1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:06,640 The danger that they deceive the people of God. 2 00:00:06,640 --> 00:00:10,480 Peter reminds us that this has happened in the past. 3 00:00:10,480 --> 00:00:17,200 Walt's prophets, he says, arose among the people, which was a way of him pointing to 4 00:00:17,200 --> 00:00:22,580 past days from his time, the Jewish people, ancient Israel. 5 00:00:22,580 --> 00:00:27,440 If we had time this evening, and we don't, we could go back to Deuteronomy 13, where 6 00:00:27,440 --> 00:00:31,400 Moses warns that this is a possibility. 7 00:00:31,400 --> 00:00:37,160 There would be false prophets who would come and would even show wonders and signs, and 8 00:00:37,160 --> 00:00:42,120 warns the people of God, of Israel, regarding them. 9 00:00:42,120 --> 00:00:46,720 We see examples of them through the Old Testament. 10 00:00:46,720 --> 00:00:53,680 One of the better known, perhaps, would be those prophets that arose in the days of King 11 00:00:53,680 --> 00:00:55,600 Ahab. 12 00:00:55,600 --> 00:01:03,400 You may recall that time when Jehoshaphat, who was the king of Judah, the southern kingdom, 13 00:01:03,400 --> 00:01:12,560 went north to see King Ahab of the northern kingdom, called Samaria, or Israel. 14 00:01:12,560 --> 00:01:18,800 While he was there, King Ahab convinced him to go to war against Syria, or Aram. 15 00:01:18,800 --> 00:01:22,360 There was a piece of ground that was in dispute. 16 00:01:22,360 --> 00:01:27,720 So Jehoshaphat, who was a godly man, basically, was very foolish and aligned himself with 17 00:01:27,720 --> 00:01:37,440 this ungodly, wicked man Ahab, who was the king of the northern tribes of Israel. 18 00:01:37,440 --> 00:01:45,720 But Jehoshaphat wanted a word of a prophet before they went out to battle, and so Ahab 19 00:01:45,720 --> 00:01:47,360 called in his prophets. 20 00:01:47,360 --> 00:01:54,360 These were probably not the prophets of his dear wife Jezebel, the prophets of Baal, but 21 00:01:54,360 --> 00:01:59,200 rather other prophets who were prophets in the name of the Lord. 22 00:01:59,200 --> 00:02:07,360 But they are very clearly men who were willing to tell Ahab anything he wanted to hear. 23 00:02:07,360 --> 00:02:10,200 They were probably on the dole of Ahab. 24 00:02:10,200 --> 00:02:12,120 That's how they made their living. 25 00:02:12,120 --> 00:02:19,480 So their leader, whose name was Edekiah, and the others who were with him, promised Ahab, 26 00:02:19,480 --> 00:02:22,040 oh yes, God's going to be with you in this battle. 27 00:02:22,040 --> 00:02:28,760 Go out, go out, go to it, wipe him up. 28 00:02:28,760 --> 00:02:38,240 And he went so far as even to make himself a set of horns, and he demonstrated how Ahab 29 00:02:38,240 --> 00:02:45,520 would push the Arameans out of the way and would have victory over them. 30 00:02:45,520 --> 00:02:50,360 But Jehoshaphat still wasn't satisfied about this, and he pressed further if there might 31 00:02:50,360 --> 00:02:52,480 be a prophet of the Lord. 32 00:02:52,480 --> 00:03:01,440 And Ahab most reluctantly called another prophet who always spoke against him. 33 00:03:01,440 --> 00:03:05,040 A little wonder. 34 00:03:05,040 --> 00:03:11,280 The other prophet was a true man of God, and his name was Micaiah. 35 00:03:11,280 --> 00:03:15,800 And at first Micaiah gave sort of a tongue-in-cheek answer, oh sure, go on out, you're going to 36 00:03:15,800 --> 00:03:18,040 win. 37 00:03:18,040 --> 00:03:25,040 And Ahab recognized immediately the sarcasm and rebuked him, and tell me the truth. 38 00:03:25,040 --> 00:03:26,040 So he did. 39 00:03:26,040 --> 00:03:29,840 So he put him in jail. 40 00:03:29,840 --> 00:03:33,160 So much for true prophets of God. 41 00:03:33,160 --> 00:03:40,480 But the warning went out to these false prophets, and especially Zedekiah, the leader of them, 42 00:03:40,480 --> 00:03:44,720 because of their false prophecies, they were going to die. 43 00:03:44,720 --> 00:03:48,080 That prophecy came true. 44 00:03:48,080 --> 00:03:52,280 Throughout the history of Israel, there were false prophets who arose and who told the 45 00:03:52,280 --> 00:03:56,840 kings and others what they wanted to hear, what pleased them. 46 00:03:56,840 --> 00:04:00,720 This was true right up until the very end of the kingdom of Judah. 47 00:04:00,720 --> 00:04:08,880 And Jeremiah, who was a prophet at the end of Judah, 250 years after Micaiah and Ahab 48 00:04:08,880 --> 00:04:16,160 and Jehoshaphat, Jeremiah the weeping prophet wrote in his book in chapter 5 regarding the 49 00:04:16,160 --> 00:04:20,400 false prophets and the false priests of Israel. 50 00:04:20,400 --> 00:04:26,360 And he said, the greatest tragedy is my people, God says this, my people love to have it this 51 00:04:26,360 --> 00:04:27,360 way. 52 00:04:27,360 --> 00:04:32,480 The people wanted to hear these false prophets because what they had to say pleased them. 53 00:04:32,480 --> 00:04:34,880 It tickled their ear. 54 00:04:34,880 --> 00:04:40,720 And Jeremiah weeps about that, as did God. 55 00:04:40,720 --> 00:04:44,600 Historically there were false prophets among the people of God, and Peter says there shall 56 00:04:44,600 --> 00:04:48,720 continue to be false teachers who will arise. 57 00:04:48,720 --> 00:04:52,960 And how will they deceive the people of God? 58 00:04:52,960 --> 00:04:57,200 Well Peter tells us it will be through heresies. 59 00:04:57,200 --> 00:04:59,880 You notice that word in verse 1. 60 00:04:59,880 --> 00:05:05,040 Heresies, that is a word just brought right into the English from the Greek. 61 00:05:05,040 --> 00:05:08,280 It means choices, choices. 62 00:05:08,280 --> 00:05:11,440 It refers to a chosen belief. 63 00:05:11,440 --> 00:05:17,280 The New Bible commentary revise says, it is a wrong belief deliberately chosen by a man 64 00:05:17,280 --> 00:05:21,040 rather than a right one revealed to him by God. 65 00:05:21,040 --> 00:05:26,480 A heresy is something someone chooses to believe which is false over against something that 66 00:05:26,480 --> 00:05:31,960 is right that he knows to be right but which he rejects. 67 00:05:31,960 --> 00:05:35,800 Heresies is a word that is used in the New Testament of religious parties and sects like 68 00:05:35,800 --> 00:05:37,000 the Pharisees. 69 00:05:37,000 --> 00:05:41,760 They themselves are called heretics, Acts 15.5. 70 00:05:41,760 --> 00:05:49,480 It's a word that's also used of factions based upon false doctrine such as here or in 1 Corinthians 71 00:05:49,480 --> 00:05:50,480 11.19. 72 00:05:50,480 --> 00:05:53,360 Likewise, it is used in that context. 73 00:05:53,360 --> 00:05:58,120 Now what Peter is saying is that false teachers will deceive the people of God. 74 00:05:58,120 --> 00:05:59,120 How? 75 00:05:59,120 --> 00:06:01,480 By giving them choices. 76 00:06:01,480 --> 00:06:07,400 Choices to believe something other than the revealed truth of God, heresies. 77 00:06:07,400 --> 00:06:10,080 And he describes these heresies. 78 00:06:10,080 --> 00:06:12,720 He says they are destructive. 79 00:06:12,720 --> 00:06:14,240 That means they are ruinous. 80 00:06:14,240 --> 00:06:18,560 They bring darkness and damnation to the soul. 81 00:06:18,560 --> 00:06:25,920 He says furthermore about them, these false teachers will secretly introduce destructive 82 00:06:25,920 --> 00:06:26,920 heresies. 83 00:06:26,920 --> 00:06:27,920 Interesting verb. 84 00:06:27,920 --> 00:06:31,440 Very, very picturesque. 85 00:06:31,440 --> 00:06:37,000 Literally it means to slip something in alongside of something else. 86 00:06:37,000 --> 00:06:40,360 To smuggle would be a way of saying it. 87 00:06:40,360 --> 00:06:47,280 Peter is saying these false teachers are not going to be so blatant as to give all false 88 00:06:47,280 --> 00:06:49,000 teaching. 89 00:06:49,000 --> 00:06:50,200 They are going to wrap it up. 90 00:06:50,200 --> 00:06:57,480 They are going to smuggle in beside some good their heresy. 91 00:06:57,480 --> 00:07:05,320 That's most common in our day for people to use Bible language but to redefine the terms. 92 00:07:05,320 --> 00:07:09,520 So they use the same language that we read in the Bible and we think they are talking 93 00:07:09,520 --> 00:07:15,760 the same thing that we believe but in fact they have redefined the whole system. 94 00:07:15,760 --> 00:07:19,720 That's smuggling in heresy. 95 00:07:19,720 --> 00:07:21,280 It's a covert activity. 96 00:07:21,280 --> 00:07:29,200 It's a picture of someone who is creeping along under cover in order to bring damnation 97 00:07:29,200 --> 00:07:30,200 to people. 98 00:07:30,200 --> 00:07:32,240 Now what is the motive? 99 00:07:32,240 --> 00:07:35,160 Why do these false teachers do this? 100 00:07:35,160 --> 00:07:39,660 Well Peter is very plain, very plain spoken about it. 101 00:07:39,660 --> 00:07:43,820 He says it is for personal advantage. 102 00:07:43,820 --> 00:07:49,360 He says many will follow their sensuality. 103 00:07:49,360 --> 00:07:56,360 These false teachers are motivated in the first place by sensual lusts. 104 00:07:56,360 --> 00:07:57,840 The word is used back in 1 Peter. 105 00:07:57,840 --> 00:08:01,240 Just look back there quick in chapter 4 verse 3. 106 00:08:01,240 --> 00:08:05,480 He says, For the time already passed is sufficient for you to have carried out the desire of 107 00:08:05,480 --> 00:08:16,200 the gentiles, the desire of the gentiles, having pursued a course of sensuality, lusts, drunkenness, 108 00:08:16,200 --> 00:08:20,240 corrals, drinking parties, and abominable idolatries. 109 00:08:20,240 --> 00:08:26,800 Peter says, You believers, time is already over for you to have lived like that and to 110 00:08:26,800 --> 00:08:32,200 carry out the desire of pagans, people who don't know God. 111 00:08:32,200 --> 00:08:37,120 Seen the course like the unsaved people of sensuality. 112 00:08:37,120 --> 00:08:39,840 The word refers to shameful ways. 113 00:08:39,840 --> 00:08:42,560 That's how the NIV puts it. 114 00:08:42,560 --> 00:08:48,280 It's debased sexually immoral practices. 115 00:08:48,280 --> 00:08:55,240 Peter says that these false teachers are motivated in part at least by unbridled lust, just plain 116 00:08:55,240 --> 00:08:58,920 old raw lust. 117 00:08:58,920 --> 00:09:05,720 And through their manipulation of people by their teaching, they are able to accomplish 118 00:09:05,720 --> 00:09:07,720 this end. 119 00:09:07,720 --> 00:09:13,840 Secondly, he says that they are motivated by selfish desires. 120 00:09:13,840 --> 00:09:16,920 Sensual lusts and selfish desires. 121 00:09:16,920 --> 00:09:20,880 He says, In their greed they will exploit you. 122 00:09:20,880 --> 00:09:22,480 Greed. 123 00:09:22,480 --> 00:09:29,120 The desire to have and to possess overwhelms them. 124 00:09:29,120 --> 00:09:33,760 And so they will exploit you, says Peter. 125 00:09:33,760 --> 00:09:37,920 The King James puts it, they will make merchandise of you, which is a great way to say it because 126 00:09:37,920 --> 00:09:41,160 the word is a commercial word. 127 00:09:41,160 --> 00:09:46,860 It means to commercially take something. 128 00:09:46,860 --> 00:09:51,960 They will exploit you commercially. 129 00:09:51,960 --> 00:09:52,960 That's how he says it. 130 00:09:52,960 --> 00:09:55,000 And what will they use to do this? 131 00:09:55,000 --> 00:09:56,640 False words. 132 00:09:56,640 --> 00:10:03,920 The word false here is a Greek word that we've brought into our English language and we say 133 00:10:03,920 --> 00:10:04,920 plastic. 134 00:10:04,920 --> 00:10:08,080 That's a Greek word. 135 00:10:08,080 --> 00:10:11,640 So you see that Peter's being very plain about how the false teachers work. 136 00:10:11,640 --> 00:10:15,240 He says they mold their words. 137 00:10:15,240 --> 00:10:18,340 Their words are like plastic. 138 00:10:18,340 --> 00:10:29,000 They fit their words in order to use you and to exploit you. 139 00:10:29,000 --> 00:10:35,280 Edwin Bloom says, With fabricated stories they fleece the sheep. 140 00:10:35,280 --> 00:10:42,560 The point is that they make up stories, they use language, which will exploit the listener 141 00:10:42,560 --> 00:10:45,480 for their own personal advantage. 142 00:10:45,480 --> 00:10:49,120 Someone has defined this, well-turned words. 143 00:10:49,120 --> 00:10:56,200 They are masters of deceit and manipulation by their language and the stories they come 144 00:10:56,200 --> 00:10:57,200 up with. 145 00:10:57,200 --> 00:11:04,120 And so you turn on Christian television talk programs and you hear about people who have 146 00:11:04,120 --> 00:11:07,200 died and gone to hell. 147 00:11:07,200 --> 00:11:10,560 And God lets them out of there and says, well you can go over to heaven for a while. 148 00:11:10,560 --> 00:11:12,520 And they go to heaven. 149 00:11:12,520 --> 00:11:18,640 Now God says, now you go back to earth and tell people what it's like. 150 00:11:18,640 --> 00:11:24,360 Plastic words so that they can exploit you. 151 00:11:24,360 --> 00:11:29,480 The kinds of stories you hear in some of these talk programs are just unbelievable. 152 00:11:29,480 --> 00:11:34,120 The problem is too many people do believe them. 153 00:11:34,120 --> 00:11:35,120 They're deceived. 154 00:11:35,120 --> 00:11:36,920 And that's exactly what Peter warns about. 155 00:11:36,920 --> 00:11:43,640 He says, don't be deceived by people who are actually out for one thing. 156 00:11:43,640 --> 00:11:46,400 And that is for their own personal advantage. 157 00:11:46,400 --> 00:11:50,400 To exploit you as the people of God. 158 00:11:50,400 --> 00:11:56,200 Now a second work of these false teachers, not only do they deceive the people of God, 159 00:11:56,200 --> 00:11:59,400 they deny the Son of God. 160 00:11:59,400 --> 00:12:04,680 Notice that he says that they deny the master who bought them. 161 00:12:04,680 --> 00:12:08,480 There are two crucial doctrines in those words. 162 00:12:08,480 --> 00:12:11,600 One is the doctrine of the deity of Christ. 163 00:12:11,600 --> 00:12:13,520 He says they deny the master. 164 00:12:13,520 --> 00:12:15,000 This is an unusual word. 165 00:12:15,000 --> 00:12:18,520 It's used only two times in the New Testament of Jesus. 166 00:12:18,520 --> 00:12:22,920 It is used here and in Jude verse 4. 167 00:12:22,920 --> 00:12:27,880 The word is despot, which to us in our language today has a negative connotation, but in that 168 00:12:27,880 --> 00:12:32,300 day it simply meant a sovereign Lord. 169 00:12:32,300 --> 00:12:35,440 So what they do is to deny the sovereign Lord. 170 00:12:35,440 --> 00:12:37,560 They deny who Jesus is. 171 00:12:37,560 --> 00:12:44,720 They deny his deity that he is God come in the flesh. 172 00:12:44,720 --> 00:12:47,200 How do we know that Jesus is God come in the flesh? 173 00:12:47,200 --> 00:12:52,900 Well Peter has already explained to us in chapter 1 that there is fulfilled prophecy. 174 00:12:52,900 --> 00:12:57,080 There is the voice from heaven that gave testimony of him. 175 00:12:57,080 --> 00:13:02,560 In addition to that we can talk about his own claims to be the Son of God, the fact 176 00:13:02,560 --> 00:13:08,740 that he accepted worship of himself, that he was raised from the dead and by that openly 177 00:13:08,740 --> 00:13:12,440 declared to be the Son of God with power. 178 00:13:12,440 --> 00:13:16,560 But the false teachers deny the master. 179 00:13:16,560 --> 00:13:18,960 They deny the sovereign Lord. 180 00:13:18,960 --> 00:13:19,960 Who bought them? 181 00:13:19,960 --> 00:13:22,560 The second doctrine is the atonement of Christ. 182 00:13:22,560 --> 00:13:25,040 They deny that. 183 00:13:25,040 --> 00:13:32,480 That we gather around the Lord's table to celebrate the atonement of Christ, his sacrifice. 184 00:13:32,480 --> 00:13:35,520 But those who are false teachers want nothing to do with it. 185 00:13:35,520 --> 00:13:44,440 It is interesting that Peter says that the master bought them too, these false teachers. 186 00:13:44,440 --> 00:13:49,680 That phrase has given Bible students lots of sleepless nights. 187 00:13:49,680 --> 00:13:51,400 What does this mean? 188 00:13:51,400 --> 00:13:53,720 That the Lord bought them. 189 00:13:53,720 --> 00:13:55,880 This word bought is the word redeem. 190 00:13:55,880 --> 00:13:58,240 It means to buy in the marketplace. 191 00:13:58,240 --> 00:14:05,000 It is the same word that is used in other places of redeeming people who are God's 192 00:14:05,000 --> 00:14:06,000 chosen. 193 00:14:06,000 --> 00:14:12,760 It is hard really to force any other meaning upon this or any lesser meaning. 194 00:14:12,760 --> 00:14:19,840 What this probably is and I think is, is an argument for the sufficiency of Christ's atonement. 195 00:14:19,840 --> 00:14:25,200 That in the death of our Lord Jesus Christ there was sufficient merit even for those 196 00:14:25,200 --> 00:14:28,600 who deny him. 197 00:14:28,600 --> 00:14:31,460 It is not that they are going to be saved. 198 00:14:31,460 --> 00:14:36,120 His atonement is only efficient for those who believe in him. 199 00:14:36,120 --> 00:14:44,500 But it is sufficient even for those who deny him as blatantly as do these false teachers. 200 00:14:44,500 --> 00:14:49,080 The denial of either of these doctrines, the deity of Christ or the blood atonement of 201 00:14:49,080 --> 00:14:55,440 Christ places one in the place of damnation. 202 00:14:55,440 --> 00:14:58,360 One cannot go to heaven. 203 00:14:58,360 --> 00:15:03,560 One cannot be saved and deny the deity of Christ or the blood atonement of Christ. 204 00:15:03,560 --> 00:15:09,640 They are essential fundamental doctrines of the Bible. 205 00:15:09,640 --> 00:15:17,600 I was talking with a friend this last week who was involved in a church plant here in 206 00:15:17,600 --> 00:15:20,600 the Twin Cities somewhere. 207 00:15:20,600 --> 00:15:28,040 He told me that the pastor who is leading this new congregation made it very plain to 208 00:15:28,040 --> 00:15:33,120 him and other people who were up front in the church leading services that they were 209 00:15:33,120 --> 00:15:37,080 not to talk about the blood of Christ. 210 00:15:37,080 --> 00:15:41,240 He says it is offensive to people in our day. 211 00:15:41,240 --> 00:15:45,760 It is offensive to people in our day to talk about the blood of Christ. 212 00:15:45,760 --> 00:15:49,640 Don't talk about the blood of Christ. 213 00:15:49,640 --> 00:15:55,680 That gives me shivers to hear someone whom I know to be an evangelical make a statement 214 00:15:55,680 --> 00:15:57,920 like that. 215 00:15:57,920 --> 00:16:04,040 Dear friends, there is no remission apart from the shed blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. 216 00:16:04,040 --> 00:16:09,680 It is true it may be misunderstood by some today and indeed it is offensive because it 217 00:16:09,680 --> 00:16:13,680 says very little about the worth of man. 218 00:16:13,680 --> 00:16:20,760 It doesn't exactly exalt man to talk about the necessity of a Savior who would die and 219 00:16:20,760 --> 00:16:26,480 shed his blood that they might be forgiven. 220 00:16:26,480 --> 00:16:31,800 Let us never be ashamed to talk about the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. 221 00:16:31,800 --> 00:16:36,560 I would hope that God would close the doors of this place before we would ever say don't 222 00:16:36,560 --> 00:16:42,520 talk about the blood of Jesus. 223 00:16:42,520 --> 00:16:48,640 Those who are false teachers deny the deity of Jesus and deny his blood atonement. 224 00:16:48,640 --> 00:16:53,920 They may use the language but you investigate and you will find out somewhere there is a 225 00:16:53,920 --> 00:16:59,400 chink in their armor when it comes to those two doctrines. 226 00:16:59,400 --> 00:17:03,320 The third work of the false teachers that we see in our text is that they defame the 227 00:17:03,320 --> 00:17:04,560 truth of God. 228 00:17:04,560 --> 00:17:07,080 They deceive the people of God. 229 00:17:07,080 --> 00:17:13,440 They deny the Son of God and they defame the truth of God. 230 00:17:13,440 --> 00:17:19,320 Peter says many will follow. 231 00:17:19,320 --> 00:17:25,920 We have to keep reminding ourselves because of the kind of a day we live in that popularity 232 00:17:25,920 --> 00:17:32,000 does not guarantee orthodoxy. 233 00:17:32,000 --> 00:17:40,040 The one who has the biggest bandwagon is not necessarily the one who is preaching the truth. 234 00:17:40,040 --> 00:17:44,440 Peter says many will follow these false teachers. 235 00:17:44,440 --> 00:17:50,240 The biggest crowd is not necessarily evidence that one is preaching the truth of God. 236 00:17:50,240 --> 00:17:53,600 Turn over to 1 John chapter 4 for a second. 237 00:17:53,600 --> 00:17:54,960 Look at verse 5. 238 00:17:54,960 --> 00:18:01,000 A whole series of verses here regarding false prophets and the fact that we are to test 239 00:18:01,000 --> 00:18:03,400 them. 240 00:18:03,400 --> 00:18:06,120 Then in verse 5 John says, 241 00:18:06,120 --> 00:18:13,280 They these false prophets are from the world, the world system. 242 00:18:13,280 --> 00:18:21,420 Therefore they speak as from the world and the world listens to them. 243 00:18:21,420 --> 00:18:28,960 The world loves its own prophets but woe be to those who follow just because the teacher 244 00:18:28,960 --> 00:18:32,800 has a big crowd. 245 00:18:32,800 --> 00:18:39,600 Peter says the way of truth will be maligned because of these false teachers. 246 00:18:39,600 --> 00:18:43,760 The way is an expression that describes our faith. 247 00:18:43,760 --> 00:18:48,640 It is used in Acts 9 and other places as an early name for the Christian faith. 248 00:18:48,640 --> 00:18:56,560 The way, the people of the way, it has been abused today by cults. 249 00:18:56,560 --> 00:19:02,200 But in those days it was a significant expression talking about the Christian faith being the 250 00:19:02,200 --> 00:19:04,120 way to God. 251 00:19:04,120 --> 00:19:10,640 And here he says the way of truth will be maligned, evil spoken of, blasphemed because 252 00:19:10,640 --> 00:19:14,340 of these false teachers and their followers. 253 00:19:14,340 --> 00:19:17,280 What they do will be done in the name of Christ. 254 00:19:17,280 --> 00:19:26,640 And therefore the vices of these teachers will cause others to blaspheme God. 255 00:19:26,640 --> 00:19:34,280 You think of the trials going on in Louisiana right now between television evangelists and 256 00:19:34,280 --> 00:19:40,760 the lewd accusations being thrown back and forth from either side regarding the sensual, 257 00:19:40,760 --> 00:19:47,840 lustful conduct of those men who claim to preach Jesus Christ. 258 00:19:47,840 --> 00:19:52,440 Makes you sick to your stomach. 259 00:19:52,440 --> 00:19:59,280 And I tell you the press and the media are having a heyday with this sort of thing. 260 00:19:59,280 --> 00:20:09,660 And the way of truth, the way of Jesus Christ is being blasphemed because of men like that. 261 00:20:09,660 --> 00:20:14,760 They defame the truth of God. 262 00:20:14,760 --> 00:20:22,920 But as we think of that, let's just remember our own lives too. 263 00:20:22,920 --> 00:20:29,560 It's important how you and I live because we also, by our conduct, communicate something 264 00:20:29,560 --> 00:20:32,360 about Jesus. 265 00:20:32,360 --> 00:20:33,800 We do. 266 00:20:33,800 --> 00:20:39,680 And therefore let's do nothing ourselves that will bring blasphemy to the name of our 267 00:20:39,680 --> 00:20:41,800 wonderful Savior. 268 00:20:41,800 --> 00:20:45,520 False teachers have always been present among the people of God. 269 00:20:45,520 --> 00:20:51,600 They are sown, actually they are sown by Satan like tares among the wheat. 270 00:20:51,600 --> 00:21:00,000 And our Lord tells us that we are to test the spirits, that is the words of these prophets, 271 00:21:00,000 --> 00:21:06,400 these teachers, we are to test them by the Word of God. 272 00:21:06,400 --> 00:21:12,920 And we are not to blush in appropriate times and ways even to name them as enemies of the 273 00:21:12,920 --> 00:21:15,920 cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. 274 00:21:15,920 --> 00:21:25,180 I remind you that Paul was not embarrassed at all to name Hymenus, Alexander, and others 275 00:21:25,180 --> 00:21:30,040 who were false teachers in his day and their names are indelibly written forever in the 276 00:21:30,040 --> 00:21:31,040 Word of God. 277 00:21:31,040 --> 00:21:33,800 They are marked men. 278 00:21:33,800 --> 00:21:38,840 And there are times when you and I also need to name those who are enemies of the cross 279 00:21:38,840 --> 00:21:42,960 of our Lord Jesus Christ in order to warn the people of God. 280 00:21:42,960 --> 00:21:45,600 We need to beware of false teachers. 281 00:21:45,600 --> 00:21:51,240 We need to check the teaching we hear by the Word of the Lord. 282 00:21:51,240 --> 00:21:56,840 We need to examine as much as we are able the motives of those who are proclaiming to 283 00:21:56,840 --> 00:22:02,120 us and we are to observe the lifestyles. 284 00:22:02,120 --> 00:22:09,640 Beware of false teaching, says Peter, because it will thwart your growth as a child of God. 285 00:22:09,640 --> 00:22:15,360 It will take you on a side trip, a shuttle away from the way of truth. 286 00:22:15,360 --> 00:22:19,440 Beware of false teachers. 287 00:22:19,440 --> 00:22:27,440 We come tonight to the Lord's table to celebrate the Son of God and his sacrifice on our behalf. 288 00:22:27,440 --> 00:22:34,720 I would like for us to bow in closing prayer and then we will sing a chorus a cappella 289 00:22:34,720 --> 00:22:38,680 and then we will observe the Lord's table together. 290 00:22:38,680 --> 00:22:46,800 Father, we need discernment in our day and I pray for that, that all of us may be discerning 291 00:22:46,800 --> 00:23:00,560 —not judgmental in the wrong way, but certainly discerning—so that we might not be led astray. 292 00:23:00,560 --> 00:23:08,680 I pray that we will become so acquainted with the truth that we will immediately sense when 293 00:23:08,680 --> 00:23:13,920 there is something false being presented. 294 00:23:13,920 --> 00:23:25,080 Remember us in our walk that we might not be tripped up by false teaching. 295 00:23:25,080 --> 00:23:34,280 Lord we worship you tonight because you are the Master, the Sovereign One, who in truth 296 00:23:34,280 --> 00:23:41,000 has bought us with a precious price. 297 00:23:41,000 --> 00:23:46,480 We offer thanks to you for that. 298 00:23:46,480 --> 00:23:47,480 Let's sing together. 299 00:23:47,480 --> 00:23:48,480 He is Lord, He is Lord. 300 00:23:48,480 --> 00:23:49,480 He is risen from the dead, and He is Lord. 301 00:23:49,480 --> 00:24:14,960 Every need has a fault, every fault confesses. 302 00:24:14,960 --> 00:24:30,840 That Jesus Christ is Lord. 303 00:24:30,840 --> 00:24:39,480 And our Lord we offer thanks to you for your body, sacrificed on our behalf, broken, that 304 00:24:39,480 --> 00:24:42,360 we might be made whole. 305 00:24:42,360 --> 00:24:49,360 As we partake of the bread tonight, we do so with gratitude, remembering. 306 00:24:49,360 --> 00:25:17,920 Amen. 307 00:26:19,360 --> 00:26:47,720 This that we hold in our hands represents the body of Jesus, which was broken for us. 308 00:26:47,720 --> 00:26:52,200 He said to us that we should eat of it in remembrance of Him. 309 00:26:52,200 --> 00:27:03,200 Let's share it together. 310 00:27:03,200 --> 00:27:28,760 Sing this chorus with me. 311 00:27:28,760 --> 00:27:45,040 Lord we thank you for that price that you paid, but nothing else could suffice. 312 00:27:45,040 --> 00:27:52,520 Tonight we acknowledge our redemption, that we are not our own, but we are bought with 313 00:27:52,520 --> 00:27:59,200 a price, and we partake of this cup with gratitude, remembering. 314 00:27:59,200 --> 00:28:28,960 Amen. 315 00:29:59,800 --> 00:30:05,840 What a price He paid that we might enjoy a free salvation. 316 00:30:05,840 --> 00:30:15,920 The cup that we have in our hands represents the blood that Jesus shed for us, and by this 317 00:30:15,920 --> 00:30:22,080 He sealed the new covenant on our behalf. 318 00:30:22,080 --> 00:30:32,760 Let's drink it in remembrance of Him. 319 00:30:32,760 --> 00:30:41,800 As we sing number 465, you may want to dispose of the cups and also prepare yourselves as 320 00:30:41,800 --> 00:30:45,320 the Lord leads you to participate in the benevolent offering. 321 00:30:45,320 --> 00:30:49,880 Someone will be at the door to receive that from you. 322 00:30:49,880 --> 00:30:56,920 Just the verse that talks about that day when we will see Him, the one whom we have worshiped 323 00:30:56,920 --> 00:31:03,320 and celebrated tonight, the one that we have remembered. 324 00:31:03,320 --> 00:31:10,400 We are told in the Bible that we observe this Lord's table until He comes, and there is 325 00:31:10,400 --> 00:31:14,360 a time when we will see Him face to face. 326 00:31:14,360 --> 00:31:18,200 That's what Fanny Crosby wrote about in this hymn, 465. 327 00:31:18,200 --> 00:31:20,200 Stand with me as we sing the first verse of it.