to 2 Peter chapter 3, 2 Peter chapter 3. We will begin the new chapter this evening, over this morning. We've spent a while now in chapter 2. And so it's good to move on. The context is the same. Although the subject matter changes just a bit, but may God bless us as we continue in his word together. Chapter 3, verse 1, the word of the Lord. But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come. For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, unloving, irreconcilable, malicious, gossips, without self-control, brutal, Haters of good, treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power, avoid such men as these." And of course, we could continue on. The text doesn't end here, but I will end here this morning regarding the sermon. In the previous chapter, the Apostle has been talking about the danger of false doctrine. In verse 14, he warned that it's useless and leads to the ruin of hearers. Verse 16, he warned that it would lead to further ungodliness. In verse 17, he warned that it would spread like gangrene. And King James Version uses the word canker. which is like a sore that will not heal, like cancer. False doctrine will eat away at the heart and ultimately eat away at the very life of the local church. Verse 18, then he warned that it would upset the faith of some. And in the final verses, as after Paul kind of parenthetically reminds us that in the church, there would be which he refers to metaphorically as a large house in verse 20 within the large house that is within the church. there would be both vessels of honor, in other words, those who have been carefully prepared and crafted under the master's use, treasures, if you will, those united to Christ, those who are a part of the body of Christ, those who are precious in his sight, those whose hearts and minds have been captivated and have purpose in their life to honor the master with all of their strength, but also in the midst of them, would also be vessels of dishonor. The implication is these are counterfeits. These are those who are not real. These are those who, as we see here in verse 5 of chapter 3, holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power and then the warning, avoid such as these, meaning Be very cautious who you receive. Be very careful about the matter of the local church and the importance of being a regenerate church membership. So that's kind of the context that's going on here. Now, Paul says here, as chapter 3 opens up, but realize this, that in the last days, difficult times will come. Well, obviously there were certainly difficult times in the early church. And that's the whole context of First and Second Timothy. Timothy has been left in Ephesus with a charge, with a purpose. There were false teachers who had arisen, and I always remind us, and they had arisen among the very elders of the church. Very dangerous. The elders of the church had become corrupt. Not all. There were a lot of elders. You can go back to Acts chapter 20. He meets with the elders and warns them that wolves would rise in their own midst, even among some of them. And apparently that's exactly what had happened. Paul was speaking prophetically. And so Timothy is in Ephesus to set things in order, to warn them to abandon false doctrine, to warn them of the danger that false doctrine would bring upon the church. The amazing thing is, you know, Paul is talking about these dangers and the corruption and the false doctrine. And that in the church, in the in the large house, if you will, there'll be both vessels of honor and vessels of dishonor. And you might be inclined to say, well, God has lost control that maybe he doesn't know one from the other. And that's why it's very encouraging to read verse 19 of the previous chapter. Nevertheless, The firm foundation of God stands, having this seal. The Lord knows those who are his. And everyone who names the name of the Lord is to abstain from wickedness. So there you have the model. On one hand, you've got the vessels of honor, and they are charged, restrained, refrained from all that is not clean, refrained from all wickedness, be a holy people, be what you are. As Paul describes in the book of Ephesus, which remember, this is the church of Ephesus, Paul tells them basically, you were formerly darkness, but now You are light. Walk as children of light. Be what you are. You were darkness. You were held captive by the evil one. You were lost and dead in trespasses and sins, Ephesians chapter 2. But now you're not that way anymore. You've been transformed, delivered. You are now children of light. So be what you are. So you see the contrast even within the local church. that difficult times would come in the last days. Well, certainly, these were dangerous times in the early church. But after all, the church was young. They were still yet immature. They did not yet have the completed word of God, though I could preach an entirely different sermon on that topic. They didn't have the canon, if you will. They didn't have the 27 books of the New Testament that were brought together. And they didn't have the fullness of the 66 books of the Bible in one body, the canonized Word of God. But they did have the scriptures. So we could argue on that. The church didn't suddenly, in the third or fourth century, suddenly obtain the scriptures as if they weren't there the whole time. No, the scriptures are because they are, because it is the very word of God. And they're recognized from the very beginning and profited from the word of God from the very beginning, though it took a while to actually understand these are the books from the very hand of God. But they had them from the beginning. They preached from them from the beginning. They recognized the authority from the beginning, that it is the very word of God. But they didn't yet have the canon, if you will, if you want to argue that point. They did not yet have the benefit of the councils. Now, remember, there were heresies that rose very quickly in the early church. It was young and immature. They debated the issues of the nature of Christ, the nature of the atonement. They would have these very important councils and coming forth from the councils were very important statements of faith. And we still, you know, we, we are very thankful for the clarity that the early church brought to these very important subjects. Well, they didn't yet have the, the benefit of the councils and the, the statements of faith that came forth from the councils. So surely these were dangerous times. But we have to presume that there were dangerous times. There were false teachers in the church, but it would only be a temporary situation. The church was immature. They were going through development. They were being strengthened. They were still weak. And so it's understandable that they would have issues, but temporary issues. Eventually they would go away. You might presume that. That as the church grew and matured, these difficulties would fade away. But as we enter into chapter 3, these hopes are crushed as we read verse 1. But realize this. Be clear on this. Understand this. That in the last days, difficult times will come. That it's not just simply an issue that the early church experienced, but during the latter times difficulties would come. Well, I guess we need to define what these last days are. Realize this, that in the last days, Difficult times will come. I like the King James Version there. Perilous times will come, which is the word I used for the title of the sermon this morning. It's titled Perilous Times Part One. And even then. You know, I tried to divide this section up into two sermons. And even at this point, I'm wondering, will it actually be limited to two sermons or to move into a third? I try really hard to keep the sermons concise and brief. Gaspard teases me. He came to me last week. He said, well, pastor, you broke your record. And I'm really not here to try to break linked records. And Gaspar has threatened to cut me off before, and he hasn't yet. So if I see it's going too long, I'll cut it off. And we will, you know, I often say that, you know, we're going through the word of God, we're going line upon line, and we're not in any time schedule. And when we finish Second Timothy, we'll move into Titus. And so we're just marching through the New Testament. And if God grants me life and strength, eventually we will reach the end. But if not, I pray that it's been edifying in the journey on the way. So we're just continuing our journey. An old Texas pastor, I don't agree with all of his theology, but I used to listen to him, especially in the early days of my Christian journey. I'd turn on the radio and crave for any teaching. And at the time, he was very edifying for me. His name was J. Vernon McGee. I don't know if you remember the name, J. Vernon McGee. And again, I don't agree. into all of his theology. He had a very keen Texas drawl as he would teach, but he referred to it as the Bible bus. As he went through the whole Bible, I think the name of his radio broadcast was Through the Bible, as we would get on the Bible bus. So we're on the Bible bus, if you will, and we're just making our way line upon line through the scriptures. So we have to determine before we even begin, what exactly did Paul mean by this phrase? The last days, difficult times will come. It's very important for us because if the last days are are speaking of a period of time that is not a part of our time, then we can we can kind of breathe a sigh of relief. and that it doesn't apply to us, that it's last days that perhaps are future days beyond us. And today, there's a lot of talk about the last days. But let me say this. It's because of the influence of dispensationalism. Now, I dare say that dispensationalism has pretty much won the day in modern evangelicalism. In fact, for most Christians, that's all they thought. That's all there is. They've never heard anything else. Dispensationalism, meaning that God has several dispensations as he works through his redemptive purpose. And without getting into great detail, the important thing that most Christians today hold to with dispensationalism is in regard to the immediate future and the return of the Lord Jesus Christ. And they're not interested in the various dispensations, the dispensation of the law, the dispensation of grace. They're not interested in all that. What they're interested in, but what about the future? What is about to take place? And so in the mind of the dispensationalist, They believe that the Lord Jesus Christ is about to return and that there will be a secret rapture. And really, in the mind of the dispensationalist, there's going to be two returns of Christ. One will be secret just for the church, and Christians will just disappear. They'll be raptured out. The picture is, if you've read some of the old dispensationalist books, which early in my Christian journey, as I said, I was hungry to be taught. And much of what I heard on the radio was dispensationalism. And I got drawn into that. I read The Late Great Planet Earth. Anyone know that book? Late Great Planet. I'm glad I don't see any hands going up. Late Great Planet Earth. Hal Lindsey, 1972, 1973 or so. And there was a plethora of books through the 1970s and early 80s regarding the return of Christ. And the idea is that Christ is going to come, rapture the church out, leaving everyone else. Of course, there's differences of opinion there. But leaving everyone else to go through the Great Tribulation. And it's been popularized by movies. Has anyone heard the series Left Behind? No? Left Behind. Yeah. And so the idea is the church is raptured out and everyone else is left behind and the Great Tribulation, the Antichrist will arise and there'll be persecutions of those who are saved during the Great Tribulation. And then there'll be seven years of this Great Tribulation period. And then at the end of it, what? Armageddon, right? Armageddon. The whole earth is going to be brought into this massive war and battles and strife. And then the Lord Jesus Christ will return in power and bring all things to a close and crush all the rebellion and bring to an end the war. And he will reign physically, in Jerusalem at the temple that will be rebuilt during the seven-year tribulation. And he will reign physically upon the earth with the saints for 1,000 years. That's the theology of the day. And for many Christians, there may be someone here this morning say, well, that's all. I never heard anything other than that. That's the plan. And in this plan, there is the last days. The last days referring to those days immediately preceding the rapture. That's referred to as the last days. Another ministry that that I was very influenced by in the 1970s. I'm thankful that God continues to teach us and correct us, and he still is. I'd like to think at this point of my ministry, there's not going to be any monumental, earth-shattering, earthquake change of theology. But he is continuing to tweak and teach. I hope I never become unteachable. And so I still study. But the 1970s was all new. I was a new believer. And there was another ministry called, what would you think, Last Days Ministry. That's the idea. We're in the last days that Jesus Christ is about to return. How do we know that it's the last days? Well, they go back to Matthew 24 and Mark 13, and they're looking at the description of the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD, applying it to modern times. And there is a twofold. I've already taught in Matthew 24, preached through Matthew 24, but it's been a long time ago. There are two questions that Jesus is dealing with. What would be the signs of the destruction of Jerusalem and the end of the age? And of course, there's all kinds of understandings on that. But here's the point. In dispensationalism, they see that there are certain signs that will precede the second coming of Christ, such as earthquakes in diverse places, pestilences and famines, wars and rumors of wars. I remember one of my relatives, a Christian, and I think we were at the beginning of the Gulf War. In my lifetime, There has never been a moment where there hasn't been war someplace in the world. Human beings are a war people. We're fallen. There's hatred. There's enmity. There's pride. So there's always war. Always war. Always conflict somewhere. But I think that at the particular time, it was the first Gulf War in the early 90s. And he looked at me and said, wars and rumors of wars. What he meant was it's getting close to the end. Well, last days, last days, meaning those days just prior to the second coming of Christ. But that's not what Paul is referring to by the last days. The last days is referring to the period of time that would mark the entire age of the church. You might refer to it as the age between the Advents, the age between the first coming of Christ and his second coming of Christ, or more particularly, the age between the crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension, and the second coming of Christ. It's the entire age of the church, if you will. And the scripture describes this in more definite terms. For example, Hebrews 1. God, after he spoke long ago, to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways in these last days has spoken to us in his son, whom he appointed heir of all things through whom also he made the world." The last days there cannot be referring to a period of time at the end of the age. And indeed, it does not. The last days really marks the period of the new covenant. And you've got the old covenant. But it's amazing to listen to Jeremiah 31 describing the advent of the new covenant. The new covenant is really the fulfillment of the old through the Lord Jesus Christ. It is the further revelation of God's covenant that is the expression or the full working out of the eternal covenant of redemption. And here's what the Jeremiah 31 says about the new covenant. Behold, days are coming. And we could refer to these days as the last days. Days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel. Well, right away, we know that It is a new covenant, which means it's not the old, nor is it a continuation of the old, but it is the new, though it's still made with the house of Israel. That is the people of God, the offspring of Abraham. But then as we as we flow into the New Testament, we are given the full revelation that indeed the children of Abraham are not the natural offspring. Israel was a son of Abraham, but not of the people of God. And we discover in the book of Galatians that the offspring of Abraham, the children of Abraham, are those who are united to him by faith. And so we are of the seed of Abraham, or we are of the children of Abraham. So this new covenant made with the house of Israel is made with those united to Abraham by faith. And this has always been the people of God. God has always had but one people, the children of God, the offspring of Abraham, if you will, those for whom Christ would come and die. It refers to us. We are. And I dealt with this a few weeks ago. We don't believe in replacement theology. We're not saying the church has replaced Israel. We're simply saying the church is Israel, the full revelation of the people of God, those for whom Christ died, the people of God. So, behold, days are coming. They're not yet, but they're coming. declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, that would be us. Not like the covenant which I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, reminding us that God has made covenant He made a covenant with Abraham. And the covenants that flowed forth after that, including the Mosaic covenant, the Davidic covenant, all of these are further expressions of God's eternal covenant of redemption. But they find their fulfillment in the ultimate expression of the covenant through the Lord Jesus Christ, fulfilling all righteousness. So it's not like the covenant. that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt. It is the fuller revelation. It is the fuller completion. It is the fullness through the Lord Jesus Christ. My covenant which they broke, although I was a husband of them, declares the Lord. But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord. After those days, there will be a new covenant made with the house of Israel, expressed through the church, and that period of time would be the last days. I will put my law within them, and on their heart I will write it, and I will be their God, and they will be my people. There you have it. It's referring to the church and the fuller expression of God's redemptive purpose. The last days marks the period of time between our Lord's two comings, if you will, the entire age of the church. So when I hear people say, well, you know, with everything happening, we must be living in the last days. And, you know, on one hand, you know, this is exactly correct. We are living in the last days. But on the other hand, it has been the last day since the ascension of Christ. We the church has been in the last days. And so, you know, as we as we look at verse one and Paul declares that, you know, that there's going to be difficulties during the last days. We understand that we are in the last days, and we always have been in the last days, and the church exists in the last days. And so Paul is saying, look, in the entire history of the church, there's going to be difficulties. So let me give you a warning as to what will take place within the church during the history of the church. And Paul's already used this expression. Back in 1 Timothy chapter 4 he says this, but the Spirit explicitly says that in the latter times some will fall away from the faith paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons. Paul is speaking in the future tense here in verse 1 because what he is saying is that the difficulties will continue. that instead of things going better for the church, things will grow worse and worse. I mean, I don't mean to be so negative and give you the sense, you know, woe is me. We're without hope because we're never without hope. And the Lord Jesus Christ reigns upon the throne. But we are to understand in the history of the church, the church is the suffering church. Things will often be horrible and then things will at times be better. But in the entire scope of the church, things will grow worse and worse. Or as Paul says in verse 13 in chapter three here, but evil men and imposters will proceed from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived. So as we begin this section in verse one, Paul says, look, during this period of time, and I hope that by now you're clear what this period of time is. It's the period of time between when Christ left. You remember Acts chapter one and our Lord gives charge to the apostles He says, look, you will be my witnesses, both in Judea and in Samaria and unto the uttermost parts of the earth. So, you know, wait for the Spirit to come and you will be equipped and you will be my witnesses and you will go forth with power. And then he ascends. And you can imagine the sight. Here's the Lord Jesus Christ in bodily form, giving charge to the disciples. And then he ascends. It was a visible, physical ascension. So he begins to rise and he rises and they're gazing. And he's arising until finally he kind of disappears in the clouds. And they're still gazing upwards and in awe and wonder and imagining in their heart what in the world is going on here. And they're just standing gaze dumbfounded, if you will. And then. It says here that as they were gazing, this is Acts 1 10, as they were gazing intently into the sky while he was going, behold, two men in white clothing stood beside them. Well, obviously these are angels. Two men in white clothing stood beside them, and they also said, men of Galilee, Why do you stand looking into the sky? This Jesus who has been taken up from you into heaven will come in the same way that you have watched him go into heaven." So then they returned to Jerusalem and there you go. So he's going to come back in the same manner, physically, visibly, with power and when he ascended, It was just a lone individual rising. When he returns, behold, the Lord will descend with a shout. You know, he's going to be surrounded by angels and an army, if you will, the heavenly host with a shout and the voice of the archangel and the trump the trumpet sounding. Imagine a voice shouting the coming of the King. It's almost like, here ye, here ye, behold the King. And trumpet sounding. It's going to be loud. It's going to be visible. And then the saints will rise to their King. The dead in Christ shall rise first. And then we which are alive and remain shall be called up to meet the Lord in the air. And as He comes to conquer and vanquish all His enemies, we will be with Him. And we will always be with Him. You know, remember what He said to His disciples before He left? He said, In my Father's house are many mansions, many dwelling places. If it were not so, I would have told you. Behold, I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go to prepare a place, I will come again and receive you under Myself, that where I am, there you may be also." So when we rise up to meet the Lord in the air, as He returns in power and glory, we will be with Him and we will always be with Him after that. Always be with Him. Well, these are the days that we're in. The day from the point that he left, of course, the Book of Acts is referred to as the Acts of the Apostles, but it's really a history of the early church. It's a history of the beginnings of the church. And we're still continuing in the last days. So during these last days, Paul's already said, In a large house, there's going to be vessels of honor and vessels of dishonor. There's going to be the real, and there's going to be the counterfeit. There are going to be those prepared for the master's use who purge themselves of all unrighteousness, who have been purged by his work and continue to purge themselves of all unrighteousness. And then Paul describes, well, if there are vessels of dishonor in the church, one, What impact does that have upon the church? What do they look like? What are the characteristics of these vessels of dishonor? What will be the impact that they have upon the church? And if the impact is that which is so dangerous, perilous times, difficult times will come. Then how do we deal with that? What do we do? And, you know, Paul will say in verse five, avoid such men as these. Do not bring them into your midst. As we read in First Corinthians, chapter five, Paul says, look, separate yourself. But what do you do in the case where you have if you have not been diligent? And there are many local churches that have not been diligent. And their roles are ballooned. In other words, many, many names on a membership roll, many of which they haven't seen for decades. What do you do? Well, that's a process you have to go through in the reforming of a local church. And Trinity had to go through that in the 1980s. And I remember very well a time when we had over 600 people on the roll. Imagine such a thing. 600 members at a time when we were running in the 40s in Sunday school. And you wonder, where in the world are they? The church that I was saved in, They did a minor, their goal was not to purge the role, but to visit everyone on the role, but not to do anything about those who they had not seen in many years. And they found some who had died, one or two in prison, just lost touch with those in the church. So what do you do? When you find yourself in this condition, well, the first thing you have to do is purge your roles. In other words, whittle your membership down to those who are your membership, those who are a part of the local church. And it may mean taking hundreds of people off the roll. You can imagine what turmoil and catastrophe that could bring in a lot of churches. And indeed, it does. But there has to be a purging. And, you know, Paul says, avoid such men as these. But there's always a danger in the local church. And there's ultimately, ultimately, you're not going to purge it out completely. It's not going to happen. So you receive someone into the church. They've got a good profession of faith. They say all the right things. Their testimony is right. You interview them carefully. You baptize them, bring them into the church. But in due time, they demonstrate they don't have a heart for Christ. They only possess a form of godliness. But there's no power. There's no indwelling spirit. What do you do? You can't just go through arbitrarily purging those that do not appear to be spiritual, if you will. And many times, they will never, ever do anything that's worthy of church discipline. So excommunication, which has been given to the church as a means of purging. Sometimes an individual never does anything worthy of excommunication, and so they're just there. They weaken the church. They bring down the purity of the church. And so it's a terrible thing. So these are dangerous times. These are times that Paul warns of. And so, you know, Paul saying within the church, there will sometimes be both. genuine and counterfeit, vessels of honor and vessels of dishonor. You know, Jesus described the net of the gospel that would bring in both good fish and bad. And there's a broader sense here, speaking of the world, but, you know, confine it more to the gospel and the local church. He says in Matthew 13, again, the kingdom of heaven is like a dragnet. cast into the sea and gathering fish of every kind. It's the nature of the gospel. We were bringing in souls through the preaching of the gospel of Christ. But when it was filled, they drew it up to the beach and sat down and gathered the good fish into containers. But the bad, they threw away. So it will be at the end of the age the angels will come forth and take out the wicked from among the righteous and throw them into the furnace of fire. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth." So one of the greatest dangers to the church has been corruption from within rather than persecutions from without. The persecutions have never been a danger for the church. The persecutions merely purify and strengthen the church. Always has. Always has. The persecutions are not the danger. Oh, I mean, they're horrible. Who wants to go into the Coliseum and be eaten by lions? That's a horrible thing. And we tremble to consider it. But that's not the greatest danger to the church. The greatest danger to the church is what Paul is discussing here. Because you have the danger from within more so than the danger from without. So in the next several verses, the Apostle Paul describes conditions that will bring great difficulty upon the church And they're all dangers that involve people within the church. It's really not talking about those outside the church. Those outside the church, we understand clearly. And we know what they are. And we pray for them. We bring the gospel to them. But we know that ultimately, we're not going to make them righteous. The only cure for their unrighteousness is the gospel of Christ. It's the purging power of the gospel. It's the regenerating grace of the Spirit of God. It is the cleansing power of the cross. That's the only solution. So what do we do with people outside the church? Here's what Paul says. Listen to those outside the church. He says, look, I wrote you in a letter. This is 1 Corinthians 5. I wrote you in my letter not to associate with immoral people. So it's a letter that we don't have. You know, Paul's letters in the New Testament are not the full number of letters. But these are the scriptures. These are the word of God, which means if if a boy in the desert digs up some pots, And they're full of letters from Paul. Those letters from Paul will not be added to our Bible. Our Bible is closed. It's a closed canon. This is the fullness of the word of God. This is all there is. There will never, ever be anything else added to it, nor will there ever be anything taken away from it. So this is the very word of God. So Paul wrote another letter that we don't have that wasn't scripture, but he refers to it here and he gives clarification to what he meant in the letter. So I wrote to you in my letter not to associate with immoral people. Now he gives clarification, but I did not mean with the immoral people of this world or with the covetous or swindlers or with idolaters. For then you would have to go out of the world. There is no way for us to separate completely from the immoral people of this world. You'd never be able to bring the gospel to anyone. He wouldn't be able to work. He wouldn't be able to go to school. You'd have to separate yourself from your neighbors and move out into the wilderness. You'd have to form a commune, like the monks did, thinking that by that they could remove themselves from the wickedness of the world, only find out the wickedness was among them. So you're not going to separate yourself from all the immorality of this world. So he says, well, He says, but then you'd have to go out of the world. But actually, he's going to give clarity now to what he meant in the letter, because they misinterpreted what he was saying. Actually, I wrote to you not to associate with any so-called brother. In other words, those in the church, not those outside the church, those in the church that called themselves brothers. In other words, I'm a Christian. I'm a part of it, and they were a part of the church. They had found their way into the church. They had made some kind of an outward profession of faith, brought into the church, but they were only so-called brothers. They were not the real deal. So I wrote to you not to associate with any so-called brother. If he is an immoral person, or covetous, or an idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or swindler, not even to eat with such a one. And I think that's referring to the Lord's table. And that's why we have what we call the semi-closed communion. And, you know, we give some criterion in our bulletin, but I think it's quite clear as it's described, you know, what's necessary to come to the Lord's table. Well, you have to have received the gospel of Christ. not a so-called brother, you got to be the real deal, who have repented of their sins and trusted Jesus Christ alone for salvation, and those who have been baptized by immersion as a sign of their union with Christ in his death and resurrection, and Those who are members in good standing of an evangelical church where they attend regularly and serve faithfully. In other words, they're demonstrating by their life the reality of regeneration, the reality of their union with Christ. And number four, those who are living in a manner consistent with their profession of faith in Christ. And if an individual can profess this, Because, you know, we used to make it much more strict how we fence the table. But basically, I would go to individuals who had been visiting with us for a while. And I would ask, well, have you have you professed Christ as savior? Have you been baptized? Are you a member of an evangelical church? Does your life demonstrate the reality of regeneration? And to these things, they would say, yes, yes, yes, yes. Well, we would like to then invite you to come to the table with us. So nothing's changed. We're just making the responsibility upon the heart of the individual. And if they deceive By coming, they would have done the same thing if I would have asked them personally. So we still practice very carefully, very seriously, a semi-closed communion. Because Paul says here, look, with such a one, do not eat. And then he says, for what do I have to do with judging outsiders, those outside the church? Do you not judge those who are within the church? We give very careful, strict attention to what's going on among the body of Christ here at Trinity. But those who are outside, God judges. So remove the wicked man from among yourselves. The context is the individual who had been having relations with his stepmother. And Paul says, deliver such a one over to Satan for the destruction of the flesh. which is perfectly consistent with what Paul is saying here in verse 5, avoid such men as these. So, all these dangers involve people inside the church, Not those outside the church. We know that it's dangerous outside the church. There are certain neighborhoods you don't go to. There are certain conditions that you would be very uncomfortable. And there are nations that rise up against nations. And there are those that will kill you because you profess the Lord Jesus Christ. That's a dangerous world. Not to mention all the dangers that come just from living in a fallen world where there's famines and pestilence and there's droughts and wildfires and tornadoes and hurricanes and pandemics. It's a dangerous world. But that's not what Paul's talking about here. Dangerous from within. Well, all of these involve people and there's there's some categories going on here. It's really hard to to strictly confine it to categories. They're generic in a sense. in which Paul is giving an overview of the types of issues that would be involved in individuals. But on the other hand, he's very specific. So we're going to look at these specifically one at a time because they're not just simply generic, though they seem to be categories. But on the other hand, they're not strictly in order. So you'll have one that in this category, And then he'll skip over two or three more and then bring another that's involved in the first category. So it's very difficult to put it systematically, this column, this column and that column. So there's going to be a bit of skipping around, if you will. But that said, I do believe that the apostle is describing various types and various circumstances and various people. It would appear that verses one through five describes church members whose lives are ungodly, counterfeit Christians. And then in verse six, still talking about counterfeit Christians within the church, but he describes false teachers. that would prey upon the weak, as he says here, enter into households and captivate weak women, weighed down with sins and led by various impulses. These are individuals in the church who are preying upon others within the church, those who are weaker, those who will fall prey to their false teaching. And so verse six deals with the false teachers. Verse seven, Paul is describing church members who are lacking spiritual discernment. He refers to them as always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. These are people inside the church, always learning. Some have sat in the pew for 20 years. Always learning, always there. They may have picked up on certain doctrines that they're really fond of, give great attention to. These are the doctrines that they hold to, they argue about, they like to discuss. Always learning. But they are just as void of spiritual truth as the one outside the church. Always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. And then verse 8, describes church members who stand in opposition to the truth. Now, Paul touched on this in the previous chapter, verse 25, with gentleness, correcting those who are in opposition. If perhaps, and he makes it clear, these are lost people. If perhaps God may grant them repentance, leading to the knowledge of the truth, and they may come to their senses because they're always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. and escape from the snare of the devil, having been held captive by him, to do his will. 8 Just as Janus and Jambres opposed Moses, so these men also opposed the truth. men of depraved mind, rejected in regard to the faith. And they will make no further progress, for their folly will be obvious to all, just as Jonathan Johnbury's folly was also." Now, this kind of gives you a brief overview of these individuals. Some of the descriptions here are dealing with personal sin, Sins that define the wicked heart, it may be covetousness, the love of material things, lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God. These are self-centered lovers of themselves and all that flows forth from that. But in other cases, they are situations that involve fellowship with others. So interpersonal relationships. disobedient to parents. And so relationships and inner wickedness. So Paul calls the existence of these people a great danger to the local church. They bring harm to the church. Now, remember, there's going to be situations where you can't remove them and should not remove them. The nature is, and it's always the situation in this life, It's better to allow a guilty man to go free than it is for an innocent man to be convicted. That's always the case. That should be the case in our judicial system. He must be proven beyond a reasonable doubt. Where did we get that from? That's the Christian influence upon our judicial system. So it's much better to allow a guilty man to go free because God sees all, knows all, and justice will ultimately be done. And it's the same thing in the church. It's much better to allow a counterfeit to continue rather than to risk harming, offending one of these little ones. We don't want to do that because in the local church, there can be some that are very weak and very frail and some that are so weak and frail that you wonder, Is there any life there? Are they a part of the body of Christ? And ultimately, we don't have perfect discernment. Be cautious not to touch the little ones, the weak. Jesus says it's better for a millstone to be tied around your neck and tossed into the midst of the sea than to offend one of these little ones. And as a preacher, I can be careful. You know, I do not want to give a counterfeit any hope. I don't want to give them any confidence upon which to rest. I don't want to. I want the law to come crashing down upon them. On the other hand, I don't want to be one that would quench a smoking flax, the tender, weak one who is already trembling, perhaps already doubting their faith. already trembling in the throne of grace, already declaring, I am unworthy. And for me to come crashing down on them, I cannot, I must not. And so for them, the law has been forgiven. The law has been fulfilled through the Lord Jesus Christ. He has forgiven you. He is your Master. He is your Lord. He is your Savior. You have rested upon Him. Look to Him. Trust in Him. And remember, Romans 8.1, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. The law can no longer condemn you, nor will it ever condemn you. And so you see the careful balancing act that a pastor must go through. And you come to passages like this. And these are people in the church. And you don't want to bring any hope or any confidence to these. On the other hand, pastors are shepherds. And there can be weak, wounded, bleeding sheep Perhaps they're even because of their poor diet, perhaps of their neglect, the eating from the green pastures. They need to be very carefully and cautiously provided for. Perhaps they've fallen prey to wolves who have wounded them, and they need to be bound up and helped. So that's the work of the shepherd, to guard the sheep from wolves, and wolves can find their way into the church, protect the sheep, and at the same time, fight off the wolves. And so that's what we do. So I trust that here this morning, I'm looking out at almost universally those who have professed Christ. And I trust that every one of you are genuine believers who are following Christ with your own heart. Understanding, we don't reach perfection in this life. You never will. If you are looking for perfection, you will be sorely disappointed all the time. All the time. You will find yourself condemned. You will find yourself hopeless. You will find yourself brought back under the law, which the Bible says cannot happen for a believer. And so, don't look for perfection, but do look at your heart. The heart's deceitful above all things and desperately wicked, but the heart that loves the Lord Jesus Christ has a different outlook, a different goal, a different purpose, and different motives. You're seeking to honor Christ with your whole life. So as we go through these descriptions, men will be lovers of self, Lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, unloving, and on and on. May none of these be the ultimate description of us. May we be, as one of the distinctives of our church, personal holiness, striving for personal holiness, striving to be more and more like Jesus Christ, understanding that sanctification is both that which Christ has done by his spirit and that which is progressing, and that which we share in. And so you have all these commands, flee from all appearance of evil, justification, our salvation is his work alone. But sanctification, it's ongoing. And so we may find at times lovers of money, and in our culture, and in our situation, we have to fight that all the time. It's hard to be frugal. It really is. It's hard to be frugal. It's hard to put money in its proper place. It's hard to be content. It's hard to deny. And, you know, it's the it's the culture in which we live. But we always have to be those who, as we as we see the world around us and it's it's on a it's a graph almost there is difficult times and better times. And I think that, you know, Paul says, I've learned to be full. And I've learned to be empty. I know prosperity, and I know want. And that's the nature of the Christian life. And are you prepared, because we may be going into a season of want, perilous times externally, not in the church. Are you prepared to go through difficulty content in Christ? He alone is sufficient. Well, I think that's enough said this morning. It serves as a good introduction to prepare us for what we're about to see in the coming verses. And remember, these are descriptions of individuals in the church that we always have to be on guard because they will present a difficulty for the church. They weaken the ministry of the church. They lower the standards of the church. And they can cause the church to forfeit the presence of Christ. That's fearful. You read the letters to the seven churches in Revelation. We can forfeit the presence of Christ. Dangerous. Danger. It's like the 1960s television show, Lost in Space, with the robot. Danger, danger, well, we're in danger. And we always have been. It's perilous times in the history of the church. May God protect us during such times. Let's pray. Father, we thank you that you do protect us. Your spirit is among us and you continue to uphold us. Or as Paul would say, nevertheless, the foundation stands sure. The Lord knows those who are his. Would you preserve us and protect us and provide for us, Father, unto the end? And help us to honor you and to glorify you with our lives. In Jesus' name, amen.