False Teachers and
the True Savior
Jeremiah 23:25-32 –
New International Version (NIV)
25 “I have heard what the prophets say who prophesy lies in my
name. They say, ‘I had a dream! I had a dream!’ 26 How long
will this continue in the hearts of these lying prophets, who prophesy the
delusions of their own minds? 27 They think the dreams they tell
one another will make my people forget my name, just as their ancestors forgot
my name through Baal worship. 28 Let the prophet who has a
dream recount the dream, but let the one who has my word speak it faithfully.
For what has straw to do with grain?” declares the Lord. 29 “Is not my word like fire,”
declares the Lord, “and like a
hammer that breaks a rock in pieces?
30 “Therefore,” declares the Lord,
“I am against the prophets who steal from one another words supposedly from me.
31 Yes,” declares the Lord,
“I am against the prophets who wag their own tongues and yet declare, ‘The Lord declares.’ 32 Indeed,
I am against those who prophesy false dreams,” declares the Lord. “They tell them and lead my people
astray with their reckless lies, yet I did not send or appoint them. They do
not benefit these people in the least,” declares the Lord.
Who did the Lord
hear say “I had a dream! I had a dream!” (verse 26)?
What do the lying
prophets prophesy (verse 27)?
In your opinion,
why would the lying prophets think that “the
dreams they tell one another will make my people forget my name” (verse 27)?
Who is to speak God’s
word faithfully (verse 28)?
What is God’s word
like (verse 29)?
Who is the Lord
against (verse 30)?
In your opinion,
why would the Lord be against “prophets
who wag their own tongues and yet declare, ‘The Lord declares’” (verse 31)?
What do people who
prophesy false dreams do with “their
reckless lies” (verse 32)?
How much do they
benefit the people (verse 32)?
In your opinion, what is the basic
message of this passage?
Matthew 24:22-28 -
New International Version (NIV)
22 “If those days had not been cut short, no one would survive,
but for the sake of the elect those days will be shortened. 23 At
that time if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Messiah!’ or, ‘There he
is!’ do not believe it. 24 For false messiahs and false
prophets will appear and perform great signs and wonders to deceive, if
possible, even the elect. 25 See, I have told you ahead of
time.
26 “So if anyone tells you, ‘There he is, out in the
wilderness,’ do not go out; or, ‘Here he is, in the inner rooms,’ do not
believe it. 27 For as lightning that comes from the east is
visible even in the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. 28 Wherever
there is a carcass, there the vultures will gather.
Who would have
survived if the days had not been cut short
(verse 22)?
Why will the days be shortened (verse 22)?
How should we
react to those who say “Look, here is the
Messiah” (verse 23)?
What will false
messiahs and false prophets do (verse 24)?
In your opinion,
why will the false messiahs and false prophets not deceive the elect (verse 24)?
What has Jesus
done “ahead of time” (verse 25)?
What should our
response be if someone tells us “there he
is, out in the wilderness” (verse 26)?
What will the
coming of the Son of Man be like (verse
27)?
In your opinion,
what does Jesus mean when He says “wherever
there is a carcass, there the vultures will gather” (verse 28)?
In your opinion, what is the basic message
of this passage?
In your opinion, why do the false prophets
of Jeremiah 23:25-32 and the false messiahs and false prophets of Matthew
24:22-28 all rely on deception?
Colossians 2:1-10
- New International Version (NIV)
1 I want you to know how hard I am contending for you and for those at
Laodicea, and for all who have not met me personally. 2 My goal
is that they may be encouraged in heart and united in love, so that they may
have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that they may know the
mystery of God, namely, Christ, 3 in whom are hidden all the
treasures of wisdom and knowledge. 4 I tell you this so that no
one may deceive you by fine-sounding arguments. 5 For though I
am absent from you in body, I am present with you in spirit and delight to see
how disciplined you are and how firm your faith in Christ is.
6 So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue
to live your lives in him, 7 rooted and built up in him,
strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with
thankfulness.
8 See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and
deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the elemental
spiritual forces of this world rather than on Christ.
9 For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily
form, 10 and in Christ you have been brought to fullness. He is
the head over every power and authority.
In
your opinion, what does Paul mean when he says he is “contending for you and for those at Laodicea” (verse 1)?
What is Paul’s goal (verse 2)?
What is the “mystery of God” (verse 2)?
Where are the treasures of wisdom and
knowledge (verse 3)?
Why does Paul want them to have complete
understanding and know Christ (verse 4)?
How is Paul present with them (verse 5)?
How should they continue to live their
lives (verse 6)?
What three things should they do to
continue to live their lives in Jesus (verse 7)?
What does hollow and deceptive philosophy depend
on (verse 8)?
Where does “all the fullness of the Deity” live in bodily form (verse 9)?
How are we “brought to fullness” (verse 10)?
In your opinion, what is the basic message
of this passage?
In your opinion, how does Paul’s
instruction to know Christ and live our lives in Him in Colossians 2:1-10 help
us to understand how it will be possible for the elect that Jesus talks about
in Matthew 24:22-28 to avoid being deceived by the false messiahs and false
prophets who appear and perform great signs and wonders?
In your opinion, how does being “encouraged in heart and united in love”
and knowing ‘the mystery of God, namely,
Christ” as instructed by Paul in Colossians 2:1-10 help us to avoid falling
for the “lying prophets, who prophesy the
delusions of their own minds” that
the Lord was against in Jeremiah 23:25-32?
2 Peter 2:1-3 –
New International Version (NIV)
1 But there were also false prophets among
the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly
introduce destructive heresies, even denying the sovereign Lord who bought
them—bringing swift destruction on themselves. 2 Many will follow
their depraved conduct and will bring the way of truth into disrepute. 3 In their greed these teachers will exploit you
with fabricated stories. Their condemnation has long been hanging over them,
and their destruction has not been sleeping.
Who were “among the
people” (verse
1)?
What will there be “among you” (verse 1)?
Who will the destructive heresies deny (verse
1)?
In your opinion, how will the many who “follow their depraved conduct” bring “the way of truth into disrepute” (verse
2)?
What will the false teachers use to exploit
(verse 3)?
What is hanging over the false teachers
(verse 3)?
In your opinion, what is the basic message
of this passage?
In your opinion, how
does living rooted in Christ, strengthened in faith in Him, and overflowing
with thankfulness to Him as instructed by Paul in Colossians 2:1-10 prepare us
to avoid the destructive heresies that even deny “the sovereign Lord” that Peter warns us about in 2 Peter 2:1-3?
In your opinion, how does Peter in 2 Peter
2:1-3 identify at least one motivation of those false messiahs and false
prophets that Jesus warned in Matthew 24:22-28 would appear?
In your opinion, how
does Peter in understanding that the false teachers have their condemnation
hanging over them in 2 Peter 2:1-3 make clear what happens when God is against
them as Jeremiah reports in Jeremiah 23:25-32?
In your opinion, how do these passages
from Jeremiah, Matthew, Colossians, and 2 Peter help us to understand about
false prophets and false messiahs and how to respond to them?
In your opinion, what do these passages
show us about ourselves today?
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