All right. Great music. Thank you. Good morning, everyone. Welcome back. We start a new week together. Let's see what information I have to pass on to you today. Okay, tonight will be our once a month at home with hope. We'll be meeting at a new home tonight. We'll be meeting at the home of Tom and Linda. So Tom, thank you for opening your home up for everyone. We appreciate that. The address is in the bulletin. If you don't know where it is, it's, if you know where my house is, it's probably a mile from my house, behind the library on Pelham Road. So that's, it's not far away at all. So you should be, shouldn't have difficulty getting there. Okay, ladies, your Bible study is continuing, so mark your calendars for that, September 18th, 1030. We've got a belated birthday wish in the bulletin for Kendra. We left out Kendra for her birthday, so we want to wish Kendra a late happy birthday. Also, our missionary emphasis for the week is Ethan and Laura in Northern Ireland. And my understanding is their visa issues have been worked out. Is that right? Somebody more on top of that than I am? I think Frank's shaking his head yes. So they're getting ready to go back to work. So we thank the Lord for that. All right. For our call to worship, I'm going to use Psalm 57, verses 9 through 11. I will give thanks to you, O Lord, among the peoples. I will sing praises to you among the nations. For your lovingkindness is great to the heavens, and your truth to the clouds. Be exalted above the heavens, O God. Let your glory be above all the earth." So let's sing about the glory of the Lord and stand if you're able and sing. For the first song, it's in your bulletin. For the second song, you'll need your black book, page number three. So you've got to be ready there. Second song, you'll need your black book, page number three. What can wash away my sin? Nothing but the blood of Jesus. What can make me whole again? Nothing but the blood of Jesus. How precious is the flow that makes me white as snow. Nothing but the blood of Jesus. For my cleansing this I sing, Nothing but the blood of Jesus. For my pardon this my plea, Nothing but the blood of Jesus. O precious is the flow That makes me white as snow, No other fount I know, Nothing but the blood of Jesus. Nothing can force in a toad, nothing but the blood of Jesus. Not of good that I have done, nothing but the blood of Jesus. How precious is the flow that makes me white as snow, no other fount I know. Nothing but the blood of Jesus. This is all my hope and peace. Nothing but the blood of Jesus. This is all my righteousness. Nothing but the blood of Jesus. O precious is the flow that makes me white as snow, no other fount I know, nothing but the blood of Jesus. This I'll overcome, nothing but the blood of Jesus. Now by this I'll reach my home, nothing but the blood of Jesus. Oh, precious is the flow, and makes me wise. Nothing but the blood of Jesus. Alas, and did my Savior bleed, and did my Sovereign die? Would He devote that sacred head for such a worm as I? Was it for sins that I have done? He groaned upon the tree. Amazing pity, grace unknown, and love beyond. My God, why would you shed your blood so pure and undefiled to make a sinful one like me, your chosen precious child? Well might the sun in darkness hide, and shed his glory's head, when Christ the mighty Maker died, for man the creature sinned. Thus might I hide my blushing face while his dear cross appears. Dissolve my heart in thankfulness and melt my eyes to tears. My God, why would you shed your blood so pure and undefined? Amen. Please be seated. I'd like to ask our ushers if they would come forward to receive the morning offering. We want to thank you for your faithfulness in giving to the cause of Christ. We're able to support Ethan and Laura and have, well, we have supported them. We're no longer doing that now, but because of your faithfulness, we were able to do that. So we'll ask Neil to pray and thank the Lord for it in just a moment. If you would please turn in your Bibles to 2 Peter chapter 2 and read verses 1 through 3. Then we'll go to the Lord in prayer. 2 Peter chapter 2. False prophets also arose among the people, just as there will also be false teachers among you, who will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing swift destruction upon themselves. Many will follow their sensuality, and because of them their way of truth will be maligned, and in their greed they will exploit you with false words. Their judgment from long ago is not idle and their judgment is not asleep. Let's go to the Lord in prayer. Father in heaven, thank you for this privilege of coming to you with your people and to lift up the name of Christ. We ask, oh Father, that it would indeed be lifted up in this church And we're grateful for Steve and those who preach your word here that that's our goal, to love Christ with all our heart and soul and mind and strength and to love others and to preach Christ faithfully. Give grace, Father, I pray, to Steve as he preaches today. Not an easy subject to know about false teachers, but we need to know it. and we ask for your wisdom and understanding. Oh, Lord, thank you for meeting the needs of your people through this church and others. Thank you for the offering that we take up regularly, Lord, and thank you for the distribution of those funds, and we pray that we would always be faithful with those by your grace. Lord, we thank you for everyone here, all your sheep, every one of them, Father, for you gave your son's life for them. And we ask that they would rest in hope in your love for them and your son's love for them. We thank you, Lord Jesus, for all your grace and mercy. Lord, we ask for the healing of our land. We ask for grace, Lord. We ask for mercy. We just forgive us, Lord, of our sins and draw us to you. Even today, Lord, as we come and we have this table before us later, we ask that you would prepare our hearts and, Lord, draw us close to you, forgive us of our sins, and heal one another, I pray. I pray that you would help us, Lord, to make wise decisions to humbly follow our Savior, for we get distracted and we need your grace. Thank you for letting us be here. Thank you for the singing of your word, the praying of it. Thank you that others, Lord, get to hear it, and may they be blessed as they come to know Christ, or we may never know until heaven the blessings that you've bestowed because of the preaching of your word and the faithfulness of your people. And we pray that you would be honored and glorified. Heal our land, O Lord, strengthen our churches, and give us your grace today. In Jesus' name. Well, if you take your bulletin, we want to introduce a new song today, Cornerstone. Now, you should recognize it because for the last couple of weeks, Janie's been playing it in the prelude and the postlude. And last week, Barb and Janie sang it. So you should have that tune in your mind. That's our pattern on a new song. That's how we introduce something new. So please remain seated and pull out your bulletin and let's sing Cornerstone. you My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus' blood and righteousness. I dare not trust the sweetest frame, but wholly trust in Jesus' name. My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus' blood and righteousness. I dare not trust the sweetest frame, but wholly trust in Jesus' name. Christ alone, cornerstone, weak made strong in the Savior's love. Through the storm, He is Lord, Lord of all. When darkness seems to hide His face, I rest on His unchanging grace. In every high and stormy gale, My anchor holds within the veil. My anchor holds within the veil. Christ alone, cornerstone, weak made strong, in the Savior's love, through the storm, He is Lord, Lord of all. Christ alone, cornerstone, weak made strong, in the Savior's love, through the storm, He is Lord, Lord of all. When He shall come with trumpet sound, O may I then in Him be found, dressed in his righteousness alone, faultless to stand before the throne. Christ alone, cornerstone, weak made strong in the Saviour's love. Through the storm he is Lord, Lord of all. Christ alone, cornerstone, weak made strong, in the Savior's love, through the storm, He is Lord, Lord of all. Amen. Great song. Now, if you would, please take your red songbook and turn it back to page 869 and 870. Yeah, 869. As we read from the short of catechism, we're going to be dealing with these subjects today. Now, this is a summary of the Bible. That's how you use the catechism. It's a summary of the Bible. So if you want to look up something, many times you can find it here. So the question I want to use on page 869 is the fourth question, which is, what is God? Have you ever thought about that? How would you describe God? What is God? Then the other question on page 870, question number 14, what is sin? How would you define it? Well, we're going to deal with that today in our text, so I thought it'd be a great idea to just get this in front of us before we open that up. So on page 869, question number 4, let's read this together. What is God? God is a spirit, infinite, eternal, and unchangeable in His being, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness, and truth. Now on next page, number 14, please. What is sin? Sin is any want of conformity unto or transgression of the law of God. But let's take a moment now and give you the opportunity to just pray, talk to the Lord, ask Him to forgive you of your sins, pray for the people around you, pray for this message as it goes out, not just through this building, but across the Internet, that the Lord would take it and use it. So let's pray. Well, Father, we thank you for this time that we have together, and we're going to be looking at false teachers, false preachers. And Lord, they're all over the place, they're all around us, and your people, we have to know how to identify them. So I pray that you'll take this passage, use it in our lives, and we'll be able to recognize the true from the false. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen. all right well hopefully you're already there but if not turn back to a second peter chapter two the title of what we're going to deal with today peter wants us to beware of counterfeits as you go through life you run into counterfeits everywhere you go There are people who have counterfeit credentials. They'll tell you, I qualified for this, qualified for that, when they have not done that. And you even find counterfeits in the church. Sad to say, but it's true. So Peter's going to warn us about false teachers. And it's very easy to apply it and roll it over and say he's going to talk to us about false preachers. Do you know how to recognize a false preacher or a false teacher when you hear one? All of us have had to deal with scams on the internet, Facebook, your phone, emails. You've seen the commercials on TV about identity theft and how people are trying to steal the title from your home and people have mortgages that have been put on their homes that they didn't know anything about, then they're foreclosing on their home Investment scams, when I was back in the workaday world, I could name you individuals who were taken advantage of. Not for anything to do with me, but they were just out there and were taken advantage of to the tunes of $50,000 and $100,000. Folks, this is the world we live in. Now, Peter wants to warn us about spiritual scams or religious phonies. I think I've said this many times before, and I've probably used this more than the man who originated with it, but there's a pastor in town who said, a half-truth is no truth. Half-truth is no truth. And I believe that. And I'm going to ask you and challenge you today, by the time we get through this message, do you believe that? Because there's all kinds of folks on TV that want to tell you how wonderful the Christian life is and God loves you which he does and God has a wonderful plan for your life which he does but that's half of the truth the other half is that God is hate sin he's angry with sin and a sinner until the sinner repents now that's the other half and if you're only getting half of it are you getting the truth now in chapter two Peter, as I mentioned before, is an old man now, and you've heard the saying, I've been around long enough to see everything and to know everything that's going around. That's where Peter is. He's old enough to have seen everything. Now he's going to describe for us what a false teacher looks like. Now they're going to use biblical words, but they're going to give those words a different meaning. They'll use biblical words, but they're going to give them a different meaning. So Peter started off by talking about true doctrine. He set the ground by giving us true doctrine. Now he's going to describe for us and warn us of false doctrine. i remember which organization is responsible for this but i heard years ago that the group that is responsible in our in our federal government for uh... dealing with counterfeit money i remember if it's the treasury or the fbi one of the two that deals with counterfeit money when they're training the agents they don't study the counterfeit bills they study the real thing and they study it they study it they study it and they master the real thing That way, if there's ever a counterfeit that's put in front of them, they're quickly able to identify it and recognize it. So that's kind of what Peter's telling us. Focus on the real thing. Focus on Jesus Christ. Focus on the doctrines in the Bible. Now, in chapter 2, he describes false teachers. So let's look at verse 1. But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will also be false teachers among you, who will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing swift destruction upon themselves. So he starts out, but false prophets. So he's going to give us four signs of a false teacher. And I like it when these things happen. We can just go one, two, three, four. The Bible gives it to us. Four signs of a false teacher, a false preacher. So number one, they're going to secretly introduce destructive heresies. Number two, we'll deal with them one at a time. Number two, they deny the truth. Number three, which we find in verse three, we won't get there today. They're going to openly follow sinful sexual practices. Number four, found in verse three, they are selfish and greedy. Now listen to the words of Paul in 2 Corinthians 11, verse 3. 2 Corinthians 11, 3, But I am afraid that, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, your minds will be led astray from the simplicity and purity of devotion to Jesus Christ. So that's Paul's warning on the same thing. Now in verse 13 of the same chapter, For such men are false apostles, deceitful workers, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. No wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. So we're told to watch out, because Satan will come to you, into your life, as an angel of light. He's going to look good, he's going to sound good, maybe have a great smile on his face, friendly, an angel of light. Now in chapter 1, verse 21, Peter tells us what we can trust, and he talks about the Word of God and how it was put together. Now we need that true doctrine because false teachers are walking among the real teachers. And that's happening right now today. Nothing new under the sun. Peter's point, expect false teachers. So Satan is still sending out false teachers, false preachers, However, false teachers and God's Word cannot coexist at the same time. One or the other is going to take a back seat. God will not allow them to coexist at the same time. So we need to double-check. All teachers All pastors, all deacons, all elders make sure they rest on God's Word alone, God's Word only. So Peter says they're walking among the people. They're here right now. They're in the United States. They're in our culture. They are among us. So the first sign of a false teacher, they secretly introduce destructive heresies. So how do they get in the door? They get in the door by agreeing with biblical doctrine. Now there's a book that came out, I don't remember, a long time ago now, thick book. The book's talking about how the liberals took over the Presbyterian church in the early 1900s. And the book is titled, Crossed Fingers. And it has a picture of a man crossing his fingers on the front, on the cover. What does he mean by that? How did the liberals get in the door to take over the church? They would appear before a Presbyterian. They would take the vows. They say, I hold to God's Word. I approve of the Westminster Confession and the larger and shorter catechism. I commit to those documents. Now, our deacons and pastors today have to take the same vows. And if you can have an exception to the confession or the catechisms, but you have to state it up front, and the elders who are examining you will determine if that exception is one they can live with or not. If it's not an exception that they can live with, then that man cannot be a deacon or an elder or a pastor. But back in the early 1900s, The men would raise their hand, I'm going to have to do it backwards because I can't do this with my little finger here. They'd raise their right hand and say, yes, I totally am committed to God's word. I accept as a summary of the Bible, the Westminster Confession, the larger and shorter catechisms. But behind their back, they had their fingers crossed until they got in the door. They will secretly introduce something that looks like the truth. Worsby said, the false teachers use our vocabulary, but they do not use our dictionary. Now that's very good. They use our vocabulary, but they do not use our dictionary. For example, They'll talk about sin, and salvation, and inspiration, and God, and Jesus Christ. But you're thinking one thing, and they're thinking something completely different. Sin. We talked about sin a few moments ago. We just read sin is a failure to live up to God's standard. What is sin in their mind? The failure to reach your potential. You can't be all that you can be because of sin. It's the failure for you to reach your potential. How about salvation? Salvation isn't provided to us through the death of Jesus Christ, the sinless death of Jesus Christ. Salvation is a psychological well-being inside of you. Inspiration does not mean that the Bible is free of errors. That means someone who is inspired like a man who would write a poem or write a song. That's what they would mean by that. How about God? What is God? God is the higher power. How about Jesus? Jesus isn't the second person of the Trinity who lived the life that you can't live. He is a great teacher He's a very moral man. He's a model for all of us in the area of good About the resurrection doesn't mean that Jesus physically rose from the dead The resurrection is the idea the teaching to just keep Jesus alive in our hearts That's what it means to them So when you're dealing with someone and you have a question, don't ask them a yes or no question. Do you believe in Jesus? Yes. Do you believe in God? Yes. Well, who is God? What is God? Who is Jesus? Nail them down. Make them give you those answers. So after they get in the door, then they start to use the different dictionary. Okay. Now, they're not going to throw out all of the truth immediately. They'll start by teaching false teaching along with the truth. You'll have both going on at the same time. And folks, that can be confusing. You can really, you can lose sleep over that. He sounds good. He sounds biblical. And you just can't narrow it down. Now the word false teacher here is interesting because Peter uses this word but it's the only time it's used in the Greek. And it means someone who knows the truth but deliberately lies for some purpose. Deliberately lies for some purpose. Go back and pick up the words of Jesus in Matthew chapter 7 verse 15. Beware the false prophets who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are wolves. False teachers hold to some truth. That's what makes this so hard. Because many times they don't teach 100% error. Go back and pick up something from Paul in the book of Acts, chapter 20, verse 29. Now, at this point, Paul knows that he isn't going to live long. And he writes, I know that after my departure, wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock. And the Old Testament and today, many times, and this is true in politics, people believe what they want to believe. They believe what they want to believe. Don't bother me with the facts. Don't bother me with the truth. I've already made up my mind what I'm going to believe. But you have to bring these people back and make them define what they believe. Then you can evaluate it according to the Bible. Now, in the book of Jeremiah, chapter 6, verse 14, chapter 6, verse 14, we read, They have healed the brokenness of My people superficially, saying, Peace, peace. But there is no peace. People believe what they want to believe. God is saying, There is no peace. So we have the word heresy that Peter uses. Now, this is an appealing alternative to the truth. That's what the word means, an appealing alternative to the truth. In the Greek, it has the idea of making a choice. And because I don't have all of my details down, I'm not going to use the name, but I'm going to give you an illustration. There's a large conservative Presbyterian denomination in this country doing a good work for the Lord. But the homosexual teaching and practice is trying to move into that denomination. A couple of years ago at their largest gathering, their once-a-year gathering for the whole denomination, there was a ballot to approve homosexuals leaders in the church. Well, it was defeated. So, praise God! But it was defeated on a 60-40 vote. 40% of the delegates there that day voted to approve it. So it's easy to slip in an alternative to God's Word. I'll give you another example, and I'll use names on this one because I know more about the details. The ARP, Associated Reform Presbyterian Church. I was a part of that church for many years. Good denomination. I'm grateful for my years there. Before we got into the denomination, it was starting to go liberal at some point in the past. Jim Corbett, who was the founding pastor of Devanger Road ARP Church, was fighting that. He was friends with Jay Adams. Jay Adams was thinking about starting a church somewhere. So Jim invited Jay to open a church in the Greenville area and join the AARP. He said, with your name and your following and your backing, you can help turn this around. And it was turned around. Praise God, it was turned around. I don't know of any denomination that ever started to go liberal that was turned around but the ARP was turned around so praise God an Alternative to the truth now Satan is the father of lies I'm gonna read to you from John chapter 8 verse 44 John 8 44 we read here the words of Jesus himself when he says I You are of your father the devil and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him. Whenever he speaks, he lies. He speaks from his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies. And in Paul, as he's writing to Timothy, Paul is on his way out. He knows he doesn't have a lot of time left. He's trying to encourage young Timothy in the ministry. Listen to what he says in 2 Timothy chapter 4. I solemnly charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing in his kingdom, here's this charge, preach the word, be ready in season and out of season, rebuke, exalt, with great patience, exhort, instruction. For the time will come, and I think we're here now, for the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires, and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths. So one of Peter's lessons, false preachers are here to stay. And they're not going away. Why is that? Because we can't read people's hearts. If someone takes a vow, we have to believe their vow. We can't read their heart. We don't know someone's heart. Destructive heresies. So these things, they divide churches, they divide families. And I think maybe even worse than that is they just confuse people. For every family that's divided or church that's divided, you probably have 5, 10, or 20 people that are just confused. What's going on? Listen to the words of Jesus in Matthew chapter 24 verse 5, 24 verse 5, For many will come in my name, saying, I am the Christ, and will mislead many. Second sign of a false teacher, false preacher, pastor. They will deny the truth. They will eventually deny Jesus. Now Christians throughout church history have held to a set core of biblical doctrines and many times how we got those core, just to nail them down is people are just, the churches are up against the wall. The false teachers are going after the true church, and denominations, at that point, have had to set aside their differences, whatever that may be, say, okay, what can we unite on? Now, here's seven that we can all unite on, Baptist, Presbyterian, Methodist, Lutheran, whatever it may be. First of all, the inspiration of Scripture, no errors in the Bible. God's people should be able to agree on that, true Christians. The Trinity. God is three in one. Father, Son, Holy Spirit. Number three. Jesus is 100% God, 100% man. Number four. The virgin birth of Jesus Christ. His sinless life. The physical resurrection of Jesus from the dead. Number five. God created the world out of nothing, and we believe in the fall as it's found in Genesis chapter 3. Number six, we are saved by grace alone through faith alone. Number seven, we believe in heaven and hell. Jesus talked more about hell than anyone else. Listen to the words of Paul in Romans 16 verse 17. But I urge you, brethren, keep your eye on those who cause trouble and hindrances contrary to the teaching which you learned, and turn away from them. And when you're talking to someone, it comes down to the sufficiency of Scripture. If someone doesn't believe in the Bible, and you do, I don't know how you have a discussion with them. You have nothing in common. You can evangelize them. Same thing in politics. If you're talking to someone and they're not teachable, they're not open to the truth, they're not open to the facts, how are you going to have a conversation with someone like that? You can't. So many times you just need to walk away. Paul said, have nothing to do with them. Back when the liberals were taking over the conservative church, they would use church discipline to remove the conservatives. Paul says we're to use church discipline to remove the false teachers. And during the Old Testament, one of the biggest threats to the people of God, it wasn't the armies that they went up against. It wasn't the Philistines. It was false teachers who were walking among them, right among the people with all their robes and their degrees and walking among them. Now in Jeremiah, Jeremiah talks about how the people are saying, peace, peace, we're at peace with God. And God comes back and he says, there is no peace. False teachers. And the false teachers say to the folks, don't listen to Jeremiah. He's just all gloom and doom. Now, throughout church history, false teachers have forced the church to sharpen its understanding of its doctrine. Many of the creeds that we have today and many of the creeds that we use and we so appreciate didn't come because someone just decided to sit down and write a creed. The church was pushed up against the wall And they said, we have to put something on paper that we hold to and we will not back down. Where will we make our stand? That's where we got the creeds. Here's where we stand. We will not compromise on these issues. Read a quote to you from R.C. Sproul. He said, if you want a quick course in the history of heresy, you need not go to graduate school. If you spend much time in front of your television watching preachers, you're likely to hear every heresy that the church has condemned from the first century through today. And many of those false teachers, they'll They'll look good, they'll be all dressed up, they'll have a big smile on their face, they'll have a lot of people following them, but we need to recognize it. So Peter goes on to say, what will happen? They will bring swift destruction upon themselves. A sudden destruction when they least expect it. Let me wrap this up and tie this together a little bit. How do we recognize false teachers today? They're on the television. They're on the internet. They're on the radio. I found an outline that I borrowed from someone. He said, how do we recognize them? Three words. Stop, look, and listen. Stop, look, and listen. Stop. Don't just buy into someone. Get to know them. Research them. Find out things about them. Look into that person. Where does he stand on the biblical doctrines of the historic church? Remember a couple weeks ago I said to you that R.C. Sproul had a student that came up to him after class and he said, I've discovered a new doctrine. And R.C. being R.C., I can just imagine he looked at him, he said, you, you have discovered it. Yep, I've discovered it. You've got Martin Luther missed it, Calvin missed it, all the scholars of the past 1,500, 2,000 years missed it, but you've got it. It's right. I can't wait to hear it. Now, can we learn more details and polish some things as we go along? Sure. That's called just being progressive in the covenant. The covenant started as a seed, and it opens into the stem of a flower, and then the flower blooms. But the core understanding of the doctrine doesn't change. The application might change, but the core doctrine doesn't change. All right, so that's stop. Investigate the person that you're looking at and thinking about following. Number two, look. Study the man. I must say this and I might I realize this, there's a this is yes and no, I get it, OK? But not only study the man. Study his family. Study his family. Now, if a man has adult children. And they're all going in the wrong direction. He's not responsible for them. They're adults. But he should be grieving over it. He should be praying for them. He should be wanting you to pray for them. OK, so study the man. Study his family. Does he point people to Jesus Christ? Does he point people to the Bible? Or does he point people to himself? If he's pointing people to himself, it may be subtle. It may be very slick how he's doing it. Is he transparent? I know some preachers, they stand up in front of a church and they become a different person when they stand behind the podium. Different language, different vocabulary, different tone in their voice. Is he transparent? Can you see him not only just in the pulpit but out of the pulpit and during the week? What's he like? If he's part of an organization, is the organization transparent? Are they transparent with their money? If you're giving money to this church, you have the right to know where that money goes. And once a year, we put a sheet on the back table All the money that came into the church for the year, and then where it went, and then what's left over. You have the right to know that. If you're giving money to this church and you want to know something about it, before we put the sheet out there, just ask. Ask a deacon or an elder. They know where the money's going. Is the teacher that you're looking at, is he humble? Or is he proud? What do you see in the people who follow him? Are they humble? Are they transparent? Are they proud? Stop, look, last point, listen. Stop, look, listen. Listen to what he says and also listen to what he doesn't say. What does he say when he talks about sin? What is he leaving out when he talks about sin? What does he mean when he uses the word? Also, because of the day in which we live, when you're attracted to someone as a teacher, be careful about feelings. You might say, well, he's such a nice guy. I just really like that guy. Be careful about feelings. Also, be careful about entertainment. But many of these teachers are very, very entertaining. Now, biblical truth should move us to be convicted about our sin. If you can go to church week after week after week after week and not leave at some point convicted about your sin, you need to take another look. At the same time, it shouldn't all be about convicting someone of their sin. There should be times when we're just lifting each other up, rejoicing in what the Lord has done for us. But you should go to church, and the Holy Spirit should apply biblical truth to your life and my life, and it should convict us. I love to go to a church and sit around a preacher who challenges me. I like that. Whoever this teacher is, he should lead us to repentance. So at times, biblical truth should make you uncomfortable. the time when it should do that because the Holy Spirit's talking to you or he's talking to me saying okay Steve you need to change this in your life this isn't right you need to change this you've been confronted about next does the teacher use an open Bible to defend the truth Does he use an open Bible to defend the truth? Or is it his opinion? I think this. I think that he should be able to show you in the Bible. A text that relates to what he is teaching. Finally, last reference I have, I want to go to Acts chapter 17, 17 verse 10. Now this is Paul preaching. Now think about this. Paul, the Apostle Paul, and how they respond to Apostle Paul. Verse 10, The brethren immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea, and when they arrived, they went into the synagogue of the Jews. Verse 11, Now these were more noble-minded than those in Thessalonica, for they received the word with great eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see whether these things were so. Now this is Paul. The people are appreciating Paul's preaching. They're saying, well, wait a minute now, we're going to go home or we're going to study this because we want to know if what you're saying is biblical. That's fantastic. That's the kind of congregation you want. You appreciate your preacher, you appreciate your elders, but you want to make sure that what they're saying is biblical. So hopefully, after what we've dealt with today and what's coming up next week and the week after, you and I will be much more qualified to recognize a false teacher and know what to do about it. Let's pray. Father, we thank you for this challenge that you've given us. You've worked in our hearts so that we know the truth. And as we study your word and we sit under good teaching, we build a foundation that's based on God's word so we can then recognize the false teachers. So we pray that you will stop them. You will not let them get into your church and cause all kinds of problems and trouble for your people. To help us to learn how to identify them and then hold to the truth, we pray and ask in Jesus' name, amen. Okay, if we could have the elders come forward, please, for the Lord's Supper. As we were talking about false teachers, it just occurred to me that Jesus came to separate the sheep from the goats. He came to separate the false teachers from the true teachers. And we should be looking to him as we are evaluating all the situations that come up into our lives and this meal is for God's people. This is this is for you if you're truly a Christian you can be fallen. and be a part of this meal. All you have to do is repent of the sins that are in your life and the things that are confronting you, and do the best you can to try and heal relationships in your family, in the church, and with friends around you. If you just say, no, I'm not going to do it, then you need to slow down a little bit. But if you say, Lord, I'm willing to do my part, then you should take this meal. So this meal isn't for perfect people. It isn't for just Presbyterians, this is God's people crossing all denominational lines, those who are holding to, well, the seven points that we just talked about a few minutes ago. Are you trusting in Jesus Christ alone for your salvation? You're not looking at works on your part or things that you're doing right or not doing right. You're trusting Christ and you're resting in Him. So listen to what Paul says before we take this. But a man must examine himself, and in so doing he is to eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For he who eats and drinks, eats and drinks judgment to himself, if he does not judge the body rightly. For this reason many among you are weak and sick, and a number sleep." The word sleep there means death, they have died. So if you're here today and you're not a Christian, pass the plate by. If you are a Christian, you're a fallen Christian, you're weak, this is for you. If you're strong, this is for you. To trust in the Lord. Put your. Sin on him, turn to him, repent and he will welcome you into this meal. So I'm going to ask Frank if he'll pray and thank the Lord for his body. Father, once again, we're thankful for this invitation to your table, and we appreciate, as Christians, as your children, the price that was paid for this invitation, the terrible suffering and death you endured for us, your enemies. We're thankful, Lord, for your resurrection from the dead, your ascension into heaven. and for your giving to us eternal life based on our faith and trust in you, which comes from your grace. We ask that you would bless these elements, strengthen us spiritually as we need. We pray in Christ's name, amen. Amen. do do do do Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 11, verse 23, For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus, in the night in which he was betrayed, took bread. And when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me. Let's eat together. I'll ask Tony if he would thank the Lord for his blood that was shed for us. Father, as we approach your table this morning, we give you all the glory and praise. We know that we can only approach you through the righteousness of your son, Jesus. As we take this fruit of the vine this morning, we pray for repentant hearts and we ask for forgiveness. and help us to remember that Christ died for us, an agonizing death on the cross, for our sin and for our forgiveness. Help us to remember the amazing, amazing love of the Father, who sacrificed his only Son for us and ministers to us through the Holy Spirit. We just give you all the praise and glory in Jesus' name, amen. so you verse 25 in the same way he took the cup and after supper saying this cup is the new covenant in my blood do this as often as you drink it and remember it to me for as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup you proclaim the lord's death until he comes let's drink together After that meal, they closed by singing a song. So that's what we're going to do. If you'd stand, please, if able. And let's close by singing Thou Art Worthy. We'll sing it two times. Thou art worthy, Thou art worthy, Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory, glory and honor, glory and honor and For Thou hast created, hast all things created, Thou hast created all things. And for Thy pleasure they are created, Thou art worthy, O Lord. Thou art worthy, Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory, glory and honor. For Thou hast created, hast all things created, Thou hast created all things, And for my pleasure they are created, Thou art worthy, O Lord. Amen. Have a good Lord's Day. Hope to see you tonight at Tom's house.