Good morning and God bless you. So good to see you here and online. Maybe you're listening later on Sermon Audio. We're so very thankful for all the different ways that God's getting his word out through this church and other like minded churches all all over the world. If you would stand for the reading of God's word. We are back in our study now of First Thessalonians. We're in chapter two. I'll read verses 5 and 6, and we'll call today's message, God is Witness. Well, we know God's watching, right? But Paul means something specific here that we want to talk about, and I think if you really pay attention today, maybe you'll take some notes today. We gave some notes out, but there'll be some other stuff. that this will help you for the rest of your life. And I truly believe that God can take a timeless word and make it a timely word for your situation or someone you know today. I know this is something I need to hear, and I know you need to too. 1 Thessalonians 2, verse 5. For we never came with words of flattery, as you know, nor with a pretext for greed. God is witness. did we seek glory from other people whether from you or from others that we could have made demands as Apostles of Christ Heavenly Father help us see through your word our Lord and Savior and our pattern of life through what the Apostle Paul was teaching the Thessalonians so that we could see our own hearts better that we might discern not how to point out other people but so that we can see falsehood from error for ourselves by seeing it in ourselves that we would know you more clearly that we might see your mercy and grace and how awesome it is to us in eternity in our lives in this moment in Jesus name amen you may be seated Now in verses five and six here, we're going to do a bunch of background work, because there's something going on here. And let me just start out by saying something that people need to know. As you grow older, you grow in wisdom and things like that. But sometimes we think we know it all. And here's the statement. Intuition is not the same thing as wisdom. Well I resonate with that, well I don't care. What does God's Word say? Not what it means to me, what it means for me. Correctly interpreted and applied. But so often we fall for the silliest things and we wonder how it happens to us. Well when we take, let's say my grandchildren, they're going to be eight this week and six in February. And they're growing and they've got a good strong family foundation and of course they're here in the front row and They're already getting used to me talking about them every week and all of that sort of thing. But if you would think that they have the wisdom, all that they need for life, of course they don't. They haven't taken it all in. But wisdom is not just experience. And it's not, well, I know, I know, I know, that's when you get to be about 13, 14, 15, and you know, you know. And then mom and dad or whomever is looking after you gets sillier and stupider and you just can't even understand. Then you get in your 20s and it's real. Then you get in your 30s and say, oh they're regular people. Then you get to be about 50 or so or so and you say, well they knew a little bit more than I thought. My mom will say I'm right about some things. I'm right about your wife because she's the greatest woman on earth because she's put up with you. But the thing is, have you ever been around that? Have you ever been that where you thought, your intuition, you thought that was wisdom and you got fooled. So I'm gonna give you a little few nuggets today. One is, it's easy to be fooled when you're acting foolish. Like, how did I ever... what was I thinking? You weren't. You steal something. You think, look, I stole this wonderful painting. Well, how... what are you... what are you gonna do with it? Put it up for everybody to see? Because they know it was in the museum, you know. I mean, how many examples could we make up in our own lives that aren't that, but are actually real? Now in verses 5 and 6, I'm getting that for this. Because I want to teach you some discernment and a way to learn to discern. And in verses five and six, you see sins of flattery, right there. Greed, right? And we didn't see glory, so self-glory. Flattery, greed, and self-glory, you see them right there. You could say self-glory, we didn't see glory, we, you know, not just, you know, validation, but, you know, adulation, admiration, recognition. How many people, if you don't say hi to them, you got forgot, you got so many things going on, and they lose it. They hold it against you for years. That's why we got to learn to have a thick skin and a tender heart rather than thin skin and a hard heart. But how do we see that? Because I'm guilty of that. I'm guilty of these things. Falling for flattery. or being greedy not just for money or whatever else and then you think you can see the false teachers out there because they act like this because Paul talks about I'm not like this and yet we are like this and so that's why we get fooled so how can you spot this and how can you stop this this is definitely biblical Jesus said in Matthew chapter 7 judge not lest ye be judged of course then he says you'll know them by their fruits which is Judging. Means we don't pass sentence. And he said, before you go and get that little speck out of somebody else's eye, you might want to look at that gigantic log that's in your eye. And now, learning to discern the truth and the error around you by learning to discern the truth and error within you, which is our lesson today, It doesn't mean that you then go and say, aha, like everybody has the same sins you do. I know that you're just in it for money because you're in it for money. Or whatever else it may be. Rather, you see yourself more clearly by discerning what's going on in you and actually working on it. See, this is a reason not just to let sin go. It's not hurting anybody. It's hurting you. It's hurting your discernment. You'll get fooled. You're being foolish by not attacking your sin. But when you do, then you can see it in other people. How many people know who Eddie Haskell is? Right? And all the older people know who he was. He was on Leave it to Beaver, and he was just this smug, thought he knew better, and thought he was fooling Mrs. Cleaver. Because he would come up and say, oh, Mrs. Cleaver, you look so wonderful today. And everybody watching the show would go, oh, that guy. That's just shenanigans. He's a charlatan. And how many times do you see your children, and you're like, don't go with them? But then we fall for it ourselves. Oh. But when you know better, you know better. But too many people, often people think they know better, and they get snowed over. It's like I wonder how sometimes people can fall for certain doctrine. I'm not saying I'm perfect in every way, but there's certain ways that I know that we're getting right. And you look and you're like, how could all these people not believe in Jesus Christ? And you believe in some science fiction book the guy wrote in the 1950s! And all the Hollywood people, there is your answer. What is your goal? What is on the inside of you? That is why you get fooled by certain things. Why do I keep going back to the same sin? I think I'm out of it, I'm going to try, I'm going to try, I'm going to white knuckle it as we call it. And then boom, there it is. Why? It's something on the inside of you. How can you spot it? And how can you stop it? Not just other people, not just sin police, you got it, you got it, you got it. No, no, no. When Jesus said, get the thing out of your own eye, He isn't saying, don't go help them. He's like, there's a bigger issue here. There's a reason you see that out there, because you got it in here. Oh, I call that the mirror method of ministry. And again, it's easy to be fooled when you're acting foolish. It's easy to be fooled when you are a fool. And again, intuition and wisdom are not the same things. I'll just add wisdom as if it's knowledge, as if it's facts. Oh, that's wisdom, that's wisdom. When, you know, you're mad at somebody, pray for them. Well, yeah, I get that, and that's true. But you don't just take that and think you've got something. This ain't pocket Jesus when you whip him out. No. You've got to grow in this thing so that you know God. Not just I know Bible verses. Get wisdom, the Bible says. Get wisdom. Well, how do you get that? They can just speak on anything. They can speak extemporaneously. We think that's wisdom. We think the presidential candidate is so great because he just speaks his mind and all that. Are you listening to what he says? Wow! And you know, yes, when you get older you should be able to recognize things that you didn't recognize before. Yeah! But it doesn't always work that way, does it? And Jesus said, out of the mouths of babes and sucklings thou has perfected praise. So this is a critical area. And what was going on in Thessalonica is help. Now these were brand new converts and yet they had some wisdom and you'll see it here. The Apostle Paul had made many converts while he was in Thessalonica for three weeks is all he was there. And even after he had left, many more people were coming to Christ because of the new church of Thessalonica. It was a wonderful thing. They took it, you read chapter 1, they received it even when they were being persecuted, and they turned from it, and now everybody was knowing it, and Paul sent Timothy back and he goes, this thing is going bonkers! But there was a lot of opposition to Paul and his message. They had gotten him out of there, and yet it was still going on, so what were they going to do? You'll recognize this. But the unbelieving religious leaders wanted to stop the spread of the gospel. They didn't want their whole way of life to be upset. You mean I got to go to church? Yeah! See, that's intuition. Well, if God's in charge of anything, it doesn't matter what I do. That's foolish. Well, if all babies are going to heaven, then why don't we just abort? Pervert it. Right? But we do that, don't we? Well, it doesn't matter anyway. It does, because God says it does. If we're all getting to heaven and all that, why is there rewards? That doesn't make sense to you, but it makes sense to God. So people were trying to get rid of Paul because it was changing their whole way of life. They didn't want their whole way of life to be upset, especially by someone who used to be one of them. A traitor, right? And the political folks wanted to stop the spread of the church. They didn't want their whole way of life to be upset either. They were afraid of Roman reprisal because the church was talking about another king, Jesus, as Lord. Iesus Kyrios instead of Caesar Kyrios. And they knew that if they were talking about another king, that they'll take away their free status and Thessalonica won't be such a nice place to live. Hmm. That's what happens. It's not that people don't believe in the physical person of Jesus. No one doubts that anymore. It's not that they doubt that he makes a difference. You can see that. But other things do too. The reason is they want to keep sin in the way they are. The Church of Thessalonica was thriving even though they'd gotten Paul out. They were growing in number and the members were growing in the grace of God. I don't care about the amount of numbers. I care about the growth of the people. If he wants to add to it, amen, hallelujah, praise the Lord, but there's other churches too and all that. And we got to have some little churches around here and around the corner. Amen. But let's burst the seams of what we got here, amen. Especially in your own heart. Now as Paul was telling Thessalonians in chapter 1, the new church and its new converts had been doing a great thing. The message was spreading despite the persecution. All of Greece, he says Macedonia and Achaia. Remember Macedonia is up here and Achaia is down here. So Athens and Corinth are the southern part of Greece. Philippi, Thessalonica, Berea the upper part of Greece. And he says all of Greece is hearing because of your little church. I was there for three weeks and now this thing has gone bonkers again. All of Greece had come to know about Jesus Christ. So what were the opponents of Paul going to do? The more they attacked the church the stronger the church got. So the new strategy of Paul's opponents was to spread lies about Paul. If they were having trouble stopping the message, maybe they could discredit the message by discrediting the messenger. So they said, how could this message be true when this messenger is so false? That kind of strategy continues today, doesn't it? course it gets spread also because we do have a lot of people out there that are knuckleheads and take Jesus as some kind of means to make money and have sex and all this other stuff that they were accusing Paul of but that doesn't mean he wasn't true so Paul was being teach we talked about this last message Paul was being accused of teaching falsehood and heresy and Paul's opponent said that Paul was wandering from the truth of the Old Testament and they said he was using his message to manipulate people so as to satisfy his own sinful pleasures But as we saw in our previous message, Paul wasn't wandering off God's path. He used the Old Testament to prove the New. He wasn't attempting to deceive people. He wasn't trying to satisfy his sinful passions. He was committed to God's truth, and his motive was to please God. Now we're getting somewhere. Now in verse 5, Paul continues to defend his methods. Oh, you don't have to defend yourself. Don't tell Paul that. But it's how you do it, and what you say. This is important because in these verses Paul shows you how false teachers operate most of the time, and how you can learn to discern between false teachers and true teachers. Don't we want that? Instead of me just telling you, God get rid of that, they stink! Why? And also how you can learn to discern, in other words to understand when your motives aren't as pure as you think they are, or want them to be. Learning the difference between what's true and what's false, and who's true and who's false, this is a vital and valuable skill. And it's an ongoing need in your life, not just to test the teachers, but to test your own heart. Because guarding your heart is how you keep from falling for the false. Proverbs 24 23 says guard your heart keep your heart with all diligence for out of it flow the issues of life someone's tickling your ears because you want to be tickled because they're saying things and you think it's godly so woohoo you're not really paying attention you just want what they're done well like oh lord let me win the lottery then I'll give money to the church well first of all yay give money to church but you really just want to have the money man you'll get money the church course I will give me a million dollars I'll give you a thumb back sure Whether that's listening to false teachers or being captured by false teaching. Or dealing with the lies people tell about you. Did I get you to that one? You want to know how to take care of that? Dealing with the lies people tell you? Or about you? See all this was happening to Paul. What was he doing about it? Sometimes it's simple. Because you know God's Word. Starting to know God's Word. Wanting to know God's Word. Learning God's Word. And someone or some teaching is obviously against God's Word. twisting God's Word or making up stuff that's not in God's Word God help us with that that happens so often they're just giving you stuff that's that where's a Bible verse that says anything about that but just because they use Bible oh you're making it so I'm gonna give you a way to begin to learn so you don't have to say JD's this good or bad I still want you to say that wake up but I want you to learn. So people make up stuff that's not in God's Word. Now of course you can always be growing in your understanding of God's Word. And it's always good to compare what people say in the name of God to the Word of God. But sometimes it's not so simple. Because your own heart is deceived. Keep staying with it. We're going to look at all this in verse 5 and a little bit of verse 6. But your own heart is deceived and so you fall for the false. Because the false is what your heart really wants. I mean, children don't know any better. So when you tell them, we've got powers, and we're taking over, why wouldn't they go for that? Because don't you learn when you're like 10, 11, you know, 10, 11 years old, or 10th, 11th grade, we're going after the man, the man, you know? First you steal a pencil, then you cheat, and don't do your homework, and you know, anyway, I could go on and on. Not my babies. But you know. We do these things, and we wonder how we get there. We've got to work the falseness out. And if you're not doing it as a parent, and as a guardian, or just as a person, what are you teaching people? God's witness. But our heart is false, and so we fall for the false. And it seems so good, so right, so helpful, it's so popular, and deceived people will fall for a lot of things if someone just uses a few Bible verses. But remember, the devil uses more Bible verses than you. Now in 2nd Timothy, chapter 4, verse 3 and 4, Paul said this, "...for the time is coming when people will not endure..." Endure. Sometimes give me a break. "...they will not endure sound teaching, but having those itching ears, they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths." Just because I said that don't mean that we're not doing it. How do we know? The Bible spends a lot of time, you need this, I need this, a lot of time telling you about error, falsehood, and lies in the world, in the church, and in your heart. So if you want to follow the Bible, you can't just focus on the positive. Don't get around me then, because I'm coming at you with a negative, I guarantee you. Because it actually is positive. You know, many times something bad happens to us and we immediately want to go, no weapon formed against me shall prosper. But sometimes what we think is a weapon in the hands of the enemy is actually a tool in the hands of God. We're sitting here saying, don't do it, don't do it, don't do it, you know. It's like I'm praying when I'm little. Lord, I can't stand these scrolling pages. I don't want any more. And He answered. I'm five foot two. And I said, Lord, I want to be surrounded by pretty girls. And I am, but not the way I thought. I said, Lord, when I get into my 30s, my grandfather on both sides was absolutely bald before they were 30. I said, Lord, just let me have hair till I'm 50. And he listened. But see, that's the thing. Honestly, though, we say, you know, oh, devil, this devil, who are you praying to? And I cancel this and I do that. Just get with God, would you please? I've got the deliverance I need. I've been out of the kingdom of darkness and into the kingdom of His marvelous Son, into His light. That doesn't mean we don't have battle. Of course we do. But all this, we're doing this, we're doing that. All that armor of God is defensive. Even the sword is defensive. It's a little dagger. When they get past the shield and all the shields, because it's corporate. We're all hiding behind the shields and someone gets in. We get them. I don't need to go to church. You just prove you do. You're out there with your paper sword. Standing on a hill by yourself. I'll take that hill, that hill's gonna take you. Again. If we could just focus on the positive, that would be fun! But that wouldn't be right. That would be false. Because the Bible never tells you to do it that way. And because there's so much wrong and false and evil and twisted concerning your way, that can seem positive. But it's leading you right into the devil's ditch. So how can you... Come on, JD. Right. How can you know the difference? Let me give it to you in a little synopsis, then let's break down this text. You keep asking God to reveal your heart, like we read from Psalm 139, 23, and 24, and you keep changing your heart to be more like Jesus. Well, how? You keep looking at Jesus until you get humble, and then you keep looking at Jesus so you stay humble. You keep reading God's Word, you keep praying, you keep staying in fellowship with God's people, and you keep a short account with sin, which is what we're going to talk about today. The flattery, the greed, and the self-glory. And when you can learn to see them in yourself, you'll see them coming at you. Not so you can point at them and say, well you're just full of this. No, no, no. So you can see. When those two girls in high school are going, talking about the other girl, and you're a guy, do you see that girl as the problem, or are those girls the problem? You know what it is. It's like, I don't want to be around that. That's going to be me. You know, if he cheats with you, he's going to cheat on you. If he's hitting the wall, your head is next. If any of you in here or listen to this and you're being abused, you talk to me. We will deal with it. There's always someone bigger. You know what I mean? There's always other means. We gotta be together on this thing. But when someone's coming, and you know, it's like, no honey, no. How can you know the difference? It's been said that you can't know the motives of someone's heart. But God does. Hebrews 4, 12 and 13 which we love to quote. Verse 12 but listen to verse 12 and 13. But all are naked and exposed to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account. 1 Kings 8.39 says, For you only, God, know the hearts of all mankind. Psalm 44.21 says, God knows the secrets of the heart. Now when it comes to false teachers and false teaching, there can be otherwise very good godly people who don't intend on giving false teaching, and whose motives aren't bad, but they teach the wrong thing unawares. And there are some who teach the truth and yet they do it to satisfy their own selfish interests. You want to be involved with those who teach the truth and grow in the truth. Not just hide it and I'm just so this, that and the other. You want someone that's real. You want someone that you can see their progress. And who do that to please God and mature his people. Your son is calling me. Your son is calling me right now. Now sometimes you can simply observe someone's behavior and know they are motivated by greed or lust for glory. Again, verse six. But sometimes it's not so obvious. 1 Timothy 5, 24 says, the sins of some people are conspicuous, going before them to judgment. But the sins of others appear later. Anybody with me still? Alright, discerning good teaching from bad teaching, good teachers from bad teachers, and good motives from bad motives requires time and commitment to God's Word and God's people. But it also requires time and commitment to overcome those sins of flattery, greed, and self-glory in yourself. The more you've battled these sins, the more you recognize them. Man, I know when someone's high, right in front of me. I know! Why? Because I was! I know when they're lying about it. I give you a little rope and all that. I'm trying to help you. You know what I'm saying? Why? Because I've battled these things myself. I know what it's like. You can't fool me. Doesn't mean what I did was good. It was still stupid. But I've learned. Are you learning? Hmm. Again, this isn't... The more you battle, the more you recognize. I mean, if you want to please God, discern good from bad, and disciple others. Anybody say amen on that? You want to please God, discern good from bad, and disciple others? You have to deal with these sins on the heart level. That's where it starts. With you! Focus on... Imagine you've got a hula hoop on. And you're doing the hula hoop there. Focus on you and the hula hoop. Don't focus on everybody else and all that. And, you know, we watched all that football yesterday. Ladies, I can teach you football real quick. When the football goes on the ground, everybody jumps on it. You don't go, well, I don't know. It's who did that and... Wait for the replay and all that. You jump on the football! That's the way this thing works. If you really want to learn to discern and disciple others, you've got to deal with your own sins that you see. At the heart level. Lord, lead me in the way everlasting. Let me see the bad thing. And He'll show you. Not so you can look at them and go, well, excuse me. He's like, guess what you look like. And you think, well, I don't have to deal with these sins of flattery, self-glory, or greed. You just prove that you've got the genesis of all that, which is idolatrous pride. Yeah, well. So this isn't that you ascribe to others the sins that you have. It's that you learn to see yourself more clearly. Again, it's easier to be fooled when you're being foolish. Now, looking at the text. He says, for we never came with words of flattery. Flattery is a form of manipulation. People love to hear good things about themselves, and saying a good thing with no intent other than to build them up for good godly reasons, that's good. You're doing great. I love how you're interested in the Bible, and you're wanting to go the right direction, and praise God. Little by little, it's working for you. Amen. That's not flattery. That's faith-building. Paul praised the Thessalonians in chapter 1 just like this, for how they responded to the message. Was that flattery? I mean, how can he say, I never came with flattery, when he just said all these wonderful things that I know all of you are all saved? And you turned, and you followed us, and you followed Christ, and all that. Was that flattery? Not at all. But they had grown so much they could recognize it because they had been dealing with it. They thought, well, we're gonna lose everything by following this Jesus guy. They're gonna lie about us and say we're insurrectionists or whatever. Flattery is the opposite of this. Flattery is saying a good thing in order to get some personal benefit. It's not building up, it's buttering up. And the flatterer butters you up to swallow your substance in some way. You say something good to win someone to yourself for yourself, for your self-interest and your personal gain. You may not even believe a word of what you say. You just want to get your way, teenage boy. And you'll say whatever it takes to get what you want. Your mom says, you know, he's only after that one thing. Oh, no, Mrs. Cleaver. Yeah. Proverbs 26, 28 says, a lying tongue hates its victims. And a flattering mouth works ruin. A flattering mouth works ruin. You're not helping them, you're hurting them. And you're hurting yourself. Proverbs 29, 5 says, a man who flatters his neighbor spreads a net for his feet. Now just think about that picture. A man who flatters his neighbor spreads a net for his feet. There's a difference between flattery and building people up. Now false teachers, ready, learn. False teachers use the Bible to flatter people by twisting the word of God to promise people something that God has not promised, or to give them a false sense of assurance, blessing, or empowerment. Oh, this is the generation, and this is this, and I can see you're going to be an apostle, and this, that, and the other thing. By the way, I need $19.95 to make this ministry go. You can run away from them immediately. Yeah, God's gonna have you spend some money. Probably on me, no. But you get the point, you know? People can get caught up in this. They're not even meaning to do this, and they get to turn into that because of what's really going on, because they haven't dealt with it. If you don't deal with it, it's gonna deal with you. Yeah. I'm not like that. Not yet. I didn't take that first smoke, and that first drink, and that first needle, thinking, You know, I'll just turn into a junkie and wind up living in states I don't even, where, how did I get there? But what happened over time? Yeah. I didn't start out to be an abuser. But you didn't deal with that in your heart. And now you want to blame mom and dad. Maybe that has something to do with it, but you didn't deal with it. You just packed it down and it came out. Roots of bitterness yield rotten fruit and they will. Get watered. Why do I blow up something somebody says to the nth degree and make mountains out of molehills? Well, you know, at our house we're not making mountains out of molehills. We just got so many molehills we don't know what to do. And immediately I look at everybody else's grass and I go, it's because we got that other grass. Well, we got four different kind of grass here. That's what it is. And the curse, the generational curse followed us from our other house to this house. Oh no! And that's a distraction! So instead of looking at all the people out there and getting angry with all the people all the time, how about in here? Isn't that what Jesus is saying at the end of the Sermon on the Mount? That's what he's saying. If false teachers, you know, you're going to be this, and you're going to have this, you're going to be the new Joshua, whatever generation, and you're going to take over for Jesus and all that, and Jesus, alright, alright, alright. There was a King of the Hill episode. So I'm watching it with Louie. Louie's here today. Years ago. And Louie and I used to hang out a little bit, do a little mentoring and all that. And here he is sitting. God bless you. And we were watching it. And it showed this young man, Bobby and his father. And Bobby got involved in this ministry. And they were rocking for Jesus, man! And his dad was like, I don't want you going around. He goes, but Dad, we're doing it for Jesus! And he meant it. Bobby meant it. And then the older man, you know, the older kid said, you know, come on, Mr. Hill, he's rocking for Jesus. And then his dad came up and lifted his shirt and said, what does this say on the back? Honor your father and mother. He said, if Mr. Hill doesn't like it, don't you stand against that. Mr. Hill, I understand you. And he brought him home. And Bobby said, I really was doing this for Jesus. He goes, I believe you. I believe you. But what I want you to do is get that ladder and go up and get these toys up here. What's up there? Oh, this is a little bear or something like that. Remember when he said that? Yeah, I remember that. It was great. It was great. Well, here's this other thing. Oh, remember that little tricycle thing? Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. He goes, I didn't want Jesus to become that. I'm on fire for God on Sunday, and you're living like the devil on Monday. Forget that Sunday afternoon. Forget that as soon as you walk out that door. Forget that when I say something you don't like. I say things I don't like. If I told you what happened yesterday and how this relates to this, I'm not gonna do it. I didn't use the best words, man. But people, you know, they flatter you. And see, they give you a false sense of assurance and they twist verses and make it some kind of empowerment thing. That's not a true teacher building God's faith, people's faith in God and God's Word. It's a false teacher building people's faith in them and their Word. In Acts 20.30 Paul said, and from among your own selves. So people that read the Word of God, people that talk about the Word of God, people that teach the Word of God, will come men speaking twisted things to draw away disciples after them. The false teacher becomes the dispenser of blessings as long as you support them. And these teachers know how to keep people happily on their hook. Hoping their guru's power will rub off on them. I mean these guys, you're going to get your own plane. How many thousands of people are sitting there waiting for 10, 15, 20 years to get their plane? You know what I'm saying? The day of your living paycheck to paycheck is over. If you give me your money, it'll be. No, I'm saying that's what we should say back to the guy. Rush the stage. Oh boy, I'm getting in trouble now. Now he says, as you know. He kept referring to this. You know we did this, you know we did this, but if they're fools, how are they gonna know? Jesus was dancing in front of them saying, I'm the Messiah and you can't get it because God doesn't want you to because you guys are out and these guys are in and they had no clue. They had no clue. But he says, as you know. See, the purpose of flattery is to gain power over people. That's a common tactic among religious charlatans. Paul says, you know we didn't do that because you saw how we were. And God was watching. God is witness. It's good to build other people up in the Lord. You're supposed to. Romans 15 2 says, let each of us please his neighbor for his own good to build him up. Ephesians 4 29 says, let no corrupting talk come out of your mouth. And then the contrast. This goes with it. Don't just stick there. But only such as good for building up as the occasion may fit that it can give grace to those who hear. Build people up. 1 Thessalonians 5.11. Therefore encourage one another and build one another up just as you are doing. Building people up can be through thoughts, words, deeds, prayers. And if you want to avoid speaking flattery, find the good and stick to that. Stick to the truth. Realize that many people can detect flattery right away. Everybody that watched Leave it to Beaver knows Eddie Haskell and knows, as soon as you saw him, you didn't have to wear a sign that said, this guy is a fool, this guy's trying to fool you, this guy's an idiot, this guy is trouble, this guy's going to wind up in some place, jail or hell or both or whatever, unless he turns around. What's that? Yeah. Oh my. Depends on which one you're talking about because Ronald Reagan was a great governor and a great president. But we'll just leave it right there. I like Arnold too. But the fact of the matter is, building people up is a good thing. But a lot of people, they can realize when you're just trying to butter them up. Oh, you look so good. Oh, God bless you. Hey, all right. Offering time. Realize lots of people can just detract flattery off the bat. And God's watching. He hates flattery. Psalm 12, two and three says, everyone utters lies to his neighbors. With flattering lips and a doubtful heart, double heart, they speak. May the Lord cut off all flattering lips. Ask God to help you see flattery from you and then at you, to you. Amen? Ask God to help you process and purify your motives and stop you from taking advantage of vulnerable people. Hello. You know what a bully is? A bully is someone that takes advantage of vulnerable people. They sense someone is weak in their person or their money or whatever. You know, there's a lot of pulpit bullies out there, man. And there's a lot of bullies that are women, and men, boys, and girls, bosses, employees, whomever. Stop taking advantage of vulnerable people, especially when you're in a position of authority. That's called rape, by the way. Doesn't matter if she wants it. She wanted it. Yeah. Some 140... I'm on that today, ain't I? Psalm 141 3 says set a guard O Lord over my mouth keep watch over the door of my lips and it's more than not just saying what you shouldn't say it's a matter of changing how you think because the desire to flatter or be flattered starts in your heart the desire to flatter or be flattered starts in your heart you think I just need to be I'm not appreciated so go with God honey let him help you you're doing it as on to the Lord I need to learn that too. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Did you leave a comment yet? Yeah, come on. Psalm 1914 says, Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, my rock and my Redeemer. You don't need flattery, you need faith. And then it says right here, For we never came with words of flattery, as you know, nor with a pretext for greed. Here's the whole lesson. False teachers want stuff. False teachers want stuff from you. The word pretext here means they hide their real intent, covering their greed with a spiritual cloak. It's so important for you to learn that false teachers use deception, not just bad doctrine. 2 Corinthians 11 verse 13 through 15 says, For such men are false apostles, deceitful workmen, disguising themselves with a red cape and a tail and a fork. No! It's disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. So that means they're talking about Jesus. They might even say some things that are right about Jesus. That, in Acts chapter 16, that one woman that had a demon spirit in her was saying, these are the sons of the Most High God who are leading us to the way of salvation. And after a couple days, Paul was like, he discerned that. He was, no, no, get out of there. Disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. And no wonder, it says, for even Satan disguised himself as an angel of light. They came and there was bright light. Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. So it's no surprise if his servants also disguise themselves as servants of righteousness. Their end will correspond to their deeds. They hide their heart with a veneer of virtue. People say, now here you go. Are you ready? But oh, they do so much good work in the world. So? Am I glad about that? Sure. Can't you see how happy the people are and how they passionately worship God? But they've been led into a ditch. And even the false teachers themselves can be blinded by the devil's light. 2 Timothy 3.13 says, Paul said, I'm not in the ministry for money. In Acts 20.33 he said, And this covetousness, or greed, is about more than money. People can be greedy for glory, for fame, recognition, power, prestige. They want to be an influencer. Oh, no. Position, promotion. They desire that more than they desire God. You've heard these verses before. 1 John 2, 15 and 16. Do not love the world or the things of the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that's in the world, desires of the flesh, desires of the eyes, the pride of life, is not from the Father but from the world. They love the world. It's good to enjoy God's good graces in your life. After all I just said it's not bad to be blessed. Hallelujah. You're being blessed. Amen. And you know it. Thank you Jesus. Nothing wrong with that. Hallelujah. You don't get to because your previous. No. Redemption. You do get to because God says so. It's good to enjoy God's good graces in your life. It isn't bad to be blessed but it isn't It is bad when you make that more than you ought to. Seeking it for bad reasons and it blocks your view of God. See, we're talking about viewing God by viewing your heart so you can view bad. Not that your heart's God, but God shows you your heart and He shows you through what's out there. Not so you can just go, this stinks, this stinks, this stinks. Don't just curse the darkness. Bring the light! And it's got to come to your heart first before it comes out through your life. Otherwise it's just words! Someone said this last week, you know, I really like you because, you know, you're not just telling us, you're living it. I said, sometimes really poorly. And they said, and that's a good example too, because you turn around. It's not that I never fall off the bike. How do you get back up on a bike? Do we understand? Someone say amen. 1 Timothy 6, 17 says, As for the rich in this present age, they're all going to hell. No! It says, charge them not to be haughty, nor to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly provides us everything to enjoy. You've got tons of money, take us out to Sonny's. Can't take us out to Chick-fil-A, it's closed on Sunday. Now, let's get just a tiny bit fancy, just a tiny bit. The same Greek word that 1 Thessalonians 2.5 renders as greed, Colossians 3.5 renders as covetousness. It says, put to death therefore what is earthly in you, sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire. And by the way, if you were thinking of something and you don't do it, that's better that you don't do it. But if you think about it and it would be evil if you did it, then it's evil just to even think about it. But I'll never, you'll never be perfect. That's right, you just come to God with it. I just can't avoid it. Well, you know, you can't avoid God either. Covetousness, which is idolatry, it says. Covetousness is idolatry. It's when you want something someone else has because your pride says you deserve it more than they do. Or any number of other idolatrous thoughts that hide your own heart from you. Now the bottom line about covetousness and greed, which are manifestations of idolatry, is that your heart desires something more than God. And your mind thinks you need certain stuff more than you need truth and godliness. So your thoughts and desires are out of order. And what you need to do is ask God to reveal your heart and change your heart. Anybody with me? We read it this morning, Psalm 139, 23, and 24 says, Search me, O God, know my heart, try me, know my thoughts, see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting. God's always leading you towards Him. So there's always things to work on, not make yourself feel bad about you, make yourself feel good about Him. I did something so stupid yesterday, and right the moment I got the most mad and angry and not godly, that's when the situation came and my wife brought it to me, and it was like, yeah, exactly. And the donkey head suddenly appeared on my head once again. And I thought, why is it always like this? Because God's showing me my own impatience. Which is pride. God I'm serving you, I don't deserve to be felled by an O-ring. I kept making that, me and the tools mom, me and the tools. So what we think is the weapon of the enemy can be a tool of God. And your wife is going to be your greatest sanctification. But also your greatest challenge. Why? Because you're in the pits. You're in the trenches. You are at war. Not with each other. Until you stop learning to be at war with each other. So it worked a different way before. Doesn't have to work that way now. Because now God's at the engine. God's the glue. God's the center. Not just in your life. But your life. And when that happens. But it doesn't mean I don't look stupid sometimes, because I sure do. And it can be the other way around too. Let's finish up here. Live like God is your witness. Imagine you say, God is my witness. That's where we get it from, from the Bible. That's where Paul is the one that initiated that. Live like God is your witness. Is your life a witness to God? Even when no one else is watching? Because only my wife and my mom saw the stupidity that I did yesterday. And we got it fixed, thank goodness, because that would have been terrible. But not everybody gets to say it out in the pulpit. But you go to your wife. You say to God, she didn't even look, and you were mad at her all day, which I wasn't, baby. Why couldn't I have found that myself? The O-ring was just sitting right there. There is no O-ring. I took a picture and sent it to Chris, the plumber. Look, there is nothing there. He goes, there probably should be. I'm like, no way, no way. I'm gonna smash this other house with my rubber hammer. I threw it. It hit me in the head. I got the water all over me and everything like that. My wife goes, I just thought of something. There it is over there by the water heater. Are you witness to God even when no one else is watching? Because God always is. God is witness. Paul was saying that God will hold him accountable if he was lying about his message, his method, or his motives. No matter how hard you try and hide, you can't hide your heart from God. And you can't climb your own way out of your own heart. God has to do that. But you can change your course today. Turn around. God's been waiting for you. Father, I confess I do stupid stuff but I do less stupid stuff than I used to and sometimes I keep doing stupid stuff because it's stuff that I just really haven't brought to you because I don't think I have to deal with it it's just this one time and I'll get better I'll just try harder next time when it comes but it ain't about next time when it comes it's about right now so Lord right now get people to get on their knees and as we take communion to really come to you and know that they can be cleansed. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from this unrighteousness. Let the words of our mouth and the meditation of our heart be acceptable in your sight. Lord, You are our rock. You are our Redeemer. You're the one that's changing the course of our life. It's not about perfection. It's about direction. And we are going the right way. We aren't what we used to be. But we're not what we're going to be. But we... Hallelujah! We're on the way! Keep us, Lord, going the right way, and when we're doing so, let us be big enough and humble enough to admit it! We'll never quit it if we never admit it! Whoo! Hallelujah. Thank you. Praise the Lord Jesus. Amen.