Are there really nice people in churches?
Of course there are.
There are really nice people in my neighborhood too.
There are really nice people in hospitals, at restaurants, and just about everywhere else that we go.
Sometimes there are people who are not very nice.
And once in a while, we hear about people who are creepy and evil, usually on the news after they have committed an atrocity.

But let’s concentrate on people in churches.
There are wonderful people who volunteer in the nursery, teach Sunday School, work as greeters, and volunteer in the church coffee bar.  There are other nice people behind the scenes and not as visible.  There are people who show up during off times to clean the church.  There are people who give rides to the elderly and the disabled.  We could go on and on, with many different scenarios.
But suffice it to say, there are many really nice people in church.

Here is my question…
Does it matter?

Really.
Think about it.
Does it matter if people are nice?
It certainly doesn’t hurt, in the context of everyday life.
But what about the context of being in covenant?
What about the context of eternal life?

For these answers, we must go to scripture and not to the thoughts of men and women.

Lots of nice people in churches claim Jesus as their Savior, and they claim to follow Him.
But what does Yeshua Messiah say about it?
Matthew 7:21-23
²¹ “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord!’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. ²² Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, didn’t we prophesy in Your name, and drive out demons in Your name, and perform many miracles in Your name?’ ²³ Then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you. Get away from Me, you workers of lawlessness!’”

Most people are familiar with this bit of scripture, but how many slow down to study this, to fully understand what Yeshua Messiah is saying?
This is one of the most important statements in all of scripture, so it is quite imperative that we understand.

First of all, who is being addressed here?
Atheists?
Nope.
Satanists?
Nope.
Pagans?
Nope.
Unbelievers?
Nope.

Messiah is speaking to people who claim to call Him Lord.
He is speaking to people who believe they follow Him.
What does He tell them?
Not everyone calling Him their Master will be allowed into the Kingdom.
Oops.
That’s not good.
Actually, this is horrific!!
Can you imagine thinking you served and followed Messiah for all of your days, only to find out in the end that He didn’t even know you?

Whose fault is this?
This is a disaster of epic proportions for many.
Who is at fault?
Does Messiah tell us?
He does, in fact:
Then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you. Get away from Me, you workers of lawlessness!’
This disaster is not Messiah’s fault.
This tragedy is because people chose to be workers of lawlessness.
This describes the entire mainstream Christian doctrine and population.
They teach the law is done away with…
What does Messiah say about it?
Matthew 5:17
 “Do not think that I came to abolish the Torah or the Prophets!”
Could He be any more clear?
The Torah gives us the law.
The Prophets all teach us to follow the Torah, the law.
Again, could Yehsua Messiah be any more clear in what He is telling us?
No.
In order to enter into the Kingdom of Heaven, we must do the will of the Father.

Churches teach that we are to come to Jesus, and accept Him as our Savior.
And then what?
Nothing.
Go to church.
Give your offerings and donations.
Volunteer in the children’s ministry.
Be nice.

But what does Messiah tell us?
Do we come to Him and stick around forever?
Nope.
He gives us further directions.
John 14:6
⁶ Yeshua said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life! No one comes to the Father except through Me.”
Yes, we must come to Yeshua.
He is the way.
He is the truth.
He is the life.
But then what does He say?
He speaks of going on to the Father.
Messiah is not the end of our spiritual journey.
He is the starting line.
The finish line is the Father.
We must go to Yehova, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
Again, refer to Messiah’s instructions about who gets to be in the Kingdom:
“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord!’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven.”
Those who do the will of the Father will be in the kingdom.

This is an easy and simple lesson, with just a few scriptures quoted.
This is not hard.
And yet, it is a lesson that many cannot wrap their heads around.
It is a lesson that many cannot comprehend.
Why?
Because it is scary.
Because it is tragic.
Because it means nice people are not included in the kingdom.

There is nothing wrong with being nice.
It is preferred.
I’d much rather hang out with nice people than a bunch of jerks.
But eternity is not based on being nice.
Here is where it gets confusing.
Those who follow the words and the ways of the Father are nice, because the words and the ways of the Father result in nice behavior.
But there are people who are nice while rejecting the words and the ways of the Father.
Don’t be confused by this.
To prevent confusion, we are given tests in the scriptures to see if we understand this concept. One test is in the Torah, part of the Old Testament, and one test is given in the New Testament.
There is no excuse for being unaware of this test.

Deuteronomy 13:4-5
…for Yehova your Elohim is testing you, to find out whether you love Yehova your Elohim with all your heart and with all your soul. ⁵ Yehova your Elohim you will follow and Him you will fear. His commands [mitzvot] you will keep, to His voice you will listen, Him you will serve and to Him you will cling.
In Deuteronomy, Yehova equates following His commands and hearing His voice with loving Him.
1John 2:3-6
³ Now we know that we have come to know Him by this—if we keep His commandments. ⁴ The one who says, “I have come to know Him,” and does not keep His commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him. ⁵ But whoever keeps His word, in him the love of Yehova is truly made perfect. We know that we are in Him by this— ⁶ whoever claims to abide in Him must walk just as He walked.
In 1John, we are again told to keep the commandments. This is a test to find out if we really know Him or not.
Knowing Him is equated to keeping the commandments and walking as He walked.
Don’t forget about this direct quote of Messiah:
John 10:14
¹⁴ “I am the Good Shepherd. I know My own and My own know Me…
John 10:27-28
My sheep hear My voice. I know them, and they follow Me. ²⁸ I give them eternal life! They will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of My hand.
Messiah says His sheep know Him and follow Him.
Scripture tells us that to know Him we must keep the commandments and walk as He walked.
Messiah DOES NOT say this:
John 10:14
¹⁴ “I am the Good Shepherd. I know nice people in church and nice people in church know Me…
John 10:27-28
Nice people in church hear My voice. I know nice people in church, and they follow Me. ²⁸ I give nice people in church eternal life! They will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of My hand.

Nope, that isn’t what He says.
Messiah says this:
John 14:15
 “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.”
and this…
John 14:21
²¹ He who has My commandments and keeps them is the one who loves Me.
and this…
John 15:10
 If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love, just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love.

In case this is still confusing, we are told directly what is expected of us, in both the Old Testament and the New Testament.
Ecclesiastes 12:13
¹³ Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear Yehova, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man.
and again in the New Testament:
Revelation 22:14
¹⁴ Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city.
From the beginning of the scriptures to the end of the scriptures, Yehova communicates to us what He wants of us.
He communicates what He requires of us, so that He knows we love Him.

Nice people in churches.
And what do these nice people in churches do?
They teach the opposite of what Yehova, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob says.
They teach the opposite of what the Prophets tell us.
They teach the opposite of what Yeshua Messiah teaches.

We are talking about millions, probably billions of people.
Is it possible for that many people to get things drastically wrong?
Not only is it possible, it was foretold by Jeremiah the prophet.
Jeremiah 16:19-20
¹⁹ O Yehova, my strength, and my fortress, and my refuge in the day of affliction, the Gentiles shall come unto thee from the ends of the earth, and shall say, Surely our fathers have inherited lies, vanity, and things wherein there is no profit.
²⁰ Shall a man make gods unto himself, and they are no gods?
These things that I’m showing you in scripture, that are hard to believe, nearly impossible to wrap our heads around…
And yet, Jeremiah warned us of this situation long ago.
Can Jeremiah be trusted in this?
Jeremiah 1:9
Then Yehova put forth his hand, and touched my mouth. And Yehova said unto me, Behold, I have put my words in thy mouth.
Yes, we can trust these words, as they are the words of the Creator of all things.
Jeremiah says people will one day realize we have been taught nothing but lies.
Who taught us these lies?
Nice people in churches.
Do these lies cause a bit of confusion, but everything is ok in the end?
Nope.
These lies are worthless and unprofitable.
Nothing good comes from them.
Salvation is good and profitable.
But these lies do not result in good and profitable things.

What do they result in?
We are told in verse 20.
²⁰ Shall a man make gods unto himself, and they are not gods?
These lies (false doctrine) result in man making up their own gods.
But they are not gods.
And if they are not gods, then they cannot grant salvation.
Are we warned elsewhere in the scriptures about our imaginations?
In an indirect (but very important way) we are given these warnings:
Deuteronomy 4:2
You must not add to the word that I am commanding you or take away from it—in order to keep the commandments [mitzvot] of Yehova your Elohim that I am commanding you.
Deuteronomy 12:32
“Whatever I command you, you must take care to do—you are not to add to it or take away from it.”
Proverbs 30:5-6
Every word of Yehova is purified.
He is a shield to those who take refuge in Him.
⁶ Do not add to His words,
or else He will rebuke You and prove you a liar.
Revelation 22:18-19
I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book. If anyone adds to them, Yehova shall add to him the plagues that are written in this book; ¹⁹ and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, Yehova shall take away his share in the Tree of Life and the Holy City, which are written in this book.
It requires the use of our imagination to add to or take away from the Word.  We are instructed not to do so. The consequences shown in Revelation 22 are especially startling…  It will cause you to lose your place in the kingdom, not to mention suffering plagues.
Jeremiah says that using our imaginations to create doctrine and beliefs will result in us making up gods who are not gods.
And if we serve made up gods, they can do us no good.

So, again, what about nice people in churches?
They add to and take away from the Word.
They say the words and the ways of Yehova are obsolete, when Yehova says they are forever.
They say that Yeshua Messiah did away with the law, when Messiah Himself specifically says that He did not.

It is ok to enjoy our friends and family in our lives.
It is ok for us to love and care for nice people in churches.
But it is not ok for us to defy the words of Yehova and Yeshua and decide they are part of the kingdom, when scripture says otherwise.

Pray for them.
Just as Mosheh prayed for and interceded for the people he led.
They rebelled and failed.
Yehova wanted to destroy them.
But Mosheh prayed for them.
Be a leader like Mosheh.
Pray for nice people in churches.
Friends, family, total strangers.
Yeshua says they are not part of the kingdom, and we need to pray they will have a change of heart and pass the tests of knowing and loving Yehova and Yeshua.