False gospels and Watching Virgins

I was wondering why Greg assigned me this slot. I want to believe he believed it was going to be so anointed that everybody would be fine after lunch. So let's trust his judgment in that. Before I get into the Word, I want you to turn in your Bibles while we just do some preliminary stuff here into Matthew chapter 24 as well as Mark chapter 13. Okay, so Matthew 24 and Mark 13. And I want to just say how thankful I am to have a chance to be here. I've been to a lot of conferences in my Christian life. I'm 55 years old, and I've been conferenced. To the point where, like Dennis, I rarely go to conferences because I've heard it all, and I just need to be out doing the Lord's business, you know. No other new nuance that I'm really looking for in my understanding of the Word of God, although I'm always happy to learn more. But this conference was one I was excited to just attend because I knew the quality of the speakers. Greg Gordon has really got his pulse on a lot of good people in the body of Christ because of his deal with the Sermon Index. And I've actually never met Greg face to face. He was supposed to be here for this conference, but he moved to Canada and couldn't get a visa to get back into the country. I don't understand all the reasons behind it. But Greg is watching. Hello, Greg, from his secret place in Canada there. And I talked to him several times on the phone, and he's just a good brother in Christ, and I'm very thankful for the ministry of Sermon Index. He and I were discussing. I was asking, when's your next conference going to be? And he said, I've been promising the Lord I'm not going to do any more conferences. I guess he's had some disappointments. And I said, I've been thinking about trying to do a conference, although I'm not sure anybody would come. You know, I've done a couple of little small conferences, and I don't ever hardly at all get invited to speak in churches. And I'm not sure why that is, and I'd appreciate it if any of you have insight as to why that is, if there's some hidden flaw that I'm not seeing. Listen to my sermon today and tell me if you see some hidden flaw that somehow I'm arrogant or I'm unscriptural or something, and that would really be a blessing to me to see what I don't see. But I was talking to Brother Keith Daniel. Keith, are you here, brother, in the sanctuary? I saw him over at Chick-fil-A, and maybe one of those sleepy demons got him. Okay. Keith was telling me he comes to the United States every year for 90 days and preaches in churches usually three or four times per church. And I wanted to ask him, but I didn't think, where are those churches? Because if they're letting you in, they might let me in. I'm going to ask, try to find out. That's great. I'm happy that anyone would receive a message like the one that we got last night from Brother Keith Daniel. Could you say amen? So anyways, I just want to start off by saying I appreciate Brother Keith Daniel. I never heard him before until last night. I think I did hear him one time in a sermon where he just quoted verbatim the Sermon on the Mount, and he made reference to that last night. His message was just the way he handled himself, so powerful and dignified. He just seemed like a revivalist from the past. At the beginning when he was pointing his finger and he was quoting the Ten Commandments, I wanted to hide underneath the pew. It was just like the Holy Spirit went, did you feel that way? It was scary at first, really scary. The way the guy quoted Scripture, oh my goodness. But I suppose there are some people who were here last night who probably didn't like his style, if you want to call it a style. I was that way at one time. I was on the narrow way with a narrow mind. There was a difference. I decided to open myself up a little bit more to everybody in the body of Christ. God has somebody for everybody, and he can reach old people, young people, and so forth. I don't know how old Keith is, but he's obviously an elderly guy. He looks a lot younger in the picture for this conference than he did in real life. It was just inspiring, just watching him. Even if I hadn't have agreed with his sermon, just watching him. I can tell he's walking with God. Then Brother Jose, this morning I met last night, now is Brother Jose present. I think I saw him out in the lobby, and maybe a sleepy demon got him too. There you are, Brother Jose. Hold up your hand so we have testament that you are here. I said to him, you still look like a drug dealer. That could turn off a lot of people, but he's not trying to reach those kinds of people. He's out on the street reaching street people, so wearing those sunglasses all the time probably is really appropriate. Is that why you wear those sunglasses? No. Oh, a medical issue. Okay, very interesting. Took too many drugs. Ruined your eyes, is that what you're saying? Yeah, I'm sorry. In heaven you get a new body. But anyways, wasn't that a great message this morning that he gave us? You could have been turned off by those sunglasses, and you could have judged him like that, so he's just trying to be cool. Now I just found out in front of a worldwide audience that I was wrong about my judgment there, Brother. Maybe other people are kind of repenting right now like I am, saying, wow, I made a wrong judgment about this guy. But I liked your heart, and I like your sunglasses. I'm a young guy too. I'm fairly cool. I'm not wearing a tie and so forth. But that was a good message, a good stirring message. Then Brother Edgar, another guy, a senior guy in the Lord, we had lunch together and got to know him a little bit. His mother was carrying him when he was three years old to escape the Dresden bombings in Germany in World War II. He's got quite a story and how the Lord has worked in his life. But it's a straight shooting message. I love the Word of God, and there were some things you said that just resonated within me, and great job. You might not appeal to the teen crowd because you're you. But God uses you the way he uses you. He's on a road now for how many days? Seventy-one days, coming from Germany, traveling out. From Canada, that's right. You're German, but you live in Toronto. You're preaching in churches and so forth? Sometimes they invite you. Okay, that's great. I was encouraged. The Thomases, is it the Thomases right here? They said, we're here because our pastor recommended your daily seven-minute devotional. I said, who's your pastor? I'd like to know who that is. He must be a good guy. He's a good guy, okay. So tell him hello and thanks for me. And then Brother Dennis, who I've known for a number of years, and he comes from the Latter Rain School from way back. He's a classic Pentecostal and so forth. And what you saw was a classic Dennis Falcom message here this morning, and he's great. He will go really fast. You have a lot of information to try to cover. He's used to preaching three hours. He had to fit it all into one hour. So he had to go really fast. But wasn't that inspiring? It's like, here's a guy living in the Book of Acts, seeing these miracles and understanding the importance of the baptism in the Holy Spirit. And I don't understand. People sometimes get mad about that kind of stuff. But as a guy who is a classic Pentecostal myself, I was baptized in the Holy Spirit, spoke in tongues back when I was in my teen years. And like you, I've spoken in Japanese on occasion when people have understood what I was saying in Japanese. So when you tell me to cease with the apostles, you've got to be too late. I know it's still happening today. And I don't know who wouldn't want to have more of the Holy Spirit. Who wouldn't want to have more of the Holy Spirit? I could start crying right now if I start thinking about this enough because I need so desperately more of the Holy Spirit. So many of the charismatic Pentecostals, there's no gifts of the Holy Spirit in operation. A lot of the classic Pentecostals have totally turned their backs on even just speaking in tongues at all or any kind of prophecy because they've turned seeker-sensitive and relevant and all that kind of stuff. And here's a guy that's just stayed true to the message for decades. God bless you, Brother Dennis Baucom. May you live to be 100, and may you keep on preaching about the baptism in the Holy Spirit no matter what. And I know, and you said this, some of the flakiest people today in Christendom, I only want to say the body of Christ, are the people that speak in tongues. Isn't that true? The flakiest people. And that turns people off. I understand why. I never say I'm charismatic anymore. I never hardly even admit I was even Pentecostal because people have these preconceived ideas. Pentecostals swing from the chandeliers and jump over pews when the Holy Ghost comes on them. And charismatics, they're some of the flakiest things that you've ever imagined have come out of the charismatic movement. I think they take the prize in the history of Christianity for heresy and nutty ideas. It's just bizarre what they've come up with. You wonder what is wrong with these people. But they, I think, illustrate something I'm going to talk about this afternoon quite well. I'm, you know, I can tell you my background, I don't want to bore you or waste time, but, you know, you can start off right and end up wrong. Let me say that again. You can start off right and end up wrong. And Jesus warned about that himself many times. People starting off right and going wrong. And so, you know, some of these guys might have been legitimate at the beginning, but they've gone the wrong way. But I'm not going to toss out the Bible. Amen. Other people to me when I was a pastor would criticize me for some doctrine because they'd say, well, you were saying nice things about Mary. Well, the Catholics, you know, they would say, the Catholics? Don't you know the Catholics are all about Mary? I'd say, but Mary's in the Bible. You know. Can I have an amen out there? Mary's in the Bible. So I can talk about Mary. And I might give a doctrine that might resemble something that they tied in with some bad group. And they'd say, but the so-and-sos believe that. And I'd say, the so-and-sos brush their teeth too. Should I not brush my teeth because they brush their teeth? You're just trying to make guilt. Let's just stick for crying out loud with the Bible. Thank you, brother. All right. So thank you, Brother Dennis and Sister Kathy. She's a dynamo in herself. You've got to see her or something. Okay. So that's it. And so of all the speakers, I'm sure I'm the least qualified and worthy to be standing before you today. I'm sure there are people who are attending this conference, who are watching by some of the guests, who are more worthy than me to be able to speak to this fine crowd. And so I just want to confess that. Thank you for the chance, and may the Lord help me. Okay. My wife's here with me. I'm so happy for that. We've been married 34 years, just as a couple of weeks ago. Sister Becky, there you are, humble lady. She's a dear saint. I'm hoping she doesn't forget me in heaven. That's not because she's forgetting about me now, but I want all the husbands to remember that in heaven you will not be married. Can I have an amen? This is biblical. You will not be married to your spouse in heaven. And secondly, everyone will receive their own reward according to their own labor. Is that correct also? And so that means your wife could be way ahead of you in the awards category one day. And that's my wife. So, honey, I'm just going to ask you one more time. Please remember me when you get to heaven. You've agreed to be best friends, and I'm just hoping she'll stick with that agreement. My youngest daughter, Elizabeth, is here with her husband, Jody. They're working on our little book table. And Elizabeth and Jody, are you present here? Oh, there you are right in front. So they're wearing ethnic Burmese clothes because they minister a lot in Burma. And we're so happy for them. They are the real deal. I also want to recognize a few other people who are my friends. Hugh Sincock has come all the way from Fairbanks, Alaska, just to be here this weekend. Hugh, where are you? There you are. Thank you, Hugh, for coming. Dan Robbins, a dear old friend of mine, a friend of Edwin's family, and a nephew, Christian, are here from Fort Myers, Florida, just to be in this conference. Where are you, Dan? I know I saw you a minute ago. Okay, there's Dan. There's Christian. All right. And Kelly Miller and his wife and a few other friends from Knoxville, Tennessee, came all the way here. They're leaving sometime today to take a vacation. But here they are. Kelly and Klan, raise your hands. Okay. Oh, I was also surprised to see Ells and Jim Shubat. Here they are, all the way from Ottawa, Canada, just to be here. Hold up your hand. These guys are from Ottawa, Canada. They speak English. Thank you, everybody else. Thank you to all those people who are joining us by simulcast. And those of you who are joining us by simulcast, we're giving out freely to everybody who attends the conference here this little book that I wrote. It's a giveaway book called Forever Rich. Now, you could be offended by that title thinking, oh, this sounds like one of those books. It's not one of those books. It's Forever Rich. Lay up your treasure in heaven where thieves and moths do not, you know, break in and steal. Okay. So this is a free book. Make sure you go back to the table and get that. There's other books for sale. And I always laugh when I see our books for sale because we sell so few books. We should really be paying people to please take them away because we sell so few. But please, I beg you, get a free one. That's less for us to haul home. Please buy some of those other books. And if you can't afford them, you know, negotiate. I put all my cards on the table. We'll pay you to take them so you can actually walk out of here with a book and money. And please read them. They are good. They'll be bestsellers during the tribulation period. I assure you that. Everyone will want to know what I had to say then. But if you're by the simulcast, when the simulcast people, you can just e-mail us, go to our website. There's probably something on our website, right, about this close by. Heaven's Family. The word heaven, the letter S, the word family.org. And you click on something and order your free book and so forth. And it's a convicting book. It's a stewardship book. It's a biblical book packed with scripture. And, you know, it has touched some lives since we put it out there. Okay. All right. Have you found Matthew Chapter 24 yet? Great. This is the Sleeping Virgins and the Soon Coming of Christ Conference. That was Greg's inspired title for the conference. And he kind of assigned me a topic, although he gave me the liberty to change it in any way I wanted to. But the topic he gave me was false gospels and watching virgins. And, of course, it's a reference to the parable of the ten virgins. And my daughter reminded me, Elizabeth reminded me that we probably should have said watchful virgins, not watching virgins. Because nobody should be watching virgins, generally speaking. But we all want to be watchful virgins, don't we? What do the virgins represent? They represent purity. Right? Okay. Purity. I'll go that far with that parable. And they're watching. What are they waiting for? They're looking for the coming of the bridegroom. Right? Pretty obvious. Okay. And so we know that some of them stayed awake, some slept, and they missed the party and so forth. But I think, in my humble opinion, that it's probably never intended by Jesus for anyone to be preaching on or discussing the parable, his parable of the ten virgins, without considering the greater context of when Jesus spoke it, which we know as the Olivet Discourse. Everybody with me still? Olivet Discourse, Matthew 24, Matthew 25, the whole deal, whole two chapters. And it's about all in red letters in your Bible, if you've got a red-letter Bible. It's the words of the Lord Jesus Christ. And he talks, first of all, about the end times, what's going to happen before the destruction of Jerusalem, what's going to happen before his coming, and those cataclysmic signs and so forth. And there's debate on all of that. We're not here to have a debate on that. But I want to look at this parable of the ten virgins in light of the context. I think that context is so, so, so important in understanding Scripture. And I think that the majority of mistakes that are made in Bible interpretation are errors of missing context. You're just, you know, someone comes up with a doctrine, and they say, here's my proof, here's my proof, I got a Scripture. And I'm always tempted to say, and sometimes I have the boldness to say, that's great, and all you have to do is harmonize your interpretation of that one verse with the 31,000 other verses in the Bible. Because there are 31,000. And yours better interpret, that are harmonized. Well, then we've got professional Scripture twisters who string lots of Scriptures together that bolster, bolster, bolster, bolster their pet doctrine. And they can string together 40 or 50 verses, and that sounds real persuasive. Because, wow, you've got a lot of evidence there to support your doctrine. But, hey, guess what? You've got to harmonize those 40 or 50 strung together Scriptures with the 31,000 other Scriptures that are in the Bible. And I happen to know 200 offhand, right off the bat, that don't harmonize with your understanding. So you've got a problem. But these are professionals, and they outwit the average Joe Christian and the average Jane Christian because, you know, they're just not that professional. They can't string together so many Scriptures. So beware, beware of people who give you their list of Scriptures, pluck, pluck, pluck, pluck, pluck, cherry-picking Scriptures and presenting their doctrines. I love people, I love pastors who teach verse by verse through entire books, through entire covenants, through the entire Bible and give us all the counsel of God. Can I have an amen out there, please? That way you cannot ignore those Scriptures that contradict your doctrines. You're going to have to at least read them in front of your congregation. Amen. So I can't read the whole Bible to you today, but I'm not going to make the error of reading the parable of the ten virgins without considering the context of, you know, the time when Christ was speaking, who He was speaking to. And in so doing, I'm going to look, I can't look at all the false Gospels that are out there, but I will point out at least one that is quite evident right from this Olivet Discourse and maybe two if we get the time. And these are, in my opinion, the two biggest false Gospels out there today. And within a hundred mile radius of this church, I would be willing to bet that hundreds of thousands of people believe one or two or both of these two false Gospels that I'm going to be looking at that are extracted right from the lips of Jesus Christ. Hundreds of thousands. And what's wrong with the false Gospels? False Gospels don't save. That's the problem. They don't save. They're demonic. Because they're designed to trick you into believing that you've got something that you really don't have. And you don't know it until the end when you stand before Jesus and surprise, surprise, you know, instead of well done, good and faithful servant, it's depart from me, I never knew you. Somebody already quoted that scripture, I think it was Edgar, you know, Lord, Lord, didn't we prophesy? Oh, you know, this is a perfect scripture. Lord, Lord, didn't we prophesy your name? Didn't we work miracles? Didn't we cast out demons? These are charismatic Pentecostal people who are going to be shocked when they stand before Jesus because they will be cast into hell. I never knew you. You had church services. You did the Pentecostal. You did the charismatic things. You did your miracles. You pushed people over. You blew on them. You took up offerings, you know, and all the other stuff those guys do. But depart from me into the eternal fire. I never knew you. You think they'll be surprised? What? They believed a false gospel. Jesus said you'll know them by their fruits. What fruit? Not the fruit of miracles or alleged miracles or, you know, phony miracles or blowing over miracles or pushing over miracles. You'll know them by their fruits. Do they obey the commandments of Christ? That's how you know them. And we are commanded by Christ to judge every spiritual leader with that criteria. Amen. So the Bible says judge not. There you go. You're reading one verse out of its context. Why don't you read the rest of the verses? Do a study about judgment. What we're supposed to judge. Okay. Alright. So here we go. Matthew 24, verse 1. Jesus came out from the temple, was going away. I'm reading from the New American Standard. When his disciples came up to point out the temple buildings to him, and he said to them, Do you not see all these things? Truly I say to you, no stone here will be left upon another which will not be torn down. That would have been a shocking statement to those guys, by the way. This was a monumental architectural edifice. If you go there today to see like what remains of the support wall of the temple area, these are massive, massive, massive, massive stones that built the temple, you know. And so they knew, if all this is going to be torn down, one stone, not one stone left, it's going to be cataclysmic. It's going to be calculated. So he's naturally, they're naturally, you know, he's piqued their interest immensely. And so in verse number 3 of Matthew 24, the beginning of the Olivet Discourse, as he was sitting on the Mount of Olives, that's why it's called the Olivet Discourse, the disciples came to him, and the next word in my Bible is the word privately. And that is so important. Jesus was speaking privately. This was a close, intimate, you know, informational discussion between Christ and his disciples. And I had you turn to Mark, because Mark hones it down, and in Mark 13, verse number 3, this is the Olivet Discourse, as Mark recorded, as he was sitting on the Mount of Olives opposite the temple, Peter and James and John and Andrew were questioning him privately, tell us when all these things will be, what will be the sign of all these things are going to be. So Mark actually names four of the apostles. Now, I don't, I'm not saying, well, Mark is right and Matthew is wrong. They're both right. I mean, Matthew said the disciples, Mark lists four of them. It could mean that Mark was just listing four out of the twelve. It could be that Matthew wasn't being as specific as Mark, and Mark hones it down to four. I don't know, but it wasn't thousands. It wasn't the multitudes. It wasn't, you know, those people that Jesus had, you know, when he preached the Sermon on the Mount. No, this is a quiet, intimate meeting. Are you with me still? That's so important. That's part of the context, because you know who he's speaking to. If I came to you here today and I said, good afternoon, this is going to be a very quick sermon, because Jesus said whatever you do, do quickly, and so I'm going to do this very quickly, because that's what Jesus said, and we should all do everything we do quickly, because Christ said whatever you do, do quickly, and so this is going to be a very quick sermon. You'd probably say to me, whoa, David, now Jesus did say that, but you're taking it out of its context, because he said that to Judas. Right? Right. So it's important. Who's he speaking to? Now some people just take the exact reverse of that. They'll take the story of the rich young ruler. Here's a lie that's believed by millions and millions of people. If you ask them anything about the story of the rich young ruler, they'll say, oh, I have that figured out. Jesus only ever said that to one man, because that guy had a special problem, and Jesus admitted a special antidote to his problem, because it was just one thing. He said only to one man. It only has relevance to that one guy. Well, Jesus didn't say as the rich young ruler walked away very sadly how hard it would be for that singular, unique, rich person to enter the kingdom of heaven. He said how hard it would be for those who are wealthy to enter the kingdom of heaven. Please, amen. The apostles who overheard the conversation all believed that what Jesus said to that man related to them. It was relevant to them, because they were concerned. What is there for us? Who then can be saved in light of what you've just said, Lord Jesus? And if we want to go into a wider context of Scripture, Jesus told all of his disciples not to lay up treasures on this earth, but to lay them up in heaven and to sell their possessions and give to charity and make for themselves purses which do not wear out. Luke chapter 12, read it for yourself. In the book of Acts, we can find all the Christians dispossessing and selling things and laying them at the apostles' feet. So we've got a contextual support for the fact that there's no way that anyone can rightly say that what Jesus said to the rich young ruler only applies to him. But we become like the guy who came up to his pastor after he heard a great sermon on the parable of a good Samaritan. And he said, Pastor, that was a great sermon. Man, that really hit me. And I want to tell you, Pastor, if I'm ever over there in Jerusalem, and I happen to be walking the road to Jericho, and if I see a guy lying there who's been beaten up, you can be sure I won't be neglecting him. You know, did that guy get the message? Did that guy understand it was relevant to more than just, you know, walking down the road? You know what I'm saying? So here, Jesus, this is relevant. Please agree with me now. What Jesus is about to say is relevant to the people to whom he spoke it. Thank you. And so he starts. And we don't have time to read all of 24. But you all know it. You know the gist of it, okay? What's the very first thing Christ says to them in verse 4? See to it that no one misleads you. And he talks about the false prophets, the false Christ misleading you. What's the danger of being misled? Stop and think. What could be the danger if you get misled? What could happen to you, Peter, James, John, and Andrew? What is the negative consequence I'm trying to save you from? What do you think it is? Deception, okay? But what could that deception possibly lead to? What could be the ultimate consequence? You're afraid to probably say it, so I guess I'm going to say it. You may not inherit eternal life. Come out. I can just almost hear people clicking off their computers right now all over the world. But stay with me. Don't touch that dial. We're going to read here. And the message is crystal clear over and over and over and over again. What Jesus is afraid of, what might happen to them. He talks about how times are going to get really tough. The false Christ, of course, wars, rumors of wars, kingdom against kingdom, famines, earthquakes. But this is just the beginning of the birth pangs, he says in verse number 8. And here it gets personal now, verse 9. They'll deliver you, the tribulation, and will kill you. You'll be hated by all nations because of my name. Would you say that's a prediction of tough times? Father Edgar touched on this. What happens, you know, when times get tough? When persecution arises because of the word? Well, Jesus told us in the very next verse, verse 10. And that time many will fall away. Fall away. Many. I think one of the speakers this week, was it you, Brother Edgar, said many actually means most. Who was that? Who was saying that? That was Daniel. Yeah, I haven't checked it out, but I trust him. It's a lot, whatever it means. It's many who fall away. Well, they weren't really Christians because true Christians can't fall away. Then why is Jesus here and continually throughout this going to be warning his closest disciples, his most devoted followers, of what might happen? Why would he be warning them of that? And he's using these pronouns. I mean, you know, you will be hated. They're going to kill you. And they're going to deliver you over to tribulation. You know, do you think those guys were thinking, oh, this doesn't apply to us? Were they just thinking, well, this is good sermon material 20 centuries from now? If you were to ask those guys after this sermon, what's going to happen to you, what would they have said? We're all going to die. It's going to get horrible. Many are going to fall away. Because it's going to get so tough, people are going to quit. And this is why, can I just follow a quick rabbit trail? Will you let me follow a quick rabbit trail? It's a good rabbit trail. I used to be a pre-trib guy. You know, we all get out of here before things get bad. Even as a pastor, when I would teach on the pre-tribulational rapture, I would be honest. And I would say, the reason I believe in this is not because I have scriptural support, but because I don't want to go through the tribulation. At least I was honest. Then right near the end of my pastoring years, I switched. But let's not go into scripture. I just want to ask you this question. If you believe that the church goes up prior to when these things happen, this really bad stuff, we haven't read it yet, and it all happens, let's say you're wrong. Let's say there's a 50-50 chance. Forget what is right or wrong. What would it be better to believe? That you're going to get out of here before it gets bad, or that you might die? What would be better to believe? I think you're better to believe the latter of those two, because that way, psychologically and spiritually, you can prepare and evaluate. Am I ready to die for Christ? Because I could die for Christ. But if you believe there's no way that God who loves you would ever let you go through any tribulation, even though he said there's been millions of people martyred for their faith since the time of Christ, but not you, of course. Because you live in America. Even if you believe that, it'd be better not to believe it. Even if you're right, it'd be better to adopt the wrong viewpoint in your mind. Then you have to think about it. Am I willing to die for Jesus? It's so easy to say, I'm willing to die. Look at your life. Are you willing to live for Jesus right now? Okay. Verse 10 again. At that time, many will fall away. They'll betray one another and hate one another. Well, he's talking about the people who are the ones who can fall away. Well, you can't fall away from something unless you're in that something initially. And to betray one another, that means those people who are in that group with you and hate one another. So there's going to be like, you know what's going to happen? I'll paint a scenario for you. The way people are misled today by the most silly things. The phony revivals where the biggest miracle is somebody falling down. And, oh, God has visited us with all these people falling down. I'm telling you, when the Antichrist comes with signs and wonders, mind-blowing stuff, those people will be flocking to him saying, this has got to be the Christ. Because the whole world follows after him. He's the Antichrist. Everyone thinks he's the Christ, the Messiah, the 12th Imam, whatever religion you happen to be in. This is your man. He must be God in the flesh. No one can do these miracles. Otherwise, they'll be running to him. And those people who refuse to give their allegiance to him and don't take that mark, they're going to be marked and tagged for death. And they'll be getting the church membership roles and going to those people who say, yes, we serve you, Mr. Christ. We know you're the Christ. Show us who's not on our side here. Circle their names. Oh, yes. I'm so-and-so. Oh, that lady. She was that lady who always danced in church. She's one of those weirdos. Oh, those people that went out witnessing and made us all feel guilty. Weirdos. And they'll be coming after you. Worst thing that happens is you die. And you go to heaven. Praise God. They say it's going to be like beheading. And I understand beheading is pretty quick. Fairly painless. Not like being burned at the stake, eh? All right. Many false prophets will arise. Mislead many. He doesn't want them to be misled. That's a common theme. Lawlessness increase. Most of his love grow cold. The one who endures. What's the message? Endure to the end. Don't fall away. Don't be misled. Endure. Hang in there. If you have to die, die. It will be worth it. Peter, James, Andrew, John, are you with me? They're getting the message, I'm sure. All right. Gospel of the kingdom. Preach the whole world. Et cetera, et cetera. End of come. Abomination of desolation. If you're still alive by that time, flee the mountains. Warns about this terrible time. Pray your flight not in the winter. Look at verse 21. There'll be great tribulation. Such has not occurred since the beginning of the world, until now, nor ever will. That's why, personally, I believe this is still yet to happen. I'm in that camp, but people believe this is still yet to happen. Because it's unprecedented tribulation. It's worldwide. And we're hated by all nations. I don't think that's, you know, what you said quite yet. All right. Then he warns them, you know, about false Christ in Mordicia. If they say to you, here's a Christ, you know, don't believe them. Because that's not how Christ is coming. But there'll be great signs and wonders. Listen to this. Verse 24. For false Christ and false prophets will arise, and will show great signs and wonders, so as to mislead, if possible, even the elect. Behold, I have told you Peter, James, Andrew, John, in advance. Don't be among those who will be misled. Because the consequences are eternal. The consequences are deadly. You don't want to go the route that many are going to go. I'm taking time to warn you, when I should be thinking about what's about to happen to me. But I love you so much. Just a short time before they're going to put nails through my hands and my feet. I'm taking two chapters to tell you what's going to happen maybe to you in this generation. Oh my goodness. So, I've told you in advance. Then he tells them how I'm going to go. Lightning, east from the west. Verse 29. Immediately after the tribulation of those days, the sun will be darkened, the moon will not give us light, stars will fall from the sky, powers of heaven shaken. The Son and the Son of Man will appear in the sky. Then all the tribes of the earth will mourn. They will see the Son of Man come in the clouds of the sky, power of great joy. He will then send forth his angels with a great trumpet, and they will gather together, his elect, from the four winds, from one end of the sky to the other. To me, that sounds like the rapture of the church. Those who are still alive and made it to the end. Now, along the peril of the fig tree, when its branches are tender, it puts forth its leaves. You know that summer is near. You too, you see all these things. When summer is near, right at the door. It should be said, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place. Yeah, controversial scripture. Heaven will pass away, my words will not pass away. For that day and hour, no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, the Father alone. The coming of the Son of Man will be just like the days of Noah. And he talks about how they were caught by surprise, by the judgment of God. Again, now, jump down to verse 42. Therefore, be on the alert. You do not know to which day your Lord is coming. Sure of this, if the head of the house had known, you know, when the thief was coming, he would have been alert. He went out of the lawless house. So can you see that the overriding message to Peter, James, Andrew, and John is, be ready. Are you with me? Be ready. And if you're misled, if you're deceived, if you fall away, if your heart grows cold, whatever, you know, if you go the wrong way, you won't be ready. You won't be ready. Now, can I ask you a question? I hope you're thinking. I think you're with me. If it was possible for Peter, and James, and Andrew, and John to be misled, to fall away, for their hearts to grow cold, to be deceived, would it be possible for other Christians for that to happen too? I would say so. My goodness, I respect those guys. They would walk with Jesus, you know, right, with Jesus for three and a half years. I mean, come on. If it's possible for them, wow, I better take heed to these words myself. As should, so should you. It has relevance to you and to me. Okay. Now is where it gets interesting. We're getting very close now to the parable we're leading up to, but we're going to read it in context. Verse 24, For this reason you also must be ready, for the Son is coming an hour when you do not think he will, who then is the faithful and sensible slave whom his master put in charge of his household to give them their food at the proper time. Blessed is that slave whom his master finds so doing when he comes. So did you get that message there? How can you be ready for when he comes unexpectedly? You don't know when he's going to come. How can you be ready? Be doing his will. Right? And this is so simple, you just can't miss it. Make sure when you come back, the master, when he comes back, make sure the master finds you doing his will. But look at this. We have to read verse 7, verse 47. Truly I say to you, I'll put him in charge of all his possessions. So there's a reward. But if that evil slave says in his heart, My master is not coming for a long time, begins to beat his fellow slaves and eat and drink with drunkards, the master of that slave will come in a day when he doesn't expect him, in an hour, he does not know, he will cut him in pieces, assign him a place with hypocrites, and that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Now does that sound like hell to you? Sounds like hell to me. Peter, James, John, this little parable I just told you about the unfaithful servant, this has relevance to you, Peter, James, Andrew and John. What's the message? Don't be like the unfaithful slave. Apparently at one time he was okay in the eyes of the master, but what was his mistake? He kind of let his guard down, as time progressed he said, Wow, he hasn't come back yet, what have I got to lose, I'll try a little bit of this, I'll probably get away with it, and slowly but surely, as time progresses, he becomes more and more unready, till by the time the master comes back, this guy is hanging out with drunkards, and no drunkard will inherit God's kingdom, says the apostle Paul in the Holy New Testament. Can I have an amen out there please? And he's beating his fellow slaves, doesn't sound like he loves his fellow slaves, because of this, of course, some people say, well this slave does not represent one who was truly saved in the first place, because once you're saved, you're always saved, it's like a tattoo, even if you don't want it, after you get it, you're stuck with it, that's taught in this city. And so it can't be a true Christian, because it doesn't fit our theology. Oh, I'm sorry, well let's quickly change the Bible then, for you. Some people go so far as to say, because it's really undeniable, that this slave was a slave of the master, just as much as the other ones, the fact that Jesus is telling this to Peter, James, Andrew, and John, so it must have relevance to their personal spiritual lives, that's inescapable, some men have gone to the outlandish length of changing hell into heaven, and the place of outer darkness, where there's weeping and gnashing of teeth, do you know what that is? That's the outer fringes of heaven, where unfaithful saints will temporarily weep for the loss of reward that they realized then they could have received, had they been faithful and not been drunkards and fellow Christian haters, and unready when their master came back against the clear teachings of Christ, and so temporarily they have to stay outside in the outer fringes of darkness, this is not hell, they can't be going to hell, we've had it wrong for centuries, this is heaven, outer fringes, but then, of course, the Bible says he'll wipe away every tear, and these weeping and gnashing of teeth saints will wipe their tears and say, well, I'm sorry, you get into heaven, but you just can't walk on the streets of gold, you have to walk on the silver streets, less reward for you, but eternal life, of course, drunkard, oh, by the way, I know my word says no drunkard will inherit eternal life, but that means drunkards who haven't prayed the salvation prayer, you pray the prayer, you're in, you're good, are you kidding me? False gospels and watchful virgins, the slumbering virgins who we're about to read about now, what was their mistake? They didn't make it to the end, they were ready at first, they were all virgins, they were all pure, they were all waiting for the return of the bridegroom, every one of them was waiting at first, but the five foolish ones represent simply those who weren't in it for the long haul, they didn't make it, they didn't endure to the end, they weren't ready at the time they needed to be ready, they were ready, but they became unready, isn't that the overriding message of the entire Olivet discourse in generally speaking? Sure it is, you want to be ready, Peter, James, Andrew, and John, you want to be ready, don't be like this foolish guy. Listen to me, I mean it's possible, people say it's impossible for true Christians to fall away, if the Bible says no drunkard will inherit eternal life, is it possible for a true Christian to become a drunkard? Could you become a drunkard? I could. Could you become an adulterer whom the Bible says will not inherit eternal life? I could become an adulterer. God did not take away our free will, yes we have the Holy Spirit, yes the Spirit wars against the flesh, that you may not do the things you please, but we're admonished to walk after the Spirit and not after the flesh, because if you walk after the flesh, if you yield to the deeds of the flesh, you must die. This I think could be the greatest false gospel that is out there, it accompanies perhaps a greater false gospel, and that is the cheap grace false gospel. Just pray this prayer, you're in, and the second accompanying false gospel, it's a double deception, now that you've got it, you can never forfeit. So you're doubly deceived, you've got something you think you don't have, and secondly, the thing that you think you have that you don't have, you think you can never lose it, and you haven't even got it. The devil is smart. Where does this guy go with the hypocrites? What's a hypocrite? That's someone who's pretending to be something that he really isn't. He's professing one thing, living a different life. Okay, now, I can finally get into my sermon. Who will give me five more minutes? Five, ten, fifteen, twenty. That's all I need, thank you. What's that? Okay, that was, was that voice of God? I heard it coming from somewhere up high. Then, let's read this now together, okay, I'm not going to be talking so fast now. Then the kingdom of heaven will be comparable to ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were foolish, five were prudent. When the foolish virgins, the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them, but the prudent took oil in flasks along with their lamps. So you know, you've seen those little ancient lamps, you know, just a little wick sticking out of them, oil in there, you light the wick, it's like a candle, so it keeps on burning as long as the oil is still in there. Okay, like a, yeah, something like a lantern like that, yeah. And, but these were like clay things. And the smart ones were thinking, you know what? We know weddings. Sometimes weddings can drag on. You know, so let's take extra oil, so they bring extra oil with them. They're prepared for the long haul. It could be a long night, ladies, let's take a long preparation psychologically and physically. Let's make sure we're ready just in case this thing drags on. That's it. And, verse number five, now while the bridegroom was delaying, they all got drowsy, began to sleep. So there's the slumbering virgins. But at midnight there was a shout, behold the bridegroom, behold the bridegroom, come out to meet him. Then all those virgins rose and trimmed their lamps. The foolish said to the prudent, give us some of your oil for our lamps are going out. The prudent answered, no, it will not be enough for us and you too. Go instead to the dealers and buy some for yourselves. And while they're going away to make the purchase, the bridegroom came and those who were ready went in with him to the wedding feast and the door was shut. Later the other virgins also came saying, Lord, Lord, open up for us. Remember, these were virgins who were waiting for the bridegroom and who now want in. But he answered, truly I say to you, I do not know you. Now, you know, people try to dissect parables and look for spiritual significance and raise questions on every little thing and, you know, why didn't they say, ask our five friends, they'll tell you we're supposed to be in there. We got, you know, simple mistake, we don't deserve to be shut out because of just a small, you know, all that's irrelevant. The point to Peter and James and Andrew and John is simply this, don't be like the five foolish virgins. I told you things, it's going to be a while. It's going to be tough. Things are going to get really tough. You need to prepare to be in this for the long haul. You need to guard yourself against those things which can rob you of fruitfulness that I've already warned you about, like the deceitfulness of riches, like the desires for other things, like the cares of this world because I warned you in another parable that you may not bear any fruit. Those cares can come in and choke the word and it bears no fruit and you want to have fruit when you stand before me. So what is the moral of the story, folks? Verse number 12, these are the words of Christ, but he answered to his city, I do not know you, in verse 13, be on the alert then. Now here's Jesus speaking to Peter, James, Andrew and John. Be on the alert then for you do not know the day nor the hour. Now I'm going to say it one more time. I'm hoping, I believe you are seeing this so crystal clear. Does that verse have relevance to Peter, James, Andrew and John? Be on the alert then. Of course, he's talking to them. You don't want to be like the unfaithful slave because he was weeping and gnashing his teeth because he wasn't ready. You don't want to be like the five foolish virgins because they were shut out. The bridegroom said, I don't know you. And they missed out on the wedding feast. Peter, James, Andrew, John and everybody sitting here today in this church, everybody listening and watching by simulcast or listening to the recording of this, it has relevance to you. You don't want to be like the five foolish virgins and the potential is there. And anyone who's been in this as long as some of us have here, we've watched people who at one time were fervent, zealous servants of Christ who today, their faith is shipwrecked. They're walking in darkness, complete darkness and rebellion towards Christ. Ministers of the gospel in some cases. Just stick around and watch. And the only alternative is, oh, they were never truly Christians in the first place. Okay, that's interesting how they had all the fruit of the spirit, gifts of the spirit, winning multitudes of people to Christ in foreign countries and today they're servants of Satan. And they were never true Christians. Wow, we're all in trouble then if a non-Christian can have that much fruit. Well, you may have already made up your mind, you know, and so it's hard to accept this, but I'm just trying to provoke your thinking. Well, I'm just going to whiz through the rest of this whole discourse. You don't need to read it because I know all of you know it. But the next parable to Peter, James, Andrew, and John is the parable of the talents. And, you know, they're all servants. They're given different talents, different amounts of talents. Same deal. Master goes away for a journey. He comes back. He looks for an accounting from those guys. The guys who double their investments, you know, get praise from the master. But the guy who went, the guy who had one talent who went and hid his talent in the ground, he just gave it back and the master says to him, now I'm going to read from verse 26. You wicked, lazy slave. You knew that I reap where I did not sow and gather where I shall not receive. If I put my money in the bank, I would have received my money back with interest. Therefore, take away the talent from him. Give it to the one who has ten talents. And now jump down to verse 30. Throw out the worthless slave into the outer darkness. In that place, there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. And Peter, James, and John, of course, this has no relevance to you. This is really just future sermon material that you'll preach an evangelistic crusade to the lost. Is that in there? That is not in there. This has relevance to you, Peter, James, and John. You don't want to be like the one talent slave. I need to see fruit. I want to return on my investment when I come back. Otherwise, you'll be cast into outer darkness, Peter, James, Andrew, and John. And then last but not least, part of the Oliver Discourse, four people in the audience, maybe a couple more, we don't know. When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, and He will sit on His glorious throne, all the nations will be gathered before Him, will separate them from one another. The shepherd separates sheep from the goats. Put the sheep on his right, goats on his left. And you know this. The king says those lines, right? Come, you are blessed of my Father. Inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. Because you prayed a sinner's prayer. Is that what it says? Because you believed in salvation by grace through faith alone. You had that right. That's not what he said. Because you tithe. That's not what he said. You quit smoking. That's not what he said. As important as any of those things may be now. Not belittling any of those things. You were correct on the Trinity. You were in the right church. They had it right. No. You went on a short-term mission trip every year. No, it was, I was hungry and you gave me something. I was thirsty, you gave me something to drink. I was a stranger. You invited me in naked. You clothed me. I was sick. You visited me. I was in prison. You came to me. Of course you know the righteous are a little bit shocked about all this. When did we see you hungry and so forth? Jesus said, Truly I say to you, this is now verse 40, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of mine, even the least of them, you did it to me. And so the litmus test of love for Jesus was love for the brethren. Love expressed by self-sacrifice in meeting pressing needs. Can I have an amen? I don't understand why this passage of scripture is not more prominent within Christendom today. I don't understand it. It seems to me that the sheep inherit eternal life and the goats go to hell. Is that how it seems to you in this? And it seems to me that the deciding criteria was did they really love Christ? And what determined that was did they love the brethren? Am I interpreting this wrongly? Should what I've just said keep me from pulpits? Is this heresy? Christ said, By this shall all men know you are my disciples. How? They love one another. John said, By this we know we pass from death to life because we love the brethren. If anyone beholds his brother in need and closes his heart against him, how does the love of Christ abide in him? That's a rhetorical question. It doesn't. James said, A brother or sister without clothing needs a day of food. One of you says to him, Go in peace. Be warm and be filled. What use is that? There's no use. So faith that works is dead. This is all contained in scripture. This is Old and New Testament really. It's loving your neighbor as yourself. And so what's the second false gospel? The first false gospel that I want to expose today in light of this virgin's parable was the deception that salvation is like a tattoo. Once you got it, even if you don't want it, you're stuck with it. Call it whatever you want to call it. Once saved, always saved. Sometimes it's called perseverance of the faith. That's a little different version. But you can't lose it if you've really got it. Can you see how that could really that could be a very diabolical doctrine? If in fact what I've said to you is true today. That this is so diabolical because it puts people to sleep. I don't need to live holy. You know the Bible says pursue the holiness without which no one will see the Lord. I don't need to because once saved, always saved. I don't have to worry about watching pornography because once saved, always saved. Even though Christ said whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has committed adultery in his heart. The New Testament warns that no adulterer will inherit the kingdom of God. I don't have to worry about that because I got it. My pastor said I got it. We had a guy in Pittsburgh who murdered I forget how many women in a fitness place. Police found he just opened up and shot turned off the lights and just began random shooting. I forget how many he killed. Three women wounded a bunch of other ones. They found his diary and he wrote. He said I'm going to be seeing Jesus in a few more days because my pastor assured me if you're saved you'll always be saved. There's nothing you can do that could remove God's grace from your life. So let me go kill some people. That's the fruit. That's the fruit. Is that guy in heaven today? According to my Bible. The second one would be another gospel that is so dangerous is the gospel that has already been said many times here that contains no call to repentance. No change life. No fruit of holiness. You can go to heaven and be a goat. That's heresy. Goats go to hell. Can I have an amen please? Goats go to hell. Boy, I know what I'm going to do. I'm going to run out real quick and give some money to heaven's family so I can go to heaven. Oh, you missed it entirely. If you're born again you'll become a sheep and you'll start acting like a sheep. Get born again. Get born again. The fruit of the spirit. The first fruit is love. The first thing you're going to see. We've got this gospel today that doesn't call people to repentance. Just accept Jesus as your personal Savior. Boy, the word Savior I think is only found like 17 times in the whole New Testament. The word Lord is found like 700 times. There's no accepting Jesus. Jesus doesn't need you to accept Him. You need Him to accept you. The only way He'll accept you is if you repent. Okay, so you repent. Now I'm closing. So here's the scripture. John the Baptist preaching the gospel. People are convicted. He's calling them to repent. And they said, what shall we do? And the very first thing that John said to them was whoever has two coats share with him who has none. And whoever has food do likewise. This is the first step of the baby Christian who's just been the baby believer let's say who's just been baptized. The first thing that that person should do is begin to demonstrate a concern for the very, very poor. Whoever has two coats share with him who has none. Whoever has food do likewise. So John knew, I guess, in essence, that one day Jesus was going to say one of two things to everybody. Either I was hungry and you fed me or I was hungry and you didn't feed me. Or I was naked and you clothed me. Or I was naked and you didn't clothe me. That's the alternatives. Now, I would appreciate very much your constructive criticism. If there's something that I've said today, now don't stand up right now and tell me. But if I've presented myself in a wrong way or an arrogant way or if I'm totally missing the point here from the Bible and I'm totally deceived and I, you know, well, I want to know about it. But, uh, at this moment right now I'm pretty sure I'm right. You know? And if I am right, this should be shouted from the housetops and proclaimed next Sunday in every church around the world. You know? But it's not going to be. Because, as we were learning already, in the last days men will acquire teachers after their own desires. It will tickle their ears. False prophets, false Christs will arise and will mislead many. Lord, have mercy. Lord, have mercy. Thank you for your faithfulness to stay with the truth, to live the truth, to share the truth, no matter what the consequence. Blessed are you when men hate you and revile you and persecute you for my name's sake. Great is your award. In heaven. Father in heaven, thank you for every true saint here today and listening to this over the internet or by recording, oh Lord. Our souls have been searched already by these searching messages that we have been so blessed to hear already. Lord, I pray that we'll think about these things as well. We'll examine ourselves and Lord, that you will embolden us for the truth. Hallelujah. Help us to make disciples true sheep. Help us to be your disciples, true sheep. Following hard after you because we love you with all of our heart, mind, soul, and strength. Hallelujah. Love our neighbor as ourselves. God. Lord, you who began a good work in us, may you perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus. We all want more of the Holy Spirit. Oh, we want more of the Holy Spirit. Whatever else you give us, Lord. Whatever else is there for us, Lord. To make us ready. Let us see it. Oh, God. In Jesus name. Everybody said. Amen. God bless you all.