This morning's message comes from 1 Corinthians, chapter 15, verses 29 to 34. And the title for the message this morning is, Walk with the Wise to Become Wise. From 1 Corinthians, chapter 15, verses 29 to 34. And the Word of God says this to us this morning. Otherwise, what do people mean by being baptized on behalf of the dead? The dead are not raised at all. Why are people baptized on their behalf? Why are we in danger every hour? I protest, brothers, by my pride in you, which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord. I die every day. What do I gain, if humanly speaking? I fought with beasts at Ephesus. If the dead are not raised, let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die. Do not be deceived. Bad company ruins good morals. Wake up from your drunken stupor, as is right, and do not go on sinning. For some have no knowledge of God. I say this to your shame. Join me in prayer once again. Heavenly Father, Lord, we pray that as we walk through this passage of Scripture, Lord, we pray that you would take hold of our mind, that you would take hold of our attention, Lord, that you would help us to rightly understand your word and to understand the message of your servant and apostle, Paul, Lord. Above all, Lord God, we pray that by your Holy Spirit, you would enable us to apply the truth of your word to our lives, that we would receive the strong warning that Paul gave to the church at Corinth 2,000 years ago. Lord, we pray that we would receive that warning as well, for it applies to us today just as much, maybe more, as it applied to the church in Corinth 2,000 years ago. Father, we pray all these things in Christ's name. Amen. The Bible is full of warnings, strong warnings about listening to the wrong people, about being influenced by the wrong individuals, about lending your ear to those who would steer you down the wrong path. And it's full of examples. It's full of examples from beginning to end of people who have just, who have done just that to their harm and to their detriment and to the detriment of others, beginning with Adam, right? Starts at the very beginning. When we read the story of the fall, I have always found it interesting to compare just how God begins His pronouncement of curses upon the serpent, and then upon the woman, and then upon the man. The way He begins those pronouncements, I think, is quite telling. For example, he says to the serpent, he begins, these are the words that he begins to say to the serpent. The very first thing God says to the serpent is, because you have done this. It's the first thing he says to the serpent. Because you have done this, because you have committed this act. And then he pronounces a cursing upon them. But to the woman, He gets right to the point in Genesis 3 16 and the very first words that God says to the woman is quote to the woman. He said I will surely multiply your pain in childbearing Etc. Etc. But to the man God begins by saying this is how God begins. This is the first words that God says to Adam because you have listened to the voice of your That's significant. It's telling when you stop and think about it that God doesn't start by saying, because you disobeyed my command. He doesn't start by saying, because you reached out to the tree of the knowledge of good and evil of which I forbade you to take from. Rather, he starts by saying, because you listened to the voice of your wife. Sin and destruction and misery and death will now plague every single human being that will live after you. Talk about a monumental error. But it's not just Adam. Remember Abraham listening to Sarah And upon her advice, taking Hagar to be his concubine and to produce the son of promise as if God was incapable of doing that on his own. What a disaster that turned out to be, right? Or how about Aaron listening to the voice of the people while Moses is up on Mount Sinai receiving the law from God The people say to Aaron, you know, Aaron, we need a God to worship, one that we can see, one that we can touch and feel and knock on. And Aaron thinks, well, okay, why not? You want a God? I'll make for you a God. What about the prophet from Judah? In 1 Kings chapter 13, some of you might remember this story, whom God commands to go and to rebuke Jeroboam for his sinfulness. This is right after the nation has been divided and Jeroboam is going to rule in the north and Rehoboam, the son of Solomon will rule in the south. And God tells this prophet who is not named, he's simply a prophet, a young prophet from Judah to go and to rebuke Jeroboam. And then he specifically tells this prophet that after you have rebuked him, You are to not eat anything. You are to not drink anything. And you are not to return home from the same way that you traveled there. So he goes and he rebukes Jeroboam. And then he departs. And we're told in the story that an old prophet from Bethel catches wind of this. And he goes and he finds that young prophet and he says to him, he invites him to come to his home and to eat and drink. And he says, no, God told me not to eat or drink anything on my journey. And that older prophet says, yes, but I too am a prophet of God. And God has spoken to me and he's told me to come and tell you and to invite you to come into my home and to eat and to drink with me. Apparently that younger prophet had no trouble with the idea that God would contradict himself. And so he goes with the older prophet. And if you're familiar with the story, you know how it ends. He was eaten by lions. In 2 Timothy chapter 3, Paul warns the young pastor, quote, that in the last days there will come those who creep into households and capture weak women, burdened with sins and led astray by various passions, always learning and never able to arrive at a knowledge of the truth. Today, these people still creep into households via the internet, via podcasts, via social media, via television, via movies, and all sorts of different ways. All of these have the potential to corrupt our minds and to lead us down the wrong path. That's why in my prayer I said that we may need this warning even more so than the church in Corinth. Because, you know, the church in Corinth, they were limited to what they could hear at earshot within the city. We now live in a time where we are inundated with information from every corners of the globe. Most of it is garbage. To be sure that Timothy gets his point. The Apostle Paul then says to this young pastor who is pastoring the church in Ephesus, in the very next chapter, he says to Timothy, quote, the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching. Having 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. and wander off into myths, following lies. This is exactly Paul's concern in this passage that we're looking at this morning. This is what he is dealing with in this text. You see, apparently the Christians in Corinth have been listening to the wrong people. Paul laid a foundation, surely Paul laid a foundation for them of sound theology when he planted the church. He gave them sound doctrine to follow. He had placed them on the right track and yet somehow they veered off course from what Paul had taught them. This apparently was a problem that Paul was constantly dealing with in the New Testament era. If you're familiar with the book of Galatians, you'll recall that there at the beginning of that book in Galatians chapter one, verse six, Paul says this, I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting him who called you. I am astonished that you are so quickly abandoning the gospel of Jesus Christ, abandoning the core, the very heart of the gospel, which is the doctrine of justification by faith alone. Because if we're correct in our understanding of the timeline of Paul's ministry, Galatia was one of the first churches that Paul planted, and he wrote the book of Galatians, he wrote that letter to that church only a few years, maybe three to five years after planting that church. Within three to five years, they are denying that salvation is by faith alone, and they are bringing themselves back under the law. The point is that as Christians, we must be careful. We must be extremely careful about what we read, about what we listen to, and about who we watch. We must be careful about the friends we gather around us and the people we allow to be an influence in our lives. Husbands need to be careful about just wanting to make their wives happy and keep peace in the home. Whatever you say, dear, we'll just do it your way. Wives need to be careful about too easily disregarding their husband's counsel. Who are you to tell me how to live the Christian life? This is at the heart of what Paul is getting at here. He doesn't state it until the end, until the end of this section, but his concern is that the church in Corinth has been listening to the wrong people. Where are they getting this from? Paul wants to draw their attention to this. However, before he gets there, he starts with three lines of questioning, which are designed to point out the inconsistency between what they profess to believe and how they live. Three lines of questioning. In other words, Paul wants to get them to understand that how you live and what you say that you believe are logical contradictions. There are logical contradictions. And so there's really three questions he fires at them, and the first is in verse 29. He says there in verse 29, otherwise, what do people mean by being baptized on behalf of the dead? If the dead are not raised at all, why are people baptized on their behalf? Now, at first reading, this is one of those verses that make a lot of Christians uncomfortable. This is one of those passages that a lot of preachers would just skip right over. We'll just bypass this altogether. What in the world does Paul mean by this? Is Paul condoning this? Is this something that New Testament churches practice, baptizing each other on behalf of the dead? I mean, what is going on here? It's a difficult and obscure verse for us to wrestle with. And it's this kind of verse that has led false religions who claim to be Christian religions to baptize people on behalf of the dead. And most of you know who I'm talking about. I'm talking about the Mormons, the Church of Latter-day Saints. Of course, this largely has to do with their misunderstanding of baptism. But even more so, it largely has to do with their misunderstanding of the gospel. Right? They completely get the gospel wrong. They completely misunderstand how a person comes to be justified in the eyes of a just and holy God. For instance, on their official Website they state that quote Jesus Christ taught that baptism is Essential to the salvation of all who have lived on earth close quote Jesus never taught that Jesus never once said anything that was even remotely close to that and in fact all of his clearest statements on salvation would say the exact opposite and They cite John 3, 5 as their proof text, where Jesus says that a person must be born of water and the spirit in order to enter the kingdom of heaven. But the problem is that there is a lot of debate on what Jesus means by water. Within evangelicalism, we all agree on what he means by born of the Spirit, but within conservative, orthodox, historical evangelicalism, there is debate as to what he means by water and the Spirit. What does he mean by water? So that is not a clear text. And we should always interpret the less clear passages of scripture, the less clear text, in light of the clearer text, right? That is an important rule of hermeneutic. That is an important rule of biblical interpretation. We interpret the less clear text in light of the clearer ones. So here's a clear text for you. John 3, 16, For God so loved the world, He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. Jesus could not have been more clearer. Whoever believes in Him will not perish. Belief Equals eternal life. He could not have been more clearer than that or John 5 24 Jesus says whoever hears my words and believes in him who sent me has eternal life He does not pass into judgment, but passes from death to life hearing and Believing is what Jesus says equals eternal life. I'll say that again John 5 24 Jesus said he who hears my words is Believes in him who sent me has eternal life. That is a clear text But never mind that They go on to say that because God, quote, is a loving God, the Lord does not damn those people who, through no fault of their own, never had the opportunity for baptism. He has therefore authorized baptisms to be performed proxy by proxy for them." They begin to develop an entire theology of baptism based on this obscure passage in 1 Corinthians chapter 15. But then they say that baptism by proxy does not automatically save a deceased sinner. I thought that was odd. They say, quote, the validity of a proxy baptism depends on the deceased person accepting it and choosing to accept and follow the Savior while residing in the spirit world. Close quote. So the dead person somehow knows that somebody was baptized on their behalf and they have the choice. They have the choice to either accept the baptism and be sprung from hell and go to heaven or to reject the baptism and remain in hell. Sounds like a no brainer to me. In light of that truth, it seems to me that why don't Mormons just get baptized for every person on the face of the planet who has ever lived and will ever live out of mere Christian charity? Reminds me of the words of Martin Luther when he criticized Pope Leo X. He said, if the Pope can spring a soul out of purgatory for dropping a certain amount of money into the coffer, why doesn't he just empty purgatory out of pure Christian charity? Why do we have to give anything? Why don't they just get baptized for everybody? Then they wouldn't have to knock on doors. They then conclude by saying the New Testament indicates that baptism, so this is a quote, quote, the New Testament indicates that baptisms for the dead were done during the time of the Apostle Paul. This ordinance was restored with the establishment of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, close quote. I'll reword that and say, this false doctrine and damnable heresy was restored with the establishment of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. They build an entire theology based on this very obscure verse. Because here are some important things that need to be understood when we wrestle with a verse like verse 29. Number one, Paul here neither commands nor condones baptism for the dead. He neither commands it nor is he condoning it. He's simply asking a question. He's asking a question about their practice. Why are they doing this? Secondly, nowhere in the entire Bible, nowhere in the entire Bible do we find the practice of being baptized for the dead either commanded, condoned, or even practiced. There is no other text that you can go to anywhere else in the Old or the New Testament. Third, Nowhere do we find the practice of being baptized for the dead taught or commanded or practiced or even given as an example anywhere in extra biblical literature. In other words, historians have not found this anywhere else, even outside of the Bible. Now, we find pagans practicing certain pagan rituals on behalf of the dead, but not baptism. There is no example of it anywhere at all. Thus, there are no historical records even help us shed light on verse 29 and Fourthly it is always dangerous. It is always dangerous to build one's theology based on obscure and difficult to understand passages from the Bible Even worse to build an entire theology upon it So then what is happening here in this verse? Well, apparently the Christians in Corinth were baptizing each other on behalf of the dead, right? That much is clear, right? This is what they were doing. However, why they were doing it or how this got started is a mystery. It's a mystery not only to us, apparently it's a mystery to Paul. because Paul certainly did not command it. What is clear is the point that Paul is making to them. And that is this, if there is no future bodily resurrection, if there is, if this life, if this life is all there is, then why bother to be baptized on behalf of the dead? If there is no future bodily resurrection. Now, one might argue, well, maybe they were being baptized on behalf of the souls who are dead, but that doesn't make any sense, even in light of Greek culture, because even the Greeks believed that all people who died, their souls lived on in the afterlife in some place. Even the Greeks believed that. What distinguishes Christianity from all other religions of the world, at least at that time, is that salvation is not complete until our bodies are reunited with our souls. That is when our salvation is complete. And if that is never going to happen, if there is no future bodily resurrection, Paul is arguing, why are you people being baptized on behalf of the dead? He's simply turning their ridiculous practice back on themselves and saying what you do doesn't make any sense If there is no future bodily resurrection Thus Paul is pointing out the inconsistency of their behavior that their behavior does not match what they profess to believe They're not being consistent But before we are too quick to condemn and judge the Christians in Corinth, let's not forget that many Christians today do the same thing all the time. We are inconsistent in what we profess to believe and in how we live. For example, abortion is murder. until a person's 13-year-old daughter comes home pregnant. And then, well, maybe it's not murder after all. I am pro capital punishment based on Genesis chapter 9, Romans 13, until their son is convicted of a capital offense. And then maybe I'm not so capital punishment. Marriage is between one man and one woman. believe that, withstand for until their gay son or daughter invites them to their gay marriage. And then they are so concerned about offending and alienating their children that maybe I don't really believe what I profess to believe. Or here's my favorite, God is the greatest joy and delight of my life. And yet so many Christians spend the vast majority of their spare time delighting in everything but God. Delighting in the things of the world, spending their time in the things of the world. I've got free time, what am I gonna do with it? Pray, read the Bible, read a book on theology, learn about God, or go fishing, or watch my favorite prime television series or Netflix series or whatever the case may be. God is my greatest joy and delight. Do you really believe that? And are you really living that? Far too often what we say and how we live, how we spend our time simply do not match. They just don't match. The second question that Paul poses to them to point out not necessarily the inconsistency of the Corinthians, but rather the implied inconsistency of Paul and the other apostles. Notice what he says in verses 31 and 32. Why are we in danger every hour? I protest, brothers, by my pride in you, which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord. I die every day. What do I gain if, humanly speaking, I fought with beasts at Ephesus? In other words, if there is no bodily resurrection, Paul says, why am I risking my life? Why are the other apostles risking their lives? What is the point of all of this? if there is no bodily resurrection. When Paul talks about battling beasts in Ephesus, he is likely referring to the riot that is recorded in Acts chapter 19. There, if you'll remember, there is a silversmith by the name of Demetrius who made silver shrines for the goddess Artemis, right? Well, then Paul comes in, stirring up everything with the gospel. There's only one God, which means this goddess Artemis doesn't even exist. And so this blacksmith, Demetrius, gathers up a whole lot of other blacksmiths and they basically stir up the entire town and a riot begins to start because he's going to drive them out of business. He's going to ruin the economy. It becomes so dangerous that they go into this giant theater, this amphitheater. Paul attempts to go in there to try to calm them or to explain the gospel further, to interact with the crowd. And we're told that the disciples did not let him go in for fear that he would be killed, that he'd be torn apart. Finally, there was a individual by the name of Alexander who is able to go in and he attempts to calm them down. But then once they find out that he is Jewish, we're told that they began to shout, great is Artemis of the Ephesians for about two hours. Hence the beginning of cancel culture. They were just gonna shut him down by their screaming. They don't care what he had to say. We're just gonna yell for two hours to shut this guy up. Finally, There is a clerk, the town clerk is able to calm them down and disperse the crowd by saying to them, men of Ephesus, who is there who does not know that the city of Ephesians is temple keeper of the great Artemis and of the sacred stone that fell from the sky, probably a meteorite. Seeing then that these things cannot be denied, you ought to be quiet and do nothing rash, for you have brought these men here, who are neither sacrilegious nor blasphemers of our goddess. If therefore Demetrius and the craftsmen with him have a complaint against anyone, the courts are open, and there are procounsels. let them bring charges against one another, but if you seek anything further, it shall be settled in the regular assembly. For we really are in danger of being charged with rioting today, since there is no cause that we can give to justify this commotion." In other words, if we keep this up, we're going to get the attention of the Roman army. And you know what's going to happen once they find out what we're doing. So at that point, everybody calms down. They don't want the Roman soldiers to come in with their swords drawn and to enforce a peace. In the end, that would have been a very hairy situation for Paul that Paul mentions. One of many that Paul found himself in. Paul, I mean, we'll see at the end. Well, if you go to the end of 2 Corinthians, he gives us a whole list of things that he's been through. He's been flogged multiple times. He's been stoned multiple times. He's been beaten with rods multiple times. He's been shipwrecked. He's gone hungry. He's gone thirsty. Why go through all of that? Why risk his life if there is no future bodily resurrection? So again, Paul is pointing out the inconsistencies of Christian behavior and what we profess to believe if there is no bodily resurrection. The point that should not be lost on us is that as Christians, we live, we live in a fallen watching world. And it is imperative that we live out consistently what we profess to believe. Because if we are not living out consistently what we profess to believe, Whether we are talking about, it doesn't matter what aspect of life we are talking about, whether we are talking about corporate worship, whether we are talking about our work ethic on the job, whether we are talking about our marriage, the way our marriage functions, the way it works, whether we're talking about our parenting, whether we're talking about our political positions, if we do not live out what we consistently profess to believe, Well, the world has a word for that. It starts with an H. And when the world labels us as such, then why should they believe anything we say? Because our actions demonstrate that we don't even believe what we say if we are not going to consistently live out the truths that we profess. The third question that he poses to the church in Corinth, which is really an implied question that is embedded within the second question, it's an implied question, and it's embedded within the second question, is this, if there is no resurrection of the dead, then why forego the pleasures of this life? Why forego the pleasures that this world has to offer? Notice the second half of verse 32. If the dead are not raised, let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die. Here, Paul is citing from Isaiah 22, verse 13, which is a part of a larger oracle where God is condemning. He is pronouncing a judgment upon the people of Israel because of their rampant sin and rebelliousness. He is encouraging them to repent of their sins, to turn from God, And Isaiah in Isaiah 22 verse 13, actually verse 12 and 13, Isaiah is shocked by their response. Rather than repent in sackcloth and ashes, rather than turn to God in confession, they go on basically saying, well, if that's what's going to happen, then we might as well eat and drink and be married for tomorrow we die. I mean, if God's going to punish us, then what's the point? And Isaiah is simply shocked by all of that. And so Paul is saying just that. If there is no resurrection, we might as well eat and drink for tomorrow we die. You know, this is essentially what he said back in verse 19. Remember back in verse 19 when we covered that? He says there, if in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people the most to be pitied. We are. If there is no, if Christ has not been raised, then the dead will not be raised. And if Christ has not been raised, if he is still dead in the grave, then he's nothing more than another man. He's just a mere human. And we are fools to commit our lives to Him. And it simply will not do, because I've heard Christians say this, it simply will not do to say, well, at the end of it all, in the next life, if I come to find out that Christianity wasn't true, that Jesus really wasn't true, well, at least I will have the satisfaction of knowing that I've lived a good and moral life. Rubbish. What a bunch of crock. Because if this book is not true, if Christ is not who he claimed to be, then we are missing out on all of the physical pleasures the world has to offer. Because it simply doesn't matter how we live. If this life is all there is, it doesn't matter. There's no God. Paul is being a realist. We, of all people, are the most to be pitied. And he says that because in his day and age, when he looked out at the Roman pantheon and the Roman belief system, and he looked out at the Greek pantheon and the Greek belief system, within their beliefs, within their theology of their gods, their pantheistic theology, they didn't sacrifice any of the pleasures of this world. Paul said, of all people, We are the most to be pitied if there is no bodily resurrection and if Christ has not been raised from the dead. Because in the end, it means we have no idea what happens after death. We have no idea. If Christianity is not true, if the Bible is not true, then what religion is true? None of them make any sense. Even from a logical, a purely secular logical standpoint, no other religion makes any sense. You take Islam, for example, the fastest growing religion in the world. I have no idea why. Well, actually I do. I have theories. But started by who? by one man who claimed that God appeared to him in a cave by himself. He comes out, tells his friends and neighbor, God spoke to me. This is what he said. Can you offer any proof? No, you just have to believe me. Okay, we'll believe you and we'll commit our lives to whatever you say. How absurd is that? He offered no proof, no evidence, performed no miracles. The Quran never says he performed a miracle. He never claimed to perform a miracle. He died and he stayed dead. And yet millions of people commit their lives to something that one man simply said was true. I'm not going to do that. Every other religion is built the same way. Confucianism, Hinduism, Mormonism. If Christ has not been raised from the dead, then there is no God. We have no idea what happens after death. So now Paul gets to the main point. Verses 32 and 33, he says, do not be deceived. This is really where he's driving at. He points out their ridiculous beliefs, their practices, their inconsistencies. Do not be deceived. Bad company ruins good morals. Wake up from your drunken stupor, as is right, and do not go on sinning, for some have no knowledge of God." In other words, whoever it is you're talking to, understand that there's a lot of people out there who do not know God. They claim to know God, but they have no knowledge of God. And then he says, I say this to your shame. I say this to your shame. Why? Because Paul gave them right theology. He gave them a solid foundation. Who in the world are you listening to is what he's saying to them. Bad company corrupts good morals. I don't know who you're listening to, but you are listening to the wrong people. You're reading the wrong books. You're listening to the wrong podcast. You're reading the wrong blogs. Somehow they picked up on this crazy idea that there is no resurrection. They have picked up on this idea that they should be baptized for the dead, even though there is no resurrection, which makes no sense. But Paul's point, I think, is clear. Ideas have consequences. Ideas have consequences. Your ideas, other people's ideas, have consequences. Because they all impact us. Every idea that you are confronted with, believe it or not, impacts you. There's no such thing as coming in contact with an idea that does not affect you. It will either affect you in a positive way in that it will drive you to scripture, it will drive you to know the truth of God's word, it will drive you to understand God rightly, or it will drive you away from God in that you will believe this false idea and you will end up going down the wrong path. But every idea affects you in one way or another. And so he encourages them to wake up from their drunken stupor and stop sinning. Stop sinning. It's interesting. You got to stop and think about that for a minute. How are they sinning? What is the sin that they are committing? By denying the bodily resurrection of believers. They're sinning. They're sinning by this practice baptizing themselves for the dead. Think about that for a moment. How we practice baptism can be a sin. It can be a sin. I've had this debate with my fellow brothers and sisters in Christ in the Paedo-Baptist camp on many occasions and And I'm honest with them and they tend to be honest with me. I mean, especially when you get around pastors and theologians, that the reality is this, one of us is sinning. One of us is sinning. Because if they are right that infants are to be baptized and we as Baptists are not doing that, then guess what? We are committing a sin. And if we are right that infants are not the proper biblical recipients of baptism, then they are sinning because it can't be both ways, right? One of us is right and one of us is wrong. Paul says, stop sinning. It's important to take notice of this because believing and espousing wrong theology is A sin. It's a sin. Notice what Paul says back in verses 14 and 15. He said, and if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain, and your faith is in vain. We are even found to be misrepresenting God, because we testified about God that he raised Christ, whom he did not raise, if it is true that the dead are not raised. In other words, he says, We need to be careful because if there is no resurrection from the dead then Christ has not been raised from the dead Which means that we are saying things about God that are not true We're saying things about God that are not true Think about that for a moment When you say this is biblical truth When you say this is biblical truth, whatever it is, whoever it is you're talking to, when you say this is biblical truth, you are saying this is what God believes is right and true. You're saying this is what God would have you to do or not do. Are you sure about that? Because if you are not, then you are misrepresenting God. And God never takes kindly to being misrepresented. This is why the study of theology matters. This is why the study of theology matters. This is why James 3.1 says, let there not be many teachers among you, knowing that you will be under a stricter judgment. This is why having right doctrine matters. This is why it matters what you believe about baptism and marriage and abortion and homosexuality and corporate worship and whatever else you believe. Because I guarantee you, name a topic, God has an opinion. God has a definite view of how marriage should work. He has a definite view of how parenting should work. He has a definite view. God has a definite position on abortion and on homosexuality and on corporate worship. And I promise you, God does not take lightly to being misrepresented. We need to be certain about what we believe. We need to be certain that what we believe is what God believes, is what God holds to, is what God teaches in His word. He then adds, he then ends with a final warning. He says, for some have no knowledge of God, I say this to your shame. In other words, there are people out there who have no idea what God thinks. They have no idea what they're talking about when it comes to God. And then he says, I say this to your shame, to your shame. In other words, Paul is saying, why? I don't know who you're listening to, but why would you listen to them? Knowing that I, Paul, an apostle, who saw the resurrected Christ, who directly appointed me, I, Paul the Apostle, who performed miracles among you, why would you disregard what I say for who knows who you're listening to? I say this to your shame. Be careful. Be careful who you listen to. Be careful who you read. Be careful who you allow to be an influence in your life and be careful about what you teach about God. I'll end with a proverb. Proverbs 13 20. He who walks with the wise becomes wise. But the companion of fools will suffer harm. Let's pray. Our gracious God, Heavenly Father, Lord, this warning from the Apostle Paul is just so pertinent to us today. We live in an age, in a world, where the information of the world is at our fingertips. Every possible and conceivable idea false doctrine, heresy is on a little screen inside of our pocket or in our purse. Father, we pray that by your Holy Spirit you would please guide us through your Word. We pray that we would listen to the Word of God more than anyone else. Lord, we pray that you would give us wisdom, guidance, and discernment to recognize those wolves in sheep clothing who often can seem quite genuine. Often it can be difficult to distinguish the wolves in sheep clothing from the real wolves. It can be difficult to distinguish the false prophets from biblical, faithful teachers of the Word. And we know that they're out there. I could rattle off half a dozen names today of men who are godly and trustworthy, faithful to the Word of God. Father, we pray that by your Holy Spirit that you would guide our thoughts, that you would guide our decisions, that you would teach us your Word. We pray that you would make us people who would allow ourselves to be influenced by the right people and to avoid listening to the wrong people or listening to bad advice or guidance. We pray these things in Christ's name. Amen.