What God's Church Can Do for You, Part 2

In the first sermon in this series, the purpose of the Church is to feed us spiritual food, to enable us to grow in spiritual ways, to become like our Father and like our elder brother, Jesus Christ. That is a main purpose of the Church. The question that falls to you and me is, will we eat of that bread? Or will we seek a different type of food? Remember, in the Garden of Eden, God offered Adam and Eve food. But there was another type of food that was offered there as well, and it came along with some trickery and some deception. So we have to each decide, don't we? And we should make that decision with fear and trembling, God says, because the results of the decision we make have consequences, and those consequences are eternal in one way or another. One can confidently say, I have the truth. I know the truth. I'm in the true Church. I understand the true doctrines. James would tell us, so what? Even the demons know and tremble. What do we do with the truth? What do we do in the body of Christ? Jesus warned of one who would say, I have the truth, and it's so precious I will wrap it in a handkerchief, but didn't do anything with it. And he indicated that man would be burned. The old saying is that you can lead an animal to water, but you can't make him drink. And so it is that you and I are put on this earth as free moral agents. We are the ones who decide. And while associating with righteousness and being around some who are righteous may be a good place, it doesn't net us anything in the long run. In James chapter 1 verses 22 through 24, we are told that we need to be doers of the Word. James chapter 1 and verse 22 says, but be doers of the Word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. Because we can be so associated with the Bible, we can study the Bible, indeed some make a career of Bible study, ever studying and always studying and filling their minds with the Word. And yet never get up and go love and serve others, which that Word tells us to do, to love others as we do ourselves, to love God more than anything, to get out and be an example of that love that Christ had for us.

Many would fill themselves and feel self-exaltation by knowledge, and yet it's not knowledge that saves us, but forgiveness of our sins and being associated by God the Father with righteousness, being one who is considered righteous. That is what is important with God, and that does not come by knowledge or having the true doctrine. That comes by living by the Spirit that leads us. God is not wanting children who know the truth. He wants children who are being changed to become like Him. Let's revisit Acts 14, verses 21-23. We touched on this passage in the first message.

I'd like to take it just a bit farther today in a sermon entitled, What God's Church Can Do for You, part two, test the genuineness of your faith. It can not only teach us, like we heard last time, but it can help us go through the testing and be successful in the testing of the genuineness of that belief system. Here in Acts 14, verse 21, we see the overview mission of the church being fulfilled in Paul and the apostles in that when they had preached the gospel, they cast the net, they were fishers of men, they preached the gospel to that city, and then, as the commission of the church is, they made many disciples, they returned to Lystra, Iconium, and Antioch, verse 22, and here comes another part of the church's responsibility, strengthening the lives of the disciples. The word soul means the life, the breathing, living, thinking being, strengthening the lives of the church members, of those who were made disciples.

We need to be strong. We need to be strengthened. We need to grow, not just to have the truth, but to grow in it. This shows another role that the church can help you with, which is the testing of the genuineness of your faith. So let's see how the church experience that you and I are involved with includes this very necessary testing and proving of your genuineness as a member of the family of God. Looking just a bit further in the same verse, verse 22, same passage, exhorting them to continue in the faith. There's a challenge. Here we had the gospel preached, disciples made, strengthened, but now we come to a difficulty. Jesus said this row that we're on is the one less traveled. It's the difficult path. It's the challenging way. It goes to the door that is narrow, and few will find it. And so one responsibility of the church and one help that the church can be to us is to exhort us to continue in the faith, not in the belief, but in the doing. Faith without works is dead. We have to continue loving in all circumstances.

Consider this. Sometimes we worry about events that are coming ahead. Sometimes there's persecution against us. Sometimes we get into very uncomfortable circumstances. Sometimes issues like the Sabbath or other temptations to break God's law will come along. Those things are good for us because they will test us to see if we're really truly in the faith, whether we just sort of bought on to the concept. And so here we find that the church exhorts us to continue in the faith and giving us something that's a bit of a shock. We must, through many tribulations, enter the kingdom of God. I don't know about you, but I thought this was supposed to be a cakewalk. I thought we signed on for love and purity and truth and no problems and everybody's converted. And so did anyone who's ever come to work for the church at its headquarters. They just thought, oh, the perfect place to work. No problems, no worries. The schools that it used to have, that's going to be nirvana. We'll just sort of step into the magic bubble.

Many people left the church after working in those environments because God just so made it that your faith and mine will be fully tested. He will know for sure if you really want to love him and love others at all times, no matter what. And there is no magic bubble. There are a few pressure cookers, however. And I hope that if you haven't already, you decide to come along for the whole trip like Paul does for these, to exhort them, to continue in loving and obeying God no matter what, no matter what may come, because through many trials and tribulations we will enter the kingdom of God. That's why, by the way, the path is narrow. That's why it's difficult. That's why it's a challenge. And that's why few will find it. That's why many are called, but few are chosen. We're going to get shaken out along the way. I recall many years ago, about 15 to be exact, there was a movement that a few of us had to make from a religion gone bad. And United Church of God was established, and that first Sabbath, a tithe of those in the metropolitan area where we were serving at the time, showed up for the first service. Just a tithe. And I sensed that among some there was almost a pride about being there. Just kind of, wow, you know.

I've made it. I just felt compelled to share a thought with everyone at that time, which was, congratulations, you have made first cuts. There will be many more to come. And that was very sobering at the time, because, whoa, after what we've been through, there would be more challenge along that? More difficulties in life? Surely not. No. Through many tribulations, we must enter the kingdom of God. And the testing of the genuineness of our faith is very important to God.

Not just to somehow, you know, give you a challenge and a trial. But remember, God is elevating us to the level of God beings who are powerful, who have the ability to tap the sources of God's mentality to be able to live in a unity that is much greater than anything on a human level. And what those powers are that He will share with us, whether they are full, complete, with His, or somehow limited, we don't know. But we are patterned in the human family after the God family. And our children have all the powers, but not the authority, that the parents do.

And so it would be very important to God to know for sure who He is elevating to that level of power and existence, and to make sure that no one slips through who would twist and turn and become something many times multiplied worse than what Satan became.

In 1 Corinthians 11, verses 18-19, we begin to find that the proof of the true Church isn't its perfection. Sometimes people will come along and say, oh, I've got the right doctrine, but I perceive there is imperfection here. I'm gone. I will go looking for perfection somewhere else, because to some, perfect individuals is their proof of where God's truth is.

Paul puts this notion to rest when he says, first of all, when you come together as a church, I hear that there are divisions among you. How could he be speaking to the true Church if it was full of division? Verse 19, he says, in part, we are not going to be speaking to the church, for there must also be factions among you, that those who are approved may be recognized among you. There is a description of the true Church. Divisions with factions.

I know it's something that we would say, oh, no, can't be. But as we're going to see, this is part and parcel of the Church experience that the Saints who become first fruits must go through. The other eras that are to come, the Second Resurrection, the Millennial Period, the White Throne Judgment, do not seem to have these type of tests. They do not have the Great Deceiver, the Liar, the Tester, the Temptor available to them. But you and I do, because we have a part in the First Resurrection, a part in the very leadership of part of God's Kingdom.

Matthew 7, verse 14-16, is where Jesus Christ talks to us about this journey that we're on.

And I quite understand if some are faint of heart, if some feel they've signed on for something that they didn't realize the severity of, the implications eternally of, or the challenging path that they would be on. But he tells us up front here, Matthew 7, verse 14, because narrow is the gate. Once you get to the gate, it's narrow. How narrow is it? Well, it's narrow enough that he mentioned it was narrow. That's about all I can tell you. And difficult is the way which leads to life. How difficult is it? It's difficult enough that he mentioned it's difficult. It's not easy. It's difficult. And there are few who find it. So why do I think I should find it? That's a good question for I think each of us to ask. Why do I assume or presume that I would be one of those who would find it? In other words, it's not a given, is it? And when he said, many are called, but few are chosen, it's not a given that any of us, just by being in the church, by having the truth, by living it occasionally, by doing, you know, a little bit here or there, and maybe knowing a little bit more than somebody else, should be the ones to find it. I'm not worthy of finding it. I'll tell you right now. I'll tell you what I am worthy of. Death. I'm worthy of death. Forget the rest of my life just today. Because Jesus said every day, pray, you know, forgive me for my sins as I forgive others there sin. Any sin is worthy of eternal death. That's what I'm, all signed up for. And every day, I try to focus on what it is that's causing that stumbling block in my life, or those stumbling blocks in my life, and to repent of them and ask for forgiveness so that that guilt is removed. That's the only way you or I stand a chance in getting into God's kingdom.

He says, verse 15, if the way and the gate aren't challenging enough, he says, beware. Why did he say beware? He didn't just say take note of. He didn't say, oh, it's incidental, but I'll let you know a secret. No, he said, beware of false prophets, false teachers. That means we're going to get some. It doesn't mean that, oh, this is some kind of anomaly. It might happen, I don't know, in the end, once, maybe in the end time. No, it's going to happen all the time. He's going to make sure of it. You, beware of false prophets. Now, what are these false prophets going to be like? Well, you're not going to know them. You're not going to know who they are. They're going to come to you in sheep's clothing. Well, we'll know them. It'll be the wolf with the big teeth and the tongue. I'll know them right off. I'll recognize those ears anywhere. And that tail, sheeps don't have tails like that. Just because he's got that little jacket on, that's not going to throw me. No, he's going to come to you looking so much like a sheep, you won't recognize him. You can't recognize him.

You can't recognize him. Now, sheep's clothing, as I've told you before, sheep's clothing looks so much like a sheep that any person who has sheep's clothing in the Church of God today will know every doctrine, every teaching, every small nuance, and be teaching that.

He will be dressed properly. He'll be saying things right. He won't be smoking. You know, he won't be cursing. He will be probably trying to do his level-beth and think he's a sheep.

That's a good warning for me, isn't it? Somebody asked me recently, well, who are you going to start? Who are you going to start judging who the wolves are? I said, I tell my congregation, start with me. Start with me. That's a good place to start. He goes on and says, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. Now, what's on the inside? What's in the heart? Jesus says, comes out of the mouth.

Inwardly, there's a different nature, isn't there? True doctrines, true teachings, true everything, but there's a different nature, something on the inside. And he said, you will know them by their teeth. No, no, sorry. Tongue, no eyes. Smell. Now, there's one you can tell us. No.

By the results of their life is what fruits are. The results. Wow. That, Jesus says, is a little test I'm going to give you. I want to really see if you're with the program here. I'm going to feed you. I'm going to let somebody feed you with some stuff that sounds pretty good, but it's going to peel to a nature that you have that you're supposed to have died to. See if you like it.

That's the fruit of the forbidden tree. That's the one you mix up with the truth, but somehow it's okay.

Feels good. We've got to be aware of false shepherds and wolves. He doesn't define their fruits, does he? But let's go over to Galatians chapter 5 verses 19 through 23 and take a look at where fruits are defined. God doesn't just leave us hanging. Mr. Armstrong always taught, if something is brought up in one place, God will explain it in another. And so in Galatians chapter 5 verse 19 it says, the works of the flesh. These are the fruits of carnal human nature.

And you can read verse 19, 20, 21, not just the actual literal deeds, but the spirit of those deeds, how they can manifest themselves in you and me. You and I can be about murder just because we want someone else to fail, just because we have an enemy in someone, some way we're not forgiving, or somebody we hope doesn't make it, or somehow gets sorted out. That's the spirit of murder. That's wanting somebody to die eternally, to miss out on the kingdom. And we can have that beautiful little murderous attitude right as we go forward in the church. What a terrible thing. That would be the fruit of the wrong mentality, one that comes from Satan, who is the father of murderers, and all the other things mentioned there. But going on in verse 22, but the fruit of the spirit, the results of living God's Holy Spirit in the same individual will be love, and a result of love will be joy, and a result of loving others and having joy will be harmony and peace, and a result of love and joy and harmony and peace will develop long suffering and persevering in all of those things, no matter what, and limiting self-control, not limiting, but having self-control and strong faith, no matter what. See, so there's fruits. We want to look for those fruits. I am not the one who is the embodiment of truth or the embodiment of fruits. If you're looking at me, I hope you find flaws. If you can't find flaws, you're not looking hard enough. Look up! You know, we're to look at Jesus Christ as the one who is our example. He is the Great Shepherd. He is the one that we are to grow up into in all things and become like the Father. Look at Him. In Matthew 5, 48, become or be you, therefore perfect like your Father in heaven is. It's not about people. It's about God. A hint for me when Jesus said, out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks, just a hint is, well, okay, let's listen to what people talk about.

Take notes. What does a person talk about? I like to get out the marker when people write and go through and mark something I picked up from my mother who reads books with a pen.

There's a lot we can perhaps learn, not being too judgmental, but at the same time, as Jesus said, judging by fruits. We don't want to focus on the physical, on people, on policy, on buildings, or locations, or things that aren't bread. That's not bread. But I'll tell you, it can really occupy your mind. You can get all tangled up in stuff to where you can't even pray, you can't think straight, you get so emotional and distraught.

Guess what? We're off onto that which tastes good, but it's not uplifting, it's not building up, it's not edifying one another, is it? We want to get rid of that and go to the true bread, which is love, concern, humility, preferring others, praying for everybody, wanting the best for everybody. There's nobody I know that I think has challenges in their life that I don't get on my knees and beg God to help them and give mercy and be merciful to all of us.

And I daily ask God that if anybody has anything against me, that He'll forgive them of that, and that I have nothing against anybody. And I realize that God will not forgive me unless I forgive everybody else. And I do forgive everybody else immediately, automatically, carry nothing. And when I do, I get on my knees and repent of that. In Ezekiel 34, verses 9 and 10, we'll find, though, that there are these challenges that Christ allows to be in the church.

What we don't want to do is play that little game that you sometimes see in an arcade with little things that pop up and you get the little foam hammer and you whap them down. It's usually called, whap-a-something. And, you know, you'll whap, whap, whap, whap. We don't want to get into that mentality. We don't want to use the Bible as a weapon and say, okay, you know, you other people, this is a weapon against you.

No, no. Christ doesn't do it that way. He says, you know, let it all grow together. These are necessary parts of the church experience. Everybody's, you know, causing or everybody's creating what's needed. He's the head. He allows it. You know, in the end time, he allows the other nations to come up and attack Jacob and be the source of the downfall of the physical Israelites nations and the tribulation. He'll deal with them later, but they do fill a valid purpose. And he uses that and utilizes that.

We in the church need to be challenged so that we can be the genuine thing, or at least show him if we are. Ezekiel 34 verses 9 and 10 says, therefore, oh, shepherds, hear the word of God. We individually need to hear what God says. Thus says the Lord God, behold, I am against the shepherds and I will require my flock at their hand. I will cause them to cease feeding the sheep. Is this a prophecy about the church today? And the shepherds shall feed themselves no more, for I will deliver my flock from their mouths that they may no longer be food for them.

That's quite a statement against the shepherds. I know this was against some of the prophets of old, but we look at some of these prophecies, including Ezekiel, with a lot of duality. And so I'm just pointing out that there is a heavy responsibility to the shepherds, and not all the shepherds are approved in God's eyes. You know, there's an insightful phenomenon that takes place in nature that I believe we can learn from, and that's the protecting of young.

You see this with animals. I think we're all familiar with the big birds of prey that fly around and sometimes come in and snatch a bird. All you see is a poof of a few feathers and dinner is, you know, on the wing, as it were. And yet there's that other phenomenon where the same small prey will be chasing the big bird and pecking at it fearlessly, and the big bird will comply and fly away as the little bird protects the young that are in the nest from the big bird.

We find that in birds, fish, giraffes. Don't ever approach one of those lovely giraffes who has a baby because they will, with one swift kick of the foot, disembowel and kill you just effortlessly. Or get between or indicate to a mother bear that you're going to harm her cub because she will just come ravenously at you with muscles and long, long claws that will tear you to shreds. And so, probably the very worst place to be as a human is harming God's little children.

In Luke 17, in verse 1, Jesus shows how he feels about those who would come and harm the children that he and the father are raising. At the end of verse 1 of Luke 17, it says, woe to him through whom the offenses come. Woe. Now, woe is a pretty tough word when you get back to Revelation. You have the woes. Woe. And when Jesus says woe to somebody, that's, you know, you're messing with my children. You're messing with that which I came and lived and died for, that which I created the universe for, the apples of my eye woe to that individual. Verse 2, it would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck and he were thrown into the sea that he should offend one of these little ones. Now, the one thing I didn't read was at the start of verse 1. It is impossible that no offenses should come. It's part of the church experience. He said, what happened to me is going to happen to you. They persecuted me. They're going to persecute you. There's going to be a lot of tests that come upon his little children, but ultimately woe to those by whom they come. Do we assume that the true church is a perfect group?

Let's go to Matthew 13, verse 27. Learn something else that Jesus said is part and parcel of our church experience. Matthew 13, verse 27.

So the servants of the owner came and said to him, Sir, did you, you, yourself, not so good seed in your field? How then does it have tears?

Isn't the true church of God supposed to be filled with true church members?

So this question is brought up. And he said to them, verse 28, an enemy has done this.

Satan fills an important role in your and my life, in your and my church experience, in those who work in a sense for his cause unknowingly. Jesus said to Peter one time, Get behind me, Satan, because he was opposing and in some way tempting Jesus.

Jesus said to them, An enemy has done this. The servant said to him, Let's clean out the church. Let's fix that right up here.

And Jesus said, No, verse 28. No. We're going to have a church that's filled with false teachers in sheep's clothing who are ravenous wolves who want to eat you tender little lambs, tasty little lambs. And you're going to have a lot of sheep in sheep's clothing who aren't sheep, but they're goats. But that's part of the church experience. Leave them there. Lest while you gather up the tares, you also uproot the wheat with them. Because just as the teachers, both good and bad, provide us with the fruit of the knowledge of good and evil and the fruit of God's Spirit, the tree of life, and it's good fruit. So our fellow members also present us with examples of being in the church, but either taking liberty and license with the law of God, or trying their best to overcome and grow by it. We have to choose. God wants to know.

Jesus says there has always been and will always be sheep and goats, wheat and tares, shepherds, hirelings, wolves. Jesus Christ himself, Satan the devil, there will be truth.

There will be deception. There will be law. There will be lawlessness. There will be persecution from without. There will be persecution from within. There will be blessings, and there will be trials. But he who endures to the end in righteousness shall be saved. That's what it's about. You see, it's about us making the whole trip, going all the way to the door, showing that we really are fully committed to godliness, no matter what.

It's not he who stays alive to the end, or he who knows the truth to the end. He who perseveres to the end. Being a godly, growing, repenting individual will be saved. Now, as tender, growing lambs, you will always be on someone's menu, and that someone is Satan. You know, Satan wants you to die. He's counting on your death. He is your devourer because you are replacing him in his mind. You are inheriting the rulership, the co-rulership with Jesus Christ. You are inheriting all things. And he wants you dead, eternally. And he will perform that for anyone who will let him. In 1 Peter 5, verses 8 and 9, it says, Be sober, as the margin says in verse 8, be self-controlled. You can't walk a tightrope and not be self-controlled.

This is a very challenging path, a very challenging calling. As the angel in Revelation 20, verses 4 and 6 says, Oh, extremely, supremely blessed are those who have part in the first resurrection. That's the really special opportunity that we are presented with. Therefore, be self-controlled on this journey. And vigilant. Vigil means watchful, very watchful about your nature. Oh, you think that's good. Oh, yes, I'm going to serve and give. Oh, but I'm doing it to elevate myself by how I'm falling off the trail over here. You know how human nature works.

Oh, I'm standing up for righteousness. I'm slandering those who are unrighteous. Oh, I'm falling off the trail over here. Well, be self-controlled and watchful because your adversary, the one who wants to knock you off that rope, off that trail, he walks about like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour. He's just full of all kinds of crafty, clever, surprise stuff. Lions can, lions just don't go kill in a certain way. You know, you can hear one story, then you hear another story, then you hear another story. Lions through the bushes. We've seen lions in the trees.

One time we were in Kenya, the lions always went up in the trees and we're scratching our head. You know, the people are with us. They're going to think lions only live in trees. Never seen it before. Never seen it since. That day it was a good perch, a good place to watch out, try to get some animals to come under. Next day they're hiding in some grass somewhere downwind, waiting to pounce on somebody. Another time they're over by the waterhole, hanging out because everybody's got a drink. Satan is this really clever individual walking around seeking whom he may devour.

He doesn't want to devour the world that's not being called right now. He doesn't want to devour people who follow him. He wants to devour little tasty lambs.

Resist him. Steadfast in the faith. Faith with works. Steadfast, continuing, enduring, persevering, no matter what.

Now sheep aren't the sharpest animals in dangerous situations. Ever thought about that? We kind of think ourselves, oh yeah, now we're kind of, we're fair, you know, we're just white. We're out there in a green grass, colored white, heads down, eyes in the grass, assuming the world is a nice place.

Our choices, pieces are up in the air behind us. Eat me, eat me.

We're not streetwise. We're easily fleeced. And this is kind of like the Lamb of God set us an example. Let's go to Acts chapter 8 and verse 32. This is not a bad thing at all because we shouldn't have venom. We shouldn't have craftiness. We shouldn't be the streetwise, cagey, know-how-to-survive kind of people. It's not what God is. It's not what love is. Acts chapter 8 and verse 32 says, And the content of the scripture which he read was this.

He was led as a sheep to the slaughter, and like a lamb dumb before its shearer, so he opened not his mouth. That is how you and I are to conduct ourselves.

We are to be wise as serpents, but harmless as does. We don't revile. We don't go at others like they go at us. We turn a cheek and get beat up just like Jesus Christ did.

Where should I go? What should I do? Who should I follow? Maybe I'm not giving you specifics. Let's go to Jesus Christ for specifics. Let's go to John chapter 10. We'll begin in verse 10. We'll go right to our shepherd, the one who is watching out for us, the one to whom the father gave some to him, and he said, I have lost none of those you gave me. It's not like we have a general slaughter going on at any time. It's not like it's sort of a roll of the dice, that we have some God who is so unthoughtful he'll just give many an opportunity, but only a few will make it, and too bad about the others. But in fact, there are some who he has the confidence in that with his leadership and his Holy Spirit will endure to the end and will so confound the mighty, being nothing themselves, will reign and rule with him, and all peoples will give them glory.

It's fairly confident, actually, about those that he has genuinely given his Holy Spirit to.

In John chapter 10, verse 10, the thief does not come except to steal and kill and to destroy. He wants to kill you. I have come that they may have life. I'm not talking about physical life, and that they may have it more abundantly on a spiritual level, a spiritual plane. I am the Good Shepherd. The Good Shepherd gives his life for the sheep, and in fact, the Good Sheep give their lives for the sheep. Their lives are a living sacrifice of self, a living sacrifice of their own will for God.

Verse 14, I am the Good Shepherd, and hardly anybody can find me of my own sheep.

Is that what it said? Maybe we better read that more carefully.

I am the Good Shepherd, and I know my sheep and am known by my own.

They have a relationship that they themselves know, and the Sabbath to them is a sign between them, not just a sign of, oh, it's a badge. No, it's a weekly sign that shows what's in their heart, what's in their mind, how they relate to God's law, how they relate to him, how they relate to other people, how they relate to the kingdom of God. This relationship is very strong. Verse 15, As the Father knows me, so I know the Father, and I lay down my life for the sheep. And other sheep I have which are not of this fold, them also I must bring, and they will hear my voice, and there will be one flock and one shepherd. You notice that group is tight. That group is listening. That group is close. That group is protected. But it is also exposed because they are strong in their relationship. They are very strong. Therefore, my Father loves me because I lay down my life that I may take it again. This is an important time for those who God is bringing into his family. It's a good time for them. And testing is good. I don't know about you. We can learn a lot of things. In becoming a pilot and getting various ratings and recertified, you can go out and you can learn and you can read and you can experience. But then comes the test.

Then you get the FAA examiner climbing in the plane with you, looking at you real seriously with his little book he's not going to show you. And you go out and you get tested. And you know what? That's good for a pilot. That's really good for a pilot. And I'll tell you why. Because that examiner will always be able to find some things you kind of passed over. You kind of just glance at. You kind of bypass some safety things or some ways that you fly a plane. Someday it could kill you or someone else. Testing is good. Testing is good for you and me. We shouldn't run from it. Never run from getting on your knees and asking, Father, correct me.

You know, tell me, show me where I'm wrong, correct me.

Create in me a clean heart. That is the best thing you can possibly do. Not run from it and say, Oh God, I don't really want to change. I don't want to be like you. Don't show me anything.

That would be terrible. Here in John 10, let's drop down to verse 27. My sheep hear my voice.

Where should we go? What should we do? My sheep hear my voice. I know them and they follow me.

There's a pretty solid relationship right there. And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish. Note this. Neither shall anyone snatch them out of my hand.

That should give us confidence. That should give us confidence on the straight and narrow. That should give us confidence within this church experience that the church provides us with the encouragement and the help to persevere in all things. You will make it. If you continue on, if you really, genuinely are attached to Jesus Christ, if you are being fed by Him, you will not be snatched out of His hand. My Father, who has given them to me, by the way, is greater than all. He's greater than that Satan the devil. He is greater than anybody, and no one's going to get them out of my hand. And no one is able to snatch them out of my Father's hand, he says. I and my Father are one in this. That's pretty encouraging, isn't it?

Will you be tested? You will be tested to the limits of what you can endure, but not beyond.

That probably doesn't sound very encouraging, does it? God needs to know. It's important that He knows. And don't be worried about that, in a sense. Don't run away from that. Don't fear that. The Father tests and corrects His children, so God does us.

Obey God's voice. Listen to Him. Follow Him. It's obedience to what He tells us to do, doing His will, humility, repentance, love, and serve. Always. In all situations, at all times. If you ever get confounded by whatever is bamboozling, you just stop and say, what's the great commandment that summarizes the whole law? Oh, love God with all your heart, soul, and might. And the second is likened to it. Love your neighbor as yourself, under all circumstances, all the time, that never involves hatred, slander, bad words, weapons being pulled. Just don't go there. Don't get involved in that. Take what you have to take.

The other side, though, is going to be excuses. Pride, self-promotion, gains from unrighteousness. Let's look at this in 2 Peter 2, verses 15-20. Because there will be other voices that, and they will be appealing to us, and they're necessarily appealing to us. They're not odd and weird and, oh no, how can this happen? Those voices need to come to us to see if that's what we want. If so, we'll follow those voices. We won't listen to Jesus Christ. We won't hear His voice. We'll hear the ones that are more familiar to the nature that we serve.

2 Peter 2, verse 15 says, They have forsaken the right way, and gone astray, following the way of Balaam the son of Beor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness.

You can get more for yourself by being unrighteous. If you don't believe me, just show up at a bank with a gun, and you'll get more than you can withdraw from your own account.

Probably. The wages of unrighteousness, you can always get more. You can mine more followers if you're a politician by using unrighteousness and swaying greater crowds. So there's that, and that appeals. It kind of does work. Verse 17, these are wells without water.

Holy Spirit seems to be missing. Clouds carried by a tempest, for whom is reserved the blackness of darkness forever. If you want that way, it's part of a different mindset, isn't it?

For when they speak great swelling words of emptiness, they allure through the lust of the flesh. Now I have flesh, I have a carnal human nature in me, and certain things allure to that.

Those are temptations. Jesus had the same temptations and was tempted in all things.

They are alluring. But what do we do? What choice do we make? Verse 19, while they promise them liberty, fun, liberty from law, better things for yourself, they themselves are slaves of rotting, rotting and death. That's the problem. See, there's an end result of that, and it's not eternal life.

So there's some things said there, but we need to be focused solely on God, becoming like God, and not be distracted and succumb to anything else. Let's go to Philippians 2, verses 2-8, because here, again, is what we should follow, the mentality we should follow. It's what the sheep will hear. It's not what everybody's going to hear. It's what the sheep will hear.

It's what the sheep will hear.

Sheep will think this food tastes really good, and it'll be challenged by it.

Willows will think this stuff is nasty, some kind of grass. It doesn't even have the flavor of meat, no salt. It'll give you diarrhea. So Philippians 2, verse 2, says, fulfill my joy by being like-minded, by being minded like me, like the church, having the same agape love, being of one accord, one mind, unified. The sheep will be the true sheep. You know, Jesus said, they're mine. I have them. They hear my voice. My father and I, they're ours. We're together. Have the same mind. Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself. I don't care how you feel about certain situations in the church. I tell you, I am very, very low in comparison to many in the church who are so smart, so intelligent, so understanding, so knowledgeable, so talented. You know, I don't care what some individual mistake they might make. That doesn't somehow reduce them. I know that I am one of the weak of the world, and we should not have conceit about ourselves. Oh yeah, I know a lot, and I'm special. But rather, lowliness of mind, let each esteem others better than himself. In my case, they are better than me, okay, as most of you are. And I look forward to serving under you in the kingdom, wherever God places you, wherever he chooses to place us. Because, you see, I don't belong there. I don't deserve to be there. I deserve to die eternally, and that's why I repent every day and go searching for my sins so that God won't kill me, and the blood of Jesus Christ instead will pay that penalty for me. That's what I deserve. Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others. This is the mind of Christ. Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus. It wasn't about demanding his position. It was the opposite. He demanded to leave his position on high. He reduced himself, and said, don't even let me be a good-looking guy, some hunk of a guy. No, let me be somebody nobody thinks is very cute. And then, let me be thoroughly persecuted, you know, just slandered, finally slashed to where you don't even know who the individual is. He was so disfigured, and then stripped naked in public, and then a spear stuck in his side, and you know, the worst of the worst inside comes out. And then you die in front of all humanity, with people jeering at you, saying, you know, bring yourself down, heal yourself.

Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus. Verse 7, made himself of no reputation, taking in the form of a bondservant, one who chose to be a servant or slave, and coming in the likeness of men, and being found in appearance of a man, he humbled himself. He became obedient to God, and to the death that God wanted him to suffer.

That's whose voice we hear and who we are to be growing up into. And so, when we think of an overview of the Church, we find that faithful leadership will be slandered, using allegations and charges. We find in Titus 3, James 3, examples of what will come down throughout the Church. Jesus taught us seven lessons, and what did he say about the true Church in Revelation 2 and 3? Seven lessons, and in seven cases he said, you know, you're just about to miss out. You know, the Church has, my true Church has so many problems, six out of seven of the lessons are about our problems. And one of those lessons, which was embodied in a lesson about the Church in Philadelphia, said, because you have kept my command to persevere. Remember what he said? You live, obey, no matter what, in all situations, I'll provide a lot of tests, but you persevere, and he who perseveres to the end will be saved. And he says to Philadelphia in that lesson, because you have kept my command to persevere in godliness, I also will keep you from the hour of trial, which shall come upon the whole world to test those who dwell on earth. Why? Because they've been tested. We were tested through the Church's experience. We already had all the tests for our carnality. We had the goats among us, the tares among us, the false teachers among us. We had opportunity, had we wanted to, to turn and go back. But he said, you've been tested, so I'm going to spare you further testing. Let's go to perhaps the most important scripture in the Bible for you. This is probably one of which there is nothing more important. Revelation 22, verse 12. Here's Jesus himself talking to you as one of his precious sheep, one of his children, one who is on this road approaching the narrow gate, the door. He says, Behold, I am coming quickly. In your life it will not be long, and my reward is with me to give to everyone according to his work. Now that's probably the most important scripture in this book so far as you are concerned. He is coming with your final reward. It's not only important to you, it's probably the most important thing in the Bible to God, because that's what the Bible is about. That's what the creation is about. That's what you're in my life is about. That's what the Son of God's coming to earth was about. That very moment in time when he gives the reward to his children. That's the birth of the first fruits. Not the first fruit, but the first fruits after Jesus Christ. The one they've been looking for. The one they've been developing and wanting so much. The first babies ever to come in. The first other members of the family of God to be born. They are expecting parents so excited. And there's the reward.

Above all, I work to prepare you to be ready to receive your judgment. That's what I'm here for. That's what my goal is. To have you ready to hear the words of either, I never knew you, depart from me, you cursed into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels, or to hear, well done, good and faithful servant, come, you blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom, prepared for you from the foundation of the world, enter into the joy of the Lord. That's the rewards that he's bringing. And you and I get one of them. We need to be prepared to receive the proper one. The Church can help you prepare for that single most important event in all time for you and for the God family, your judgment. Never get distracted from your calling, which is Matthew 5, 48, become you, therefore, like you're expecting parents. God the Father. So in conclusion, what can the Church do?

It can plant you, it can water you, it can feed you, it can motivate you, it can test you, it can encourage you to endure temptations while you persevere in becoming more like your future parents in heaven. Your responsibility to your calling should include fear and trembling to depart from that path, and at the same time, you will be able to be prepared for that path.

And at the same time, courage and confidence to grow up into the fullness of Christ.

I don't know how to better encapsule the Church experience than to read for you Psalm 23. Let's go there. Psalm chapter 23. David, who has made it, by the way, his role is already assigned under Abraham as being over Israel, and he will be over the twelve apostles. The Bible says that. And David here knows who he is.

He is a sheep. He is a tasty lamb. He is the apple of God's eye. He is one who has been called by the great shepherd. And he said, the Lord is my shepherd. I choose that which influences me. I choose the one I listen to, and I have made that the Lord. Consequently, I shall not lack, the margin says. I won't lack. I'm not going to lack fruit for the kingdom. I'm not going to lack joy and harmony and good things in this life, even though there are a lot of trials and tests and persecution requiring perseverance. I won't lack. My Lord makes me to lie down in green pastures. He has the food that I need. He is my bread. He leads me beside the still waters. He leads me by His Holy Spirit. And those who are led by the Spirit are the sons of God. He restores my life. He leads me in the paths of righteousness, always loving God and my neighbor as myself. In all situations, wherever we go, they are paths of enduring righteousness.

And this is done for His name's sake. It's about God. It's about the family of God. It's about the children of God. It's about the kingdom of God. It's about the promotion of godliness. It's not about me.

And yes, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death as part of my experience here on earth, because I'm on somebody's menu, and I will always be in peril and always have the potential of being eaten by the devourer, yet I will fear no evil. I'm not going to go around worrying and wondering. I'm not going to go around afraid. I'm going to be full of courage and strength because I have the armor of God. For you are with me. Remember, Jesus and the Father will never let us be snatched out of their hand. Your rod for correction is there, and your staff for direction is there. And they comfort me. I like those things. I like repentance. I like correction. I like growing. I like becoming more like my parents. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. The bride is being prepared to reign with Christ now among the enemies of God and of his children. We are being prepared and cleaned up even at a time when Satan will pull out all the stops to claw us down and tear us apart if at all possible. You anoint my head with oil. My cup runs over. We are being appointed as priests to serve under the apostles in cities, as much as we can tell. And being anointed, my cup runs over.

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever. So what are you eating? Where did it originate? Get the true bread from above and grow by it. During your trip down the difficult path to the narrow door that few will find, persevere in godliness through all your tests and all your trials. And in doing so, you too will be in the kingdom of God forever.