Nix the Cliques

Introduction:

Philippians 2:3-7 – Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.

3 Reasons I Want to Fight for Unity (1 Corinthians 1:10-17)

1. Because I Am RESPONSIBLE for the Church's REPUTATION. (1 Cor 1:11)

   John 13:35 – By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.

   John 17:20–21 – I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me.

2. Because FIGHTING is FOOLISH. (1 Cor 1:12–13)

3. Because DISUNITY DISTRACTS from the Mission. (1 Cor 1:14–17)

Sermon Notes (PDF): BLANK
Hint: Highlight blanks above for answers!

Small Group Discussion
Read 1 Corinthians 1:10-17

1. What was your big take-away from this passage / message?
   

2. What are some specific doctrines church members must agree on (1 Cor 1:10)? What are some doctrines that are okay to not all agree on? What makes the difference?
   

3. What are some ways people overly attach themselves to certain preachers today (1 Cor 1:12)? Why do you think many Christians do this?
   

4. Why was Paul thankful that he didn’t baptize the Corinthians (1 Cor 1:14)? Is Paul saying baptism isn’t important? Why or why not?
   

5. How exactly do “words of eloquent wisdom” end up “emptying the cross of its power” (1 Cor 1:17)? What does this say about how we should evaluate a sermon?
   

Breakout
Pray for one another. Pray for unity at HBC among elders, staff, ministry leaders, and members.

• AUDIO TRANSCRIPT

  Open up those Bibles.

  The first Corinthians in chapter 1.

  But as we turn to God's Word, I'm going to ask,

  we just pause for a second and please pray for me

  to faithfully communicate what God has said in His Word,

  and I will pray for you to have a heart open to receive

  what it is that the Lord wants to teach us from His Word today.

  Alright, let's pray.

  Father, just now we're turning to Your Word,

  and I pray that our minds and hearts would be just so focused

  on what You said,

  and that we are eager to obey what it is You've laid out for us

  in Your Word.

  We pray in Jesus' name.

  And all of God's people said,

  "Amen."

  The first Corinthians, chapter 1.

  You know, every so often at harvest Bible chapel,

  we do a Q&A day where we take questions from the congregation

  and answer them,

  and I think it was the last Q&A day.

  We had a very - a question that kind of threw me for a loop.

  I was wondering who asked it and why.

  But the question was, do the leaders of the church like each other?

  Well, you know, we're working on seeking the Lord

  on building a church building on a piece of property

  up in New Sewickley.

  And there is wind of opposition to building,

  which probably means building is of the Lord,

  because that's what happens, right?

  Read the book of Nehemiah.

  But in our staff meeting,

  in my office around the conference tables,

  we were in a staff meeting,

  and our children's director, Missy Howes,

  I got permission to tell this story, by the way.

  But our children's director was telling us about

  one of the individuals who is sort of against us building

  a building on that property.

  And then Missy capped off her update

  by turning to Pastor Rich,

  and she said, "Yeah, she's really going after you people."

  And I said, "Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.

  You people."

  I said, "Well, at what point, Melissa,

  did you go from staff member

  of the biggest demographic of our church

  to now it's you people?"

  And we have been laughing about that ever since.

  And if you know Missy, it's even funnier.

  But how quickly some people actually seriously

  detached themselves from the church?

  How quickly people detach themselves,

  and they don't see themselves as part of the body,

  don't see themselves as wanting what's actually best

  for the body as a whole.

  How many people show of hands

  have ever been involved in a church

  where there's been fighting?

  Raise your hand.

  All right?

  How many people have ever been involved in a church

  where there was a split?

  Raise your hand.

  Way too many of you.

  All right? Way too many.

  But listen, it's nothing new.

  It's been happening from the very beginning of the church.

  And it just seems common now

  because there's more churches

  and there's easier ways to communicate in our day.

  But it happens.

  Fighting and divisions in the church

  is unfortunately one of the sins

  that the church has been dealing with since day one.

  Last week as we started 1 Corinthians,

  the Apostle Paul told the Corinthian church,

  look, the foundation for unity

  has to be in knowing your salvation.

  That has to be the foundation.

  You have to know the grace of God

  by which you're saved.

  You have to know that He has gifted you to serve.

  You have to know that you are guiltless

  in the day of Christ Jesus.

  He will sustain you.

  That's how Paul starts the letter.

  In Jesus Christ.

  Now, act like it.

  And that's the theme of the whole book of 1 Corinthians.

  You know, the Corinthian church,

  they had a lot of problems.

  Have you read this book?

  They had a lot of problems.

  They had a lot of problems concerning sexuality

  and marriage and liberty

  and worship and spiritual gifts

  and the resurrection of Jesus

  and money.

  And Paul wrote this book.

  He wrote them this letter to correct

  their sinful problems.

  But you know,

  Paul must have thought

  that their biggest problem

  was disunity.

  The fighting.

  Because this is what he addresses first

  in the letter.

  Look at verse 10.

  And really, verse 10 could have been

  the only thing he wrote in the whole book.

  And this is like the point.

  He says, "I appeal to you brothers

  by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ

  that all of you agree

  and that there be no divisions among you

  but that you be united in the same mind

  and the same judgment."

  Now, verse 10 obviously flows from verse 9.

  And verse 9, he tells the church that they,

  by extension, we are called into the fellowship

  of His Son.

  And that's a foundation here

  for the Corinthian church and for Harvest Bible Chapel.

  This is not my church.

  This is not Pastor Taylor's church.

  Corinth was not Paul's church

  or Apollos' church.

  Harvest Bible Chapel,

  it's not your church.

  Whose church is it?

  It's God's church.

  And you're like, "Man Pastor Jeff,

  if only there was a way that you could remind us of that

  on the regular."

  What do you think this is?

  Do you know what this is?

  It's an arrow.

  That's all it is.

  It's a fancy arrow.

  But that's, people ask me,

  "What's this symbol mean?"

  It's just an arrow.

  And this is to remind us why we're here.

  We're here for God.

  We're here to exalt His Son.

  We're here to proclaim His Word.

  That's all that is.

  It's a constant reminder.

  It's not about me.

  It's about Him.

  So Paul says he's appealing that what?

  He says that all of you agree.

  Like, "All right, agree."

  Agree on what?

  Agree on politics.

  Agree on who is the best football team.

  Agree on who makes the best pizza.

  What are we agreeing on?

  Well, there's two things, church,

  that we have to absolutely agree on.

  And number one is doctrine.

  We should all agree on what we believe.

  Now listen, we might have different views

  on things like an eschatological timeline

  or the doctrine of election or whatever, whatever.

  But on the major points of doctrine, we must agree.

  If you're like, "I'm not sure if I should agree on this

  or if I should fight about this."

  Well, there's things that there are hills to die on.

  Things like the authority of God's Word.

  That's something we should all agree on.

  Things like the person and work of Jesus Christ.

  We should all agree on that.

  He is God who became man, who died to take away sin,

  who rose from the dead to give eternal life,

  who is coming again.

  We should all agree on that.

  Speaking of, we should all agree on salvation.

  How does somebody get saved?

  It's through faith in Jesus Christ.

  It's receiving the gift of eternal life

  that God has given through Jesus.

  We should all agree on that.

  All the stuff we talked about last week,

  we should all agree that is how a person gets saved.

  We should all agree on the mission of the church.

  We're not here to scratch itchy ears.

  We're not here to make a nice social club.

  We are here to make disciples.

  Those are things we should agree on.

  And that's what Paul goes on to say,

  that there will be no divisions among you.

  Literally, divisions in the Greek

  can be translated no difference of opinion.

  Paul says, you should not have a difference of opinion.

  We should all have the same opinion.

  And you're like, what? Jeff, yours?

  No.

  We should all have God's opinion.

  See, that should be the mindset of this church.

  It's like, well, what do you think about abortion?

  What does God think about abortion?

  What do you think about marriage?

  What does God think about marriage?

  That should be our opinion too.

  What do you think about work?

  What does God say about work?

  What should share His opinion?

  What do you think about parenting?

  You got any opinions about parenting?

  Yeah, I do got opinions about parenting.

  It's God's opinion about parenting.

  What does the Bible say?

  We should all be agreeing on doctrine.

  And another thing we should all be agreeing on is submission.

  Look at verse 10.

  He says that you be united in the same mind

  and the same judgments.

  You see, doctrine speaks to what we believe.

  Submission speaks to how we act.

  In other words, unity - listen, unity will occur naturally

  when we agree on doctrine and live in submission to one another.

  Now, I hesitated to even bark up this tree

  but I felt like we had to

  because this could be a whole other sermon series.

  But look at what Paul told the Philippian church.

  What is the attitude that we're supposed to have,

  this attitude of submission

  that's going to result in unity?

  He tells the Philippians,

  he says, "Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit,

  but in humility count others more significant than yourselves.

  Each of you look not only to his own interests

  but also to the interests of others.

  Have this mind among yourselves

  which is yours in Christ Jesus.

  Though he was in the form of God,

  did not count equality with God, a thing to be grasped.

  He got emptied himself by taking the form of a servant

  being born in the likeness of man."

  That's saying a lot.

  There's a couple of things I want to highlight from that.

  Regarding submission that unifies us,

  unity is destroyed when we start thinking,

  "It's all about me.

  My ideas are the best.

  My ideas are the smartest.

  Everyone should do what I want in the church

  and the church will be good."

  He says, "Each of us, we have to humble ourselves

  that we consider others more important than you.

  That you walk in the doors and you're like,

  "Everybody here is more important than me."

  Unity comes when we all share that mindset.

  How do we do that?

  Well, he tells us in Philippians,

  "We have to have the mind of Christ."

  He says a lot like I said.

  We've preached on this a couple of times in past time.

  Look at that next to last statement.

  That's the one that really jumps out to me.

  Jesus Christ, God in the flesh, took the form of a servant.

  This is where the attitude of submission comes.

  When you walk in the doors, not to say,

  "Okay, things need to happen my way.

  I'm going to set everything straight.

  You need to walk in the doors and say,

  "I'm here to serve.

  I'm a servant."

  If God was willing to make Himself a servant,

  as an example, I should have the same mindset, right?

  So are you?

  Are you a servant?

  Well, we'll know when somebody treats you like one,

  whether you are or not.

  We'll know when you don't get your own way

  if you really see yourself as a servant.

  Really, Paul could have stopped it.

  Verse 10 says so much here in 1 Corinthians 1.

  He could have stopped there.

  But he goes on to lay out three reasons why

  we should each do our part for unity.

  So on your outline, I want you to jot some things down.

  Three reasons I want to fight for unity.

  Like, you want to fight about something?

  You want to fight? Okay.

  Let's fight for unity.

  Let's fight for that.

  You're like, "Well, why do I want to do that?"

  Well, Paul tells us, number one,

  because I am responsible for the church's reputation.

  Because I am responsible for the church's reputation.

  Look at verse 11.

  He says, "For it has been reported to me by Chloe's people

  that there is quarreling among you, my brothers."

  There are Chloe's people.

  Do you know what we call them today?

  Whistleblowers. Right?

  Do you know what we called them when I was a kid?

  Do you know what we called whistleblowers when I was a kid?

  A "nark."

  How many people remember "nark"?

  Okay, somebody tattles to the teacher on you.

  "You nark."

  They weren't getting. They weren't being narks.

  They weren't being narks. No.

  I don't know who Chloe's people are.

  The Bible doesn't really tell us.

  But here's what we do know.

  They were so concerned over the fighting that was happening in the church

  that they had to get a message to Paul.

  And it would have been a lot harder in that day.

  They couldn't have just posted something on Insta

  or sent Paul a text. Right?

  So Chloe's people were concerned.

  And Paul's like, "This is the reputation that's getting back to me."

  Chloe's people says, "All you do is fight."

  Not good.

  I heard a commercial just the other day

  for a product that I didn't even know existed.

  It's called the Reputation Defender.

  How many people have heard of the Reputation Defender?

  Okay, Randy. Okay, me and Randy.

  Okay, so only a few of us heard that commercial.

  All right? The Reputation Defender.

  Do you know what this is? I had to look it up online.

  I was so intrigued by the commercial, Randy.

  I had to look it up online.

  Since 2006, a leader in online reputation management.

  What they do is they - and again, this is from their website -

  they fix online search results and remove personal information.

  Meaning, if there's bad stuff about you on the Internet, they erase it.

  If somebody, you know, whether you're applying for a job

  or you just want to sort of clean up your reputation,

  it's just, whoop, it's erased from the Internet.

  It's gone. Like, that part of you no longer exists.

  It's just, whoop, gone.

  And I heard that commercial.

  And I'm like, man, I wish we had this for other things.

  You know what I mean?

  You know what I mean? Like, I do something stupid at home

  and I upset Aaron.

  I wish that I could just be like, whoop, gone.

  Or, have you ever been like at a party

  and you meet somebody and you say something really awkward

  and stupid and you're like, why did I say that?

  Wouldn't it be nice to just be like, whoop, now nobody remembers that?

  Right?

  Or you got ejected from the church softball game

  because you lost your temper.

  Whoop.

  Well, you know, there is no such service for the church.

  I think with the church more than probably just about any organization on the planet,

  the reputation sticks.

  For better or for worse, the reputation sticks.

  And if you're like, well, I really don't care what people think about me.

  Okay, do you care what people think about Jesus?

  Because this unity doesn't just affect the church's reputation.

  It reflects on Jesus himself.

  Look at John 13.35 here. We're going to have it on the screen.

  Jesus said, by this all people will know that you are my disciples

  if you have love for one another.

  Now, you know what I want to think Jesus said here?

  My mind wants to make it say that Jesus was like,

  the world is going to know that you love the world

  by the way that you love the world.

  That's not what he said.

  He said the world is going to know that we are disciples of Jesus,

  not by how we love them,

  but by how we love each other.

  Our reputation for unity, according to our Lord,

  confirms our discipleship to the world,

  and it also directly affects our witness.

  Jesus, again, you jump over to John 17.

  Jesus praying specifically for us, for Harvest Bible Chapel.

  You see it right here. Jesus is praying.

  I do not ask for these only,

  but also for those who will believe in me through their Word.

  That's us.

  We believe through the Word.

  He says that they may all be one,

  just as you, Father, are in me and I and you,

  that they also may be in us.

  Why does Jesus want us to be one?

  Here's a reason.

  He says so that the world may believe that you have sent me.

  Our witness church is directly affected by our oneness.

  I mean, that just makes sense, doesn't it?

  I mean, it just follows.

  I mean, if you're talking to your neighbor about church

  and you say things like,

  "Well, you know what at Harvest Bible Chapel,

  our worship leader can't stand our children's director."

  I mean, our children's director is constantly throwing fire at staff meetings,

  and the worship leader just has had enough.

  And then you tell your neighbor,

  "Oh, he is way too aggressive with people."

  And you're like, "Well, how's the youth group?"

  And they say, "How's the youth group?"

  You're like, "Well, youth group is nice, but you know what those youth group moms,

  all they do is fight."

  That's all they do.

  They're just constantly fighting and arguing and bickering about everything.

  And then you turn to your neighbor and say,

  "Hey, would you like to come to our church sometime?"

  And they're like,

  "Not a chance.

  Why would I want to walk into that circus?"

  Our witness is affected by our reputation.

  Jesus prayed that we would be one.

  He died so that we would be one.

  So our reputation that we should have is that we are one.

  So, nix the clicks.

  Alright?

  Nix the clicks.

  Why?

  Because you're responsible for our reputation.

  You're responsible for our reputation.

  Number two, why I want to fight for unity?

  Why I want to nix the clicks?

  Number two, because fighting is foolish.

  Fighting is foolish.

  Look at verses 12 and 13.

  Paul is calling them out on their foolish immaturity.

  He says, "What I mean is that each one of you says,

  'I follow Paul,' or 'I follow Apollos,' or 'I follow Cephas,'

  that's Peter, or 'I follow Christ.'"

  Is Christ divided?

  Was Paul crucified for you?

  Or were you baptized in the name of Paul?

  See what he's doing?

  He's pointing out how stupid this is.

  Why are you fighting about this stuff?

  Verse 12, he says, "Each one of you,

  each one of you, you should have that underlined."

  Why?

  Because when there's this unity, who do we blame?

  Everybody else, right?

  Paul's like, "This is not an everybody else problem.

  This is a you problem."

  Stop blaming everybody else.

  What are you doing for unity at the church?

  And you see, they were boasting about which minister

  they identified with.

  Some people were like, "I follow Paul."

  I mean, Paul was pretty great, huh?

  Like, what an awesome missionary, right?

  Apostle to the Gentiles and endured so much hardship

  and was so faithful in his ministry.

  And it's easy to see why there were people that loved Paul.

  But some maybe overly attached to him, right?

  But then you have the people that were like, "Paul, okay."

  Paul's okay.

  But you know who really is the best minister is Apollos.

  Apollos was known for his eloquence.

  Apollos was a fantastic speaker.

  We learned about that in the book of Acts.

  And I'm sure that there were people here that were like,

  "You know what? Paul might have good theology,

  but there ain't nobody that preaches a sermon

  as beautifully as Apollos.

  He is the best preacher I've ever heard."

  And then you had people that are like,

  "You both are whack."

  Paul?

  Apollos?

  No, no, no, no, no, no.

  Cephas.

  That's Peter, right?

  Like, how can we even be arguing about this?

  Peter!

  OG!

  Peter!

  Right?

  Like, he wasn't just like one of the disciples.

  He was like one of Jesus' besties.

  And he was there for all of it.

  And he had some ups and downs.

  And look at what, look at like Pentecost.

  And Peter is the man.

  And then you had people that just had the Jesus Duke, everybody,

  that are like, "Oh, you like human ministers?"

  Well, I follow Christ.

  Doesn't that just sound so pious?

  I follow Christ.

  You see what the Corinthian church was doing?

  It was the adult version, the church version,

  of, "My dad can beat up your dad."

  Right?

  It's, "My pastor cannot preach your pastor."

  Aren't all four of these men preaching the same gospel?

  Oh, by the way, the last group there, I follow Christ.

  You're like, "Wait, wait, wait.

  Isn't that who we want to follow?"

  Yes.

  Jesus.

  Obviously.

  But somehow they turned even that

  into an occasion for fighting.

  And you're like, "Well, how in the world could somebody pull that off?"

  Well, people still do it today.

  People still do that today.

  Like, what do you mean?

  You heard these people that are like,

  "Oh, I don't need to go to church

  because I have a relationship with Jesus.

  So I don't need church."

  You can't defend that biblically.

  There is no such thing as a Christian detached from a church body.

  There is no such thing.

  Several years ago, there was the whole short-lived

  15 minutes of fame of the whole,

  "I love Jesus but hate the church."

  You remember that?

  "I love Jesus but I hate the church."

  Doesn't that just sound so pious?

  It sounds so obnoxious.

  "I love Jesus but I hate the church."

  Bad idea.

  You know what the church is?

  The church is the bride of Christ.

  And if you came to me and you said,

  "I love you, Pastor Jeff, but I hate your wife,"

  we're going to have some problems.

  I think that's what was going on here.

  That there were people that were like,

  "Oh, I don't need churches and preachers

  because I have Jesus."

  And look, there are some things,

  as we said earlier, that are worth fighting for.

  There are some things I will fight to the death for.

  Things like preaching the Word of God.

  Things like biblical music.

  Things like confronting unrepentant sin.

  Those are the things that the church should be fighting for.

  But sadly, when there's fighting in the church,

  those aren't usually the kinds of things

  that people are fighting over.

  Honestly, church, we find weird things to divide over,

  just like the Corinthians.

  We just come up with all kinds of stupid things to fight about.

  You want to hear some examples of some of the stupidest things?

  I don't have time to give all of them.

  But over the years, I've heard so many stupid things

  that people fight about.

  Here's one.

  I had a friend that attended a church.

  And I'm like, "Hey, how things are going at your church?"

  And he goes, "Oh, Jeff, we're really in a bad spot right now.

  Everybody's fighting."

  Like, what's the problem?

  People are really upset with each other

  and people are not talking to each other.

  And it's gotten really ugly.

  I'm like, "What are we fighting about at this church?"

  He says, "Well, when you walk in the entryway,

  there's a bulletin board.

  And they're fighting about how to divide it up among the ministries.

  Because the Sunday school thought they were getting all of it,

  and they were told they can get half,

  and they wanted to divide it this way.

  But no, no, no, the mission department wanted to divide it this way, blah, blah, blah."

  And he goes, "It is nasty."

  I'm like, "Are you serious?"

  He's like, "Yeah."

  He goes, "What do you think we should do?"

  I said, "I think you should rip that bulletin board off the wall

  and throw it in the garbage.

  That's what I think you should do."

  He's like, "Well, that's evangelism."

  I said, "No, it's not.

  The only people are seeing it

  are the people who are walking in the door."

  I said, "If it's causing that much division, trash it."

  Isn't that dumb?

  Here's another one.

  My old church, there was a family

  that had four daughters at the time

  they were early adolescents to teenage years.

  And there were people at the church

  that were upset with this family.

  They said, "Those girls are a clique.

  Those girls are a clique.

  Those girls are sisters."

  And now we're demonizing them

  because they like each other?

  There were people angry at them

  because they got along.

  Isn't that stupid?

  This might be the stupidest

  that I have a pastor friend.

  He was a pastor for a church up in Canada.

  Every Christmas they had a tradition.

  Like, for years,

  at the end of the Christmas service,

  this is true, and I can't say without laughing,

  but this is true,

  at the end of the Christmas service every year,

  they sang "Feliz Navidad."

  You know that horrible song?

  You know the one I'm talking about?

  "Feliz Navidad."

  "Feliz Navidad."

  Oh, that's so cringe.

  Well, this new pastor came

  and he's like, "You know what?

  There's not really spiritual content

  in that song,

  and let's really focus our attention

  of worship towards, I don't know, Jesus."

  So let's not sing that song this year.

  It caused a church split.

  And my pastor friend said,

  "I've never seen people so angry."

  Over one of the worst songs ever written.

  Isn't that dumb?

  We find such weird things to divide over.

  That was the Corinthians.

  They had their dumb thing too.

  He was the best preacher.

  That's why in verse 13,

  Paul gives some questions that we can unify here, right?

  Because these questions require us all

  to give the same answer.

  Right? Let's try it.

  Let's see if we get the same answer.

  Question number one.

  I'm going to ask the question,

  you shout out the answer.

  Is Christ divided?

  No. Obviously not, right?

  Christ is not divided.

  Alright, question two.

  And now they get harder.

  Was Paul crucified for you?

  No.

  Alright, final question.

  Were you baptized in the name of Paul?

  No.

  Meatballs.

  Alright, look.

  I want you to hear me very closely here.

  There is nothing wrong with having a favorite preacher.

  I do.

  There's a preacher who's podcast I listen to all the time.

  There is nothing wrong with that.

  Okay? We clear on that.

  There's nothing wrong with that.

  I encourage you to do that.

  But can we at the same time admit

  that some people get strangely attached

  to preachers and messengers?

  Like go back a generation to the Bill Gawthard people.

  Look, I used to go to Bill Gawthard conferences all the time.

  And you know what I saw there?

  There were people that were very strangely attached to him.

  They were like the "I follow Apollo's" people.

  Alright?

  And there were people that are like that with John Piper.

  There were people that are like that with Jack Hibbs.

  That we attach to these people so much so that we say

  the gospel isn't the gospel unless you gospel their way.

  And when we do that,

  we're just as foolish as the Corinthians.

  So these men that you're attached to on what basis are you attached?

  Right? Paul would say,

  "Was Jack Hibbs crucified for you?"

  Were you baptized in the name of John Piper?

  No.

  Our union is in Jesus and with Jesus.

  So Nick's the Clicks.

  Paul shows us fighting is foolish.

  Fighting is foolish.

  And finally, number three.

  Why do I want to fight for unity?

  Because this unity distracts from the mission.

  This unity distracts from the mission.

  Look at verse 14.

  Paul says,

  "I thank God that I baptize none of you,

  except Christmas and Gaius,

  so that no one may say that you were baptized in my name."

  I did baptize also the household of Staphanos.

  Beyond that, I do not know whether I baptized anyone else.

  Listen, Paul is not diminishing baptism.

  Paul's not saying baptism isn't important.

  This is all Paul is saying.

  Corinthians, if you're going to fight about this stuff,

  I am so glad I didn't baptize more of you.

  If you're going to act like children

  because of who baptized you,

  I'll thank you God that I didn't baptize more of you.

  In verse 17, he says,

  "For Christ did not send me to baptize

  to preach the gospel and not with words of eloquent wisdom,

  lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power."

  Paul is saying, "I was sent to preach to make men one in Christ,

  not baptize to make teams."

  When you praise the messenger,

  you miss the message.

  When you praise the missionary,

  you miss the mission.

  And harvest Satan would want anything,

  anything to distract us from the mission of making disciples.

  Nothing's changed.

  Read the book of Acts.

  In the book of Acts, the church is born.

  Satan tried to destroy the church from the outside

  through Acts chapter 4.

  From the outside attacks.

  What happened to the church

  when Satan tried to attack from the outside?

  What happened?

  It got bigger and stronger.

  Kind of like the Charlie Kirk thing that happened recently.

  The outside attack resulted in getting bigger and stronger.

  But do you know Acts chapter 5, Acts chapter 6,

  Satan changes his strategy.

  Instead of attacking the church from the outside,

  he attacks the church from the inside,

  and he found out to be so much more effective

  to distract the church from the mission.

  And Satan will do that to us.

  You see, if Satan can get us divided

  and fighting with each other,

  then we're distracted from doing what we're supposed to be doing.

  The gospel of Jesus Christ

  has to be the core of everything that we do here.

  It has to be the cause of everything that we do here.

  It has to be the motivation of everything that this church does.

  A pure focus on a pure gospel.

  Not with words of eloquent wisdom.

  In other words, we're not sugarcoating it.

  We're not dressing it up.

  We're not making it a performance.

  The power is in the pure gospel of Jesus Christ.

  So next the clicks.

  Why?

  Because disunity distracts from the mission.

  Our worship team will make their way forward.

  I'd like you to just buy your heads for a moment.

  Excuse me.

  I'd like you to just buy your heads.

  As we said at the onset,

  when there's any kind of disunity,

  when there's any kind of fighting,

  it's so easy to blame the other guy.

  God's Word tells us that we need to look at ourselves first.

  I just want you to buy your heads.

  I just want you to do a little self-examination.

  I want you to consider your role in this church,

  your interactions with people in this church.

  And I want you to ask yourself,

  am I an agent of unity or disunity in this church?

  Am I trying to bring people together?

  Or am I dividing people?

  Oh, another question that goes with that.

  Ask yourself this.

  If everyone in the church acted like I do,

  what kind of church would this be?

  And then finally ask yourself this.

  Am I committed to the pure doctrine of the gospel

  and submission to our Lord and to one another?

  Or have I really made lesser things my focus?

  Father in heaven,

  you have called us to unity.

  Father, it's real easy for us to sit in this room

  and sort of laugh at the foolishness

  that was happening in the Corinthian church,

  bragging about which preacher is the best.

  It just seems so silly to us,

  but Father, we fight about things

  that are much more silly than that.

  Father, I just pray for the unity in this church.

  We believe, Father, that Christ died to make us one.

  And I pray, Father, that we would do everything we can

  on our part to strive for unity in the body of Christ.

  Father, if there's any complaining,

  negative, divisive attitude within any of us,

  Father, I pray that you would grant repentance

  and bring us to the place that we care more

  about your reputation and the ministry

  to reach the lost and to build up the saved.

  I pray that we would be so focused

  on what you've called us to,

  that we're not distracted with personal preferences.

  So thank you, God.

  Thank you, God, for what you've clearly laid out

  for us in your Word.

  Have us faithful to do it, Father.

  We pray in Jesus' name. Amen.

Know Your Salvation

Introduction:

Know Your Salvation (1 Corinthians 1:1-9)

1. GRACE. (1 Cor 1:4)

   Ephesians 2:8 – For by grace you have been saved through faith.

2. GIFTED. (1 Cor 1:5-7a)

   Ephesians 6:19 – <praying> also for me, that words may be given to me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel...

3. GUILTLESS. (1 Cor 1:7b-9)

   2 Corinthians 5:21 – For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

Sermon Notes (PDF): BLANK
Hint: Highlight blanks above for answers!

Small Group Discussion
Read 1 Corinthians 1:1-9

1. What was your big take-away from this passage / message?
   

2. If the Bible is so clear that we are saved by grace (Ephesians 2:8), why do so many people insist on earning your salvation or hold the idea that good people go to heaven?
   

3. Explain 1 Cor 1:5 in your own words. How does this apply to your personal walk with Christ?
   

4. What does 1 Cor 1:8 say about the doctrine of eternal security (once saved, always saved)?
   

5. Why do you think Paul starts this letter by calling them sanctified (1 Cor 1:2) and reminding them of their salvation (1 Cor 1:4-6)?

Breakout
Pray for one another.

• AUDIO TRANSCRIPT

  Today is our ministry year kickoff and that also means that today is our anniversary.

  So today we are celebrating 14 years of Harvest Bible Chapel and we're like a

  lot of 14 year olds. We've come a long way but we have a long way to go.

  Right? What kind of church is this? We sit on four pillars we have from the

  beginning. We've proclaimed the authority of God's Word without apology. That's

  what kind of church this is. We lift high the name of Jesus in worship. That's

  what kind of church this is. We believe firmly in the power of prayer. That's what

  kind of church this is. And we share the good news of Jesus with boldness. Those

  are the four pillars this church was resting on when it was planted by God's

  grace. Those are the four pillars today. It may it always be. So I want you to open

  up your Bibles to 1 Corinthians and we're just going to pause. I want you to just

  please pray for me to be faithful to communicate God's Word and I will pray

  for you to have a heart open to receive what it is the Lord wants to teach us

  today. Alright? Let's just take a moment.

  Father in heaven as we get into your Word now I pray that your Spirit

  would work with your Word in the hearts of every person here. In the hearts of

  every person that is streaming or going to be listening to this podcast later.

  Father thanks to the technologies we have in our day. This goes out to so

  many people all over the planet and we thank you that you've given us

  opportunity and we want to use that opportunity to exalt your Word, to exalt

  your Son. Father has to start right here.

  Father incline our hearts towards nothing but your glory. We pray in Jesus' name.

  All of God's people said amen. Amen. A couple of decades ago Aaron and I were

  doing foster care and for about a year and a half we had a brother and sister.

  They were five and seven and it was at the time it was the worst case of child

  abuse in Butler County. I don't know if that's still the case but it was at the

  time. But the five-year-old boy was pretty broken when he came to us. He

  couldn't even talk really and we tried our hardest to give them some

  semblance of a normal childhood. You know? Well one of the things that we did to

  that end was we signed our five-year-old, his name is Walter. We signed him up for

  soccer and I played soccer in high school and in college so I was asked to

  help coach the team. Now anybody ever coach five-year-olds in soccer? It's a

  real hoot because coaches have to be on the field with the kids. Okay, not on the

  side shouting instructions. "Will, you're standing on the field with the kids and

  you have to run." And did you ever see five-year-olds play soccer? Okay, it's not

  like World Cup where they're all like spread out and passing. It's just this

  wave of kids chasing the ball. Well we were really trying to get really trying

  to get Walter to embrace this, right? It was a big part of my childhood. Just

  wasn't clicking. The kids would run by with the ball. We're like, "Walter, get the

  ball! Get the ball!" And Walter would run a couple of steps and he'd go, "They're too

  fast." Like, "Walter, no, come on, come on, get the ball! They're too fast." And then he

  would get increasingly frustrated. Walter's big insult for people was to

  call them naked. So the kids would run by, I'm like, "Walter, get the ball!" He goes,

  "They're naked! They're naked! They're naked!" And I'm like, "Actually, they're

  clothed, but we need you to hustle, right?" And I don't know if this is great

  parenting or not. Probably not. But at one point, Aaron and I offered Walter 25

  cents for every time he even touched the ball. We paid up zero. Well the other

  coach, she was the mom of the goalie. Before the first game, she pulled me

  aside. She goes, "I just want to warn you. I can't remember her son's name. We'll call

  him Joey." She goes, "I just want to warn you." She goes, "Joey doesn't like getting

  scored on." I'm like, "Well, that makes sense." She goes, "No, he really, really

  overreacts." Like, well, good to know. Well, sure enough, we got scored on. To say

  that the kid lost his mind as an understatement, he started ripping his

  clothes like trying to rip his jersey off. And it was this scene. It was like

  he was turning into the Hulk. And I'm watching this. I'm like, "Oh, man, what is

  going on here?" And then all of a sudden, I realized, "Wait a minute. Where did

  Walter go?" All of a sudden, I lost the foster kid. You don't want to tell the

  agency that. I'm like, "Where did he go? Where is he? Where?" Then I looked down.

  Walter is celebrating with the other team. Hugs and high fives and...

  This unity on the soccer team, it was funny. But you know, when there's this

  unity in the church, it's not so funny. Let's be honest, we're a lot like those

  kids in the soccer team sometimes, aren't we? Irrationally losing our minds over

  stupid things, calling people names, not wanting to participate. That's the theme

  of this first stretch in 1 Corinthians. You're gonna be hearing this a lot,

  because it's important to the heart of God, so it's important to the heart of

  the leaders in this church. Get unified. Church, we need to get unified.

  1 Corinthians was written to the church in Corinth, and you have to

  understand a little bit about their background. The city of Corinth was

  corrupt. Like, how corrupt were they? They were so corrupt that the city's very

  name became synonymous with immorality.

  They were known for their temple to the false goddess Aphrodite, the goddess of

  love, and they had about a thousand priestesses who served as prostitutes.

  So you can imagine what passed for worship in Corinth.

  Well, it's in that backdrop that the Apostle Paul planted a church. You can read

  about this, little homework assignment for you. Acts chapter 18. Go home and read it.

  Not right now, but go home and read it, and you'll see how the church was planted.

  So you have this church planted in this horrible city, and the church, the church

  itself, was absolutely perfect. They just had two problems. Bad doctrine and bad

  behavior. Other than that, they were perfect. What the Corinthian church needed

  was unity and purity. Look at chapter 1 verse 1. Paul called by the will of God

  to be an apostle of Christ Jesus and our brother Sostenes to the church of God

  that is in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints

  together with all those who in every place call upon the name of our Lord

  Jesus Christ, both their Lord and ours. Grace to you in peace from God, our

  Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ. This church had a lot of problems, and we're

  going to be getting into that. And if you're familiar with God's word at all,

  you know. And it's so interesting to me that Paul starts this letter saying, hey,

  you Christians, those of you in Christ Jesus, you are sanctified. That word means

  holy, I mean set apart. And then he goes, he calls them saints. Again, the word

  means holy. Saint is a name for all true Christians, by the way. And when you look

  at this little introduction, you're like, wow, Paul, that's quite a thing to say

  when you consider the rest of the book. And we're going to see as we go through

  this, but these Christians were worldly, and they were divisive, and there was

  sexual sin, and the list goes on and on and on. They were just, they were so

  messed up in so many ways. And why in the world would Paul kick this letter up by

  saying you sanctified saints you? Like, why would he start that way?

  What, was it to butter them up? Like, I'm about to lay the hammer down, so I'm just

  going to make you feel good on the front. That wasn't it. Was Paul just

  ignoring all their problems? Like, maybe if I don't mention it, they'll go away.

  No, that's certainly not it. So why did he start by calling them sanctified

  saints? Why? Because it was true. Wait, wait, wait. How can they be holy and still

  struggle with being holy? Well, biblically, when we talk about holiness,

  holiness is two things. There's positional holiness, and there is practical

  holiness. Positional holiness is when you receive Jesus Christ as your Lord and

  Savior, when you believe in Him, when you are born again, God pronounces you holy.

  In God's eyes, He's looking at you through the lens of Jesus Christ, and from God's

  perspective, He says you are perfectly holy. We're going to talk more about that

  in just a couple of minutes. So while we are positionally holy, practical

  holiness, that is the growing, living like Christ, growing in Christ's

  likeness, doing the things that honor the Lord, growing in maturity as a Christian.

  Put it this way, the Christian life is growing to be what God already pronounced

  you to be. That's what the Christian life is. It's growing to be what God

  already pronounced you to be. It's like joining the army. When you enlist in the

  army, as soon as you enlist, you are a soldier. So why go to boot camp? Why do

  you go to boot camp? So they make you a soldier. You're like, "Wait, I thought I

  already was." You are. That's what the army does. They're making you what they've

  called you to be. That's what God does in holiness. He's pronounced you holy and

  Jesus, and your sanctification, your growth, your maturity. He is making you what

  He's already pronounced you to be. So now do you understand why Paul started the

  letter this way? Paul says, "Granthians, this is who you are. This is your identity.

  You are holy people." So we're going to get to this down the road. Paul's saying,

  "If you're holy, why are you acting unholy? Sin is inconsistent with who you

  are." So if we, Corinthian church, if we harvest Bible chapel, if we are going to

  be unified and purified, it has to start here. You have to know your salvation.

  That's where Paul starts. So on your outline, I want you to draw three words

  down. Know your salvation. Now this passage we're looking at today says so

  much in just a few short verses. It says so much about salvation. The Bible

  itself says so much about salvation, but you're going to see here in this passage

  knowing salvation is really knowing three G's. Your cell phone might need

  five G's, God only needs three. Know your salvation. Three G's, it's all

  straight from the text. Here's what you have to know about your salvation.

  If you're going to grow in unity and purity, here's what you have to know

  about your salvation. Number one, write this word down. Grace.

  Look at verse 4. "I give thanks to my God always for you, because of the grace of

  God that was given you in Christ Jesus." And I get to tell you as a pastor, I love

  that. He says, "I give thanks for you." Again, the church had so many issues that

  Paul needed to deal with, but notice he didn't see them for where they are. He

  saw them for who they are. It's like, "I give thanks for you." Why? They were given.

  Actually, that word in the Greek refers to being given something at a moment of

  time in the past. You know, I'm thankful for you because at one point in your past,

  you were given one of the most beautiful words in the whole Bible. The word is

  grace. You were given grace. You know, that's a word that we throw around a lot

  in church. Sometimes we don't wrestle down what exactly it means.

  You look up a theology textbook, grace is unmerited favor. It is undeserved

  kindness. But you know, the best definition of grace I've ever heard is

  this, grace is God giving to you what He requires from you. That's grace. God

  giving to you what He requires from you. What does God require from you?

  Holiness, righteousness, perfection. God requires that. We don't have it. Grace is

  God giving that to us in Jesus Christ. Sometimes we mix up grace with other

  concepts in the Bible like long suffering and mercy and things like that. My

  favorite illustration, some of you have heard this before. You're going to hear it

  again. It helps me to really understand what grace is, is this. Imagine that you

  have a teenage son. Some of you do and some of you did. Some of you will and

  some of you can use your imaginations. But imagine you have a teenage son and

  your teenage son goes to a party. And at this party there's another boy, same age

  as your son, who hates your son. Something stupid probably, a girl and

  murders your son. Cold-blooded murder, unprovoked murder. This other kid

  murders your son. Now, if you track that kid down that murders your son, if you

  track him down and you kill him, that is called vengeance. But if you track him

  down and you help the law, you help the police get him arrested, that's called

  justice. But if you track him down, help the police get him arrested and you show

  up at his court date and somehow, somehow, you're able to convince the judge to

  just let him go. Like just let him go. That's called mercy. But you help the

  police track him down, arrest him and you show up at his court date and somehow,

  somehow, you convince the judge to allow you to adopt that kid as your own and

  raise him as your own son. That's called grace. And understand that's what God has

  done for us in the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We have sinned against him and we

  killed his son. And what's God's response to that? God's response is, "I want to

  adopt you." That is grace. The Bible tells us, Ephesians chapter 2, "For by grace you

  have been saved through faith." By grace we have been saved, we've been adopted, we've

  been regenerated, we've been sanctified. It's all grace. Grace isn't withheld

  because of our sin. God is able to be gracious to us because Jesus Christ took

  away our sin. Our part is faith. That's our part. Faith is believing in Jesus.

  It's believing Jesus is who he said he is. He is God in the flesh. It's believing

  that Jesus accomplished what he said he would accomplish. That his death on the

  cross was to pay the penalty for my sin and for your sin. He rose from the dead to

  give us eternal life. It's believing that. It's receiving that. Our part is faith.

  God has done all the work in Christ. That's His grace.

  Now, this is so fundamental.

  But at the same time, it's so hard to believe. It's so hard to believe because

  every single area of our lives are performance-based. Every single one. Right?

  My boss is happy with me when I perform. My teacher at school is happy with me when

  I perform. My family is happy with me when I perform. Every area of life it's just

  I gotta do stuff to make somebody happy and we bring that thinking into the

  church. Like what do I have to do to make God happy? This is salvation is not

  based on your performance. It's based on Jesus Christ's performance.

  So as we start this stretch, as Paul starts this stretch in 1 Corinthians

  telling the Corinthian church, telling Harvest Bible Chapel today, get unified.

  You have to know your salvation and you have to understand grace because it's

  only when you understand this that you take the first step to unity. What does

  this have to do with unity? Grace puts us all on the same level.

  We don't have time to do this but I'd sure like to. I'd like to get every

  Christian to line up here like we do for communion. We will be doing that. I'd

  like to get every Christian line up here. Just have testimony time. How were you

  saved? By grace? Not because you were special or you worked for it? Oh that's

  awesome, me too. Next. How were you saved? Oh by grace? Not because you were special

  or did anything to earn it? Oh me too. Next. Do you see what that does?

  None of us deserve to be saved. None of us. None of us are any better than

  another.

  We're not going to get unified until we come to grips with that. We're all on

  the same level. We all, in Christ, are recipients of grace.

  It's the first thing you need to know about salvation. The second one, number two,

  write this word down. Gifted. Gifted.

  Look at verse 5 through the first part of verse 7.

  Paul says that in every way you were enriched in him in all speech and all

  knowledge, even as the testimony about Christ was confirmed among you, so that

  you are not lacking in any spiritual gift.

  You are not lacking in any spiritual gift. You see grace speaks to the past.

  That's what was received. Gifted speaks to the present. You are saved to serve.

  Notice Paul says you are enriched. You are not lacking any gift. Jesus,

  Paul is telling us here, Jesus has gifted you everything that you need to serve him.

  You're like, well, can you be more specific? He was more specific actually.

  Do you notice that? What is that? Verse 5, all speech and all knowledge.

  These are two of the gifts that he highlights here. First of all, you were

  gifted with all speech. You were gifted with the ability to speak the truth.

  All knowledge. You were gifted with all knowledge. That doesn't mean you know

  everything. That means you know everything that you need to know pertaining to the gospel.

  So here's what Paul is saying. Listen, church, you have been gifted to speak and you have been

  gifted with knowing what to say. So the question is, how are you using that?

  You have the gift if you're a Christian. How are you using that?

  Here at this church, it can be used in teaching and preaching.

  All speech, all knowledge. It can be used in Harvest Academy,

  teaching the kids back there while we're teaching in here. It can be used in small group.

  It can be used in youth group, in conferences, in prayer services, in workshops, in precepts,

  in our witnessing.

  You've been given a gift. How are you using it?

  Because the reality is the biggest problem with most Christians is not that we don't know what to say.

  Our problem is just opening our mouths and saying.

  I hear that all the time when it comes to witnessing. Well, I don't really witness because

  I don't know what to say. If you don't know enough to share, then you probably don't know enough to be saved.

  Look what Paul says in Ephesians 619.

  He's talking about prayer. He says, "Praying also for me that words may be given to me in opening

  my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel." You see that? Paul didn't say,

  "Pray that I can't speak or pray that I would know what to say." He says, "I need boldness."

  Our fourth pillar, sharing the good news of Jesus with boldness. That's what we need to be praying for.

  Boldness isn't jerkiness. It's not obnoxiousness. It's just confidence in God's calling and God's

  gifting. It's just confidence to say, "Look, God gave me a message and he gave me the knowledge

  of what I'm supposed to say, so I'm just going to open my mouth and I'm going to say it."

  And again, if you know enough to be saved, then you know enough to share.

  Share what you know. Look at verse 6 again. I love as he says, "Even as the testimony

  about Christ was confirmed among you." What's he saying? He's saying the people of Jesus using

  the gifts of Jesus is confirmation that Jesus is at work in the church.

  When I was little, my dad, for Christmas one year, he wanted magnifying goggles.

  Because he was going to undertake this hobby of putting boats and bottles. Have you ever seen

  these things where you have like a bottle and there's like a boat inside? You know what I'm

  talking about? Okay, my dad was going, "I'm going to make those and I need magnifying goggles."

  Like I said, I was just a little kid. I'm like, "I'm going to get those for dad."

  Now listen, I can tell already you're not impressed. So I'm going to remind you of something.

  This was pre-Internet. I know right now you can get on your phone and get on Amazon's or

  Etsy or whatever. I don't know. But you can eBay, you can get on there and you can probably right

  now find me 500 pairs of magnifying goggles. This was pre-Internet. This was pre-smartphone.

  This was pre-cell phone.

  All right? So I'm like, "I'm going to find those for him." And you know, it took me forever

  making phone calls and going to different stores and talking to people and tracking.

  And do you know, I found a pair of them. I went to a jewelry repair store

  and I found them and I saved my money. Those weren't cheap. I saved my money,

  especially for a little kid. I saved my money and I bought those magnifying goggles.

  I bought them for dad for Christmas. I got to tell you, I can't think of a gift that I was more

  excited to give in my life. See, one of them, I couldn't get them, but I tracked them down.

  And I was so, I was so proud to give dad those magnifying goggles for Christmas.

  Well, my father died in 2003. And you know, when somebody passes away and you start to

  kind of go through their stuff and figure out what to do with all that,

  found those magnifying goggles, still in the box, never used.

  And I wonder, church,

  when Jesus returns, how many boxes of magnifying goggles is he going to find?

  I wonder when Jesus returns, how many of his gifts that he gave to his people,

  is he going to return and find? Oh, we had them. We didn't use them.

  We didn't use them. You have been gifted so much. And we're going to talk about this later,

  the gifts of the Holy Spirit. We're going to talk about this later in 1 Corinthians.

  But have you been using the gifts that God gave you?

  Listen, if your mindset is this, you know what, Pastor Jeff, I just attend church.

  My spiritual gift is attendance. My spiritual gift is warming a seat. And you know, I just leave

  the ministry to the professionals. I don't really have a gift. That's bad news. Because not having

  a gift means you're not saved, because he tells us right here that Jesus' people are enriched in him.

  Paul is saying, church, you have everything you need. Everything has been gifted to you,

  to minister to each other, and to reach the world.

  So look, there's no bench warmers on this team.

  On this team, listen, if you're saved, you're starting.

  All right? Don't call the other players naked. All right? If you're saved, you're starting.

  Get unified. Get unified. You know, the biggest unity killer in the church is selfishness.

  My wants, my desires, my preferences, especially in this culture where we are right now,

  right here geographically where we are, this is a horrible place. Because the mindset of most

  churchgoers in this area is church is the place that I go to get. And I'm going to this church

  because they have better coffee, and I'm going to this church because, you know, they have a zip

  line for their youth group, and I'm going to this church because they have fog machines and laser

  lights. And we have this idea that church is the place that I go to get. And that is completely

  foreign to the Bible. Church is not the place you go to get. Church is the place you go to get.

  And anything you receive here is bonus. The mindset has to be church is the place I go to get.

  You're expected to. It's why you're saved, and it's why you have been gifted.

  Know your salvation. Three Gs, grace, gifted, one more.

  Guiltless.

  Guiltless. Pick up second part of verse seven,

  where he says, "As you wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ."

  That Greek word for wait means to wait eagerly. Right? I don't have to tell you on that.

  There's a big difference between the way a kid is waiting to open his birthday presents

  versus the way that kid's dad is waiting at the DMV. Right? This is wait eagerly. It's this idea of

  anticipation like, "Oh, he's coming. He's coming. I can't wait. I cannot wait. Jesus is coming, and I

  cannot wait." Do you see that? What are we waiting for? He tells us the revealing of our Lord Jesus

  Christ. I don't know if you noticed, but Jesus Christ is mocked now. He's about to show up.

  And he's going to make everything right. And he's going to make everything new.

  Are you excited for that? I sure am.

  In the verse eight, he says, "Who will sustain you to the end? Who will sustain you to the end?

  If you believe that you can lose your salvation, I want you to explain that verse to me.

  Will sustain you to the end?" Did you ever wonder if you're going to make it?

  Did you ever wonder,

  am I going to make it to the end? Loving Jesus, following Jesus, serving Jesus, am I going to make it?

  Listen, if you are legitimately born again in Christ, you will make it.

  On the authority of the Word of God, you are going to make it.

  Because you didn't work to earn your salvation, and you can't work to keep your salvation.

  And here very plainly, God's Word tells us that Jesus will sustain you to the end.

  How? That's His responsibility. He's going to get you there.

  You're like, okay, well maybe He's going to get me there, Pastor Jeff, but I got a lot to answer for.

  When I stand before God, He's going to tell me how disappointed He is in me.

  God's going to tell me how upset He is with me. And I've had people tell me, Pastor Jeff,

  you know what, when we're like in line to get to heaven, don't be standing behind me.

  Because God is, He's got a lot of stuff that He's going to, He's really going to let me have it.

  You don't want to stand behind me in line to get to heaven.

  Well, let's keep reading, shall we? Who will sustain you to the end? Look at this.

  Guiltless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.

  Guiltless.

  In that day, when you stand before Christ, it is not going to be for Him

  to tell you how badly you messed up. In Christ, what does your Bible say? You have no guilt.

  2 Corinthians 5.21 says, "For our sake, God He made Him Jesus."

  God made Jesus to be sin, who knew no sin, so that in Him we might become the righteousness

  of God. There's a trade that's going on here. Jesus took our sin on Himself, on the cross,

  to the point that somehow He is personified sin here.

  He took our sin. What did He give us in exchange? So that in Him we might become the righteousness

  of God. Do you see that this grace, it didn't just take away your sin. God's grace

  made you as righteous as God Himself is. And look, you can talk to me about the trinity

  and creation and predestination, and I've never lost a moment's sleep over any of those things.

  To me, this is the most baffling doctrine in the entire Bible, the fact that God would take

  a piece of dirt, sinner like me, and because of Jesus Christ, He would pronounce me as righteous

  as He is. I don't even have the ability to explain how awesome that is.

  Guiltless. He's going to sustain you until the day that you stand before Him when He

  pronounces you guiltless. You're like, "You sure about that?"

  Well, look at verse 9, "God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship

  of His Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord." Yeah, I am sure about that, because it's not based

  on my ability, and it's not based on my integrity. It's based on God's ability,

  and it's based on God's integrity. He called you to this, the fellowship of His Son.

  You've got to know your salvation.

  And you see, it's past, present, and future, right? It's justification, sanctification,

  glorification. It's just in this particular passage, it's grace, gifts, and guiltless.

  And for them then, and for us now, this isn't new information.

  But these are foundational truths that we seem to forget about over time.

  Because church harvest Bible chapel like the Corinthians over time, we tend to forget about

  our identity in Jesus Christ. We forget that we were lost, hellbound sinners saved by His grace.

  We forget that we are here to serve, not to be served. We forget that Jesus Christ is coming

  soon, and we forget that this is Jesus' church, not our church.

  And when we forget these things, unity goes out the window, because we start to think

  that church is about us. Know your salvation. It's Jesus. It's Jesus. It's His grace. It's His gifts.

  It's His fellowship. So our worship team makes their way forward in our communion servers.

  You know, Jesus gave us a way to remind us of all these truths that unite us in Him.

  That's what I love about the Lord's table. Jesus said, "Do this in remembrance of Me."

  This keeps bringing us back when we are tempted to think this is about us, when we are tempted to

  think that we are contributing to our salvation. When we are tempted to think

  that God doesn't love us and we need to figure stuff out, this brings us back to the foundational

  truths of the way God purchased your salvation and what it means for us today.

Beware of Where You Build

Introduction:

Have I Built My House on the Rock? (Matthew 7:24-29)

1. Is My House BUILT on OBEDIENCE. (Matt 7:24, 26)

   John 14:15 – If you love me, you will keep my commandments.

   John 14:15 – If you <don't> love me, you will <not> keep my commandments.

2. Will My House WITHSTAND the STORMS. (Matt 7:25, 27)

3. Have I Built My House Under JESUS’ AUTHORITY. (Matt 7:28-29)

Sermon Notes (PDF): BLANK
Hint: Highlight blanks above for answers!

Small Group Discussion
Read Matthew 7:24-29

1. What was your big take-away from this passage / message?
   

2. Explain Jesus’ analogy. What do the houses represent? The rock? The sand? The rain / flood?
   

3. Is saying “you must obey to Jesus’ commands” actually teaching works salvation? Why or why not?
   

4. In what ways are storms actually beneficial for us? What do they do for us?
   

5. How would you answer this question?: “How do I know if I am really saved?”

Breakout
Pray for one another.

• AUDIO TRANSCRIPT

  Open up those Bibles to Matthew chapter 7.

  I'm just going to ask if we pause for a second if you would please just pray for me

  to clearly communicate the Word of God.

  And I will pray for you to have a heart open to receive what it is the Lord wants to teach us today.

  Father, we believe your Holy Spirit is always at work with your Word.

  I just pray, Father, today that you would grant us the faith to respond.

  glorify your name.

  We pray in Jesus' name. Amen.

  Matthew chapter 7, are you there?

  I was thinking back, way back to when I was in school.

  Do you remember those little contests and games they would have for all the students at school?

  How many people show of hands remember "book it"?

  Anybody remember "book it"?

  Way more than I was expecting.

  Some people I mentioned "book it" too and they're like, "What's that?"

  Well, if you don't know, "book it" you read so many books a month and then you would get a coupon for

  a pizza for a personal pan pizza.

  And I'll say when I was in elementary school that personal pan pizza, man.

  But then there was always the kid in class that was like, "I go to read the books but mum won't let me have the pizza."

  And he would have like a stack of book it coupons.

  How about this contest? How many people remember the spelling bee?

  How many people, how about this? How many show of hands?

  How many people were in a spelling bee? Raise your hand.

  All right.

  I came in second place one year and I won a $50 savings bond.

  You're laughing.

  What was I, third or fourth grade?

  I thought I was going to retire.

  And then they're like, "Oh no, no, no. You have to wait like 100 years for it to mature and reach its value."

  And then it got to the point when it finally did.

  It was kind of a nuisance.

  I got to figure out how to cash this stupid thing in.

  I was on board with Book It. I was on board with the spelling bee.

  But do you know one contest I could never get on board with?

  I couldn't do it.

  I absolutely refused to participate.

  Building the Balsalwood Bridge.

  How many people show of hands know what I'm talking about with that?

  Okay. Well, a lot less.

  For those of you that don't know, there was a contest where you had to build a bridge out of Balsalwood

  and it could only weigh so much.

  And then there was a contest where they would put pressure on the bridge to make it explode.

  And it was to see like who could build the bridge that would withstand the most pressure before it was destroyed.

  I couldn't bring myself to spend all that time building something

  that was going to be destroyed.

  I couldn't bring myself to spend all that time building something that I knew was going to be destroyed.

  Going into the close of the Sermon on the Mount, I hope that is your conviction as well.

  I hope every single one of us leave here.

  Every single one who is listening to this lands on that conviction.

  I can't bring myself rather to build something just to be destroyed.

  Look at verses 24 through 27.

  We're talking about the heart of judgment Jesus talked about entering the narrow gate.

  It's hard to find, it's hard to walk.

  Then he warned us of false prophets.

  These people saying they represent the Word of God and they don't and they're pointing people to the wide gate to hell.

  And last week Pastor Taylor talked about self-deception.

  There were going to be people standing before the Lord some day ready for the red carpet into heaven.

  And Jesus is going to say, "I never knew you."

  This is how Jesus closes the Sermon.

  He says, "Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock.

  And the rain fell and the floods came and the winds blew and beat on that house,

  but it did not fall because it had been founded on the rock.

  And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand.

  And the rain fell and the floods came and the winds blew and beat against that house and it fell and great was the fall of it."

  It's a simple story, isn't it?

  Two men building their respective houses.

  There was a wise man who said, "I'm going to build my house on a rock."

  And then there was a foolish man who said, "I'm going to build my house on sand."

  Let's talk about that fool for a second.

  Why in the world would you build on sand?

  It's easier.

  It's way easier.

  Sand is so much easier to dig than dirt.

  It's a lot easier to dig into than rock.

  Well, the fool, he pays no attention to any of the rules for building.

  He knows at all you just can't teach that guy anything.

  And he doesn't think ahead.

  But then you have the wise man.

  He wants to build durably.

  It's way harder.

  But he wants it to last.

  You see, when Jesus was talking about the rains and the winds and the floods,

  His audience would have immediately identified with that.

  The ground was so hard and so dry that the rain wouldn't get soaked up very quickly.

  And floods would happen in an instant when it would rain.

  The storms revealed the kind of foundation

  that each house had.

  The storms revealed the heart of each building.

  Look at Jesus' story.

  Builders had a lot in common, right?

  They were both building a house.

  They both experienced storms.

  There's really no obvious difference between the houses.

  I mean, on the surface, they both looked great.

  So what was the difference?

  You're like, "Oh, I know what the difference is."

  The difference, Pastor Jeff, is what happens to the houses during the storms.

  That's not really the difference.

  That is just the consequence of the real difference.

  The real difference is what the house is built on.

  The foundation Jesus is talking about, your heart.

  And we've been talking about this since February.

  God wants your heart.

  The real difference

  is the people sitting there listening to Jesus

  and the people who have been sitting here listening to these sermons.

  The real difference is whether or not the sermon on the Mount

  made it from your ears to your brain to your heart.

  Based on what you do with the Word of God,

  you're either going to stand strong

  or you're going to collapse.

  You'll lose everything.

  The question that Jesus challenges you with as he ends his sermon is this,

  "Have you built your house on the rock?"

  That's the question.

  You have to ask yourself this.

  So on your outline, I want you to jot some things down.

  Ask yourself, "Have I built my house on the rock?"

  Well, Jesus doesn't want us wondering whether or not

  our house is built on the rock.

  So here's some questions to ask yourself

  that will give you the answer as to whether or not your house is built on the rock.

  Number one, write this down, "Has my house built on obedience?"

  "Has my house built on obedience?"

  Okay, so in Jesus' story, what does the rock represent?

  It's funny, I did a lot of reading this past week.

  What does the rock mean?

  What does the rock mean?

  And there are some that say, "Well, the rock is obviously God, right?"

  Well, God sometimes is referred to as a rock,

  but in this context, that's not what Jesus is saying.

  He explicitly tells us what the rock is.

  Look at verse 24.

  "Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them

  will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock."

  The rock is obedience to the Word of God according to Jesus.

  That's the rock.

  Well, what does the sand represents?

  Again, it's obvious, verse 26,

  "Everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them

  will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand."

  What is sand?

  It does not do.

  It's no obedience.

  It's self-centeredness.

  It's, "I do what I want to do."

  It's coming to church saying,

  "Oh, pastor, give me the Word,

  but don't tell me how to live.

  Don't tell me how to spend my money.

  Don't tell me that my favorite sin is wrong.

  Give me the Word."

  And there's some who are sitting here

  that want heaven.

  And they want all of the stuff associated with church.

  You like coming to church because it makes you feel religious.

  You want all of the nice sounding parts

  following Jesus, but you don't want to be Christ-like.

  And that is a problem.

  You notice in Jesus' little story here,

  everyone heard.

  Do you know what that tells me?

  That hearing the Word of God is not enough.

  You are expected to do what Jesus says.

  Expected.

  Right now somebody's like,

  "Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, time out, time out, time out,

  Pastor Jeff, this is sounding a lot like works.

  Salvation."

  No.

  The sermons are on the website.

  Go back and listen again.

  This is not about work salvation.

  The whole sermon on the Mount

  is about the kind of person that you are.

  Have you been changed?

  Do you look at these words of Jesus

  and recognize the wisdom?

  Because when you do,

  when you've been transformed,

  when you see the wisdom of Jesus Christ,

  you obey what He says because you want to.

  You're like, "Yeah, His way is right.

  He loves me.

  He knows better than me."

  This isn't about works.

  This is about your heart.

  Think of it this way.

  Imagine that you're a parent of two kids.

  And both of these kids tell you that they love you.

  You're the best parent ever.

  I love you so much.

  One kid tries to follow your advice

  and always tries to do what you tell them to do.

  But the other kid absolutely refuses to do anything

  that you tell them to do.

  What do their actions say about their heart toward you?

  You see?

  Your actions reveal your heart toward Jesus.

  And that's not my opinion.

  That's Jesus' opinion.

  Look what Jesus said in John 14-15.

  Jesus said, "If you love me,

  you will keep my commandments."

  Do you remember the five love languages?

  Remember that?

  Does anybody remember what all five love languages are?

  What is it like?

  Quality time, physical touch, all gifts, access service.

  All words of affirmation.

  You do remember that.

  Well, did you know?

  Remember that Jesus has a love language.

  Do you know what Jesus' love language is?

  He told us.

  That's obeying His commandments.

  That's His love language.

  Jesus says, "I know people love me

  when they trust me enough to do what I say."

  You see, as we go through the Sermon on the Mount,

  even with us at all in this journey,

  you need to look back at these last few months

  and ask yourself,

  "Have I been striving to do what Jesus said to do?"

  Like, Jesus said, "We need to seek reconciliation with people."

  Have you done that?

  Have you reached out?

  Jesus said, "We need to cut off anything

  that causes us to lust."

  Have you done that?

  Are you obedient?

  Jesus said, "We need to love people who hate us."

  Have you been doing that?

  Jesus said, "We must be a kind of people

  that aren't always looking to get even."

  How are you doing there?

  Jesus said, "We're to be people that give

  storing treasure in heaven."

  Have you been doing that?

  Jesus said, "We shouldn't be critical of others

  judging people's hearts."

  How are you doing there?

  The list goes on and on and on,

  but I just need to ask you,

  do you long to obey what Jesus tells us to do?

  Are you growing to be more and more that kind of person?

  Or have you been living a life of disobedience

  and you just justify it?

  My situation is different.

  If Jeff knew my situation, he'd understand.

  This is why I do this.

  I know I shouldn't do this.

  I know Jesus said not to do this,

  but I have an excuse.

  Jesus said, "If you love Me, you'll keep My commandments."

  You know the negative of that is also true, right?

  I inserted a couple words here.

  Inserted two negatives.

  If you don't love Me, you will not keep My commandments.

  People ask all the time

  and the questions come up quite a bit

  over these last few weeks.

  How do I know that I'm saved?

  Do you love Jesus?

  Like, "Sure, I love Jesus."

  Do you obey Him?

  Listen very closely.

  Obedience is the only validation

  that you have of salvation.

  The only proof that you recognize

  the Lordship of God

  is the only proof that you recognize

  the Lordship of Jesus

  is by doing what He says.

  The only evidence that you truly believe

  in the wisdom of His words is obedience.

  The only proof, John 15.10,

  the only proof that you abide in Jesus' love

  is when you obey His commandments.

  (P)

  Is your life marked by continual obedience

  to the Word of God?

  None of us are perfect,

  but are we striving to grow in obedience

  to the Word of God?

  When you read your Bible,

  when you hear a sermon,

  do you say, "Yeah, I'm going after that today."

  If that describes you,

  then your house is built on the rock.

  Number two, if I built my house on the rock,

  while my house is built on obedience,

  and number two,

  well, my house will stand the storms.

  Look again, verse 25,

  talking about the rain on the wise man's house.

  It says, "And the rain fell,

  and the floods came, and the winds blew,

  and beat on the house,

  and it did not fall,

  because it had been pounded on the rock."

  Jump down to verse 27

  talking about the foolish man's house.

  It says, "And the rain, Jesus said,

  'The rain fell, and the floods came,

  and the winds blew,

  and beat against the house,

  and it fell, and great was the fall of it.'"

  So, see, in Jesus' story, the day of reckoning came.

  When storms come,

  we see what the houses are built upon,

  and some are going to stand,

  and some, according to our Lord, are going to fall.

  You know, it's funny, the foundation

  is the most important part of the house,

  and you can't even see it.

  Like your heart.

  Your heart is the most important part of you,

  and how faithful are you to Jesus, really?

  We'll find out.

  Notice Jesus said, "Storms will come."

  By the way, they come to everyone.

  Don't think that by following Jesus,

  you are suddenly exempt.

  You're not.

  Storms come to everyone.

  This is the point of Jesus' story.

  The one who obediently loves Jesus will stand,

  and the one who disregards obedience to Jesus,

  who lives life on their own terms, will fall.

  Your house is going to be tested.

  Your foundation is going to be tested.

  It might be with an illness.

  Yours or somebody very close to you.

  It might be a financial loss.

  It might be a job loss.

  Storms are coming.

  A persecution.

  It might be the death of someone close to you.

  Storms are coming.

  So when the storms come, will you collapse?

  Will you fall into despair?

  Will you give up on seeking the Lord?

  There are people that say, "The pain is too great.

  The storm is too strong. I can't handle it anymore."

  You know what? I'm done with God.

  Because what's He ever done for me?

  Your house just collapsed.

  Or when the storms come, will you stand strong?

  Will you experience God's presence like never before?

  Will you seek support from God's people in God's church?

  Will you say something like, "I'm going to get through this.

  Thank you, God, for your promises.

  Thank you, God, for your peace through all of this.

  I know, God, that nothing is happening to me,

  that you didn't allow.

  I know that you are using this to strengthen me."

  Ultimately, the storms speak of judgment.

  That's the theme of the whole close of the Sermon on the Mount.

  Judgment, how can you have certainty of your house then?

  By where you're building now.

  By the way, storms are good.

  Storms are among God's greatest blessings to us.

  Because storms will show you what you're really made of.

  Don't you want to know if your faith in Jesus is real?

  Don't you want to know?

  Don't you want to know if you're self-deceived and you don't really have biblical faith?

  Don't you want to know?

  Well, the only way that you know what you really believe is when the storms rock your house.

  And when you're in the middle of a terrible storm,

  but you still love Jesus,

  you still find Him worthy of following even when it's hard,

  then your house is built on the rock.

  So ask yourself, "Is my house built on obedience?"

  Will my house withstand the storms?

  One more.

  Have I built my house under Jesus' authority?

  I love this.

  Look at these last two verses in chapter 7.

  It says, "When Jesus finished these sayings,

  the crowds were astonished at His teaching."

  Like, what?

  They were just like,

  could you imagine hearing this for the first time?

  Why were you so astonished, crowds?

  Here it is, verse 29.

  It says, "For He was teaching them as one who had authority,

  and not as their scribes."

  They never heard anything like this.

  Do you realize?

  I mean, we've been preaching this since February

  because we've been taking little tiny bites at a time.

  But this is a relatively short sermon.

  And in this really short sermon,

  Jesus covered every area of life.

  I mean, it mentions the scribes in verse 29.

  Jesus spoke as one who had authority,

  not as their scribes.

  All the scribes ever did in Jesus' day was, quote, "people."

  That's all they did.

  That was their teaching.

  Well, so and so said this, and so and so said this.

  So let me quote so and so.

  That's all they did.

  Jesus didn't do that.

  Jesus said, "I say unto you,

  no wonder they were astonished."

  I mean, who says things like this?

  Do you realize the things that Jesus said about Himself

  in this sermon?

  I mean, can you just imagine?

  Please imagine with me,

  because I was doing this this week.

  Just imagine that you're sitting there

  and you hear this Jewish man get up

  and say things like,

  "People are going to hate you because of me."

  Imagine this.

  Listening to this Jewish man say,

  "I came here to do everything,"

  the law and the prophets say.

  What?

  Imagine sitting there listening to this Jewish man say,

  "Hey, where you spend eternity?

  Entirely depends on your relationship with me."

  So why should you listen to the sermon on the Mount?

  Because of who preached it.

  Jesus has all authority.

  And look, we can nod our heads at that in church.

  Yes, Jesus has all authority.

  But is He your authority?

  Because someone is your authority.

  And someone tells you what to do.

  And if you're like,

  "No one tells me what to do,"

  well, then it's you.

  You are your own authority if that's your attitude.

  But if your life is built on obeying

  the authority of Jesus,

  then your house is built on the rock.

  I think if our worship team would join me back up front,

  and we're going to have some people in just a moment

  that are going to be standing in front of the stage

  who will be available to pray with you.

  Listen, call back.

  Obedience is the only validation that you have of salvation.

  And I have to ask you,

  is there any area of your life

  where you have not been obedient?

  Have you been disobedient regarding money?

  Have you been disobedient regarding lust?

  Have you been disobedient regarding any relationship?

  Have you been unloving in any of your relationships?

  I had this whole list, right?

  And then I realized, you know what? You know.

  You know just like I know, for me.

  You know right now what is a roadblock

  in your relationship with Jesus.

  You know right now if Jesus were standing before you

  and would say, "Have any sin we need to deal with?"

  But you know exactly what He would be driving at.

  You know.

  You know right now where the Holy Spirit is telling you to repent.

  And let's not play the self-deceived game.

  Or we say, "You know what? I do know."

  And look, Pastor Jeff, I'm going to.

  I'm planning to someday, someday I'm going to give this up.

  You know what? You're right.

  I know I need to do this.

  Someday I'm going to stop this.

  But you've been saying that for months.

  Some of you have been saying that for years.

  And you're still doing it.

  Today.

  Today.

  You're going to stop building on sand.

  Today.

Beware of Who You Trust

Introduction:

Signs That You are Self-Deceived (Matthew 7:21-23)

1. You profess the truth without being CHANGED BY THE TRUTH. (Matt 7:21)

   Romans 10:9 – Because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.

2. You point to your works rather than CHRIST’S WORK. (Matt 7:22)

   Isaiah 64:6 – All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind our sins sweep us away.

3. You presume that you know Jesus but JESUS DOES NOT KNOW YOU. (Matt 7:23)

Sermon Notes (PDF): BLANK
Hint: Highlight blanks above for answers!

Small Group Discussion
Read Matthew 7:21-23

1. What was your big take-away from this passage / message?
   

2. How can you evaluate if you are self-deceived and lack self-awareness of who you are and whose you are?
   

3. How has the truth of the gospel changed you? In what areas do you need to be further changed?
   

4. What is the difference between knowing a lot about Jesus and knowing Jesus?
   

5. Why do you love Jesus?

Breakout
Pray for one another.

• AUDIO TRANSCRIPT

  Please turn your Bibles to Matthew chapter 7.

  Matthew chapter 7.

  Have you ever met a person who thought they had a certain skill

  that they actually didn't possess?

  Have you ever been that person?

  You were convinced that you had this talent, you had this ability.

  But then someone came along to burst your bubble,

  or you put yourself out there and you embarrassed yourself big time.

  I can think of no better example than this than American Idol.

  Who's watched American Idol at some point in their lives?

  I don't know about you, but I've never watched an entire season of American Idol.

  I always turn it off after the first round.

  Because what happens after the first round,

  all the terrible singers are sent home.

  And maybe this tells you something about me,

  but I love to watch those horrible auditions of those people who think they can sing,

  but they can't carry a tune in a bucket.

  They confidently stand before Paula Abdul, Randy Jackson, and Simon Cowell

  to claim that they are phenomenal singers.

  And then they belt out the most wretched noises imaginable.

  Today, I will sing Whitney Houston's "I Will Always Love You."

  And I will always love you.

  Thank you.

  You'll never know if that's my real singing voice or my fake singing voice.

  After giving it their all, these individuals are absolutely shocked at the judge's reactions.

  They weep as Paula Abdul lets them down gently.

  Their jaws are on the floor as Randy Jackson gives his patented "pfft" to know from me, dog.

  And they fight back in Simon Cowell when he says something horrible like,

  "That was absolutely dreadful."

  And as you watch it at home, you can't help but think to yourself,

  how do they not recognize that they sound horrible?

  How do they not realize that they are terrible singers?

  Do you know the answer to those questions?

  The answer is self-deception.

  Self-deception.

  They are clueless to who they actually are.

  They are lying to themselves.

  Their view of themselves has no basis in reality.

  They lack self-awareness.

  And it's so easy for you and I to sit in our couches and pass judgment on these individuals

  as their delusions go before our eyes.

  But never forget an important truth.

  You too can be self-deceived.

  You too can lack self-awareness.

  You may not truly understand who you are and whose you are.

  Your self-deception may be far worse than believing that you're a world-class vocalist.

  Your self-deception may have eternal consequences.

  What if you think you're a Christian but you're actually not?

  What if you confidently believe that you are a child of God but you're actually a son or daughter

  of the devil?

  What if you believe that you are heading to heaven

  while you're on the path to hell?

  We're in the final section of the Sermon on the Mount, the heart ready for judgment.

  It's been made abundantly clear that Jesus is not going to pull any punches

  as he rounds out his most famous sermon.

  Two weeks ago, Pastor Jeff unpacked the really tough truth that the gate to everlasting life is what?

  Narrow. And few people go that way because it is hard.

  While the gate to never-ending punishment is wide, it is massive.

  And most people go that way because it is so easy.

  And last week we learned that there are so many false teachers pointing to the wide gate.

  And it's obvious who they are because of the fruit that they produce.

  Maybe you heard those messages and even agreed with those messages

  but you didn't internalize what was said.

  You didn't truly evaluate your heart to see if you're on the narrow path or the wide path

  to see if you are falling for false teaching.

  Well this morning, Jesus is going to tighten the net even more.

  The walls are going to be closing in on you so that there's no more wiggle room

  to escape what the Lord has to say about judgment.

  Matthew chapter 7 verses 21 through 23 contain the most chilling words in the entire Bible.

  And for me, there isn't a close second.

  Jesus says that many are self-deceived in this life

  and they will be shocked that they won't end up in heaven someday.

  I want to encourage you, please do not tune out and think,

  "Well, there's no way Jesus is talking about me so I can just kind of daydream

  and plan out the rest of my week."

  No, tune in and ask yourself, "What if Jesus is talking about me?"

  What if I am self-deceived?

  What if I am lacking self-awareness of who I am and who's I am?

  So before we continue, let's go the Lord and ask for His help.

  I ask that you pray for me.

  Are we faithful in proclaiming God's Word?

  And I will pray for you that you are faithful to receive it.

  Father, we come to you and we ask that your spirit will bring clarity,

  that He would bring illumination, that He would bring conviction and challenge.

  Lord, in the past 13 years of preaching, I don't know if I ever felt more inadequate

  to proclaim a text than this one.

  But I thank you in advance that you will preach a much better sermon

  in people's hearts than I ever could with my mouth.

  Show up in a great mighty way, Lord.

  Come to seek and save the lost.

  And for the rest of us, Lord, help us to be blown away by your awesome love.

  And we ask all these things in Jesus' name, amen.

  Signs that you are self-deceived.

  Sign one, you profess the truth without being changed by the truth.

  You profess the truth without being changed by the truth.

  Let's read chapter 7 verse 21.

  This is the Lord Jesus speaking.

  "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven.

  But the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven."

  In this verse, Jesus talks about the here and now as well as the there and then.

  According to Jesus, what you say about who you are here and now may be proven to be wrong

  there and then at the final judgment.

  What you profess to believe with your mouth here and now may be proven to not be a genuine

  reality in your heart there and then as you stand before Jesus.

  You can be confident here and now that heaven is in your future,

  but then be banned from heaven when that future finally arrives.

  You can call Jesus Lord, Lord, which means that you claim him as God.

  You can even claim Jesus as your God.

  You can say all the right things about Jesus, but still not be able to enter the kingdom of heaven.

  Isn't that terrifying?

  You may be thinking to yourself, "Taylor, how is that possible?"

  I thought it's all just about believing and confessing.

  That's it.

  Well, the combination of belief and confession is absolutely essential and you cannot be saved

  without it.

  Paul backs this up in Romans 10, 9, "If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord

  and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved."

  What a glorious truth that you should cherish, memorize, and hold on to.

  But unfortunately, so many people misuse and abuse that verse.

  Well, as long as you pray the prayer, as long as you say the right words, you're good to go.

  God has stamped your one-way ticket to heaven.

  Doesn't really matter what you do or how you live from now on.

  Once saved, always saved.

  But people who say that miss a key word in this verse, heart.

  Believe in your heart.

  This belief in Christ must take root at the deepest level of who you are.

  This belief in Christ must take over every single aspect of your life.

  True belief isn't a mere acknowledgement of the facts.

  It is an act of faith that transforms you from the inside out.

  Some who say, "Lord, Lord will enter the kingdom of heaven because they were transformed by their

  belief." Many others who say, "Lord, Lord will not enter the kingdom of heaven because they were

  never transformed by their belief." It is possible to profess the truth without being changed by the

  truth. And if you have not been changed by the truth of the gospel, then let me tell you,

  you have not truly believed in the truth of the gospel.

  So how can you tell if you have been changed by the truth or not?

  It's a very simple test according to Jesus. He says, "You don't just say, 'Lord, Lord,' you do

  the will of your Father who is in heaven. You say and you do."

  Last week, Pastor Jeff said that false teachers are revealed by their words and their actions.

  The same is true for followers of Christ. Genuine faith is proven by believing and confessing the

  right things, but that can't be the only standard according to our Lord. Genuine faith is also proven

  by doing the right things. Doing the will of your Father in heaven means that you obey

  His word. You have an internal desire to do what God says, and then you act on that desire.

  You act on what you say you believe. You say that you should passionately pursue after the Lord

  and His word and in prayer. So you do passionately pursue after the Lord in word, in His word

  and in prayer. You say that you should daily repent and turn from your sin, so you do daily

  repent and turn from your sin. You say that you should share your faith more and make disciples,

  so you do share your faith more and make disciples. What you say carries no weight

  if it doesn't line up with what you do.

  I want to make something crystal clear to avoid being misunderstood.

  You are not saved by what you do. You are not saved by what you do, but what you do reveals

  if you are saved or not. What you do reveals if you are saved or not.

  You know, almost 20 years ago, I took the written test to get my learner's permit.

  I studied that PA Driver's Manual inside and out. I knew all the right answers about driving,

  and I could regurgitate them on a test. Let me ask you, did passing that 18 question permit test

  make me a driver? No. For a number of years, I went to seminary. I went to a number of classes,

  read a countless number of books, listened to so many lectures, and I learned about what a pastor

  should be, what a pastor should do. In 2020, I was given my Master of Divinity. Let me ask you,

  did receiving that piece of paper in the mail make me a pastor? Not one bit. You can get 100%

  on your permit test and still not be able to enter a car and drive it with any level of competency.

  You can get the best theological training in the world and still not be able to enter into a church

  and be its pastor. You can ace a Bible Pop quiz and still not enter the kingdom of heaven.

  Do not be deceived and think that you're safe and sound just because you grew up in a Christian

  family and went to church when you were younger. Do not be deceived and think that you're safe and

  sound just because you fill a seat on Sunday mornings. It is not enough just to have the

  correct facts stored in your brain. The correct facts must change who you are.

  Signs that you are self-deceived. Sign number two, you point to your works rather than Christ's work.

  You point to your works rather than Christ's work.

  Let's read verse 22. On that day, many will say to me, "Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name

  and cast out demons in your name and do many mighty works in your name?"

  Once again, Jesus is taking us into the future. He fasts forward the movie of life to show us

  what the final judgment will look like. As we've already seen, some who say, "Lord, Lord, will

  enter the kingdom of heaven." But many others who say, "Lord, Lord, will not enter the kingdom of

  heaven." And that second group is the focus of this verse. In verse 21, "Lord, Lord was a profession

  of belief, but in verse 22 it is used as a desperate plea." This is a Hail Mary pass. It is a one last

  effort to avoid judgment. This is an attempt to convince Jesus that a mistake has been made.

  Lord Jesus, I know you have a lot of people to see and judge today. It makes sense that a few

  people are going to fall through the cracks and a few mistakes are going to be made. Let me remind

  you of who I am. Let me remind you of all the things I've done for you. Here's my resume.

  It's a really impressive resume, isn't it? Casting out demons,

  prophesying, doing many mighty works in miracles. You may look at this list and think,

  "How could someone with this resume not enter the kingdom of heaven? How could someone like this

  not be saved?" Well, there are three possible explanations that lead to the same sad result.

  Option number one, these mighty works are done by the power of the evil one.

  These mighty works are done by the power of the evil one.

  Pastor Jeff talked about this in depth last week, but Instagram, Facebook, YouTube,

  Christian TV stations are filled with corrupt and dishonest pastors who claim to proclaim the word

  of God and do many mighty miracles in the name of Christ. They look really great with their three

  pea suits, their expensive sneakers, their luxurious jets and fancy cars, but they are nothing but

  frauds and workers of Satan. They are not in ministry for you. They are not in ministry for Jesus.

  They are in ministry for themselves. They are after power, money and public adoration.

  At the very least, they operate in their own power, or at the very worst, they operate by the power of

  Satan himself. And you may be thinking, "Taylor, you seem to be a bit too tough on these guys."

  Well, Pastor Jeff, I'm simply applying your message from last week. I'm evaluating the fruits

  that these false teachers produce. Could it be that you don't like what I'm saying because you

  are being fooled? Because you are being led astray. Could it be that you're mistaking their bad fruit

  for good fruit? Option number two, these people are making false claims.

  Have you ever interviewed someone who patted out their resume with accomplishments they didn't

  actually accomplish, with awards they didn't actually win? What leads a person to lie about

  things they're so easily fact-checked in 2025? Once again, the answer is self-deception.

  There's no way I'll get caught. I can get away with it. They try to puff out their

  chest and make themselves look better than they actually are. They polish their imaginary trophies.

  Is it a good idea to lie to your potential employer? Let me ask that again so you can wake

  up a bit. Is it a good idea to lie to your potential employer? Is it a good idea to lie

  to Jesus Christ? Maybe you don't worry about where you'll end up in eternity because you have a high

  opinion of your ability to sweet talk your way into things or sweet talk your way out of things.

  I spoke into a lot of guys in the past that, "Yeah, I'm not worried about the afterlife.

  God and I will have a conversation at the pearly gates and he'll see why I should be in there.

  I'll be just fine." That is a horrible plan. That plan is foolishness. You cannot smooth talk Jesus.

  He knows everything and he sees everything. He knows what you've done and he knows what you haven't

  done. He sees right through your flimsy resume of fake accomplishments. Third option, God allows

  phony believers to accomplish amazing things for his kingdom and glory. God allows phony believers

  to accomplish amazing things for his glory and kingdom. Let me just think about the storyline

  of Scripture and how this plays out in the Old Testament and the New Testament. God put his

  own words in the mouth of a dirty donkey and then in the mouth of a wicked false prophet.

  The high priest Caiaphas who hated and opposed Jesus unintentionally prophesied that Jesus would

  die for the nation. In Philippians, the apostle Paul rejoices in the truth that men with horrible

  motivations can truly proclaim the good news of Jesus. Let's step away from biblical

  illustrations for a second and hit a bit closer to home. You can take the preaching class at

  harvest and deliver a killer sermon while you are engaging in a secret affair that you have no plans

  to confess or end. You can teach kids back at Harvest Academy while you mistreat your own

  children at home. You can go on mission trips overseas and help a ton of people over there

  while you defraud and deceive your clients over here. You can be the number one most dependable

  volunteer at harvest while being the most loyal customer at your local liquor store.

  God can use whoever he wants, whenever he wants to accomplish whatever he wants.

  God can use those who are walking in holiness and he can use those who are not walking in holiness.

  God can use those who truly belong to him as well as those who don't truly belong to him.

  Listen, you can keep yourself busy with religious activities while you destroy yourself behind

  closed doors and travel down the highway to hell. Serving your church, serving your community are

  good and godly activities, but those good and godly activities cannot save you. Only Jesus Christ

  can save you. Rip up your religious resume because I promise you it is not as good as you think it

  is. Even your best efforts are stained by sin, pride, and mixed motivations.

  Isaiah gives us a reality check about this when he says all of our righteous acts are like filthy

  rags. What are filthy rags good for? What's the answer? Nothing. Filthy rags should be thrown away.

  I assume that some of you will be going to a restaurant after church today with family and

  friends. Imagine trying to pay the bill with garbage that you found in the dumpster outside the

  restaurant. Would your server and the manager be very pleased with you? Why? Because you're offering

  them worthless garbage. Trying to hand God your religious resumes that you can be saved is like

  handing him trash and expecting that he'll be impressed. At this point, you may be kind of

  confused. Taylor, you spent a long time talking about the importance of doing the right things,

  but now you're kind of acting like doing the right things. Isn't that important?

  Well, again, I want to emphasize that good works must flow out of your salvation,

  but good works cannot contribute to your salvation, even a tiny bit. Salvation is 100%

  the work of God and 0% you. Some of you are operating as if you're responsible for half.

  25%, 5%, 2%, even 1% is too much. It's all of Jesus Christ.

  Listen, your resume stinks while Christ's resume soars. Your resume is imperfect while

  Christ's resume is perfect. You are a loser on your own while Christ is a winner.

  But the good news is you can share in his victory by letting go of what you have to offer

  by grabbing a hold of what he has to offer. Jesus Christ lived the perfect life you could never live.

  He succeeded in every single way that you have failed. He then died the death that you deserve to die.

  He rose again to give you the new life that you can never work your way towards. Do not be deceived

  and rely on your own goodness and track record. Do not rest your eternal destiny on yourself.

  Rest in Christ's work, not your own. Place your trust in Christ alone because

  He alone can give you what you need, both now and forever.

  Signs that you are self-deceived, final sign, and this is the hardest one of them all.

  You presume that you know Jesus, but Jesus does not know you.

  You presume that you know Jesus, but Jesus does not know you.

  So after the religious resume has been read, Jesus gives the most devastating response.

  And then I will declare to them, I never knew you.

  Depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.

  Can you imagine anything more terrifying than hearing that from the most important person

  in existence? Get away from me. I want nothing to do with you.

  You are nothing but an unrepentant lawbreaker and evildoer.

  Does that response shock you? You may be thinking, but how could Jesus say something so harsh?

  Isn't He the definition of love and forgiveness?

  Well, what's the reason He gives in the text? You are acting like you know me, but I don't know you.

  You know, as a preacher, I enjoy listening to a lot of preachers. I'm somewhat of a pastoral nerd.

  I follow a lot of pastors on social media. I have a list of my favorites that I've listened to some for decades.

  And I learn about their personal lives. I learn about their ministries and their messages and their books,

  and it can really feel like I know them. But do I actually know them?

  I know a lot about them, but I don't know them. There is no relationship. There is no back and

  forth. There is no give or take. It's just a one-sided admiration from afar.

  Imagine I drive across the country to the house of my favorite online preacher.

  I show up on his doorstop at 10 o'clock at night and I knock on his door,

  keep ringing the doorbell. Eventually, his poor preacher shuffles the door and his bathrobe and his slippers, the toothbrush in hand.

  As soon as he opens the door, I launch into, "Hey, man, it's Taylor. I got a lot of problems right now.

  I really need your advice. Can I come in and chat?" How do you think he's going to respond?

  Dude, you're acting like you know me, but I don't know you at all. You are a total stranger.

  My wife and kids are at home and they're sleeping. I'm not just going to invite you in. You need to leave right now.

  Is that an appropriate response? Yes, that's how he should respond. I should be turned away from him in that moment.

  Let's change up the scenario a bit. At 10 o'clock tonight, I show up on Pastor Jeff's doorstep.

  Knock on the door, ring the doorbell. He opens it and I give him the same exact spiel.

  Will there be a different outcome? Will there be a different response? Why?

  Because I don't just listen to Pastor Jeff from afar. I don't watch him on a screen.

  We've been close friends for 13 years and he is my pastor.

  I know Pastor Jeff and Jeff knows me. I don't just know a lot about him.

  Do you know a lot about Jesus or do you know Jesus?

  Does Jesus consider you a stranger or does he know you as his close friend,

  his faithful follower, his blood-bought brother or sister?

  Does he really actually know you?

  Maybe you're thinking to yourself, "Well, how can I know if I know Jesus and he knows me?

  What's the test of that?" Well, years ago, I heard a pastor say something in a sermon that

  never forgot sense. He said, "You can tell a lot about a person by how they respond to a simple

  question. Why do you love Jesus? Why do you love Jesus?"

  He said, "You'd be shocked by how many people have no idea how to answer that question."

  Because their intellectual knowledge of Jesus has not created affection for Jesus.

  Friends, why do you love Jesus? If you can't think of anything, that's a huge problem

  and you shouldn't ignore it. Imagine pulling me aside for a service and saying, "Taylor,

  what do you love about your wife?" And I respond, "What does that tell you? I don't have a personal

  and in-depth knowledge of my wife. I don't love her like I presume to. I should say, "Hey,

  do you have a couple of days because my list is very, very long. There's not just one thing about

  my wife that I love. There's a countless number of them. My wife has my heart, so my list of why

  I love her is very long. But how much longer should your list be in my list be when it comes to Jesus

  Christ and why we love Him? Life is too short to plumb the depths of His awesomeness. Why do you

  love Jesus? I love Jesus because He died for me when I wanted nothing to do with Him. I love

  Jesus because He loves me no matter what I do. I love Jesus because He is not ashamed to call me

  His brother despite all the ways that I fail Him. I love Jesus because He cares about everything

  that I go through. And He sympathizes with all of my weaknesses. I love Jesus because right now

  He is interceding for me in heaven before the Father. I love Jesus because all the promises of

  Scripture find their yes in Amen in Him. I love Jesus because He is always with me and He will

  never forsake me even to the very end. I could keep going and going and going. Could you?

  How can you say that you love Jesus if you don't even know why you love Him?

  How can you expect that you'll worship Jesus for all of eternity if you can't think of a single

  reason to worship Him right now? Do not be deceived. Heaven is not a place for fans and admirers of

  Jesus. Heaven is a place for those who love Christ with a full heart. If you don't know Jesus

  before your life comes to an end, Jesus will deny knowing you in the next.

  For years, I used to laugh at the nickname that the Apostle John gave himself

  in his own Gospels. Does anyone know what his nickname he gave himself was? The disciple whom

  Jesus, what? Really, John? Ask him the nickname you gave yourself, the one whom Jesus loved.

  And for years, I thought John was saying, "Yeah, you know what? I was Jesus' favorite.

  Peter may be the most popular, but what can I say? Jesus loves me more."

  Recently, I've come to the realization that's not at all what John had in mind. John is claiming

  his identity by saying, "I am the one whom Jesus loved." He was saying the love of Jesus

  was the most important thing about him. It doesn't even matter what my name is. What matters is that

  Jesus loves me. The love of Jesus was the foundation of who he was and the motivation for all that he

  did. How do you identify yourself? Do you primarily identify yourself as someone who has all the right

  answers and says all the right things? Do you identify yourself as a good person who has an

  impressive religious resume of good works? Do you identify yourself as someone who knows a lot

  about Jesus? All of those identities are deceptive and destructive. All of those identities will

  lead you to everlasting destruction. If those are your identities, you are self-deceived. You lack

  self-awareness. I beg you to reject those identities and grab ahold of the love of Jesus Christ.

  Embrace who he is and what he wants to give you. Give your life to him and Christ will become your

  life. Give your identity to him and Christ will become your identity. You can be known as the one

  whom Jesus loves by bowing the knee to him in unending submission. Make the love of Jesus Christ

  the foundation of who you are and the motivation for all that you do.

  It's so easy to lose sight of these spiritual realities in a physical world, isn't it?

  In His infinite grace, God has chosen to give us a physical picture of His love in the Lord's Supper.

  As we come to this meal together, we are graphically reminded of how Christ has shown His love

  for us. He took our place on the cross. He died for us and He took upon Himself the wrath

  that you and I deserve. Our worship leaders and communion servers can now make their way forward.

  You don't need to be a member of Harvest Bible Chapel to take part in communion,

  but you do need to be a member of the family of God.

  Communion is only for those who know Christ and are known by Christ.

  If you want to know Jesus as your Lord and Savior, we're going to have two individuals back in guest

  reception, Pastor Jeff and Lexie Cole. They would love to talk and pray with you.

  And please just look at me for a minute. Please do not pass up this opportunity.

  The Bible says that today is the day of salvation. Tomorrow is not a great day for salvation.

  Next week is not a great time for salvation. When it's more convenient, it's not a great time for

  salvation. Today is a great day for salvation. Jesus is commanding you to know Him today,

  to love Him today, to trust in Him today. So please push aside your pride, push aside any

  embarrassment you may feel. And go talk to Pastor Jeff and Lexie in the back. They would love to

  pray for you and point you to Jesus and what next steps with Him looks like.

Beware of Who You Hear

Introduction:

Watch! (Matthew 7:15-20)

1. Watch Out: FALSE PROPHETS! (Matt 7:15)

2. Watch For: FRUIT! (Matt 7:16-20)

   1. What They DO.

      John 7:18 – The one who speaks on his own authority seeks his own glory; but the one who seeks the glory of him who sent him is true, and in him there is no falsehood.

   2. What They SAY.

      1 Thessalonians 5:20-21 – Do not despise prophesies but test everything: hold fast to what is good.

Sermon Notes (PDF): BLANK
Hint: Highlight blanks above for answers!

Small Group Discussion
Read Matthew 7:15-20

1. What was your big take-away from this passage / message?
   

2. Why did Jesus say BEWARE of false prophets? What exactly is the danger?
   

3. What are examples of good fruit you should look for in a “prophet” (preacher, pastor)?

   What are examples of bad fruit?
   

4. What are some topics many false prophets talk about? What are some topics they often avoid?
   

5. False prophets talk about the Bible but not out of the Bible. What is the difference?

Breakout
Pray for one another.

• AUDIO TRANSCRIPT

  Before we continue in our series on the Sermon and Amount, I want to say a few things.

  In light of the events of last week, with the death of Charlie Kirk, the murder of Charlie Kirk,

  absolutely horrible.

  But at the same time, it's horrible.

  It's not really shocking, is it?

  It's not really shocking that something like that would happen.

  And I would say if you are shocked that something like that could happen in our country,

  then you haven't been paying attention.

  It's not shocking because this is exactly the kind of climate that the Lord told us we would be living in.

  Look at 2 Timothy 3.

  Turn in your Bibles there for a second, please.

  2 Timothy 3.

  Paul says, "But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty.

  For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents,

  ungrateful, unholy, heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good,

  treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God."

  Does that sound familiar at all?

  This is where we are.

  Charlie Kirk was a man who was murdered because of what he said.

  Because there were people that didn't like what he said. Does that sound familiar?

  The whole reason we're here is to worship God incarnate who came and said things that people didn't want to hear.

  And they murdered him for it.

  Yet God accomplished his purposes through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

  There's a young man who spoke boldly of the Lord who was publicly executed. His name was Stephen.

  God used that to advance his gospel purposes. There's a young man who spoke boldly for the Lord who was publicly executed.

  His name was Charlie.

  And already we're seeing God is using that to advance his gospel.

  It's a little terrible for Charlie's family and friends, but Charlie himself, he's having a good day.

  He is experiencing the fulfillment of the hope in Jesus Christ that he believed in.

  He's having a good day.

  As we had done this last stretch of the Sermon on the Mount, last week we talked about the command that Jesus gave us to enter the narrow gate.

  He said, "The way is hard." And here is another reason that the way is hard.

  Jesus said that we have to be willing to die.

  That's the call to discipleship. For anyone who has followed Jesus, Charlie got that.

  If he were here right now, what do you think he would tell us to do?

  What would you tell us to go after the Lord? To seek Jesus Christ, to get in His Word?

  And that's what we're going to do.

  So I'd like you to bow your heads, please. I want you to please pray for me.

  To be faithful to communicate God's Word as I should, and I will pray for you to have a heart open to receive what it is the Lord wants to teach us today.

  Father in heaven, we live in the days that you advertised. You told us exactly what this would be like.

  Father, we were just singing about how worthy you are.

  Father, may we all, like this faithful saint this past week, Father, may we all demonstrate how worthy we consider you by our willingness to lay down our lives.

  It's not going to get any better until our Lord returns.

  Calm Lord Jesus. Open up our hearts and minds to your Word today, Father.

  We pray in Jesus' name. Amen.

  Open up your Bibles to Matthew chapter 7, and we'll be picking up in verse 15.

  Last Halloween, I was at work. Aaron sent me a video at the house of a mysterious knocking.

  She's going through the house recording this. There was this knocking. She went to the doors. She went outside.

  Nobody but just this constant mysterious knocking. Creepy at any time, especially on Halloween, right?

  Well, we found out who was knocking. We have a woodpecker problem.

  Oh yeah, funny for you. We got a woodpecker problem.

  So we got on the Internet to figure out what we need to do to deter the woodpecker.

  And one of the things that they recommended was getting a plastic owl.

  They say that owls are just like natural woodpecker predators, right?

  So you're going to put an owl where the woodpeckers want to come, and that scares the woodpeckers away.

  So I dragged the ladder out, and I climbed up the side of the house, and I lashed the owl to the raid on vent with thick twine.

  And you know that woodpecker came back. So I went outside.

  Like, what did I do wrong here? And you know, I think I see the problem.

  That owl doesn't look ready to attack, does he? Looks like what we got here is a hostage situation.

  And I think the woodpecker saw this and was like, "Oh, this house is awesome."

  They just take my predators and lashed them to the house.

  You know what I learned from this? I'm not very good at deceiving.

  I can't even deceive a bird. But you know, there are, unfortunately, there are a lot of people out there today who are great at deceiving.

  Last week we talked about entering the narrow gate. Jesus said the way is hard.

  He said the narrow gate is hard to find. It's hard to walk.

  And here's another reason the narrow gate is so hard to enter. Look at verse 15.

  Jesus says, "Beware of false prophets who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves."

  It's hard to enter the narrow gate because there are false prophets that are good at deceiving.

  It's hard to enter the narrow gate because you have people that are standing saying that they represent God and they don't, and they're ushering people into the wide gates.

  Like, well, who would fall for that? Well, according to verse 13, Jesus said many, many.

  If you look at the flow of Jesus' sermon here from last week to this week, here's what our Lord is saying.

  Jesus is saying strive to enter the narrow gate and beware of those who would mislead you away from it.

  I want you to draw some things down on your outline. Here's what, it's really about one word today. Watch. Watch.

  Watch number one right this time. Watch out. False prophets.

  "Beware of false prophets who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves."

  See, God has this plan to save sinners, and the plan to save sinners, it has two tracks. One track is the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

  "Took away our sin, provided eternal life." That's one, that's one track.

  The other track that this train of salvation runs on is the gospel message being spoken through the people of God.

  Satan has his counterfeits. Just as God sends his people out to usher people into the narrow gate,

  Satan has his counterfeits leading people into the wide gate. And Jesus tells us in verse 15 about these false prophets that they're not always obvious, but they are always dangerous.

  Do you see that? They're not always obvious, but they are always dangerous. Let's break that down. They're not always obvious, first of all.

  Notice Jesus says that they're in sheep's clothing. What is sheep's clothing? That's just another way of saying, "Wool."

  Our Lord wasn't talking about going to the Spirit of Halloween store and buying a lamb costume. He's not talking about that.

  He's talking about a wool coat, because in those days that's what a shepherd wore. They wore a wool coat.

  So Jesus is saying false prophets are dressed as a shepherd. In other words, they look like a legitimate pastor.

  Oh, they sound so good and people just love them, but they're not always obvious, but they are always dangerous.

  That's why I look at the first word of verse 15, "Beware." Jesus didn't say, "Take note or notice." Beware. Look out for these people.

  Always dangerous. Jesus says they might look like shepherds, but inwardly they're wolves.

  Number one enemy of sheep. Inwardly evil.

  What does a wolf do with sheep? Does a wolf show up to feed the sheep? Does the wolf show up to care for the sheep? No.

  Wolves, when they show up, they're there to take. A wolf is there to get what the wolf wants. A wolf is there to destroy the sheep.

  And Jesus said that is what false prophets are like.

  Jesus said you have to beware. It's all through the Bible. All through the Bible. Read Old Testament, Deuteronomy 13, Isaiah 30, Jeremiah 14.

  We talked about this recently through the New Testament, Matthew chapter 24.

  Almost every New Testament epistle warns against false prophets.

  And here once again Jesus is calling us church to discernment.

  And you've heard me say this before, that is my biggest concern for the church at large, but that is my biggest concern for this church.

  It's lack of discernment.

  Like, well, what's discernment? Disernment is the ability to detect what's from God and what's not from God.

  My concern is for this church.

  My concern is for people here who genuinely love the Lord, genuinely love His Word, being led astray.

  Because more than ever we have countless opportunities to listen to junk teaching.

  Internet, podcasts, YouTube. Jesus tells us to beware and church never, never has it been a bigger problem because wolves have a bigger platform than ever in history.

  You have to discern who you follow, who you listen to, who you read. You have to discern.

  I'm shocked at the lack of discernment that we have in the church today.

  People just gobble up anything as long as it has a sticker on it that says Christian.

  It's not all from God. It's not.

  That's why Jesus tells us to beware. It's not all from God.

  Like, well, does it really matter? Does it really matter? I mean, come on.

  Aren't we just nitpicking here a little bit, Pastor Jeff? Does it really matter?

  Well, let me ask you this. Imagine that you woke up tomorrow morning and you had the most severe stomach cramps.

  I mean, it just felt like razors in your intestines and you're just like doubled over in pain, can't function, calling off work.

  I got to get to a doctor. Which doctor are you going to?

  Do you want the trendy doctor who has the most patience, who will lie to you to make you happy, but is really using you and misleading you?

  Or do you want the doctor who cares about you and will tell you the truth?

  You're like, well, it's a no-brainer, isn't it?

  Why isn't a no-brainer there? But when it comes to Bible teaching, we want the trendy lying guy.

  The wide gate leads to destruction. Does this stuff matter? Yeah, it matters, because your eternity is on the line.

  And you better be sure that you haven't been ushered into the wide gate by some false prophets.

  They're not always obvious, but they are always dangerous. They're dangerous to Christians.

  They're dangerous to the church. They're dangerous to our families.

  If Jesus, if God Himself is telling us we need to beware of these people, then we better be paying attention.

  Watch out for the false prophets. You're like, all right, well, how do I know?

  Like, if these people are out there and they're not obvious, but they're dangerous, how do I know?

  How do I recognize them? Well, number two in your outline, watch for fruit.

  Look at verses 16 through 20. Jesus tells us to beware.

  Look at verse 16. He says, "You will recognize them by their fruits."

  Are grapes gathered from thorn bushes or figs from thistles?

  So every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruits.

  A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruits.

  Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.

  Thus, you will recognize them by their fruits.

  I gotta tell you, this is one of the most comforting passages in the Bible.

  Jesus says you will recognize them. You will.

  Jesus didn't say, there's false prophets out there that'll lead you to hell. Good luck.

  You'll recognize them if you discern, if you care to discern.

  If you take the Lord's warning to beware, if you take that seriously, you'll recognize them.

  I recognize them how. Jesus said you'll recognize them by their fruits.

  You mean like a tree? Yeah, like a tree.

  You recognize a tree by what it produces, right?

  In the same way Jesus is telling us you recognize false prophets by what they produce.

  I don't really have to explain Jesus' analogy here too much, do I?

  Jesus illustrates it by saying, look, good trees make good fruit. Bad trees make bad fruit.

  Like, that's how you know. You're like, whoa, whoa, whoa, hang on, hang on, hang on.

  Back in verse 1 of chapter 7, I thought you said we're not supposed to judge someone's heart.

  That's right. You can't judge someone's heart. That's why Jesus says to judge the fruit.

  Jesus here is telling us, look, you have to judge by looking at what they produce.

  Like, well, what is that? Very simply church, it's two things.

  There are two things, any preacher you listen to, whether it's here or down the street or on the YouTubes

  or the Facebooks or whatever, wherever you're listening to preachers, you have to look at two things.

  In verse 1 of chapter 8, I thought you said, look, what is that?

  I thought you said, look, what is that?

  I thought you said, look, what is that?

  I thought you said, look, what is that?

  It'll come out. It always comes out eventually.

  What's in the heart is always revealed in actions. You will recognize them by their fruit.

  There's good fruit to look for.

  This pastor, this preacher you're listening to, you're following. There's good fruit to look for.

  What about things like humility and selflessness, repentance and obedience, generosity and hospitality?

  What about the fruit of the Spirit, Galatians 5? Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control?

  Do they seem to have a motive to want to glorify God?

  Are they a person that wants holiness and righteousness? Do they seem like they want to magnify Jesus?

  There's a lot of fruit that we can talk about, but really, I guess since we're in this current sermon series, let's boil it down to this.

  Let's make it this easy.

  This preacher that you're evaluating, is he a Beatitude guy?

  Because a true Christian and a true prophet, someone speaking for God, is someone who exemplifies the Beatitudes.

  That's what our Lord is saying. You want good fruit, you're not going to find it from a false prophet.

  Because nothing good comes from them.

  You don't get grapes from thorns.

  You don't get things from thistles, do you?

  You know, Jesus made a very powerful statement of evaluation in John 7.18.

  Look at this. Jesus said, "The one who speaks on his own authority seeks his own glory."

  But the one who seeks the glory of him who sent him is true, and in him there is no falsehood.

  The second part of that verse, Jesus is speaking obviously of himself.

  That's Jesus' standard for his own identity.

  But here, in the first part of that verse, Jesus is giving us a clue on how to identify a false prophet.

  Look at this. He says, "The one who speaks on his own authority is the one who seeks his own glory."

  See, that's the bad fruit that you need to be looking for.

  That preacher that is constantly looking for more attention.

  It's about his branding, his image, him being the face of it. More spotlight on me, please.

  Ain't I great?

  It's all about his pride, his ego, his power. Self-centered.

  Watch out for that guy. Watch out for the guy that's seeking his own glory.

  Self-centered and self-indulgent.

  You know, these people will put on a pure and holy front, write this down.

  Eventually, false prophets are found to be full of greed and/or lust.

  And that comes out eventually.

  You're like, "Well, Pastor Jeff, it's sort of hard to evaluate this fruit,

  because this kind of stuff often gets covered." You're right.

  This is the kind of fruit that's not always so readily seen,

  but there is a more obvious fruit that we need to evaluate.

  And that's the letter B. Listen to what they say.

  Listen to what they say.

  And oh, what they say matters, by the way, because Jesus says, "Beware of false prophets."

  Prophets?

  Prophets?

  It's about someone giving a message, right?

  A couple years ago, back when we were chicken farmers,

  we were chicken farmers. I heard a couple people laugh.

  At least that's what I like to refer to myself as.

  But we went to the rural king and we got ourselves six leg horns.

  And when you buy them at the rural king, they're sexed,

  which means you're getting all females, right?

  Because we wanted them eggs.

  Well, our leg horns grew up.

  They're so cute when they're little.

  And then when they get to that adolescent age, they get really ugly.

  And then they turn into beautiful creatures.

  Like humans, right? I know you're thinking it.

  I knew you were thinking it.

  All right, so we had these six chickens and the one day Aaron goes,

  "Hey, you need to come out and look at something. I need your opinion."

  And I went outside and our one leg horn, again, just coming out of adolescence,

  but our one leg horn was like, "Ah, ah, ah!"

  And I'm like, "Hmm, little gene, little J-E-A-N is actually little G-E-N-E."

  And you know what little gene we didn't know what he was until he opened his mouth?

  And that's true about false prophets.

  You might not know what they are until they open their mouth.

  Listen to the message.

  What am I listening for?

  And this is discernment 101. We've talked about this stuff.

  Disturment 101. What are we listening for?

  False prophets always have a twisted view of Jesus, always.

  His person, His work, who Jesus is, what He did, what it means.

  False prophets always have this twisted view.

  According to the Bible, the incarnation is Jesus Christ, fully God, fully man.

  God became a man to die as a man for men.

  That's who Jesus is. That's what He did.

  He rose from the dead to give us eternal life.

  That's who Jesus is. That's what He did.

  And if you don't get that doctrine right, nothing else really matters, right?

  And it's easy to take the shots at the Jehovah's Witnesses and the Mormons and the Christian scientists.

  And those ones are obviously off about who Jesus is and what He did.

  I mean, that's so obvious. They're not really my concern.

  I'm more concerned about the ones who present themselves as being biblical.

  Listen to the message.

  Are they accurately representing God's Word?

  You've got to have discernment people.

  False prophets will teach some man-centered nonsense

  and they like to sprinkle in some random out-of-context verses

  and non-discerning people say, "Well," he mentioned the Bible,

  "so that has to be from God."

  They twist Scripture to attract an audience.

  Do you ever wonder how they fill those massive auditoriums?

  Like, how do they do that?

  Like, if they're false prophets, how are there so many people packed in to hear them?

  It's because they tell people what they want to hear. That's why.

  They tell people what they want to hear.

  Their message is, they're going to talk about things like, look, God is love.

  That's really the only thing you need to know is God is love.

  Is that true? Is God love? Yes, absolutely.

  You see, the problem is that's the only aspect of God that they talk about.

  You know, the Bible at the same time talks about other attributes of God

  that are also just as true and just as important as the fact that God is love.

  God is love. That's all you're going to hear.

  And if you just believe, if you have enough faith, deep down in your heart of hearts,

  deep down in your hearts, way deep down in your heart, if you really believe,

  you're going to be physically healed and you're going to be wealthy,

  they say things like, you know what, you have the power to control your destiny.

  They say things like, it's never God's will that you lack.

  It is never God's will that you suffer.

  And then we sprinkle in a couple of verses to make it sound like I'm saying what the Bible says.

  And then the world comes along and they're like, oh, that's the kind of religion that I want.

  It puts the spotlight off of Jesus and on to me.

  That's the problem.

  Self-centered teaching attracts self-centered people.

  You know, we tend to measure success with numbers and then we somehow equate numbers with authenticity.

  Listen, huge red flag, when the focus of preaching is all about our benefits, not God's glory.

  I mean, that kind of preaching might be attractive to people, but not to God.

  So preaching, it leads to the wide path.

  Listen to what they say.

  And listen, not just listen to what they say, listen to what they never say.

  Listen to what they never say.

  Yeah, we're going to go with that.

  Are they teaching the whole counsel of God's Word?

  Or do they cherry-pick topics?

  It's a huge clue for false prophets.

  They're never going to talk about sin or repentance or denying yourself or judgment or hell.

  They're never going to talk about that.

  It's all so easy.

  It's nothing offensive.

  It's nothing that convicts.

  It's nothing that could possibly bring godly sorrow into your life.

  We're not going to talk about that.

  We don't want anyone to feel bad.

  We just want you all to feel comfortable.

  All the way to hell.

  The false prophet, listen, talks about the Bible, but not out of the Bible.

  And if you learn to discern the difference between those two things,

  you're going to be able to spot a false prophet instantly.

  They talk about the Bible, not out of the Bible.

  They're not preaching a narrow gate.

  And if they're not preaching a narrow gate, which gate are they leading you into again?

  1 Thessalonians 5, Paul says, "Do not despise prophecies, but test everything.

  Hold fast to what is good."

  Any teaching that includes here, any teaching that you hear must be tested with the Word of God.

  You see, in God's infinite wisdom, that's why he gave us a book.

  Why?

  Because anybody can walk around and say, "Well, this is what God says.

  I have a message from the Lord.

  Let me tell you what the Almighty is saying.

  Anybody can do that."

  But God gave us His Word in written form so that we could read it, and we can understand it,

  and we can compare what we hear with it, and know for sure what's from God and what's not.

  And here our Lord tells us, "Beware.

  Beware of false prophets, because not everything called Christian is from God."

  Satan is not going to make it obvious for us.

  Deception is his MO, and he's going to make sure that his false prophets wear sheep's clothing.

  They're going to be dressed just like a shepherd.

  Like that's the worship team to come back up.

  And church, I want you to stand.

  I want you to stand.

  We're going to get into prayer groups.

  So in just a moment, I want you to stand up.

  Go ahead, stand up.

  Don't be shy.

  And here's what I want you to do.

  I want you to grab a few people near.

  You're getting a little groups of about six or eight or so.

  Look, we're not going to go through and count.

  All right?

  And if you want to stand and pray by yourself, that's your business,

  but I want to encourage you to just grab a few people nearby, get into little groups.

  And here's what I want us to do today.

  I want us to heed the warning of Jesus.

  We need to pray.

  We need to pray for our church, for our families, for our little ones.

  We are bombarded more than ever with false teaching.

  So what I want you to do in your little prayer groups,

  I want you to pray just two things, all right?

  Number one, I want you to pray that we would know and love the Word of God.

  All right?

  And number two, that we would learn to recognize false prophets by their fruit.

  Those are the two things that we're praying about now.