Marks of a True Prophet — L.R. Shelton Jr

The Judgment of False Teachers in 2 Peter 2

I want you to pray for us as we go through the second chapter of 2 Peter in our exposition. It is one of the most terrible, awful chapters in the whole Bible, because it pictures the characteristics of the unsaved false teachers and preachers and prophets, so-called, and that gives us a picture that is most vivid.

I cannot get away from it as God has been laying this on my heart for a month or two, either here or in Jude, and the Lord laid on me to come to this chapter to go into it. We gave you our first message last Lord's Day morning upon this second chapter.

Let's read it together another time so you can see the picture and watch it as it unfolds. This is a chapter that I imagine is hardly read by anybody, unless you are reading through the Bible or reading the book through.

It is a chapter you would not go to normally to read, to meditate upon, because it is a whole chapter concerning false teachers, going us against them, and the way of the Lord, and it is coming upon them, the judgment.

Second Peter chapter 2 verse 1,. But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there should be false teachers among you, who privately should bring in damnable harasses, even denying the Lord that brought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction.

And they shall follow their pernicious ways, by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of. And through covetousness shall they with feigned words make merchandise of you, whose judgment now a long time lingereth not, and their damnation slumbereth not.

For if God spared not the angels that sinned, who cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness to be reserved unto judgment, and spared not the old world, but saved nor the eighth person, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood upon the world of the ungodly, and turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah into ashes, condemn them with an overthrow.

They condemn and then sample unto those that after should live ungodly, and deliver just one, vexed with the filthy conversation of the wicked. For that righteous man dwelling among them, in seeing and hearing, vexed his righteous soul from day to day with their unlawful deeds.

Let Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations, and to reserve the unjust unto the dead, judgment to be punished, for chiefly them that walk after the flesh in the lust of uncleanness, and despise government.

Presumptuous are they, self-willed, they are not afraid to speak evil of dignities, whereas angels, which are greater in power and might, bring not railing accusation against them before the Lord. But these, as natural brute beasts, made to be taken and destroyed, speak evil of the things that they do understand not, and shall utterly perish in their own corruption, and shall receive the reward of unrighteousness, as they that tell it pleasure to riot in the daytime.

Spots they are, and blemishes, supporting themselves with their own deceivings, while they feast with you, have eyes full of adultery, and it cannot cease from seeing, beguiling unstable souls, and heart they have exercised with covetous practices, cursed children, which have forsaken the right way, and have gone astray following the way of Balaam the son of Bozarth, who loved in the wages of unrighteousness, but was rebuked for his iniquity, the dumbass speaking with man's voice, for bad the madness of the prophet.

These are wells without water, clouds that are carried with a compass, for whom the mist of darkness is reserved forever. When they speak great swelling words of vanity, they allure through the lust of the flesh, through much wantonness, those that would flee and escape from them who live in error.

While they themselves, while they promise them liberty, they themselves are the servants of corruption, for whom a man is overcome of the same as he brought in bondage. For after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein and overcome.

The latter is worse with them than the beginning, for it had been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness than after they have known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered unto them.

But it is happening unto them according to the true proverb, the dog is turned to his own vomit again, and the sow that was washed to her wallowing in the mire. Let us pray. Our Father and our God, as we come to Thee this morning, and through the blood of Christ in His name, we come in fear and trembling.

For Thou art a holy God and a righteous God, and Thou dost sit upon the throne. And Thy word is true for the judge of all the earth, doeth right, and thou canst not lie. And Thy name is faithful and true, the true witness, and we praise Thy name for it.

And Father, this portion that Thou hast left us on the pages of holy writ came from Thy Holy Spirit to the Apostle Peter to write to us for warning to those of that day and for all the ages, especially in the day in which we are living.

O Lord, how needful it is for us to understand the word of God, for it to be expounded to our hearts and opened up, that we might know the false from the true and the true from the false. And we may walk in a way of righteousness and true holiness, keeping ourselves unspotted from the world, and take away even those garments, Father, that are spotted by the world, and keep ourselves in the love of God, walking in the Spirit, waiting upon Thee.

Lord, we are living in perilous days. We are living in days, our Father, when all man that thinks about is his own God, which is himself, and has no time or no thoughts for Thee, the true and the living God.

Help us. Give us Thy Word this morning, that You would put in our hearts. May we be brought forth by the power of Thy Spirit. Lord, in this hour, my Father, do not leave us alone but to ourselves. But fill us with Thy Spirit, overflow us with Thy love, and may we speak the truth in love.

And may our hearts be broken at Thy feet. Thank You for this day. For the mercies You have shown to us. For all of the grace that has been poured upon us. Thy love shed abroad in our hearts. For the fellowship that we have with Thee in the Lord Jesus Christ.

And for speaking to our soul and saying, Thou art all fair, my love. Thou art all fair. And we praise You for it. Fair only in Christ. And we praise You for that cleansing blood and that cleansing righteousness.

So help us. Preach through us. Give each and every one of us hearts to receive Your Word. In Christ's name we pray. Amen. Now, last night's Good Morning, as I told you, we began to go into this chapter.

The Marks and Danger of False Prophets

And we began to show you the characteristics of the false teachers and the false preachers. All week long, as soon as I left the pulpit last Wednesday morning, it was late upon my heart. But this morning, I said, go through the Scriptures and show you what God's Word teaches concerning His true preachers.

And to show you what God has done and will do. And how He raises up those whom He wants to preach His precious Word and to teach His precious Word. And He equips them. And we will see that this morning by the grace of God.

I did not want to go any further than I went last Wednesday morning in showing you the characteristics of these false prophets. Without going into and showing you the marks of the true prophet. So that in our messages from here on out, you will have the comparison between the two.

And I pray that you will ask the Lord to give you understanding this morning that you might put this in true perspective. And that you might keep these things in mind as we go through the remainder of this chapter.

Because every time I read it, it makes me tremble. I was trembling even reading it this morning. Because I see the awful doom of these who have raised themselves up as teachers and preachers. And are nothing but false prophets and teachers and preachers in the sight of God.

And we have their characteristics here. And the judgment that awaits them. And that's what is awful. The judgment that awaits them. And they know it not. And they love it. Insanity. Trembling. Lest I would be one of these.

Lest in the end I would turn back. Lest in the end I would apostatize. Lest in the end it would be said of me. What happened to him according to the true prophet. The dog has turned to his own vomit again.

And the sow that was washed her wallet in the mire. And is it something about your salvation? No. Is it about God's hand to keep you? No. But Paul said he was among the Corinthians in fear and trembling.

And he says in 1 Corinthians 9. That is when I keep my body in subjection. That while I preach to others. I myself will not be a pass away. So there are the scriptures like that. Don't you think it's wise on my part.

To walk in fear and trembling. Lest at last I would be found to be false. And not take these things home to my own heart. And ask God to search my own heart out with him. And to use the sword to cut asunder everything that's not founded in the Lord Jesus Christ.

So I want you to pray for me. I want you to pray for us. As we work and labor and lead here by the grace of God. So that I don't want to come to the end. And find it all gone. I don't want to blind it by the godless work.

I've often walked by all of those tapes I have in that paper. All of those radio messages that I preached for 15 years and got into print. And I said what an awful awful place in hell I would have.

If I repudiated all that I have preached.

I mean that to stay true to the end. I'd be in the bottomless pit forever and forever. Do you believe you're a false prophet pastor? No. I don't. I believe I have the marks by the grace of God. I've studied day and night.

This message for a day I believe I have the marks. Of a true shepherd of God. But that doesn't make me. But be willing to be careful to walk in the way of righteousness and true holiness continually. You bear with us now here.

I want you to hear. God has a word for our hearts this morning. I'm already giving it to you. And I want you to listen by the grace of God. Now I could not go into this message on true prophets. Without giving you a little background of our message last Lord's Day morning.

To show you what we did go into. Just a little I think. I'm going to preach that sermon again. Not now. Maybe some other time. But a lot of characteristics of a false teacher are prophets. Thus one tells us they subtly bring in damnable destructive heresies.

Teachings which will not stand upon the word of God. And I'll show you that that word heresy refers to a chosen course of thought or action. That an individual takes or that a group of people adapts or adopts.

As an article of faith in the way of life. And how many have gone off astray. Preaching works for salvation. Damnable heresies. They bring in the fact that you must be baptized to be saved. A damnable heresy.

You must belong to this church to be saved. A damnable heresy. They preach that there are many routes to heaven. That's a damnable heresy. They preach that you have to speak in tongues to be saved. We went on and on you remember in this.

And the thing that they leave out. Which is a characteristic of an unsaved false teacher and prophet and preacher. The thing they leave out is holiness. Holiness is not in their theology. They do not preach on it.

They do not want it. And they deny the sovereign Lord who brought them. And how do they do this? They deny Christ by leaving him out of their ministry. They deny him in that way. He is not the central, vital, essential place in their preaching and in their living.

They deny him by ignoring him. Denying his person. Denying his lordship. Denying his deity. Denying that he was true man and true God. In the glory of God. And they do not make the centrality of Christ into the centrality of the cross.

For all of their life. Their whole life. Because they deny the Lord who brought them. And whatever teaching a man may have to offer. If the Christ of Calvary is left out. And he is not climbed daily. On thee, O Lord.

In thy Christ I cling to. And daily I come to thee. For every need is false. But again, in verse 2. These false teachers so preach that they get many to follow their pernicious ways. And that word pernicious means their lascivious ways.

They get many to follow in their unbridled lusts. And here's how they do it. They say the blood covers it all. Didn't you know that? Sanctification or holiness is not part of their theology. Watch their lives.

Watch their preaching. You can tell a false prophet a lot of times by what they leave out. Instead of what they say. And they leave out. Sanctification and holiness. Verse 3. This man is filled with covetousness.

He's not preaching or teaching for the glory of God. For if he was, he would be climbing to God for a broken heart and a contrite spirit. He would be full of humility. He would be desiring to be like Christ in every phase of his life.

No. What he's doing is with vain words. And cunning false arguments. He comes to exploit the people. They want it over God's heritage. He loves power. He loves dominion over people. He will do anything and everything that he can keep you under his power.

He covets your gold and your silver and your lands and your houses. Doing his best to keep all he can to use upon his own lusts. And then the favorite expression of those who cannot keep you under their rule and reign.

Don't touch God's. I know that. But my friend, that's their faults. In verse 10. They walk after the flesh. And indulge in the lust of polluting passion and scorn and despise authority. They know nothing about authority.

They are authority unto themselves. Presumptuous and daring. Self-willed and self-loving creatures are they. Cross their will. Cross their thinking and their plans. And they will belong before they will tell every damnable lie out of hell upon you.

And turn everybody they can against you. Because you wonder if you even have a friend left. They do this because you are denying ungodliness and world lust. And are living soberly, righteously and godly in this present world.

And the believer who is walking in this way. Their life of holiness convicts these individuals. And their only recourse is to put you out of business. To put you out of the way. To black ball you. And to kill you if possible.

And that's why you ask all day. I'm only preaching God's word. And what I've experienced. I know from my own heart. A prophet and a false teacher is. And then verse 14. We'll go on from there. They have eyes full of adultery and satanical sin.

They beguile and bait and lure away unstable souls. Their hearts are trained in covetousness. In lust and greed. And they abide under the curse of God. And then I read to you 2 Timothy chapter 3. And warned you.

Have in a form of godliness. For they deny the power thereof. And God's word says from such to they. For of this sort are they which creep into houses. And lead captive silly women laden with lust. Led away with diverse lust.

Ever learning. And never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. And I warned. I warned you women. To be careful. About who you listen to. Who you follow. What you read. That these ungodly men. Will not do to you.

As it was said that they did here in Timothy. They have a form of godliness. But they deny the power thereof. God said turn away from them. For of this sort are they which creep into houses. And lead captive silly women.

Laden with sins. And led away with diverse lust. So I warned you. And I warned you again this morning. Now. I had to say that so you would know. A little bit of the chapter. And what it teaches. And what we want to go into.

The Cost of Standing Behind the Holy Desk

And to show you the difference this morning. By the grace of God. Beloved if you think it's easy to stand behind this holy desk. And be unasked upon people. You don't know what you're talking about. You don't know anything.

Stand here. And be true the souls of men. Is the hardest thing in all the world. Because by nature. I'd rather go around ten city blocks. To get away from contention. Or anything in connection with it.

But God has put me in positions. Where I've had to do it. I wanted to tell you a couple of weeks ago. It comes to my mind now. I want to tell you. When my friend died in New Orleans. Buried a rock at Rosa in Louisiana.

The other week. They took her to the same church. And buried her in the same graveyard. Where I was 35 years ago. I had to go preach a funeral. For a man who died of cirrhosis of liver. The liver. He'd been a drunkard.

A wife beater. A child beater. All of his life. That's all the life they knew. Because that woman had cried on my shoulder too many times. And all the way up there. Was about a hundred miles above New Orleans.

All the time I was going. The only word I could get a hold of. Was. My sinner man's sowing. That's how you sow wheat. And I had to stand there. With this big country church. Packed with people. All relatives.

Accommodating him and preaching him to heaven. And I had to preach her that message. I had to preach seven to that whole audience. As one man. Loved to turn on me and kill me. To preach him the truth.

I had to tell him. Where the man was. His life showed him. And he never repented. And I never will forget. As I walked out of the pulpit. And started down the aisle. His wife came out of. Beside one of the first pews.

She gripped my hand. And she said Pastor.

Thank you. We both knew. And I'm glad God gave you grace. To tell her. It had to be grace. It had to be grace. Let's get to more pleasant subjects now. And let's look and see.

The True Prophet’s Call to Christlike Ministry

The characteristics. Of a true teacher. And preacher. After the example. Of our Lord Jesus Christ. First of all. This man called by the grace of God. The direct call of the spirit upon his soul. Until he could do nothing else.

But do what God told him to do. To leave all that he might teach and preach his word. And has separated himself. Unto God. To be used of him. Wherever. Whenever. However. For God's glory. This man wants to be.

And act like. His blessed Lord. The Lord Jesus Christ. He wants to preach as he preached. He wants to walk as he walked. He wants to follow his example. In all things. And so as he reads the word of God.

He desires to be like his Lord. And that is. To be meek and lowly in heart. According to Matthew 11 -28. This is his desire of his heart. To be meek and lowly in heart. This is the opposite. Of what's taught in 2 Peter chapter 2.

Not only that. He reads in 2 Corinthians 10 -1. He will have us. To be. Have that meekness and gentleness. Of praise. Many times have I gone to that verse of Scripture. And plead Lord. Let me be like my blessed Lord.

In meekness. In humility. And in gentleness. To be in gentleness. And not only that. But he said in Luke and again in Matthew. He wants to be like his Lord. And be able to say. I came not to be ministered unto.

But to minister. I did not come to get what you have. I came to get your soul. For the son of God. I came to preach that your soul might be delivered. From going down to the pit. I came that you might be delivered.

By the grace of God. And not only that. But he reads also in the word. That he should wash the brethren's feet. To be like his blessed Lord. Is to take off his outer garments as it were. Wrap it all around him.

And get down upon his all fours. And in the humiliation. And brokenness of heart. To wash his brethren's feet. And the Lord Jesus said in John 13. He said as you have seen me do. He said you called me Lord.

And you're right. Lord and Master. And you're right. And you should. He said you see what your Lord and Master has done. He's washed your feet. Now you do likewise. He left us that example. And the servant of God.

Should speak the truth in love. But he should be a man. And we'll show in a little while the characteristics of him. From another angle. But he should be a man. That is willing to take the Lord's place.

He is willing to wash his brethren's feet. He is willing to do what God wants him to do. And many will desire to put into practice. Romans 11 .2 and Galatians 6 .2. That every one of us please his neighbor.

For his good to edification. For even Christ pleased not himself. So we are to please our neighbor to edification. And bear you one another's burdens. And to fulfill the Lord Christ. Christ has borne our burden of sin.

He wants us to bear our brother's burden. Bear one another's burdens. And all of these apply to you as well as to myself. All of the two servants of God. But this is an outline of where they're coming from.

And then he hears Ephesians 4 .15. He greatly desires to put Ephesians 4 .15 into practice. For the word of God said speak the truth in love. He wants to keep a heart by the grace of God. That is filled with the love of Christ.

There will be no animosity in his heart. No animosity in his voice. He does not use the people to be him over the head. He does not use the pulpit to come and get at people. But he comes to speak the truth in love.

By the grace of God. Not only that. But his most urgent desire. His most urgent desire. Is to read 1 Peter 1 .15. As he which hath called you as holy. So be ye holy in all manner of conversation or behavior.

He's urgent about that. He's concerned about that. He never lets God at the throne of grace alone. He's always coming back. Make me like Christ in holiness. There are a walk and a way that pleases you at all times my Lord.

I walk holy. And then when he goes to 1 Peter 5. He hears these words and he desires to put them into practice. For it says the elders which are among you I exhort. Who are also an elder. And a witness of the sufferings of Christ.

And also a partaker of the glory that shall be revealed. Feed the flock of God which is among you. Taking the oversight there. Not by constraint. But willingly. Not by filthy lucre. That is the love infallible desire for wealth.

To be of a ready mind. Neither as being lords over God's heritage. But being ensampled to the flock. There's so much fear. That the true man desires to have in his life. Is to take the oversight willingly.

And not by constraint. And not for his soul to be saturated with the love of filthy lucre. And that is the infallible desire to have and to hold and to get rich off the people. But having a ready mind.

And then he's got to be very very careful when he cries to the Lord about this. Neither being lords over God's heritage. But being ensampled to the flock. He watches. Waiting. Longing. For he might be walking at will of humility.

And not to lord him over the heritage of God. Beloved, if you don't think that that's going on today. You haven't been around. You haven't seen anything. This authoritarian spirit. To dominate. To rule.

To lord it over God's heritage. As if the man in the pulpit is different from the man in the pew in regard to the grace of God. The only difference between is where God has put them. For both have been saved by the grace of God.

And why should I want to lord over God's heritage? They're not mine. I did not buy them. I did not die for them. I have no nail prints in my hands. But to lord it over them. I don't want it. I've seen it.

I don't want it. And when the true shepherd shall appear he shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away. So you see these are some of the marks. And he prays. Like his master. To be like his master.

Faith, Virtue, Knowledge, and Temperance

Go with me to 2 Peter chapter 1. How can he be like his master? Well for what did he do? He cries over that 5th, 6th and 7th verses of 1 Peter chapter 1. Look at all of those things are there. And besides this give all diligence to add to your faith.

Perchance. Perchance. Knowledge. And to acknowledge. Temperance. And to temperance. Patience. And to patience. Godliness. And to godliness. Brotherly kindness. And to brotherly kindness. Charity or love.

Beloved. These 7 things or 8 things if you count faith. They all picture or a portrait of the Lord Jesus Christ. You ought to memorize these things. This is for you as well as for me. You ought to memorize these verses of scripture.

And this should be your daily prayer. You should make it a habit daily of going to 2 Peter 1, 5, 6 and 7. As you cry it on. You ought to have it in your Bible if you memorize them. Cry to God to make you like this.

So these things, these characteristics should be in your heart and life. Because they make up the characteristics of our Lord. First of all, faith. He is the author and the finisher of our faith. Let us never forget that.

We did not get faith except by a gift from God. It was not some little asset that we made. It is not by some little asset that we live. It is by the faith of the Son of God. Who loved us and gave Himself for us.

That we live day by day. He has given us that faith. And all the precious promises that go with it. So what does He want us to do with that faith? He wants us to add to that faith. He wants me to add to that faith.

Virtue. In other words, virtue. Let us put it like Christ first. Christ is the essence of all excellency and uprightness. That is what the word virtue means. Excellency and uprightness. He is the essence of all excellency and uprightness.

You are praying this prayer. But your faith, your God-given faith will take on virtue. Then remember that Christ is the essence of all excellency and uprightness. And we get that from Him. So let us come daily and be beggars of His throne of grace.

To make us in His likeness that we might take on this virtue. That we might be excellent in our walk. Upright in our walk. And that we might be filled with the Spirit of God. Then we are going to add the virtue of knowledge.

And the knowledge, of course, knowledge is wisdom and understanding. God gives us knowledge. The Word of God is knowledge. But it does us no good unless we have wisdom to put it into effect. And know how to put it into effect.

And knowledge of understanding the Word of God. That we may walk in that way of righteousness and true holiness. Day by day. And then He wants us to add to that knowledge. This is being like Christ. Temperance.

So, what's the life of our Lord in the four Gospels? He is the essence of moderation. Of self-control. And self-discipline. As the true man that walked among men. Day by day. Look at His life and see that.

He is the essence of moderation. Self-control and self-discipline. And that's what He wants us to do. To walk in that way of temperance. Self-control. In everything. The essence of moderation. Oh, beloved.

This is the one thing that is very hard to do. Is live in moderation. The one phase does not over-balance another. As you do not give over to this or give over to that. But your life. I don't care how much tumult has gone on the inside.

I don't care how much Satan is bombarding you in the mind. I don't care how much he comes with his fiery darts. I don't care how dark the way may be. But in all of this you walk in moderation. What a life!

That's the way God wants His ministers to walk. In a way of moderation. He wants you to walk in that way of moderation. And self-control. And self-discipline. And then to add to that temperance. Patience.

And beloved. Patience means endurance. Endurance. It also means perseverance. It also means forbearance. And I like that word perseverance. Patience is persevering in the truth. Enduring in the truth.

And I love to look at my blessed Lord. With His eye set like sent to go to Jerusalem. He never forgot for which He came. And that was to die upon the cross for sinners. He let nothing get in His way. And a true man of God perseveres.

His name might be floated around, kicked around as a football. He might be threatened to be killed. He might be lies told on Him. Misunderstood in everything. His every move and walk and demeanor might all be misunderstood.

But He's to persevere. He's to go on. Waiting upon the Lord. And to His place like flint. To go on. To die even more by the grace of God. And then there's the word godliness. And with this patience, godliness, and of course, this is holy and righteous living.

Godliness, Compassion, and the Love of Christ

Beloved, if that's not in a man, he doesn't have Christ. Do you hear what I said? I said if godliness, if holy living and righteous living is not in a man, he's not saved. We had one old divine, I think it was Baxter, said, You don't jump from Delilah's lap into Abraham's bosom.

What he meant by that is, you don't jump from the cesspool of a harlot's house right into heaven. You can come to Christ from there and be saved by the grace of God and your whole life will be changed.

But you're not going to live in a harlot's house and expect to go to heaven. You're making sin the practice and rule of your life. And God breaks the power of sin when He saves you and sets you free. Then he moves on to brotherly kindness.

That is, to walk with compassion. And beloved, pray for me, will you? I believe this is one thing that I say in order, even in others, is to have compassion for others. I feel in my own soul that's the thing I lack more than anything else.

It's compassion for the souls of men. I cry for it, I want it, it looks like I need it more than anybody else does. Brotherly kindness is compassion. Graciousness and tenderness and dealing, or loving kindness and dealing with our brother.

And then he talks about landing to that love. And if you use love as a noun, it means tenderness and endurement, which is loving. But if you use it as a verb, and I want you to get these words now. If you use love as a verb, then you come up with these meanings.

Love means to yearn for. Telling you, I like to shout it last night. And I got the definition when I got that guy to hold me. Telling him that I use everything I can get my hands on to get God's message to get up on Sunday morning.

I don't come up here just to fatten my lips together. I want to bring you something that you can feed upon by the grace of God. Love as a verb means to yearn for. And brother, this takes us on back to eternity.

When the Lord God of glory, the Father, yearned for us in the Lord Jesus Christ. In other words, he loved us with such love. For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believeth in him should not perish.

He yearned for us so much that he had to have us. He sent his son to die in our place for he yearned over us. Don't you think that's good? Listen to these two words. Love, used as a verb, means to hold dear.

To hold it, he holds us dear. That's the love I want. To yearn for y 'all. To hold you dear in the sight of God. Hold dear. If that wasn't enough, the word love means to enjoy. He enjoys us. Oh beloved, how many of you continuously read the Song of Solomons?

He enjoys us coming. He said let me, and then let me hear your voice. And then he says thou art all fair my love. Thou hast eyes like gold. Thou art mine. And the bride says thou art mine. And the love making goes on.

We enjoy fellowship with the living God. And the true pastor, the true shepherd, the true teacher and preacher should be one who enjoys fellowship with the living God. And he has fellowship with the living God.

It's one of the characteristics. He's living in heaven. According to Philippians 3 .21, we are little colonies of heaven. Every one of us, our citizenship is in heaven. And every one of us are little temples and little colonies of heaven.

And we enjoy heaven on earth. And we enjoy the presence of the Lord. We enjoy fellowship one with another in the Lord Jesus Christ. We love each other. We want to be with each other. One of the things that always amazes me, our people could say they were saved and never loved the fellowship of the saints.