Introduction:
Do not be Led Astray by False Teachers
- Do not be deceived when people try to trick you with lies so clever they sound like the truth.
A lesson about Heaven and Hell.
For or against:
Matthew 12:30 NLT
30 “Anyone who isn’t with me (Jesus) opposes me, and anyone who isn’t working with me is actually working against me.
Philippians 3:17-21 NLT
17 Dear brothers and sisters, pattern your lives after mine, and learn from those who follow our example. 18 For I have told you often before, and I say it again with tears in my eyes, that there are many whose conduct shows they are really enemies of the cross of Christ. 19 They are headed for destruction. Their god is their appetite, they brag about shameful things, and they think only about this life here on earth. 20 But we are citizens of heaven, where the Lord Jesus Christ lives. And we are eagerly waiting for him to return as our Savior. 21 He will take our weak mortal bodies and change them into glorious bodies like his own, using the same power with which he will bring everything under his control.
Examine the Scriptures:
Pressing Toward the Goal (continued)
Philippians 3:17-21 NLT
17 Dear brothers and sisters, pattern your lives after mine,
1 Corinthians 11:1 NLT
1 And you should imitate me, just as I imitate Christ.
We know that Paul desired to live a Christlike life.
Pattern your lives after believers who are less imperfect than you and know how to deal with imperfection and who can model the process of pursuing the goal of Christlikeness.
- Pursue Christlikeness.
Christlikeness refers to the process by which believers are conformed to the likeness of Jesus Christ. It involves obedience to and trust in God, and through the Holy Spirit, God refashions believers in the image of his Son.
and learn from those who follow our example.
Imitate other mature Christians.
Hebrews 13:7 NLT
7 Remember your leaders who taught you the word of God. Think of all the good that has come from their lives, and follow the example of their faith.
This would certainly include Timothy and Epaphroditus.
Philippians 2:19-20 NLT
19 If the Lord Jesus is willing, I hope to send Timothy to you soon for a visit. Then he can cheer me up by telling me how you are getting along. 20 I have no one else like Timothy, who genuinely cares about your welfare.
Philippians 2:25 NLT
25 Meanwhile, I thought I should send Epaphroditus back to you. He is a true brother, co-worker, and fellow soldier. And he was your messenger to help me in my need.
- Pattern your lives after believers who model the process of pursuing the goal of Christlikeness.
Is your life a good model for your students? Many will be imitating you.
18 For I have told you often before, and I say it again with tears in my eyes, that there are many whose conduct shows they are really enemies of the cross of Christ.
- Many of the people around us are enemies of the cross.
Here these could be Jews or Gentiles. They might be in the church or outside the church.
Acts 20:28-30 NLT (Paul speaking to the Ephesian Elders.)
28 “So guard yourselves and God’s people. Feed and shepherd God’s flock—his church, purchased with his own blood—over which the Holy Spirit has appointed you as leaders. 29 I know that false teachers, like vicious wolves, will come in among you after I leave, not sparing the flock. 30 Even some men from your own group will rise up and distort the truth in order to draw a following.
Ephesians 4:14 NLT
14 Then we will no longer be immature like children. We won’t be tossed and blown about by every wind of new teaching. We will not be influenced when people try to trick us with lies so clever they sound like the truth.
- Be careful who you imitate.
Do not be deceived when people try to trick you with lies so clever they sound like the truth.
Acts 17:11 NLT
11 And the people of Berea were more open-minded than those in Thessalonica, and they listened eagerly to Paul’s message. They searched the Scriptures day after day to see if Paul and Silas were teaching the truth.
19 They are headed for destruction.
- Eternal destruction (Hell) is the ultimate judgment of God for those who reject Christ and live self-centered lives.
John 3:18 NLT
18 “There is no judgment against anyone who believes in him. But anyone who does not believe in him has already been judged for not believing in God’s one and only Son.
2 Thessalonians 1:7-9 NLT
7 And God will provide rest for you who are being persecuted and also for us when the Lord Jesus appears from heaven. He will come with his mighty angels, 8 in flaming fire, bringing judgment on those who don’t know God and on those who refuse to obey the Good News of our Lord Jesus. 9 They will be punished with eternal destruction, forever separated from the Lord and from his glorious power.
Their god is their appetite, they brag about shameful things, and they think only about this life here on earth.
Enemies of the cross of Christ described:
Their god is their appetite, (serving their own personal interests)
they brag about shameful things, (living immoral lives)
and they think only about this life here on earth.
Romans 16:18 NLT
18 Such people are not serving Christ our Lord; they are serving their own personal interests. By smooth talk and glowing words they deceive innocent people.
2 Peter 2 (selected verses)
12 These false teachers are like unthinking animals, creatures of instinct, born to be caught and destroyed. They scoff at things they do not understand, and like animals, they will be destroyed. 13 Their destruction is their reward for the harm they have done. They love to indulge in evil pleasures in broad daylight. They are a disgrace and a stain among you. They delight in deception even as they eat with you in your fellowship meals. 14 They commit adultery with their eyes, and their desire for sin is never satisfied. They lure unstable people into sin, and they are well trained in greed. They live under God’s curse. 15 They have wandered off the right road and followed the footsteps of Balaam son of Beor, who loved to earn money by doing wrong. 16 …
17 These people are as useless as dried-up springs or as mist blown away by the wind. They are doomed to blackest darkness. 18 They brag about themselves with empty, foolish boasting. With an appeal to twisted sexual desires, they lure back into sin those who have barely escaped from a lifestyle of deception. 19 They promise freedom, but they themselves are slaves of sin and corruption. For you are a slave to whatever controls you.
Jude (selected verses)
8 In the same way, these people—…—live immoral lives, defy authority, and scoff at supernatural beings. 9 … 10 … these people scoff at things they do not understand. Like unthinking animals, they do whatever their instincts tell them, and so they bring about their own destruction. 11 What sorrow awaits them! …
12 When these people eat with you in your fellowship meals commemorating the Lord’s love, they are like dangerous reefs that can shipwreck you. They are like shameless shepherds who care only for themselves. They are like clouds blowing over the land without giving any rain. They are like trees in autumn that are doubly dead, for they bear no fruit and have been pulled up by the roots. 13 They are like wild waves of the sea, churning up the foam of their shameful deeds. They are like wandering stars, doomed forever to blackest darkness.
Remember who you are.
20 But we are citizens of heaven, where the Lord Jesus Christ lives.
Philippi prided itself on being a Roman colony.
Roman citizenship was considered a significant honor and privilege in ancient Rome.
Colossians 1:13 NLT
13 For he has rescued us from the kingdom of darkness and transferred us into the Kingdom of his dear Son,
1 Peter 1:1-5 NLT
1 This letter is from Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ.
I am writing to God’s chosen people …
3 All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is by his great mercy that we have been born again, because God raised Jesus Christ from the dead. Now we live with great expectation, 4 and we have a priceless inheritance—an inheritance that is kept in heaven for you, pure and undefiled, beyond the reach of change and decay. 5 And through your faith, God is protecting you by his power until you receive this salvation, which is ready to be revealed on the last day for all to see.
John 14:1-3 NLT
1 “Don’t let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, and trust also in me. 2 There is more than enough room in my Father’s home. If this were not so, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you? 3 When everything is ready, I will come and get you, so that you will always be with me where I am.
- We are citizens of heaven, where the Lord Jesus Christ lives.
And we are eagerly waiting for him to return as our Savior.
- We are eagerly waiting for him to return as our Savior.
Romans 8:23 NLT
23 … We, too, wait with eager hope for the day when God will give us our full rights as his adopted children, including the new bodies he has promised us.
1 Corinthians 1:7 NLT
7 Now you have every spiritual gift you need as you eagerly wait for the return of our Lord Jesus Christ.
21 He will take our weak mortal bodies and change them into glorious bodies like his own, using the same power with which he will bring everything under his control.
1 John 3:2 NLT
2 Dear friends, we are already God’s children, but he has not yet shown us what we will be like when Christ appears. But we do know that we will be like him, for we will see him as he really is.
2 Corinthians 5:8 NLT
8 Yes, we are fully confident, and we would rather be away from these earthly bodies, for then we will be at home with the Lord.
1 Corinthians 15:53 NLT
53 For our dying bodies must be transformed into bodies that will never die; our mortal bodies must be transformed into immortal bodies.
1 Corinthians 15:43-44 NLT
43 Our bodies are buried in brokenness, but they will be raised in glory. They are buried in weakness, but they will be raised in strength. 44 They are buried as natural human bodies, but they will be raised as spiritual bodies. For just as there are natural bodies, there are also spiritual bodies.
- The best is yet to come.
