All right, well, let's get started with a word of prayer, and we will conclude with some prayers. Lord, we ask that you be with us this evening. As we turn to your word, it may be sufficient for our discussion, and may what we learn tonight build us up in the body of believers that is worldwide and has extended from the very beginning and to the end, and make us part of that, Lord. And through the knowledge that we receive tonight and the prayers that we give, we would grow more and more in our identity in you and in no other. Pray this, in the name of your son, amen. Okay, we are on the topic of spiritual gifts and in particular, why we have them, for what purpose do we have them, to what extent they exist today, and how we should consider gifts. So, there are, if you search through scripture, not in just, mostly in Ephesians, but in other places, you will find a total of 27 gifts of the Spirit. Prophecy, service, teaching, exhorting, giving, leadership, mercy, wisdom, knowledge, faith, healing, miracles, discernment of spirits, tongues, interpretation of tongues, apostle, helper, administrator, evangelist, pastor, celibate, voluntary, poor, martyrdom and hospitality, missionary, intercession, and exorcist. And that's according to David Horton. But the gifts that we're going to look at in particular are the ones that Paul mentions in 1 Corinthians. Before we launch into this thing, we'll look at this, so go ahead and get your Bible ready, because we'll look at these scripture references that are up here. Before we do that, let's make sure we're on the same sheet of music here. When we talk about spiritual gifts, we are not talking about talent. Okay? So Nick has a talent of fixing up cars. You know? And God bless him for that. Cars need to be fixed. But that's not a spiritual gift. That's a talent. Okay? Alan has a talent for writing. Now that's a, you know. In other words, so the way to think about it is that talents are those things which can be exercised by anyone, regenerate or unregenerate. They're simply characteristics of our human nature, okay? So don't get confused. And you will hear people sometimes say, well, you know, you need to figure out what your God-given talents are, as if they're talking about God-given gifts. You can certainly have talents without having gifts. So they're different things. The gifts we're talking about are, in fact, spiritual. They are given by God. and they are given for his purpose. The other thing that gifts are not is they are not fruit. Elsewhere, you can find the fruit of the spirit. That's in Galatians 5. Love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, and self-control. Fruit are not gifts. Fruit are consequences, certainly, of the Christian life. And fruits, think about the fruits that Paul talks about as the attributes that describe what Christians should be. Whereas the gifts are things given to us by the Holy Spirit that we are to do. Okay? Everybody straight on that? The difference between doing and being, right? And lastly, some people occasionally will talk about gifts as if they were roles, R-O-L-E-S, right? Or a vocation, okay? And roles, vocations, are not gifts either. They are callings, and there's a whole theology of vocation, really started by Martin Luther that is a subject for another day. One can say, for example, that one is called to be a soldier or called to be a doctor. And if you are a Christian and you're walking in Christ and having approached it prayerfully, you find that what Christ is calling you to do is to be a doctor, it's reasonable to say you're called to be a doctor. That's not a gift, however. It's not what we're talking about here. All right, so let's turn to 1 Corinthians verse four to 10. And Helen, could you read those for us please? There are diversities of gifts of the same Spirit. There are differences of ministries of the same Lord, and there are diversities of activities, but in the same God who works all in all, but the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all. For one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, and another the word of knowledge, Okay. Well, there's a list of the gifts, and you notice that they are all given by the Holy Spirit, right? So clearly these are not fruit, they're not rolls, they're not human talents, okay? And another reference for this is Romans 12. The slide here says verse 6, but Danielle, could you read 6, 7, and 8 in Romans 12? Okay, so here Paul is talking about not only the gifts, but he's beginning to blend it with the fruits. In other words, the gifts If they have been given by the Holy Spirit to someone who is walking in Christ, those gifts will be exercised in conjunction with the fruit. And we'll see elsewhere that the gifts can be given to people who are not regenerate. So simply the presence of the gifts itself is not a sign of someone being in Christ. Gifts, of course, I mean, think about the gifts you give, right? I mean, how many times do we give gifts without a purpose? For what purpose? Anybody ever give gifts for no purpose? Really? I mean, I can't think of a time. I mean, I might give a gift to someone because I love them, but that's just a purpose. It's a purpose, right, to show my love, right? It's really outside of the Christian world where you get in the idea of giving gifts for no purpose. You all have heard of the idea of paying things forward, right? You go, you pull up to Dunkin' Donuts and you pay for the people behind you. That's a gift for no purpose. Random acts of kindness, for example, that people talk about. That's godless stuff. That's people just trying to be nice for no particular purpose at all. God does not give us the spirits for no purpose, okay? He is certainly intentional and purposeful. So let's turn to Ephesians 4, 7 to 16. Nick, you wanna pull that out? Oh yeah, Nick, question? Yeah, I have a question. The giving though, couldn't you argue hypothetically that is what he's talking about in Romans 12, versus those, he who gives with liberality. Yeah. That's a characteristic of the giving. You give generously. Yeah. Liberality in that sense means generously. Yeah. Right. Okay. But you're still giving for a purpose. Okay. It may be a rather abstract purpose. You might give to this church for the glory of God. That's fine. That's a purpose though, right? Yeah. Yeah. If you pay for the, The coffee and donut are the guy behind you at Dunkin' Donuts. There's no purpose in that. All right. So let's turn to Ephesians. Nick, would you read Ephesians 4, verse 7 and 16? Hello, Bobby. Jamie, good evening. Ephesians 4, 7 to 16. That slide says 8, but let's pick it up at verse 7 to give us a little more context and go through 16. Fairly lengthy. You might want to read along with him because it's a fairly lengthy passage. But to each one of us, grace was given according to the measure of Christ's gift. Therefore, he says, When he ascended on high, he led captivity captive and gave gifts to men. Now this he ascended. What does it mean but that he also first descended into the lower parts of the earth? He who descended is also the one who ascended far above all the heavens, that he might fill all things. And he himself gave some to the apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ. that we should no longer be children tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine by the trickery of men and the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting. But speaking the truth in love may grow up in all things into him who is the head, Christ, from whom the whole body joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in life. Okay, now that's a mouthful, and we're going to take a minute here, and we're going to look at this a little more closely. So open up, make sure you have this passage in front of you, okay? Because it's not up there on the slide. But look at scripture here, and let's see what, this is where Paul is describing the purpose of the gifts. First of all, he begins in verse 11. The preceding reference sets up the resurrection of Christ, and he gets into verse 11, he, and that's, of course, Christ. And he talks about gifts, apostles, prophets, right? So he's talking about giving gifts, as we've talked about. And then in verse 12, he gives a purpose for the equipping of the saints, that would be you guys, for the work of ministry Now that comma is important because what follows that comma is a restatement of what preceded the comma. For the work of ministry, what kind of work of ministry? The edifying of the body of Christ. That's the ministry, the edifying of the body of Christ. Now, when Paul has something important to say, he will often say it multiple times to make sure you get it. And that's exactly what is happening here. So there's a comma there, after the edifying of the body of Christ, in which she's simply modifying, when will that happen? When will this purpose be fulfilled? When we come to the unity of faith and the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, and when will that be? The gifts, in other words, are given for a purpose, the edifying, of the body of Christ, and they will continue to be given until when? The fullness, we achieve the fullness of Christ. And when will that be? Not until our glorification. It's not gonna happen this side of the river. And then he has another comma, and he's gonna go back and he's gonna repeat what he just said. So he backs up a minute. He's gonna make his point again. We're not gonna be like children being tossed to and fro with every wind of God, and that's fairly straightforward. And look down in verse 15. So this is not what we're gonna be like, but in this fullness of Christ, as because of the gifts, Speaking the truth in love, we may grow up in all things into him who is the head, Christ. Literally finding our identity in Christ, growing in him. That's the purpose for the gifts. And go back to verse 13, till we all come to the unity of faith and the knowledge of the Son of God to a perfect man. So he's saying it again here, may grow up, I'm back into verse 15 now, may grow up in all things into him who is the head Christ. And now he comes to the final conclusion. That what's the, we're exercising the gifts so that we can find our identity in Christ. But why is, why did God, give us these gifts to become like, to become, to find our identity in Christ. Well, here he goes from 16, for, from whom the whole body, and the whole body refers back to verse 12, where he says, edifying the body of Christ. So in verse 16, that's referring back to that, the body of Christ, from whom the whole body, and who is that whole body of Christ? The edifying the body, that's us. That's all the believers. joined and knit together by whatever joint supplies, and this would be reference to other metaphors that Paul has made about where all of the gifts act like parts of a body, by whatever joint supplies according to the effective working by which every part does its share. In other words, there are many gifts, there are many recipients of the gifts, and we all do our share. causes, and then he concludes, growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love. In the end, NKGB, I think says, I'm not sure which translation I have there, growth of the body for the building up of itself in love, some translations say. The gifts are made for the building up of the body of Christ in love. And that is an eternal task. The gifts are not made to give succor to the poor or to relieve the suffering of ill people. It's not a social justice issue. It is an eternal issue. And there is the purpose. Could you go forward one, Nick? A couple things to remember about the gifts. Matthew 7.22 points out that the presence of gifts are not a sign of salvation. Gifts can be exercised by people who are not saved. 7.22, you may be familiar with it, reads, many will say to me, me being Christ, and that day, Lord, that day being the day of judgment, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in your name, cast out demons in your name, done many wonders in your name? And then I will declare to them, I never knew you. Depart from me, you who practice lawlessness. Secondly, the gifts are not intended for the one to whom they are given, but they are granted for what we just talked about, the edification and building up of the body of Christ of all of the believers. And this, getting back to the point I made in the very beginning, to make sure that you very clearly make a distinction between natural talents that human beings have and the gifts that God bestows, You know, we exercise our talents quite often for our own purposes, and that's fine. You know, we've got to put food on the table. There's nothing wrong with that. And one would be foolish not to practice those things for which we have a talent. But that's not at all what we're talking about here. The gifts are given by God for his purposes. And lastly, not all genuine believers exercise all of these gifts. And Paul, the text is up there, the 30th verse of the 12th chapter of 1 Corinthians. Do all have gifts of healing? Do all speak with tongues? Do all interpret? But earnestly desire the best gifts, and yet I will show you a more excellent way. I want to transition now to sort of the idea that it's a hierarchy of gifts and which one is more important. But before I do that, you are probably familiar with the end of Chapter 12 when Paul says, yet I will show you a more excellent way. The next chapter, he goes into Chapter 13, and this is his wonderful disquisition on love. And he makes a point that love is superior to faith and hope. But don't fall into the trap of thinking that Paul is somehow saying that that's the most important gift because love itself is not a spiritual gift. It is a fruit. So among the spiritual gifts, which one is most important? So next slide, Nick. So I am skipping chapter 13, not bringing that topic of love up because we're trying to stick just to the gifts. And the gift that is most important is the gift of revelation. Now, we can use edification as an alternative to revelation, building up of the body of Christ. Those gifts which directly support that are the most important. And at its simplest, what is meant by revelation here is instruction in the word of God. In Corinthians, the 12th chapter of 1 Corinthians, verse 28, we read, and God has appointed these in the church. And here is a hierarchy of the gifts. First apostles, second prophets, third teachers, after that miracles. Then gifts of healing. And now it's referring to the gift itself as opposed to the person. But you could read healer or gifts of healing. Helpers, administrations, varieties of tongues. And in the 14th chapter of 1 Corinthians, verse 1 to 5, he comes back, Paul comes back to this topic. And he says, pursue love. Now this follows chapter 13, where he talks about the very high view he has of love as a fruit of the spirit, okay? But he says, so pursue love and desire spiritual gifts. You see, Paul is making a distinction. But especially that you may prophesy. For he used to speak in a tongue, and I'm reading now, if you want to read along with me, verse one to five in the 14th chapter of 1 Corinthians. For he who speaks in a tongue does not speak to men, but to God, for no one understands him. However, in the spirit, he speaks mysteries. But he who prophesies speaks edification and exaltation and comfort to men. He who speaks in a tongue edifies himself, but he who prophesies edifies the church. I wish you all spoke with tongues even more, but even more. So here he's setting a hierarchy up that you prophesize. or he who prophesies, and he's very clear here, is greater than he who speaks with tongues, unless indeed he interprets that the church may receive edification. Coming back to that point, if it's not about edification, if it's not about building up the body, then that gift is being squandered. What do we call if a gift is given for a purpose and then it's not applied to that purpose? It's called being squandered. So there is no outright reputation of tongues, but simply talking about tongues which are spoken that do not work toward the edification of the body of believers. Okay, next one. Nick, if you would please. Flip one more. Thanks. So what do we mean by tongues? Well, we mean a language, okay? The Greek word is glosa, which is where we get our term glossary, for example. And in scripture, There are references to tongues being used as tongues which are simply foreign but are nonetheless a language. So for example, in the second chapter of Acts, where the apostles begin speaking in tongues to the crowd, do they need an interpreter at that point? Are we familiar with that passage? No, no, they didn't need an interpreter because in the crowd, remember at the time of Pentecost in Jerusalem, there were people from many nations were there and they began speaking in the language of the many nations. Each man, each individual in the crowd heard what was being said in his own tongue. But it would, there was no requirement for an interpreter. It was a, it was a, it was a very clear language. What is often talked about, I think, as far as I know, exclusively today, when people talk about tongues in a Christian context, however, they're not talking about tongues in a foreign language, but they're talking about tongues in something that's not a language, at least not identifiable as a language. And some people will refer to the first verse of chapter 13, where Paul says, though I speak with the tongues of men and angels, and that's in the middle of this paragraph here, And the pastor, as he developed his slides, points out that that easily can be considered hyperbole on the part of Paul. Paul exercised hyperbole fairly often as a rhetorical tool in order to make his point. He certainly exercised metaphors quite liberally, so there's no reason to think that he might not use a figure of speech here, simply by saying, though I exercise, though I speak in the language of men and angels as a hyperbole, saying, though I speak in the greatest language that there might ever be, if I don't speak without love, I'm a clanging cymbal. So it's a stretch to take away from this first verse of chapter 13 that there is in fact a legitimate use of a made up language in worship. That's not what Paul's talking about. What he's creating here is a lesser to greater argument about the value of love which turns without which the greatest language in the world becomes simply climbing symbols. That's the point he's trying to make. Next one please. But if one does speak in tongues, and it's in the New Testament, I mean, it's there, here are things which need to be remembered. If they do not, if the tongues do not bring a blessing, right, and what is the blessing, what is the purpose for all the gifts? It is the building up of the body of believers. And if the speaking of the tongues doesn't do that, It's not a legitimate use of a gift. It's being, it's a gift that's being squandered. Okay. So, and Paul is very clear about that in 1 Corinthians, the 14th chapter, 26, 28, where he says, you know, if you're going to speak, have an interpreter. And if they are interpreted in the end of the 14th chapter of 1 Corinthians and also in Acts 2, well, of course, that was not the same kind of tongue we're talking about. But if it is interpreted, then it is at the same level of a prophecy. But it is certainly, and I'm leaping ahead now to the point we'll make when we talk about cessation, to suggest that the speaking in tongues with interpretation or without, simply the speaking in tongues, is somehow a sign of one's sanctity, is just not found in the Bible. And it is a demonstration of a very heretical view of gifts, because there's no purpose applied to the gifts. If the only purpose of me speaking in tongues is to demonstrate to you that I got Christ, then whose purpose is being exercised by my speaking in tongues? My purpose, my purpose. That's not why we have the gifts. We've already established that. The gifts are given for the purpose of building up the body of Christ. Okay, let's look at signs. Where are we here? Oh, prophecy, yes. Right. Let's look at prophecy now. Dispense with tongues. So what is the mark of a true prophet? You can read this there. In the middle of that passage, we read. What's the problem with that, though? Even a broken clock strikes twice a day. Yeah, right. Even a broken clock is correct twice a day, unless it's digital. But right, one problem is that sometimes that prophecies are, there's certainly going to be a certain amount of ambiguity. But more, I think, where I was really looking for, Nick, is that in many cases, the completion of the prophecy may be hundreds of years later. So if we are to judge a prophet by whether the prophecy comes true, it may not come true within our lifetime, right? So, you know, we're very fortunate. We're well downstream from the cross and we have scripture so we can look back and we can see how the prophecies of Isaiah going all the way back to the proto evangelism and Genesis all come true. And it should be very convicting to us. But if you're on the ground as a prophecy, or particularly if you could imagine, you know, teleport yourself to the Old Testament times, difficult to tell. But in any event, that is the mark of a true prophet. And what is the consequence of being a false prophet? Well, yeah. And in the Old Testament times, it was death. That was the sentence. But worse yet, if you profess to speak God's word and you are making it up, things will not go well with you when there's a time for judgment. So prophecy is a very tall order. Next one, please. And here's the 20th verse, beginning of the 20th verse of Deuteronomy 18. But the prophet who's presumed to speak a word in my name, which I have not commanded him to speak and who speaks in the name of other gods, that prophet shall die. That's pretty straightforward. And if you say in your heart, how shall we know the word which the Lord has not spoken? When a prophet speaks in the name of the Lord, if the thing does not happen or come to pass, then that thing then the prophet has spoken presumptuously. You shall not be afraid of him. Next one. There are some other marks of the false prophet, however, okay, that would, so we don't have to sit around and wait for a couple hundred years to find out whether the prophecies are true. Here are some other marks. First of all, in the, First verse of the second chapter of the second letter of Peter, Paul says, but there were also false prophets among the people, even as there will be false teachers among you. Now notice that Paul is conflating a prophet and a teacher, okay? Right? People who are falsely trying to edify the church or trying to edify the church in a false direction, they will secretly bring in destructive heresies. So this is one great mark of a false prophet is that they are heretical. Even denying the Lord who bought them and bringing on themselves swift destruction. Now, how can one deny the Lord? Well, if today, if you decide that you're a prophet and your prophecy abrogates something that is in scripture, what are you doing? you're denying the Lord. So you're a false prophet. Secondly, false prophets afflict the church. Okay? And there are frequent warnings given by Jesus and the apostles that they will continue to do so. Now, where one of those famous references to false prophets is in Paul's final farewell to the elders of Ephesus, in which he says, there will be ravening wolves will grow up among you. Meaning that the most dangerous threats to the church are not from the outside, they're from the inside. The ravening wolves are the false prophets. Matthew 715, just a couple of these citations here. Christ says, beware of false prophets who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. Now you see, you begin to get a picture of how to tell someone is a false prophet without having to wait and see if the prophecy doesn't come true. You can just tell by their character. Matthew 24 verse 11, and again in verse 24, Christ is saying, then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many. If people are being deceived, if we know that something is true because we have found it in scripture and it's very clear, and yet people are denying what's in scripture, the people who are making those, that argument are false prophets. For false Christs and false prophets will rise, and this is the 24th verse of Matthew 24. For false Christs and false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect. So what is the protection from false prophets? Are we simply out there on our own? What is the protection? What is he saying there? Yeah. Right. Together. Yeah. In other words, even the, even the elect, those people who are making a serious study of God's word and seriously attending to worship and listening to sermons and in the, you know, sitting under the word, even they can be deceived. But if we are in Christ, going back to the purpose of the gifts and we're being built up by the Holy Spirit in the body of Christ, the Holy Spirit will be with us. And then the third bullet there, It is important to remember two things in relation to these false prophets, that they will receive many. I've already read 2411. And they will perform false signs and wonders. And that was 2424. In the first letter of John, the fourth chapter, John gives us very sound advice. Certainly praying, seeking the guidance of the Holy Spirit is essential, but John writes, beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. Are there many false prophets? Absolutely. Okay, let's talk about healings. Yeah, right. So there's two kinds of healings that we're referring to here. One, we're not talking about healing, the doctor healing. We're talking about spiritual healing. We're talking about healing in response to prayer. We gather to pray for someone's healing. And the other kind of healing is the healing performed directly by an individual. Benny Hinn takes off his sports coat and smacks Brother Jamie there to get rid of his gout, okay? And Jamie jumps up and begins tap dancing, right? That's, were that to be a real thing, that's what we'd be talking about. But of course, that is a fraud, and he's a charlatan. In James chapter five, near the end of the book of James, verse 14 and 15, let me read that. And if you want to open it up, it's worth considering. This is what James says, chapter five, verse 14 and 15. Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church and let them pray over him. We're talking about healing through prayer. Anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer of faith will save the sick and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. So what are they referring to here? Are they suggesting that if the elders, if Elder Brunson and I get together and pray earnestly that we are, that you don't need health insurance? Because our prayers are so good that you're just going to rise up and be fine? Well, of course not. Of course not. But it does suggest that the prayers of a righteous man can be effective. Certainly, Abraham's prayers with God before Sodom was destroyed were effective. So we can pray, and we ought to pray, but we need to pray knowing that The prayer itself has to align with God's will. And it may well be that God's will is to ordain some sort of sickness. I've asked this in classes in Africa. I've asked African rural Christians not very well educated in this, that if I pray for your illness, will you be healed? And almost without exception, the answer is an enthusiastic, oh, yeah. Absolutely. Well, what would happen, what would your conclusion be if I prayed for you and you didn't get healed? And they don't want to say that it's the problem with me being a sinner, but they would say, well, there's not enough faith around. So this is a serious problem. It's partly a misunderstanding of what James is saying here. Some commentators say that this reference in verse 15, and the prayer of faith will save the sick and the Lord will raise them up, are in fact, there's an eternal cast on that. Yeah, the prayers will save people. They may not save them today. but they'll be saved from their sins and they will be raised up with the Lord on the other side of the river. But taken to an extreme, this can become an idolatrous activity, this idea that somehow some person's prayers are supposed to be better than, are supposed to be a talisman, some sort of magic trick. And that's certainly not what James is talking about. And then there's the business of healings that are performed by individuals. And those were the healings of the apostles. They were signs. And that, we argue, are no longer with us. All right. Next one, Nick. The healings that we saw in the New Testament in the age of apostles are not like the healings that the false prophets propose today. First of all, they are in every case, if you search scripture, you'll see they are complete and immediate. They are undoubted. There's no ambiguity about it. There's no failures or relapses other than ultimately everybody dies anyway. And they are often in large numbers and not premeditated. That is not happening today. The healing by anointed people, by apostles, okay? We are in a time of secession. What was the purpose then of these healings? These mass healings, immediate, effective, no relapse. What was the purpose of it? Yeah, right. They were all about signs. They weren't about, I mean, if Christ had come to heal malaria, he could have done so, right? I mean, this, of course, is one of the arguments that atheists throw in our face. There's half a million, that is like 500,000 children killed every year under the age of five from malaria in Africa. And so unbelievers like to say, well, if God could heal the leper, how come he can't save half a million kids in Africa? Well, that's not why God came. What were the purpose of the gifts? The gift was building up the body of Christ. And our job is certainly, as participants in common grace, to try to do what we can so that malaria, for example, I'm just picking that as an example, is not the scourge it ought to be. But that's not why Christ came. We need to go find those kids, lift them up and raise them in Christ so that they know Christ and that they will have eternal life and salvation, not only in this life, but most especially in the next. Okay, the purpose of these, next one please. So this is the purpose, as Bobby said. of these miraculous signs in the New Testament to attest, the first bullet there says, to attest and authenticate the message of Christ and his apostles. We don't need those signs today because Christ has been authenticated. What does the introduction of the book of Luke say? What does Luke tell Theopolis why he's writing the book of Luke? So that you may know what happened. That's why we're writing it. So there is no, the attestation has happened. Hebrews 2.2, for if the word spoken through angels proves steadfast and every transgression and disobedience received a just reward, how shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation? So we don't need signs and wonders today because we have this. And to demand, and this is where the business of secession gets to be so critical, to demand as a sinful human being, uncertain, lacking in confidence, and demand that we be shown signs and wonders that we have pastors who can whack us with their sports coat and bring us back to life, that prayers for our new car will be fulfilled magically. To demand that is to deny the sufficiency of what we read in Scripture and to deny the Word itself. and to deny the word is to deny Christ. And worse yet, not only does it deny the sufficiency of scripture, it gives people, us, sinners, an erroneous view of their sins. How are my sins relieved? How am I found justified? Only by the sacrifice of Christ, not by some miraculous working of a shaman or some hocus pocus expert on Trinity Broadcasting Network. And sinners can only be delivered from their sins when they understand that their sins are within them and that the only solution is Christ. I'll bring up one last point, and then we will come to our time of prayer. And I beg you for forgiveness. I mean, your forbearance on this, but I'm getting ready to go to Africa, so it's on my mind. You're probably tired of hearing me give references to what I see in Africa. This is, and I've been reading a book by an African pastor named Conrad Mbue, spelled M-B-E-W-E, who's a Reformed Baptist minister from Zambia. And he writes a fabulous book on pastoral preaching. And he is taking this on. He's saying, you know, the problem in Africa is that people aren't listening to the sermons. The custom in the African church And I've seen it as well, you know, the very ordinary service you would recognize, hymns and sermon. But at the end of it, they'll engage in some very, very lengthy prayer time. And the prayer, what he's saying is that often the prayer times become the main event. And it's not just prayer time. It's what they call deliverance sessions, where people are delivered from whatever sin they have. So here's a man who is suffering the depredations of alcohol. And rather than say, I am a sinner, and it is my inability to control myself and my lust for alcohol, and I need to take my sins to Christ, that alcoholic will come in and say, the alcohol demon has me, and I need to be delivered from the demon of alcohol. Do you see what's happening? The sin is no longer inside. The sin is something out there. And it's very easy in Africa for this to happen because this is a pagan picture. The sin's out there. And so they'll have this delivering servants and people will lay hands on them and they'll throw stuff at them and do various things and you'll be told that the, The demon of alcohol has been chased away from him, and he'll leave church very satisfied until, you know, until next Friday, in which case he gets plastered again. So we have to come back for another round of a deliverance session. And of course, who's making money out of this? The pastor. The people running the deliverance session. It's a scam and it's a scam that is ungodly and unholy and it happens in this country as well, but thankfully we have churches like this and pastors like Pastor Webb who still stand up and preach what's true. But in Africa, unfortunately, that is the norm. And Africa is going to be the center of Christendom in about 30 years. By about 2060, the average Christian in the face of this earth is going to be black and from sub-Saharan Africa. And if that entire continent is people with people who think that sins are not within them and that you just get a nice godly man up there and he can whack away your sins, we are going to be in a world of hurt. So that's one of the reasons why Pastor Webb and I are going next month to do what we can, just a drop in a huge ocean. But in terms of teaching biblical theology to pastors, This is what Mbue says, and then I'll close. More and more pulpits are occupied by motivational speakers rather than preachers. Also, true preaching has given way to deliverance ministry. Pastors are treasured more for their deliverance prayers they conduct at the end of the church service than for teaching what they give in their sermon. And here is just a war story Mbue offers. There was a recent example in South Africa. And this book is only a year old, by the way. There was a recent example in South Africa of a pastor who told his congregants to go outside and eat grass. They ran outside and began to eat grass like cows. Many of them got sick. Now, if you think for one second, oh, those silly Africans going out there and eating grass, listen to what Benny Hinn asked his people to do, or Joel Olsteen. Now, they don't tell them to go eat grass, but culturally, it's the same nonsense, okay? So don't think for a second that we're better than these people. Many of them got sick. The same pastor later asked his congregants to drink petrol, gasoline. Many of them did so, and many died. In many African churches, pastors are defrauding church members of money and having sex with female members as a way of cleansing them from bad spirits. These activities are becoming so prevalent that they are attracting the attention of national governments who are now trying to put an end to them. How can church members fall prey to such gimmicks? It is because of their spiritual vulnerability. And that is one of the reasons why we must stand firm on this issue of cessation. We have scripture. We know what is true and what is not true. And in the West in particular, we have thousands of years of teachings. We have examples. We have seminaries. We have role models. There's absolutely no reason why we should fall for this stuff. At least in Africa, they have the excuse that they don't have good seminaries and they don't have a tradition of literacy and they don't have good role models. But we are without excuse, so we need to stand firm on this. And where we can support efforts to raise up Christians elsewhere in the world who know the truth and pursue the gospel.