1 00:00:00,080 --> 00:00:03,800 Thousands of people are leaving their jobs to go into ministry. 2 00:00:03,800 --> 00:00:07,240 Some want to become pastors, some church leaders, some Bible 3 00:00:07,240 --> 00:00:10,680 teachers, some even Christian influencers or Youtubers. 4 00:00:11,040 --> 00:00:13,280 Now, I don't want anyone to misunderstand me. 5 00:00:13,560 --> 00:00:17,320 This is an amazing thing. We need more people to go into 6 00:00:17,320 --> 00:00:20,000 ministry because in the last six years alone, there's been a 7 00:00:20,000 --> 00:00:22,120 massive increase in people coming to faith. 8 00:00:22,400 --> 00:00:24,920 And maybe you watching this video right now, you have only 9 00:00:24,920 --> 00:00:27,520 been saved in, in the last five or so years. 10 00:00:28,080 --> 00:00:30,640 But there is something that I do want to caution. 11 00:00:30,640 --> 00:00:33,360 And again, I don't want to be negative, but some of these 12 00:00:33,360 --> 00:00:36,880 people, I think the Bible's clear, they are going into 13 00:00:36,880 --> 00:00:40,360 ministry for the wrong reason. Some of these people are even 14 00:00:40,360 --> 00:00:44,400 wolves in sheep's clothing. So today I want to give you 3 15 00:00:44,400 --> 00:00:47,600 red flags that that minister, that pastor, that person you're 16 00:00:47,600 --> 00:00:51,440 listening to, if they're doing these things, you should be very 17 00:00:51,720 --> 00:00:54,680 wary. Now if it's your first time on 18 00:00:54,680 --> 00:00:57,880 the channel, this is my Cup of Joe podcast where we literally 19 00:00:58,040 --> 00:01:01,120 is, all we do is we drink coffee and we look at the Bible. 20 00:01:01,280 --> 00:01:05,319 Very simple, no editing, no jump cuts, just coffee and the Bible. 21 00:01:05,319 --> 00:01:07,040 Now this is something you're interested in. 22 00:01:07,040 --> 00:01:10,280 First off, please do subscribe. And if you can see some faces up 23 00:01:10,280 --> 00:01:13,040 there and I want you to pay close attention to what I'm 24 00:01:13,040 --> 00:01:14,720 saying. Now these are people who've 25 00:01:14,720 --> 00:01:17,920 bought one of these mugs, but this is not a money scheme. 26 00:01:17,920 --> 00:01:21,360 So this is just literally some friends of mine bought me one of 27 00:01:21,360 --> 00:01:22,760 these mugs. They made one and then other 28 00:01:22,760 --> 00:01:24,400 people saying can we get one too? 29 00:01:24,640 --> 00:01:27,200 So if you buy one of these mugs, it literally just covers the 30 00:01:27,200 --> 00:01:30,200 cost of the printing. And once you've bought one of 31 00:01:30,200 --> 00:01:32,520 them, I'll send you an e-mail and we'll stick your face up 32 00:01:32,520 --> 00:01:35,200 here if you'd like to be in one of the videos. 33 00:01:42,040 --> 00:01:45,800 OK, the first red flag that you should be aware of is if this 34 00:01:45,800 --> 00:01:50,040 person, this church leader, this YouTube, this pastor, if they 35 00:01:50,040 --> 00:01:54,400 always want to be in control, if they love to be the boss, if 36 00:01:54,400 --> 00:01:57,560 they micromanage everything, that is something you need to be 37 00:01:57,560 --> 00:01:59,400 aware of. And we're going to look at a man 38 00:01:59,400 --> 00:02:01,520 called Diotrophes. That's who we're going to study 39 00:02:01,520 --> 00:02:05,320 today because he really does show us that this is not the way 40 00:02:05,720 --> 00:02:09,840 to be in Christian work. Turn to the Third Epistle of 41 00:02:09,840 --> 00:02:12,160 John and we're going to read verse 9. 42 00:02:13,800 --> 00:02:17,400 I wrote to the church, but Diotrophies, who loves to have 43 00:02:17,400 --> 00:02:21,280 the pre eminence among them, does not receive us. 44 00:02:21,680 --> 00:02:24,120 So here's the thing. We don't know if Diotrophes was 45 00:02:24,120 --> 00:02:27,640 a church member who had influence or if he was a church 46 00:02:27,640 --> 00:02:30,880 leader. I personally and theologians who 47 00:02:30,880 --> 00:02:35,800 I appreciate think he was likely a a church leader who had some 48 00:02:35,800 --> 00:02:38,960 kind of power in the church. But what we do know about him is 49 00:02:38,960 --> 00:02:40,960 this. He did have followers. 50 00:02:41,000 --> 00:02:42,600 There were people who listened to him. 51 00:02:42,880 --> 00:02:45,720 Otherwise he wouldn't be such a problem in the church. 52 00:02:46,440 --> 00:02:49,000 Now there are people in the church, if we're honest, who 53 00:02:49,360 --> 00:02:52,960 they love their own way. It's their way or no way. 54 00:02:53,200 --> 00:02:55,160 You hear them. You know when you go to the 55 00:02:55,160 --> 00:02:58,920 church business meetings and you know when they, they're in a 56 00:02:58,920 --> 00:03:01,920 prayer meeting, they, they can pray like a St. as Spurgeon used 57 00:03:01,920 --> 00:03:04,200 to say. But if they get into the church 58 00:03:04,200 --> 00:03:06,640 meeting, then they speak like a devil. 59 00:03:06,960 --> 00:03:09,120 They completely change character. 60 00:03:09,600 --> 00:03:12,920 And there is a problem when you get these church characters, I 61 00:03:12,920 --> 00:03:14,240 don't know if you've ever come across them. 62 00:03:14,600 --> 00:03:17,400 And some of them, they do the even the opposite. 63 00:03:17,600 --> 00:03:20,120 They don't even pray in, in the church meetings. 64 00:03:20,280 --> 00:03:21,680 They don't, You never hear them pray. 65 00:03:21,680 --> 00:03:24,400 But as soon as something comes to be discussed in a church 66 00:03:24,400 --> 00:03:27,800 meeting, like a building or someone who's going to come into 67 00:03:27,800 --> 00:03:30,720 membership or some kind of matter, suddenly they're very, 68 00:03:30,720 --> 00:03:34,000 very vocal. That to me is a very, very 69 00:03:34,000 --> 00:03:36,600 concerning sign. If you're silent when it comes 70 00:03:36,600 --> 00:03:39,920 to the things of God, but when it comes to something that's if 71 00:03:39,920 --> 00:03:44,560 you like more material, you've suddenly got a lot to say. 72 00:03:45,040 --> 00:03:48,080 Again, I don't want to be too negative about church ministers 73 00:03:48,080 --> 00:03:51,160 because I truly do believe there's an awful lot out there 74 00:03:51,160 --> 00:03:54,320 who are literally doing a wonderful work with no 75 00:03:54,320 --> 00:03:56,240 recognition. They're just getting their head 76 00:03:56,240 --> 00:03:58,800 down and they're serving the Lord quietly. 77 00:03:59,040 --> 00:04:02,440 And I have a lot of admiration for pastors and for church 78 00:04:02,440 --> 00:04:05,800 shepherds, but there are some who forget what the word 79 00:04:05,800 --> 00:04:09,720 minister literally means. It literally means a servant. 80 00:04:10,040 --> 00:04:12,960 And there are people who have forgotten their suffering 81 00:04:12,960 --> 00:04:17,240 servant role as a minister and they see themselves as a person 82 00:04:17,519 --> 00:04:20,600 of importance. They seek to to raise themselves 83 00:04:20,600 --> 00:04:22,160 up. You know, there's this kind of, 84 00:04:22,200 --> 00:04:25,800 if I, if you think of like a, a church pastor, like a, a mega 85 00:04:25,800 --> 00:04:28,480 church pastor, what comes to your mind now? 86 00:04:29,080 --> 00:04:32,120 I think you probably picture them with a smartphone dressed 87 00:04:32,120 --> 00:04:35,360 very smartly in their clothes. Maybe they've got a kind of 88 00:04:35,560 --> 00:04:39,080 entrepreneur kind of mindset. They're, they're strong, they're 89 00:04:39,080 --> 00:04:42,040 driven. And yet instead, what should 90 00:04:42,040 --> 00:04:44,920 they have in their hand? They should have a towel ready 91 00:04:44,920 --> 00:04:48,120 to wash the people's feet. Perhaps they should be dressed 92 00:04:48,120 --> 00:04:51,320 in more modest clothing more instead of flashy clothing. 93 00:04:51,360 --> 00:04:54,320 I was always struck by this when I was younger. 94 00:04:55,080 --> 00:04:57,880 One of the men who trained me used to say we shouldn't be 95 00:04:57,880 --> 00:05:01,240 trying to draw attention to ourselves with the way we dress. 96 00:05:01,600 --> 00:05:05,280 We should just, you know, seek to, to live humbly and not be, 97 00:05:05,280 --> 00:05:07,880 you know, have something that really draws attention, 98 00:05:07,880 --> 00:05:10,920 something in our appearance that that shocks people and, and, 99 00:05:10,920 --> 00:05:12,800 and, and pulls people to look at us. 100 00:05:12,800 --> 00:05:14,520 No, we're trying to look at Christ. 101 00:05:14,640 --> 00:05:17,280 I've used this illustration before, but preachers should be 102 00:05:17,280 --> 00:05:19,320 a bit like a finger pointing to the moon. 103 00:05:19,920 --> 00:05:24,240 Now a good preacher will just say, look, there's the moon and 104 00:05:24,240 --> 00:05:26,240 all the eyes are drawn to the moon. 105 00:05:26,880 --> 00:05:29,440 But a bad preacher will say, look at my hand. 106 00:05:29,560 --> 00:05:32,480 I've moisturized my hands today. My, my fingernails are all 107 00:05:32,480 --> 00:05:35,320 lovely and cut. Don't I have a beautiful hand? 108 00:05:35,320 --> 00:05:37,880 My hand is beautiful. Oh, and by the way, I'm pointing 109 00:05:37,880 --> 00:05:39,920 at the moon. Do you see what I did there? 110 00:05:40,160 --> 00:05:42,280 We shouldn't be drawing attention to ourselves. 111 00:05:42,280 --> 00:05:45,040 We should be drawing attention to the Lord Jesus Christ. 112 00:05:45,040 --> 00:05:50,400 That is our job as ministers, as preachers of the gospel, as the 113 00:05:50,400 --> 00:05:54,080 as John the Baptist said, he must increase and I must 114 00:05:54,120 --> 00:06:01,160 decrease. So you might have noticed a very 115 00:06:01,600 --> 00:06:04,560 strong word in that passage that we read pre eminence. 116 00:06:04,560 --> 00:06:07,160 Now those of you know your Bibles know that there is also 117 00:06:07,160 --> 00:06:10,040 another famous verse in the in the words. 118 00:06:10,040 --> 00:06:12,840 So if you've got a Bible there, just turn to Colossians chapter 119 00:06:12,840 --> 00:06:25,640 1 and verse 18. And he, that is Christ, is the 120 00:06:25,640 --> 00:06:29,760 head of the body, the Church, who is the beginning, the first 121 00:06:29,760 --> 00:06:35,760 born from the dead, that in all things he may have the pre 122 00:06:35,760 --> 00:06:39,000 eminence. Did you notice that He, Christ, 123 00:06:39,000 --> 00:06:42,440 must have the pre eminence? So here in here, in diotrophes, 124 00:06:42,440 --> 00:06:45,080 if we opened his heart, what do we, what would we see? 125 00:06:45,280 --> 00:06:47,560 Would we see a love for Christ? Would we see a love for the 126 00:06:47,560 --> 00:06:50,520 people? No, We'd see a love for himself. 127 00:06:50,680 --> 00:06:55,120 We'd see selfish ambition. And that is the sad reality of 128 00:06:55,120 --> 00:06:58,680 so many people out there. Particularly can I say on social 129 00:06:58,680 --> 00:07:02,360 media there's a desire that what will this do for me? 130 00:07:03,520 --> 00:07:05,560 Will this get me lots of subscribers? 131 00:07:05,920 --> 00:07:08,320 Will this get me lots of ad revenue? 132 00:07:08,560 --> 00:07:12,480 Will this get me lots of clouts? Will this get me lots of money? 133 00:07:12,480 --> 00:07:15,400 What will this do for me? You see what diotrophies did 134 00:07:15,400 --> 00:07:19,720 that was so bad is he claimed the pre eminence that belongs to 135 00:07:19,720 --> 00:07:22,000 Christ and he claimed it for himself. 136 00:07:22,000 --> 00:07:24,600 He took it, He stole what was the Lord's. 137 00:07:25,040 --> 00:07:29,160 And that is the big key issue. If there is a man or a woman who 138 00:07:29,160 --> 00:07:32,560 is in ministry who is really building themselves up that 139 00:07:32,720 --> 00:07:37,000 they, they love themselves, that is a really big warning sign 140 00:07:37,240 --> 00:07:40,480 because it's all about Christ. It's not about us. 141 00:07:40,640 --> 00:07:43,960 If you are a preacher, if you are a YouTube or you're in some 142 00:07:43,960 --> 00:07:46,120 kind of ministry, can I make a suggestion to you? 143 00:07:46,240 --> 00:07:48,160 And, and listen guys, I want you to know this. 144 00:07:48,160 --> 00:07:51,280 I don't have it all together. I make a mess in these things. 145 00:07:51,280 --> 00:07:54,520 I get in the way far too much. I'm not by any means judging 146 00:07:54,520 --> 00:07:57,920 anyone, but I do believe every single one of us should be doing 147 00:07:57,920 --> 00:08:01,240 some kind of sacrificial ministry on the side. 148 00:08:01,720 --> 00:08:05,600 Perhaps it's totally private and no one knows about it apart from 149 00:08:05,600 --> 00:08:07,480 the Lord, but what am I talking about? 150 00:08:07,640 --> 00:08:11,080 For instance, something I try to do is on YouTube. 151 00:08:11,120 --> 00:08:14,080 OK, let's be honest, People are very, very nice. 152 00:08:14,240 --> 00:08:16,040 People write really nice comments. 153 00:08:16,280 --> 00:08:18,840 People are lovely, particularly if you're in America. 154 00:08:18,840 --> 00:08:22,320 I'm not being picking out people in particular, but the Americans 155 00:08:22,320 --> 00:08:24,320 are very, very encouraging. They're very, very 156 00:08:24,520 --> 00:08:26,560 complimentary, more so than us Brits. 157 00:08:26,560 --> 00:08:30,160 We can be a little bit less complimentary, but what am I 158 00:08:30,160 --> 00:08:32,919 trying to say? YouTube builds you up. 159 00:08:33,080 --> 00:08:35,080 It can build your ego if you're not careful. 160 00:08:35,080 --> 00:08:37,120 Ministry can do that even in the church. 161 00:08:37,120 --> 00:08:40,000 If you're a young person doing ministry that the older people 162 00:08:40,000 --> 00:08:43,240 are really encourage you. So what do I try to do? 163 00:08:43,320 --> 00:08:46,920 I go out and I St. preach because there are so many times 164 00:08:46,920 --> 00:08:50,760 I'll be stood on my step ladder and no one will listen to me. 165 00:08:51,000 --> 00:08:54,120 I'll be just like a voice crying out in the wilderness. 166 00:08:54,120 --> 00:08:55,480 People will be looking down at me. 167 00:08:55,480 --> 00:08:59,200 People will say get a job and I think I've got a job and I'm 168 00:08:59,200 --> 00:09:02,880 very happy with it. Or they'll say things like, you 169 00:09:02,880 --> 00:09:05,160 know, have you got nothing better to do? 170 00:09:05,320 --> 00:09:07,840 You're wasting your time. No one's listening to you. 171 00:09:08,080 --> 00:09:11,920 And all these things, I'll be honest, they hurt, but they're 172 00:09:11,920 --> 00:09:14,000 needful. They're needful to bring me down 173 00:09:14,000 --> 00:09:16,800 a peg or two. So maybe St. preaching isn't 174 00:09:16,800 --> 00:09:20,120 something you could do, but could you go and do a work with 175 00:09:20,120 --> 00:09:22,920 the homeless? Could you do a a soup kitchen? 176 00:09:23,320 --> 00:09:27,040 Is there some sick people in hospital who need visiting or or 177 00:09:27,040 --> 00:09:29,280 an elderly widows, that kind of thing. 178 00:09:29,280 --> 00:09:33,080 You need to do something that's quiet, that's sacrificial, that 179 00:09:33,080 --> 00:09:34,960 will keep your feet on the ground. 180 00:09:35,160 --> 00:09:38,240 That's what you have to do because it's always about, you 181 00:09:38,240 --> 00:09:40,760 know, if we're always on a mountain, if, if your life is 182 00:09:40,760 --> 00:09:44,720 always like the highlight reel on on Instagram, eventually it 183 00:09:44,720 --> 00:09:48,200 will corrupt your soul. And I'm speaking from experience 184 00:09:48,200 --> 00:09:50,600 here. So get back out on the streets, 185 00:09:50,600 --> 00:09:54,400 get yourself humble and get yourself on, on the lowly things 186 00:09:54,480 --> 00:09:57,160 that none of us would be like diotrophies taking the 187 00:09:57,160 --> 00:10:00,280 preeminence that we would love, preeminence that we would love 188 00:10:00,280 --> 00:10:04,360 to be the center of attention. No, Joe Kirby, whoever you are, 189 00:10:04,720 --> 00:10:06,560 we're dust and ashes. We're nothing. 190 00:10:06,560 --> 00:10:09,880 It's all about him. So our second red flag, it's not 191 00:10:09,880 --> 00:10:14,840 actually that obvious, but in diotropheses case, we see he was 192 00:10:14,880 --> 00:10:18,320 threatened by John. And often a minister will feel 193 00:10:18,320 --> 00:10:22,440 threatened by other ministers or other people in the church 194 00:10:22,440 --> 00:10:26,960 perhaps who again have some kind of influence or authority. 195 00:10:27,120 --> 00:10:31,480 Just look at verse 9 with with me in 3rd, the 3rd epistle of 196 00:10:31,480 --> 00:10:35,280 John, verse 9. So I that's John wrote to, to 197 00:10:35,280 --> 00:10:38,440 the church. But Diotrophes, who loves to 198 00:10:38,440 --> 00:10:42,320 have the pre eminence among them, does not receive us. 199 00:10:42,720 --> 00:10:46,280 So he wouldn't receive John for one reason or another. 200 00:10:46,400 --> 00:10:48,320 And I think the reason's quite obvious. 201 00:10:49,120 --> 00:10:52,880 John was an apostle, but Diotrophes was not an apostle. 202 00:10:53,000 --> 00:10:54,600 He didn't have that kind of authority. 203 00:10:54,800 --> 00:10:58,040 And suddenly when John comes into the church, all of the 204 00:10:58,040 --> 00:11:01,320 attention is going to leave Diotrophes and it's going to be 205 00:11:01,320 --> 00:11:05,200 directed to John, who I believe would very wisely direct it back 206 00:11:05,200 --> 00:11:07,360 to the Lord. That was a threat to 207 00:11:07,360 --> 00:11:10,080 diatrophies. He wanted the pre eminence, He 208 00:11:10,080 --> 00:11:13,080 wanted the power. And so he was threatened. 209 00:11:13,080 --> 00:11:15,600 He was jealous. Do you know what one of the 210 00:11:15,600 --> 00:11:17,240 signs that someone is jealous of you? 211 00:11:17,240 --> 00:11:20,240 Do you know what it is? It's when they distance 212 00:11:20,240 --> 00:11:23,200 themselves from you. We again read about that in the 213 00:11:23,200 --> 00:11:24,880 Bible. You remember David, it was said 214 00:11:24,880 --> 00:11:27,280 about David. Well, Saul, it said Saul has 215 00:11:27,280 --> 00:11:31,760 slain his thousands, but David has slain his ten thousands. 216 00:11:32,000 --> 00:11:35,280 And these are women who are dancing away singing this song 217 00:11:35,520 --> 00:11:37,880 and and his soul getting very jealous. 218 00:11:37,880 --> 00:11:40,520 All of these women, some of them perhaps very attractive. 219 00:11:40,640 --> 00:11:42,200 They're singing songs about David. 220 00:11:42,200 --> 00:11:46,400 But but I'm a lesser 1. So what did, what did Saul do? 221 00:11:46,840 --> 00:11:49,760 He sent David away. He couldn't bear to look at him. 222 00:11:49,960 --> 00:11:52,920 The jealousy burnt in him so much that he he made him a 223 00:11:52,920 --> 00:11:56,360 commander of the army with the hopes, which is something David 224 00:11:56,360 --> 00:11:59,560 would later do with another man called Uriah, but with the hopes 225 00:11:59,560 --> 00:12:02,560 that him going out into all of these thousands of battles that 226 00:12:03,120 --> 00:12:06,120 he'd be done with, he'd be done away with, he'd be vanquished, 227 00:12:06,520 --> 00:12:07,960 and that problem would be no more. 228 00:12:08,320 --> 00:12:11,480 But you do see that, don't you? You do see that in people's 229 00:12:11,480 --> 00:12:14,560 lives, that if they're jealous of you, they may not want to 230 00:12:14,560 --> 00:12:17,840 spend time with you. They may ignore your messages. 231 00:12:18,320 --> 00:12:21,400 They may just just, yeah, I don't want to spend time. 232 00:12:21,560 --> 00:12:23,880 They'll spend time with lots of other people, but you, they'll 233 00:12:23,880 --> 00:12:27,040 give very little time to you. Now, I don't want to inflate 234 00:12:27,040 --> 00:12:29,720 anyone's ego here because perhaps they're distancing 235 00:12:29,800 --> 00:12:32,480 themselves from you because you've done something wrong or 236 00:12:32,480 --> 00:12:35,400 because, you know, as the Bible says, you know, that if you've 237 00:12:35,400 --> 00:12:37,560 got an ungodly character, it can corrupt you. 238 00:12:37,560 --> 00:12:40,000 And maybe they're there is a good reason for that. 239 00:12:40,000 --> 00:12:44,040 So just, but I'm saying sometimes that can be the case. 240 00:12:44,040 --> 00:12:47,640 Sometimes someone may just not want to be near to you because 241 00:12:48,360 --> 00:12:50,600 it it bothers them, it affects them. 242 00:12:50,840 --> 00:12:53,440 And I think that was definitely what was going on here with 243 00:12:53,440 --> 00:12:56,880 diotrophies. But guys, it was more than just 244 00:12:56,880 --> 00:12:59,720 distancing himself. Diotrophies went one step 245 00:12:59,720 --> 00:13:03,240 further. He spread lies about John. 246 00:13:03,240 --> 00:13:06,680 Just turn to again, we're in the third Epistle of John and we're 247 00:13:06,680 --> 00:13:08,680 looking at the first part of verse 10. 248 00:13:09,440 --> 00:13:13,760 Therefore, if I come, that's John, I will call to mind his 249 00:13:13,760 --> 00:13:19,600 deeds, which he does prating against us with malicious words. 250 00:13:20,080 --> 00:13:23,560 So in other words, diotrophies have been spreading all kinds of 251 00:13:23,560 --> 00:13:25,400 rumours. He'd, he'd said some things that 252 00:13:25,480 --> 00:13:28,960 were just totally not true. The word malicious words here 253 00:13:28,960 --> 00:13:34,800 means false and empty charges, false and empty charges. 254 00:13:35,320 --> 00:13:40,080 I think this is becoming a real problem online, maybe in the 255 00:13:40,080 --> 00:13:44,040 church, but particularly online, there are lots of people who 256 00:13:44,320 --> 00:13:46,520 they just love to, to make up stuff. 257 00:13:46,720 --> 00:13:49,920 Maybe it's in a comment section. Maybe it's someone who, you 258 00:13:49,920 --> 00:13:52,280 know, they've got a YouTube channel, but they've got no 259 00:13:52,280 --> 00:13:54,840 accountability. Some of them, you watch their 260 00:13:54,840 --> 00:13:57,760 channels and it appears that, can I say this, they've not got 261 00:13:57,760 --> 00:14:00,360 all of their chairs at home. They, they don't seem, you know, 262 00:14:00,360 --> 00:14:04,720 they feel like they're a few, I don't know, a few buttons short 263 00:14:04,720 --> 00:14:06,800 of a bag, as they say, I don't know, they've not got all of 264 00:14:06,800 --> 00:14:09,120 their marbles. And you watch them and, and they 265 00:14:09,120 --> 00:14:13,200 are spreading massive claims about ministers of the gospel 266 00:14:13,320 --> 00:14:17,400 who perhaps have got quite a lot of, you know, influence or 267 00:14:17,400 --> 00:14:20,440 they've, you know, won a lot of souls and they're saying 268 00:14:20,760 --> 00:14:23,240 terrible things. I won't name names because I 269 00:14:23,240 --> 00:14:25,160 don't want to get into all of this gossip loop. 270 00:14:25,160 --> 00:14:28,200 But there's one who I, I really have tried to defend as much as 271 00:14:28,200 --> 00:14:31,400 possible because this is one of the greatest evangelists, a 272 00:14:31,400 --> 00:14:35,320 wonderful preacher and some lies have been spread about him. 273 00:14:35,720 --> 00:14:38,880 And if you go on that guys channel who started these lies, 274 00:14:38,880 --> 00:14:42,160 because I did lots of research into where they come in from 275 00:14:42,160 --> 00:14:45,240 when I was making a video about this particular evangelist and 276 00:14:45,240 --> 00:14:48,440 it's from this guy and it's, you know, he looks like he's just 277 00:14:48,440 --> 00:14:50,920 living in his mum's basement. He hasn't had a Washington in 278 00:14:50,920 --> 00:14:53,480 about 8 weeks. He's not speaking clearly. 279 00:14:53,480 --> 00:14:57,680 It's all word salad and he's he's making terrible claims with 280 00:14:57,680 --> 00:15:00,080 no evidence that just false claims. 281 00:15:00,400 --> 00:15:02,240 Guys, we've got to be so careful of this. 282 00:15:02,400 --> 00:15:04,680 Just because someone makes a YouTube video and says this 283 00:15:04,680 --> 00:15:08,560 person's a false teacher or that person's a false teacher, we 284 00:15:08,560 --> 00:15:10,720 can't just run along with it like the Bereans. 285 00:15:10,720 --> 00:15:14,120 We need to be careful. But on the same side, we do have 286 00:15:14,120 --> 00:15:16,200 to be careful. And that is one of the dangers 287 00:15:16,200 --> 00:15:19,400 of, of online ministries. You don't know how I speak to my 288 00:15:19,400 --> 00:15:21,160 wife. You don't know whether I'm a 289 00:15:21,160 --> 00:15:24,320 good father or mother. You don't know how I live my 290 00:15:24,320 --> 00:15:26,960 life day-to-day. I could be a total fraud. 291 00:15:26,960 --> 00:15:30,720 I could be a total fake. And you know, and that's why we 292 00:15:30,720 --> 00:15:32,440 have to be accountable to the church. 293 00:15:32,640 --> 00:15:36,480 That's why as ministers of people who who, who do ministry, 294 00:15:36,480 --> 00:15:40,640 we have to get ourselves under people and we have to, you know, 295 00:15:40,960 --> 00:15:43,920 seek to to be under the Lord and and to pull all of those 296 00:15:43,920 --> 00:15:48,040 barriers up so that we are guarding ourselves of becoming 297 00:15:48,040 --> 00:15:51,680 like a diatrophies who is just unruly. 298 00:15:51,680 --> 00:15:54,040 He's unguarded. His mouth just just runs. 299 00:15:54,040 --> 00:15:57,240 Whatever he wants to say, he says it and it doesn't matter 300 00:15:57,240 --> 00:15:59,680 the damage he does to people and the people he hurts. 301 00:15:59,840 --> 00:16:01,920 As long as he gets the pre eminence, that's all that 302 00:16:01,920 --> 00:16:09,560 matters in his world. So yes, I suppose what I'm 303 00:16:09,560 --> 00:16:12,280 trying to say is this I am, you've known this some some of 304 00:16:12,280 --> 00:16:13,400 you have watched my channel for years. 305 00:16:13,400 --> 00:16:16,640 I'm very, very wary of people who've got discernment 306 00:16:16,640 --> 00:16:20,320 ministries is, is all they do is they call out false teachers. 307 00:16:20,320 --> 00:16:22,080 That's all their ministry is about. 308 00:16:22,400 --> 00:16:25,800 We are called to name names. And sometimes I think I need to 309 00:16:25,800 --> 00:16:28,720 be stronger in this and maybe I will make some videos in the 310 00:16:28,720 --> 00:16:31,560 future. But we've got to be careful not 311 00:16:31,560 --> 00:16:34,360 just creating gossip channels because some of these guys, 312 00:16:34,360 --> 00:16:36,240 that's all they do. They, they don't do a Bible 313 00:16:36,240 --> 00:16:39,520 study on the book of John. They don't do a study on, you 314 00:16:39,520 --> 00:16:42,600 know, the life of Jesus is all it is, is all it is, is just 315 00:16:42,600 --> 00:16:45,680 calling out these people. And they are getting thousands 316 00:16:45,680 --> 00:16:47,720 and thousands of dollars in AD revenue. 317 00:16:48,040 --> 00:16:51,040 Because the reality is people have got itching ears. 318 00:16:51,040 --> 00:16:52,760 They've they want their ears to be tickled. 319 00:16:52,760 --> 00:16:56,000 They, they want to hear the latest gossip of the, the latest 320 00:16:56,000 --> 00:16:58,520 dirt on that person. But we should be very careful of 321 00:16:58,520 --> 00:17:01,800 this because I do believe the devil loves it when dirt is 322 00:17:01,800 --> 00:17:04,599 thrown at ministers. He loves it when we sling dirt 323 00:17:04,599 --> 00:17:07,920 at one another because it creates more division and more 324 00:17:07,920 --> 00:17:12,280 uncertainty, and it upsets the church, those fragile little 325 00:17:12,280 --> 00:17:15,839 sheep who are hearing about all of these people. 326 00:17:15,839 --> 00:17:18,880 And it's who do I trust? And eventually some of them have 327 00:17:18,880 --> 00:17:21,640 enough and just pull away completely, when actually they 328 00:17:21,640 --> 00:17:24,599 were getting a lot of benefit from listening to Christian 329 00:17:24,599 --> 00:17:27,480 videos online or from going to a local church. 330 00:17:27,920 --> 00:17:31,760 None of us are perfect, but we shouldn't always be trying to 331 00:17:31,760 --> 00:17:34,600 pull out the little speck in everyone's eye and picking up 332 00:17:34,640 --> 00:17:39,320 any little thing as a way of making content or as a way of 333 00:17:39,880 --> 00:17:43,240 making ourselves look better. Sorry, just before I come to the 334 00:17:43,240 --> 00:17:46,760 red flag number three, I've actually got way more notes 335 00:17:46,760 --> 00:17:48,680 today for some reason. I just wanted to get this 336 00:17:48,680 --> 00:17:52,480 message right, but I just want to say this as well that I've 337 00:17:52,480 --> 00:17:55,680 just realised was in my notes. It is so important. 338 00:17:55,840 --> 00:17:58,560 Yeah, we should be calling out people. 339 00:17:58,560 --> 00:18:01,400 But if you do it, make sure you've got a heap of evidence, 340 00:18:01,640 --> 00:18:05,640 irrefutable evidence, evidence that no one can can deny. 341 00:18:05,960 --> 00:18:09,800 Don't just be going off gossip. If, if there is something that's 342 00:18:09,800 --> 00:18:13,160 been said or that's wrong that a minister's done, that does need 343 00:18:13,160 --> 00:18:15,440 to be brought to light. You know, they can't just 344 00:18:15,440 --> 00:18:19,280 continue in their sin, but there must be evidence. 345 00:18:19,840 --> 00:18:22,640 That's what I just want to emphasize, OK #3 our third red 346 00:18:22,640 --> 00:18:26,680 flag of a minister who perhaps isn't going into ministry for 347 00:18:26,680 --> 00:18:29,720 the right reasons or is even a wolf in sheep's clothing is 348 00:18:29,720 --> 00:18:32,560 this. They discipline or they 349 00:18:32,600 --> 00:18:36,760 reprimand or they rebuke anyone who doesn't agree with them. 350 00:18:37,040 --> 00:18:40,200 In other words, again, it's their way or no way. 351 00:18:40,200 --> 00:18:43,600 If you're not in my club, then you're not in any club. 352 00:18:43,600 --> 00:18:46,240 You're worthless. Just look at verse. 353 00:18:46,240 --> 00:18:50,680 We're going to look back at verse 10, the second part of the 354 00:18:50,760 --> 00:18:53,880 third Epistle of John and the second part of verse 10. 355 00:18:54,240 --> 00:18:58,600 And not content with that, he himself, this is diatrophies, 356 00:18:58,600 --> 00:19:02,560 does not receive the brethren and forbids those who wish to 357 00:19:03,000 --> 00:19:07,840 putting them out of the church. So here in this situation, we've 358 00:19:07,840 --> 00:19:10,840 got diatrophes who's jealous, who sees John as a threat, and 359 00:19:11,120 --> 00:19:15,400 he's saying anyone who's associated with John, it's guilt 360 00:19:15,400 --> 00:19:19,680 by association because they've associated with John. 361 00:19:19,840 --> 00:19:21,400 They need to be thrown out of the church. 362 00:19:21,400 --> 00:19:24,840 We need to have nothing to do with them, that they're rotten, 363 00:19:25,400 --> 00:19:27,680 They can't be helped. Let's get rid of them. 364 00:19:28,360 --> 00:19:30,680 Again, this is kind of linking back to what I was saying about 365 00:19:30,680 --> 00:19:34,480 the discernment ministries. I don't know what I think of 366 00:19:34,480 --> 00:19:38,000 this, but sometimes people, you'll have really godly 367 00:19:38,000 --> 00:19:42,200 ministers who've taught the word for for literally 30-40 years, 368 00:19:42,880 --> 00:19:45,200 tremendous preachers, the word, you listen to them, they do your 369 00:19:45,200 --> 00:19:48,200 soul good. And yet people then say mark and 370 00:19:48,200 --> 00:19:52,640 avoid them because they've perhaps gone to a conference and 371 00:19:52,640 --> 00:19:55,880 they've shared the stage with a well known false teacher and 372 00:19:55,880 --> 00:19:57,640 people say, right, that's it. We write them off. 373 00:19:57,640 --> 00:20:01,480 Now, guilt by association. I'm not so sure what I think 374 00:20:01,480 --> 00:20:04,920 about that because are they going up on that stage because 375 00:20:04,920 --> 00:20:07,400 they want to feed some good into all of these people. 376 00:20:07,400 --> 00:20:10,360 They want to counter the arguments that are being said. 377 00:20:11,200 --> 00:20:13,680 Are they doing it because they want pre eminence and they want 378 00:20:13,680 --> 00:20:16,720 to be in this big conference? I don't know. 379 00:20:16,760 --> 00:20:19,640 I'm just saying should we always write people off? 380 00:20:19,880 --> 00:20:22,000 I mean, how thorough can you be that way? 381 00:20:22,000 --> 00:20:24,680 You know, if you're going to say I write off this minister 382 00:20:24,680 --> 00:20:27,720 because guilt by association, you really need to put a 383 00:20:27,720 --> 00:20:30,640 tracking device. You need a tracking device that 384 00:20:30,640 --> 00:20:35,640 you put on every single person that you know because who are 385 00:20:35,640 --> 00:20:37,800 they hanging around? Who do they spend their time 386 00:20:37,800 --> 00:20:39,160 with? It's a full time job. 387 00:20:39,440 --> 00:20:43,760 Can we really separate ourselves by using this kind of criteria? 388 00:20:44,080 --> 00:20:47,400 I think it's very hard to do and I think we should be careful to 389 00:20:47,400 --> 00:20:49,120 do this. But here's what we do know. 390 00:20:49,120 --> 00:20:51,520 Diotrophies. He was going too far. 391 00:20:51,760 --> 00:20:54,920 And as we know, John was a man of God, but he was just throwing 392 00:20:54,920 --> 00:20:58,080 people out of the church because he wanted to and he had no 393 00:20:58,240 --> 00:21:02,040 biblical basis to do this. Church discipline is very, very 394 00:21:02,040 --> 00:21:06,600 important, but it's not to be there to be used by some 395 00:21:06,760 --> 00:21:10,040 egotistic church leader to do whatever they like. 396 00:21:10,160 --> 00:21:12,280 It's not meant to be a weapon in their hands. 397 00:21:12,640 --> 00:21:15,720 No, it's meant for purity of the church, believe it or not. 398 00:21:15,720 --> 00:21:19,320 It's meant for rescuing, for restoring the person who's 399 00:21:19,320 --> 00:21:22,480 sinning. Just turn to 1 Corinthians 5 400 00:21:22,480 --> 00:21:35,120 verse five with me. Deliver such a one to Satan for 401 00:21:35,120 --> 00:21:40,000 the destruction of the flesh, that his spirit may be saved in 402 00:21:40,000 --> 00:21:43,960 the day of the Lord Jesus. Now you might know this story 403 00:21:43,960 --> 00:21:47,280 well, but there was, you know, quite an issue going on in the 404 00:21:47,280 --> 00:21:48,960 Church of Corinth. Quite. 405 00:21:49,000 --> 00:21:52,480 It might even make you blush if I went into the details and it 406 00:21:52,480 --> 00:21:54,440 was happening here in the Church of Corinth. 407 00:21:55,280 --> 00:21:57,480 And what was the, the message that was said here? 408 00:21:57,480 --> 00:21:59,480 What, what was the, the word of the Lord? 409 00:21:59,800 --> 00:22:01,320 They were to send this person out. 410 00:22:01,320 --> 00:22:03,560 They were to discipline this person, take them away from the 411 00:22:03,560 --> 00:22:07,800 fellowship that the destruction of the flesh might happen by 412 00:22:07,800 --> 00:22:11,320 handing them over to Satan. And when you, you're sent out 413 00:22:11,320 --> 00:22:14,280 into the world, you've been shielded in the warmth of 414 00:22:14,280 --> 00:22:18,000 Christian fellowship. You've been protected by, by the 415 00:22:18,000 --> 00:22:20,720 Lord and the Lord's people. And now they go out into the 416 00:22:20,720 --> 00:22:22,040 world. What's going to happen? 417 00:22:22,760 --> 00:22:28,080 Well, we've seen it, don't we? Sometimes something goes wrong 418 00:22:28,080 --> 00:22:34,240 and divorce, health problems, just pain, just trouble. 419 00:22:34,240 --> 00:22:38,080 When people leave the nest, that safety, that shield, that, that, 420 00:22:38,080 --> 00:22:41,280 that flock of Christ and they go out into the world, they soon 421 00:22:41,280 --> 00:22:43,080 realise just how good they had it. 422 00:22:43,400 --> 00:22:45,600 And that's what I think this is Paul who gave these 423 00:22:45,600 --> 00:22:47,160 instructions. I think that's what he was 424 00:22:47,160 --> 00:22:49,680 trying to say here is we'll, we'll send this person out, 425 00:22:50,560 --> 00:22:53,840 they'll hand them over to Satan and they will see just what they 426 00:22:53,840 --> 00:22:56,880 had in Christ. They'll see what they had in the 427 00:22:56,880 --> 00:22:59,040 church. And that should hopefully bring 428 00:22:59,040 --> 00:23:03,320 them to a place of repentance that these sinful bits get cut 429 00:23:03,320 --> 00:23:06,720 off them get pruned off so they're ready to come back to 430 00:23:06,720 --> 00:23:09,320 Christ. And some of you, you've been 431 00:23:09,320 --> 00:23:11,640 through this yourself, whether you've been disciplined from a 432 00:23:11,640 --> 00:23:16,040 church yourself or you've just gone out and you've backslid and 433 00:23:16,040 --> 00:23:17,920 you, you thought you had it in your mind. 434 00:23:18,000 --> 00:23:20,200 I'll be amazed. And to do all of these things, 435 00:23:20,560 --> 00:23:22,760 you had a sort of fantasy of everything that's going to 436 00:23:22,760 --> 00:23:25,600 happen. But when you got the reality, 437 00:23:25,600 --> 00:23:29,520 you realised, yeah, being with Jesus was far better. 438 00:23:29,520 --> 00:23:32,120 Being in the church, though it might be quiet, though, it might 439 00:23:32,120 --> 00:23:34,760 be plain, though some might even call it boring at times. 440 00:23:35,200 --> 00:23:38,280 There's peace there, there's love there, there's hope there. 441 00:23:38,800 --> 00:23:41,680 And the world has nothing to offer when it comes to Christ 442 00:23:41,680 --> 00:23:44,480 and the church. So here's the answer we all want 443 00:23:44,480 --> 00:23:47,640 to know. How do you spot one of these 444 00:23:47,880 --> 00:23:51,400 false teachers, one of these wolves in sheep's clothing, one 445 00:23:51,400 --> 00:23:55,080 of these sinful church leaders? How do we identify them? 446 00:23:55,080 --> 00:23:56,800 Well, there's a few little signs here. 447 00:23:56,800 --> 00:23:59,160 One of them is this. They love to talk about 448 00:23:59,160 --> 00:24:01,440 themselves. They're always talking about 449 00:24:01,440 --> 00:24:02,960 themselves. You'll scarcely hear them 450 00:24:02,960 --> 00:24:06,080 talking about the Lord. You'll scarcely hear them take 451 00:24:06,080 --> 00:24:08,400 an interest in you. They'll talk about what they've 452 00:24:08,400 --> 00:24:12,640 done, their achievements. Their life is always about them. 453 00:24:13,240 --> 00:24:16,440 Another one is this. They judge people and they 454 00:24:16,440 --> 00:24:19,120 condemn people who are not in their club. 455 00:24:19,640 --> 00:24:23,200 They they have these doctrines, they have these certain ways and 456 00:24:23,200 --> 00:24:26,480 if anyone doesn't quite fit their mould, if anyone isn't 457 00:24:26,480 --> 00:24:30,720 black and white on their side and they don't have that label, 458 00:24:30,720 --> 00:24:32,520 they've not had that stamp of approval. 459 00:24:32,800 --> 00:24:36,400 They condemn them, they laugh at them, they mock them. 460 00:24:37,040 --> 00:24:40,200 I find this very, very discouraging when someone may 461 00:24:40,320 --> 00:24:43,280 have a secondary issue, an opinion on that and that they're 462 00:24:43,280 --> 00:24:46,680 mocked, they're laughed at that they get derided by Christians 463 00:24:46,680 --> 00:24:50,600 and look down upon, be aware of that person because again, it's 464 00:24:50,600 --> 00:24:53,000 like diotrophies. They love to have pre eminence. 465 00:24:53,160 --> 00:24:56,040 They love to have their way and anyone else who doesn't line up 466 00:24:56,040 --> 00:24:58,560 to their way, they need to get in out of the church. 467 00:24:58,560 --> 00:25:01,920 They need to be avoided. Another big sign is this. 468 00:25:02,240 --> 00:25:06,480 Like the Pharisees, they love the best seats in the house. 469 00:25:06,720 --> 00:25:10,200 They love the best seats in the temple or in the church. 470 00:25:10,440 --> 00:25:14,240 They love the high places. When it comes for a time of 471 00:25:14,240 --> 00:25:17,920 fellowship or maybe a meal together, you'll never see them 472 00:25:17,920 --> 00:25:21,680 sitting with the plane and the humble, the person who no one 473 00:25:21,680 --> 00:25:24,960 knows, who no one cares about. You'll always see them sitting 474 00:25:24,960 --> 00:25:28,560 with the the best preachers or the people with influence, with 475 00:25:28,560 --> 00:25:31,920 money, with power, people who are stimulating, who are so 476 00:25:31,920 --> 00:25:34,360 exciting. Beware of that. 477 00:25:34,360 --> 00:25:38,280 Beware of those people who who who use Christianity because 478 00:25:38,280 --> 00:25:40,000 they like to be in the galleries. 479 00:25:40,000 --> 00:25:42,960 They like the ivory towers. Beware of those people. 480 00:25:43,120 --> 00:25:45,400 Another sign is they're self deceived. 481 00:25:45,400 --> 00:25:47,720 They truly do believe they're doing the Lord's work. 482 00:25:48,120 --> 00:25:50,600 They might have money, they might have a lot of clout, they 483 00:25:50,600 --> 00:25:54,040 might have a lot of followers and they see this as the Lord's 484 00:25:54,040 --> 00:25:56,520 blessing on them. They see this, that this is the 485 00:25:56,520 --> 00:25:58,960 Lord's favour. You know the guy down the road 486 00:25:58,960 --> 00:26:00,680 who's who's just got a small church. 487 00:26:00,680 --> 00:26:03,360 God's not in that church. He's with me. 488 00:26:03,360 --> 00:26:05,640 Look, look at all the, the money I'm making. 489 00:26:05,640 --> 00:26:06,880 Look at all the people who are coming. 490 00:26:06,880 --> 00:26:09,160 Look at all the time again, look at me. 491 00:26:09,160 --> 00:26:12,280 You know, God's not with the little YouTube who's got, you 492 00:26:12,280 --> 00:26:15,800 know, 1020 subscribers and he talks to 5-6 people. 493 00:26:15,960 --> 00:26:18,440 He's with the one who's got 2 million subscribers, who's got 494 00:26:18,440 --> 00:26:21,120 millions of views. Come on guys, let's be very, 495 00:26:21,120 --> 00:26:24,000 very careful about that. What does the Lord himself say? 496 00:26:24,400 --> 00:26:26,920 Do not despise the day of small beginnings. 497 00:26:27,440 --> 00:26:29,480 He loves that. He loves to God. 498 00:26:29,680 --> 00:26:33,640 He loves the one who is faithful in the little and then he'll 499 00:26:33,640 --> 00:26:36,280 give them something greater in the Kingdom, Jesus says. 500 00:26:36,520 --> 00:26:37,880 So again, just be careful of that. 501 00:26:38,080 --> 00:26:41,120 And if you're a listener, don't think that the person with all 502 00:26:41,120 --> 00:26:43,960 of the views and all of the followers is the one that the 503 00:26:43,960 --> 00:26:46,960 Lord's blessing the most. Do listen to small Christian 504 00:26:46,960 --> 00:26:48,960 channels. Do listen, if you're on 505 00:26:48,960 --> 00:26:52,240 Instagram, TikTok, listen to people who've not got that many 506 00:26:52,280 --> 00:26:54,680 listeners. Make sure you test what they're 507 00:26:54,680 --> 00:26:56,880 saying by the word, but but give them a chance. 508 00:26:56,880 --> 00:26:59,440 Don't look at the view count before you click on a video and 509 00:26:59,440 --> 00:27:01,480 think this has got 500,000 views. 510 00:27:01,480 --> 00:27:03,360 This has got 1,000,000 views. I need to watch this. 511 00:27:03,600 --> 00:27:06,880 But when a video comes up and it's 100 views and you think, 512 00:27:06,880 --> 00:27:08,400 oh, maybe it's not that interesting. 513 00:27:08,400 --> 00:27:10,400 No, give them a chance guys, come on. 514 00:27:10,920 --> 00:27:14,920 We are to be, we are to have the Lords heart and we can learn. 515 00:27:14,920 --> 00:27:19,840 I, I learn you'd be surprised. I don't watch massive Youtubers. 516 00:27:19,840 --> 00:27:23,560 I watch some of the smaller guys and smaller pastors and that's 517 00:27:23,560 --> 00:27:26,600 where I get fed and that's how I'm able to, you know, pass on 518 00:27:26,600 --> 00:27:29,440 things to you guys. It's it's often in the the 519 00:27:29,440 --> 00:27:31,440 smaller churches where the heart of God is. 520 00:27:31,840 --> 00:27:34,200 So let me leave you with just one final thought, because a 521 00:27:34,200 --> 00:27:36,960 passage came to my mind as we're looking at diatrophies. 522 00:27:37,240 --> 00:27:40,720 There was a passage that it really made me think, my 523 00:27:40,720 --> 00:27:43,960 granddad shared this with me years ago and I'll never forget 524 00:27:43,960 --> 00:27:48,680 the conversation we had. It's in Ezekiel chapter 34 and 525 00:27:48,680 --> 00:27:50,160 it's talking about false prophets. 526 00:27:50,160 --> 00:27:57,960 So if you've got a Bible there, Ezekiel chapter 34, Ezekiel 34, 527 00:27:57,960 --> 00:28:04,400 and we're going to read verses 2 to 4, Son of Man prophecy 528 00:28:04,400 --> 00:28:08,520 against the shepherds of Israel prophecy and say to them, thus 529 00:28:08,520 --> 00:28:11,960 says the Lord God to the shepherds, woe to the shepherds 530 00:28:11,960 --> 00:28:15,360 of Israel who feed themselves. Should not the shepherds feed 531 00:28:15,360 --> 00:28:18,240 the flocks? You eat the fat and clothe 532 00:28:18,240 --> 00:28:22,120 yourselves with the wool. You slaughter the fatlings, but 533 00:28:22,120 --> 00:28:24,680 you do not feed the flock. The weak. 534 00:28:24,960 --> 00:28:29,000 You have not strengthened, nor have you healed those who are 535 00:28:29,000 --> 00:28:34,440 sick, nor bound up the broken, nor brought back what was driven 536 00:28:34,440 --> 00:28:40,120 away, nor sought what was lost. But with force and cruelty you 537 00:28:40,120 --> 00:28:43,440 have ruled them. Do you see why I believe the 538 00:28:43,440 --> 00:28:47,160 Lord put that in my head today? Dow Trophies was ruling them 539 00:28:47,200 --> 00:28:50,520 with cruelty. He was exploiting the people. 540 00:28:51,000 --> 00:28:54,160 He just cared about himself. He just cared about feeding 541 00:28:54,160 --> 00:28:56,400 himself the food that was coming in. 542 00:28:56,440 --> 00:28:59,160 He didn't feed the sheep, he ate it himself. 543 00:28:59,520 --> 00:29:03,560 The very guard, the very fleeces that, the very wool that the 544 00:29:03,560 --> 00:29:06,120 sheep gave, he, he fleeced it. He took it off their back and 545 00:29:06,120 --> 00:29:09,640 put it on himself. Guys, we've got to be so, so 546 00:29:09,640 --> 00:29:12,440 careful. We need to avoid those ministers 547 00:29:12,640 --> 00:29:15,880 who it's all about them. They just want more money, more 548 00:29:15,880 --> 00:29:19,640 wealth. And honestly, you know, this 549 00:29:19,640 --> 00:29:22,440 also came to our mind. I used to say this, I used to 550 00:29:22,440 --> 00:29:25,600 think about some of these great big ministers that we hear about 551 00:29:25,600 --> 00:29:28,160 and they fell. They fell so far. 552 00:29:28,400 --> 00:29:31,040 And I used to say this, I believe they started out well 553 00:29:31,320 --> 00:29:33,680 with pure intentions. They just wanted to serve the 554 00:29:33,680 --> 00:29:37,000 Lord. But somehow, little by little, 555 00:29:37,960 --> 00:29:42,080 ministry pride started to get to them until eventually an 556 00:29:42,080 --> 00:29:46,440 opportunity came, maybe a young woman, maybe a chance to take 557 00:29:46,440 --> 00:29:48,120 some money and hide it from the taxman. 558 00:29:48,320 --> 00:29:52,120 It came or, or theology to, to appease more people. 559 00:29:52,280 --> 00:29:55,280 I'll, I'll embrace this false theology and just win more 560 00:29:55,280 --> 00:29:59,880 people, whatever it was that suddenly they fell into that and 561 00:29:59,880 --> 00:30:02,000 then their ministry came crashing down. 562 00:30:02,640 --> 00:30:06,360 Something I've been wondering is did they ever, did they truly 563 00:30:06,360 --> 00:30:10,600 start out with that intention or really at the bottom of their 564 00:30:10,600 --> 00:30:12,880 heart, did they want to be famous? 565 00:30:13,560 --> 00:30:15,440 Did they see a preacher who they admired? 566 00:30:15,440 --> 00:30:17,520 And they said, I want that for myself. 567 00:30:18,040 --> 00:30:21,840 Was it about Christ? Because eventually, as this 568 00:30:21,840 --> 00:30:24,800 grows, if you've got pride in your heart, as your ministry 569 00:30:24,800 --> 00:30:28,160 grows, so will that pride. Things always grow. 570 00:30:28,800 --> 00:30:32,480 Humility will grow if you really do seek after the Lord. 571 00:30:32,720 --> 00:30:35,520 But if you've got wrong things in your heart, it'll grow. 572 00:30:35,520 --> 00:30:38,960 And eventually these things, they'll stand up like, like 573 00:30:38,960 --> 00:30:40,760 chestnuts. They were once planted in the 574 00:30:40,760 --> 00:30:42,840 ground, out of sight, out of mind. 575 00:30:42,840 --> 00:30:46,720 But now these chestnuts have grown into a vast big tree and 576 00:30:46,720 --> 00:30:50,200 they're a problem. Guys, we need, if you're a 577 00:30:50,200 --> 00:30:53,880 minister, if you're a preacher, we need to constantly be 578 00:30:53,880 --> 00:30:56,320 humbling ourselves before the Lord God. 579 00:30:56,720 --> 00:31:01,600 And we're called to see these sheep, these precious sheep 580 00:31:01,840 --> 00:31:05,680 who've been bashed away, tossed around by the world and all the 581 00:31:05,680 --> 00:31:09,480 pain, they've been hurt. They've been, there's wolves 582 00:31:09,480 --> 00:31:11,360 that have been out there. There's been all kinds of things 583 00:31:11,360 --> 00:31:15,720 that have got them and our job as ministers is to bind them up, 584 00:31:16,200 --> 00:31:19,520 is to love them, is to is to get our hands dirty. 585 00:31:19,520 --> 00:31:21,840 Being a shepherd wasn't a glamorous job. 586 00:31:21,840 --> 00:31:24,000 They got their hands dirty on their knees. 587 00:31:24,200 --> 00:31:27,080 They would lay down their life. As Jesus said, That's what the 588 00:31:27,080 --> 00:31:29,720 Good Shepherd does. He lays down his life for the 589 00:31:29,720 --> 00:31:32,480 sheep. And so may all of us be doing 590 00:31:32,480 --> 00:31:34,760 that. And if you're a listener, you 591 00:31:34,760 --> 00:31:37,640 need to see often we do have good discernment. 592 00:31:38,040 --> 00:31:41,480 Is the man you're listening to? Would he lay down his life for 593 00:31:41,480 --> 00:31:44,840 me? Does he really love me or does 594 00:31:44,840 --> 00:31:47,520 he love the accolades? Does he love the praise? 595 00:31:47,760 --> 00:31:51,360 Does he love the money? Does he love having a name like 596 00:31:51,360 --> 00:31:54,200 all the Youtubers, the secular ones? 597 00:31:54,200 --> 00:31:57,360 Does he love having a power position in the church, like the 598 00:31:57,360 --> 00:32:01,840 politicians in the local town? Does he like that or does he 599 00:32:01,840 --> 00:32:05,280 love the Lords and love me? Think about these things. 600 00:32:05,280 --> 00:32:09,600 These are just some things to to wonder about a little on a 601 00:32:09,680 --> 00:32:12,200 lighter note, because it's been quite an intense message. 602 00:32:12,400 --> 00:32:16,080 I was wondering how many of you actually do drink coffee with me 603 00:32:16,080 --> 00:32:18,440 during these times? Just write it in the comment 604 00:32:18,440 --> 00:32:19,920 section. Say I've been drinking my 605 00:32:19,920 --> 00:32:22,680 coffee, I'm drinking it right now or a cup of tea. 606 00:32:22,920 --> 00:32:26,360 And because I do wonder, should I just drink the coffee or do 607 00:32:26,360 --> 00:32:29,320 you like the little, you know, me pouring it and talking to you 608 00:32:29,320 --> 00:32:32,080 guys and pointing out the mugs or should I just get straight 609 00:32:32,080 --> 00:32:35,040 into the message? Do let me know again, I just 610 00:32:35,040 --> 00:32:37,480 want to be there to serve you. Thanks again for all of your 611 00:32:37,480 --> 00:32:39,360 time and God bless. See Wall.