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The apostle is clearly 
indicating that false teachers

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are involved in this 
"every wind of doctrine"

3
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and that spiritual children 
are especially vulnerable.

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But keep reading.

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"By craftiness and deceitful schemes,"

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or "in cunning craftiness

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lying in wait to deceive,"

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or "deceitful plotting"

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or "deceitful scheming."

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That word "scheming," "schemes."

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You know it only shows up 
one other time in Scripture -

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right here in this epistle

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where Paul says this:

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"Put on the whole armor of God

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that you may be able to stand

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against the schemes of the devil."

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Here's the thing about a scheme,

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or plotting,

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it's intentional.

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They know what they're doing.

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Do you know several years ago,

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I preached on each one of 
those churches in Asia Minor

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that come out of Revelation 2 and 3.

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I preached some of those over 
and over throughout the years.

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I just brought up the 
church at Philadelphia

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to the brethren up there at Fond-du-lac.

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I'm reminded all over again,

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there's a very haunting statement

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said by the Lord to those at Philadelphia.

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Listen to these.

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"I am coming soon.

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Hold fast what you have

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so that no one may seize your crown."

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We can just read that.

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Yes, you know, I see it. I hear it.

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"...So that no one may seize your crown."

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Do you ever stop and think

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why would He say that?

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Why does He look at His people and say,

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"You better watch out

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that nobody seize your crown"?

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That's an odd thing to say.

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Unless of course

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there are people running around

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and there are people in 
the crowd real close to you

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who are crown seizers.

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And that would be a healthy warning.

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Remember, they know what they're doing.

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There's craftiness.

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And you know what Scripture says?

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There's these men who it says

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"through the insincerity of liars

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whose consciences are seared."

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You've got people around you -

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they're liars.

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Oh, and the picture is 
they infiltrate the church.

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They're here among us now.

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They're liars.

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And see, we can look at somebody and say

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how could they be so bold?

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Listen, you have to hear 
what's said there.

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Their consciences are seared.

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You get people around you that can't feel.

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They don't care if you go to hell

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because they can't feel.

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They don't feel any sympathy for you.

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But you know what it says?

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It says that in the later times,

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you're going to have these people

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that depart from the faith.

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And it says they're going to be devoted

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to deceitful spirits and 
the teachings of demons.

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Even if men's consciences are seared,

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even if there's an ignorance aspect

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to some of the things that people do,

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you can know this:

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There are spirits and demons 
behind these things.

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And even if men sometimes are ignorant

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and don't know what they're doing

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or their consciences are so seared

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they can't feel what they're doing,

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I'll tell you this, the demons know 
exactly what they're doing.

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When you get to chapter 6,

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that's where it talks about 
the schemes of the devil.

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And this is the thing about being novice.

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This is the thing about not knowing 
how to handle the Scriptures.

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This is the thing about 
being a child spiritually.

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There is a danger.

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And when you hear about cunning

90
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and craftiness and deceitful schemes,

91
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when the Lord says to His church -

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and this was a healthy 
church at Philadelphia -

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"Beware that nobody take your crown..."

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There are people who by scheme and plot

95
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are reaching for it.

96
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That's the picture in Scripture.

97
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And the warnings are profuse.

98
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Constant warnings against

99
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this kind of particular 
danger throughout Scripture.

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Didn't Jesus Christ say it?

101
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Matthew 7 - we know there on 
the Sermon on the Mount.

102
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He said "beware of false prophets." Why?

103
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Why must you beware?

104
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Don't fall to sleep. Why?

105
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Because they come to 
you in sheep's clothing,

106
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but inwardly they're ravening wolves.

107
00:05:39,976 --> 00:05:41,916
Do you know what that means?

108
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You see what's so difficult about this?

109
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We hear about crown stealers.

110
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And you envision this 
really ugly, scary guy

111
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and he's reaching for it.

112
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It's like the guy you meet in the dark

113
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that you'd never want to meet in the dark.

114
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But that's not what they look like.

115
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They come in sheep's clothing.

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They look like a Christian.

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In fact, you may remember 
me saying in the past,

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Lloyd-Jones was quite convinced

119
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that it's the guy rough around the edges

120
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and the guy that's ugly 
that is usually God's man.

121
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You get people - they look good.

122
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They look good.

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The problem is these people have names

124
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and they're often friendly and likable

125
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and at least externally, 
they're nice guys.

126
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They're attractive.

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Listen, the devil is behind these people

128
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and he wants to take your crown

129
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and he wants to damn your soul.

130
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And while we're children, 
we're vulnerable.

131
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This is why you need 
to grow up out of this

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because we're vulnerable.

133
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But inside, they are ravenous.

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They have faces and they have names

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that you associate with Christianity.

136
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You associate with going 
to church on Sunday.

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You call them brother!

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But I'll tell you what, 
eternity will show.

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When the veil is pulled back,

140
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you're going to be startled 
by some of the people.

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00:07:42,743 --> 00:07:45,173
And they knew what they were doing.

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Or the demons behind them, 
they full well knew

143
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what was going on.

144
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And you know where they are?

145
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They're in here.

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They're on the Internet.

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They're on Facebook.

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They're on YouTube.

149
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They're on the radio.

150
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Spiritual infants - 
they're the easiest prey.

151
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These people look like sheep.

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They're all around us.

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This excerpt was taken 
from the full sermon:

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No Longer Children