My text for the sermon this Lord's Day is Micah chapter three, verse five. And just the first part of that verse. Thus sayeth the Lord concerning the prophets. That make my people air. that make my people err. How different is the spirit of this age from the spirit of Scripture when it comes to distinguishing between faithful ministers and unfaithful ministers. The spirit of this age recoils and shrinks from identifying almost any minister as unfaithful. Although we must be ever so cautious, dear ones, ever so cautious not to mark a minister as unfaithful without sufficient testimony, for to do so is indeed a grievous sin. Nevertheless, we must not go to the opposite extreme in refusing to apply the description of unfaithful to a minister when it is necessary to do so. Contrary to the spirit of this age, the spirit of Christ commends the elders of a church that judicially tries and identifies certain men as false or unfaithful ministers based upon their works and based upon their doctrine. For example, the Lord commends those in Revelation 2 from the church of Ephesus. Why does he commend them? What did they do that was worthy of commendation from the Lord Jesus Christ? The Lord says, I know thy works and thy labor and thy patience and how thou canst not bear them which are evil. And thou hast tried them which say they are apostles and are not. and has found them liars. We find as well in the same chapter, in verse six, that the Lord speaks concerning his own hatred of the doctrine of certain sects and groups within the visible church when he says, But thou, this thou hast, that thou hatest the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate." He says concerning the same sect within the visible church, in verse 15, "'So hast thou also them that hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitans, which thing I hate.' And though the Spirit of Christ, dear ones, gives not the keys of the kingdom to individual believers, so as to render ecclesiastical judgment concerning an unfaithful minister, nevertheless, the Spirit of Christ does give to the individual believer, to every believer, the individual right to judge for his own and for his family's spiritual well-being whether a minister is faithful or unfaithful to the doctrine of the Lord Jesus Christ. In 1 John 4, verse 1, for example, the apostle John makes this exceedingly clear. that this is not only our right, but our duty as a Christian, individual Christians. When he says, Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God, because many false prophets are gone out into the world. Not a few, but many. Not just the elders of the church are to make this trial or this test, this is spoken to the beloved church, to the individual members, not to believe every spirit, that is, everyone who claims to speak on behalf of the Spirit of God. We find ourselves today as we approach the second part of this sermon concerning ministers. Last time we were in this text, we considered what the Lord says concerning faithful ministers. Now we proceed to consider what the Lord says through the prophet Micah concerning unfaithful ministers. Whereas Micah used himself as an example of a faithful minister, now we see this Lord's Day that he turns to the false prophets who were living at that time as the embodiment of those who are unfaithful ministers, those false prophets in Jerusalem. And so as we now consider our text, Micah 3.5, We shall observe that it is, in fact, God's revealed will that unfaithful shepherds be marked and identified so that the sheep might flee from them to faithful shepherds. The scripture doesn't take the view that so many do today that it's not kind to mark out false shepherds or unfaithful shepherds. The scripture is very clear that it is our duty, because we love the Lord Jesus Christ and because we love the brethren, to mark out those who are unfaithful. The main points that we shall consider in the sermon this Lord's Day are the following. First, the characteristics of unfaithful ministers. Second, two unfaithful ministers exemplified. Three, implications concerning unfaithful ministers. Let us consider our first point then. the characteristics of unfaithful ministers. Dear ones, if we are to exercise sound and righteous judgment in this all-important matter, we must first know what characterizes an unfaithful minister. We must appeal to the Word of God. We will have no way of being able to know a faithful from an unfaithful minister if we do not appeal to God's Word. And the very first characteristic that we would consider, and this will be the only one that we will be able to cover this Lord's Day, we'll consider two more next Lord's Day, Today, we will cover the first characteristic of an unfaithful minister, and that is this. The unfaithful minister leads God's people into error. Leads God's people into error. Micah says, by the word of the Lord, Micah says, Thus saith the Lord concerning the prophets that make my people err. You see, dear ones, this deplorable characteristic is noted by other Old Testament prophets as well. For example, if you consider the words of Isaiah, the prophet, in chapter 9, verse 16, notice how similar and the same truth is being communicated by him. And remember, Isaiah was a contemporary of Micah as well. Isaiah 9.16 says this, For the leaders of this people cause them to err, and they that are led of them are destroyed. What happens when leaders cause their people to err? The people are destroyed, God says. It's not that people remain neutral. It's that they are destroyed when they sit under the ministry of unfaithful shepherds. They are destroyed. Their knowledge of God is perverted. Likewise, we find the same truth communicated by the prophet Jeremiah in Jeremiah chapter 50, verse 6. Jeremiah says, My people have been lost sheep. Their shepherds have caused them to go astray. They have turned them away on the mountains. They have gone from mountain to hill. They have forgotten their resting place. They have forgotten God, who is their resting place. You see, that is the effect of false doctrine. It causes us to forget who is our resting place. It turns us not to God, but away from the Lord God. The false prophets of Jerusalem, against whom Micah brings his prophecy, professed to worship Jehovah. They claimed to speak in God's name and were within the visible church of that age. That is why these false prophets were so dangerous to the people of God. They had enough of the truth to make their error sound reasonable. Listen to what the Lord says through the prophet Jeremiah concerning these false prophets. Again, turn with me to Jeremiah, but turn with me to chapter 23, verse 32. Jeremiah speaking concerning the false prophets years later, after the ministry of Micah, says this concerning the prophets within Jerusalem. And this is God speaking through Jeremiah. Behold, I am against them that prophesy false dreams, saith the Lord, and do tell them and cause my people to err by their lies and by their lightness. Yet I sent them not, nor commanded them. Therefore, they shall not profit this people at all, saith the Lord. Notice the characteristics of those in this passage who cause the people to err. He says that they cause them to err by their lies. They say that they're speaking on behalf of God, but what they're uttering is really their own mind, their own thoughts. They're not communicating accurately what God has recorded in His Word. He says these prophets are light in their manner. They do not take the word of God seriously. They do not take their office of minister seriously. They're frivolous. And in today's society, we find so often in pulpits throughout the land, throughout the world, a lightness in the pulpit. Where men, claiming to speak on behalf of God, entertain the people of God. Where they count on the applause of men more than they count on the approval of God upon their ministry. A lightness that they run unsent. They come proclaiming a message which God did not send them to proclaim. Dear ones, if there is one characteristic that, above all others, describes the unfaithful minister, it is this first one, that he leads the sheep into scandalous error. For the primary duty of a shepherd, dear ones, in regard to the sheep, is to feed them good food and to protect them from all their enemies. Thus, if the shepherd either feeds the sheep poison so that they become ill, or leaves them in the field to be attacked by wolves. He has gravely, seriously failed in his duty as a shepherd. Likewise, a minister proves to be unfaithful to that office which Christ has ordained when he either teaches what is heretical to his sheep, or allows false teachers to lead the sheep astray without warning them of the impending danger to their own souls. How is that love for the sheep when what comes forth and what is fed to them is not the pure doctrine, the pure worship of God? And when the sheep are allowed to be attacked by the enemy. Now, since we do not assume that a minister, even a faithful minister, is without error in an absolute sense, for no minister upon earth has the mind of God perfectly and absolutely The question must be asked, when does a minister become an unfaithful minister by leading the flock into error? Well, I would submit to you that a minister becomes scandalously unfaithful when he departs from the body of biblical and scriptural truth. contained in faithful confessions, catechisms, and covenants of the Reformed churches. For example, our own Westminster standards. At that point, a minister has introduced heresy of a destructive nature into the church and should be marked out as an unfaithful minister. He has not departed from a private interpretation of the Scripture. He has departed from the acknowledged and established interpretation of doctrine, proclamation of doctrine, as it has been faithfully disseminated by the Church of Jesus Christ for centuries, from the very beginning, the time of the apostles and onward. Allow two of the most godly and learned ministers of the Church of Scotland to explain this view in their own words. First, Mr. Gillespie. Mr. Gillespie defines a heresy as follows. You'll find this in his miscellany questions, page 49. What is a heresy? He says, heresy is a gross and dangerous error voluntarily held and factiously maintained, that means that it divides the congregation, it separates the faithful from the unfaithful within the congregation, factiously maintained by some person or persons within the visible church. Notice, in opposition to some chief or substantial truth or truths. grounded upon and drawn from the Holy Scripture by necessary consequence. Well, since heresy is an opposition maintained against some chief or substantial truth or truths, Again, let us allow Mr. Gillespie to identify for us what he and the other Reformed divines at that time understood as chief or substantial truths. What are that? What are those truths? What is that body of truth that can be called chief or substantial in nature? Mr. Gillespie says, from the Solemnity Questions, pages 47 and 48, but if you understand by fundamental truths all the chief and substantial principles, I do not mean only the first rudiments or ABC of a catechism, which we first of all put to new beginners, but I mean all such truths as are commonly put in the confessions of faith and in the more full and large catechisms of the Reformed churches, for all such truths as all and everyone who lives in a true Christian Reformed church are commanded and required to learn and know. Thus far, the meaning, according to our Reformed forefathers, of substantial and chief truths, and to depart from those is to embrace heresy. In other words, according to Mr. Gillespie, an heretical minister or an unfaithful church is one which has voluntarily departed from the truths commonly contained in our own Westminster standards. That is not to say that unfaithful teachers, pastors, or churches are not faithful in any sense. Nor is it to say that those who are unfaithful in the sense that Mr. Gillespie describes above cannot be Christians. For, as Mr. Gillespie points out in another place, that people, just as they can be guilty of known sin in life, and yet be a Christian, can yet be guilty of known heresy in doctrine, and yet be a Christian. They can build upon the sure foundation wood, hay and stubble. They may not have gold, silver and precious stones in their doctrine, and yet they can be, nevertheless, genuine believers. That's not to excuse the wood hand stubble, because all of it will be burned. They will be tried as fire. The foundation will persevere, will remain, but everything else will be lost in that final day. However, in the present unsettled state of the church in which we now live, where there is neither a national reformed church nor a national reformed confession established by law which can judicially try the various departures from the truth as contained in our reformed standards. We must carry on the work, in the meantime, of testifying against all apostasy and departures from our reformed standards. Testify against and avoid association with ministers and churches that do depart from these truths. We must as well keep those from the communion table who maintain such errors in doctrine, worship, discipline, and government. And we must earnestly pray that Christ would, in his mercy and grace, restore a biblical, covenanted uniformity within his church and within each nation. I would cite one more witness who would also testify to the fact that false teachers were not limited to those who denied the so-called fundamentals of the faith, but rather included those who departed from the established doctrine of truth. Mr. Samuel Rutherford, in his book, Free Disputation Against Pretended Liberty of Conscience, states this. Listen closely to what Mr. Rutherford says. We see no reason why none should be false teachers, but such only as deny fundamentals, and that pertinaciously, that is, obstinately. Though these by divines be called heretics. Romans 16, 17, Paul saith, Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them that cause divisions and offenses contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned, and avoid them. Then, as we are not to distinguish where the law and the word of God does not distinguish, so we are to count them false teachers who lead in a faction in the church. Notice what he says. Contrary to any doctrine of truth, whether fundamental or not fundamental, and to avoid them as seducers. You see, there was all such departures from the truth are scandalous errors. And when such scandalous errors are maintained by ministers or churches, they mark themselves out to be unfaithful and unworthy to be heard as faithful ministers or churches. And this is no different what Mr. Gillespie and what Mr. Rutherford have just said, what you have heard. This is no different than the test which God himself gave to his people of old. by which to evaluate those who claim to be his ministers. How would God's people in the Old Testament and in the New Testament know who were the faithful ministers of God? For there were many, as we already heard from the Apostle John, who have gone out into the world who were false prophets. How were they to know? On what basis were they to evaluate and judge those who were faithful and those who were unfaithful? Well, the Lord says in Deuteronomy chapter 13, verses 1 through 3, to his people of old, If there arise among you a prophet or a dreamer of dreams, and giveth thee a sign or a wonder, and the sign or the wonder come to pass, Whereof he spake unto thee, saying, Let us go after other gods, which thou hast not known, and let us serve them. Thou shalt not hearken unto the words of that prophet or that dreamer of dreams, for the Lord your God proveth you to know whether ye love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul. We might substitute where the Lord says, let us go after other gods. We might substitute in that place, let us go after other doctrines. Let us go after other forms of worship than what God has revealed to us in his word. If a prophet comes saying, this is not correct, this is not accurate, this doctrine which has been revealed, I give you a new doctrine, I give you a new way to worship God. We're worshiping, this prophet says, the one living God. But I give you a new doctrine and a new way to worship Him. Even if he performs a sign or a wonder, the attitude of God's people is, God is testing us to see whether we love Him more than we love the ways of men. Whether we will follow the Lord our God, whether we be so few, whether we be despised, Whether we be misunderstood and scorned and persecuted, we will follow the Lord our God rather than following one who has even a great and mighty following and performs many signs and wonders. There's the test. Will you follow the established truth from the word of God established and given to his church? Or will you be swayed by one who comes and gives another doctrine? And in the New Testament, the similar truth is taught in Romans chapter 16, verse 17. For the apostle Paul, speaks to the Christians there in Rome and says, Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offenses contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned, and avoid them. Withdraw from them. Separate from them. Leave them. contrary to the doctrine which you have learned, contrary to that faithful doctrine which has been passed on to you from Christ to the apostles, to those whom the apostles ordained and has been preserved from that time forward and codified systematically in our creeds and in our confessions. Avoid them, because they do not bring the doctrine which you have learned. You see, dear ones, the Lord has warned us about following the crowd, or following signs, rather than following the pure doctrine of the Word. When He says in Matthew 24, verses 11 and 24, He warns us that in the last days that there will come many false prophets, many who claim to be the prophets of God, and they will deceive and mislead many. We have been warned, dear ones, we ought to be therefore on guard And before the end of the sermon today, we will, by God's grace, provide some means by which we can stand steadfast. This is the first characteristic of an unfaithful minister. As I said, we'll consider the next two characteristics next Lord's Day. But let us move on to the second main point where we find two unfaithful ministers exemplified. Now, you may think I'm going to be pointing to two unfaithful ministers of the past, maybe in biblical times. No, we're going to be considering two present day unfaithful ministers. I would warn you concerning two unfaithful ministers who have a vast following today, perhaps greater than any other within the visible church, within the professing visible church And I derive no great joy from specifically identifying such men, but, dear ones, it becomes necessary when so many are being led away from the pure doctrine and worship of Jesus Christ. Arminianism and doctrine, which is simply a man-centered salvation. And Arminianism and worship, which is a man-centered worship, pervade these two ministers. And thus we must identify and mark them and avoid them. The first minister is Billy Graham. Billy Graham, like no one else within the professing evangelical church, has been used to break down the hedge of sound doctrine so as to make the perversion of the truth an acceptable option, and so as to bring about a perverted unity founded upon gross error. And I would note that Mr. Graham Interestingly enough, is an ardent supporter of that organization called Promise Keepers, whose methods and goals are one and the same with his own. He has consistently invited liberals who deny cardinal doctrines of the faith, like the inspiration of scripture, the doctrine of the Trinity, the doctrine of the virgin birth, to participate in his crusades. to lead in prayer. In fact, Mr. Graham, in his Detroit crusade in 1960, invited Bishop Pike, an arch heretic, to lead in prayer, even though Bishop Pike denied the fundamental doctrines of the faith, like the ones I mentioned just a moment ago. The magazine Christianity Today, of which Mr. Graham sits as chairman of the board, reports in its November 13, 1995 issue that Mr. Graham had attended major assemblies of the World Council of Churches, that most liberal assembly of churches, Christ-denying churches in the entire world. He had been attending these since 1948. and, quote, profess to be thrilled at the whole process of seeing world of churchmen sitting down together, praying together, discussing together. Furthermore, Mr. Graham was quoted as saying in a magazine entitled Protestant Church Life on September 29, 1956. He said, we're coming to New York to clean it not to clean it up, but to get people to dedicate themselves to God and then send them back to their own churches, Catholic, Protestant, remember the kinds of Protestant churches in the World Council of Churches, Protestant or Jewish. To send them back to their Catholic, Jewish or liberal Protestant churches. And finally, if there be any doubt concerning Mr. Graham's seducing doctrine, listen to the glowing approval given by him to the papal antichrist of Rome cited in the January or February 1980 issue of the Saturday Evening Post. He said this. Since his election, Pope John Paul II has emerged as the greatest religious leader of the modern world and one of the greatest moral and spiritual leaders of this century. Mr. Graham certainly qualifies because of his following, because wherever he goes, he is held by so many in high esteem. He deserves to be marked. He deserves to be called a false teacher. And the second and faithful minister that I would warn you concerning today is the ministry of the Pope. of the harlot church of Rome and all her daughter churches that imitate her poisonous doctrine, worship and government. Dear ones, in Second Thessalonians, chapter two, I would have you very quickly turn with me there to note what it says concerning this man of sin. Second Thessalonians, chapter two, verses three through four. The Apostle again warns Christians, let no man deceive you by any means, for that day shall not come. That is, the day of the Lord shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed the son of perdition. who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped, so that he, as God, sitteth in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God. Here is the description of the pope who sits in the temple within the visible church of Christ and takes upon himself titles of deity. He calls himself the head of the church. That is the title that belongs to Christ alone alone. And many other titles and many other things that the pope has said and has done, which point to him replacing and usurping Christ, therefore being called rightfully Antichrist. We notice furthermore in this passage that when this man of sin comes on the scene, that he will delude and deceive many. In verse 9 and following, it says, even him whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power, signs and lying wonders. and with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish, because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion that they should believe a lie." This papal antichrist, this man of sin, God has placed within the professing visible church Again, according to the Lord from Deuteronomy chapter 13, to test his people, to see whether they love him with all of their heart, soul, mind and strength. Beware, dear ones, in these last days, therefore, the miraculous signs and wonders that will be forthcoming, many of which the Romanist Church has already proclaimed throughout history, pointing to itself by these miraculous signs and wonders, that they are, in their opinion, the true Church, that the Pope is the true head of the Church, universal. It has been going on for centuries, but it will increase even in days to come. Beware. For we find in Revelation chapter 13, verses 11 through 15, that this one who is called the false prophet, who is the second beast, that he will perform great and mighty signs and will mislead, it says there, the whole world. Whether that's the whole world of the Western Empire, the Western world, or whether that is the entire whole world, there is differences. There are differences of opinion. But nevertheless, he will mislead the masses of people. By his signs and wonders, many will follow him. Beware. And for that matter, beware of any minister or church which has fallen away from the biblical truth established in our faithful Reformed confessions, catechisms and covenants, who brings signs and wonders. Beware of them all. Times will increasingly, as we gather to the end of this period, there will be increasingly more signs and more wonders. And I warn you again, dear ones, beloved, beware of following the masses of people who hearken into the voice of this false prophet of Rome. It doesn't make any difference whether it is the majority of people. It is a delusion. It is a deception. Beware. My last main point, then, is this, implications concerning unfaithful ministers. First of all, all unfaithful ministers will in some way use, or should I say misuse the word of God to support their error. Do not look to a minister as being faithful because he merely appeals to the word of God. That is not in and of itself the basis upon which a minister is faithful because he appeals to the Word of God. You would not expect any minister within the visible church to do less than to appeal to the Word of God. The question is not whether he appeals to the Word of God, but has he understood and interpreted the Word of God as God, the Spirit, intended? Dear ones, Satan himself appealed to the Word of God in his tempting of Jesus Christ in Matthew 4.6. Paul says that the ministers of Satan appear as angels of light. The false prophet of Rome in Revelation 13 is like a lamb with two horns, but he speaks as a dragon, for it is the dragon who gives him the words to speak. Yes, there will be, dear ones, a measure of truth. that is spoken even by false prophets, there will be an appeal made to the word of God. But it is not on that basis alone that we follow them or hear them. You see, there is actually a greater danger amongst those who appeal to scripture and yet perverted to their own selfish ends. Listen to what the Apostle Peter says in 2 Peter 3.16. 2 Peter 3.16. Where the Apostle speaks concerning the epistles of Paul. And he says, in which are some things hard to understand, which they that are unlearned and unstable rest, as they do also the other scriptures unto their own destruction. In other words, they twist them. They take them out of the context, they take them out of the meaning which God intended, and they form a new meaning for what God had given originally. Beware of those. who rest and twist the scriptures to their own destruction. And so to not interpret the doctrine of Christ and the apostles as the Holy Spirit intended, it is in fact to disobey Christ. It is to be unfaithful. The second implication is this. Unfaithful ministers or unfaithful churches may either actively or passively reject the scriptural truths found in our confessional standards. On the one hand, the truth is actively rejected when a minister or church verbally renounces or attacks it after having heard it presented and defended. For example, when ministers in churches omit or amend the biblical teaching contained within the faithful confessions and catechisms and covenants of their forefathers, they actively reject the truth. On the other hand, the truth is passively rejected when a minister or a church does not necessarily verbally renounce or attack it, but yet continues to practice and teach the contrary error as if the truth had never been presented to him in the first place. For example, when ministers in churches have left the biblical teaching within the confession, unaltered, They have not changed or omitted that which is in the confession of faith, but yet they uphold contrary practices. They passively reject the truth, which they affirm by leaving in their confession or catechisms. And again, I submit to you that a passive rejection of the truth is far more subtle and therefore far more dangerous. The third implication is this, that believers are commanded to withdraw from the ministry of all such unfaithful ministries and churches. They are to withdraw. They are not to continue to sit under the teaching of those who have rejected the truth. Proverbs 19 Verse 27, the Lord God says through Solomon, cease my son to hear the instruction that causes to err from the words of knowledge. Stop listening to it. Stop attending upon the ministry of those who profess to be ministers, but lead you into error. Do not sit there. Do not attend upon them. Do not support them, whether they preach on the Lord's Day, whether it's a midweek Bible study, whether it's at a wedding or a funeral. Whenever they sit as the official minister, or in their official capacity as a minister, do not attend upon them. Do not heed and give your attention to them. Furthermore, in Proverbs 14, verse 7, we find the same truth presented by Solomon. Go from the presence of a foolish man when thou perceivest not in him the lips of knowledge. Go from him. Leave him. And then finally, in the New Testament, in 1 Timothy, chapter 6, the Lord says to the apostle Paul, 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 godliness," skip down to verse five, the very end, "...from such withdraw thyself." Those who do not bring a form of sound words, sound doctrine, who lead you astray from the truth, from the words of Christ. Avoid them. Withdraw from them. The Lord's word to us. Listen, dear ones, to the words of James Rennick, that faithful minister and martyr for the covenanted cause of Christ. who defends the right and duty of individual believers to withdraw from unfaithful ministers. Listen to what he says. He says, if this right of private judgment belongs not to the people, That is, the judgment whether to attend and sit under the ministry of a minister. If the individual Christian does not have that right, and yea, even that duty to do so, they have nothing, he says, but blind, implicit faith. And what better are they than papists who must believe as the Church believes? Yea, hath not every Christian a judgment of discretion, even in reference to actions of others? But some I know say, listen closely, that withdrawing from a scandalous person is a censuring of a scandalous person, and to withdraw from a scandalous minister is to depose him and make him no minister. Timini said, if you do not attend to the ministry of a minister, you have, by your own action, exercised an ecclesiastical judgment as if you were a church court, and you've deposed him. Rennick says, no, that's not the case. He recognizes that individual Christians do not have the authority, they do not have the keys of the kingdom to depose a minister. That is something that only a church court can do, but, he answers the objection, but this I deny. For simple withdrawing is not the inflicting of a censure, but only the believers testifying their sense that a censure should be inflicted to wit by such as are competent. And this is warranted by scripture. And he cites Romans 16, 17, Ephesians 5, 11, and 2 Thessalonians 3, 14, and he says, many such like places. And Rennick, in the same section, just quoted, then cites Samuel Rutherford, from his peaceable paper, calls Presbytery to the same effect. Rutherford says, as quoted or cited by Rinnick, any private person may take that care for the safety of their souls that they may do for the safety of their bodies. Now, I say private separation from scandalous persons is not depriving, that is, deposing of them if they be pastors, nor excommunicating of them if they be professors, that is, professing Christians. For the latter, that is, deposing a minister or excommunicating a member, Rutherford says, is an act of authority belonging to those to whom Christ hath given the keys. Listen. But the former, that is, a withdrawal or separation from an unfaithful minister, is an act natural belonging to every believer. And lastly, the last implication, perhaps the saddest thing about the ministry of unfaithful ministers, dear ones, is that the professing people of God love it that way. The saddest thing about the situation in which we now live is that the professing people of God want it that way. Jeremiah says concerning the people of God in Jeremiah 5.31. The prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests bear rule by their means, and my people love to have it so. And what will ye do in the end thereof? My people love to have it so. That's because, as Paul says in 2 Timothy 4.3, people want to have their ears tickled. They have itching ears, and they draw unto them ministers who will tell them what they want to hear, rather than having ministers who will declare to them the word of God. My people love it so. to the people of God. Calvin notes in his commentary on Micah, he says, No one is ever deceived except through his own will. That's a statement to record. No one is ever deceived except through his own will. Well, how will you keep yourself then from deception? How will you keep yourself from delusion? Since it is all around us, since there are so many ministers vying to be heard today, how will you distinguish? Let me give you four very, very brief points. First of all, embrace Christ freely offered to you in the gospel. Depart from your own works of righteousness, your own doctrine, your own way of worshipping God, and embrace Jesus Christ alone, and His faithfulness, and His obedience, and His truth. Second of all, pray that God will cultivate within you all of His religious affections, that He will cultivate within you a love for the truth, that he will cultivate within you, yea, even a hungering and thirsting for the truth, that he will cultivate within you a humility and not an arrogance nor a pride, that he will cultivate within you a love for holiness and righteousness, that you will know what true communion with Christ is, not simply union with Jesus Christ, but that you will live to enjoy Jesus Christ in daily prayer and communication with Him. For the Lord said in John chapter 10, verse 4, that His sheep know His voice. How can you possibly know the voice of the Lord your God unless you enjoy communion with Him? Thirdly, the way we avoid deception and delusion is to prove all things by the scripture. You must be a Berean according to Acts chapter 17, verse 11. You must try everything according to the touchstone of God's word. You must cause every single thing that comes out of my mouth and any other minister that you may hear to be evaluated according to the word of God. You must not be deceived and deluded by how something is presented, how great a following that a man has, how many signs and wonders and miracles he may perform, but does he speak according to the word of God and does his life and practice demonstrate the doctrine of godliness? And finally, If you would not be deceived, dear ones, you must walk in the light and hold fast to that which you have already attained. For as you walk in the light which God has already given you, you shall gain more light. For the Lord says through the psalmist, In Psalm 36, 9, in thy light shall we see light. As we respond, therefore, to the light which God has already given to us, and as we're obedient, and as we love it and cherish it, and as we will not be budged from that light and understanding, so God, in his grace and mercy, will give us greater light and understanding. For this is what the Lord said in John 7, 17. If you want to know how you can know whether a doctrine is from man or from God, the Lord says, if any man will do his will, he shall know the doctrine, whether it's from God or from man. It doesn't say, the Lord does not say, if any man wants to know his will, but he says, if any man will do his will. Why should the Lord give to us more light and understanding concerning his revealed will, concerning his doctrine, if we're not presently obeying what we already know to be his will? In his light we shall see light. Walk in that light, dear ones. Please stand with me in prayer. Our gracious God, Thou has challenged us afresh and anew this day to not give heed to the mere words of the man who stands in the pulpit, but, O Lord our God, to give heed to those words which are according to Thy word. We ask our Father that Thou would give us eyes to see and ears to hear, but Thou to say to the church that we would not be misled by false teachers, by unfaithful ministers. We ask our Father that thou would give to thy church at large a desire not to have it so, not to love to be deceived or deluded, not a love for a comfortable Christianity that conforms to their itching ears, O Father, but rather to have, the pure word of Christ proclaimed so that we might love it and follow thee all the days of our life. Oh, Father, we pray that thou would awaken thy church to the deception that abounds, that thou would keep us from pride and arrogance, that thou would cause us to wait upon thee and to be faithful no matter what comes our way. We ask all of these things in the name of Christ. Amen. This Reformation audio track is a production of Stillwaters Revival Books. You are welcome to make copies and give them to those in need. SWRB makes thousands of classic Reformation resources available, free and for sale, in audio, video, and printed formats. It is likely that the sermon or book that you just listened to is also available on cassette or video, or as a printed book or booklet. Our many free resources, as well as our complete mail-order catalog, containing thousands of classic and contemporary Puritan and Reform books, tapes, and videos, at great discounts, is on the web at www.swrb.com. We can also be reached by email at swrb at swrb.com. by phone at 780-450-3730, by fax at 780-468-1096, or by mail at 4710-37A Avenue, Edmonton, that's E-D-M-O-N-T-O-N, Alberta, abbreviated capital A, capital B, Canada, T-6-L-3-T-5. You may also request a free printed catalog And remember that John Calvin, in defending the Reformation's regulative principle of worship, or what is sometimes called the scriptural law of worship, commenting on the words of God, which I commanded them not, neither came into my heart, from his commentary on Jeremiah 7.31, writes, God here cuts off from men every occasion for making evasions, since he condemns by this one phrase, I have not commanded them, whatever the Jews devised. There is then no other argument needed to condemn superstitions than that they are not commanded by God. For when men allow themselves to worship God according to their own fancies, and attend not to His commands, they pervert true religion. And if this principle was adopted by the Papists, all those fictitious modes of worship in which they absurdly exercise themselves would fall to the ground. It is indeed a horrible thing for the Papists to seek to discharge their duties towards God by performing their own superstitions. There is an immense number of them, as it is well known, and as it manifestly appears. Were they to admit this principle, that we cannot rightly worship God except by obeying His word, they would be delivered from their deep abyss of error. The Prophet's words, then, are very important. When he says that God had commanded no such thing, and that it never came to his mind, as though he had said that men assume too much wisdom when they devise what he never required, nay, what he never knew.