We all have a proneness.

Someone said we could all be child abusers. No, we couldn't. Anything's possible, but I do not have those inclinations.

Or to be a homosexual. Quite the opposite. You need to be very careful.

No conscience. It's seared with the hot iron. You know what happens if I put a hot iron on my nerve? I won't feel anything in my hand.

No pain. You can stab it, stomp on it, whatever. That nerve means I'm alive.

Lord, are you there? Have you left me? Have I sinned? Lord, I need to get back to you. I'm worried about it. Do you know what? That's conscience.

Oh, God, I'm worried about my condition. That's conscience. But these folk, their conscience is seared with a hot iron.

Third of all, the Holy Spirit's teaching contrasted with that of devils. I'm going to close here. Look at verse 1 here.

Now. It means but. Now the Spirit expressly speaketh that in the latter times people are going to apostatize.

You know why? Seducing spirits and devils that are teaching doctrine that have got within men who have conscience that burnt their conscience. That's why when a man sins morally standing in this pulpit after years of ministry and he sleeps with a woman, you can't get back in the pulpit. I'm tired of it.

Oh, maybe a year later. Are you kidding me? That takes a lot of time to heal. You want to restore them to ministry.

Try and get them restored to salvation and a walk with God. Don't let them in this pulpit in a year's time. They're not healed.

They're not right. You can repent in a second, be forgiven. But to be restored, that's a process.

You need healing. Do you think you can get hit and punched, beaten up and you're just fine straight after? You need time to recover. Now look at this point three as I close.

It's contrast. The word now is contrast with the previous chapter all about the life of a bishop, of a leader, his character, his holiness, not so angry, his marriage, his children. We've lost something from the church in a very short time.

The children of pastors can be apostate, unbelieving, atheistic, can't get around Scripture. He gives two examples of doctrines of demons, doctrines being taught by devils and seducing spirits, using vessels who have no conscience, have seared it, and they've apostatized, moved away from Scripture. Two examples in the first century, in around the 60s of the first century, and it's the apostle Paul writing, but it's not him.

It's the Spirit speaking in the church, warning you about falling away, warning you about seducing spirits, warning you about doctrines of devils. Let's look at what the two are. Look at verse three, forbidding to marry, forbidding to marry.

This is what he gives as an example. In that hour, very shortly coming to the church will be those who come into the church. They'll rise up.

They'll be teachers. They'll know the Word of God, be very gifted in the Word of God, and they're going to start teaching men, you're forbidden to marry as a means of spiritual life and sanctification. The word forbidding means to prevent, to hinder, not allow, forbid, curtail, cut off, kept back from.

You know as well as me, Catholic priests are forbidden to marry. You're not allowed in the ministry. Catholic priests are excluded from ministry, serving God, if they're married.

You can't do it. Go be married, but you can't be a Catholic priest. It was a doctrine that arose over centuries.

It wasn't in the first century. It wasn't in the second century. Paul writing here is warning about doctrines of devils, teachings of devils, and he said, let me give you an example.

There is going to come in the last days or in the future. There's going to come periods of time where men are going to come with conscience here. They're going to teach you cannot marry.

You're forbidden, but the Holy Spirit didn't say that. There was a group called the Desert Fathers that arose during the time of persecution in Egypt and North Africa. They were an eccentric group of individuals.

I won't even go into it. It'll blow your brains if I did. From about the year 250, one of the first of them was called Anthony of Egypt.

He lived to the grand old age of 105. If you live like him, if you got to 105, you're doing well. And he died in the year 356 AD.

He was a strange guy. He went out and lived in the desert, isolated, alone. Then an organized movement began to arise in Egypt of these people going out into the desert.

By the year 400, this was a mass movement known in the church. In the fourth and fifth century, this movement arose. It was a new movement.

They were eccentrics and weird, disciplined. We want to be alone in isolation. They didn't eat normally.

They didn't dress normally. They didn't live normally. Many of them, they didn't speak to anyone else.

They took a vow of silence. They said, we pray quietly. We have this spiritual interior way of praying.

We pray silently. They're called the Church Fathers. Some of them lived on top of a pole, never moved off that pole.

They had eccentric ideas. But they said, we're against the flesh. We're going to kill the flesh.

We're going to discipline the flesh. We're against the old man. We don't want to be affected by the world.

They isolated themselves. They come out of the towns, out of the cities, and lived way out in the desert. You could hardly find them.

They lived alone, lived isolated. They became strange. They looked strange.

They acted strange. I'm sure they smelled strange. And people would go out there and say, these men are spiritual.

These men are disciplined. These men have the spirit of God. This happened all across the church.

These men began to arise as heroes of the faith. They renounced riches and possessions. They gave away all their money, their inheritance, their lands, their houses.

They become hermits. They lived in solitude, isolation. They became harsh on their own flesh.

And listen, they become celibate. You want to know where celibacy came from? Here. Commanded celibacy.

You've got to be celibate. They were trying to kill the flesh. See, instead of killing lust, they said, I will not marry.

I'm going to become strange. I won't have children. I'll live out there by myself.

If I can get away from the world, away from the influence of the world, I can be spiritual. That's not the way saints are God. That's not the way, I want to tell you.

Some castrated themselves to overcome lust. See, these are biblical ways. That's not biblical doctrine.

Go to Romans chapter six. It's not easy to live in holiness. Deny yourself.

Oh, I can't do that. Then become strange. This guy Coco in Panama City or Panama.

Do you know what he's saying? He's a guy, 41 years old. I need to marry. Then marry.

Don't abuse girls. Don't sleep with them before you marry them. Don't use your ministry to seduce these young girls, 18 years old.

Don't do that. And he says, I'm Greek. That's my family background.

We can't help the lust of the flesh. I'm just like this. You're a reprobate.

You're evil. You're wicked. You shouldn't be in ministry.

But I'm gifted. But I'm touching hundreds of thousands. Since these are big examples.

But I'm telling you, this teaching of forbidden. You want to know where all the child abuse came from in the Catholic church. My heart breaks for them.

I'm not mocking them. Men who felt a call of God. Yes, they don't believe like me.

I believe it wasn't a true gospel. But very sincere. Or some of them tricked into it.

Or their family expected it. Or they're very sincere. And they go into, you cannot marry.

And you've got to live. My Bible doesn't teach that. It definitely does not teach that.

See, some of these Catholic priests, I've heard them this week. They say the apostles put away their wives and families. No, they didn't.

No, they didn't. Matthew 8 and 14 speaks about Peter's mother-in-law. Oh, but she died before he went out ministry.

No, no, she didn't. 1 Corinthians 9 and 5. Paul writing and he mentions Peter. Have we not power, the authority, the right to lead about a sister, a wife? To take a sister, a Christian woman as a wife.

Paul's writing, don't we have the right? Don't we have the power? Don't we have that position that me and Silas and Timothy could take a wife? Listen, as well as the other apostles. That means there was a number of the apostles took wives. But Paul didn't.

Can we not? Don't I have the right to have a wife? I haven't sinned by marrying Anna, by the way. Just in case any of you are wondering that. I didn't sin.

Fell in love with her. Wanted to be with her. Nothing sinful.

The marriage bed is undefiled. It's a beautiful thing. It's a godly thing.

Nothing unclean with it. Nothing unclean with these desires. But I'm not going to sleep with her before we marry.

As well as the other apostles and as the brethren of the Lord, Jesus had brothers. Jude and James were two. They were married.

And Cephas, that's Peter. So this is years later when Peter's had his revival as a ministry. Cephas was married.

Peter was. And 1 Timothy 3 and 2 talks about the bishop having a wife. Do you know in Ireland, in the old Patricks Church that got raised up in Ireland, the bishops, which were leaders of local churches, and abbots, which led the Bible schools, not monasteries like the Desert Fathers had.

These were men over Bible colleges. Listen, I've read so much about this. Everyone I can get my hands on.

They had wives. Abbots had wives up to 1100. Know your Irish history.

Bishops, elders, priests in the Irish church. They were married. They had wives, children, family circles around them in what's called monasteries.

Oh, their monasteries don't interpret it like today. Their monasteries were filled with their families. The first serious move to enforce celibacy was in the year 1101 in Cashel.

The first trying to force celibacy on those in ministry in the church. 1101. Not that long ago.

The first Catholic bishop in all of Ireland. Guess where that was? Limerick in 1106. First Catholic bishop.

Not first bishop. This land was filled with bishop. First Catholic bishop.

They've now taken over. And now you can't be married. You're a bishop.

You can't be a ministry. And one last one. And commanding to abstain from mates.

To abstain. Listen, these things come through the church and more spiritual. Abstaining, commanding.

You cannot eat mates. You have to refrain, abstain, to hold oneself and discipline. You've got to discipline yourself.

You've got to become a vegetarian. Now, I don't have anything against vegetarians. Let me say that again.

I've got a lot against vegetarians. But if you want to eat like that, that's fine. I like my hamburgers.

I like my sausage. I like my beef burgers. I like my steak.

If you want to be a vegetarian, fine. That's between you and God. There's nothing sinful about that.

You could do it for health reasons. You could do it for personal reasons. Maybe your tummy, just your mind.

When you think of eating meat, it's horrible. Fine, there's no problem. There's nothing sinful about that.

And if you want to do that. But don't make it spiritual. Don't make your eating habits.

Don't start putting laws on other people. Don't start bringing regulations in as if it's biblically taught. Look what Paul writes here.

There's going to come people in the church who are going to command you to abstain from meats. You can't eat meats. What is his answer? And listen, I'm not talking about fasting is biblical.

If you're an eldership in this church, if you don't fast, you're disqualified. It's unbiblical. Do you know it's a normal part of ministry if you teach or preach to fast? Every Christian in this church should fast.

You ought to build it into your life. There ought to be some season when you shut down, if you can, away from food, away from family, away. If there's a time, come aside from food.

It's biblical. So fasting is commanded. But not abstaining from certain kinds of meats.

And listen how Paul answers it. Which God has created. There to be received with thanksgiving of them which believe and know the truth.

There's nothing wrong with food with meats. It's fine if you think it's poison. Or you don't like lamb that's dedicated to Allah.

Fine, no problem. But don't bring in spiritual laws. For every creature of God is good and nothing to be refused.

If it be received with thanksgiving for the sanctified by the word of God. Saints, I'm finished. I've got so much more to say.

But I'm warning you. We live in an hour where the Holy Spirit expressly speaks. Warning you about time seasons of falling away from the faith.

And behind those departures, those falling away from biblical simple teaching are demons. Spirits seducing you away from scripture. And doctrines of demons are demons who can teach doctrine.

Theology, who can argue, who can debate. And why I use the Christmas thing and the food thing and the marriage thing is because they're obvious. Those are not the things.

See, I didn't say denying the virgin birth and that would be heresy and apostasy. But he doesn't use that. He uses food.

See, if you start teaching, you cannot eat meat. That's probably a demon behind that. I mean, if you're sincerely teaching us to walk with God, you cannot eat meat.

I guarantee you it's a demon behind that. You could be a lovely fellow, very nice and smile and be kind. But if you're teaching that, there's something seriously wrong.

And I'll go further. You're a liar. You're a deceiver.

And I want to know why you're teaching that. Because the Bible doesn't teach that. Please stand with me.

Lord Jesus. Father, we thank you for the Lord Jesus Christ. We thank you for scripture.

Lord God, we're given very real warnings. Lord God, about these fiery darts that come from the enemies campfired at the church. Lord God, in my lifetime, I've seen an array of strange teachings, of dogmatic factions, of people commanding, of people deceiving, lying, counterfeiting, acting on the stage, bringing in strange teachings, saying they can live in sin and yet they're saved by grace and that they love Jesus.

Father, I pray that here today, shake us to the very foundation, shake us to the core. My God, make us to run today back to our Bibles. Lord God, give us a love for the truth.

Lord God, that we would hold the word of God steadfastly, unmovable, and Lord God, that we would stand as a church impregnable by the grace and the power of the Lord Jesus Christ, amen.