Heaven Rules In My Head | Elder Ang Peng Hoe

You're listening to a message to go from X Church. We hope this message

will light up your day. I've been having conversations with many different ones of

late, and I think one of the things that we realize is how how

the Word of God has diminished in today's world. It's getting less and less

of it. It's being diluted, is being changed, is being i don't

know, interpreted to suit whatever we want it or whatever we want to believe.

A lot of truths are no longer as it is per the Bible.

We don't get absolutes anymore. In today's world. Everything is abstract and whatever

you think of it. And so I've been reading God's word, going back

to it and asking, Lord, your word is an amazing gift. The

Word of God is a miracle on its own. The word. How it

came about, It's not it's not one book download downloaded at one point of

time and everything written out. You're talking about how it even existed, how

it came about, how it survived thousands of years, how it came to

be compound, how it remains the best selling book even till today, thousands

of years after it was actually collated and compound it's amazing. It's a miracle,

like you know, because it's not just one book, it's it's a

compendium of books. Basically, it's a library of books. And again,

these books, when you read it, and you read it all in all

true, they don't contradict one another. They actually speak of the truth.

There's so many prophecies in the Bible that has come to pass because whatever that

was propheside was fulfilled in scripture as well. It's amazing. And so I

want us to just have that as a background in mine because what I did

is I and simply entitle my message Heaven rules. Heaven rules in my head,

and I'll explain as we go along. We're going to be reading scripture

from Second Timothy, chapter two. I'm going to be reading from verse fourteen

all the way eventually to somewhere about chapter three, verse nine. Okay,

a little bit of background, and I hope my memory doesn't fail me.

I didn't prepare this part. But Timothy is actually a very very interesting letter.

Some people call it the pastoral Epistles. That means is basically a letter

four pastors. And Timothy was actually like a pastor of the church. He

was of course, Paul's good old son. Okay, Paul sort of adopted

him like his own son. And so there are a lot of teachings in

these letters to Timothy, and it's very pastoral in nature because of his function

and his role. And so when we are reading the scriptures, have that

in mind as well, because some contexts will go a long long way.

So I'm going to be reading some scriptures. Really the title of the message

is Heaven rules in my mind, okay, and we are going to be

focusing on the word of God. Amen, let's do this. Second Timothy

chapter two, verse for ten says, remind everyone about these things and command

them in God's presence to stop fighting over words. Such arguments are useless and

they can ruin those who hear them. Okay, I'll give you some contexts

now. I believe one of the greatest dangers to the church comes from the

insight of the church, not really not necessarily from the outside, you know,

from the outside. Usually what we expect we expect at texts. We

expect hostility, which I think the Church has been battling through the centuries and

they've gotten you know, they know why to expect. No the world there

isn't accept where we say they'll attack us, they will be hostile with us.

But from the inside of the church, what the devil usually tries to

do is the devil tries to corrupt the truth. That's why we're talking about

the Word of God, corruption of the truth. And so the key word

that actually shines throughout these passages that we're going to be reading today is actually

truth. You will see truth mentioned time and time again, and that is

what we stand for. And it is our task before God Almighty to actually

keep the truth intact. That is our purpose as believers, keep the truth

intact. So the truth always starts in our hearts. It does. Faith

comes from by hearing and hearing. If you hear, it processes. I

know it also has to connect with our heart. But many at times,

no, you can. You can feel something, but if you don't,

you're unable to rationalize it or accept it in your hate and in your mind.

It will be a matter of time before your feelings and your emotions go.

So we must always remember truth is in our hats. Truth is based

on facts that has already happened. Truth is so important and no, we

must have the knowledge of the truth and that's why I entitle it. Heaven

must rule in our heats. It's very important. So there are two ways

in which truth can be destroyed. First of all the tongue and then second

the life. Okay, what do I mean by that? So basically,

true words and true works, both these things can actually contradict the truth.

No, I can contradict the truth by what I say or by what I

do. You'll agree with that. Either way, I've attacked the truth and

may be more difficult for someone else to actually hear and accept the truth of

God. So it may be strange sometimes you think works can contradict the truth.

Of course you can know. If people outside the church see the way

we live our lives and see that the things that we are doing contradict what

we are preaching and what we are teaching, then they will not come to

know the truth. Can we accept that we can? So both of these

things can actually get inside the church. And when we read this portion of

Scriptures, you realize that the later parts of chapter two is actually concerned with

corrupting words that deny the truth and cause people to not be able to accept

the simple, plain meaning of what God has said in Bahassa. The word

of God is called ferreman tuhn, basically whatever God says, okay. And

then in chapters three, when we read later verses one to none, you

will see a list of deeds, deeds as in a list of works,

a list of actions that can likewise corrupt the truth and destroy. So you'll

hear in all unhealthy words that can really eat into the body of Christ,

like cancer, will be highlighted in this script. Just words like you know,

arguments, foolish talks, controversies, quarrels, and these are the things

that actually spoil the truth in the church. You chatter, you quarrel,

you gossip, you talk, and the way we talk is not sanctified by

the word of truth. So you know, sometimes we can have a discussion

and argue just for argument's sake. Many of us have ever got ourselves into

that we have one way or the other. So Paul actually teach us that

this sort of things there's no good And many people have actually turned away from

the truth by argument. And it is actually a very set thing when that

happens. When we argue, when we quarrel, when we contradict the truth.

And you may be interested to know. Actually, the Greek world,

the Greek word that has translated ruined here just means to pull a thing down,

or to turn it upside down, to upset it, to demolish,

to demolish it. So the sort of argumentative discussions that we can sometimes have

Paul has in minor that it actually obsessed, makes the hearers so upset that

they never want to listen to the truth. So a church does not need

to demolish things by discussion and argument. We don't. Instead, a church

actually needs to be good builders. We need to be good workmen who will

not demolish the faith of hearers, but strengthen it, build it up step

by step. Makes sense. That's why we're going to read Versus fifteen to

nineteen. Now I'm just reading. I'm reading it in order. Actually,

and second Timotive Versus two, Chapter two, verses fifteen to nineteen says this,

No, it's entitled and approved worker. I'm reading from the Nalty version.

It says this a work hard so you can present yourself to God and

receive his rover. Be a good worker, one who does not need to

be ashamed, and who correctly explains the word of truth. Avoid worthless,

foolish talk that only leads to more godless behavior. This kind of talk spreads

like cancer, as in the case of Hymenaeus and Philitus, they have left

the path of truth, claiming that the resurrection of the date has already occurred.

In this way, they have turned some people away from the faith.

But God's truth stands firm like a foundation stone. With this inscription, the

Lord knows those who are his, and all who belong to the Lord must

turn away from evil. Amen. So we now come to verse fifty nine

is a key verse. It says this, no, do your best to

present yourself to God as one who is a proof Now, one of the

first things that you ask when you apply for a job is you ask the

person that you're interviewing, have you got any references? Right? Where was

your last job? So the word a proofer is almost It almost means like

have you been referred to? That means someone else has approved you. So

a workman can actually say, or someone applying for a job, this is

my reference, and here is my previous boss opinion of who I am.

And then when he says study do your best, it basically just means always

do your best to present yourself to God. A workman with good references,

a proof is qualified and is skilled. Makes sense. So now we come

to these two things that a worker for God needs, a workman for God

needs we need. This person needs to have pride in his work and proficiency

in it. So isn't it lovelier to meet someone who takes pride in his

work. If there's something wrong with it, he will return to it,

keep working on it until he gets sit right, and then he can say,

I know I've done a good job. Now he can let anyone come

and take a look, take a look at what I have done, And

he will not be ashamed or embarrassed by what he has done. He will

be proud. He will stand there and let anyone and everyone inspect his work.

You know that our Bible study is to be like that. The study

of the Bible for us is to be like that. We are to study

the scriptures that we are not ashamed of, and we are to talk about

them, study and talk about them. We don't rush straight. We are

proud of our workmanship because we have done it properly. We have studied hard,

we have done our best. That is why God is what Paul is

trying to tell us, no, study yourself to show yourself a proof.

And that means you take pride in your work, and that means that you

study God's work diligently. Now, you cannot take pride in your workmanship unless

you have proficiency in it. And you know that proficiency never comes about quickly.

I mean, you can ask man plays the druma But some people are

just okay. They got inborn talent and can pick up whatever instrument, whether

there's a pale and my loocan and make music out of it. But most

of us, what we need to do is we need to practice, so

nothing comes straight away. And there's only one way of being proficient in something,

and that's to do the thing again and again and again and again.

And it is the only way you will ever be proficient in handling scripture,

because the Bible has so many truths in it, and you will spend your

entire lifetime with it and still say, there are some parts that I don't

fully understand, but I want to study it again and again and again until

you begin to handle your tools properly. That's what God's word is in our

lives and that's why the translation is this no, rightly handling the Word of

Truth. Again, I'm not, I'm just well commenting on scripture, paraphrasing

the different things that we have just read. It says rightly handle the Word

of truth or correctly explaining the truth. And so Paul actually uses this phrase

the Word of Truth twice elsewhere, and when he uses it in these two

other occasions, he's actually referring to the Gospel. He's referring to the good

News of Jesus Christ. You see it in efficience, you see it in

collosions. When it's mentioned the Word of Truth, it usually refers to the

Gospel. So the work man God wants is one who can handle skillfully,

accurately, and preach in a straightforward and in an accurate manner the Word of

Truth. Basically, be able to preach the Gospel. You don't get that

easily. You get it by studying and studying and studying the Word of Truth.

That's why we always encourage believers to read your Bible, pray every day.

It's needed, is necessary because to be able to say I have knowledge

of God whom I believe, I know the Word of God. Basically what

you're essentially saying, is there is content to our faith. There is content

to our faith. This means that that you have knowledge, you have wisdom,

and you have understanding. I will explain it. You know, to

have wisdom basically just means that you're able to grasp the truth. You can

catch whole of the truth. Being knowledgeable or to have knowledge means being able

to present the truth, and then being able to understand simply just means you're

able to apply the truth in your life. That's why we need knowledge,

we need wisdom, we need understanding because we need to grasp the truth,

we need to be able to present the truth, and we need to be

able to apply the truth in our lives. If we do not have content

to our faith, we will not be able to stay true to the path

in which we are supposed to take. And this path, according to scripture,

is always the strait and the narrow, and then we will end up

having worthless of foolish talk. That's what the scripture is telling us. And

so ultimately, in Christ lie hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.

That's taken from Collisions, chapter two, verse three. In Christ lie hidden

all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. If you want to be able to

know the truth, it's in Christ that we are able to know the truth.

We have to go to him first. That's very, very important for

us to understand. Does that make sense. Now, let's study, you

know, this disease of worthless and foolish talk. You see, any discussion

that is not centered on the Word of God eventually becomes futile, becomes a

waste of time. Unfortunately, here we actually read of two people who are

doing this in the church. You know, sometimes you do something and then

your name gets recorded in the Bible, and not always is a good thing.

So these two flesh Himonius and Philates, well, their names are in

the Word of God because they couldn't keep to the strait and narrow. Basically,

the scripture actually says that they have swerved from the truth or they have

left the path of truth. So, you know, let's take an example.

You know that Christ is coming back to earth one day. Right,

we believe in the first coming, we believe in the second coming of Christ,

and so we look forward to the second coming of Christ. But if

you meet, say a Jehovah's witness, they will tell you that Christ came

ready the second time you're missed, it came back in the early nineteen hundreds.

Now you can work this out for yourself. But the person teaching at

your doors that be saying that the thing that you are looking forward to has

already happened, are you able to distinguish and differentiate the truth. And so

this is why Himeneers and Philaters were actually doing because they were taking an event

to which Christians look forward. In this scripture, you will realize they're saying

the resurrection of the body, which has not happened yet. They say it

has already happened, and all of you all missed it. Basically, eventually,

when we die, we will be resurrected into the presence of God.

We have revelations for it. Okay, I'm not going to go into the

revelation study. But basically, they are saying something that has not happened.

They say it has happened, and you all missed it. They're telling everyone

you all missed it is so you're all doomed. No, what is more

amazing is that they could actually prove it the way they handle the word of

God. Basically, do you know if you actually make up your mind about

a thing first, and then you start reading the Bible. You can make

the Bible prove what you taught before you read it. Basically, you can

make the Bible say whatever you want it to, whatever you want to say.

And this is where swerving and unskillful handling has done a lot of damage.

You see, I don't really fear those who give their own opinions and

then deny Christian faith by their ideas. But h I'm absolutely terrified of those

who give us their ideas and make the Bible prove them, because these are

the dangerous people. Of course, this is what himoneers and philaters who are

doing. They were upsetting the faith, taking away the foundation on which people's

faith is built. So we got to be very careful. That's what the

scripture is actually telling us, be careful. You need to know the word

of God. So what are we to do when this happens? What are

we to do when this happens when someone comes up with an idea and uses

scripture and tells you that this is it. So the answer that Paul is

presenting to us here, it's actually says this. Now there is a firm

foundation again refer back to the scripture. You can see there is a firm

foundation. Basically, he's saying this, there is something that you can build

on, and then there is something that you can be sure off. You

see, the church building has a foundation stone. It's called a cornerstone.

Some people call it a capstone. I think basically, in a big structure,

you have the cornerstone, the one that actually holds the entire structure together.

That's what we're referring to. That is the firm foundation. And here

is where Paul actually mentions that the church's foundation has a sure inscription on it

and these are the two things that must be engraved in the church's foundation.

He's saying these two things. If your church foundation is strong, it will

be there. Usually in today's world, you have a cornerstone. What's engraved

or need. If I'm not mistaken, is the year in which the building

is built up. The architects may correct me if I'm wrong, but he's

saying that there will be these inscriptions on it. Two things engrave in the

church's foundation. The first thing is this. The first thing is that God

can sort out the truth from the false. And I'm not I'm not coming

up with things. If we can refer back to the Scripture XTV, the

last slide of the scripture, can you go up? Okay, stop because

he says this non but God's truth stands firm like a foundation stone. With

this inscription. He says, the Lord knows those who are his, and

all who belong to the Lord must turn away from evil. These are the

two inscriptions. Now come back, So what is it the first inscription?

God can sort out the truth from the false. He knows those who are

his. You hear all these different interpretations, but don't get worried, because

God knows which is the right one, and one day He's going to sort

it all out. He will. The other thing is this, we know

which is the right one too, because everyone who is truly teaching the truth

will depart from evil and wrongdoing. Why do I say that you see her

Jesus Warner in the Sermon on the Mound that false preachers would come dress not

as wolves but as sheep, and sheep are basically the people of God,

or look to be representing the people of God. So our Lord actually warned

his followers that people would come into the church professing Christians who would be false

prophets, and how do you identify them? Then? Will you identify them

by their fruits? If that man is not growing in grace and himself not

getting any nearer to God and living a holier life in God, then you

know that he is not truly a teacher and not someone who is preaching the

truth. Because a true teacher will take note of what he teaches himself and

do something about it. So you need not worry that there are false teachers

because God knows who are his, and we have a test, so God

knows how to sort them out, and we have a test to do ourselves.

We can ask those questions, what is this person's life? Life?

Is this person leading people to more Godliness or to less godliness? Because a

false teacher will lead people further from God and into ungodliness, and his life

will be less holy than before. But a teacher who is from God will

raise the standard of living and holiness so that we are We need not be

upset, though, because that is the firm foundation. You know, science,

I think about my relationship with my mentor is past the cannon in this

church structure, and you know there are days when he can correct me.

He can rebuild me, and he can be very, very painful. And

of course I always ask myself why why must I follower? Why must I

follow? But I realized the things that he does is never to make me

turn away further from God. That means, while I feel convicted, it's

not the type that you know. I want to justify myself and make myself

right. And that's why I don't like what this person is saying, because

when I'm challenged in my spirit, I know I need to do the right

thing to grow closer to God. So essentially, what he is doing is

drawing me closer to God instead of causing me to be a repellent unto God.

And that's how I continue to apply, you know, these teachings into

my own life, and I pray that each and every one of you will

do that as well. That means, yes, God will sort the people

out one day. But at the same time, he's saying, you can

also determine the right from the wrong, because that is the firm foundation that

is inscripted into the cornerstone of the church. Makes sense. Now we move

on to a matter of cleanliness and purity, and somehow it will all fit

one. I know, when you read the scriptures, it's like, but

I'm trying to break it down to help us. Sed, it's all the

same scripture. I'm reading one after another. So from verses twenty to twenty

one, it says this, in a wealthy home, some utensils are made

of gold and silver, and some are made of wood and clay. The

expensive utensils are used for special occasions, and the cheap ones are for everyday

use. If you keep yourself pure, you will be a special utensil for

honorable use. Your life will be clean, and you will be ready for

the Master to use you for every good work. So in a large house

there are usually lots of vessels, lots of utensils, lots of jazz,

lots of containers, all different shapes and sizes. Okay, some of them

are clean and can be used for anything and everything. So basically that's what

a clean vessel can do. It can hold anything. But there are some

vessels in your house that cannot be used for anything at all because they are

dirty vessels. Say like your rubbish bin. Okay, your rubbish bin.

You can use a dirty vessel, but only for very limited purposes, right,

but you can use a clean vessel for anything at all. Making sense,

So Paul is actually telling Timothy that in the church, Christ needs people

who are clean vessels, so he can put anything he wants in that person

and use them for any purse God desires. If they are dirty vessels,

he may be able to use them, but only for certain limited purposes,

whereas a clean vessel is really for any good world. So what are the

sort of dirt that he has in mind? He goes on to describe it

now in verse twenty two. Onwards, I'm reading verses twenty two to twenty

six. Everyone's still with me. Stay with me here. Run from anything

that stimulates youth full luss. Instead, pursue righteous living, faithfulness, love

and peace. Enjoy the companionship of those who call on the Lord with pure

hearts. Again, I say, don't get involved in foolish, ignorant arguments

that only start fights. A servant of the Lord must not quarrel, but

must be kind to everyone, be able to teach and be patient with difficult

people. Gently instruct those who oppose the truth. Perhaps God will change those

people's hearts and they will learn the truth. Then they will come to their

senses and escape from the devil's trap, for they have been held captive by

him to do whatever he wants. Strong but it says there is no run

away from youthful passions and lasts. Those are not the only those are not

only the passions of last that we can think of, No, because there

are other things. No thing about it. I believe it could also be

the passion of ambition, the passion of novelty. What is it? What

is the youthful passions within us? Last? It is definitely there. Ambitious.

Sometimes we can be so overly ambitious that we care for no one else.

The passion of novelty. You know, in this generation we want all

things new. We want everything new. We don't like what's old. Give

us this new thing. Give us something comes out, something new keeps coming

out over and over again. It really rolls really fast. Then they're also

youthful passions like impatience. I think you know we live in a very microwave

centric generation. That means we want things fast and quick. The passion of

argument. You realize our generation right now is quite argumentally. We are very

very competitive. Basically, I always tell people in the workforce nowadays you've got

no more colleagues and friends. You only have competitor. So you look at

your colleague as someone that I need to do better lot because I need I

want the promotion. I don't want that person to have the promotion. That's

that's the reality of it. And this is this are the youthful passions that

we are to shine from or run away because they make a vessel dirty.

And if the vessel is dirty, God cannot use it for anything and everything.

So a useful utensil to God must be two things. Then you realize,

firstly, it must be clean, and then the second thing is it

must be consecrated, ready for anything. So if you want God to use

you for himself, then make sure. In short, he's saying you have

to be clean and you have to be holy. How does that all fall

into place? I will keep explaining. Okay, let's let's continue, because

verse twenty three actually returns to having those strong debates again, having those arguments,

those verbal conversations. How can we manage arguments? Then? Verse twenty

four tells us the thing the church needs when we are handling someone who is

quarrelsome and someone teaching all these different kinds of teachings. Okay, here is

the hardest thing of all. On one hand, you can win your argument

with the with the person, but you can lose them. On the other

hand, you can lose your argument or you win the person. But the

most difficult thing to do, and the thing that we are supposed to do,

is to win the argument and win the person, because when we win

the argument, essentially we are saying that we are not allowing the truth of

God to diminish. Okay, So when you meet a false teacher, a

man for example, who is teaching that Christ was not born of a virgin

and miracles did not happen. Okay, let's just say you meet someone like

that. You have three choices. You can argue with him until you win

and he goes off hating your face and you have lost your men. Or

you can give him to say give him to this give in to this person

and say, well, I think you're right, maybe Christ wasn't born of

the virgin and miracles did not take place. But you may gain your men,

but you have lost your argument and the truth is gone, and a

lot of times to date the truth is gone. But the most difficult thing

is of all is you have to speak to him that you both win your

argument and win the person. How do you do that? Well, Scripture

actually says you do that by correcting him, speaking to him of what is

right. You have got to do that. It is a duty for us

to speak what is right. But it will largely be concerned with the manner

in which you do it. So if you do it in a fighting spirit,

with a quarrelsome attitude, harsh or overbearing manner, then you will win

your argument, but you will lose the person. On the other hand,

your manner is so gentle that you never correct the person at all, then

you will win the person, and you will still lose the argument. But

if you correct him with gentleness and kindness, but tell him quite clearly that

where he is wrong pointed out, then you may win both the argument and

the person. Still with me, that is what Paul is teaching. You.

See. The devil's trigger is to get hold of Christians and swerve and

divert them from the truth, and a good and kind teacher may be able

to bring them back and teach them what is right. We are all believers

called to be approved workman for God. This is our responsibility because sooner or

later, and I keep you not corrupted words. If you let it continue,

words which are corrupted, words which are being used, no quarrelsome attitude,

you let it continue. Sooner or later, false teachings lead to false

living. And then now we have come to the other side. Let's read

verses one to four of chapter three again. I'm just reading in chronology.

It says this is no you should know this, Timothy, that in the

last days there will be very difficult times for people who will love only themselves

and their money. They will be boastful and proud, scoffing and God,

disobedient to their parents and ungrateful. They will consider nothing sacred. They will

be unloving and unforgiving. They will slender others and have no self control.

They will be cruel and hate what is good. They will betray their friends,

be reckless, be puffed up with pride, and love pleasure rather than

God. Paul says that there will be times of real strain for us believers

actually, and I believe that believers are actually already living such times. I

do what happens in such time. Now, First of all, our men

will be quite fierce love, fiars with one another. That's the word actually

use in some of the translations. Right in the middle of this horrible list

of things, now you realize some of the worst things that has ever happened

in human history will be happening. You look at this list, it's basically

a list of godlessness. Right, So I want you to notice the first

thing. The first thing is there is no notice the first, and notice

the last. The first thing it is lovers of self rather than lovers of

God. Do you know what sin is? Sin is basically wrongly directed love.

You see, when God made us, he made us capable of loving.

And you either love him or you love self. So a person who

loves self is a sinner. I know, strong, strong, but that

is the reality of God's word. So a person who loves God is a

righteous man or woman. The times of stress come when people do not love

God anymore, they just love themselves. We are not far off in this

generation where many people hate God and the things that we hear people talk about

God, or the actions that we see in how people are behaving towards God.

Are we not in such times of stress? You see, if you

love self, then Secondly, what will happen subsequently to loving self is you

will become a lover of money. You can't help that, because if you

look after number one, which is earth, you will naturally move on to

number two, which is the very thing that you need in this world money.

If you are a lover of self rather than the lover of God,

then I will guarantee you you will begin to one more and more money,

so until it becomes like a drug. And when you get more money than

you become proud and arrogant. And you can see how it goes. The

least is progressive one. It just gets worse and worse and worse. There's

a lot of truth in what Paul is writing, because it goes no from

boastful and proud scoffing at God, disobedient to their parents, and ungrateful.

They will consider nothing sacred. They will be unlerving and unforgiving. They will

slender others and have no self control. They will be cruel and hate what

is good. They will betrayed their friends, be reckless, be puffed up

with pride and love pleasure rather than God. It gets progressively worse. You

know these types of stress that we are living in and basically indicates that it's

going to get more and more difficult to raise children actually, in all honesty,

because we are so exposed. Our generation today is so exposed. There's

so many things out there, things that can influence, things that can you

know, back in nowadays, my days actually already had some some form of

internet and into the internet can be the mother of all evils, right,

that's the reality. But you know, I don't know. Maybe back in

my grandmother's days, children were more insulated. I mean, whatever happens is

whatever happens in your house, lad the bad influencers that they get, I

mean science. I hear my parents talk about how the bad influencers in their

lives where our grandpa was a drunkard, grandmother love to gamble, like to

play my joone. But it's usually things that are happening we didn't because people

are a little bit more insulated today. Everyone is exposed because that's the reality

of it, and we are exposed. One that we exposed. We were

exposed to a generation that doesn't know how to speak properly. And then eventually

the way we live is without God is godlessness. We do whatever we want

and that is where we are today, and that's why. The next surprising

thing that this chapter tells us is that such people and take all of this.

No, it actually says such people still like religion. Basically, how

I translated is we will we will still have fashionable, crowded churches. Verse

five of Second Timothy. He says this, they will act religious, but

they will reject the power that could make them godly. Stay away from people

like them. I'm just going to finish off nor verse six to verse nine.

It goes on to say they are the kind who work their way into

people's homes and win the confidence of vulnerable women who are burdened with the guilt

of sin and control by various desires. Such women are forever following new teachings,

but they are never able to understand the truth. These teachers oppose the

truth, just as Janus and Gambrest oppose Moses. They have depraved minds and

the counterfeit faith. But they won't get away with this for long. Someday

everyone will recognize what fools they are, just as with Janus and Gambres.

Isn't that quite astonishing? Not the first part especially. It says they will

act religious, but they will reject the power that could make them godly.

Men are religious creatures. And even though he's living for money, even though

he's living for pleasure, even though he is living for himself, wrapped up

with all everything about him, men can still go to Chechen. That's the

reality of it. And I preach this to myself in all honesty. You

will get all the form of appearance of religion, but without the power,

without the dynamite. You see, what is the gospel. The gospel is

the power of God unto salvation. That's what the gospel is. So you

speak to them of the Holy Spirit, and they either like, I don't

know what you're talking about. No, I don't think such things have applicable

today. Don't don't talk Holy Spirit. The only Christianity that is worth calling

Christianity is Holy Spirit Christianity, because that is the Christianity that has power in

it, not just a form of religion. So the reality is these peoples

who are corrupted, these different ones who are corrupted in their works, will

be inside the church, but you will not see the power of the Holy

Spirit in them if you talk to them of the Holy Spirit. Power to

sanctify they will deny it. It is not what they want in their religion.

They want the form or the fashion of religion, but they do not

want the power. And then Paul says to Timothy, a avoid such people.

Don't get mixed up with them, because fashionable religion can go along with

love of self, love of money, love of pleasure. But that is

not Christianity, because that is form without power. We need the power of

the Holy Spirit in our lives. Don't ever think that, oh, I

don't think I can change, because when we say that we can't change,

that we are unable to turn around from our past and live for God.

We are saying that the Holy Spirit has no power over us, whereas the

Holy Spirit wants to consecrate us, wants to help us be set apart.

You know, I thank God that you can read true the last thousand years

of church history, and you will find that most false teaching eventually crumbles people

have turned away from it, and then the truth continues to prevail. I

thank God that the truth still prevails. Of course, we still have cuts,

and we still have different different ones interpreting things differently still today. But

I believe the truth always prevails. It's comforting to know that. That gives

me tremendous comfort because if we continue to give the truth, if we continue

to present the truth, if we continue to apply the truth, then it

will never fade away. And that if people come to the truth, their

progress will go on regardless of their teachers. Know whether the people are teaching

them real or false things, they will continue to grow and progress because what

they have within them is the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit, he is

the teacher, He is the difference then, and false teachings can only go

until a certain time it will collapse. You'll find churches that have collapsed and

dissipline because of false teaching, but now they are gone. It's over,

is done with. So it is something that is really dangerous. Dangerous we've

got to be We've got to learn how to distinguish. We've got to learn

and prepare ourselves on how to hang on to God's word. That's what I'm

trying to tell us. Essentially. I try to show you that the truth

is the important thing, and the truth goes on because the Word of God

is alive and powerful, and we must keep it alive by studying it ourselves

and teaching it to others. It's not just my responsibility, not just the

leader's responsibility. Is each and every one of our responsibility. Because I tell

you, I kid you not. The Bible doesn't talk to leaders only the

Bible talks to believers. Is instruction for believers. You know. Hebrews Fall,

verses twelve to thirteen, and this is my last verse. It says

this, for the Word of God is alife and powerful. It is shepherd

and the shepherd's two aged sword, cutting between soul and spirit, between joint

and merrow. It exposes our innermost thoughts and desires. Nothing in all creation

is hidden from God. Everything is naked and exposed before his eyes. And

He is the one to whom we are accountable. Remember this, sir.

If Heaven would rule in our hates, then we should not just confess Jesus

with our mouths, but we must consider him in our mind and in our

thoughts. I will explain this. You see the world consider consider means to

give such earnest attention, to think so hard about something that you get the

message that you discover, the hidden meaning that we are able to master,

the mystery and the secrets. I know sometimes when we read scripture, it's

like a lot of secrets and a lot of mysteries. But if you consider

and let's let's let's let's take this statement for an instance. Consider the lilies

in the garden. Okay, I think that's in scripture right. That means

that we can look at the lilies in the garden and we can go,

wow, so beautiful. In God's creation, flowers are so pretty. But

when when we are asked to consider, not only will we realize the nature

of how beautiful the flower, how it is, we will realize that if

God can look after his creation so well flowers, you know, he can

clothe the field, the flowers in the field or something like that, or

he can clothe the birds in the air, will he not do the same

for his creation, his higher creation, that is us humans. When we

start thinking deeper into that word, consider that's what it means. Don't just

stand in awe the physical beauty, but take it one step beyond and realize

that is more than that. You know, God can do so much more.

So many people actually confess Jesus, but not many people consider him.

We can say I'm a believer, Jesus, you are my Lord. Not

many people consider him. Not many people think about him, Not many people

menditate on him, Not many people understand him. We will, ever,

only consider Jesus when we read and know his word. In fact, it

is to know the Word, because it says Jesus himself is the Word,

He is the logos. And this is how Heaven rules in our head.

Remember, the Word of God is living and active. You plant it deep

within your heart and it will germinate and it will grow. It's like a

two aged sword that cuts through a man's flesh and bone. Basically, it

can penetrate our physical and our innermost being. Will we accept the Word and

let him rule in our head? Or will we ignore him completely? Let

me let me draw a last analogy to help you understand this picture a little

bit better. Remember, the Israelites grumbled and complain against God for bringing them

out of Egypt. We read of the account and eventually the grumble, gramma,

gramma, complain. The whole generation never found peace and never found rest.

We know the whole generation was wiped out. You see, it was

actually very easy for God to get Israel out of Egypt, But comparatively,

it was really difficult to get Egypt out of Israel? What do I mean

by that? In other words, it's much easier to get a Christian out

of the world than it is to get the world out of the Christian,

which is what holiness is about. Because holiness is about taking the world out

of us. A lot of us are very worldly in our behavior, in

our mind, in our thinking, in our living, in a way we

conduct ourselves because we are living in this world what we are called to not

be a part of this. It's not easy, I know, but remember

this Christ not only rescues us out of something, he actually wants to redeem

us into something. He not only wants us out of the land that is

bad for us, but he wants us to go into the land that is

good for us. He not only wants Christians who profess, he wants us

to be spiritual and considerate Christians who will enjoy the Word of God. If

you want to be able to grasp the truth, if you want to be

able to present the truth, if you want to be able to apply the

truth in your life, then there is only one thing you need to know.

Actually, more accurately, is only one person you need to know,

and his name is Jesus. His name is Jesus, and that's why we

invite the Holy Spirit into our lives, because that is the main function of

the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit came to direct us to Jesus. Jesus

says, I have to go, but when I go, I will leave

with you a helper. I will leave with you, a counselor. I

will leave with you. Paraclectus is the great One, someone who will help

you. And basically the function of the Holy Spirit is to point believe us

to Jesus and what he has done for us. If we know that truth,

that truth will set us free. If you know Jesus, then I'll

tell you what Jesus will do. Jesus will tell you that my will is

to do that he will that the intent of the Father Spirit points to the

Son. The son always points us to the Father. We hope you've been

blessed by this message. For more information on our church, please visit x

Church the RG. We are also active on Facebook and Instagram. We're believing

that this week is going to be a good week, a hit for you. God bless