At last I heard Continue to pray about that But Acts chapter 20 Paul continued his third missionary journey Let's go to the Lord one more time in prayer just to just for the Anointing for the preaching of the word father in Jesus precious name. I just I just thank you Lord that Despite the fact that we don't have beautiful facilities, despite the fact that it's kind of cold when we get together to worship, I just thank you, Lord, that there are people that are here that are committed to you. that are committed to this church and that love you. And so I just pray, Lord, that they would not be disappointed today. They came here to hear your Word, your perfect Word preached, yet you call imperfect men to preach your perfect Word. And so I pray, Lord, you would anoint me with your Spirit, fill me with your Spirit, and empower me. to proclaim Your truth, open hearts and minds to receive truth from Your Word, and by Your Spirit empower us to apply these truths to our lives. I pray, Lord, as we study the book of Acts, that we see that this is what the future of the church in America is going to look like. that the days where our government is pro-Christian, those days are gone. And now all of a sudden, we're considered the bad guys. And so I pray, Lord, that we would continue to proclaim your truth, even though we may be called to suffer for that. In Jesus' precious name we pray. Amen. So now Paul is continuing his third missionary journey. We remember that he had, on his second missionary journey, preached at Mars Hill to the Greek philosophers and we remember that there's another guy, Apollos, that's now preaching as well. And so now in verses one to six, now we're going to try to cover, this is just a survey, so we're going to try to I'll just give you an overview of certain passages that we're going to skip over and then we'll really try to get into some of the other passages. But Paul continues his third missionary journey. He goes to Macedonia and Greece, spends three months there. And of course the Jews there plot to take his life. That's kind of the norm for the Apostle Paul. By the way, that's becoming the norm for us. We haven't had to suffer to the point of shedding of blood, but the norm for us now is that it's not popular to preach Jesus. And so if you're going to preach Jesus, you're going to catch flak. You're going to catch some friction from others. So it was just normal for this to happen. The Jews plotted to take his life, but Paul and seven others flee to Troas. There in Troas, he preaches until midnight. NOW! When you hear something like that, it sounds kind of weird. We're preaching till midnight and then a guy falls asleep and it's not really the guy's fault. You know, if I started preaching now and didn't finish, you know, preach past midnight, there's going to be guys dozing off. In fact, we used to have a Bible study at my house on Friday nights. Of course, I was like 20 years younger and we got up to, at one point, we got up to like 25 people, but most of the people would leave, you know, we'd start at 7, we'd leave about 10, 10-30, But there'd always be five or six guys that would stay later and talk theology and talk Bible. And sometimes we went till two or three in the morning and then I'd go to bed and get up about nine or something and then I'd realize some guy's still sleeping on our couch. But that was the norm. in the uh... in the early church and we we think we're so prosperous in america today But it's a big facade because now it's almost like you have to work two jobs. No, we just don't have time anymore to do anything, to take time, to set apart time where we could devote it to the Lord. And so, but here, you know, the ancient sermons preached by the church and even by the rabbis before them often lasted several hours. I mean, in Mark 6, 34 to 36, There, you know, we all remember the stories of Jesus feeding the 4,000 and then He feeds the 5,000. But if you look at Mark 6, 34 to 36, In fact even in verse 31 the second half of verse 31 of Mark 6 It says for for there were many coming and going and they did not even have time to eat so people were flocking to Jesus and he was preaching and teaching and casting out demons and healing people and Raising the dead and they were coming to him. They didn't have time to to eat and in verses 34 to 36 when Jesus came out He saw a great multitude and he was moved with compassion for them because they were like sheep not having a shepherd, so he began to teach them many things. When the day was now far spent, so he was teaching them throughout the whole day. When the day was now far spent, His disciples came to Him and said, This is a deserted place, and already the hour is late. Send them away, that they may go into the surrounding country and villages and buy themselves bread, for they have nothing to eat. So people would, I mean, forget about breakfast, lunch, and supper. People would go an entire day of listening to Jesus' teachings, and then Jesus would end up multiplying the bread and the fish to feed them. And he did that to 4,000 on one occasion to 5,000 on another occasion. You don't have to go back too far. The Lincoln-Douglas debates in this country, Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas, when they debated, it would be an all-day thing. In fact, you would win a few debate points. And by the way, the people would just stand there. It was outdoors. They'd have a platform and the two would be debating each other. But you would win some debate points if you recommended that you break for lunch. And the people would say, man, I like this guy, you know. And it used to be in the late 1800s, if you were in Great Britain, it was Charles Haddon Spurgeon. If you were in Chicago, it was D.L. Moody. People would travel for miles away to come hear these great preachers. In fact, it was not unusual for drunk people to show up to hear a great preacher preach and then get saved during the sermon. Because there was no television. There was no radio. So one of the biggest forms of entertainment was to hear a great speaker speak. And if he happened to be a Christian, well, no biggie. We'll just go hear this great speaker. I've heard a lot about him. I'll go hear what he's got to say. And next thing you know, the Holy Spirit convicts the heart. of the listener when he comes to Christ. And so now we can fill our time with just about anything that we want. But technology's not all bad. Yesterday, I spent two hours being interviewed on a program, and most of the listeners, the guy who has the program is a Christian, most of the listeners are non-Christians. They're Jehovah's Witnesses, Oneness Pentecostals who deny the Trinity. And it was a two-hour interview. It's done out of Washington, D.C. But it's an internet thing, so it reaches people all over the world. And there was a two-hour debate about the doctrine, a two-hour interview about the doctrine of the Trinity. And then we got callers from people who denied the Trinity. But you have access right now, you could get online and it's not just, I've got over 1,300 sermons or lectures or debates that you could stream, do streaming audio or streaming video and it's all free. But there are literally millions of sermons that you can listen to. So even if in our busy schedules you can't get to uh... you can only come to church on sunday can't get to a bible study in the middle of the week you can still download stuff and listen to stuff and you can download listen to books and all uh... but i'm telling you there is so little respect for the word the preaching of the word of god most pastors uh... are shocked when they hear how long my sermons are okay and uh... Kind of the guys who are preaching the meat of the world are preaching 40 to 45 minutes. A lot of pastors are just preaching 20 minutes. And here Paul preaches all the way till midnight and a young guy is sitting in a window. Now he's probably sitting in the window in his upper room probably because he wants to get some air to help him stay awake. But if you fall asleep sleeping in a window Phil is not really to your advantage, and he fell to his death from the upper window, and then Paul went down and raised him from the dead. But what you see in this passage is you see different things that we can learn from the early church. Solid biblical teaching. You can't preach, you can't give solid biblical preaching in five minutes, but that's what the average American wants. Okay? We like fast food. We like fast food theology, too. Okay? But there was solid teaching, and then there was supernatural power, so Paul raised them from the dead. But the ancient sermons often lasted several hours long. We've got to really It's not just our financial giving, but we also have to look at our schedules and how much time are we actually giving to the Lord. And when we spend more time watching football than we do in God's Word each week, then it's, you know, Houston. We have a problem, okay? It's something that we need to deal with. So now from there, Paul rushes off to Miletus. Unfortunately, we can't put the map project the map up here, so you'll have to look at your own maps there. And he's en route to Jerusalem for the Feast of Pentecost. So he wants to go back to Pentecost. But in Miletus, he calls for the elders that he has appointed in the Ephesian church Okay? He calls for them. These guys have been saved for less than three years, because he was really only there for two years and three months preaching in Ephesus. And so then the guys that were doing really well, he appointed them to be elders. And now he gives this farewell message in verses 17 through 38. And so I want us to look at this. Paul's farewell message to the Ephesian elders. So it's a pastor's conference, and he's preaching to the pastors that he led to the Lord. Verse 17, from Miletus he sent to Ephesus and called for the elders of the church. So the Ephesian elders are gathered. And when they had come to him, he said to them, you know, from the first day that I came to Asia, in what manner I always lived among you, serving the Lord with all humility, with many tears and trials, which happened to me by the plotting of the Jews, how I kept back nothing that was helpful, but proclaimed it to you and taught you publicly and from house to house. So Paul, would speak in the public, you know, in the synagogues, and then he went from there to the School of Tyrannus, and he would preach to the large crowds, but he'd also preach to smaller groups, house to house, testifying to Jews and also to Greeks, repentance toward God. That's metanoia in the Greek. Repentance means to turn from your sin and to turn to God, okay? So he testified to the Jews and also to the Greeks, repentance toward God, turning from your sin to God, and faith, trust, toward our Lord Jesus Christ, trusting in the Lord Jesus Christ. Whenever Jesus is called our Lord Jesus Christ or the Lord Jesus Christ, and it's always done in a religious context, Jesus is being called, and the Greek word is koryos, But in that context, it's the Greek word for the Hebrew word Yahweh. And so Jesus is being called Yahweh, the God of Israel. And see now, I go bound in the Spirit to Jerusalem. So he's saying the Holy Spirit is calling me. It's not my decision. It's the Holy Spirit's decision that I go to Jerusalem, not knowing the things that will happen to me there. except that the Holy Spirit testifies in every city saying that chains and tribulations await me." So he was getting, you know, can you imagine if you're on a preaching circuit and everywhere you go and people tell you, now I've heard that you want to go to Jerusalem, the Lord revealed to me you're going to be chained up and beaten in Jerusalem. That was the message he got over and over again, okay? Most of us, if you're like me, would be like, okay, I think the Lord's telling me don't go to Jerusalem. Paul's saying, no, God just wants me to know what I'm getting into, but He wants me. The Holy Spirit, the same Spirit that's saying I'm gonna get whooped in Jerusalem is the same Spirit that's calling me to Jerusalem. Okay? You know, every once in a while, it might be like, you know, there might be some young guy studying for the ministry, and he gets a call to be the pastor of a mega church in New Jersey, and they want to pay the guy lots of money, and it's going to be real big, and the schools are good and everything, or pastor a little church with very few people and only a part-time income in Idaho or Oregon. your comfort is the last thing that should be considered. What is God's will? So it wasn't like, you know, well, if I'm not going to receive a warm reception in Jerusalem, I'm just not going. It was like, look, God wants me in Jerusalem, but he's letting me know I'm going to get beaten over there. Okay? And we've got to ask ourselves that question. Are we willing to suffer for Christ? More times than not, if you do what God has called you to do, you're going to suffer. Now you get access to God's joy, okay? But sometimes God's joy means singing praise songs in a Philippian jail at midnight, okay? And so Paul's reminding the Ephesian elders of his uncompromising ministry. He's letting them know this would be his final meeting. And then verse 24, but none of these things move me, nor do I count my life dear to myself. He was basically saying if I'm going to Jerusalem to die, so be it. God's calling me to Jerusalem to preach his word so that I may finish my race with joy. Now Paul's probably writing this, this is probably somewhere around 56, 57 AD, and He's actually not going to be put to death somewhere between 64 and 67 AD, but he understood that he probably wasn't going to die of old age. Okay? "...that I may finish my race with joy, and the ministry which I receive from the Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel of the grace of God." You know, Paul said, look, I live to preach the gospel of God's grace. Salvation by God's charity. Salvation by God's grace alone through faith alone in Jesus alone. That's the whole reason why I live. And if I get beat up for doing it, so be it. It just comes with the turf. Okay? And so... And so Paul's basically saying there that he lives to testify the gospel. Verse 25, And indeed, now I know what you all, among whom I have gone preaching the kingdom of God, will see my face no more. So he said, this is the last time you're going to see me, guys. Therefore I testify to you this day, I am innocent of the blood of all men. What he means is he's innocent of the blood of all men. He's like saying, hey, guys, if you guys are going to hell, it's not my fault. I can't believe for you, but I can preach the gospel to you. And I preach the gospel to you. And then it says in verse 27, for I have not shunned to declare you the whole counsel of God. This is why we're doing this survey through the Bible, why we've been doing this for years, is because of this phrase, the whole counsel of God. I realized when I preached on the Sermon on the Mount And it took 57 sermons to get through Matthew's chapter 5, 6, and 7. I knew that we had to take a break from expository preaching, preaching the Bible verse by verse, because if it takes a year to preach through three chapters, there's a lot more in three chapters than the whole counsel of God. And so what I decided was I felt that God was calling me to do a survey and it took about five years through the Old Testament, about a year, year and a half through the Gospels. Now we're going through Acts, probably take about half a year to be you know, totally done. We've just got a few weeks left in Acts, and then we'll go to Romans and Paul's letters, and until I can say that, yes, I have preached the whole counsel of God to my people, and you just do the best you can. But I will say this. Paul could preach the whole counsel of God. Now, all they had was the Old Testament, and the apostles' understanding of the Old Testament, because the New Testament was just being written, and they probably had a gospel here and a gospel there in different regions, but Paul could get through the whole Council of God in just two years and three months with the Ephesians, but back then, people had a lot more free time. By the way, if you think you're free, like we live in America, the land of the free, listen to that, let me tell you something, there is no such thing as freedom without free time. Okay? So if we have to all be workaholics, and everybody's got to get two jobs, and we've got to pay all the bills and stuff like that, and then with all the money that you make, about half of it goes in taxation, so the government's spending more of your money than you are, you've got to ask yourself after a while, you're really free. But here are these ancient guys under the suppressive Roman regime, they still had enough free time. to where they could study the word, you know, 10, 15, 20 hours a week. And so Paul could preach the whole counsel of God in just a little over two years. And so I've not shunned to declare to you the whole counsel of God. Verse 28, therefore take heed to yourselves and to all the flock among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers to shepherd the church of God which he purchased with his own blood. For I know this, that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock." also from among yourselves men will rise up speaking perverse things to draw away the disciples after themselves. Therefore watch and remember that for three years I did not cease to warn everyone night and day with tears." That's the two years and three months in in Ephesus but also in surrounding regions he preached as well and then he's rounding the numbers off. And so what he's doing here, he's saying, look, I served Christ, I suffered for Christ, and now I'm telling you, as I shepherded you, shepherd the flock. And the number one thing, when it comes to shepherding, you know, when a shepherd takes care of his flock, He has to make sure that the flock is physically taken care of and protected, but the emphasis that Paul puts on shepherding the flock, okay, now our church, we will try to help those in need. We try to be there for our people, and believe me, it's getting harder and harder and harder to do that as the economy gets worse and worse. And we'll try to reach out to others who aren't inside the church, but the main emphasis of shepherding the flock, according to the Apostle Paul, is you've got to beware of these savage wolves. wolves in sheep's clothing that had crept into the church. And then he does talk about supporting the weak, the verses that follow. Look at verse 32, so then, so now, brethren, I commend you to God and to the word of His grace, which is able to build you up and give you an inheritance among all those who are sanctified. Then he even says this, he went way beyond the call of duty, he says, I have coveted no one's silver or gold or apparel. Yes, you yourselves know that these hands have provided for my necessity and for those who are with me. And so basically what he's saying, you know, 1 Corinthians 9, Paul makes it very, very clear, as an apostle, he had the right to make his living from preaching the gospel. He says, don't muzzle the ox when it's eating the grain. Don't hold back the preacher. Free the preacher up to preach full time. But he said, you know, you pagans, out in Corinth and in Ephesus, I knew that if I accepted any funds for me from you, you guys would say I'm doing it for the money. So Paul, and so Paul points this out, that he and Barnabas has the same rights as the Apostles to the Jews. Paul and Barnabas as the Apostles to the Gentiles, they had the same right to make their living, but he chose not to. Okay? He didn't want anything to be a hindrance to the Gospel. So he was basically bivocational. He would make tense. And then often we saw earlier Timothy and Silas would come into town and Paul would devote himself solely to the preaching of the Word, and they would support him as he would continue to preach. Verse 34, or verse 35, I have shown you in every way by laboring like this that you must support the weak. And remember the words of the Lord Jesus, that He said, it is more blessed to give than to receive." And what he's talking about is, and by the way, that's not mentioned in the Gospels, that quote. So this either came from his discussions with the apostles that walked with Jesus. They said, yeah, Jesus said this once. It's more blessed to give than to receive. Also, It's possible that since Jesus visited Paul numerous times, not just on the road to Damascus, Jesus might have just told him that. But here you have a quote from Jesus. There may have been traditions in the early church where they remembered sayings of Jesus that didn't find their way into the Gospels. And so what he's basically saying is, look, yeah, everybody's got to work hard, got to try to make a living, got to try to pay the bills, okay? But in the end, what's even more blessed than receiving is giving. And, you know, God holds us responsible for all the gifts that he gives us. If he's given me the gift of teaching, then I've got to share that gift with others. If he's given you the gift of service, then you've got to serve others. And if he's blessed you financially, then you've got to give. Okay? And by the way, we're Americans, we're all blessed financially. Whenever we say, well, you know, if I was wealthy, man, my giving would be off the charts. But what you mean by wealthy is Bill Gates. Let me tell you, almost nobody's as wealthy as Bill Gates, okay? But we, if you're an American, you live a higher standard of living than, and it's going to come down, it's going to come down real soon, but you live a higher standard of living right now than the kings of, the royalty of most nations. So, and at least the kings of most nations throughout history. And so the Lord says, look, it is more blessed to give than to receive. And so, but I want us to focus a little bit more. Well, let's finish this chapter, and then we're going to go back and look at just a few things that he says there. Verses 36 and 38, and when he had said these things, he knelt down and prayed with them all. Then they all wept freely and fell on Paul's neck and kissed him, sorrowing most of all for the words which he spoke, that they would see his face no more, and they accompanied him to the ship. You know, we often think of Paul, we compare him with the Barnabas, who's the son of encouragement. They said, boy, Barnabas was such a warm, loving guy, but Paul was into theology, and he was always refuting the heretics, and he was calling out the heretics by name. What a nasty, mean guy. Let me tell you, when you gotta say goodbye to a nasty, mean guy, you don't hug him and kiss his neck. Okay? Paul knew, Paul was in the business of smashing idols, but he was also in the business of shepherding the flock. Okay? And I'm telling you, when I stand before the Lord, I'm sure that not everything that I've taught from the Word of God was accurate. I'm a fallible man, and I pray for the anointing, and I understand the importance of the holiness of God and the truth of His Word, and I don't want to lead people astray, but I'm sure I've missed the boat here and there. But I'm sure the Lord's very gracious on that. But I tell you, if you don't... And by the way, in one way, shape, or form overall, we all have a ministry from the Lord. And if you don't love your people, if you don't love your flock, even as a saved born-again believer who's a preacher that would scare me more and I'm but I'm telling you the Apostle Paul and let me tell you I don't want to hurt people's feelings but if in order to proclaim God's truth you got to hurt people's feelings so be it but you're speaking the truth in love Paul loved his flock yes he was tough on heresy he preached the truth he did not compromise but when it came came time to say goodbye to his guys they wept Okay? So this is not a guy that lorded it over himself and treated people like trash. This was a guy that encouraged his people. This was a, you know, so we gotta be passionate for God's truth. And we gotta love God with everything we've got, like Jesus said, but we gotta also love our neighbors as ourselves. And, um, but, um, but one, a couple things here that he says in passing. One is in, in Acts 20, verse 28 there, he says, you have to shepherd the church of God, which he purchased with his own blood. Okay? Now, You have to understand God bled for you. God died for you. Okay? Zechariah, hold this page and turn to Zechariah chapter 12 and verse 10. The Old Testament book near the close of the Old Testament. Zechariah chapter 12. We'll be looking at verse 10. But We see who's talking in verse 1 of Zechariah 12. The burden of the word of the Lord against Israel, thus says the Lord, who stretches out the heavens, lays the foundation of the earth, and forms the spirit of man within him. So the Lord that is speaking here, the Creator, that's Lord with all capital letters. That means Yahweh is being translated. So Yahweh is talking, and Yahweh says in verse 10, And I will pour out on the house of David, this is when all nations are coming to attack Jerusalem in the last days. And then the Lord returns. And I will pour out on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the spirit of grace and supplication. Then they will look on me whom they pierced. Yes, they will mourn for him as one mourns for his only son and grieve for him as one grieves for a firstborn." You have to understand, your theology is deficient. Your knowledge of God is deficient if you can't accept the fact that Yahweh was pierced. Yahweh says, then they will look on me whom they pierced. In Acts 20, 28, we see that God purchased the church with His blood. Let me tell you this. And by the way, these two verses came up yesterday in a two-hour discussion from the callers and this and that. I asked one guy, did God die for you? And he said, no, God can't die, because he believes God is only one person. He denies the Trinity. So then he's got to explain how Jesus the man could pray, how Jesus could pray to God the Father. So what he says is, well, that's Jesus the man praying to Jesus God. Well then, Jesus the man isn't God. And so when Jesus died on the cross, that was just a man dying. I told him, I said, look, if it's only a man who died for your sins, you're still in your sins. Church Father Athanasius wrote a work called On the Incarnation, and he argued that if Jesus was even just a lesser God, or not God at all, we're still in our sins. Our sins, we are so depraved, so messed up, only God can save us. Okay? Now, let me tell you, God the Father never bled. He doesn't have a body. God, the Holy Spirit, never bled. This is talking about Jesus as God. God the Son, at a point in time, became a man, added to human nature without ceasing to be God, so that this is why we can call him the God-man. So when Jesus died on the cross for our sins, that was God the Son dying on the cross for our sins, so Paul could say, God purchased the church with his blood. Okay? Zechariah could say, Yahweh says they will look on me whom they have pierced. Okay? And so when God the Son became a man, He didn't cease to be God. He's fully God. We worship the man Jesus because He is also God. When the man Jesus died on the cross for our sins, God died for us. Okay? God, the second person of the Trinity, Jesus is fully God and fully man, theologians call this the hypostatic union, but we must never forget that God shed his blood, became one of us, became a man, and died on the cross for our sins. If you deny the doctrine of the Trinity, it becomes very difficult to explain these passages. how God's Word could say that God purchased the church with His blood. But I want to key on here where he says, "...to shepherd the flock and beware of false teachers, savage wolves that have entered the church." Look at Matthew 7. This is where he got the concept of savage wolves from, I believe, is from Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount. in Matthew 7, 15 to 23. You know, in America, we put so much emphasis on tolerance and being nice and being accepting of others that often we view the bad guys, those really nasty preachers out there that say salvation's only through Jesus. So we often look at the Apostle Pauls and make them the bad guys, but then the guys that smile and love everybody. And don't tell people that unless you trust in Jesus for salvation, you're going to be lost forever. And they act like Jesus died on the cross just to make us comfortable and feel good about ourselves. And God wants us healthy, wealthy, and prosperous. God's Word calls the guys, the guys that tell you what you want to hear, God's Word calls them savage wolves. The guys that tell you you're a sinner who deserves the flames of hell, you've got to turn from your sin and trust in Jesus for salvation, and receive a salvation you don't deserve, the Bible calls that shepherds. Okay? So don't look at things through the lenses of the world. Okay? The world right now, you know what the world is saying with what they've redefined as tolerance? I'm going to, I think you're, the way you sin, I think that's weird and I don't like it, but I'll promote your sinful lifestyle if you will promote my sinful lifestyle and then the two of us can promote that guy's. Let's all unite promoting our sinfulness and then we could all team up and slam those hateful Christians who still believe in such a concept as sin. And we could paint them out to be the intolerant, hateful ones. But both Paul and Jesus referred to false teachers who tell people what they want to hear, they refer to them as wolves. So look at Matthew 7 and Verses 15 through 23, and I think we're just going to close with this. Matthew 7, 15 to 23, Beware of false prophets who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. See, this is why we need leaders who are grounded in the Word. If wolves showed up in wolves' clothing, You wouldn't need to get grounded in the word. I mean, you say, ah, it's a wolf. Wolf wants to eat me. I'm gonna go somewhere else, okay? But when it's a wolf showing up in sheep's clothing, so this is, so you might say, well, oh, that preacher, that preacher, no, you've been bad-mouthing that preacher. No, I think he's a preacher. He quotes the scriptures to support everything he says. Well, so do the Jehovah's Witnesses. But they both share in common. They're taking verses out of context. Okay? So it's because, you know, Satan is no idiot. Satan knows if I'm going to send deceivers, if I want them to deceive the flock, I'm going to have to make the deceivers look like true believers. Okay? And so Jesus said, beware of false prophets. A prophet is supposed to proclaim God's truth. A false prophet claims they're proclaiming God's truth, but they preach falsehoods. Beware of false prophets who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they're ravenous wolves. And he says this, you will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thorn bushes or figs from thistles? Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. That's the final state of these false prophets. Therefore, by their fruits you will know them. By the way, the fruits might be their behavior, Okay? But primarily what he's talking about is the fruit. The fruit borne by these trees, they're false prophets, they're false prophecies, there's false teachings. And so you've got to test them with the Word of God. It's like John says in 1 John 4, 1, test the spirits, because not every spirit is from God. if it doesn't proclaim the Lord Jesus and exalt Him, it's not from God. And therefore by their fruits you will know them." Then he goes on and he's talking in a similar context here, "...not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of my Father in heaven." Jesus is not saying we're saved by works. But Jesus is saying that a true believer, a true believer does more than just say they believe. A true believer lives a life, through the power of the Holy Spirit, a true believer lives a life of obedience to the Lord. He's talking about what characterizes a true believer. Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of my Father in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in your name, cast out demons in your name, and done many wonders in your name? and then I will declare to them, I never knew you, depart from me, you who practice lawlessness." Okay? See, what Jesus is pointing out, the Apostle Paul also points out in his writings. You don't determine the spiritual maturity or the reality of the genuineness of someone's faith by their spiritual gifts. Even Satan can counterfeit the spiritual gifts. The sign of maturity is going to be spiritual fruit. This is why Paul, 1 Corinthians chapter 1, in verse 7, he thanks God that they have all the spiritual gifts. But then, in 1 Corinthians 3, verse 1, he could still call them babes in Christ, because they were so carnal. Yet they had all the gifts. And then he tells them in chapter 13, you could have all these gifts, but if you don't have love, which is a fruit of the Spirit, You're just a clanging bell. So don't look at the gifts of the Spirit. Oh, this guy prophesies. Oh, this guy speaks in tongues. Look for the fruit of the Spirit. Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Okay? And then Paul says, against such things there is no law. In other words, if you have those characteristics and the Holy Spirit's bearing that fruit in your life, you're not going to disobey God's laws. Okay? And see, the thing is, We Christians often focus on doing. You know, now that I got saved, I just have to do the right things. You're missing the boat. You're saying, well, I trusted Jesus for salvation, now I want to have a relationship with His law. No, His law showed you you were a sinner. It's not about doing, it's about being. Okay? God is really not so much concerned about what you're doing. He's concerned about who you are. Once God transforms you from the inside, automatically doing His will just becomes the natural outgrowth of that. And so Paul warns against these savage wolves from entering the church. He's talking about the same thing that Jesus spoke about as well. And now we're going to talk a little bit more. He gets further warnings about going to Jerusalem. But I want you to just look at Revelation chapter 2. And we'll close with this. Revelation chapter 2. And then we'll receive the Lord's Supper. I have no idea why that phone talks to me sometimes. Okay, Revelation chapter 2, verses 1 to 5. Now, most pastors date the book of Revelation to about 90 to 95 A.D. In my Hijacking the Historical Jesus, I actually make a case that it could have been written as early as the late 60s A.D. Okay? But whatever the case, this is at least 10 to possibly forty years, ten to forty years after Paul left, preached his farewell message to the Ephesian church. Well how were they doing years later? So Revelation 2, 1 to 5, To the angel of the church of Ephesus write, These things says he who holds the seven stars in his right hand, who walks in the midst of the seven golden lampstands, I know your works, your labor, your patience, and that you cannot bear those who are evil. And you have tested those who say they are apostles and are not, and have found them liars." You see what they're doing? The Ephesian pastors have done a good job refuting heresy and disproving the false teachers. And you have persevered and have patience and have labored for my namesake and have not become weary. Nevertheless, I have this against you, that you have left your first love. Remember therefore from where you have fallen, repent and do the works or else I will come to you quickly and remove your lampstand from its place unless you repent." And that goes for all churches, even Trinity Bible Fellowship. If we do not get back to being what God has called us to be, Eventually, God will remove our lampstand and we'll no longer be a light in the midst of the darkness of our community. The Ephesian believers, the Ephesian pastors, they did a better job than anybody refuting the heretics and the false teachers. But while doing that, they lost their first love. Guys and gals, you remember when you fell in love? It's a weird expression, but do you remember when you fell in love with your spouse? Okay? Every once in a while, usually anniversaries remind you, oh, wow, man, I'm almost losing my first love. I got to get back to the way I loved my bride on the day that we got married. And we have to remind ourselves, we have to choose to go back to loving our guys. We've got to go back to loving our brides the way we loved them on the day that we got married. Do you remember how much you loved Jesus when you first came to him? You felt like standing on a rooftop and just proclaiming, Jesus saves at the top of your lungs. You couldn't understand why your relatives, your family wasn't getting it. You were sharing Jesus with everybody. Okay? So yes, let's refute the savage wolves. Let's beware of these false teachers, these wolves in sheep's clothing. But also, do not lose your first love. rekindle that love of Jesus. And you might say, Pastor, I don't know how to do that. Let me tell you, stay in His Word, and start your day with God's Word, devotional reading of God's Word, and prayer, and pray without ceasing throughout the day. Let me tell you, the Lord Jesus, He created the heavens and the earth, but He wants to spend time with you. He wants to walk with you. He wants to talk to you. He wants to encourage you. He wants to strengthen you. Refute the false teachers and don't lose your first love. Love Jesus with all your heart until that day when he returns in glory. Okay, now we're going to receive the Lord's Supper. At last I heard. Our king is still on the throne.