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I. THE CHURCH OF GOD WHEN AT ITS BEST HAS WICKED MEN AND HYPOCRITES IN IT. In Adam's family there was Cain; in Christ's family, Judas; in the earliest Church, false brethren. The sheep may be sometimes without the fold; the wolves therein. A perfect Church is an impossible dream.

II. FALSE BRETHREN CREEP INTO THE CHURCH. Christ is the door of the Church, and His true sheep enter by Him-false brethren climb in another way. They "creep in."

1. Hence they maintain a certain resemblance to the true.

2. Hence the precise origin of error cannot be detected. The time when the ship sinks we often observe, but the time when it first drew water we do not.

(W. Perkins.)

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KJV: And that because of false brethren unawares brought in, who came in privily to spy out our liberty which we have in Christ Jesus, that they might bring us into bondage:

WEB: This was because of the false brothers secretly brought in, who stole in to spy out our liberty which we have in Christ Jesus, that they might bring us into bondage;