For the past 5 weeks we have been looking at a series entitled “Know Who You Are Following” where in 2nd Peter 2, Peter gives us a warning about false leadership that will rise up in our churches and he also gives us an outline to follow, or a check list that we can follow to check those who are in our lives that we are following. It is important that we know who we are following. The people that are leading us need to be leading us towards Christ and not away and the only way you will know if they are leading in the right direction is to know the map. The map meaning the Word of God.
We as Christians need to take inventory of the person or people we are following so we do not end up going down the wrong path. It is a constant review that we must do throughout our live here on this planet; we must ask ourselves the question “Is this person leading towards God or away from God?” The enemy will put people in your life to try to distract you, to persuade you, and take you off course. The enemy does not want you to grow in the knowledge of Christ, he does not want to grow closer to God, he does not want you to impact this world for the Kingdom of God, and he comes to steal, kill, and destroy anything or anyone trying to do something for the Kingdom. He will go as far as putting someone into your life in order to distract you from the plans that God has for you. He is no respecter of persons; he will use whoever he can in order to stop what God is doing in your life.
2nd Peter gives us warnings to look for:
· Vs. 1 Secretly bring in destructive heresies: these are religious opinions which cause dissension or division in the church.
· Vs. 1b Deny the Lord who bought them: they deny Him by not living the life that He has called them to live.
· Vs. 2 Many will follow: False leaders will twist Scripture so that it fits their lifestyle and because of this people will follow whatever tickles their ears.
· Vs. 2 Truth will be blasphemed through them: These “Christians” who live their lives anyway they want to do not realize that they are damaging the Kingdom and slandering the name of Christ.
· Vs. 3 Exploit people with lies: If anyone gets in their way they will begin to exploit you with deceptive words, they begin to sell their idea of you to those around you. The King James says, “they will merchandise” you.
· Vs. 10 Walk according to the flesh: They are living their own form of Christianity and they try to bring along others down this same destructive path.
· Vs. 10 Despise authority: They do not adhere to the authority that is placed over them which is the final authority, Jesus Christ. They live in rebellion against God and His Word.
· Vs. 13 Spots and Blemishes: This means they are a disgrace…morally blemished. I am reminded of Ephesians 5:27 – “27 that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish.” – NKJ
· Vs. 14 They never stop sinning.
On and on Peter goes about these false leaders that we should avoid following. He says in:
2nd Peter 2:17-22
“17These men are springs without water and mists driven by a storm. Blackest darkness is reserved for them. 18For they mouth empty, boastful words and, by appealing to the lustful desires of sinful human nature, they entice people who are just escaping from those who live in error. 19They promise them freedom, while they themselves are slaves of depravity—for a man is a slave to whatever has mastered him. 20If they have escaped the corruption of the world by knowing our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and are again entangled in it and overcome, they are worse off at the end than they were at the beginning. 21It would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than to have known it and then to turn their backs on the sacred command that was passed on to them. 22Of them the proverbs are true: "A dog returns to its vomit,"and, "A sow that is washed goes back to her wallowing in the mud.” – NKJ
Who are you following this evening? Who is leading you in your walk with God? Who are you entrusting your salvation too?
Too often we as Christians follow after man. We follow man’s way of doing things, man’s way of religion, man’s way to have church, man’s ideas of what Christianity is. I want to end this series on following the only one that will never lead you astray. You see false leaders always lead to death and destruction, but there is one leader who leads people into life. Who leads people not just into life, but an abundant life. His name is Jesus. Jesus is a spring with everlasting water where those that choose to follow Him will never thirst again. If you are following Jesus today, then you will never be led to a place of destruction. Notice I did not say death and destruction. There will be a death that takes place when you follow Christ, but that death brings life.
Matthew 16:24-25
“24 Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. 25 For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.” – NKJ
In essence what Jesus is saying, you want to live, not only live but live eternally, live abundantly, then you must first die to self! Die to your ways, your thinking, your attitudes, your idea of Christianity, your idea of God, your idea of religion, you must die to the flesh, you must die to your desires, your plans, your way of life and you must shoulder your cross and follow me! Doesn’t matter where I take you, doesn’t matter who else is following, doesn’t matter who is looking at you, doesn’t matter if your mom or dad goes, doesn’t matter if your children goes, doesn’t matter if your spouse goes, if you want to live then you must follow me!
Follow Me (Jesus)!
Matthew 4:18-20“18 And Jesus, walking by the Sea of Galilee, saw two brothers, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen. 19 Then He said to them, “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.” 20 They immediately left their nets and followed Him.” – NKJ
We all have heard this passage of Scripture. We have heard this many times where Jesus is calling His first disciples. We see Jesus walking along the shoreline, along the Sea of Galilee when He notices two fishermen, two brothers, Simon Peter and Andrew. We see this passage of Scripture and we pull from it how Jesus wants to make Simone Peter and Andrew not just fishermen, but fishers of men. Meaning He wants to use them in spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, He wants to use them to impact this world for the Kingdom of God. But I want to look at the first part of what Jesus is really saying to these two men and to us today.
Matthew 4:19a
“19 Then He said to them, “Follow Me, and I will make you…” – NKJ
This is interesting how Jesus approaches this situation of these fishermen. Notice Jesus doesn’t use any type of manipulation or deceitful ways, or cunning tactics, or persuasive words, no manipulation when He called these men. He simply said “follow me”. He is saying the same to us today, “follow me”. Jesus did not say follow my disciples. Jesus did not say follow my laws, Jesus did not say follow my lists of do’s and don’ts, He simply said follow me. Why? Because man is corrupted. Laws get broken. List’s get lost.
Ever since the fall of man, God has been trying to bring man back to the state that man was intended and designed to be. The image of God.
Genesis 1:26a
“26 Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness…” – NKJ
We were created to be the image of God here on this planet. We were created to represent God here on earth. We are ambassadors for Christ. We are His representatives. We are predestined:
Romans 8:29a
“29 For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son…” – NKJ
Jesus was saying I don’t want you to follow man, because man is corrupted. You cannot get back to the state you were designed to be if you follow man. Man is sinful. Man is born sinful. He doesn’t want us to be imitators of man, but imitators of God.
Ephesians 5:1
“1Therefore be imitators of God as dear children.” – NKJ
Who better to follow after than the one who was the perfect imitator of God, because He was God, than Jesus Christ.
Ephesians 5:2
“2 And walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma.” – NKJ
You want to be the men and women of God you were predestined to be, then follow Jesus Christ! Stop following after man, stop pleasing man, stop listening to man, and start listening to Jesus, pick up your cross and follow Him! You will never be all that God wants you to be following the rules and regulations and religion of man. Get rid of the religion and get a relationship with Christ and follow Him! It is time that we become Disciples of Christ not man.
When you start to follow Christ, He will make you. He will shape and mold you into what He wants you to be. But you have to follow Him. You cannot be a disciple if you do not follow Jesus.
Luke 14:25-27
“25Large crowds were traveling with Jesus, and turning to them he said: 26"If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters—yes, even his own life—he cannot be my disciple. 27And anyone who does not carry his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.” – NIV
Notice Jesus did not call us to be Christians, but disciples. The term “Christian” only appears 3 times in Scripture – Acts 11:26, Acts 26:28, & 1st Peter 4:16. The word “disciple” appears 300 times in the New Testament.
Following Jesus Means What?
Believe in Jesus
To follow Jesus the first thing you must do is believe. Believe in who He is and what He has done. In order to follow Jesus Christ you must believe that He is who He says He is. He is the King of Kings, He is the Son of God, He is the Lord of Lords, He is the Messiah, He is Divine, He is God, He is our redemption, He is the Savior, He is the Christ, He is the Bread of Life, He is the Morning Star, He is the Great High Priest, He is the Good Shepherd, He is the Head of the church, He is at the right hand of the Father, He was crucified, He was resurrected, He is returning for His bride the church…in order to follow Him you must believe!John 1:12
“12Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.” – NIV
John 3:15
“15that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life.” – NIV
Follow His Direction
Luke 9:23“23Then he said to them all: "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.” - NIV
Following Jesus means we must follow His direction. No matter where He goes, we must follow. If you asked me for directions to Kroger I could tell you how to get there, but sometimes it is easier to just show you. I would get in my car and you would follow me to Kroger. You would have to take the turns I make, take the roads I go down. If you turn your eyes off me you would lose sight of me and get lost.
When you follow Jesus your life revolves around Him. I think we get this mixed up and we tell Jesus He needs to revolve around us. My schedule, my time, my way, not later but now. This means we need to yield or submit our lives to go along with Him. We need to understand that the phrase “Jesus is Lord” is more than a bumper sticker on the back of our cars. To be a disciple you must follow Jesus directions.
Galatians 2:20
“20I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” - NIV
Matthew 4:20
“20At once they left their nets and followed him.” – NIV
At once they left their way of life to follow the directions that Jesus had for them. We must be willing to do the same.
Stay Close – Keep Up
Where Jesus goes we need to make sure we keep up with Him. We need to stay close so we do not lose sight of Him. Just as if you were following me in my car you have to stay close otherwise you will get lost. We need to stay close to Christ all the time, less we lose sight of Him. How do we stay close? Prayer and the Word.When we pray we are in communication with Christ. We are in communication with God. When Jesus says to go left, or turn here, or turn around and go back, we will hear the directions we need to take so we do not lose Him. It keeps us close to Him. Moses went before God. He spent time with God. He received directions from God. He followed God.
Exodus 13:21
“21 By day the LORD went ahead of them in a pillar of cloud to guide them on their way and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, so that they could travel by day or night.” – NIV
Why not be in communication with the one leading you? His Word keeps us close to Him. It keeps us from getting distracted.
Colossians 3:1-3
“1Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. 2Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. 3For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God.” – NIV
Too many Christians have fallen behind Christ and are lost in their ways…they need to get back to prayer, back to the word, back to Christ.
Trust Jesus
Following Jesus means you put your trust in Him. Back to the illustration of following me in my car, you put your trust in me that I know where I am going and I am going to get you to your destination. We have to trust Jesus that He is directing us in the right direction. This is exercising your faith. We don’t need to understand why things happen all the time. What we need to grab a hold of is that:Romans 8:28-35
“28And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. 29For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. 30And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.
31What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us? 32He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? 33Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. 34Who is he that condemns? Christ Jesus, who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. 35Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword?” – NIV
We need to understand:
Deuteronomy 28:13
“13 The LORD will make you the head, not the tail. If you pay attention to the commands of the LORD your God that I give you this day and carefully follow them, you will always be at the top, never at the bottom.” – NIV
Philippians 4:12-13
“12I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. 13I can do everything through him who gives me strength.” – NIV
Paul was saying I trust the Lord and where He is leading me. Doesn’t matter what the situation…how bad it may seem…how dreary and tired I get…how much stuff I have…if the bills are paid…I will trust that the Lord is leading me in the right direction. When you follow Christ you cannot go wrong.
Jeremiah 29:11-14
“11 For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. 12 Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. 13 You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. 14 I will be found by you," declares the LORD, "and will bring you back from captivity.” - NIV
Who are you following today?
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