So, as I stated earlier, it has been my desire to teach on Wednesday nights, somewhat systematically. We are currently studying the doctrine of the church. The fancy word for it would be ecclesiology. Tonight, we're going to look on what we mean, or rather, what theologians have meant when they describe the church as both visible and Invisible, so if you open in your booklet that I printed, thank you very much, and you're welcome. I'm so proud, right? You'll see on point number one, and this is a quote from Grudem, he says, the invisible church is the church as God sees it. Now, from a few Wednesdays ago, some weeks ago, Wayne Grudem, I read that he defined the church as made up of believers for all time, and what that means is that the church of Jesus Christ is made or consists of believers both from the Old Testament and believers from the New Testament. Looking at world history, there were people already who believed in Christ, or rather, they anticipated the coming of Christ, such as Abraham, who is a model of faith for us. Jesus said, Abraham rejoiced to see my day, and he saw it and was glad. But Abraham is now dead and buried, and he is with the Lord, because Jesus said that God isn't the God of the dead, but of the living. And then, of course, we today, being still alive, at least in the body, we are members of the body of Christ, are we not? And then do you remember when Jesus prayed in John chapter 17? He prayed for all those who would believe in him. And so there are the elect or there are people who are still going to come to faith in Christ and they've not yet done so. Now, from the human perspective, they're not yet members of the body of Christ, because from the human perspective, they do still need to believe, and they'd be made member, but they've been marked out for salvation. And so the invisible church is the church as God sees it, at least from that perspective. Now, do you have any questions about that? Do you have any questions, anyone? Okay, now look at point one. It says, And I'm just going to read it. It's self-explanatory. It says, the invisible church is the church as God sees it. Those who are truly saved are enrolled in heaven. That's from Hebrews chapter 12 verse 23. Consider what Jesus said to his apostles. Jesus said to his apostles that their names are written in heaven. Luke chapter 10 verse 20. In the final analysis, only those who are written in the Lamb's book of life will be saved. Hence, the Lord knows those who are his, 2 Timothy chapter two, verse 19. So the invisible church is the church as God sees it. Whenever you look at a congregation, you will find believers, hopefully so, sitting among the membership rows, so to speak. Both you and I know, however, that we do not have the kind of vision that God has so that we're able to, with 100% accuracy, determine or know with certainty who truly knows the Lord and who doesn't. So you understand now when we mean the church invisible is the church as God sees it. Does everyone understand that? Right, go ahead Gilbert. I believe so because I think off the top of my head it says that our names were written before the foundation of the world. I know that sometimes, especially in the revivalistic or evangelistic circles, what is depicted is that when people respond to Christ in salvation, there is an angel or Saint Peter up in heaven counting who prayed a prayer and then he writes the name down. And if you believe that salvation can be lost, sometimes it's erased and then put back on and then erased and put back on. But I happen to believe because of God's foreknowledge that God knew all those who would eventually believe in him. But that is under the category of soteriology. So let's go back to what Adela said. We're gonna try to stick to the outline. But go ahead, Raul. I was just gonna make a point that last week, Your names have now been written in the Lamb's Book of Life. Yeah, you know, I believe in the biblical doctrine of election and predestination. It's hard to object to that because, I mean, I don't understand why people get upset for even saying the words. They're biblical words. I think what's behind the controversy is the meaning attached to those words. But again, that is solteriology. It's a study of the order of salvation. So we'll try not to get into that too much. So let's go to point number two. Just as a side, I couldn't help myself, brother Raul. Years ago, there was a pastor who kept, he would say that, your names have now been written. First of all, Man, I'm trying really hard not to get sidetracked. But Leti asked him the same thing, Brother Gilbert, and the pastor admitted, well, yeah, I think the names are written before the foundation of the world, but I say that anyways, because it sounds good. That's what he said. So on one hand, he admitted, like privately, that he believed that the names, God knew all those who would come to Christ, and the names are determined then, but he would still nevertheless say what he would say, because he said, it just sounds better in people's ears. And we knew that he believed somewhat, you know. So I just, it's kind of odd, but. Let's just try to keep it in the spirit of Caleb and stay out of controversy and hard stuff. Okay, all right, point number two. Now, let's talk about the visible church. The visible church is the church as Christians on earth see it. That's point number two. The visible church is the church as Christians on earth see it. And here's Grudem's definition on letter A. The visible church includes all who profess faith in Christ and, very important, and give evidence of that faith in their lives. Now this is my addition right here. Not all who profess faith Possess faith. Now here is my, well, here's Grudem's edition, but I think this is a good thing that he brings to our attention. Jessica needs an outline, Sophie, so if you could just give that to her. We had these delivered from Lifebuoy, they're hot off the press. Sophie, she, okay, never mind, Brother Lynn got it. Now, how many of you have heard that people say the Bible is God's love letter to you, personal love letter? Now, of course, the Bible is written by God, it's divinely inspired in that respect, and it is an expression of God's love, but I think that statement can be a little misleading. I always say this story, when I was a kid, my dad always had a Bible laying around, and I didn't know anything about the Bible, And I would hear statements that people would make about the Bible such as that one, well, God wrote the Bible and gave it to man. And so I made assumptions based on what I would hear about the Bible. I made assumptions, they were unfounded assumptions. And I remember one day, I just simply decided to open the Bible and start reading it. And to me, it sounded like people wrote it. And it felt like I was reading someone else's mail. And I did not understand what it meant that the Bible was given to us by God. The Bible is a, it is human correspondence. It's letters from one human to another, but we know that they're divinely inspired. But having said that, the Bible wasn't written to you individually. The Bible wasn't written to you individually. Now, does it apply to you? Of course. Was it written with you in mind? Of course. But you're not going to find a book of the Bible addressed to Gilbert Cruz and to the church in Papalote, right? The apostle Gilbert. You're not going to find that. So here's some examples. Look at your outline on item number two down at verse B. Here are just some observations. The New Testament letters are addressed to the visible church. These are churches in history, for example, to the church of God that is in Corinth. So these are a gathered group of people in the city of Corinth and we call them the, who? The Corinthians. Let's read the rest of it. To the church of God that is in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus called to be saints, how? Called to be saints, how? Together with all those who in every place call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, both their Lord and ours. So these are letters written to a body of believers at a particular time in history, but it applies to us as well. Look at the next observation here to the Church of the Thessalonians. In God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, grace to you and peace. Again, the letter is addressed to the church as a whole, not to a person individually. Now, you will find some letters in the New Testament addressed to individuals, but even those letters are written to the individuals so that they in turn can make application of what they are. instructed to do concerning the church. Even, for example, Philemon, I wrote, even when a letter is addressed to an individual, the church is still acknowledged. Listen to Philemon, our beloved fellow worker, and Athia, our sister, and Archippus, our fellow soldier, and the church in your house. So let's turn the page. Now, this is something that I sort of came up with and I added to it because I do believe it falls under the visible church. Let's turn to 2 Corinthians chapter 11. Now, the point that I'm presently making is that we understand that from God's perspective, the church is invisible to us. God knows those who are truly his, past, present, and future, and God looks upon all congregations when they're gathered under one roof, and even when they're scattered, and God knows who is sitting in the pews, and God knows those who are truly His and those who are not. And so that's what we mean when we speak of the church invisible. Now, right now we're talking about the church as we see it, the church that is visible. Now, this is interesting because you know that the devil is in the business of counterfeiting everything that God does. You guys know that, right? And I find it interesting that we find here Paul being fearful about the Corinthians and Look at verse three of 2 Corinthians 11, verse three. Here's what Paul expresses concerning the state of the Corinthians, given their behavior, given their lack of discernment and their tolerance of false teachers. He says, but I am afraid that as the serpent deceived Eve by his cunning, Your thoughts will be led astray from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ. For if someone comes and proclaims another Jesus than the one we proclaimed, or if you receive a different spirit from the one you received, or if you accept a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it readily enough. Indeed, I consider that I am not in the least inferior to these super apostles. Who are these super apostles? These super apostles are preaching another Jesus from a different spirit. They're preaching a different gospel and the Corinthians were tolerating them. So if you go back to my outline in verse number three, that's why I just simply tagged it as counterfeit, A, B, C, D, E. You see how I wrote another Jesus, a different spirit, a different gospel. I even put false apostles, false teachers, and in the next one, false brethren. So let's just go over those. Another Jesus. I don't think I need to spend much time on this. If you just do a mental survey about different religious organizations that do preach Jesus, the traditional cults like Jehovah's Witnesses and Mormons, we can easily identify their Jesus as different. And what I mean by different, and this is not Krista Luna's opinion, okay? Now, let me just give you a real simple, because here's where people get all upset. If, this is just acknowledging something, because people have gotten upset at me for just acknowledging, if I say, you know, that wall is, well, I can't even say it because we'll probably start a debate, no, it's not white, it's like a tan, well, you know what I mean, like the chairs are maroon, I don't think they're maroon, I think they're more of a reddish, you know, burgundy, see, there you go. So, sometimes just acknowledging something, like, what Catholics believe or what Jehovah's Witnesses believe. You're judgmental. And somebody told me one time in this church, and they never came back, they say, I don't think you should be talking about other churches, denominations, or religions. You should just stick to the business of this church. And it's not your business to be talking about what Catholics believe. And so that's what I was told. And then I'm like, well, am I going to do that? What I'm acknowledging is what historians acknowledge and what theologians acknowledge and Jehovah's Witnesses themselves would acknowledge. that they speak of a Jesus whom they acknowledge is different than the Jesus whom you hear about in traditional and historic Christianity, because they believe the teachings have been restored through their organization. To begin with, they do not believe that God exists as a Trinity, and that Jesus is not a second, member of the Trinity. Jesus is a, he is the firstborn in the respect that God directly created Jesus, so he's the firstborn, and then all the other things Jesus created. So Jesus is unique in this respect that yes, he is the Son of God, but he is a created being. We believe Jesus is not created. That's a contradiction, folks. Either he was created or he was not created, and it's an irreconcilable difference. I mean, if I told you something about myself, like my dad is Oscar De Luna, I mean, I hate to use this example, and my mom would say, no, this other man is your dad. Well, one of them is my dad, but they both can't be true, you know what I mean? Now, I'm not saying anything about my mom, God forbid, but it's an example. What I'm trying to present is that when you have contradictory things, they're irreconcilable, and so the Jehovah's Witness Jesus is indeed another Jesus that is not in keeping with biblical revelation. The Mormon Jesus is also another Jesus. And so that's something that Mormons themselves will tell you about. They will tell you, we believe that Jesus whom we preach is different than the Baptist Jesus. So, again, I'm not being judgmental in all of that. I'm telling you, I'm just simply acknowledging what is fact. A different Jesus has emerged in popular Christianity, within circles that have traditionally been considered orthodox or traditional or still within. You have pop culture Jesus, you have the prosperity Jesus, and so we really do need to be familiar with the biblically revealed Jesus. So there is another Jesus. Can you guys think of any other examples where we might have another Jesus in mind? believing wrong things about him. Go ahead, Brother Lynn. Yes, Chris, what I'm finding as I work with people, even some people call themselves Christian, they do have a different Jesus than Christ. Absolutely, because the Jesus whom they speak of doesn't sound or look like... But what's unique is that everybody comes up with their own idea. Yeah. I mean, they might take some scripture, but they'll add or they'll, you know, make him what they want him to be. Yeah. And so my struggle is to get them, listen, you gotta open your eyes to who the real Jesus is. Yeah. Not who this other person you think he is. Yeah. Because that person doesn't exist. Yeah, brother. So this is entirely applicable. Yeah. And that's the Jesus whom they preach. Yeah. That's the Jesus they pass on to their kids. Leti grew up culturally Catholic. And what I mean by that is that when you live in Mexico, the predominant religion is Catholicism. Now, this is not what Catholicism teaches, and Leti and I were having a conversation about it. I think we need to be careful because sometimes we do bear false witness. And some of the things we say is misleading. We say, I've heard people say, Catholics still have Jesus on the cross. Now, very qualified, that's a true statement, and they don't believe he's alive. Well, on paper, they do believe that he resurrected. On paper, they do believe that he is the head of the church. But I think what Protestants mean is the manner in which they relate to him. But Leti didn't know any of that. So growing up, Leti thought Jesus was dead, like literally. Leti thought that Jesus' body had been buried somewhere on earth, which it was, but that she had not heard of the physical resurrection and the ascension of Jesus. And Leti's mind, Jesus was physically dead, like a family member's dead and is buried somewhere. And it wasn't until she heard the gospel that the light came on. And because she didn't look at the Bible or the scriptures, didn't go to church and really learn, and so she just assumed that. So she had a dead Jesus in her mind, right? that when people would say Jesus is alive, it was in the same way that we say, no, he lives in my heart. He lives in my heart. Like, you know, some of us have had family members who have died and they're with us in our hearts. Well, no, they're not. They're dead and they're somewhere in eternity. What we mean is their memory is in us. The values that they pass down, we carry with us. but they themselves, as individuals, they're not with us. It's only their memory. And so Jesus, Leti thought that Jesus was with us in that respect, the teachings of Jesus we carry with us, the memory of Jesus we carry with us. And so Jesus lives in our heart in that respect. So she's saying something that sounds like, almost true, but completely foreign to the Bible. Go ahead, Brother Gilbert. Cultural Jesus, yeah. Yeah, accepting and affirming of all things, even sinful things. Yeah, and so let's move on to the next point. Jesus warned us that many will come in my name is what he said. See that no one leads you astray is what he said, Matthew 24. See that no one leads you astray, for many will come in my name saying, I am the Christ, and they will lead many astray. So Jesus here is telling us that people would be led astray by false Christ. They would be led astray. Why? Because it comes from a different spirit. Look at B, a different spirit. Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God. What does it mean here by spirits? When was the last time you had a conversation with a spirit? Now, if you look at the context, I am contending that the spirit in view there is who or what is behind the earthly figure. That's why it says, for many false prophets have gone out into the world. So here is discern. Don't believe anyone just because they come along and they say they're a prophet of God and they dress all fancy and have gold and they have these bling bling microphones and they swing their coat around. Anyways. Of course, they come with a different gospel. Look at C. There are some who trouble you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. Galatians 1.7. And then you have false apostles. So, even among the official rankings of the church, there will be those who have legitimate offices. Like Judas was a real apostle. You know that, right? He was personally chosen and appointed by Jesus. So Judas could argue. Had you had a conversation with Judas at that time, you were living, you would have said, are you really an apostle? And the answer would have been, yes, he's an apostle. Jesus said, yeah, I chose him. And he was numbered among the 12. But Jesus also said he was a devil from the beginning. So concerning his office, he really was an apostle. Did he preach the gospel? He did. Did he perform miracles? He did. He was among, I mean, when Jesus sent out his apostles, Jesus didn't say, okay, you guys go out, except you Judas, because everyone knows you're a fake. And the apostles didn't even look at Judas and say, not you, Judas, because everyone here knows you're a false convert. Which, you know, I would say that he was, but here's what's even very interesting. When Jesus revealed to the rest of the apostles that someone among them would betray Jesus, none of them had any idea who it would be. In fact, they questioned themselves first before they questioned anyone else. See, you think that if you would have been there, you would have known better. Someone is going to betray me, Jesus said, and you think you would have said, everybody knows who that is, Judas, hello. No, they really had no idea because he talked like an apostle, he preached the gospel like the apostles, he proclaimed Christ, he performed miracles as pertaining his office, And as pertaining, he was a legit apostle, but he was removed for his betrayal. And I do not believe that he was ever saved at really any point. Why? Because Jesus has used the devil from the beginning. Now, I was sitting at a church one time, and they were talking about salvation and whether you can lose your salvation, and someone brought up Judas. And I just happened to be visiting that night and I snuck in the back. I don't, you know, I stopped visiting other churches because I just like to go and sit down and just listen and enjoy. And there's a particular pastor, for whatever reason, he'd always call me out. What do you think, Brother Chris? And I'm like, okay, great. Now everybody knows I'm here. But that day I couldn't help it. And so someone said, Brother, I do believe that Judas was saved, but he lost his salvation. And I know the church doesn't believe that you can lose your salvation, and so the pastor and this person started discussing the matter, and the brother sitting in the pew, I don't remember who he was, he said, no, he was genuinely converted. He said, what do you think, Brother Chris? And I said, well, Jesus says he was a devil from the beginning, and he knew all along who would betray him, so I'm inclined to believe that he was never at any point really regenerate. That's my opinion, and of course, you know, my opinions are always 100% correct, so let's go with it. Just kidding. So now here's something that's very interesting. Acts chapter 20. Now we're talking about false teachers. Not merely someone in church who has crazy beliefs and without the acknowledgement of the church or without holding any kind of official position, they go from house to house and spread false doctrine among the brethren. That's not who we're talking about. Does that happen? It does happen, but I believe what's in view here, when I'm talking about false teachers, I'm saying that the Bible acknowledges that there would be false teachers within the church who hold official offices, official positions, just like Judas, and yet they do promote false doctrine. Except Judas is a very unique case because he himself was not a genuinely saved, but he preached the gospel, which is interesting. So it's kind of a hard one with Judas because he wasn't a false apostle, but yet he ended up not being saved. Interesting, huh? Now, Acts chapter 20, it does sound like a contradiction, but with me, there are no contradictions, so we're going to move on. So go ahead and explain, because I want to explore that just quickly as we try to get through this outline. Now, what sounds like a contradiction, Leti? Because you said he was a true apostle. He was, but he was appointed by Christ. So as pertains his office, he was a legit, do you guys understand what I mean by that? As far as his office is concerned, he was an apostle. By the Spirit of God. I have trouble with that. Yeah, well, so do I. But it's in the Bible. Yeah. Yeah, because remember, the Bible is very explicit that, and Judas is included, Jesus sent out the apostles to different cities and they came back and they're saying, Lord, even the demons are subject to us. Remember? Judas is among them. So, yeah, that's crazy. Yeah. Yeah. My wheels are spinning. Go ahead. But then again, there are those who are going to be before God that are going to say, we did this in your name. Yeah, that's a good point. Raul brings up the point on Judgment Day when people say, did we not do miracles in your name? Did we not do this? And Jesus says, I never knew you. Crazy. Go ahead, Brother Lynn. I think I forgot what I was going to say. Let's try this. Do we have a record of the word of God being spoken by unbelievers? Oh, yes. Yeah. In fact, we have the word of God being spoken by not just unbelievers, but by critters, right? Yeah. Yeah, a donkey. Yeah. Yeah. So God uses means that we struggle with. to accomplish his purpose. In fact, that's the amazing thing is that he uses these things that are against him for the very thing that he wants to accomplish. Yeah. Acts chapter 20, because I'm being mindful of the time. I can't see the clock from here. 15 minutes. We're actually almost done, believe it or not. Acts chapter 20. Paul is not going to see his ministry co-workers anymore. Because he's leaving, he's on his way to Rome. And he sends to Ephesus, look at verse 17, Acts chapter 20, verse 17. It says, now from Miletus, he sent to Ephesus and called who? The elders of the church to come to him. And when they came to him, he said to them, now, who is he speaking to? The elders of the church. These are men, these are pastors, these men have official standing. This is a pastor's conference, okay? This is the original shepherd's conference. So one of the keys to rightly interpreting the Bible is to always keep in mind the audience who is being addressed. Go down to verse 25. Verse 28 actually. Listen to the instruction and the warning that he gives them. Again, he's speaking to the elders. These are pastors. He says, pay careful attention to yourselves. That's who again? The elders and to all the flock. So he's saying watch yourselves and watch the flock, those who you oversee. So you see the distinction, right? Watch this. Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers to care for the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood. I know, he's speaking prophetically here, I know that after my departure, fierce wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock, Now, I don't know if he's speaking about two kinds of people or he's still referencing those who came in. He says that after my departure, fierce wolves will come in among you. So you have those from the outside who infiltrate the church, right? So there's the picture. And then he also says, and from among your own selves, and from among your own selves, will arise, I lost my place, and from among your own selves will arise men speaking twisted things to draw away the disciples after them. So you have a picture here of those who come in and infiltrate the church, they pass themselves off as some official teacher, apostle, false teachers, fierce wolves, but then he says from among your own selves. And I think you could make the case that he's speaking about the very pastors, some of you, some of you, It even happened to Jesus, from among his own apostles arose Judas and betrayed Christ. Do you see that? So, I know that after my departure, fierce wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock, and from among your own selves will arise men speaking twisted things to draw away the disciples after them. Therefore, be alert. remembering that for three years, I did not cease night or day to admonish everyone with tears. So in 2 Peter 2, here's an example of false teachers. 2 Peter 2, false teachers who are active in the church. 2 Peter 2, in verse one, he names them. Now this is a point that Brother Lin made weeks ago in Sunday School in 1st Peter chapter 2 verse 1. That's what I meant to read. I was looking at the example of Hymenaeus and Philetus. But in 2nd Peter chapter 2, it says, but false prophets also arose among the people. He's speaking about old Israel, ancient Israel. And then what does he say? Just as there will be false teachers among you. You see that? So the Bible is telling you that there will be false teachers among the body of Christ. It's always been an issue from the very beginning. And so 2 Timothy chapter two, now we can turn there. How am I doing on time? I can't see the clock. Yeah, 2 Timothy chapter two. Now, this is a letter written to the pastor, Timothy, and he's being given instruction on how to instruct the church. And in verse 14, he writes, Remind them of these things and charge them before God not to quarrel about words, which does no good but only ruins the hearers. Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth, but avoid irreverent babble, for it will lead people into more and more ungodliness." So right there he's telling you that false teaching produces bad fruits. Verse 17, and their talk. will spread like gangrene. He's acknowledging gangrene is a disease of the body. The body in view here is the body of Christ. And there are two individuals whom he names that are actually spreading this gangrene. And he says, among them are Hymenaeus and Philetus, who have swerved from the truth, saying that the resurrection has already happened. They are upsetting the faith of some. So they're leading people to disbelieve in the resurrection of Jesus, or maybe here, the general resurrection, as taught by the apostles, and to believe in the resurrection in a different way. And by upsetting the faith, it doesn't mean that they're offending people's feelings, it means that they're drawing them away from the truth, and leading them to embrace false doctrine. For example, we believe, the Bible teaches that resurrection is a physical event. The body that decomposed, is the same body that is raised again. That's why the tomb of Jesus was empty, because the same body in which he died, he rose in that same body. But there are some organizations who pass themselves off as Christian, who say that no, Jesus only temporarily arose in a physical body, and then after he made appearances to the apostles, His body disintegrated and his spirit went up to heaven, like in the Avengers movie, you know? They disintegrated when Thanos destroys, you know, and did that. That's swerving from the truth and teaching something different. That's destroying belief in resurrection. Do you understand? So that's a modern-day example of that, and that's what it means to upset the faith of some. It means to make them swerve from the truth. So another Jesus, different spirit, different gospel, false apostles, false teachers. Now let me just issue this warning, because all this is very negative. It's very negative, but C.S. Lewis is quoted as saying something that I believe is helpful. C.S. Lewis was talking about the study of, you know, like demonology, I guess would be the word. And he said that, I skipped one point, turn the page, I skipped false brothers. Now, false brothers would just simply refer to individuals within the church who identify themselves as Christians, but they're not really converted. They're legalistic. Paul, in his missionary journeys, he faced danger from false brothers. And of course, Demas had a position in the church, or so it seems, he worked with Paul, but he finally abandoned Paul. And it says, for Demas, in love with this present world, has deserted me and gone to Thessalonica. So Demas, and we're told here, he just simply wanted to go back to the world, didn't want to serve anymore. And so what do we make of individuals like that? Some people would contend, well, Demas at one point was genuinely saved, and because he abandoned the faith, he lost his salvation, and therefore went back to the world. Well, John would say, they went out from us, but they were not of us, for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us. But they went out that it might become plain that they are not all of us. That falls again under the category of soteriology. We believe in the perseverance of the saints, those who are truly saved, stay the course by God's grace and by God's spirit. It doesn't mean that we do not have episodes of backsliding, for that does indeed happen, So don't count someone out. If someone falls away from the church and they go back to the world and they're backsliding, if they're genuinely saved, God will convict them and bring them back in. So don't, you know, I know some Christians are so quick to dismiss somebody. I mean, it's sad. Someone can be serving the church and be involved in good works and they fall on hard times, they get disillusioned and discouraged, and then they just fall away. And then, you know, it's sad. Some people, see, I told you she was a fake. Yeah, you should be crying about that instead of feeling so self-vindicated about your so-called discernment. That's really a wrong spirit, and I don't like it, neither should you, because everything that I believe, you should believe. I'm kidding. No, but it really is a bad attitude, and God knows I've been guilty of it in the past. So, this last quote, do you have something to say, Leti? I am, so two equal and opposite errors. Concerning C.S. Lewis, he was talking about demons, and he made this observation. It's actually in a book called The Screwtape Letters, and I think the context is one demon writing to another, and one demon says, there are two equal and opposite errors into which our race can fall about the devils. One, is to disbelieve in their existence. The other is to believe and to feel an excessive and unhealthy interest in them. So those are two errors. On one hand, you don't ever talk about demons and evil spirits. You don't even mention it because there's a sense in which you really don't believe. I know, again, as small as this church is, there's often diversity of beliefs. I know years ago there was one particular person who after church told me, I just don't really believe in all that. I said, what do you mean? I just don't think that demons are active now. I think it was, they were active during the time of Jesus, and that's when they were most, but now I think, you know, we live in more modern times, and I'm like, yeah, I think you've already fallen under the spell of one. Yeah, but... So the opposite error is to be so consumed with spiritual warfare that everything is a demon. Yeah, even your own fleshly thoughts is a demon. I mean, there's a demon under every rock and behind every crevice. You understand, right? Now, here's my observation. The same principle, I think, can be extended to this area of discernment. We should be very well grounded in the truth and we should positively proclaim the truth and love the truth. Whatsoever is good, whatsoever is lovely, whatsoever, right? Think on these things. And if we know the truth, we'll recognize the different Jesus when we see him. We'll recognize the different spirit, the different gospel. We'll recognize false apostles. Jesus says, you will know them by their fruit. We'll recognize false teaching and teachers, even maybe false brethren. but it is unhealthy and not advisable to be so consumed that your entire Christian walk is characterized by just looking for false teachers and naming them publicly all the time, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, that when people think of you as a Christian, all they know you for is this guy has a hit list of false teachers. So, I believe that's one error, which I have been guilty in the past. The other error, and I think it's the more common one, you don't ever talk about false teaching. You don't ever talk about false teachers. In fact, don't even follow the biblical example. If there are false teachers, leave them unnamed. Right, Brother Gilbert? You heard that one before. You know, I know Benny Hinn was a big promoter of that. When he started getting exposed, it upset him. And he's like, he was acknowledging, okay, but you know, at least don't name me publicly. I mean, he said that, and I'm like, really? And so there used to be this teaching, you know, in my early days when I first came to faith and the ministry circles and I was in, I mean, that was a big sin, is that if you recognize false teaching, then just recognize it and apply it to your own life, but don't you dare speak up about it. because, and I was like, we have a biblical duty to expose false teaching and to warn people of particular persons who promote false doctrine, but I have come to realize that it's not healthy to be continually consumed by that, that that's all you do. Go ahead, Leti. I was gonna say that we were even taught that Yeah, that's another one Yeah, yeah, Kenneth Copeland has made statements like that that he knows Yeah, he knows of people who are dead now because they criticize them and God killed them Yeah as a different spirit Yeah, so we will in there. So tonight's study was about the church invisible and the church visible and The church invisible is the church as God sees it, and the visible church is the church as we see it. And within the ranks of the membership of the church, there are going to be a mixture of believers and unbelievers. And sometimes we think certain people know the Lord, and they really don't. Anyways, any questions or comments? Chris, can you stop the live stream? Yeah, that's a good point, Leti. There are some sins that you don't struggle with, right? Can you name a particular sin that's not, I mean, You don't struggle with it. There are some sins that I really do struggle with. Crucify them by the grace of God as you should, whatever you struggle with. And there are some sins that people struggle with that I can't identify with them. I know there's a particular sin that men struggle with. It's very common. That's not an issue with me. I don't understand. I can't really, I don't understand it, you know. But I recognize that it's a reality. As far as I'm concerned, it's like, why even go there? Just turn it off, or don't even go there. Get rid of your computer. I mean, it's just so easy. Just say no. I don't understand. But I really can't identify with that. But I acknowledge that it is an issue. And some women struggle with certain issues that other women. And so, it's real easy to identify an individual who struggles with a particular sin and you see yourself as better than them or more ahead of them because you don't struggle with that sin. And so we need to be careful about that. We really do need to be patient. So that's just a side note from Leti. Like, for example, something, no, I'm just kidding. All right, so no other questions or comments? No? Did we learn something tonight, Ariella? Yes. No? All right. The outline was good. Huh? The outline was good. Okay. Well, praise God. You know, it just really took time to just jot it down, but, you know, most of it is from the systematic theology book, except the counterfeit section. I kind of added that. Not too many rabbits, you know. Yeah, because I had the outline, and then Ariella warned me not to chase rabbits. All right, let's stand. Heavenly Father, we thank you for your word, and we thank you for this study. Lord, help us to be balanced. On one hand, we do recognize that we are to love the truth, and if we truly love the truth, then we do recognize error, but we recognize and we fight against error because we love the truth. We want people to be saved, such as Paul, who faced those who opposed him, and they opposed the gospel, and Paul said, Even though they opposed him, he says, my prayer to God and my desire and prayer to God is that they might be saved. And Lord, he shed tears when he thought about fierce wolves rising even among the ranks of the church. And he warned and admonished for years with tears, Lord, help us to have that same spirit and that same love for you and your people. And so help us in this respect. We ask, Lord, that you would anoint Brother Lynn as we enter a new month next Wednesday. And by God's grace, Lord, you use him to edify us spiritually. And we thank you for all these things in Jesus' name. And everyone said, amen. Thank you guys. Have a great night.