>> ♪ Give me the Bible,
star of gladness gleaming ♪

>> Today we are blessed
with a wonderful gift

from God, the Bible.

This book is God's living Word.

In its pages we are told,

for the Word of God
is living and powerful

and sharper than any
two edged sword.

It is in this book of books

that we find the answers to all
of men's questions and need.

This morning, your area
Churches of Christ welcome you

to a program committed to
that perfect law of liberty...

>> ♪ Thy light shall guide me
in the narrow way ♪

>> ...as we present
"The Living Word."

♪ Precept and promise,
law and love combining ♪

♪ Till night shall vanish
in eternal day ♪

>> Now, here is your host,
Ray Sullins.

>> Thank you for joining
us this morning.

And let me welcome you
to the program.

"The Living Word" is a work
of our Lord

dedicated to doing God's
will and God's way.

And as always,

it will be our privilege this
day to sing songs of praise,

to study from His Word,

and also to be able to speak
to our God in prayer

and these acts of worship.

May we all be encouraged,
but ultimately,

may we always praise God
according to the sacrifices

that we offer toward His throne
that are acceptable in His sight

and according
to His perfect will.

It's always an honor as well,
to speak to God in prayer.

So at this time will you bow
with me before our Creator

as we communicate to our God.
Our God and Father in heaven,

we are so thankful for
this, yet another day of life,

the great blessing of it,

and the great privilege that we
have to be called Your children.

And Father, we thank You
for the love that You give us,

the love ultimately

that we find and see through
the greatest of all gifts,

Your son Jesus,

and the reality that
You were willing to give Him

and allow Him to die
for our sins.

That we might be found
justified today and eternally.

Father, we thank You
for Your grace and Your love

and Your mercy
that is well demonstrated.

And Father, help us to always
respond in an obedient way

to do only those things
that You have asked,

and to show us how --
and to show rather

how much we love You by always
faithfully obeying Your will.

We thank You for the avenue
of prayer,

and in Jesus' name we pray.
Amen.

It's now time to start our songs
of praise this morning,

so why don't you join
in with the congregation

as we sing together,
"Have You Counted the Cost?"

>> ♪ There's a line that is
drawn, by rejecting our Lord ♪

♪ Where the call of His Spirit
is lost ♪

♪ And you hurry along ♪

♪ With the pleasure mad throng ♪

♪ Have you counted ♪

♪ Have you counted the cost? ♪

♪ Have you counted the cost ♪

♪ If your soul should be lost ♪

♪ Though you gain the whole
world for your own? ♪

♪ Even now it may be ♪

♪ That the line
you have crossed ♪

♪ Have you counted ♪

♪ Have you counted the cost? ♪

♪ You may barter your hope ♪

♪ Of eternity's morn ♪

♪ For a moment of joy
at the most ♪

♪ For the glitter of sin ♪

♪ And the things it will win ♪

♪ Have you counted ♪

♪ Have you counted the cost? ♪

♪ Have you counted the cost ♪

♪ If your soul should be lost ♪

♪ Though you gain the whole
world for your own? ♪

♪ Even now it may be ♪

♪ That the line
you have crossed ♪

♪ Have you counted ♪

♪ Have you counted the cost?

♪ While the door of His mercy
is open to you ♪

♪ E'er the depth of His love
you exhaust ♪

♪ Won't you come and be healed ♪

♪ Won't you whisper I yield ♪

♪ Have you counted ♪

♪ Have you counted the cost? ♪

♪ Have you counted the cost ♪

♪ If your soul should be lost ♪

♪ Though you gain the whole
world for your own? ♪

♪ Even now it may be ♪

♪ That the line
you have crossed ♪

♪ Have you counted ♪

♪ Have you counted the cost? ♪

>> Have you ever had one
of those neighbors

that is really hard
to get along with?

I guess we all have at one time
or another.

However, how do we respond
to those

who really don't treat us
like they should?

I might also ask,
why do we not like them?

I know we often have
good reasons in our own minds

for why we don't like them.

Maybe their kids have played
too close to our property line,

and they actually get on
our grass from time to time.

Some might even say,

well, they've thrown a piece
of trash

or allowed trash to blow
over into our yard,

and they've even messed up
our flower beds

or their dog or animal has.

Possibly, we again consider
these things,

and we realize that maybe even
because of someone's

background or culture or race,

we automatically
don't like them.

Well, what does the Bible say
of this idea

when we consider
the inspired writers

who were led by the Holy Spirit?

Read with me
from the book of Proverbs

there -- 14:21.

The Bible says, "He
who despises his neighbor sins,

but he who has mercy
on the poor happy is he."

Did you know
that we were sinning

when we think, act,

or say things that are ungodly
or unbecoming of a Christian

in relationship to our neighbor
and those around us?

Of course, all of this
would make perfect sense

as we consider the fact
of what Jesus said

and the ideas of
how Jesus presented himself,

even as we read
in the New Testament.

There we find verse
after verse that reminds us of

how we should treat others
and especially our neighbor.

Wasn't it Christ himself
who said that the second

and greatest commandment of all

was to love your neighbor
as yourself?

Matthew 22:39.

This same Jesus told
the beautiful story

of the Good Samaritan,

who was willing to step
outside the barriers

which society has set up,

and to show the true spirit
of one who loves God.

A familiar verse also
that helps us with this

is found there
in Matthew 5:44,

when Jesus himself
went so far as to say,

"Love your enemies,
Bless those who curse you

and do good to those
who hate you,

and pray for those
who spitefully use you

or persecute you."

Well, by this time you might be
thinking, "But why?"

Or, "You have got to be
kidding me."

But the question is,
do you really not understand

after having read
the Word of God,

what the truth says
on this matter

again in Matthew chapter five,
there in verse 45,

we read also that you may be
sons of your heavenly Father,

our Father in heaven.

Did you catch that?

We treat others as God
would have us to treat them,

because we are children of God,

and we reflect God in all
that we do and all that we say.

We glorify the Father,

and therefore hopefully
they will see

that we are children of God.

So now I ask, how do you react
to your neighbor in life?

Do you say and do those things
which caused them to see Christ,

or do you get back at them?

Are you really willing
to go the extra mile

and even to turn the other cheek
if need be?

The real question is,
can they see Christ in you?

If not,

why not make changes today
and adjust your life

and your lifestyle to begin
to behave more like Christ

and all that you do and say?
In just a few minutes,

it will be time to begin
our main study of the day.

This morning,
we'll be continuing our study

that focuses on
buy the truth, and sell it not.

Our specific lesson
of the morning

will answer the question, can
we recognize a religious error?

So please stay with us,

and after our next song
together,

I will be leading us in this
important study from God's Word.

But for now, let's join
in our second hymn of the day,

the name of the song --
"Do You Know My Jesus?"

>> ♪ Have you a heart
that's weary ♪

♪ Tending a load of care? ♪

♪ Are you a soul
that's seeking ♪

♪ Rest from the burden
you bear? ♪

>> ♪ Do you know ♪
>> ♪ Do you know ♪

>> ♪ My Jesus? ♪

>> ♪ Do you know ♪
>> ♪ Do you know ♪

>> ♪ My friend? ♪

>> ♪ Have you heard ♪
>> ♪ Have you heard ♪

>> ♪ He loves you? ♪

♪ And that He will abide
til the end ♪

>> ♪ Til the end ♪

♪ Where is your heart,
O Pilgrim ♪

♪ What does your light reveal? ♪

♪ Who hears your call
for comfort ♪

♪ When naught but sorrow
you feel? ♪

>> ♪ Do you know ♪
>> ♪ Do you know ♪

>> ♪ My Jesus? ♪

>> ♪ Do you know ♪
>> ♪ Do you know ♪

>> ♪ My friend? ♪

>> ♪ Have you heard ♪
>> ♪ Have you heard ♪

>> ♪ He loves you? ♪

♪ And that He will abide
til the end? ♪

>> ♪ Til the end ♪

>> ♪ Who knows
your disappointments? ♪

♪ Who hears each time you cry? ♪

♪ Who understands
your heartaches? ♪

♪ Who dries the tears
from your eyes? ♪

>> ♪ Do you know ♪
>> ♪ Do you know ♪

>> ♪ My Jesus? ♪

>> ♪ Do you know ♪
>> ♪ Do you know ♪

>> ♪ My friend? ♪

>> ♪ Have you heard ♪
>> ♪ Have you heard ♪

>> ♪ He loves you? ♪

>> ♪ And that He will abide
til the end? ♪

>> ♪ Til the end ♪

>> We're so glad you continue
with us this morning,

as we now go to God's Word

and look at another lesson
in relationship

to our overall theme
of really focusing on the truth

and how important it is
that we not only know and study

and understand truth,

but that we put truth
into practice in our daily lives

so that we might be found
pleasing to God.

You know,
over the last several weeks,

we've been looking at
all sorts of lessons

that focus our minds back
to God's Word.

And really, every one of
these lessons keeps reminding us

that there's only one source
for proper truth

and one guidance
that we can find in relationship

to knowing truth.

And that is the Word of God.

There is no other book or guide
from God

that can give us that guidance
or that assistance or that help.

And so today,
what we would like to look at

is the idea of being
able to recognize the truth

in relationship to what we
might say sometimes is the error

that others practice.
You know, we live in a society,

and going back to the words
of Jesus,

that really like to focus
on this idea of judge

not that should be not judged.

And certainly that is
a very biblical idea.

And we need to be those

who are very cautious in what
we do as far as discernment,

our judgment in relationship
to you

and I being those
that have the right

or the ability or power
to condemn someone else,

or to have the power
to again act

as if we are the determiner
of one's life or heaven or hell.

And so we've got to be
careful about that.

And I think that's the warning,

to make sure that we --
we get our own houses in order,

we get our own lives in order,

and then we make sure that we're
doing what God says before,

really, we're interested in
the difficulties of our brethren

because the Bible does say,
Galatians 6:1,

we're to bear the burdens
of weaker brethren,

of those that have needs
or those that are in trial.

We are to assist others.

And how could I assist
or help someone

if I'm not able to observe
or be aware

that obviously they're
struggling,

or that maybe they're
even involved in something

that isn't true
or right according to the truth,

and so it just makes common
sense to be able to see that

perhaps
if I look at an individual

and they are involved
in alcoholism

and they struggle with that,

that that's a problem
they have, that that's a sin

they deal with, as we all
struggle with a variety

or different types of sin.

And therefore, because
I see that and I'm able to see,

well, what they are doing is
not in alignment

with what's right or the truth,
then I need to encourage

or help them to try to correct

or to -- to get out of
that problem,

repent and get right with God.
In connection to that,

then we'll look at our
main text.

And there's a lot of evidence
throughout the New Testament,

in its entirety, really,
the Old Testament, too,

but the New Testament
in its entirety,

about how that Paul and many
others would warn about faiths

that were shipwrecked
or people who had,

in a sense,
fallen off the cliff.

Or those who had chosen
the world rather than God.

Or those
who no longer were faithful

or true to God
as they once had been.

And such is the case here
in 2 Timothy chapter two,

around verse 18,

when we find that Paul
here is talking to Timothy

in a very familiar context, and
it's familiar because if you

back up to 2 Timothy 2:15,

that is the verse
that actually says, be diligent,

or study to show yourself
approved, a worker

that does not need to be
ashamed

but one who does what? Rightly
divides the word of truth.

You see, we are to be those
who are diligent,

or studying,
growing in the word of truth,

that we might be workers
who are able to what? Discern.

Make judgment.

The Bible doesn't
contradict itself.

So here it says that by the Word
of God we make judgment.

But then we mentioned earlier
that Jesus said,

"Judge not that you be not
judge."

But did not Jesus also say
there's a such thing

as righteous judgment?

So what is the distinction?

The distinction is judgment is
not about what I think or feel.

Judgment is about what God said.

So I can take the actions
of the words of others,

and I can align it
with what God says as something

that is equivalent or right
or proper.

Or I can put it next
to the Word of God,

and I can see that what
they're doing is not according

to the Word of God.

I've not made the judgment.

The Word of God
has made the judgment.

Righteous judgment.
Logic that, again,

because of the facts
that I know, not what I think

or feel,
because I'm afraid that's

where we get into problems
or trouble.

Not because I think
or feel something,

but because I know or I have
seen or I have the true witness

or the facts that someone,

again, is not in alignment
with the Word of God.

That gives me the ability
then to determine

that someone is right with God
or not right with God.

And if it does not,

how could Paul and others,
by the Holy Spirit,

tell us that we're supposed
to help those who are not right

if I can never determine

that they're not right
by looking at the Word of God

and saying that they are
not doing what God says

and therefore not proper
in His side?

But in that context,

the word of truth that
we grow in to rightly divide,

to properly discern.

He then warns this in verses
16 to 18,

and let's just read
those verses together,

"But shun profane
and idle babblings,

for they will increase to more
ungodliness,

and their message will spread
like cancer.

Hymenaeus and Philetus are
of this sort

who have strayed concerning
the truth."

I want you to notice here
that Paul actually calls

out the names
of some individuals

most likely that Timothy has

either already come
into contact with,

he already knows
because they were faithful,

or that he is probably now
dealing with in relationship to

where he has been sent to do
the work of the Lord by Paul.

And so he's warning him,
"Watch out, watch out,"

because these men, who perhaps
we once had confidence in,

who were servants of God, they
have what? They have strayed.

If you are to stray away
from something,

that means
that you have left it.

So you were
in a good relationship,

a proper relationship.

You were in the house.

You were right in the side
of God,

but then you strayed away
from the house of God.

So they have left.
They were there.

They had tasted of the gift.

They have responded.
They were obedient.

But then they left,

as so many other examples speak
of those

who have left the faith
are turned away from the faith

that they've had in their God
previously.

If you'll notice here,
they had a message.

Their message that they were
proclaiming was what?

Was something that was contrary
to the word of truth

that we were able to discern.

How do we know that?

Because Paul tells us
what they were teaching

that was error.

And the thing that they were
teaching is also found there

in the latter part of verse 18.

He goes on to say,

"They are saying that the
resurrection has already passed,

and therefore they have even
overthrown the faith of some."

So what was the error
that Hymenaeus and Philetus

themselves were believing,

and then they were teaching
to others that error

that was not according
to the word of truth,

that we are able,
by studying the word of truth,

to discern and know
that what they're saying is

not right based on what
God says in His Word, the Bible?

I don't know about you.

I'm not going to take the word
of Hymenaeus and Philetus

last -- as the final thing,
the final result.

I'm going to look to God's Word.

Now, if they say something,
praise God,

if it is in alignment
with the Word of God,

and then therefore they can say,

because of what God said
in His Word.

But if they tell me something

and then I check the Word
of God, which is from God,

and it's in contradiction
to what it said,

that's the problem here.

And we know that because
what are they saying?

They said that the resurrection
had already passed.

And so there, we're talking
about things

that the coming resurrection

when -- when the Lord
would come again

and all the dead
would come forth

and the judgment
would take place,

that's already happened,
they say.

Well, that was a damnable
doctrine according

to what is being said here.

In fact, we can actually go back
to the book of Corinthians.

I think if you'll go back
to 1 Corinthians 15,

you'll notice with me
that the Corinthian brethren,

at least some of them,
had this same problem.

Read with me there
from 1 Corinthians 15,

and let's read together
verse 12.

Verse 12 says,

"Now if Christ has preached that
He has been risen from the dead,

how do we among you say

that there's no resurrection
of the dead?"

And if you go on
to study that context,

what he's saying is that there
were false witnesses claiming

that there is no longer
a resurrection of the dead

because Christ already
resurrected,

and therefore that's what
it was referring to,

and therefore there's
no hope in the sense

of a -- of another resurrection.

Well, that's the very problem

that perhaps they were
worried about in Thessalonica

there in 1 Thessalonians 4,

when they were upset about those

who had already died
in the Lord,

and he says, "Don't sorrow
as those who have no hope,"

as if there's no resurrection.

The fact is, the resurrection
had not happened.

And yet these individuals
were teaching error, error.

Can we recognize error?
Yes. How?

Not because someone says
something that I don't like

or -- or that is different
from what I feel or want

or -- or my desires
or my thoughts.

But someone has said something
that is not founded

or backed up in the Word of God,

and the Word of God actually
says something different.

And because of that,
what do we find?

We find that someone
has presented error and that

which is not in accordance
to the will of God.

Let me give you
a simple example.

What does the Bible teach us
in relationship

to becoming a Christian?

If you go to the book of Acts,

it's quite significant that
over nine examples are given

of what are required
to become a Christian.

And all those examples we see

that people make confession
with their mouth.

They acknowledged
and repented from sin,

and in every one
of those examples,

the individual was immediately
baptized to put on Christ

and to wash away their sins
according

to what we also learned
in Acts 22:16.

If someone gets up and says that
you don't have to be baptized,

you don't have to repent,
you don't have to confess,

and you can just say a prayer,
where is that in the Bible?

You see, that's the point
we're trying to understand.

We've got to go to God's Word.

We've got to grow in God's Word.

We've got to study God's Word
so that we might be proper what?

Discerners, knowing and
growing in the word of truth,

that we might rightly divide
the word of truth,

so that when someone tells me
something that's not from God,

I'm able to know
that it's not from God,

and then I'm able to
either encourage and help them

and preach the truth
on that matter,

so that I might find my way
to heaven through obedience,

and that they might as well.

>> ♪ The steadfast love
of the Lord never ceases ♪

♪ His mercies never come
to an end ♪

♪ They are new every morning,
Great is Thy faithfulness ♪

♪ The Lord is my portion
says my soul ♪

♪ Therefore I will hope in Him ♪

♪ The steadfast love of the Lord
never ceases ♪

♪ His mercies never come
to an end ♪

♪ They are new every morning,
Great is Thy faithfulness ♪

♪ The Lord is my portion
says my soul ♪

♪ Therefore I will hope in Him ♪

>> ♪ Therefore I will hope ♪
>> ♪ Therefore I will hope ♪

>> ♪ In Him ♪

>> Thank you again for choosing
to be with us today,

to give this time to our God,
and I hope our time together

has been a great encouragement
to us all,

as well as a blessing.

And remember that you're
invited back

every Lord's Day morning at 7:30

as we give this time
to the service of God.

But for now, let me ask you

if you have any questions
or comments

about today's lesson,

maybe like a free transcript or
free CD or DVD of the program,

or possibly we could assist you
with free Bible materials

or free Bible
correspondence courses.

No matter what your need is,

please feel free to contact us
and let us know.

Our address is
"The Living Word" program,

2540 North Kansas Expressway,
Springfield, Missouri 65803.

Many of these items are
also available on our website,

including video archives
of this program and transcripts.

That address --
TheLivingWordProgram.com.

Or, if you prefer, you may
call us at (417) 869-2284.

How wonderful it is
to have a clear standard

in the Word of God,

to know that God requires
and helps us

to discern properly according
to His will in all things.

God has given us the ability
to know what He wants,

as well as the ability
to compare what

we are doing with His will.
The question is,

are you submitting fully
to God's Word today?

>> Our prayer is to help
the world know more about God

through this television program.

"The Living Word"
has been brought to you

under the oversight
of the elders

of the Kansas Expressway
Church of Christ

in Springfield, Missouri,
with the assistance

of the following area
Churches of Christ.

>> ♪ To seek and save the lost ♪

♪ Give me the Bible,
holy message shining ♪

♪ Thy light shall guide me
in the narrow way ♪

♪ Precept and promise,
law and love combining ♪

♪ Till night shall vanish
in eternal day ♪