Spiritual Survival: False Teachers

Chapter 2

But there are also false prophets amongst the people, just as there will be false teachers among you.

There will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the sovereign Lord who bought them, bringing swift destruction on them.

Many will follow their shameful ways and will bring the way of truth into disrepute.

In their greed, these teachers will exploit you with stories they have made up.

Their condemnation has been hanging over them, and their destruction has not been sleeping.

For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but sent them to hell, putting them in gloomy dungeons to be held for judgment,

if he did not spare the ancient world when he brought the flood on its ungodly people,

but protected Noah, a preacher of righteousness, and seven others,

if he condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah by burning them to ashes,

and made them an example of what is going to happen to the ungodly,

And if he rescued Lot, a righteous man who was distressed by the filthy lives of lawless men,

for that righteous man, living among them day after day, was tormented in his righteous soul by the lawless deeds he saw and heard.

If this is so, then the Lord knows how to rescue godly men from trials,

to hold the unrighteous for the day of judgment, while continuing their punishment.

This is especially true of those who follow the corrupt desire of the sinful nature and despise authority.

Bold and arrogant, these men are not afraid to slander celestial beings.

Yet even angels, although they are stronger, more powerful,

do not bring slanderous accusations against such beings in the presence of the Lord.

But these men blaspheme in matters that they do not understand.

They are like brute beasts, creatures of instinct, born only to be caught and destroyed.

And like beasts, they too will perish.

Thank you, Maria, for reading.

Thank you, Nick, for leading so well this morning.

As we come to God's word, I'd just like to pray,

and again just ask for his help as we look to understand it.

Our Father, we thank you for the words of Scripture,

which are your clear light to us as we seek to follow you.

Lord, we thank you as well for the Holy Spirit who takes the word of God

and makes it real to us, convicting us of sin and showing us righteousness.

So I ask, Father, that your spirit would be at work among us this morning.

In Jesus' name, amen.

This morning we're starting into chapter 2 of 2 Peter.

2 Peter 2 · chapter mention

Chapter 2 of 2 Peter.

And as we've already read, and as we'll see next week,

Alex is going to be preaching from the second half of the chapter.

It's a difficult chapter.

As you can see, it fits right into the middle of the book.

Second Peter is just three chapters long.

And chapter 2 is this difficult chapter right in the middle

that deals with the whole topic of false teachers.

We might not get a direct sense of it,

but I feel that in a way chapter 1 has been building up to chapter 2.

In a way, chapter 1 has laid groundwork for what we now see in chapter 2.

Because in chapter 1, Peter has been reminding us of what it means to follow Jesus.

To follow Jesus.

To be called by Jesus.

And to live a life of faith and obedience.

That, I believe, is essentially what chapter 1 is about.

So Peter shows them then how to follow Jesus,

how to grow in faith and love and all the things we read from verses 5 to 11

that we are to express through faith, all the characteristics.

And then Peter goes on to show the trustworthiness, his trustworthiness,

that we can trust him by telling his readers of his first-hand experience

on the mountain of seeing Jesus glorified.

And then Peter points them at the end of chapter 1

to the more sure word of scripture,

which is to be their ongoing, continuing light to guide them in their lives.

And as I said, in a sense, chapter 1 has been preparing us

for what we now read in chapter 2.

So Peter, in a sense, I think he's laid a good path, hasn't he?

He's laid the good path for us to follow so that we may reach eternal life.

Let's just read some verses from chapter 1 again, just to remind us.

Verse 10 and 11.

Therefore, my brothers, be all the more eager to make your calling and election sure.

For if you do these things, you will never fall,

and you will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom

of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

So Peter has told us about the good path,

but now in chapter 2, he's telling us about another path.

And this is the false path, the crooked path, the path of destruction.

And in a sense, if the good path, the path that we take to eternal life,

is lit by the light of scripture,

then this false path is lit by the light of false teaching.

It's sad, isn't it, that not everyone who calls themselves a teacher is a teacher of truth.

That is clear from the label in verse 1.

They're called false teachers, those who teach lies.

Now, we may be shocked because that's very strong language, isn't it?

False teachers.

You may be shocked to think that there are Christian teachers,

people within the church who teach lies.

But Peter says, Peter says in verse 1,

don't be surprised.

You shouldn't be surprised at this.

For as long as there have been true prophets of God,

there have also been false prophets of God,

side by side with the true prophets of God in the Old Testament,

or false prophets.

There are many, many examples.

And as long as there has been the genuine article,

there has been the counterfeit.

But there were also false prophets, verse 1,

among the people,

just as there will be false teachers among you.

Do not be surprised.

This morning, I'm going to just try and focus in on a few things

to help us understand characteristics of these false teachers.

Four things from the first two verses.

I just have one slide.

They're up there so you know where I'm going.

Keep me straight as well.

And then we're going to look at the rest of the verses

that we've read down to roughly to about verse 10,

and just take them together and see what we are to learn.

Once we see the characteristics, just to understand these two paths.

So I'm just going to go through four things.

It's not going to be very long.

You'll be glad to know it will balance out my overshot last week

of going over 30 minutes.

So you can take the average of the two weeks

and then probably under 30 minutes for both, hopefully.

So the first thing we see from verse 1 is,

they are among you.

They are among you.

We can think of false teachers, can't we,

as being outside of the church.

We can think of many examples.

We can think of paganism.

We can think of atheism.

We can think of secularism.

We can think of all those other religions

and all the other outside religions as being false

or not teaching the truth of Jesus Christ.

But the emphasis here is on the false teachers that are among you.

They are part of the Christian church.

They call themselves Christians.

They use that title.

Jesus had warned, hadn't he previously?

Jesus had told us in Matthew 7, 15,

he said these words,

Watch out, be on the lookout for false prophets.

They come to you in sheep's clothing,

but inwardly they are ferocious wolves.

Imagine a wolf going around with a sheepskin.

And that's what it's like, deceptive.

You see, we are the sheep of Jesus' flock,

and he is the chief shepherd.

But among us, among the church,

are false teachers,

ferocious wolves in sheep's clothing.

There is no language mincing there.

There is no making that easier to hear.

And we need to be aware, yes,

of false teaching from outside the church,

but I believe more so,

we need to see the threats from within the Christian community.

So number one, they are among you.

Number two, they have a different message, don't they?

The second part of verse one,

they will secretly introduce destructive heresies,

even denying the sovereign Lord who bought them,

bringing swift destruction on themselves.

You see, the message,

the message that they bring is a different message.

And this is really the central part

to what makes them false teachers, isn't it?

The message is different.

They're bringing a different message,

but it says they're doing it secretly, aren't they?

They're secretly doing it.

They're not open about what those differences are.

They're not being clear what those differences are.

Now, they teach openly, of course.

They're speaking openly.

They're wanting to attract the crowd and the followers.

They don't teach in secret because, well, they're greedy

and they want many followers.

So they're going to teach openly,

but they do not openly tell people

that what they say is a destructive heresy.

That's a big word, heresy.

It's one we don't maybe mention very much now,

and it's one I think we have to tread carefully

because it's a very serious accusation within the church.

So what is heresy?

Well, I think it's any teaching or belief

that denies basic Christian teaching.

It denies the foundation of the gospel.

In this church, and I hope this reassures or helps,

and please come and chat afterwards if it's not clear or you have questions,

but in this church we sometimes have different teachers or preachers

come and speak from the front or minister within the church,

and there are different things that we encourage people to attend

in other churches or activities or books.

We'd recommend all of that.

So we've had people here speaking on a Sunday morning

who come from a different church denomination.

We've had people here that believe different things about baptism

and would even baptize infants.

We've had people here who, speaking here,

who believe and would practice sign gifts,

such as speaking in tongues.

Now, I believe these are differences within the family of God,

but all these people, I believe, are part of God's universal church.

They hold to the true teachings of Jesus, of the gospel message.

The one church, they're part of that,

all those who are saved and rescued by Jesus.

So these differences, I believe, that we have in the church community

between gospel believers are not heresies.

Heresies deny the plain message of Jesus Christ.

A heretic, a heresy, might deny that Jesus is God.

You can't get more fundamental than that in Christian understanding.

They might deny that God is a trinity,

that God is three persons in one.

Heretics will deny that the judgment is coming.

They deny the commands of our Lord to live a godly and upright life.

You know, heresy is that we deny that we are saved

only by the grace of God through faith in Jesus.

A heretic will, that's one of the things a heretic might deny.

These things, these things are heresies.

To deny the Lord as God,

to deny God in three persons,

to deny how we are saved by faith

through grace in Christ alone.

And we would never knowingly allow people

who hold to heresy to speak

or to teach within this church.

Their message is different, isn't it?

What we've read and it's sprinkled

throughout these verses.

It is one of shameful ways in verse 2.

Their message is one of greed.

You see that in verse 3?

Verse 3 says that they speak with stories they have made up.

Verse 10.

Start of verse 10.

They follow corrupt desires

and they despise authority.

Now we don't have time to go into it in detail,

but if you look back at chapter 1,

there's a contrast there, isn't it?

From the gospel way and the gospel message.

The gospel message in chapter 1

doesn't speak of shameful ways.

It speaks of godly ways.

Instead of greed,

we're encouraged to develop brotherly kindness,

to love and care for one another as brothers,

not to be greedy.

Peter in verse 16 in chapter 1

says that, you know,

I'm coming to you with true stories

instead of these made up stories.

In chapter 1,

we escape.

We escape from evil desires

while these false teachers

are full of corrupt desires.

Verse 19 in chapter 1.

We follow the authority of scripture

instead of the false teachers

in chapter 2, verse 10,

who despise authority.

Do you see the kind of contrasts?

Because I think chapter 2 is hard

to just stand on its own.

We have to look back at chapter 1,

the groundwork,

the path that's been laid for us

under the light of scripture

of how we should live.

And then we see the false teachers

so clearly, don't we?

Because it's a contrast.

It's a contrast.

They are complete opposites.

Number 3.

Number 3.

These false teachers

have many followers.

Verse 2.

Just the first part of it.

Many will follow

their shameful ways.

This saddens me

to read these words.

Instead of

instead of these false teachers

being on the fringe,

instead of these false teachers

being the minority,

these false teachers

seem to attract

many followers.

Their message promises

quick gain.

Quick gains.

Quick gains.

Quick gains.

Greed.

And many are led astray.

Whole churches

and congregations,

denominations,

will follow after

these men and women.

They plant,

they plant in the hearts

of people

false teachings

about Jesus.

And the result

is that many,

verse 2,

will follow

their shameful ways.

Do you know

that Christianity

is still the world's

largest religion

by followers?

The largest religion

by followers.

So if you look

at the statistics,

one in every

three people

in the world

carry the label

Christian.

One in every three.

That's 2.1 billion people

carry the label Christian.

In Ireland,

we have an even

higher ratio.

Nine out of every

ten people

in Ireland

have the label

Christian.

They say that they

follow Jesus Christ.

Think about that

for a minute.

One out of every

three people in the world

and nine out of

every ten in Ireland.

Now ask the question,

are one in every

three people

in the world

following

the path

of chapter 1?

Are they living

the words

of chapter 1?

Now I'm not talking

about struggling

in your Christian

life or struggling

with sin,

but is that their

heart's desire?

Are nine out of ten

people in Ireland

following the words

of chapter 1?

No,

they are not.

For many of that

2.1 billion people

in the world

are following

the shameful

ways

of false

teachers.

And that's

sad.

That is sad.

Teaching that

says things like,

you know,

you just need to

live as you like.

Try your best.

Do good

as far as you can.

In the end,

Jesus will forgive you.

No talk about

faith

or grace

or what it

cost the Father

to send the Son

to die for our sin.

Just

a false message.

There's teaching

that says that,

well,

Jesus just died

to give you

a victorious life

now.

You just need

to claim His

promise

for health

and wealth.

And they say

your best life

is now

and don't

understand

what it is

we are called

to and a reward

in heaven.

A false

message of hope

now.

You know,

when you put it

like that,

you can see

the appeal

of false

teaching.

It always

has been,

back in the Old

Testament,

in the New

Testament,

it always has

been,

always will be

just very,

very popular.

Many will

follow.

It's always

going to be

more popular

than saying,

take up

your cross

and follow

me.

It's always

going to be

more popular

than saying,

instead of

storing up

things on

earth,

Jesus says,

but store

up for

yourself

treasures

in heaven

where moths

and vermin

do not

destroy and

where thieves

do not

break in

and steal.

That's always

going to be

a harder

message.

It's always

going to be

a harder

message.

Number four,

false

teachers,

they bring

the way

of Jesus

into

disrepute.

Do you

see that

at the

end of

verse two?

Start of

verse two.

Many will

follow their

shameful ways

and will

bring the

way of

truth

into

disrepute.

Into

disrepute.

If you're

not a

follower of

Jesus

this morning,

then I am

sorry and

saddened for

this mess.

as you

look on

at churches

and as you

look on

at denominations

and even

as you

see individual

Christians as

they're featured

on the news

sometimes,

you're turned

off.

For Christians

appear to be

nothing more

than hypocritical

liars feasting

on the weak

and the

vulnerable.

Given what

we've read,

given what we

know and

given what we

see in the

news and

media,

you would

be right

to believe

that about

Christians

based on

what you

see.

For the

false

teachers

and those

that follow

them bring

the way of

truth into

disrepute.

They bring

it into

disrepute.

Because of

false teachers,

people,

others,

outsiders,

those that

know they

aren't

Christians,

they laugh

at and they

mock God.

They laugh

at him and

they mock

him.

They ridicule

us,

they ridicule

people that

are looking

to follow

Jesus.

What?

You're a

Christian?

You really

take that

seriously?

The news

and the

media are

always going

to highlight

the false

teachers,

the charlatans,

those that

make a

mockery of

the gospel

of Jesus.

So the

way of

Jesus is

going to

be mocked,

it's going

to be

maligned,

it's going

to be

brought into

disrepute.

But if

you're not

a follower

of Jesus,

do not

give up

because of

this.

Do not

give up.

Scottish

pastor

Colin

Smith put

it like

this,

commenting on

these verses.

He says,

one of the

strangest

reasons for

not following

Christ goes

like this,

and maybe

you've heard

this from

people.

You know,

I've seen

people in

church that

are hypocrites.

I'm not

going to

follow that.

So you

will not

follow

Christ

because

some

people

who

claim

to

do

so

are

hypocrites.

The existence

of the

counterfeit

is never

a good

reason for

rejecting the

genuine.

genuine.

Let me say

that again.

The existence

of a

counterfeit is

never a good

reason for

rejecting the

genuine.

And Peter

essentially tells

us, of course

there are

counterfeit

Christians.

Of course

there are

teachers who

do the

church more

harm than

good.

What else

would you

expect in a

fallen world?

He says,

grow up.

Don't be

naive.

Don't miss

what's

real.

Simply

because you've

seen the

counterfeit.

And there's a

challenge there

isn't there?

For us if

we're put

off by the

hypocrisy,

if we're put

off by what

we see from

other Christians,

yes there is

the counterfeit,

but don't be

put off from

the genuine

because of

that.

There are

four things

I think that

come out

in the first

couple of

verses.

Let's just

recap them.

False

teachers are

among us.

They're not

just from

outside,

but they

are among

us as

Christians.

They come

with a

different

message.

They speak

heresy.

They're going

to have many

followers,

and they

bring,

as a result,

the way of

Jesus into

disrepute.

Verses

3 to

10,

the latter

part of

verse 3 to

10,

there's a lot

in there,

and are

difficult

verses.

We're just

going to go

through a

brief overview.

If you have

any questions,

because I

realize there

is a lot

in there,

please do

come and

ask.

I'm very

happy to

explore it

a bit more

and to

understand it

a bit more.

But as we

read from

verse 3,

the second

half of it,

it says,

their

condemnation

has been

hanging over

them,

and their

destruction

has not

been

sleeping.

And Peter

takes that

little bit

at the end

of verse 3

and begins

to unpack it

through the

rest of

chapter 2.

So after

characterizing

what false

teachers are

like,

Peter is

moving to

their destiny.

He's moving

to what their

destiny is.

In chapter 1,

remember those

verses that we

looked at in

verse 10 and

11,

and to me

it's the

pinnacle of

chapter 1 in

a sense.

It's the pinnacle

of the gospel

message.

It's Peter saying,

live in faith

and keep growing

in your faith

and add these

characteristics of

godliness and

self-control and

brotherly kindness

and all these

wonderful things

and you're

going to get

there.

You will get

there.

Jesus is going

to call you

and he's

elected you

and you're

going to get

there.

Just stay

on the path.

That's our

destiny.

The destiny

of those that

are called on

the path of

the gospel is

eternal life

and a reward

in heaven.

Now in

chapter 2,

Peter turns to

what lies at

the end of

the path for

the false

teachers.

It's a

different path,

remember,

and it has a

different destination.

And he says

in verse 3,

it's condemnation

and destruction.

You know,

we're saddened,

I think,

when we read

through the

characteristics of

the false

teachers and

see the

destruction that

they wage on

people's lives

and on the

gospel.

And we're

saddened to

think that

people are

led astray

and people are

exploited by a

message of

greed.

And we ask,

where is God?

Why is God

allowing this

to happen?

Couldn't he

even protect

his own

message?

But Peter

tells us that

God is just.

He is not

sitting by

while false

teachers are

running amok.

In chapter 1,

God shows us

his love

in electing

and rescuing

his people

and bringing

them to their

eternal reward.

Now in

chapter 2,

I believe God

is showing us

his great

justice in

dealing with

false teachers

who ruin

the faith

of many.

Verse 4

to 8,

very dense,

there's a lot

in there,

but it gives

us three

examples from

the past,

from the Old

Testament,

showing how

God is able

to sift out

and to judge

the ungodly.

And the

first example

is how he

dealt with

rebellious angels.

And I think

we always get

a little bit

excited when

we're talking

about the

heavenly realms

because it's

something that's

unseen,

it's supernatural.

Now we don't

know everything

there is to

know about

the heavenly

realms and

angels.

God has

given us

what he has

given us

and we know

certain things.

So it's

hard to know

when this

rebellion took

place exactly

or what was

all involved.

But what we

do know from

these verses

is that in

the past,

that the

angels,

the heavenly

beings created

by God,

rebelled in

sin against

their creator.

And many

of those angels

are being

held,

it says,

in hell

awaiting their

final judgment.

God did

God did not

spare his

own angels

when it

came to

judgment.

When it

came to

judgment,

God did

not spare

his own

angels.

The second

example is

how he dealt

with the

ancient world.

I was just

looking actually

yesterday,

there's,

it'll be

interesting to

see how

they do it,

but in

2014,

there's a

Russell Crowe

film that's

coming out

called Noah.

Noah.

It'll be

very exciting,

especially for

our youngest,

because that's

his name,

but it'll be

interesting to

see how they

deal with it,

because in

the early days

of human

history,

God flooded

the whole

earth,

and only

eight people

survived.

God did

not spare

the ancient

world.

Judgment

came swiftly,

but it says

God knew

how to

rescue

Noah.

You see

that?

God knew

how to

rescue

Noah.

God gave

instructions,

didn't he,

to Noah to

build a

boat,

an ark,

to ensure

that when

judgment came

that they

would be

protected.

So even

in the

midst of

a flood,

even in

the midst

of worldwide

destruction,

God knew.

God knew

how to

rescue Noah.

The third

example,

the cities

of Sodom

and Gomorrah,

they were

cities that

were literally

thriving and

full of sin

and rebellion

and all

the chains

were off,

all the

restrictions

were off.

These were

people that

lived with

no reference

to God.

Everyone doing

what was right

in their own

eyes.

People turned

away from

God and

they involved

themselves in

whatever sin

they desired.

God knew

how to destroy

those cities

and at the

same time

he knew

how to

rescue

Lot.

Remember

God sent

his angels

to instruct

Lot and

his family

to flee

and they

had to

work really

hard to

get Lot

to flee.

He didn't

want to

flee.

He didn't

understand what

was happening.

But there

were very

specific,

very clear

instructions.

Keep going.

Don't look

back.

Go to the

hills.

Bit of

negotiation.

No, we'll

go to this

town instead.

Okay, but

don't look

back.

Keep going.

God knew

how to

save them

in the midst

of destruction.

And these

verses, these

are all the

past judgments

showing that

God takes

sin and

rebellion

seriously.

We think

that God

doesn't at

times, don't

we?

We don't

see his

judgments

being meted

out like

this all

the time.

But they

show as

well, don't

they, that

God knows

how to

keep his

people safe

in the

midst of

judgment.

God

showed his

people the

path to

safety, the

path to

eternal

life.

And then

we come

to verse

nine.

And verses

four to

eight are

giving examples

from the

past and

they're almost

the lesser

example.

Peter here is

arguing from

the less

these things

in the past

to the more.

Verse nine.

And this is

what he says.

If this is

so, these

three examples,

then the

Lord knows

how to

rescue godly

men from

trials and

to hold

the unrighteous

for the day

of judgment

while continuing

their punishment.

False

teachers

look like

they're

working in

the world

with impunity.

It looks

like they're

doing as

they wish

without any

fear.

But the

Lord tells

us,

doesn't he,

in verse

three,

and he

unpacks it

in those

other verses,

that their

condemnation is

hanging over

them.

It says it's

going to be

swift.

What does

that mean?

Because it's

not.

They carry

on destructive

teachings and

people are

led astray and

we think of

swift as

immediate,

but it's

not immediate,

is it?

Why is

that?

Well, I

believe it is

delayed now

so that they

would turn

even now

and repent.

Let's look,

just turn over

the page,

chapter three

and verse

nine.

And this is

Peter writing

in response

to the

scoffers,

the people

that say,

where is

God's

coming?

Where is

his judgment?

Everything's

going on as

it always

has.

God isn't

coming back.

He doesn't

care.

Why the

delay?

And Peter

says in

verse nine,

the Lord

is not

slow in

keeping his

promise,

as some

understand

slowness.

He is

patient with

you.

Read these

words.

Not wanting

anyone to

perish,

but everyone

to come

to repentance.

You see

that?

Everyone?

Everyone?

Including

those in

chapter two

that have

done so

much damage?

Yes,

everyone.

The Lord

in his

will of

desire,

desires that

all people

would repent

and come

to him.

His swift

judgment in

terms of the

immediacy of

it is being

held off.

It's being

held off.

But when it

comes,

it will be

swift.

When judgment

finally comes,

it's going to

be like the

flood.

When judgment

finally comes,

it's going to

be like that

hailstone storm

that fell from

heaven and

destroyed those

cities.

Judgment is

swift when it

comes, but

God in his

mercy, he's

holding it

back.

He's holding

it back until

that day.

And that's not

slowness.

That's not slowness.

That's God's

love.

That's God's

patience.

God knows

even with

people who

teach false

things.

So these

verses in

chapter 2,

even though

they're hard

and about the

false teachers,

I think they

help us to

know what

the path,

the gospel of

Jesus Christ

is like.

That that

path is the

safe path to

be on.

You see, it

says God

knows how to

rescue us.

Stay on this

path.

Stay on this

path.

God knows.

God knows how

to rescue

you.

Keep on that

path.

But these

verses also

serve as a

warning, don't

they?

They serve as

a warning.

And especially

to those of

us who teach

God's word.

And there are

many within

the life of

the church that

teach and

encourage and

pass on God's

word.

More so,

Johnny as our

pastor and as

our main

teacher and

others who

are up here

and preaching

from the

front.

He serve as

a warning.

And the

words of

James puts

it quite

simply.

He says,

not many of

you should

presume to

be teachers,

my brothers,

because you

know that we

who teach will

be judged

more strictly.

Now, I

don't think

that's intended

to put people

off from

pursuing the

ability to

teach and

the gifting

and to

explore that.

It's not to

put you off,

but it's

just a word

of warning.

Keep on

this path if

you're going

to teach.

Keep on

this path.

You see,

words of

teaching,

what we

say can

lead people

towards

righteousness

and it

can lead

people towards

eternal life

or they

can lead

people towards

rebellion and

it can lead

people towards

destruction.

There are two

paths.

There are two

paths to

follow.

we need

to recognize

the characteristics

that's why we

have chapter

two, isn't

it?

We need to

recognize the

characteristics of

false teachers

so that we

can make sure

that we're on

the right

path.

What's

interesting about

the paths

as they

meander,

one of them

is maybe a

little bit

narrower,

another one

is broader,

but they're

going to

intersect at

a point in

future history,

aren't they?

Those two

paths are

going to come

to the

judgment

seat of

Jesus.

And as we

reach that

point and

we're before

Jesus and

he is on

his judgment

seat to

just judge,

we'll await

a verdict.

We'll await

a verdict.

We've come

on our paths

to this point.

And for

some, for

some, there

will be the

simple words

like those of

Matthew 25

Matthew 25:23

verse 23

and Jesus

says,

well done,

well done,

good and

faithful servant.

Come,

come and

share in

your master's

happiness.

Simple words,

a word of

welcome.

Oh, what a

joy it will

be to receive

a reward that

day, the

things that we've

stored up in

heaven, the

treasures,

and to

see Jesus,

our reward,

to enjoy

him, to

see his

face, to

know that

everything that's

wrong has

been undone

and everything

has been

made right.

Oh, to

see your

reward, to

hear those

words, well

done, from

the creator of

the universe,

well done,

well done,

good and

faithful servant.

But for

others, for

others there

will be no

welcome.

Instead, the

conversation at

the judgment

seat will be

more like that

of Matthew

Matthew 7 · chapter mention

chapter 7.

And Jesus

speaking and

warning and

letting us

know, he

says, not

everyone that

says to me on

that day,

Lord, Lord,

will enter the

kingdom of

heaven, but

only those who

does the will

of my Father

who is in

heaven.

Many, many

will say to

me on that

day, Lord,

Lord, didn't

we, didn't

we prophesy

in your

name?

Didn't we

say things

in your

name?

Didn't we

speak things

in your

name?

And in

your name,

didn't we

drive out

demons?

Didn't we

do that in

your name?

And in

your name,

did we

not perform

many

miracles?

Then Jesus

will say,

then Jesus

will tell

them plainly,

I never

knew you.

I never

knew you.

Away from

me, you

evildoers.

Well done,

away from

me.

Well done,

away from

me.

There can

be no

greater

contrast

between the

way and

the path

of the

gospel and

the way

of the

false

teachers.

So let

us take

up our

cross and

continue to

follow Jesus

to safety.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.