07.03.22 Morning - Mark 13:21-23

Open your Bibles to Mark 13:21-23. •We’re continuing our study of the Gospel of Mark.  •More specifically, we are in the fifth week of our study of the Olivet Discourse.  Our text this morning has to do with false Christs and false prophets.  •In these three verses, our Lord Jesus is giving a warning to His infant Church about what they can expect during the days of the Jewish War with Rome in the First Century.  •And one of the things they can expect is for an abundance of false messiahs and false prophets to rise up in those days and deceive many.  •And so, our Lord lovingly warns His People to be on guard and reject such wicked deceivers.  •But He also gives a glorious word of comfort within this warning. It’s a word of encouragement to His Church.  •And here it is: The Elect, those who truly know and trust in Christ, will not be deceived.  The words of Jesus in our text, though fulfilled in the First Century, nevertheless contain timeless principles that benefit His Church until He returns.  •This passage teaches us that in the face of false Christs, false prophets, and false teachers, we are to be resolved to stick tight to the Lord Jesus Christ, while also resting in His precious promise that He will preserve His Elect.  There is a lot to encourage us in the words of Jesus in these verses.  •There is a lot for us to take heed to as well.  •And doesn’t that just remind us of how good the Word of God is?  •In His Word, God has been so kind to fill our hopes with hope and joy as well as giving us wisdom and instruction so we know how to walk in difficult days.  A quick word before we begin: •I will be teaching this text thematically this morning. •I’ll be dealing with themes in the text more than a verse-by-verse, in order exposition.  •And in order to do that, I’ve organized the material into four headings: 1. False Christs and False Prophets 2. Refuse to Listen 3. The Elect Will Be Preserved 4. Be on Guard •By God’s grace, that’s where we’ll be going this morning.  •May God bless our time in His Word.  If you would, and are able, please stand with me now for the reading of the inspired, inerrant, and infallible Word of God.  Mark 13:21-23 [21] And then if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’ or ‘Look, there he is!’ do not believe it.  [22] For false christs and false prophets will arise and perform signs and wonders, to lead astray, if possible, the elect.  [23] But be on guard; I have told you all things beforehand. (PRAY) Our God in Heaven,  We thank you for your Word this morning.  Thank you for giving us a sure Foundation to stand on, a sure Word to believe, and a sure Guide for our lives.  We ask now that you would bless the ministry of your Word to the salvation of our souls.  By your Spirit, open our hearts and minds to receive your Word. And bend our wills to believe and obey.  Grant us faith, love, and obedience to what you have spoken by your Spirit in your Word.  And grant to us greater love and faithfulness to our great God and Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.  We ask these things in His Name and for His sake.  Amen.  1.) Let’s establish some CONTEXT first: •Our Lord has been prophesying about the coming destruction on Jerusalem that was fulfilled in AD70.  •In this section of the OD, Jesus has now specifically begun to talk about when things will get really bad in Jerusalem.  •That is, beginning in v14, He has begun to speak about what it will be like when the Roman armies (the AoD), will wage war against Jerusalem. And also how the Christians need to flee when they see the Romans approaching.  •And now, continuing that theme (the destruction of Jerusalem and war with Rome), which is the theme of vv5-30, Jesus begins to speak of false Christs and false prophets that will become more prevalent in those days.  2.) And that brings us to our first heading: False Christs and False Prophets.  [21] And then if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’ or ‘Look, there he is!’ do not believe it.  [22] For false christs and false prophets will arise and perform signs and wonders, to lead astray, if possible, the elect.  V21 begins with the phrase, “And then” in our English Bibles.  •That phrase can be translated “At that time.” And it often is translated that way in many different places in the NT.  •And it’s something equivalent to the phrase “in those days” or “then” as in, “Then, at that time I’m speaking of.” •So then, Jesus is speaking of a further feature of the general period being described. That is, the period leading up to Jerusalem’s destruction.  •Jesus is NOT speaking of a subsequent phase of history.    Remember, the focus of vv5-30 is to answer the disciples’ question in v4 about the destruction of the Temple.  So these verses are saying that in the days when the AoD is seen/is coming (v14 Roman armies), there will be false prophets and false Christs arise.  •And they will try to convince those in Jerusalem that the city would be saved and not destroyed.  •They would try to lead people astray. In particular, given the context, they would try to lead astray the Christians. They would try to convince them to not flee to the mountains as Jesus said that they should in v14.  •They will offer false hopes of salvation through false messiahs/Christs, and false promises of deliverance through false prophets.  •They will arise and lead many ASTRAY. They will lead people astray from the TRUE CHRIST, Jesus, and astray from what HE SAID about the coming fate of Jerusalem at the hands of Rome.  And indeed, during the time leading up to and during the Jewish War with Rome, and during the time of siege, there were many false messiahs/Christs.  •There were many men who claimed to be some kind of “king” who would rescue Jerusalem from the Romans.  •And, as you know, to be a Jew who claimed to be a king who would rescue Israel from the Romans would’ve been understood by First Century Jews to be a claim to be the Messiah. (That’s what they were wrongly expecting.) •And in his historical account, the First Century historian Josephus mentions a few of these false kings/false messiahs by name.  •And Josephus also mentions many unnamed false prophets who prophesied that God would rescue Jerusalem from the Romans by supernatural intervention.  These men were proclaiming that a time of deliverance had come, whether through “the Messiah” or divine intervention.  •And again, remember the Jewish concept of Messiah at that time: They were looking for an earthly deliverer. They were looking for an earthly nation, an earthly salvation, and earthly freedom (particularly from Rome).  •That’s what they were looking for. And that’s what these false Christs and false prophets were promising.  Remember also the Jewish beliefs about the Temple: It had to stand until the end of time.  •And since, in their minds, the Messiah had not yet come, the end of the world couldn’t be upon them. And, therefore, the Temple could not be destroyed.  •So then, God MUST deliver them.  •Their unbelief in Jesus Christ, their rejection of Him and His Gospel had left them open to all manner of deceptions.  And they fell right into all of this. They ate up all of these falsehoods.  •They believed it. So many were deceived.  •Anyone who offered hope of some kind of deliverance was gladly received while the Christian message of the true Christ and His warning of judgment was rejected.  •Nobody wants to die. I think we all know that. And so, the Jews were ready to receive any messianic pretender or false prophet who promised deliverance.  •And that’s exactly what they did.  Jesus also mentions that these false Christs and false prophets would “perform signs and wonders” to lead people astray. •Jesus sounds to me like He is paraphrasing Deuteronomy 13:1-4 at this point: [1] “If a prophet or a dreamer of dreams arises among you and gives you a sign or a wonder, [2] and the sign or wonder that he tells you comes to pass, and if he says, ‘Let us go after other gods,’ which you have not known, ‘and let us serve them,’ [3] you shall not listen to the words of that prophet or that dreamer of dreams. For the LORD your God is testing you, to know whether you love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul. [4] You shall walk after the LORD your God and fear him and keep his commandments and obey his voice, and you shall serve him and hold fast to him. •God spoke through Moses and told Israel that even if someone gave a prophecy that came to pass, and even if they performed what appeared to be a miracle (something you cannot explain), but then went on to teach something contrary to what God said, DO NOT BELIEVE THEM.  •Such a one is a liar and a deceiver. And as such, they were to be ignored and, in OT Israel, they were to be executed.  In the context of the OD, Jesus is saying much the same thing: •These false Christs and false prophets will perform signs and wonders (they will do seemingly supernatural things). •But even though they do that, if they claim a different Christ other than the Lord Jesus Christ, or if they claim something contrary to what He has said (namely, that God was going to save Jerusalem from Rome), DO NOT BELIEVE. THEY ARE LIARS.  NOTE: I am of the opinion that the signs of these liars were probably false signs and false wonders.  •Commentators differ on this, but I think they were probably tricks that they did.  •This would be very similar to what Pharaoh’s magicians did in the book of Exodus who “by their secret arts” (tricks) seemed to replicate Aaron’s staff turning into a serpent and the turning of water into blood.  •I don’t believe that the magicians did legitimate miracles. And I don’t think that these false Christs and false prophets did, either.  •And in part this is because true miracles are acts of God and true miracles are meant to validate and attest to the message of a prophet/Apostle sent from God.  •And I don’t believe that God would perform true miracles for those who are in opposition to Jesus Christ.  •So then, I don’t believe that these miracles were true miraculous acts of God. Rather, they were most likely tricks.  •But I admit that I could be wrong. And God is certainly able to allow Satan to manipulate nature in order to deceive people, especially if God is judging them and allowing them to fall into deception.  But, either way, catch this:  •Jesus says that no matter what you see them do, LISTEN TO WHAT THEY SAY.  •And if they claim a Christ other than Jesus, or if they say anything contrary to Jesus, DON’T LISTEN TO THEM! There is a principle for us to see here. And I believe that it will serve us all well: •Knowing what Jesus SAYS and who HE IS, is more important than any sign you could see or hear.  •What you KNOW from the Word of God is more important than what you SEE.  •What God has said is more solid and sure than anything we might witness. Our perception of things is fallible. God’s Word is not.  •So no matter what you may see from a false teacher, even if they appear to be able to do miracles, it’s more important to listen to what they SAY about Jesus and His Word.  •What a principle to guard us from those charlatans who claim to have done and seen miracles and yet preach heresies and all manner of false doctrine! •What we know the Bible says is more important than anything else we see or hear.  •Remember that. What people say is more important than any “sign” they show you.  •What God has said is more important and sure than any subjective personal experience you may have.  But, going back to the First Century fulfillment of all of this, Josephus records that some of the false Christs and false prophets offered “signs and wonders” to support their claims.  •You can read of these things in his history of the Jewish War.  •They did things that many people were astonished at. Things that appeared to be supernatural.  •And they claimed, contrary to Jesus, that others were the Messiah, and that God would deliver Jerusalem from Rome.  •And neither of those claims turned out to be true.  SUMMARY SO FAR: •Jesus says that imposters would rise as the war with Rome brewed and broke out.  •They would rise to try and take power to themselves and convince people that God would save them.  •And the people were apt to believe them because they desired salvation from Rome. •They were apt to believe these liars because they rejected the Lord Jesus Christ.  NOTE: There is divine irony here, isn’t there? •The Jews who would not receive Jesus Christ would later be deceived into receiving all manner of false messiahs.  •They rejected the true Christ and His true prophets. And so, God will judge them by allowing them to be deceived.  •This reminds us a bit of what the Apostle Paul says about false teachers in 2 Timothy 4:3-4: •The false teachers are sought out by those who don’t want the truth. The false teachers are a judgment on the people who want them.  •Brothers and sisters, sometimes God gives people what they want and it’s a judgment on them.  •And the Jews wanted any Christ except Jesus Christ. So God gave them over to deception and judgment.  Don’t miss this: Consider the statement in v21: “Look, there he is!” •What is being said by these men?  •It’s this: “The Messiah was not Jesus. Rather, it’s this other person who will save us from Rome. Jesus was wrong! Judgment is not coming!” •The false Christs and false prophets were declaring that Jesus was a liar and that His words were false. (They were at least saying that implicitly.) And, as Jesus said, they would lead many astray.  •The deception would be so strong that many would be deceived and die under God’s judgment against Jerusalem, as history shows us happened.  •They believed the lie that Jesus was not the Christ and that His Word was not true. And so, they perished.  And, as Josephus records, that is exactly what happened.  •Most of the Jews would not stop fighting against Rome even though their destruction was imminent.  •They absolutely would not listen to reason.  •The war with Rome was not winnable. But they would not give up.  •And this eventually led to the slaughter of 1.1 million Jews at the hands of the Romans.  •And all of this was because they believed false Christs and false prophets.  3.) There is a lot of relevance for us in what we’ve seen so far: •There are many false Christs and false prophets in our day, just as there were back then.  •The Apostle John warns us of antichrists (plural. False Christs and false teachers) that would come during the time between Christ’s Ascension and Return.  •There are many in our day who seek to lead others astray from the true Christ and teach them that His words, Jesus’ words, are false.  There are what I call Formal False Christs.  •These are those few individuals who start cults and claim to be the Messiah of the OT, or claim to be Jesus Himself.  •These are also those false religions that preach a false version of Jesus Christ: •The Jehovah’s Witnesses who teach that Jesus is not God but is a creation of God. •The Mormons who teach that Jesus is one god among an infinite number of gods.  •The Oneness Pentecostals who deny the Trinity and that the Son of God has not eternally existed as the Son.  •The liberal Protestants who teach that Jesus was just a man or a good moral teacher but is nothing more than a Jewish rabbi who said some helpful things.  •There are more than this, but you get the idea: These are false Christs in organized religions. They call their Christs by the name “Jesus” but it is NOT the Jesus we meet in the Scriptures.  There are also Formal False Prophets in our day.  •These are the leaders of those religions/cults.  •These are the preachers and priests and prophets of those groups who claim to speak on behalf of God and declare the false Christ they worship.  •These are also those preachers, priests, and prophets who openly and blatantly contradict the Word of Christ (the Bible) and declare that what Jesus has said in the Old and New Testaments is false.  •NOTE: By disagreeing with Scripture, by calling Scripture false, they are calling our Lord Jesus a liar because the whole Book is His Word. (It is the Word of God and Jesus IS GOD.) But it’s not so much the formal false Christs and false prophets that we have to be on guard against.  •We’re pretty good with that. We tend to know where the battle lines are drawn with those cults.  •I think it’s the INFORMAL ones that tend to pose more of a threat to the Church.  Informal False Christs are the opinions of men and cultural views of Jesus that are not informed by Scripture.  •And we’re probably fairly familiar with these: •The Jesus who is OK with your sin and would never call you to repent and follow Him with your WHOLE life.  •The Jesus who has no judgment and no wrath and would never think about damning anyone for their sins.  •The Jesus who was generically “nice” to everyone and never said anything disagreeable.  •The Jesus who doesn’t care if you believe the whole Bible, so long as you’re generically nice to everyone.  •The Jesus who is OK with adultery, divorce, abortion, fornication, sodomy, drunkenness, and the like and would never call you to account for your sins.  •The Jesus who just wants you to be happy, even if you have to break His Law to do so. (He understands and will make an exception for you.) •The Jesus who is simply one Savior among many and allows you to follow your own path.  •The Jesus who only spoke in the Gospels and whose Word is not the entire Bible.  ON THE OTHER HAND, there are other informal false Christs. (Legalistic false Christs.) •The Jesus who only tolerates but does not love you.  •The Jesus who did most of the work but you need to do the rest for your salvation. •The Jesus who only loves “good people.” •The Jesus who simply cannot save certain kinds of people.  •All of these are false christs as well.  And there are also Informal False Prophets.  •These are those who espouse those views I’ve just mentioned.  •And, in doing so, they try to make us doubt what we believe about the Lord Jesus and His Word.  •This can be anyone. Any layman who holds these views and spreads them.  •This could be people on social media, your workplace, your friend group, your family, even professing Christians that you know.  And hear me: Whether formal or informal, all of these false christs and false prophets declare this: •“Look, there he is!” •They declare, “This is the real Jesus. You’ve got it all wrong. This one, the one I’m telling you about, is the true Jesus, the true Christ.” •OR they declare this: “There is no judgment to come! There is no wrath of God to be saved from. He would never do that to you!” And they all share something in common: •Not one of those false christs or false prophets can save a sinner from his sins.  •Not a single one of them. Because none of them are the true Son of God.  •Just like the ones in the First Century offered a false hope of salvation, so also ours today cannot save.  •Rather, they lead people astray from the true Christ and the salvation that He gives.  4.) So then, what are we to do in the face of such imposters? •Well, that leads us into our second heading: Refuse To Listen. do not believe it. (V21b) •When they say, “Here is the Christ!” Or “There is no judgment coming!” you should not believe them.  •Why? Because it’s NOT THE REAL CHRIST. IT IS NOT JESUS. And their words ARE NOT THE WORDS OF CHRIST. Consider this for the First Century audience: •Jesus is telling them not to believe it when they hear such things because: 1. They know who the true Christ is.  •They’ve met Him. They’ve walked with Him. They know Him personally.  2. They know where He has gone.  •At the point in time when all of this will happen in Jerusalem, they will have seen Him ascend to Heaven.  •So they know that the Messiah is not where the liars are claiming He is.  3. They know that when Jesus does come again, when He can be seen bodily again on earth, nobody will have to say, “There He is!” •As Jesus says in the parallel in Matthew 24:26-27: “So, if they say to you, ‘Look, he is in the wilderness,’ do not go out. If they say, ‘Look, he is in the inner rooms,’ do not believe it. For as the lightning comes from the east and shines as far as the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man.” •Jesus says that when He is to be seen again, it will be like lightning that flashes through the whole sky. It will not be a secret. Everyone will know that He has come to judge both the living and the dead.  4. They know what Jesus has said.  •They have His Word. Particularly, His Word about the destruction of Jerusalem. And they know that His Word will never pass away.  •What Jesus has said is what will happen. And He will not change His holy mind.  “Do not believe it.” That’s Jesus’ command to His infant Church.  •Why? Because they are liars.  •Why else? Because they are trying to lead many astray and away from Jesus.  •And so, Jesus’ Church was to reject all imposters and cling to the Lord Jesus and His words of warning and judgment.  •You could put it this way: The First Century Church was to believe what the true Christ had said. And, therefore, they were to DISBELIEVE ALL IMPOSTERS. Brothers and sisters, sometimes faithfulness to Christ calls God’s People to name others as liars and fakes and avoid them.  •And this was the call to those living in Jerusalem in the First Century: Don’t listen to them! Listen to Jesus! Again, there is relevance for us in this: •Brothers and sisters, your Lord commands you to reject all false christs and false prophets.  •Do not listen to them. Do not believe what they say.  Hear me: YOU KNOW CHRIST. Just like the disciples did in the First Century.  •How?  •Because you’ve met Him in His Word. You have encountered the living God, the living Christ in Scripture.  •YOU KNOW HIM. You have His Spirit living in you testifying to the truth of His Word. You KNOW HIM.  •And you know what He said. You know what He has declared about so many things in this life.  •And you know those things because He has given you His Word.  •So when someone presents a false Christ, a Christ who contradicts the Christ of the Bible, or tells you something contrary to what Christ has said in the Word, when they say, “Look, here He is!” DO NOT BELIEVE IT! The command to us is the same as the command to the infant Church: •When a false prophet speaks or a false Christ is presented, you call them a liar, refuse to believe them, and hold fast to the Christ you have met in the Word of God! •REJECT ALL IMPOSTERS! Let me boil this down into a couple of sentences that I hope stick with each one of us: •Jesus essentially says to His People throughout all ages: “Don’t listen to them! LISTEN TO ME! Don’t believe them! BELIEVE ME!” 5.) But with all of this deception, with all of these lies swirling around, this can make us nervous.  •How do we know that we will not fall into deception? How do we know that we will remain faithful? •Well that question leads us into our third heading. And it’s a ground for our hope that we will not be deceived: •The Elect Will Be Preserved.  [22] For false christs and false prophets will arise and perform signs and wonders, to lead astray, if possible, the elect.  Jesus says that the deception in that day would be so severe that, if it were possible to deceive the Elect into apostasy, the false christs and false prophets would succeed.  •Many would be deceived. And these wicked men would try to deceive the Elect.  •But did you catch that what Jesus implies here? He says they would “lead astray, IF POSSIBLE, the elect.” •Jesus implies here that it is not possible.  •The deception would be undeniably strong. It would be so strong that if God were not guarding the Elect, they would fall away and believe the lie, too.  •But again, Jesus is only highlighting the strength of the deception. And in doing so, He is implying that the Elect CANNOT be led astray.  If you don’t believe the implication in this verse is strong enough by itself, let me remind you of some important texts: •Speaking of the Elect, Jesus says, “I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand.” (John 10:28) •Speaking of the Elect, Peter says, we have been born again, “to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.” (1 Peter 1:4-5) •Speaking of the Elect, Paul says, we were “sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of His glory.” (Ephesians 1:14-15) •BOTTOM LINE: The Elect CANNOT perish, they are being guarded by God so they receive their salvation, and we have been guaranteed that we will acquire possession of our inheritance/salvation. •The Elect may stumble, but they cannot fall away entirely unto damnation. They cannot fully leave Christ.  •Why? Because God will not allow it.  But who are the Elect that Jesus is speaking of? Who is Jesus talking about here? •The Elect are those who have been chosen by God in eternity past to be saved.  •They are those whom the Father gave to the Son to redeem from their sin and damnation.  •The Elect are those for whom Christ came, His sheep for whom He laid down His life, His People for whom He lived righteously to make them righteous.  •They are the ones for whom Jesus died. He died for those whom the Father gave Him to save.  •And the Elect are those whom the Spirit of God has brought from spiritual death to life.  •They are those who have been spiritually awakened, given the gift of faith, and have been united to Christ by the powerful working of the Spirit.  •That is who the Elect are.  To put it in the terms of our earthly experience, that is from our perspective, the Elect are these: •The ones who, by God’s grace, have believed upon Christ for salvation.  •The ones who are not merely externally religious, but who have thrown all they are on Christ for salvation, and have been changed from the inside out by God’s grace.  •The Elect, brothers and sisters, are all who believe upon the Lord Jesus Christ.  •And these, my dear brothers and sisters, cannot be lost. They cannot fall away completely from Christ.  •The number of the Elect cannot be added to nor diminished.  •PRAISE GOD FOR THIS GRACE! God preserves His Elect.  •The Father chose, the Son lived and died, the Spirit applied and sealed.  •God will finish the work He started and preserve His People through all temptation so that they persevere unto the end.  •TAKE COMFORT CHRISTIAN! YOU WILL NOT BE LOST! •God will certainly save His People. His purposes cannot be thwarted.  In the First Century, the Elect would not listen to the false christs and false prophets.  •God would preserve them so that they continued to trust Jesus alone and listen to His Word alone.  •And so, they did. They remained faithful to Jesus.  And God will preserve us just the same.  •“Through many dangers, toils, and snares, I have already come. Tis grace that brought me safe thus far, and grace will lead me home.” •All the powers of Hell, all the wicked of the earth may join themselves together to try and lead us away from Jesus Christ, but God will preserve us as we heed His Word.  •We are saved. And we are safe. We will not be lost.  •And so, by faith in God’s promises, we will withstand all the assault of the enemy.  Hear me: We will not be undeceived because we will be so clever and smart so as to avoid deception.  •We will not persevere by sheer force of will.  •We’re not that strong. We’re not that smart. And the deception of this world is too great for us in our own power to resist.  •Rather, we will not be deceived because God will preserve us. God will do it.  •Brothers and sisters, GOD MUST DO IT! •And, praise be to Him, God has promised to do it. He has set His love upon us and will not let us go.  •As we often sing, “He will hold me fast.” And indeed, He will do it.  •And He will do so because He loves us. 6.) Now we come to our final heading. And it’s a word of command to us: Be on Guard.  [23] But be on guard; I have told you all things beforehand. •The First Century Church was to guard themselves against false christs and false prophets.  •And, so doing, they would preserve their souls by God’s grace.  •Our Lord warned them to be on guard so that they would persevere in the Faith.  Likewise, brothers and sisters, we are to be on guard.  •We are to be on the lookout for false christs and false teachers.  •We are to mark them and reject them. We are not to accept everything we hear.  •We not to embrace everything that has a cross stamped on it or claims to love Jesus or be moral or good.  •We are to be discerning. We are to be on guard against all falsehood.  •We are soldiers in a war. And we are to be on guard against our enemy, Satan, and all his minions in this world who would seek to lead us astray from Jesus Christ and His Word.  There is a bit of a weird thought to many of us here: •God promises to preserve us. And God also tells us to be on guard.  •And that’s because, very often, heeding God’s Word is one of the ways that He preserves us.  •He gives us warnings and commands to be on guard. And those commands and warnings are His methods of preservation for His Elect.  •It’s not either-or. It’s both-and. God preserves and we persevere.  So Jesus has given us warning to be on guard.  •But even in this warning, there is another encouragement for us! •Jesus warns us because He loves us. He warns you, Christian, because He loves you.  ILLUSTRATION: I warn my little girl of all kinds of things. (She’s two years old.) •I give all kinds of warnings every single day.  •Why? Because I want her to be safe. Because I want to preserve her life. Because I want to arm her and help defend her against all harm. Because I love her.  •But most relevant to this sermon, there is a warning I often give her: “STAY NEXT TO DADDY.” •“Don’t walk away from the car. Stay next to Daddy. •Don’t go into the road. Stay next to Daddy.  •Don’t get near the fire. Stay next to Daddy.  •Don’t walk down there by yourself. Stay next to Daddy.” •I want her near to me so she can be preserved from harm. And it’s because I love her.  My dear brothers and sisters, our Lord Jesus Christ is telling us, “Be on your guard. Stay next to me.” •And He says so because He loves us dearly and will not suffer us to be lost.  •He warns us because He loves us.  And we must be on guard.  •We are in a spiritual war. We are assaulted daily by the lies of Satan. We are tempted daily to forsake the true Christ for false ones.  •We constantly have false prophets trying to bend our ears and cause us to go astray.  •SO WE MUST BE ON GUARD.  •We must stay near to Christ always. We must be discerning.  •We must always be asking: “What does the Word of God say? What has Jesus said? Is this consistent with what God has said? Is this biblical? Is this the Christ I’ve met in the Word?” •Our filters must always be on. Our guards must always be up.  7.) Now, there has already been application made throughout this sermon, but let me highlight two things you should take with you before I finish.  1. Christian, be resolved to stick tight to Jesus Christ.  •Seek Him in His Word. Learn who He is more and more in the Scriptures. Learn what He has said to you.  •And in doing so, train yourself to distinguish truth from error.  •Pray for preservation and perseverance. He will surely grant both to you by grace.  •Be on your guard against all falsehood.  2. Rejoice that you will not be led astray.  •Christian, you know Christ. And He will preserve your soul.  •You are His Elect, believer.  •You have been chosen by God.  •Jesus Christ has lived to give you His righteousness and died to take away your sins and make you clean.  •The Spirit of God has granted you faith and united you to Jesus Christ so that you receive all that He has accomplished on your behalf.  •You will be kept. BE GLAD! Go ahead and believe that now! •It is not arrogant to say, “I will not be lost! Because Jesus will not allow it!” •That’s not arrogance. That is faith in the promises of God given to you in Christ Jesus our Lord.  •It WOULD BE arrogant to say, “I won’t be lost because I’m so strong willed.” •But that is NOT what we say. We say with the full confidence of faith, “I will not be lost because my Lord is stronger than all and HE WILL DO IT!” •That is faith. And we live each day by faith.  •The promise is yours Christian.  •Take it, fight the lies of the enemy, and be glad in Christ.  May God grant to each one of us to trust in Christ, to be faithful to Him, to reject all imposters, and to rejoice that we will forever be with Jesus because we have been chosen by God.  •Amen.