Many Christians are taught falsely to believe that it is a sin to argue debate. I haven't been on Facebook for several years because they demanded I bow my knee to them and worship their God of Sodom and only speak well of the sin of Sodom. So I said go to hell. But since I left Facebook, I also had taken some screenshots. And not too long ago, I looked, I saw the folder, and I went in and looked, and it is where, and I should have posted up here, but who knows, the woman might have repented, and I don't wanna, you know, make her look, you know. So I'll just keep it anonymous here. But I was disputing with someone over the issue of gay marriage with someone who claimed to be a Christian. And I was telling him, if you were an unsaved person, I wouldn't even have this conversation, but you claim to be a Christian, and the Bible was clear, and I was laying out the case, and then some other stupid woman gets on there, claiming to be a Christian, and says, well, if you're so worried about sin, why are you arguing? I said, I am concerned with sin, but what do you mean, what's the sin? What's the sin to argue? And of course at first I thought, what an idiot. But then immediately I remember the time in which I live. And I know that's the garbage being taught in most churches today. Sunday school classes, whole classes have been taught on that. I was in one one time. I said, wait a minute, if you're saying it's a sin to argue and debate, what do we do with it? Jude says that we should earnestly contend for the faith. Yeah, Doug. One of the things about that is it is a religion. The pride thing is a religion. It is, yeah. Now, we're not to debate or dispute over doubtful or minor questionable issues. People in this room, I know there's things we don't agree on. Certain things. And I'm not just talking about OSU versus Michigan. I'm talking about biblical things. There's things biblically we may not agree on. But if it's not something that's a clear biblical statement, and we're discussing things, you know, like, oh, okay, I'll give you an example. I don't require that everybody here believe and agree with me that the final Pope will be the Antichrist. You can be wrong if you wanna be. But, you know, there's been people who told me, oh, I don't know about that. Well, just keep studying, keep looking at it, that's all I can tell you. What I have found, it's almost to the person, they don't watch our studies on it. And if they do, they always come around and say, okay, well, okay. Why? Because we present the case in about 20 hours. It's irrefutable in my opinion. But they also aren't aware that that's what all the preachers used to preach. And so they haven't heard all that teaching either. And they're not aware that the reformers, a lot of them are even Calvinist and reform people I talk to, they're not aware that all of them agreed with me. And so forth. But you know what? If someone comes in and says, well, I still think Jack Van Ippe's right, and it's the president of France, or something like that. Yeah, well, OK. That's up to you. But when you come in here trying to teach, you know, that Jesus isn't God, or he's not the second person of the Trinity, or there is no Trinity, or you try to attack our Bible, or you say that there's things like baptism that you have to do to be saved, or you can lose your salvation, and you know, those things, we're not gonna get along. You should find you a church that's gonna teach that nonsense. Amen. But, so we're not to be disputing over questionable things. Even, I'll give you another example. You know, the sons of God in Genesis six. I believe they were angels who came and took upon human flesh. There are people out there who will tell you that people who believe that are like heretics and you shouldn't listen to us. They're like, you're wrong and I still don't think you should be called a heretic. You know, we can disagree on those things. But here's an example, Romans 14.1, him that is weak in the faith receive you, but not to doubtful disputations. You'll find a lot of guys who want to fight about that small stuff, it's because they're weak minded, weak in faith. So if they come in or weaken the faith, you receive them, but don't let them cause division with doubtful disputations. That's what it's saying. And we shouldn't, of course, mimic the weakened faith with such things. So where and with whom did Paul dispute? Well, it tells us three things in that verse. Number one is in the synagogue with the Jews. And of course, that's where he went first. Every time he went to a city, he'd go to the synagogue and to the Jews. Then it says, and with devout persons. That would, I believe, include the proselytes who were a part of the synagogue, but may encompass even just devout religious people in general. Because then it says, and in the market. That's where if you go out and you do street ministry, You just go out into the community, go out into the neighborhood, knock on doors and hand out gospel tracts. And we've talked about that. The many ways you can witness to people through tracts or just conversation and so forth. That's what he's doing there and in the market. But see, that's an example that we're just to go wherever we can with the gospel. There's no place for churchianity. If this is the only place where you are close to God. If it's the only place where you are religious, then you got it all wrong. The only purpose of this is so that when you go out of these four walls, then you do this. So, people say, Paul just likes to argue. Well, put your own name in there. If you follow the Bible and do what it says, they're gonna put your name in there. That Amberlynn, she just likes to argue. Charlie likes to argue. And Greggy likes to argue. Jenny, she just likes to argue. It's like, you ever notice when you're around Bible-believing Christians, you write them off as just people who want to argue? Because that's what they'll do. Now how often did Paul dispute with the above? Here's where it really gets good. Look what it says. Therefore disputed he daily. Paul liked to argue. And he's supposed to be the human example. Jesus is the divine. Paul says, follow me as I follow Christ. Paul is the example biblically of the human following Jesus. And he argued daily. I will say one thing. Here's one area that some Bible believers get it wrong. He didn't argue with the same people daily. And if you keep going back to that guy and driving him crazy, then you deserve a backslap, you know. But daily finding others who need to hear the gospel. And disputing when they say, well, I don't believe that. And they say something like, well, I just believe the universe is eternal. And usually we explain to them, that's not scientific. The scientists down there at Ohio State will tell you the universe is not eternal. What's your next question? See, you do that. That's what you do. That's why you learn. A lot of Christians think, I'm going to learn so that I can be a better Christian. OK? That includes being able to talk to others about Christianity, about Christ, about the gospel. Okay? So you're not just, because a lot of people are like, if it's not something that somehow just affects me and me, me, me, they don't learn it. And I'm like, you need to learn these things because you're going to come across people where these things are going to come up and you need to be able to converse with them about it. Amen. But Paul looked for opportunity to preach Christ crucified and risen at each turn. That's another thing. He didn't just want to argue about anything. He wanted to Dispute with people who rejected the gospel. That's key. You have cults that'll come up to your door. Sadly, a lot of Christians just slam the door in their face. No, preach the gospel. Give your own personal testimony. And if they don't want to listen, they won't argue about it, they'll just say, you know what, I've said what I've got to say, I'll pray for you, and thank you for your time, and then calmly close the door. Don't go... I've had, and what they'll do, by the way, I rarely get a Mormon or a Jehovah's Witness at my door. Somebody says, I hate that, they keep coming back. Well, the problem is because you're not doing what you're supposed to do. Because if you preach the gospel, they put you on a list and they stop coming. You want to get rid of those Mormons and Jehovah's Witnesses? Just tell them about Jesus. Now He was crucified, buried, risen again. He's God who came as a man right there, blows them out of the water. Because they all deny that. Their Jesus is a created Jesus and when He died, He didn't die to pay for sins. He died to clean the slate so they could work for their salvation. So when you explain that God himself came in the form of a man in the person of Jesus Christ, died on the cross and paid the full price for sin, was buried, and rose bodily from the grave, because they teach you rose like Casper. He rose bodily from the grave, conquering sin and death. Right there, you just blew their religion away. And that's all God's asked you to do. And you do it calmly. And you, you know, be tactful as you can be. and then give them your testimony. You know, there are ex-cultists who would tell people that they didn't listen to the doctrinal stuff until they started seeing the personal effect. People giving their testimony. People saying, you know what, I was totally given over to this or that, I was so miserable, I was suicidal, or I was caught up in this sin, and my life was just going off the deep end. Or even some people say, you know what, I was prosperous and enjoying life, but I had no peace. Whatever your story is, whatever it was you were involved in when the Holy Spirit came to you and someone preached that gospel and convicted you, and you tell them, and I believed in Jesus, And the moment I believed, I was saved. I had the peace that I'd never felt. The peace that passes all understanding. And then you can tell him, I now walk with him. His spirit is in me. I pray to him. I go directly to the Father through the Son. Give him a testimony. I'm telling you, they can act, whatever they see in the face, I'm here to tell you, that's going to sit here and here, and God will use that. Even if they don't choose to repent, at least on Judgment Day, you'll have done what you're supposed to do. And that's the exhortation that we see here in the last verse as we close this up. Then certain philosophers of the Epicureans and of the Stoics encountered him. Now, these were two schools of Greek philosophy. Epicureans were a celebrated sect of ancient philosophers. They were materialists. So some of this is going to sound like your typical evolutionist today. They were virtual atheists, believing that the atoms of nature existed from eternity. Now, as I said, scientifically, that's not possible. But at the same time, what do they tell you? Once upon a time, there was nothing and it exploded. And so they still have this faith in an eternal nothing that somehow at some point exploded. And according to Stephen Hawking, it had something to do with gravity. Well, where did that come from? So gravity is eternal. They have no answers. They're basically like Epicureans. And it says that from the incidental union of all things, these atoms, the incidental union of all these things are formed both visible and invisible. They deny divine providence and they deny that we have immortality. They deny that there's an eternal state ahead of us. Therefore they deny heaven and hell and so forth. That's an epicurean. Now a stoic is a little different. And how many of you heard that they say, well he's a bit stoic. And most people use that term, they don't even know what it means. I've used it and didn't know what it meant. Some of you admit, maybe you did too. It's a fatalistic heathen philosophy named from the Greek word signifying porch. or Portico, because Zeno, the founder, more than three centuries before Christ, held his school in a porch in the city of Athens. They placed supreme happiness of man living agreeably to nature, and so this guy is kind of like the environmental activist type. The ones that block the roads, spray paint paintings, you know, that kind of thing. And it says, then because of their views, are referred to as affecting the same stiffness, patience, apathy, austerity, and insensibility as the Pharisees. So you can kind of compare the Epicureans to the Sadducees. Why are they sad? Because they didn't believe in the resurrection. So they're Sadducee. And the Pharisees were, they believed in the resurrection, but they were all about these rigid rules. They were like the Stoics. So that's a good way of understanding that when you come across these terms. Both are godless philosophy. Epicureans focused on the pursuit of pleasure and the avoidance of pain, while Stoics emphasized the importance of virtue, wisdom, and inner strength. So Epicureans believed in the value of friendship and community, while Stoics prioritized individual self-control and detachment from external events. So in the culture, there was a big difference between the two. But Colossians tells us something about this. So let's turn over there. Colossians chapter 2 Beginning of verse 8 Colossians chapter 2 Read verse 8 with me beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit After the tradition of men after the rudiments of the world and not after Christ Yeah, just that's when you at least ought to mark down if you don't memorize it You're told to beware Because you can be spoiled through philosophy. How many of you have studied the founding fathers of this country? Most of them were God-fearing men. The majority, not the mass majority, but a majority were Christians, no matter what you were taught. But another segment were what you call Unitarian Universalists. So they talked a lot about Jesus. Benjamin Rush was one of those, but they weren't necessarily born-again Bible-believing Christians, but they believed that the Bible was important for society and culture and maintaining law and order. And then there was an even smaller number, like Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin, who really had no use for real Christianity. But even they said that we need the Bible in our society. Both of those men, paid money toward ministry and Bible printing. And Thomas Jefferson even used tax money to print Bibles for the local schools in D.C. So even down to the rank unbelievers, you could call them that, they still recognized how important the Bible was. But what put them in that position where they would see the importance of the Bible and yet be unbelievers? Philosophy. All those founders that rejected the gospel and the deity of Christ, they all had that in common. They were all swallowed up by what they called the enlightenment. And the fact is, the enlightenment, you've probably been taught this, the enlightenment was not responsible for this country. The enlightenment actually, it was in spite of the enlightenment. that people following the Baptist church model, and you can read John Quincy Adams does a great job of presenting that fact, and he was John Adams, our founding father's son, and I believe what was he the, was he the fourth or fifth president of the United States? Sixth? And he wrote a book on it. And it was the Baptist model that they followed. And so you have this biblical influence, and it was in spite of the philosophy. You wanna know what philosophy produces? Study the French Revolution. With the guillotine. Millions murdered and slaughtered. That's what the Enlightenment produced. And so beware lest, well, what do you think the Soviet Union was all about? What do you think communist China is all about? What do you think Karl Marx produced this from his writings? Where did he get his ideas? Philosophy. And that's what you better beware of. And I turned away from there. Let me get back to there. I don't know how my page turned. Look at verse 9. It says in verse 8, after the traditions, a tradition of men after the rudiments of the world and not after Christ, then verse 9 says, for in him, Christ, dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. If your Christ isn't God in human form, you've got a false Jesus. And then what's it say about us? Read verse 10 with me. And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power. And then it goes on to speak of circumcision that's not with hands. That's a spiritual circumcision where your fleshly fallen bodies cut free from the soul and spirit. in whom also ye are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, and putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ. Read verse 12 with me. Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead. So Paul says, in Christ you have no need for man-made philosophy. You're complete in Christ. The sufficiency is in His Word and in the Scriptures with the Holy Spirit teaching you. And it's all based on the foundation of His death, burial, and resurrection. Why do you need anything else? So then verse 18 says, And some said, What will this babbler say? Others said, He seemeth to be a sinner, fourth of strange gods, because he preached unto them Jesus and the resurrection. Folks, whether you know it or not, a lot of people out there already call us this, and a lot of you will find they'll call us a cult. Why? Because we're not interested in what man thinks. What a bunch of crazy loons. What do we care about? We care about what God and His Word says. Then we look at 2,000 years of church history and we can see that what we believe is historic biblical Christianity. The world and worldly churches want to go to hell, they can go to hell. We're not going with them. And they can call us whatever they want to call us. He's a babbler. Well, he preached unto them Jesus and the resurrection. That's our message to all philosophies. And you want to find all these religious cults and such, philosophies behind it. What is our main point? That He is crucified, but He's not still dead. That's what it's saying in our text. In verse 18, it ends, Because He preached unto them Jesus, which would include the fact that He was crucified, and the what? Say it out. Yeah, resurrection. He is risen. Amen. That's it. So what do we do? We go tell lost souls. Now you can enjoy this day in and day out. You're saved. Think of it. When you're praying about it, think about it. You're saved. Then all that garbage and nonsense that's driving you crazy and raking against your, you know, whatever, under your skin, standing on your last nerve, got you ready to scream, I'm madder than it, you know, and I'm not going to take it anymore. You know that kind of thing? How many of you felt like that at least once this week? Join the club. Amen. But you know, you've got to get it. This is a religious practice. All right. Everybody's always talking about, Oh, I do this. I'm do these religious practice. Here's a religious practice for you. Get away from everything. Close your eyes and start talking to God about how wonderful it is that he saved you. I am saved. Thank you, Lord. I'm so glad to be saved. I should be burning in hell right now, and I'm not. I deserved it, but you didn't give it to me. And I'm so thankful you blessed me. And in this life, I've got so many things I never had before, Lord. Thank you so much. Just go on and on. I mean, if you're honest, it'll take you a while. All the blessings you have and have had, all being saved. It'll make you forget about all the nonsense. It's better than the pills your doctor wants to give you. And then, because people don't want it unless you really enjoy it. But when you really enjoy it, then it becomes something someone else wants. And that's when you go tell lost souls. That's our shared main ministry to others. That's what we all in this room have in common. Every one of us should be in hell right now. And I believe everyone in the room professes to be saved or is in an innocent status, all because of Jesus Christ. We are so blessed. Now we have this shared ministry of having the privilege of telling others or giving them the gospel tract or whatever the opportunity provides, I'll put it that way. Father, we thank you, Lord, for this time in your word, and thank you for giving us all this information so that we can just tell the ridiculously ignorant people that come around and try to stop us from doing what you've told us to do, that they can just clam it. Thank you for helping us to have the courage. to have our eyes open and ready to be used by you, all with the backdrop of having a heart of gratefulness, thanksgiving, praise, giving you all glory and honor for what you've done to save us because you alone are worthy. We love you so much. We just want to see you face to face. And until then, Lord, help us to enjoy our salvation. and to enjoy our walk with you in this life. Until we do, stand in your presence. In Jesus' name, amen.