How to Prevent Disloyalty to Christ Part 2

Pastor Mike will be speaking on How to Prevent Disloyalty to Christ Part 2. He will be reading out of 2nd Corinthians 11:1-6.

The answer for all the problems that you and I are witnessing and all the corruption that is around us at every level, in every corner of this country, the answer is for people to repent and believe in Jesus Christ.

Welcome to the Hope Worth Having radio program. This is Pastor Mike Sanders from The Open Door Church and we’re just grateful that you can be with us today. And today we’re going to continue our study that we began last week in 2nd Corinthians chapter 11 verses 1 through 6 on how to prevent disloyalty to Christ.

So I want you to grab your Bible and get your notes out and let’s dive into this passage together. We’ve been learning about how to prevent disloyalty in our own hearts. We started out by teaching you that number one, you got to develop this deep commitment for the jealousy of God.

I walked you through what the jealousy of God is, how that sometimes we don’t fully understand the jealousy of God. But the Apostle teaches us, he says, I am jealous over you with a godly jealousy. It is not the jealousy of humans, but it is the jealousy of God.

And we understand that God has a great passion for each and every one of us. And here is the Apostles concern that the husband Christ would be robbed of the love of his bride, the church. That there can be no rivalry for the throne of our hearts.

That Christ must be number one and that we have to be Be careful that the world, the flesh, and the devil are not courting us and trying to steal our love and loyalty away from Jesus Christ. We understand that God dearly loves us, gave his life for us, and so each of us has the responsibility to make sure that there is no rival king in our hearts.

That Jesus is number one, and that there is no one, and there is no teacher, and there is no cult or religion that would lead us away from supreme loyalty to Jesus Christ. A few weeks ago, I walked you through the Jewish betrothal and engagement and marriage that the apostle is referring to here in verse two.

When he talks about espousing the church to one husband, which is Christ, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ. I walked you through that whole process. We’re not going to reiterate it, but here’s the thing that Paul does not want God’s people to be spiritually promiscuous during the period of engagement as he has espoused us to Christ.

And that we are the bride of Christ. And as the friend of the groom, it is the responsibility of the apostle, as it is the responsibility of every pastor and every elder and every deacon and every teacher and every leader that God has called within the family of Christ.

It is our responsibility to make sure that we present to Jesus Christ a pure and beautiful chaste bride. Divided affection cannot be tolerated in our hearts. There must be a singleness of devotion, which leads me to my second point.

That is that if I’m going to stay loyal to Christ, I have to stay focused on Jesus Christ. And I know that may sound simplistic to you, but I want you to go back to verse three and look at the last half of the verse.

And he says to the church that your mind should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. The word simplicity means singleness of purpose or singleness of focus. That’s what the devil does.

He distracts you from your focus. He gets you fidgeting with everything around you. That you forget about who is most important in your life. That the devil, he is deceitful. The devil is a deceiver and he loves to deceive the church and he loves to…

deceive every member of the church. Now get this, Satan’s chief activity in the lives of Christians is to cause them to think differently than God’s Word, which leads God’s people to disobey God’s Word.

You say, Pastor, what are you talking about? Go back to verse 3, I fear lest by any means as the serpent, go back to 3. So your mind should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. You see, the devil can’t take your salvation away from you because thank God that we are eternally saved.

We are forever saved. Do you believe that church? Yes, sir. God’s people can get distracted. God’s people can backslide. God’s people can get off track, but we’re always in the family of God if our faith is sincere and our Our heart is honest with God.

There’s no doubt about that in my heart that we are protected by the power of God. So what does the devil do? He tries to deceive us and he does that through our mind. He does that through our mind because he wants us to think differently.

He brings in half truths, he deceives us and how does he deceive us? The same way that the devil deceived Adam and Eve through the flesh, through the pride of life and through the pride of the eyes. The devil uses the world.

The devil uses the temptations of the things of this world. Now go back to verse three. Stay with me, church. You know how I am. I’m a little bit focused on these unique words in the scripture that stand out like neon lights to me.

He says your minds should be corrupted. The word corrupted is in the Greek. It is the continuous action. What the apostle is alerting the believers to is that we have to be aware of a corrupting process but a process that continues, a process that is always at work in that the devil is always trying to corrupt your mind.

Why? Because the scripture says as a man thinks so is he. So my behavior is rooted in my beliefs and that my actions are connected to my attitude and that my conduct is rooted in my character. When those things get messed up within me then everything outside of me is going to be messed up.

And really the deep problem is our heart and our minds and that’s why we have to understand that that’s where the devil is trying to corrupt us. How does he do that? Sometimes he can be corrupting you, hear me?

Through. hanging around the wrong people. You see the Bible says in 1 Corinthians 15 verse 33, do not be deceived, evil company corrupts good habits. I’ve watched God’s people hang around the wrong person or the wrong groups and the devil has used that in a continuous way in their minds and their hearts, drawing them away from their loyalty to the Lord Jesus Christ.

Sometimes we say where is so and so, God has been pursuing them, but unfortunately the devil has been corrupting them. That’s why church, we must guard our mind. We must guard our minds. Listen to what the apostle Peter says in 1 Peter 1 verse 13, therefore gird up the loins of your mind.

Just stop right there and think about that, meditate on that. Gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

The devil likes to mess with your mind. When the Bible tells us to gird up our loins, you know that in the New Testament, they would have robes on and part of their garments were long robes. And whenever the men would go to work, they would pull up their garments above their knees and they would tie them so that they could work and that the clothing would not get in the way.

You and I would put it like this. When you’re getting ready to get to work, I remember as a young Christian, the deacons would say to me, Mike, roll up your sleeves and let’s get to work. And that’s exactly what the apostle Peter is saying to us, roll up your sleeves and be ready, be alert and get to work for God because the devil, while he is going to do everything he can to corrupt our mind.

That’s why we have to stay focused on Jesus Christ at the open door church. The Bible tells us in Romans 12 to be not conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your what church. Your mind stay with me that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.

Here’s what I want you to know that as your mind is being transformed by the word of God, as it is being transformed by the fellowship of God’s people, as your mind is being transformed by your prayer life and your study of the word of God, hear me, you will have the discernment to be able to test and prove what is good, what is acceptable to God, what is perfect before God, and what is the will of God.

People say, pastor, I don’t know the will of God. Well, first of all, there’s a lot of scripture. That’s where you start, right? Many times in the Bible, the Bible was very clear. This is the will of God.

This is the will of God. So let’s start there. You know, I tell people, be faithful in the little. God expands. We have the universal will of God, but we have a unique will of God. How can I know the unique will of God?

Let your mind be transformed through the renewing effect of God’s word in your life. The more I saturate my mind and heart into the word of God, the more that I am praying, the more that I am with learning from God’s people and fellowshipping than God in His Spirit through the Holy Spirit of God.

He is helping me to know the will of God and what is right, what is good, what is acceptable. But when I neglect those things in my life, I am now in the corrupting process of the devil. And so the Corinthians had allowed false teachers to be elevated within the church, and these false teachers had corrupted the mind of the believer.

And they were preaching a different Jesus. You noted in verse 4, he says, For he that cometh preaches another Jesus. You see, friends, what I want you to know is that if a person holds a different view of Jesus Christ than what the Bible says, then that person is not of God.

You say, Pastor, why would you say such a strong statement? Because the Bible says in 1 John 2, verse 22, Who is a liar? But he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ. He is antichrist that denieth the Father and the Son.

You see, what one thinks about Jesus is the key to their Christian life. A .W. Tozer said that whatever you think about God is the most important thing about your life. And so people have false images of God, they create false idols of God.

They don’t understand who Jesus Christ is because they’re not in the Bible. Friends, do you understand that the Bible is the full revelation of Jesus Christ? Do you understand from Genesis to Revelation that we have the unveiling of our Savior to us?

And it’s important for us to get into this Bible and to know the Jesus Christ of this Bible. Paul had feared that the church was being deceived, and that this deception would lead to their impurity, that it would lead to them failing to trust completely and fully in Jesus Christ and to be loyal.

to Him, meaning to Jesus, what I want you to know is that you have to stay focused on Jesus. And as we consider who we’re gonna listen to on radio, podcasts, TV, Internet, what kind of books are we gonna read?

My first question is, what do you think about Jesus? I want to know if they don’t believe in a Jesus that was sent from the Father, born of a virgin, lived a sinless life, and that gave His life on the cross, fully died for our sins, and paid the penalty and the price for our sins, was resurrected on the third day, walked on this earth for 40 days, teaching the Apostles how to set up the church and what the kingdom of God would be like in the days ahead, and then ascended to heaven.

And before He did, He commissioned His church. that they are to take the gospel to the ends of the earth, that he is at the right hand of the father and interceding for his people, and that one day, friends, he is gonna step out on the clouds, and he is gonna come back, and he is gonna set up his kingdom on this earth.

He will rule and reign in the seat of David, fulfill all the prophecies about the throne of David in the Old Testament, and you and I will rule and reign with him forevermore. Can God’s people say amen?

Amen. That’s the Jesus who I worship. The Jesus of the Bible, not the Jesus of people’s image and what they think of. But I want you to note the third point is to keep proclaiming the true gospel. To keep proclaiming the true gospel, look at verse four of 2 Corinthians chapter 11.

For if he that cometh preaches another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or if you receive another spirit, which you have not received, another gospel which you have not accepted, you might well bear with him.

And his point is at the end, you’re tolerating these false teachers that are preaching another Jesus. They’re preaching another spirit. They’re preaching another gospel. You have accepted them, and you’re putting up with them rather than rooting out the sin, and rooting out the false teaching.

Rather than confronting it, you’re allowing it. And church, whether we are collectively as leaders, we’ve got to make sure that the gospel is protected here at the open door church. We have to make sure that teachers and Bible study leaders and Sunday school teachers are not teaching another Jesus or another gospel.

It’s important that they preach the true gospel, which is the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. 1 Corinthians 15. The Corinthians were tolerating the presence and influence of false teachers.

Now take your Bible and go to Galatians 1, verse six through eight. I marvel that you are so soon removed. from Him that called you into the grace of Christ under another gospel, which is not another, but there is by some that trouble you and would pervert the gospel of Christ.

But though we or an angel from heaven preach any other gospel unto you, than that which you have preached unto you, let Him be what, church? As we said before, so say I now again. Parents, you understand this, right?

If any man preach any other gospel unto you that you have received, let Him be a curse. You see friends, we are warned to watch out for false teachers who preach another gospel. Our responsibility is to keep proclaiming the gospel.

Any teaching that is different from the Bible is a false doctrine. We cannot bend. We cannot bow. We cannot back away from the true gospel of Jesus Christ. We have to keep proclaiming it in our classes, in our Bible studies, in this pulpit.

We have to keep calling men and women, boys and girls, to the gospel of Jesus Christ. We have to keep proclaiming Christ as the only savior of the world. The apostle said in 1 Corinthians 2, too, I determined not to know anything among you, save Jesus Christ and Him crucify.

The gospel is good news. And the gospel is good news for a troubled world. The answer for America is the gospel of Jesus Christ. The answer for all the problems that you and I are witnessing and all the corruption that is around us at every level, in every corner of this country, the answer is for people to repent and believe in Jesus Christ.

Only the gospel can save people. It is the power of God unto salvation. My point to you church is keep proclaiming the true gospel. Romans 16, 18 says, for such persons do not serve our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own appetites and by smooth talk and flattery, they deceive the hearts of the naive.

There are Christians who are gullible. There are Christians who would swallow anything that’s positive, anything that sounds helpful, anything that sounds beneficial, rather than screening and filtering it through the word of God.

They would just swallow it whole and be led astray from the gospel of Jesus Christ. We gotta watch out. That’s the job of the pastors and the elders and the deacons to make sure that we don’t get off track.

I feel like that if I just stay on the gospel, that that is what will change lives. I will tell you that. and as Terry and I raised our children, that we didn’t focus on all the rules and regulations, we focused on the gospel of Jesus Christ in their heart.

That’s what matters, church. But you will not change people by the length of their hair, but you will change people, and you will change your children as you focus on their heart for God Almighty. That is what’s most important in their life.

They’re eventually gonna have to get a job, and they’re gonna have to cut their hair. They’re eventually gonna have to clean up a little bit, because there’s gonna be a little girl running after them.

That’s the way it is. You say, Pastor, why do you just focus on the gospel? Why don’t you run down these tangent rabbit holes? Why don’t you be like somebody else? And why don’t you tell us what to wear every day and what to do?

Why don’t you do that? Because, my friends, none of those things will change your heart. The only thing that will change your heart is the gospel of Jesus Christ. Because eternity matters, because where people spend eternity is the most important thing, then Pastor Mike will continue to stand behind this pulpit until they chase me out of town.

And I will continue to tell people that Jesus Christ is the only way to heaven. The Bible says, Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits or test the spirits, whether they are of God, because many false prophets are gone out into the world.

Friends, a gospel which minimizes the cross is a false gospel. Sometimes people minimize the gospel by simply teaching a different gospel. And you and I have to be careful. We were warned by the Apostle Paul in 2 Timothy 4 .3, for the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but have itching ears.

They will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passion. Listen, I have many pastoral friends don’t agree with everything with them, but sometimes they’ll tell me they’re not allowed to teach the things that I teach.

They’re not allowed to teach the Bible. They’re only allowed 20 minutes. If I had a church that said we don’t want you to teach the Bible and we don’t want you to preach beyond 20 minutes, I just have to pack up and leave.

But if you want someone to teach you the gospel, to show you the depth and the breadth of all that God has done for you, to bring you into the kingdom of God, so that you might have eternal life with Jesus Christ, then my friends, you’re at the end.

the right church where the gospel is proclaimed. Galatians 3 .1, O foolish Galatians, who has bewitched you that you should not obey the truth before whose eyes Jesus Christ has been evidently set forth, crucified among you.

So much we could say church, but I want to simply encourage you to stay focused on Christ. Number four, how do I make sure that I’m not be loyal to Jesus? Last point, and I know God’s people are excited.

We got to grow in the knowledge of God’s Word. Look at verse 5. Again, the apostle, he uses a lot of sarcasm in 2 Corinthians, and this is one of them. I suppose I was not at wit behind the very chiefess apostles.

What he’s saying is that I guess the way I’m looked at is I’m not as good as those super apostles. And he’s talking about these false teachers who claimed to be super apostles. They’d infiltrated the church and they tried to discredit the ministry of the apostle.

And so Paul in sarcasm says, I suppose I was not a wit behind the very chiefest apostles. But though I be rude in speech, which was another criticism, he says, yet not in knowledge. We have been thoroughly made manifest among you in all things.

The apostle is addressing two problems in the church. First of all, these newly arrived super apostles, and they were peddling a back to Moses righteousness. You remember that we taught about the old covenant and the new covenant, and the apostle taught us if there was glory in the old testament, how much more is there glory in the new testament and the new covenant in Jesus Christ.

And so these false apostles, these super apostles, they were peddling a righteousness that was not based upon Christ, but a righteousness that was based upon works. You remember that the apostle culminated his message in chapter five in verse 21, when he says, for he hath made him to be it for us, who knew no sin that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.

So the second thing that he is dealing with is that the church was trying to discredit Paul and saying that they were better than Paul because he could not speak with great oratory. And therefore his message and his ministry was not from God.

The apostle had already taught the Corinthians in chapter two of first Corinthians. He said, I brethren, when I came to you came not with excellency of speech or wisdom, declaring unto you the testimony of God, that we’re testimony of God.

saw that in the Old Testament. You remember every time that they would talk about the testimony of the law, talking about the Word of God. Paul didn’t come with excellency of speech. He didn’t have these great narratives of wisdoms of the world, but he just taught them the Bible.

He taught them the testimony of God. Paul’s whole point within what he is saying in verse 5 and 6 is how could the truth be inferior to falsehood? These guys claim to be super apostles, and he said, I may not be as eloquent in speech as they are.

I may be a little rude in my speech. I may come across a little harsh and bold and courageous in my speech. I may not be eloquent and soft and pretty, but I am not lacking in knowledge. Here’s what Paul is saying, and I want to say this because I think it’s very important for especially Americans.

Paul is saying, I’m not enamored by the style, but I am captivated to the substance. A lot of Christians are easily drawn away by style. They’re so naive that they don’t even see the shallowness of the style, and they don’t even see that they’re missing out on the substance.

The apostles’ desire was to make sure that God’s people hear and love, not His voice, but the voice of the bridegroom, which is Jesus Christ. And that’s why He taught the Bible. For example, Jesus warned us that in these last days, and one of the signs of the times of the last days, is that we are to take heed in Luke 21, and be not to see.

For many shall come in My name, saying, I am Christ, and the time draweth near. Go ye not, therefore, after them. There are going to be many who claim to be Jesus. There are going to be many false teachings, church.

The best way to protect yourself from the cults and the false doctrines and even good, solid churches that have swayed and become corrupted and no longer teach the Bible, the best way to protect yourself from that is this.

Grow in your knowledge of God’s Word. Friends, I don’t have to teach you all the doctrines of the false cults, but you see, the Bible is your cult detector. The Bible is the filter for everything that you hear taught, everything that you hear said, everything that you are reading.

If it doesn’t line up with the Bible, then it is not the Word of God. You’ve got to make sure everything that you hear is squarely founded in the truth of God. When people say things to me, I just think in my mind and heart, does that line up with the Bible?

I was listening to a guy the other day, and he was just off. And I’m sorry I’m not here to judge people, not here to put down people, but I’m just sorry he was off in his teaching of the Bible. And I’m just trying to tell you, I don’t know that because I did this great inspection of his ministry, or his life, or his teachings.

I just simply knew the truth, and if it doesn’t line up with the Bible, I’m not going to go for it. And so, I want to challenge you to commit your heart to stay loyal to Jesus by growing in your knowledge of God’s Word.

Our loyalty proves our love, and the Bible emphasizes the importance of loyalty. Loyalty to God is our priority, and loyalty to the Lord Jesus Christ. This is the greatest commandment, that we are to love God, and we are to love our neighbor, and we must show great commitment to our Lord Jesus Christ.

So, we are hoping today that as you look at this passage, your desire to be loyal to God is growing, and that you are developing in your… Faith now before we take off I just want to remind you that we’d like to give you a free coffee mug so that you could use this hope worth having Coffee mug as a reminder to keep praying for our ministry So if you’ll just contact us go to our website hope worth having calm and ask for your free Coffee mug and every time you have your coffee hot tea, whatever it is Then you can be praying for the hope worth having ministries and we just want you to take advantage of that again It’s hope worth having dot -com.

This is pastor Mike Sanders reminding you that in Christ. There is hope worth having