First Timothy chapter 4. Thanks for all the singing tonight, the song leading. First Timothy chapter 4, your Bibles. Now, here's the thing that's interesting about songs like those girls just sang, and that we've been hearing sung tonight, is, I believe it's John chapter 15, maybe, 15 or 16, is where the disciples said to Jesus, now you speak plainly, and now we believe. And he made this statement, and he said, well, you say you believe, but before the night's over, you'll deny me, and you're gonna be scattered. And the issue is, there are things that we say we believe, things we even sing about that we believe. But the issue is, you've got to rest in those things. I don't know where those girls went to, but you've got to rest in those things. You've got to actually stand in what we're saying we believe, we've got to stand in that. If you believe that God really does move mountains, then you have to trust Him to move mountains when you're in a spot. If you really do believe that the same God of the Old Testament that parts waters is still alive and still in control and still working your life, well, then you've got to look for Him to part the waters of your life. It's it's one thing to have a Bible, and it's going to go right into what we're saying tonight. It's one thing to have a Bible. It's one thing to have a spirit of God in the Bible to lead and guide and direct you. And you just say you believe it. There's another one to actually step into it and rest in the truths that you say you believe. So we've got to do that. The first Timothy chapter four, this is going to go really well when we start talking about departing from the faith, departing from the faith. In 1 Timothy 4, in verse 1, watch what it says, now the Spirit speaketh expressedly. Meaning this, it's not something, I mean, actually when you think about it, your entire Bible is the Spirit speaking expressedly. But He makes a point to say, listen, the Spirit is going to try to tell you something here. Expressedly just means clearly. The Spirit speaketh expressly that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of devils, speaking lies and hypocrisy, having their conscience seared with a hot iron, forbidding the merry and commanding to abstain from meats which God hath created to be received with thanksgiving of them which believe and know the truth. For every creature of God is good, and nothing be refused if it be received with thanksgiving. For it is sanctified by the word of God in 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, whereinto thou hast attained." We'll get to the other part of this maybe another time but I want you to kind of zoom in on what's being said here in this idea of departing from the faith and and we kind of titled it doctrines of demons and and devils and because that's kind of what you're seeing here in this is Deception that's taking place in the world today now when you look at first at first Timothy Pastor Bishop's going to be doing some stuff on Second Timothy. When you look at First Timothy, he's talking to a young preacher and trying to give him some advice and some encouragement about how to have a successful church, how to start a church, how to keep a church going, what the church should be about. In fact, he's even going to tell you at the end of chapter number three that we're the pillar and the ground of the truth and the things that we're supposed to be doing here. So the idea is that that you've got to have a church. It's about the thing that's supposed to be about. It's so easy for us church to get distracted and become about something that church was never intended to be about and So when you start off in first Timothy chapter 1 he starts trying to tell them that look you've got to stick with the life-changing gospel When you look at verse number 3 of chapter 1 He says as I basalt thee to abide still in Ephesus when I went to Macedonia that thou mightest charge some that they teach no other Doctrine stick with what is right Neither give heed to fables and endless genealogies which minister questions, rather than godly edifying which is in faith, so do." Now he says, now, the end of the commandment is charity out of a pure heart and of a good conscience and faith unfeigned, real, genuine faith. from which some, having swerved, have turned aside unto vain jangling." Do you know what they're doing? There are some churches out there that they've moved away from what it's supposed to be, and all they are is empty noisemakers. Vain jangling. It's empty noisemakers. And then he goes on to say, he's talking about, look, he talks about himself here a little bit in verse number 12. He said, I thank Jesus Christ, our Lord, who hath enabled me, for he hath counted me faithful, putting me in the ministry, who was before a blasphemer and a persecutor and an injurist. And he goes through all this stuff, I've obtained mercy and grace. He's saying, look, the issue is God saves sinners, God calls those sinners, God uses those sinners, and God can do great people and people that have a terrible past. He said that's what the church has got to be about. That's the idea of a church. You know what we are? We're kind of like a hospital. We're kind of like a salvage yard. We're taking old junkers and we're turning them into prized possessions. That's what we're doing. That's what the church has got to be about. And it can't start being about everything else. It's got to stick with what it's supposed to be about. He even goes on, he says in verse number 19 of chapter 1, holding faith and a good conscience, which some have put away concerning faith, have made shipwrecks. So some are just noisemakers that are vain and some are actually leading people to shipwreck their life. Folks, there's churches out there that are shipwrecking people's lives with the doctrine that they're teaching. So he starts off telling them, listen, you've got to stick with the life-changing truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ. That's what the church should be built on. And then he goes on in chapter 2, talking about living a godly life in the world around you. He talks about how do we live in this world when it comes to governments and it comes to all the things. Listen, we're not supposed to Raised up and have revolts against him and those guys preaching all over the place that what we ought to be doing is down at the Capitol Trying to raise a revolt down there. Listen, that's not God That's not God you say well bless God you just compromise and no you're being foolish That's not compromising. That's foolishness because the Bible says the exact opposite. What are you supposed to be doing praying for them? I How do I live? Listen, what's the church gotta be about? Gotta be about the gospel. It's gotta be about changing people's lives. All right, how do we live in this world? We live godly in this world, and we pray for those, and we try to make a difference because there's, he even says in verse number five, For there is one God and one meteor between God and man the man Christ Jesus and we use that verse sometimes separate from its context But the context is look there's only one God that really matters in the country you live in and the time we live in We've got to be showing people the one true God That's what we're supposed to be doing So we've got to be living godly in this world we're in. And then he goes into chapter 3 and talks about leaders within the church. They've got to be godly leaders, leading people in the right direction, pastors and deacons. Why? Well, because we are the pillar and the ground of the truth, the church is. And so you get to this chapter 4 and he starts talking about latter times now. And he's telling him, he's telling this young preacher, look, there's going to be some difficult things you're going to face. And folks, listen, if they were facing difficult things all the way back there, I promise you, we're facing some difficult things in the day we live in as well. And so he says, "'The Spirit speaketh expressly that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of devils.'" Now when it says departing from the faith, it doesn't mean that they're no longer able to believe. It doesn't mean that. It just means that they're leaving what a Christian should believe. They're departing from what a Christian should believe. They're leaving the essential teachings of Christianity, and that's what he's been saying all along. It's got to be about true doctrine, not about this swerving the shipwreck and vain janglings. It can't be about all that, and that's what some are doing. And folks, listen, to be real honest with you, there's people in Bible-believing churches that have a Bible and say they believe the Bible, who are now no longer following this God and the God of the Bible or the Bible of this God. They're no longer following it. They're doing stuff completely different nowadays. And you say, well, you're talking about lights or ties. I'm not talking about the silly stuff. I'm talking about the doctrine. It's no longer there. And so what is the fruit of that? Watch what he says, the fruit. When they depart from the faith, when they're giving heed to seducing spirits, when it's doctrines of devils, what comes out of that? Speaking lies. People begin to speak things that are no longer true. Folks, there are people that used to be in this church that are now speaking things that they know are not truth anymore. Why? They've given over to something that's seduced them into a lie. And now they are speaking lies. In hypocrisy. Saying one thing and being a completely different thing. Having their conscience seared with a hot iron. I'm telling you, there are people that, look, this is not talking about people that never heard and never knew truth. This is talking about people that used to know truth and have now departed from truth. To depart from something means you've got to, at some point, be with something. The saying these people have departed and what's happened to them is their heart has become seared Their conscience has become seared. Your conscience is tuned to whatever you have been taught And so somebody has been taught truth and folks a lot of you have been taught truth And if you start getting to a place where your conscience says, listen, the conscience working with your Holy Spirit saying that ain't right, this isn't right. And you start telling your conscience, I don't want to hear that. I want to do what I want to do. Over time, you are searing your conscience off. What's the fruit? Speaking lies, hypocrites, their conscience is seared. They're no longer responding the way they're supposed to respond. And so what you see them is forbidding and commanding. Forbidding to marry, commanding them to abstain from meets. And in this context of this, you've got the people who would probably be Judaizers, they're trying to bring them back under the law. And so we might not, this is what I want you to get, you might not see the exact same results with Judaizers or legalists, but I'm telling you, when you start seeing people depart from truth, conscience being seared, lying and hypocrisy, you can see any different type of variation of false doctrine come out of that. Doesn't have to just be legalism. It can be a ton of other things. I talked the other day about this whole thing about progressive Christianity. It's a new thing that's come out with this deconstructing. I don't even know what any of that stuff had to do with, but deconstructing, taking all the truths of the Bible and deconstructing them and raising up brand new truths. like Jesus never really resurrected. It's all just a spiritual thing. It's not a literal resurrection. It's that God resurrects in our hearts. That's what he really meant. And there's people that are believing that, is what I'm saying. There's people that are buying in. There's whole generations of people that are buying into that kind of stuff. There are people that are saying that Jesus was not really God in the flesh. They've been saying that for a long time, but there's a whole new group of them that are now coming up with even more stuff. that you don't have to really follow the doctrines of the Bible. All you really have to do is love, and love trumps everything else. The Bible doesn't speak anywhere about being obedient, just loving people. That's a lie. That's lying. That's not even truth. But that stuff's coming up. There's whole churches, whole denominations, whole groups that are doing this, and there's hordes of people that are following them into these types of things. And a lot of them, and I'm not trying to be super critical of it, I don't care what a guy's hair looks like, but a lot of them, they've got the wavy hair and they look a certain way. I don't care what they look like. I'm just telling you that the issue is, when you get down to seducing spirits, You've got people that, well, they look the part, they're charismatic, they can sing beautifully, they can speak eloquently, and people are just falling right in line with them because they look good and they sound good, and they're saying something that just kind of pleases me a little bit. And next thing you know, hordes of young people are just following them down the trail. I'm saying that's what's happening. And listen, if that was happening in his day, it's happening in our day. And so what what happens? How does this take place? What are we seeing take place? Well, he says a few things here. I want you to get them. I want you to pick up on all these. The first one is the deception of false teachers. So he says, giving heed to seducing spirits. And so I called it the deception of false teachers. Seducing just means enticing or pulling people away from something. So pulling them away from truth. If you're in 1st Timothy, look at 2nd Timothy, chapter number 3, and just look at that very quickly. It's a couple of pages over, maybe. 2nd Timothy, chapter 3 and verse 1. Verse 1, this, know also that in the last days perilous times shall come. Now, if the writer wrote and meant in the perilous times were coming in the last days, and he was referring to where he was at, then surely, surely we're closer to those days than he was when he wrote it. Perilous times will come men will be shall be what lovers of their own selves Now what I'm telling you is this whole thing is a thing of seduction I'm gonna give you a verse in a minute out of James. It's sensual It's all about our senses. It's all about self. It's all about this kind of lusts That's where this stuff is rooted in But watch what it says, men be lovers of their own selves. Now folks, listen, I don't think you ought to hate yourself. And he says, well, if you don't, you don't, you're against this, you think we're to hate ourselves. I don't think you ought to hate yourself, but I do think you ought to do this. I think you ought to esteem others better than ourselves. I think that's biblical. But what happens sometimes is we start looking out for, number one, instead of even considering anybody else, but lovers of our own selves, of their own selves, covetous, I want what you've got, give it to me. Boasters, I'm better than somebody else. Proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy. I went through several things to be thankful for. Listen, we are an unthankful people. Without natural affection, truth breakers, false accusers, incontinent means we cannot control ourselves, fierce, despiser of those that are good, traitors, heady, high-minded, lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God. You think about that for a minute. We love pleasure more than we love God. That's the day we're in. Sensual, seducers. Lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God. Having a form of godliness but denying the power thereof from such turn away. He goes through several things there. He talks about the, well, look at verse number six, let's read that. For of this sort are they which creep in the houses and lead captive silly women, laden with sins, led away with diverse lusts. Here it is again, same types of things, lusts, led away. Ever learning, never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. Now as Janice and Jambres withstood Moses, so do these who resist the truth. Men of corrupt minds reprobate concerning the faith. but they shall proceed no further, for their follies shall be made manifest unto all men as theirs also was. Watch what he continues to say. But thou hast fully known my doctrine, manner of life, purpose, faith, longsuffering, charity, patience, persecutions, afflictions, which came from me at Antioch and Iconium and Lystra, what persecutions I endured, but out of them all the Lord delivered me. Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. And watch this last verse. But evil men, seducers, shall wax worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived. What's the next little phrase there? You know what he tells you to do? You've got to continue, even though there's people out there trying to seduce you away from what is truth. The deception. I'm going to read it to you, but James 3, it says, Who is a wise man and endued with knowledge among you? Let him show out of a good conversation his works with meekness and wisdom. But if ye have bitter envying, watch now, envying and strife in your hearts, glory not and lie not against the truth. This wisdom, listen, envying, strife, this wisdom descendeth not from above. but is earthly, sensual, devilish. For where envying and strife is, there is confusion in every evil work." You realize all this stuff with envying and covetousness and wanting what somebody else has, it all is rooted in me. I want what you've got. I want what you drive. I want your spouse. I want your family. I want your money. I want your riches. I want your looks. I want your abilities. I want your gifts. I want your talents. It's all about us. And listen now, I want you to get this. If you look hard enough, you can find a preacher out there that will tell you that's what you should be looking for. Deception of false teachers. Now folks, listen. It seems that the church, when I say the church, I mean save people, are following more and more and more for the doctrines of demons, the doctrines of devils. Maybe it's because there's so much technology and it's able to get so many more places than it ever has been before, and that may be the truth, but I found a quote and I thought this is so good, and this is true. A lie travels at top speed while the truth goes on foot. The truth is just there with the Bible, just trying to make a dent in people's lives, and people are racing here and there, listening to this and listening to that, and they're heaping to themselves teachers having itching ears to their own lusts. That's what they're looking for. Now listen, let me tell you what demons have been doing. This is the beginning. That's what Satan did. First thing Satan ever did, and listen now, this is really good. The first thing Satan did is he changed the truth of God's into a lie. He cast doubt on it. He said, Yea, if God said. He changed the word. He said, You'll not surely die, but God doth know that the day ye eat thereof that your eyes will be opened. You should be as gods, knowing good and evil. He's saying God's trying to hold back something good from you. casting doubt on God's Word, changing God's Word, and creating a thinking inside of you that, you know, you should be like God, and you should operate outside of what God says you should be doing. That's what he's been doing. Listen, folks, that's what he's been doing since the very beginning, and there's people falling into it right now as we speak. Same thing. People are being watched out. You say, why are you both? They're departing from the faith. Well, the devil's really good at finding ways to get you away from the faith. People are distracted. That's why I said something about tonight. Just make sure you're listening. People are distracted. You know what people are distracted with today? People are distracted with money. People are distracted with fear. Now, I don't think that money is wrong. The love of money is the problem. I think people should work and should provide for their homes, should provide for their families. But the problem is people can get so distracted trying to chase something out in this world that they miss God. And people that used to be sitting in a church, used to be eating up the Word of God, used to want to serve God are now chasing something other than God. Distracted. Fear. There's people that used to be faithful in church, but they've allowed fear of the things going on around them in the day we live in now, that now they don't come to church at all anymore. Distracted. The devil will try to put discord. Listen, we don't fight against flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers. You know what the devil would want you to do? The devil would want you to have a problem with the brother across the aisle from you. Discord. Division. It would be great for you and for your family for you to stay at home and never be around the other people of God. Wouldn't that be a blessing for you? You need each other. We need each other's encouragement. We need each other to be provoked towards love and good works. We need each other. Being at home and separated from everybody else in the body does nothing for you and it does nothing for the body. We're distracted. There's discord. There's division. We're divided. Some are here, some are there. Listen, a body can't work when parts of the body are missing. Discontent. Discontent with our wives. Discontent with our homes. Discontent with our lives. Discontent with our church. Doubting. Does God really care about me? The devil said, look, he's trying to hold back the very best from you. People are in despair. Paul said in 2 Corinthians 4, he says, we are troubled in every side, yet not distressed. We are perplexed, but not in despair. You know what despair means? It means to forget that God is working in our lives. Folks, listen, when young people sang a song a while ago, you know what you're saying? You're singing a song that's saying this. If you've got a mountain in front of you, he can move the mountain. If you've got a sea in front of you, he can part the sea. We don't have to be in despair if we believe the Bible. We don't have to be in despair if we believe the God of the Bible. The problem where people start getting off and they start running away from God is when they find themselves in despair. You say, how did I get in despair? I stopped believing the Bible. People are discouraged. People are defeated. They're depressed and they're in fear and they want to commit suicide or they just want to check out. They're disheartened. I've seen enough bad examples. We had a church that's got a lot of people that have seen bad examples of the ways not to do it and that somehow they find their way here. And I'm telling you, there's a lot of people like, well, I just don't know if the Bible's right because I've seen people misuse it and misapply it. Listen, the Bible's right and man are wrong. Well, I've been in churches where it just wasn't, didn't have the right kind of spirit. That church was wrong. God's not wrong. That church was wrong. There's people that are disheartened with the things of God because they've seen it done the wrong way. And so what they do, listen to me real close, listen real close. What they do, because they've had all these things, despair, and disheartened, and defeated, and discord, and division, and all the different stuff, they start getting on the internet, because that's what's prevalent now. They start getting on the internet, they start looking for something that makes them feel good. In latter times, you'll begin to depart from the faith. depart from the faith. In Hebrews 5, it says this in verse 12, for when the time you ought to be teachers, you have need that one teach you again the first principles of the oracles of God, there becomes such as have need of milk and not of strong meat. For everyone that uses milk is unskillful in the word of righteousness, for he's a babe. But strong meat belong to them that are of full age, even those that by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil." I want you to listen to me something really closely. When he says this to these people in Hebrews, he says, listen, you've heard enough Bible, you've heard enough truth, you should be able to teach other people that truth now. But what you need is someone to reteach you the very first principles of the truths of God. We want you to get something, listen to this. When you get to that place that you're so dull of hearing, you've heard it, and you've heard it, and you've heard it, and you've heard it, and you've heard it, and you've slept through more sermons than you can count, and you know everything about all of it, and you never do anything with it, exercise it, you become a person that is deceived, and you cannot discern between good and evil anymore. But it says, They can't discern between good and evil. In James 1, it says this, in verse 22, it'd be you doers of the word, not hearers only, deceiving your own selves. Listen, if you say, how do people depart from the faith? They've become dull of hearing. They've set in a church where somebody gets up and preaches the Bible, Sunday morning, Sunday night, Sunday school, Wednesday, devotions online, Bible reading charts, all the stuff, Bible college, three hours on Monday night, three hours on Tuesday night, or any place else you've ever been in your life, and so much Bible, and so much Bible, and so much Bible, and so much counsel, and so much instruction, and so much help. and we don't do anything with anything we're hearing, eventually we become deceived. You know what you end up being? Somebody that gets out of church, departing from the faith with a ton of head knowledge, just never did anything with it. How could it happen that people would depart from the faith? They were listening to some seducing spirits You know, in Revelation 2, it talks about the fact they departed from their first love. They were doing a whole lot of great things. They just weren't loving Jesus anymore. You know what you can do? You can come to this church. You can serve. You can get in the pulpit and you can preach. You can serve in the children's church over there next door. You can teach Sunday school class. You could usher. You can sing songs and play the piano. And everybody says, boy, they're doing so good. What in the world happened to them? How come they're not in church anymore? Because they were doing a lot of stuff outwardly, but there was nothing going on inside. People departing from the faith. In Proverbs 21, 16, I'm gonna read this to you. It says, the man that wandereth out of the way of understanding shall remain in the congregation of the dead. When you start wandering away from what is truth, you know where you find yourself? Congregating with a bunch of death. You say, literally? Well, you end up congregating in a place that has no life to it. You say, well, I congregate. You may be congregating down at the local restaurant or at the football game. You say, well, they're all cheering. They're all happy. There's no life there. from the faith. So if you're in 1 Timothy, look at 2 Timothy chapter 4. Verse 3, it says, For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine. You know what they'll get to? They'll say, I don't want to hear truth anymore. But after their own lusts, shall they heap to themselves teachers having itching ears. You know what they'll do? Eventually what people will do is they'll get to the place, and this happens all the time. I've been here now almost nine years, and I've seen it several times in people. that they start departing from the truth. Why? Because they have something they have in their own heart that they want to do. Either it wasn't real in their heart or it wasn't something really happening on the inside, it was all outward. I've seen enough people that were on fire or going the right direction or stood up and gave testimonies that now you can't find them anywhere. What in the world happened to them? They got to a place, either dull of hearing, or they got to the place they said, I don't want to hear truth anymore. You know, I'd rather have someone tell me how I can fulfill my own lust. They'll heap to themselves teachers having itching ears and should turn away their ears from the truth, should be turned to fables. You know what they'll do? They'll turn away their ears from the truth. Don't want to hear it anymore. I'd rather be turned into a fable. And so back in 1 Timothy chapter number four, you have the deception of false teachers. And he says this, and the doctrines of devils. So my second point is this, the doctrine of false truths. Can I tell you something? You need sound doctrine. Somebody told me one time, they said, I hate doctrine, doctrine divides. No, no, no, doctrine unites people. Sound doctrine unites people. The Bible will unite you together. And so you need doctrine. Let me just make a couple of statements here that I want you to get. Somebody says, well, you know what? I'm glad I've got a Bible, but you know what? If I just heard, I want you to listen now, if I just heard a voice from heaven speak to me, then I would know I'm on the right track. I'm glad you said amen, because the Bible says that the Bible is better than a voice from heaven. You can go look it up later. 2 Peter 1, at the end of that, verse 19. We have also a more sure word of prophecy wherein to you do well that you take heed as into a light that shineth in a dark place. You know what he says right before that? We were standing on the Holy Mount and heard God speak from heaven. You know what he says then? He says, the Bible is better than a voice from heaven. Why? Why? You say, well, why would that be so? How do you authenticate if that's the actual voice of God and not something else? The other day, Micaiah was in here. I was telling Micaiah, I need you to get in the choir. Come on, get in the choir, Micaiah. And if Micaiah was right with God, he would have got in the choir. Where's he at? And so I got up on the microphone and I said, Micaiah, this is God. Get in the choir. Now, how would you know that? How would you, listen, if you're looking from a voice from heaven, how do you know that that's God really speaking to you? What if you saw an angel? How do you know if it's a good one or a bad one? How do you know? Galatians 1.6 says, I marvel that you're so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel, which is not another, but there be some that trouble you and would pervert the gospel of Christ. But though we or an angel from heaven preach any other gospel unto you than that we have preached unto you, let him be accursed. You say, well, I saw an angel. This must be God's direction for my life. Listen, you'd be better off following the Word of God than you would an angel. What if you saw a really wise man, wearing a suit and tie, says all the right things? 2 Corinthians 11 says this. Such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves as the apostles of Christ. And no marvel, for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of life. 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." Well, that man sure does seem like he...if he's not preaching this, then he's not right. Departing from the faith. How do people depart from the faith? And last one says, well, I just got a really strong feeling about this. Let me tell you, I wouldn't trust my feelings. Why? Well, Jeremiah 17, nine says, the heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked who can know it. I don't feel love. Well, the word says you are. I don't feel like forgiving a person when the Bible says you should. I don't feel like giving when the Bible says you should. I don't feel like serving when the Bible says you should. What if you got in a plane Pilot, what if you got in a plane and the pilot said, I'm gonna fly you from Texas to Hawaii. And you say, praise the Lord, that's gonna be a great trip, right? That's gonna be wonderful. And he says, along this journey, everybody buckle your seatbelt, have a great time. I'm not using instruments today or maps. I'm just flying on feelings. Now, those of you that never drank before, you're all of a sudden a drinker. You know what I'm telling you? You can't fly the plane of your life on feelings. It's got to be in the Word of God. So the last point is this. You know what he says in verse number six? Because he talked about the doctrine. You've got to stick with Bible doctrine, doctrine of devils. The last point is verse number six. If thou put the brethren in remembrance, 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, whereas thou hast attained. You know what? The last thing, the reason why people, this is the last one I'm done. You know why people depart from the faith? It's the decline of faithful teachers. You know, when he said in 1 Timothy 1, 6, he said, some have swerved and turned aside to vain jangling. And at the end of chapter one, he says, some are shipwrecking people. But what he says in chapter four, he says, you need to be a good minister, helping people remember what they should know about the things of God. You know, we need preachers to get up and do, to preach the Bible. Preach the word of God to people. Paul said in 1 Corinthians 2, 4, and my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man's wisdom, but in demonstration of the spirit and of power that your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God. You know what you don't need? You don't need to have your faith stand in me. God help you if your faith is standing in me. Your faith's gotta stand in the word of God. Listen, girls, your faith has got to stand in the God you just sang about. Your faith can't be rooted in this man, or that man, or this church, or that church. Your faith's got to be rooted in the God of the Bible. Everybody in here, your faith has got to be rooted in that. It cannot be in me. Why? Because too many men have fallen. Too many men have gone astray. And if your faith is rooted in that man that fell, then your faith just collapsed. It's got to be rooted in the Bible. If a man swerves off the Bible, you stick with the Bible. If a man is leading you to shipwreck, you stick with the truths of the Bible. We've started preaching everything but the Bible. I just read a story about a guy that he said, I would rather preach on the politics of the day and the wars and all the stuff than I would stories from the Bible. Well, folks, go find yourself a job at CNN. You've got to preach the Bible. That's your job is to preach the Bible. We've started preaching about politics, personal preferences, pet issues. We've got more preachers performing in the pulpit, trying to find ways to be more popular than somebody else. And that does not do anything for the people. It's gotta be the Word of God. Listen, you people need the Word of God to help you stay afloat in the day that we're living in. This world's a mess. Ephesians 4, I'm just going to read this to you, it says, it talks about you being given pastors and teachers for the perfecting. It says this, that we henceforth be no more children tossed to and fro, carried about with every wind of doctrine by the slight of men, same thing we're talking about here, and cunning craftiness whereby they lie in wait to deceive. Watch what you got a pastor for, but speaking the truth and love may grow up into him and all things that's in the Christ, which is the head, even Christ. Folks, how is it, how is it that people are departing from the faith? How is it that people that used to be on fire for God are no longer on fire for God? How is it that people that used to love God no longer love God? How is it that people that used to be in church and sing behind pulpits and sing in choir no longer sing anymore, no longer serve God anymore? How is it that people that used to be concerned about souls are no longer concerned about souls anymore? How is it we've become so dull of hearing and we've gotten our heart to a place that we no longer want to hear truth, we would rather just do what we want to do? How did we get that way? I'm telling you the way I've seen it over nine years, God forbid, I don't wanna see another person like it, but the odds are somebody, one of you, if you don't get on the right track with this, will find yourself out there. You know what we have now? You know what we get in our phones every once in a while? We get memories or whatever they're called and that pop up. You know, five years ago, this happened and you shared it. that I was looking at five years ago, or I don't even know how long ago it was or what it was, but it showed up and there were people singing and I thought, oh, oh man, they're no longer even walking with God anymore. How in the world will that happen? The latter times people are gonna depart from the faith. They're gonna give heed to stuff they shouldn't give heed to. They'll be following doctrines they shouldn't be following. So what's our job? Faithful preachers. You gotta be faithful to stick with the truth, and you need to be faithful to stick with the truth as well. Let's stand. Lord God, Father, we love you. We thank you for your mercy, your grace, your goodness. Thank you for the songs that were sung already today, and thank you for, Lord, the good spirit Father, thank you there weren't any distractions. We were able just to preach your word and I'm thankful. Lord, I'm thankful that we have a Holy Spirit so that if I preach and I don't say something quite right, your spirit can definitely make application in the hearts of people. Father, I'm thankful we've got your word sitting in front of us so that if I don't say things, I miss something, I don't read it quite right, your word is there and it's true. Father, I'm thankful. that we live in a country where we got the opportunity to come to church and be the people you've called us to be in a land that has relative freedom. Father, I think that for a lot of us, even me, we've become dull of hearing some. For some, we're departing from the faith. We're not where we used to be. We're drifting. And our ship is headed for the rocks, and Lord, I pray you'd help us. to see that that's what we're doing in our life right now if we don't wake up to what's going on. Lord, there's people that have children that are watching them as they're drifting. There are people that have children that are watching them as they're departing from truth. And Lord, help them to get on track. Help us, Lord. We commit the rest of the service to you, your work in the hearts of these people. In Jesus name we pray, amen. She's gonna play, give you a chance to pray tonight.