All right, let's look at God's Word. Appreciate you minding the Lord. You've honored Him and you've encouraged each other and your preacher. Amen. Jude, no review, just verse 11. Woe unto them, they, these false teachers, they've gone in the way of Cain. We studied Cain. Two messages, I believe. Ran greedily after the error of Balaam for reward. We've studied Balaam. Three messages, I believe. Might have been four, but I believe it's three. and perished in the gainsaying of Korah. Spelled differently in your New Testament, but it's Korah where we're headed in the book of Numbers. Real quick, if you'll look at that, and I don't remember the author, but look at verse 11, Cain, what was Cain's livelihood? The author said a farmer. gardener. The middle one, Balaam, backslid prophet. I use the term backslid very loosely and very generously, I might add, okay. I hope for his sake he was just backslid. but you've got a farmer, you've got a prophet, and then the gainsaying of Korah, and we're gonna see his responsibilities in the things of God here in just a minute. He was not a prophet, he was not a farmer, he had temple duties, and all three of these are the examples that God gave Jude to use to warn us about false teachers trying to infiltrate a body of believers. What an interesting statement that was. Another author also makes a distinction in the punishment and the outcome of these men. Cain certainly was banished, but he was not annihilated. He had a curse upon him, but after he whined to God about that, he seemed to get a little additional layer of protection from God. Balaam suffered an untimely death eventually. but for quite a while went on his own merry way, doing his own thing. Not a good thing, but had some liberty there. Korah, not so much. We're going to see that here tonight. An immediate and sudden destruction. And the author, again, just made a distinction in this downward trend of these false teachers that Jude warned us about. So go with me now to the book of Numbers chapter 16. Numbers chapter 16. I will only read four verses. But I will allude to several more. Verse 1 of chapter 16. Now Korah, the son of Ishar, the son of Kohath, the son of Levi, that's important, takes us all the way back to the Levitical tribe, and Dathan and Abiram, two separate men, they had their own issues with God's man, the sons of Eliab and on. the son of Peleth, sons of Reuben. Look at those next two words, took men. Verse 2, They rose up before Moses with certain of the children of Israel, two hundred and fifty princes of the assembly, famous in the congregation, men of renown, and they gathered themselves together against Moses and against Aaron, and said unto them, ye take too much upon you, seeing all the congregation are holy, every one of them. Okay, I don't know what congregation he's been hanging out with. But my Bible would indicate otherwise. I mean, these were some rascals, okay? But boy, these guys, they've got it in for Moses. And the Lord is among them. Wherefore lift ye up yourselves above the congregation of the Lord. Look at that next verse. And when Moses heard it, he fell upon his face. If you've been in church most of your life, especially a Bible-believing, fundamental, independent Baptist church, you have probably heard a message from Numbers 16. Any man worth his salt, when there's an uprising in the congregation, he doesn't even have to pray about it. He just goes to Numbers 16 and lays in to the sons of Korah, okay? And rightly so. That is not why I am preaching there tonight. That being said, this kind of stuff happens. And we've got to see what the scripture says about it. So let me make one very startling statement. I say that tongue-in-cheek. I am not Moses. I am not an Old Testament prophet. I believe every word, every syllable, every letter that the New Testament has about the office of a pastor, the responsibilities of a pastor, the responsibilities of a congregation to a pastor. I believe every single word, and to the best of my limited knowledge, everybody in this church does. I'm sure everybody doesn't, but to the best of my knowledge, everybody does. Okay? I believe all of that. That being said, and you've heard me make this statement, nothing greats me any more than for a New Testament shepherd to act like an Old Testament prophet Elijah who's been called in to call down fire from heaven. Jesus had two disciples that wanted to do that. And Jesus said, you don't even know what spirit you're of. So I don't appreciate it. It's not right. I understand pastoral accountability. I understand, trust me, it grips me. It moves me. It shakes me to think about giving account of a flock of God's people. I believe all of that. And again, Jared, as far as I know, all of you do. So I'm not here trying to root something out and all that. We're just going to let God's Word say what it does. That being said, you're no dummies. You know that stuff like this happens. Studying, Dad, and preparing for this message, I thought of a pastor friend. If I called his name, many of you would know him. And a few years ago, he said, about every decade, I've had to weather a coup. in the church. That's bad enough in and of itself just to hear those words. But Brother Rudy, sitting at that table, he said, I don't know if I can handle another one. He's handled however many each decade, and I won't even tell you how many that's been because you wouldn't figure it out. That's not the point of the illustration. The point of the illustration is a man who's been faithful for a very long time said, I'm just not sure I could take one more. God forbid. God forbid. Can I say something as a pastor to you as members? You don't want that to be your legacy. He's shared more with me than he has with all of you, but you're not dumb, you can read between the lines. He ain't here because everything was going fine there. Okay, we had a drop-in visitor the other Wednesday, only because they had moved prayer meeting, and Emily goes, you know, she's like, did they vote him out? No, why is that your go-to? Because it happens. Y'all, I was a church member way long, and I'm a church member today. I was a church member on the pew with my Bible and my family way more years than I'll ever be a pastor because I started too old. I mean, I guess if I make it to 100, I could eclipse the years as a member. But you don't want that as your legacy. Can I tell you something for 14 plus years now? Every person, to a man, no exceptions, who has come to me and said, these are the circumstances and why we believe the Lord wants us here. They've done it with tears in their eyes. They've done it with hurt on their face and said, this isn't what we anticipated, but this is where we are. That's the way it's supposed, if this is a family, and it is, if this is a body, and it is, removing is not supposed to be easy. Aren't you glad for grace? Aren't you glad for healing? Aren't you glad for the Bible, the Holy Spirit, and the body, and that which every joint supplieth? Amen? But this is a serious matter, and it does happen. I'm going to move very, very quickly. Let me give you the backdrop. Go back to 15. We're in numbers. I'm preaching from 16, but my backdrop is 15. You ready? Verse 1. The Lord spake unto Moses, 17. And the Lord spake unto Moses, 22. If ye have heard and not observed all these commandments which the Lord had spoken unto Moses, 35. And the Lord said unto Moses, 37. And the Lord spake unto Moses. Is that clear? Is Moses falling down on his face going, Oh Lord, tell me something to go tell these people? Who's initiating these conversations? God. Does everybody remember what Moses said when God said, I have a job for you to do? I'm not making fun. We have a stutterer in our family. I'm not making fun. Moses said, Me? Right? And time after time, Moses was like, I can't do this. Think of the leaders in the Bible that said to God, I can't do this. I'd much rather follow a man who said, Lord, I can't do this, than the one who's going, I was waiting on them to find me. Have you seen that? I have. It's wicked. I don't remember the burden. I don't remember the battle. It's not important. We were at Brother Gravely's meeting in March. Dr. Treber preached on Tuesday morning. Chris and Emily were back at the house. She was pacing herself in either morning or evening. Couldn't do both, and I was there. And dad, Brother Treber, went to the pulpit, he read his text, and he said, he said, right after we finished the brand new building and told what all it would see, most of you have probably seen some of their services and their choir and their song leader, who's amazing. And he said, we finished that building. He said, I drove over to the church on Saturday night and I walked in and I went, oh God, what have I done? I can't pastor this many people. The growth that we anticipated from where we were to where we are now when we built this building, and he said, God, I can't do this. And Brother Doug, I'll bet I've heard, I use the term carefully, I'll bet I've heard half a dozen preachers in the last six months say, I can't do this. And man, you have no idea what an inspiration and encouragement that was to me to hear somebody that God was using in a very great way say, Lord, I can't do this. I can't oversee this. I can't pastor this. I can't go there. No, we can't. That's why we lean on Jesus. I promise you there's mommies and daddies in this room today who have said, Lord, I can't raise a family for Jesus. I need you. Can I tell you that's a good rock to be thrown upon? Don't fight it, don't resent it, don't reject it. Let it drive you to Jesus. The backdrop of what I read in chapter... and I apologize for my offensive voice. The backdrop for what I read in chapter number 16, the backdrop is a man that when God wanted to get a message to His people, He called him and said, come here. called him by his first name and said, Let's talk. Now go tell my people this. Now listen to me. You've got a Bible. You've got the Holy Spirit. If you don't get a thing out of my message tonight, we've ministered to each other here in the sanctuary, and I'm so thankful for the body of Christ. But everybody in here understands God ordains leadership. And again, I want to be that reluctant leader. I don't mind leading not just with a physical limp, but I don't mind leading with a spiritual limp and saying, God, I can't do this. Look in chapter 16 verse 1. What were the last two words? Took men. Number one, the backdrop. Number two, the recruiting. You know why they had to take men? What are we studying in Jude? False teachers. Do you know why false teachers have to recruit? You ready? This is the heart of the message. They can't reproduce. If you've ever seen a preacher go off, I could go off on that. Brother Russell, they can't reproduce. 99% of them are lost. 99% of them are lost. I think there can be a man who goes off into error. God forbid, standing at the judgment seat of Christ, having led a congregation into error. When you've got the Holy Spirit and you've got a Bible, and probably a brother who would come up and put his arm around you and say, I'd check that out before I preach that again. But most of those false teachers are just flat-out lost. And the reason they recruit, the reason they bribe, the reason they feed them fried chicken, take them to Bojangles and Golden Corral, is they can't reproduce. They have no life. You have to have life in you. I'm not belittling anybody who's ever struggled with infertility. You understand that. I'm talking about spiritual things. You've got to have life in you to reproduce. Physically speaking, people will spend tens of thousands of dollars to try to have one of those, right? And then they wake you up at 2 a.m. and you're like, really? We had to have this? Jared, lift your head up. It ain't time to pray. You're like, what were we thinking? Puppies. Puppies are much easier You tell them to sit, and they sit. You tell Mason to sit, and you look, and he's at the altar again, giving more money. Where's Mason at? Your mom and daddy lay out of church. Keep giving money, buddy. You got some catching up to do. We want to have babies. Spiritually, they can't reproduce, so all they can do is recruit. You know who's bobbing their head like Church of God women preachers right now? Preacher Raines, Russell Jordan, and Jerry Dean. You watch people recruit to their side because they can't reproduce. They've never done a discipleship class in their life. Never been by the track table. They have no life inside of them, so all they can do is recruit. Right? It's wicked. It's wicked. Number one, the backdrop. Number two, the recruiting. Look at chapter 16, verse 9. Seemeth it but a small thing unto you that the God of Israel hath separated you from the congregation of Israel, to bring you near to himself, to do the service of the tabernacle of the Lord, and to stand before the congregation to minister to them? And he hath brought thee near to him and all thy brethren, the sons of Levi, and seek thee the priesthood also. They already had great responsibility in the work of God, but they weren't the priest. They weren't Big Dog. And so they had to stir up trouble in the church. That's what's going on. Number one, the backdrop. Number two, the recruiting. Number three, the warped thinking. Isn't that amazing? You've got some people, preacher, can we clean the toilet? You've got somebody else. If I ain't on the platform, I ain't doing it. Buddy, I'll say this respectfully, I am honored, honored to be your pastor because God wants me to. Humanly speaking, buddy, I'll plop my fat self down on a church pew any day of the week and hold your mantle. That preacher, am I telling it right? I'd hold your mantle in a heartbeat. God said, get on the platform and lead a congregation. It's a big deal. It's a big deal. And if you're not content where God's got you, listen to the preacher. He doesn't have anything greater for you. I was a little boy. I was their age. I was their age. I guess it was a postcard. In Dad's little office there at the Parsonage at Pleasant View, had a little postcard of a man on a tractor. And it said, God has no greater field of service than the one you're in right now. If you're not faithful where you are right now, God doesn't... If you're not handling your rototiller, God ain't putting you on a John Deere. I want a Massey Ferguson. No, you don't. You won't handle your hoe. We put a hoe in your hands and you won't get rid of the weeds in your little Sunday school class. Do you know the most trusted position at Progress Baptist Church? These ladies that take our very youngest and have them 30-45 minutes. Right? We just trust them. I know we're careful, but let me tell you something. We send the most vulnerable among us, we send them back there 30-40 minutes. and trust him. And then you guys that have our young boys, great day in the morning, you got our young boys back there. Now I know it's a high traffic area, but let me tell you something, I had a young man at Pleasant View one day, he said, I don't know why the preacher won't let me preach more. I said, do you realize he hands you eight junior boys and lets you take them back in that Sunday school class and trust you to rightly divide the word every Sunday? I said, that's the most trusted position in this church. You're taking some of our children back there to tell them about Jesus. That's a big deal. Oh, it looks like a hoe to me. Well, let me tell you something. If you can't handle that, you're not getting a rototiller. If you can't handle your rototiller, we're not popping you up on a Massey Ferguson. Right? It's a big deal to be involved. Warped thinking. Backdrop. Recruiting. Warped thinking. Look at chapter 16, verse 11. Chapter 16, verse 11. For which cause both thou and all thy company are gathered together. Look at those next three words. Against the Lord. Now, man, I wish I'd made a point there, Jared. Okay, preach this somewhere. Okay? Against the Lord. It wasn't against Moses. It was against God's order. It's against the Lord. But look at that next line. What is Aaron that you murmur against him? Number four, affiliation. God forbid that we have a Korah at progress. I haven't had a coup every 10 years, but I'm like my friend. I don't know if I'm equipped. Lord, help me. But if we do, and you prayerfully, carefully align yourself with the man of God, let me tell you something, you're gonna catch some blows. And as awkward as I am as a pastor and as a leader, let me tell you something, second man or guy that gets between Korah and the preacher, nah, I'm all over that. That's my cup of tea right there. Y'all picking up what I'm laying down? Oh yeah, I'm like, bring it on, baby. That man has prayed for me. That man has loved me. That man preached to me and my family when we were in and out every three times of service. That man loved us. And you ain't raising up against my preacher. Buddy, you align yourself with the man of God and you're gonna catch some blows. And as awkward as I am being the pastor, buddy, that intermediate part, I'm into that. Bring it on, buddy. I ain't even a fighter, and I'm like, bring it on. We got an ER. If we don't like Part E, we can go to Advent. If we don't like Advent, Tom and Pat said they'd take me to mission. He said, preacher, stay away from mission. Affiliation. Affiliation, it'll get you in trouble sometimes. Just make sure you're on the right side. That's God's side. That's God's side. It's a big deal. 1613. Is it a small thing thou hast brought us up out of this land flowing with milk and honey? Where did he bring them out of? Somebody tell me. They're in the will. Say it. If Egypt was flowing with milk and honey, it was not for the Jews. One word. What were they in Egypt? Because they're mad at God's man. We had it so good in Egypt. Milk and honey. Where'd they learn about milk and honey? God's man, who was trying to lead them to it. Oh, the milk and honey. No, you were a slave. You barely had enough food to go out and gather straw to make your own brick. And now all of a sudden that was the Garden of Eden. Wrong. best, at best. So number five, the flawed memory. You know who the best preacher is you ever had? It's your last one. That was free, that was free. Y'all love me, you're good to me, you're so good to me. But y'all know in Baptist circles, ain't nobody like him. He's with Jesus. unless you're gonna have a seance he can't be your pastor no more. And when he took the church there were sweet blue-haired ladies who said there ain't nobody like the one that was just before him. It's called human nature and it's broken at best. 1626 He spake unto the congregation, said, Depart, I pray you, from the tents of these wicked men. Touch nothing, lest ye be consumed in all their sins. You see that? That's powerful, ain't it? Lest ye be consumed in their sins. 27, they gat up from the tabernacle of Korah, Dathan, and Byron on every side. Dathan and Byron came out, stood in the door. Their wives, their sons, and their little children. Number six, the repercussions of rebellion are kids. I don't think there's a neighborhood in Henderson County. I don't think there's one you could go to door to door and not come across somebody 30, 35, 40 who wouldn't say, yeah, I was raised. They'll call a name. And they'll say, this happened when I was eight. This happened when I was 10. And I just hadn't ever been real interested in church. That's those little ones. Oh no, the earth didn't fall open and then fall down into the flames the way it did here. But it might as well have. Because little ones were destroyed. With all my heart, I've tried to protect Progress Baptist Church as a body, more than just the body, these little ones. I want every one of them to have April Lee, Brother Ricky Lee's wife, I want them to have her testimony. We sat at a table at Mills River Restaurant when he preached a Tuesday night for me. And she smiled and said, I have no bad experiences at church. She said, Mama was real. Daddy was real. The preacher was real. My youth leader was real. My Sunday school teacher was real. I never saw a church split. I never saw a Cora. She said, God's people have never done me wrong. Maybe she's encountered some stuff and chosen to choose the bright side. I don't know. But she said, I have no bad experiences at the house of God. It's all my heart. That's what I want them. They're going to get hurt. They're going to get let down. Somebody is going to bite them in the nursery. If the mamas will stay out of that, it'll blow over. Did y'all know that? And you say, well, my kid never. Don't you ever say my kid would never, because he will never like you've never never before. We thought we could. We thought we wouldn't have biters. And our first one was an absolute piranha. Stuff's going to happen. But let me tell you something. Keep your eyes on Jesus. And may we never have any casualties. May these boys get to be 40 years old and say, boy, all I remember about progress is God just likely to show up at any time. There could be a third of us there on a Wednesday, and before you knew it, God was working. That's what I want them to have.