Next on, verses 13 and 14. Matthew's Gospel, chapter 15, verse 1. Then came to Jesus scribes and Pharisees, which were of Jerusalem, saying, Why do thy disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? For they wash not their hands when they eat bread. And he answered and said unto them, Why do ye also transgress the commandment of God by your tradition? For God commanded, saying, honor thy father and thy mother, and he that curseth father and mother, let him die the death. But you say, whosoever shall say to his father or mother, it is a gift, by whatsoever thou mightest be profited by me, and honor not his father or his mother, he shall be free. Thus have you made the commandment of God of none effect by your tradition. You hypocrites, well did Isaias prophesy of you, saying, This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men. And he called the multitude, and said unto them, Hear and understand. Not that which goeth into the mouth defileth a man, but that which cometh out of the mouth, this defileth a man. Then came his disciples and said unto him, knowest thou that the Pharisees were offended after they heard this saying? But he answered and said, every plant which my heavenly father hath not planted shall be rooted up, let them alone. They be blind leaders of the blind, and if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch. So our text is verse 13 and 14, sort of a summation of the events, reaction, and saying of what we read previously. And focusing upon these verses, particularly verse 13, we're going to title the message planted by God, question mark. As a question, not a declaration planted by God, but a question planted by God. The Lord said, every plant which my heavenly father hath not planted shall be rooted up. A very black and white statement. A statement dealing with eternal destiny. So we should take notice of that. The concept of planting of any kind begins in Genesis 1 with creation. There in the first chapter, Here again, like we said in Sunday school, the Lord is the definition for so many of our words, principles, and concepts. They come from the Bible. They come from God. And in the first chapter of Genesis, on the third day, in verse 11, It says, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit, after his kind, whose seed is in itself upon the earth. And it was so. And the earth brought forth grass, herb yielding seed, after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself after his kind. And God saw that it was good in the evening and the morning were the first day. So the first planning of what we know of is vegetation. The Lord didn't plant seeds. The Lord created them. But that was a planning. A planning is an establishment of something. And so the Lord established everything in six days of creation. Everything that is and that is today. And so that was planning but it was a unique planning, wasn't it? Because it came from nothing and it came fully formed, not from a seed, but everything else then would come from the seeds of the plant. So we're introduced to planting right there on the third day of creation. We pursue that thought a little further, and in the second chapter of Genesis, in verse eight, the Bible tells us there that God planted a garden eastward in Eden, and there he put man whom he had formed. So you think about all the vegetation, everything that was created in six days of creation. And then it says, and God planted a garden. So out of things created, God then designated or made a special place within the creation. All right? It's no different than us who farm a little or raise a garden, right? You may have 10 acres, but if you garden, you got one little plot within that 10 acres that you're going to garden. That's your garden, right? So Eden was just such a special place. In fact, I think we would all have to agree, wouldn't we, that it was the most special place within creation at that point in time. So God planted a garden within the creation. It was called Eden. And then God planted the most special creature of creation in the most special place of creation because it says, and he put man in there. You put seed in the ground. We put plants in the ground. And so God put man in the garden. So he planted the garden. And he planted the man in the garden, and the man was there in verse 15 of chapter 2 to dress it and to keep it, the overseer of it. And let me tell you, until Adam and Eve sinned, Adam wasn't out there pulling weeds every day. There were no weeds, there were no thorns, there were no thistles, there were no bugs eating any of it, none of that, no worms in the apples. Alright? He was simply the overseer. Alright? Doesn't imply work as a result of sin yet. So everything of God's planning there in the beginning is a very beautiful picture, isn't it? God's planning. And our text is talking about every plant which my Heavenly Father has not planted. So that's an old ancient concept. However, we know then in chapter 3 along comes the devil right and all the beauty of this creation This special planning of this garden and the special planning of our first parents in the garden became corrupted when Satan the evil one sowed what in the garden the evil seed of sin, right? Very elementary, very basic concept, right? Everything was good God planted, but along comes the evil one and so's the seed of sin in the mind of Eve, which leads to the transgression, disobedience of our first parents, And so our first parents who were planted there, who had the most unique fellowship and communion with God that any humans have ever had, in a purely innocent, sin-free state, then became fallen, degenerate, and corrupt due to that sin. I think I could make a reference here to a parable sort of in the Old Testament of Isaiah chapter 5 concerning Israel. But I'm gonna use it to make the point here concerning Adam and Eve and what has taken place since then. That parable so to speak or analogy there, metaphor, refers to the Lord planting a vineyard and putting grapes in there, a vine, a choice vine. And the Lord, that vine was this, the context of Isaiah 5 is to Israel. And the Lord expected and demanded and rightfully so that there would be grapes. And verse 2 says that the plant that he had planted had become corrupted And instead of grapes in the good sense, it says it brought forth wild grapes. And that's exactly the point I want to make concerning the fall. God's original planet was designed that man would bring forth good things, only good things, in his relationship with God without sin. But sin changed the whole thing. And so the man that was pure went out of Eden, that beautiful garden, a degenerate man, and in spite of being good fruit, he was a wild man in that sense, a sinful man. So, that leaves us after Genesis 3 with this separation between God and man, that what God initially planted became corrupted, And it is displeasing to God, that's why our parents were driven out of the garden where God initially planted them, was because of this corruption. So now, what is going to happen or ensue in order that the wild grape can again be reconciled to please God and bring forth fruit that is pleasing to God? Well, this makes perfect sense to me because my daddy actually did this. There's wild grapes that grow out in the woods in Arkansas. And there's several different types, but there's possum grapes. They're not fit to eat, little old bitty things. But there's a wild grape called muscadines. I've shared that with some of you all in the thought of those muscadines. And they grow out there, and they're very good. But they're wild. They just grow out in the woods. Nobody cultivates them or anything. And if you like them, which if you do, and the jelly, you will, well, it makes you want to cultivate them. So my daddy did just that. He went out and got some of them, brought them to the house. We planted them. And we cultivated them. We watered them, took care of them, pruned them. And man, we got so many more musketimes by domesticating them than they ever would have produced even wild out there. Sometimes they had a good crop out there. Sometimes they may not. We had a good crop every year by domestication. So my point is this. Man is separated from God. He cannot please God. He has lost fellowship with God. He cannot reconcile himself to God. So God is going to have to do what? If there's going to be any reconciliation, God is going to have to take the wild plant and plant it again or like a wild animal, domesticate that which is wild that can again produce or do things to the glory of God. So we're talking about a planning here concerning people, aren't we? And does God do such a thing? Well, of course He does. Have you ever read Genesis chapter 12? Where out of all the wild grapes, peoples of the world living in idolatry, God said to one man, Abram, leave your country, go where I tell you, I've chosen you and I'm going to bless you. That's exactly what I'm talking about. It happened in Genesis 12. It was God's pleasure to choose one man and make a peculiar chosen nation out of him. the Hebrews or the Jewish people. So we're talking about that type of planting where God has to take fallen man and replant in some way, shape or form. So let's follow that for our first point. The metaphor as stated here, every plant which my heavenly father hath not planted shall be rooted up. He's not talking about beets and carrots. He's talking about he's and she's of all nations, tribes, and kindreds that have lived upon the earth. So in both the Old Testament and New Testament, if you follow this concept of planning, you will find, as with Abraham, that God planted a man, made a nation out of that man, planted that nation in a land, et cetera, et cetera, and the same concept carries through into the New Testament, and this is what our Lord's talking about. He's talking about peoples and nations that He sovereignly can plant in a time, a place, generations, determine how long they'll be there, and then root them up. There's been wars ever since man's been on the earth, and nation has rooted up nation, and it's all been in God's providence. But particularly here in our text, The text in the metaphor is referring to salvation, to redemption, to the grace of God, to the salvation of the soul, to the new birth, a new planning, a new creation in Christ. to being brought from the wild into the kingdom, into the household of God, into the vineyard where the people of God serve, all of that follows this concept of planning. You say, I don't know about that. Well, let me show you some scripture to justify what I've just said. In the Old Testament in the book of Isaiah chapter 60, We read these words, and I'm gonna read the last couple of verses of the chapter, verse 21 and 22. Thy people, you got that? Thy people also shall be all righteous. They shall inherit the land forever, the branch of my planting. Got that? The people, the branch of my planting, and then note this. the work of my hands that I may be glorified. And I'll just pause here briefly and make a comment. We were discussing this this week concerning the bounty of meat, but the same thing applies to a garden and the harvest, does it not? There is a feeling of satisfaction and thankfulness, not pride and boasting, but satisfaction that comes when you have taken a seed, planted it in the ground, nurtured that little plant, cultivated that plant, fertilized that plant, watered that plant, do whatever you have to to that plant that it bring forth fruit that satisfies not only your body to its taste but to your soul. It is the branch or the fruit of your planning, your work, your effort, your design, and it takes the work of your hands to bring it to pass, doesn't it? This is what God is saying of His people. It's the work of His. It's not their work. It's His planning. Now, I admit I'd be skeptical, but have you ever seen or heard of a plant or a seed that will plant itself. I mean, man, wouldn't that be something you could just go buy and bring it home and then they'd just trot their self right out of your living room out in the garden and plant their self and take care of it. No, it takes the work of your hands, doesn't it? You determine it's going to be planted. You go get it. You put it in the ground where you want it. So follow that concept of planning. The farmer is the one in charge of all that, right? Or else it's a wild plant. Verse 22, a little one shall become a thousand, a small one a strong nation, the Lord will hasten it in his time. Then we go into a familiar passage in verse 61. The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, and this is prophetic. of Christ, Messiah, right? You can read this same thing in Luke chapter 4 when Christ stood and read from the book of Isaiah as he started his earthly ministry very early on. The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, Christ, because the Lord hath anointed me, Christ, to preach good tidings unto the meek. He hath sent me, Christ, to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, the opening of the prison to them that are bound, to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord and the day of vengeance of our God to comfort all that mourn. This is the gospel. Notice verse 3, To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness, that they might be called people again, the people of God, that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord. that he might be glorified. Going right back to that 60th chapter and verse 21, the branch of my planting, the works of my hands, that I may be glorified. So this is exactly in the same line of thought and context that Christ says here, every plant which my heavenly Father hath not planted shall be rooted up. And we'll get into more of this about the planting in just a moment. Let me draw you another reference quickly, and we need to hurry with this. In Psalms chapter 1, a familiar passage, blessed is a man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful, but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and his law doth him meditate day and night. He shall be like. a tree planted by the rivers of water that bringeth forth his fruit in his season, his leaf also shall not wither, and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper." There again, that is the Lord's replanting, all right? taking fallen man and saving him by his grace, planting him in the church, the water of the word being taught him, and he prospers thereby. People, folks, the Lord's people. The Lord's planning. Have you ever thought of yourself in that way? If you're saved today, you're the Lord's plan. He planted you. He planted the Holy Spirit within you. He brought about the new birth. And as every one of you have heard of me that became a member of this church in some way or shape or form, I said that if the Lord's not planting you here, I don't want you here and you don't need to be here and the church don't need you here. It must be God who plants you, adds you to the membership, the Spirit of God. So again, you learned this even when you became a church member in this regard. So, one other scripture quickly, and this is a very good one or I wouldn't take the time to read it. Jeremiah chapter 7, similar there to Psalm 1. 17th chapter of Jeremiah, verse 7, Blessed is the man, again, that trusteth in the Lord, and whose hope the Lord is, for he shall be as a tree planted by the waters, that spreadeth out her roots by the river, shall not see when the heat cometh, but her leaf shall be green, shall not be careful in the year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding fruit. The metaphor of the Lord's planning is people, it deals with salvation, it deals with planning grace in your heart, deals with planning faith in your heart, salvation, the new birth, bringing you into the kingdom, bringing you into the fold. That's what the Lord's talking about when he talks about those whom the Heavenly Father hath planted. Well, let's go to the negative side of this. As I said in the beginning, in the introduction, the Lord's planning in the beginning was beautiful, wasn't it? Who can imagine the beauty of the new perfect creation? We can't. Nor can we imagine how corrupt it has become when the evil one entered in and corrupted it, right? And so today, as I've preached to you the last several messages, we have the truth of God's word among the plants of the Lord's planting. In the church, the pillar and the ground of the truth is where the truth resides since Christ started his church. Don't go looking for the truth outside of the church. Jesus said that's what the church is. It is the reservoir, the depository of truth, which is a responsibility as well as an honor to all of us who make up the church. Isn't it? But Satan didn't quit at the Garden of Eden, did he? The Lord started his church and Satan had done just what he has always done, sowing seeds of discord, heresy, and lies. And so the devil has his planning, does he not? As He did in the beginning when He sowed air into the mind by lies of Eve and her mind, so He has sowed evil and lies against the truth since Christ established His church. Christ referred to this right here in verse 6. He says, You have made the commandment of God of none effect, and embraced tradition, You're a hypocrite, verse 7, because of doing that. Verse 8, you worship outwardly but not inwardly. Verse 9, it is vain worship because you have substituted the doctrines and commandments of men for the truth of my word. You know who's at the root of all of that? The devil. The devil. He sows lies. He perverts the truth. He makes lies appear to be truth. He sugarcoats things to make it appear what it is not. And a perfect example of this is the parable Christ gave in Matthew 13 concerning the wheat and the tares. You remember that? A man sowed good seed, it brought up wheat. While men slept during the night, the enemy came unknowingly and sowed tares in there. And lo and behold, when they grew up and matured, the servants looked out and said, Master, there's something growing out there with the wheat. We didn't sow that. You didn't sow that. Where did it come from? What did he say? The enemy. The enemy has slipped in here and sowed bad seed in the midst of the good seed. And so it is. We have to accept that, do we not? That where God has sent prophets, there has always been false prophets. Where God's truth goes forward, Satan perverts it and disguises it into lies. And today we have world religions that don't even know how many. I was looking up some information on this, and to show you they don't know, you can read anywhere from 4,000 to 10,000 supposed religions or different beliefs in the world. So that's, I mean, that's a give or take error of 6,000, which is more than the minimum. Nobody has an idea. One thing we know, they're all wrong but one. That we know. Christ taught truth. He gave us this book. I don't know how many books is out there, how many sayings, how many proverbs of all these religions, but I know anything that's opposed to this is wrong. That's the devil's doing. Alright? There's always going to be Judas's in the churches. There's always gonna be false prophets and deceivers and the New Testament writers talk about this, right? So there's the Lord's planning and there's the devil's planning. But the Bible and Christ taught us that there would be a distinction, did he not? Among what he planted and the devil's work, just like in the parable, the wheat and the tares. And he dealt with this in the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew's Gospel, chapter seven. In verse 17 he says, even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit, but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. Every tree that bringeth not good fruit is hewn down and cast into the fire, wherefore by their fruits you shall know them. So Jesus right here in his early teaching, the Sermon on the Mount, made this distinction between that which God plants and that which the devil or man plants. And there is no compromise or intermediate neutral ground between the truth. It's either a good tree or a bad tree. God planted it or the devil planted it. If you planted it, the devil planted it. The devil influence you, okay, if you wanna go that way. But he did say, wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them. So are we to be fruit inspectors? Absolutely. Can we do it 100% accurately? Absolutely not. But if you live long enough, and you're able to pay attention long enough, and you stay in the Word long enough, and you know what to look for and what not to look for, you can be an inspector just like somebody on a meat line, or a fruit line, or any other quality control line. You will learn how to spot the fraud, the defect, etc. Experience and the Word teaches you that. But again, we're not 100%. Over in Matthew's Gospel chapter 12, Verse 33 through 35, we read these words. Again, same line of thought. Either make the tree good and his fruit good, or else make the tree corrupt and his fruit corrupt, for the tree is known by his fruit. And this doesn't mean when it says make that we make it. I mean, if we could do that, we'd make every apple tree we got free of worms, wouldn't we? I mean, we can't get rid of the curse. He's saying here either establish the fact that it's a good tree and therefore it's got good fruit or establish the fact that it's a corrupt tree and it's going to have corrupt fruit. There's no in between. It's one or the other. That's the point. That's what's meant by make it one or the other. It can't be anything else. You're not going to find grapes growing on thistles and you're not going to find briars on fruit trees. That's what he's saying. He tells us here there is a clear distinction between the planting of the Lord and the planting of Satan. The disciples didn't know that for a long time, for three, three and a half years when they were with Jesus, did they? But in the end, it manifested itself that Judas Iscariot was the planting of Satan. Even though Christ chose him, he was the planting of Satan to the other disciples. And through the New Testament, Paul warned a certain people, and James warned a certain people, and Jude warned a certain people. Men of old, corrupt, imposters, frauds, Satan's planning's in your midst. I don't have time to go into it, but it's there. That's the devil's plan. And over time, they manifest themselves. But the whole idea and the distinction is what God has planned is going to bear fruit. That's the bottom line. Read John chapter 15. and that parable about the vine and the branches. And the reason what Christ planted and what God has planted is to bring forth fruit is for two reasons. Number one, to the glory of God. Like your strawberries or your tomatoes or whatever you plant. I mean, some of you brought me some vegetables as we bring each other when they come off like that. When you bring me those vegetables, I see the work of your hands. Say, well, praise God for giving it to you, but it was your hand that did it. It reflects on the gardener. So when we bring forth fruit unto God, it shows that we were planted of God, or we couldn't bring forth good fruit to the glory of God. So ultimately, fruit bearing is about bringing glory to God, and what Satan does, does not bring any glory to God whatsoever, and that's how you distinguish the two. Anything anybody believes, even if they quote the Bible and they don't bring glory to God, it's not true. It's not truth. Truth always brings glory to God. If it's of the devil, uh-uh, wrong design. And the second thing is that we in fruit bearing are to be testifying of the gospel of Jesus Christ to a lost and dying world. In that same Sermon on the Mount, let your light shine before men, your children of light. Let the world see your good works and glorify God which is in heaven. So that is our testimony to the world is fruit bearing which is nothing less than obedience and sanctification. They're different. They live different. They think different. They believe different. They go by what's written in the Bible. That's our light to the world. That's what the commission says, isn't it? You know, the Lord preached the gospel to every creature. We do it by preaching it, by living it, by obeying it. Now Jesus said something very interesting, and I want to insert this right here, in the text that we read in Matthew 15 and 13. The very next verse Jesus said concerning these Pharisees, scribes, He said, let them alone. The disciples say, they got offended at what you said. Most people are offended by Jesus' words. I was at one time. Weren't you? And now we can't get enough of Jesus' words, right? Well, the unbelieving are always offended at His words. Jesus said, let them alone. They be blind leaders of the blind. If the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch. Folks, that again, that's a sad, sad statement. Let them go. It's like the one in the Old Testament that says concerning Ephraim, just let him go. He's joined himself to idols, just let him go. The Lord told Jeremiah not even to pray for some people. He said, don't even waste your time praying for them. Seems hard, don't it? Well, preacher, you just said we're to minister that we are. We are. That's our calling. Well, what in the world does the Lord mean here when He said, just let them alone. They're blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into itch, they're going to perish. Why should we just let them go? And I think he means this. There comes a point with some people where you've got to do just that very thing. And usually, as is the case here, it's with the leaders, the blind leaders, not as much with the blind followers. In world religions and falsehood and denominations and false teachings and all that, these people that start these things, They're evil. They got an evil start. They got an evil agenda. False prophets. You know what Jesus said about false prophets and things? Some of His harshest words against those who would pervert truth to lead others astray. And the blind leaders, the deceivers, are much like Satan himself. They hate the truth. They reject the truth. They don't want nothing but nothing to do with the truth. They don't want God to have the glory. They want the glory. So they reject the truth. They're hardened against the truth. They're deceived and they love to deceive with false doctrine. Folks, they're instruments of Satan. The Lord started his church and the devil started the rest of them. That's all I got to say. That's the way it is. That's it. And those type of people, as the old saying goes, you might as well be beating your head against a tree. And I'm just talking in general here. I'm not saying the Lord can't save them. The Lord can save anybody, but we don't know who He's going to save and who He's done turned out. So we go to every creature. That's our responsibility. But many times you'll find the deceived follower is easier to deal with than the deceived leader in that respect. 1 Timothy 6, I think, kind of speaks to the point that I'm trying to make here. 1 Timothy 6 in verse 3. If any man teach otherwise and consent not to wholesome words, even the words of our Lord Jesus Christ and to the doctrine which is according to the godliness, this is truth, and the gospel of Jesus, he is proud, Knowing nothing, but dotting about questions and strifes of words, whereof cometh envy, strife, railings, evil surmisings, perverse disputings of men of corrupt minds, destitute of the truth, supposing that gain is godliness, from such withdraw thyself. That's what Jesus meant when he said, just let them alone. In other words, don't waste your time with that type of person. If a person doesn't give you an hearing or is open-minded to the word of God or will at least entertain the thought that they could be wrong, you're pretty much wasting your time. They're set in their heresy and truth rejecters. The truth's going to offend them. They're hardened. Just let them go and go to try and find somebody else. that will listen to what you have to say. And it goes back to what Jesus sent the disciples out. What did he say? If any house receive you, go therein. And if anybody rejects you, don't spend any time there. Go find one that'll entertain you and invite you in. That's what he's saying. And that's very sad. But we've got to face the facts. And world religions and false denominations and false churches are just that. They were established by Satan. It's His planting, His seed sowing. There's not truth there. There's heresy there. And they're leading people by the millions straight to hell with the commandments and traditions of men rather than the truth of God's Word. Let's talk in wrapping this up of the judgment. The judgment is the rooting up. Every plant which my heavenly Father hath not planted shall be rooted up. Now again, we've all gardened. Some, right, more than others, and what have you. But we understand what rooted up means. That means pulled up by the roots. I just hate grabbing a weed and it breaking off the top of the ground, don't you? I mean, so much harder to dig it out by the root when the tops broke off. But rooting up, you can plow it up, or you can grab it, or you can get a shovel and dig it up. But what does it mean? Rooting up is exposing the truth exposing error, judging error, condemning error, and destroying it. That's it, right? The wheat and the tares. Something out there don't look right. You go closer inspection, you find, aha, that weed don't belong out here. And so you identified it, you exposed it. How'd you expose it? Well, it's real similar to them soybeans, but It's not the same. It's green, about as tall as they are, but it don't look exactly like they do. And that's the point. I hold soybeans, you know. Man, them weeds could hide in them soybeans. I mean, and it was my job to chop them out of there. Well, that's... The soybean, in that sense, that plant exposed the weed. Why? Because the soybean wasn't a weed. This goes back to John 3, Christ is the light of the world. He came into the world and He stood out like a sore thumb because the world's what? Darkness! And darkness couldn't tolerate the light, so darkness had to put the light out. The truth, just by being present, exposes the weak. You identify, once it's exposed, you identify it. You condemn it as something that wasn't supposed to be there. I didn't plant that weed when we planted them soybeans. Again, wheat and a tear. Somebody else, evil, got this in here. We got to eradicate it and get it out. So down went the hoe and out went the weed. Rooted up. This is always the effect truth has. And you think about this. Truth's the only thing that will do this. You know what will root out a lie? Truth. You know what will root corruption out of you? Truth. I mean, the truth will make you free. You want to call it that? Weed free. You know, like they advertise a lot of products for you. OK, we've got to hurry up here. But again, the more truth, the clearer the truth, the purer the truth, the easier it is to judge, condemn, expose, and destroy that which is evil. And let me just make the point. This is what's been going on in the past, it goes on now, and it's going to go on in the future. The truth of God's prophets of the old exposed the false prophets to be false prophets, did they not? Is that not right? In the showdown at Mount Carmel with Elijah, who was of God and who was not? I mean, one man stood for God and even though he was outnumbered 450 to 1, The multitude was wrong, wasn't he? You see what I'm saying? What exposed the 450 to be wrong? The one man who stood for truth, you see. So there was judgment on Mount Carmel that day, wasn't there? And when false prophets stood up and told kings, do this, do this, and one man, Micaiah, stood up and said, no, that ain't going to happen. This is what's going to happen. I mean, he was the underdog and suffering because he didn't deliver the prophecy everybody wanted to hear. But who was right in the end? and who got exposed to be wrong. You see what I'm saying? So anywhere there's truth, there's judgment of error. Always has been, always will be. If you're still in 1 Timothy, look over Titus chapter 1, verse 9-11. It says there, holding fast the faithful word as he hath been taught, the bishop, the pastor, that he may be able by sound doctrine, sound doctrine, truth, both to exhort and convince the gainsayers. For there are many unruly and vain talkers and deceivers, especially they of the circumcision, whose mouths must be stopped, who subvert, deceive whole houses, teaching things which they ought not for the motive, filthy lucre's sake or money, money or popularity. What roots that out? The faithful word. Sound doctrine. So that's always been the case. That's what will silence the quote-unquote gainsayers. Truth always does it. It amazes me to think about, you know, remember when we preached on Solomon and the Queen, Sheba? She came and asked him hard questions. He answered all her questions to the point she didn't have no more questions. She was literally speechless. And when Christ came, a greater than Solomon was here. He dumbfounded those that heard him. And there's the account, of course, in Matthew chapter 22 when he said, let me ask you all a question. It says, David said unto the Lord, you know, his Lord, my Lord, and that little discussion there, you know, so whose son is he and all of that, you know, and it dumbfounded them. They couldn't answer it. He got them with their own trickery. And it says after that they were very hesitant would not ask him any more questions because he silenced him. You know what? We have the truth in that regard. Well, in final judgment that is coming, there will be a rooting up of proportions that we can't imagine. All right? When Christ, the truth, and the Word, the truth, will expose, judge, and destroy all those who have not been planted by God. What are we talking about? We're talking about false professors. Those who profess to know God, but in works deny Him. Those that have a form of godliness, but are without the power thereof. John the Baptist said this in Matthew 3 and 10. He said, the axe is laid to the root of the tree. And the word laid there means, you know, how you chop an axe. And like I've told you before, anybody that's ever used an axe, a lot of times when you get ready to split a piece of wood or if you're chopping a root on a tree, a lot of times you take that axe and tap down there and just, you may make a mark or you just touch the spot you want to hit. It's just like taking aim with a gun, right? You laid the axe to the root. And then it's just a matter of time till you draw back and with power hit it in that spot, right? So John said the axe is laid to the root of the tree, meaning it is appointed, it is destined that at some point judgment's coming and that axe is coming down on the root and there's going to be a rooting up of you generation of vipers that he was calling them at that time. And just like the tares and the wheat, what is the culmination and summary of that? No, no, let them grow together now. But one day in the harvest, then some of it's going in my barn, and the rest of it's going to be burned, right? That's what we're talking about, the rooting up. And Jesus said again, I'll make this appeal and close. Remember that this rooting up Jesus talked about in the Sermon on the Mount when he said, in that day, There will be those who will say, Lord, Lord, have we not cast out devils in thy name? Have we not prophesied in thy name? Have we not done wonderful works in thy name? And I'll say, I never knew you. You know who they are? They're the devil's planning. They're not the Lord's planning. The wheat will be brought into the barn. But the tares, those who are the deceived, the blind, the disobedient to the gospel, will be gathered up as chaff, as his tares, and burned." We conclude with our title, Planted by God? It deserves your attention. And if you're a child of God and confident of it, it's not going to harm you. It never hurts to re-examine for a child of God does it. You know what it does? Just makes you stronger. Makes you go over the things why you are, how you got to be, why you always will be. If you're planted by God, you're saved by grace through faith. You're saved by Christ and Christ alone. You realize it was God who brought about the new birth. If you think about your planting as being some work of your own, you're in trouble. If you're living by works for salvation, you're in trouble. That's the devil's planning. That's not the teaching of scripture. If you're the product of denominational planning, that's not a good place to be. If you're a product of tradition, not a good place to be. If you're following the commandments of men, not a good place to be. You'll be rooted up in judgment day. The only way you know if you're the Lord's planning, have you obeyed the gospel? Have you repented of your sins and acknowledged Christ as the only Savior? If so, God knows your heart, then you're the Lord's planning. May God bless this word to you.