Day 6 Running Start Mark Roberts Westside church of Christ

False teachers in the spiritual realm are dangerous because they deceive people and prevent them from seeking true doctrine. It is not enough to simply believe in something; we must adhere to the doctrine of Christ. Some common false teachings include faith-only salvation, misconceptions about the Holy Spirit, and speculation about the end times. The Bible warns against these false doctrines and emphasizes the importance of seeking the truth. We must be cautious and not be swayed by society's idea of tolerance for all beliefs. The book of Revelation is about events in the first century and should not be applied to today's headlines. The kingdom of God is a spiritual kingdom, not a physical one. As seekers of truth, we should be like the Bereans who diligently searched the Scriptures. What would you think of a doctor who dispensed false cures for cancer? Gave people some pills, told them they're fine, they're going to be fine, don't need to do anything else. That would be a terribly dangerous situation. Not only would people be very let down when they realized their cancer had not been defeated by these cures, but even worse, along the way while they were taking those false, fake pills, they wouldn't be seeking real medical treatment. Today we're going to talk about a situation that's even more dangerous. We're going to talk about false teachers in the spiritual realm. Get your Bible and look with me in Matthew chapter 7 and verse 15. Jesus says there, Beware of false prophets who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves. People who are deceived by false teachers put their very souls in jeopardy as they believe what is not true, causing them then not to act on what is true. So in this lesson today, we need to talk about false doctrine and false teachers. That will help you as you get a running start in your Christianity. It's pretty common today for folks to want to believe that it doesn't matter what you accept as religious truth or doctrine, just as long as you believe in something, you'll be fine. Of course, that's just not true. Jesus says, let's read in our Bibles, in Matthew chapter 15 and verse 7, You hypocrites, well did Isaiah prophesy of you when he said, This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. In vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrine the commandments of men. I want to follow that passage up with what Paul says in Galatians chapter 1. In Galatians chapter 1, Paul is very concerned about the churches in the province of Galatia that are falling away into error. And he says in Galatians chapter 1, let's try a little bit of this beginning about verse 8. There he says, even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preach to you, let him be accursed. As we have said before, so now I say again, if anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you receive, let him be accursed. We need to remember that in order for us to be saved, we must stand in the doctrine of Christ. No one has the right to tamper with that, to add to it, or to take away from it. We must seek the truth, and we must abide in the truth. So let's be careful not to get caught up in society's idea of, let's tolerate every kind of belief, and you believe what you want to believe, and I'll believe what I want to believe, and we'll all just be fine. Of course, we treat people kindly, and we'll treat anybody with dignity and respect. That's how we'd like to be treated. That's the golden rule, Matthew 7 and 12. That doesn't mean everything that everybody believes is all equally true and equally right. We need to seek the word of God, and we need to make sure that we're not being swept away into false doctrine. Now, no discussion of false doctrine would be complete without a few minutes spent talking about some of the common false doctrines you'll encounter in our world today. We can't talk about everything. That would take days, if not weeks. But let me give you a quick look at a couple of ideas you will encounter quickly. First, let's think about the idea that faith only saves. You may already have received some pushback on water baptism for the remission of sins. If you talk to some of your friends about that, hey, hey, hey, don't have to do that. All you need to do is trust Jesus Christ in your heart. Pray this little prayer. Accept Jesus as Lord and Savior. Believe in Him, and you'll be saved. Those are the ideas that are commonly pushed. That's faith only salvation, that you become a Christian at the point of faith. Let me give you a key verse here. That's James 2 and verse 24. You need to know that the New Testament uses the expression faith only in one place and one place only, and that's James chapter 2 and verse 24. There, James talks about the role of faith and works, and James says you see that a person is justified by works, James 2, 24, and not by faith only. And that doesn't mean we can earn salvation. Of course not. But we must receive salvation. We must show faith in God's great grace and mercy. We must be obedient to Him if we are to be saved. We are not saved at the point of faith. We need to be justified by works and not by faith alone. Secondly, you'll hear a lot about the Holy Spirit. And there's so much false doctrine about the Holy Spirit. Many, many different ideas and crazy ideas about the Spirit leading people and nudging people, warm feelings in their heart, causing people to act out in wild sorts of ways. The Holy Spirit and the discussion of the Holy Spirit is something for another time. It's a more complicated and comprehensive study. But you need to know the Bible doesn't promise in any place that the Holy Spirit is going to directly guide you in some sort of fashion. Instead, look over in 2 Timothy chapter 3. The Bible promises to be our guide. I'm reading in 2 Timothy chapter 3 and verse 16, All Scripture is breathed out by God. It's profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work. I'm certainly not saying that the Bible is a substitute for a personal relationship with God. But it is clear that the Bible is God's tool to help us be what? Complete for every good work. In fact, if you'll just turn in your Bible over in Ephesians for a moment, if you'll look at Ephesians chapter 5, here's an important comparison. If you'll look with me in Ephesians chapter 5 and verse 18, Paul says, Now look over in Colossians the third chapter. Paul uses almost an identical expression with one small change. Colossians the third chapter, look at verse 16. Do you see the difference there? Just one little phrase. In one place, in Ephesians, he says there that we need to be filled with the Spirit. And to the Colossian brethren, he says, Again, that doesn't mean that the Spirit is the Bible. The Bible is not a replacement or a substitute for a personal relationship with God. But it is the means by which God controls us. And that we enter into a relationship with him. And we know God's will for our life. So let's not get sidetracked into better felt than told Holy Spirit kind of experiences. That's outside of the Scripture and something the Bible does not teach. Finally, I want to say a word or two about last days and end time thinking. There's all kinds of discussion all the time speculating about the end of the world. And the return of Jesus, the rapture, all of those kinds of things. You should know that repeatedly the Bible tells us no one knows the day when Jesus will return. Paul tells the Thessalonians brethren that in 1 Thessalonians 5 and verse 10. Many other passages say the same thing. Nobody can tell you when Jesus will return. And as far as all the speculation in the book of Revelation. Would you look over in the book of Revelation chapter 1 with me? In Revelation chapter 1 and verse 3. This book that is full of signs and symbols. And yes, I think there's some things here that are kind of hard to understand. But we are told in Revelation 1 and verse 3. Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy. And blessed are those who hear and keep what is written in it. For the time is near. The things in the book of Revelation written to those seven churches of Asia. Are things for those Christians in that time. They were experiencing persecution. And John tells them by the pen of inspiration. I'm going to set before you some things you need to know about. Because the time is near. This book is about events in the first century. It's not about events that are happening in our world right now. Or that are in the news or on thisnews.com. That doesn't mean we can't learn from Revelation. Of course we can. The book of Revelation is a great book. That helps us see we can have confidence in Jesus. Even if we're persecuted. That if we'll have faith in Jesus Christ. Jesus is going to be the ultimate victor. And we can be victors with him. But we make a grave mistake when we take what was written to people in the first century. And try to lever it into today's headlines. That will lead to all kinds of false teaching and false doctrine. And as for the idea there's going to be some rapture in the future. That's simply never taught in the Bible. And much of that revolves around the idea that Jesus didn't establish his kingdom. And so he has to come back and try again. There's going to be a second attempt to do that. Well look in Colossians the first chapter. In Colossians the first chapter. Paul tells the Colossian Christians in Colossians 1 and 13. He has delivered us from the domain of darkness. And transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved son. The kingdom of God is not some physical kingdom. With a palace and throne in Jerusalem. Real estate in Palestine. That's not what Jesus came to construct or build. It's a spiritual kingdom of those who have given their lives and hearts to the King. To Jesus Christ. Lord of Lord and King of Kings. That kingdom is in existence. Wow that's hard to say. In existence right now. And you're a part of it. You were baptized into the body of Christ. You were baptized into the kingdom. You were translated. Delivered, verse 13, Colossians 1. From the domain of darkness. Transferred into the kingdom of his beloved son. I could say a lot more about false doctrines. There's lots of things that go on in this world unfortunately. Areas and ways that the devil tries to seduce people into error and away from the truth. We want to be careful about those things. Let's tie this together by thinking about what it means to be a seeker of truth. The key verse here is Acts 17, verse 11. Here we read that the Jews here in Berea were more noble than those in Thessalonica. They received the word with all eagerness, examining the scriptures daily to see if these things were so. These people were hearing apostolic preaching and yet they got their Bibles out. That'd be the Old Testament in this context. And they checked to see if these things were so. And that's the attitude you and I must have today. We must have a determination to check everything by the word of God. Is this taught in the scriptures? That's the only way to make sure that we are not caught up in error. Is that we personally, I mean you, you are reading your Bible. You're studying your Bible. You're thinking through what you're being taught. Do not put your faith in men. Don't put your faith in me or the elders or somebody you hear on television or a podcast. Get your Bible out and be like the Bereans. Check everything by the scriptures. That is the way we insulate ourselves from false doctrine. I believe today's lesson is one of the most important lessons that we have in this Running Start series. And I want to remind you, you need to be checking everything that's said here by the word of God. If you have any questions, any doubts, any concerns, let's talk about them. You need to be a truth seeker. You don't want to be deceived by false doctrine. I'm glad we studied today. And I'm glad you're making progress in your walk with the Lord. I look forward to seeing you tomorrow for our seventh and final lesson.