Sound teaching, hard passages, prophecy, and errors to avoid.
Anyone who stays close to God may have enemies but is safe. Anyone who stays close to God will be protected from enemies. Anyone who stays close to God will eventually defeat all enemies and have them under his or her feet. In a boxing or wrestling game, when your opponent is lying at your feet while you are standing, you are the winner. Anyone who hides in God is safe and may have struggles now, but will eventually defeat all enemies.
Those opposing the church from within were in categories. First, those who opposed the teachings. Secondly, those who opposed the leadership. Thirdly, those who just opposed anything and everything because they thrive in anarchy. Paul insisted that they must be dealt with firmly or else the church will never progress.
No Bible teachings should only be explainable using a certain Bible translation, version, paraphrase or language. Sound Bible teachings should make sense whichever Bible is used. If you must insist on everyone having a specific Bible, then the teachings are suspect.
They confidently contradict scripture but the confidence blinds the majority of listeners from noticing the contradictions. For example, they will read a text on Christ’s second return where it says nobody knows the day nor the hour, then they will confidently misinterpret scripture and claim to know the time of Christ’s return. The confidence is blinding. If you strip them of confidence, nothing remains!
Prayer cannot substitute what must be done. If they can’t do what they must. If they refuse to do what they must – do not pray for these people
You came in knowing only one Bible story and half a teaching of the church and that is okay. But it is not okay to continue staying at that level of ignorance, there is a need to grow. You knew nothing about church structure and leadership and that was okay at that time but not several years later since you came into the church. You need to grow!
This is not a call for us to go and provoke people and situations to bring us suffering so that we claim to be really expressing love and commitment. This is suffering that is inevitable and not invited suffering. It is foolish to invite suffering. Not all love is worth suffering for. Teenage love affairs are not the stuff worth suffering for. Dating and courtship love affairs are not worth suffering for. If you suffer before marriage you will suffer excessively in marriage. Do not suffer, instead, you should quit that affair with immediate effect. Suffering in marriage as a victim of domestic violence is not the stuff being promoted here. Domestic violence is destructive to the victim and even fatal, in the name of Jesus, do not suffer, run out of that trap, run for your life. Not all suffering should be condoned and commended.
The concept of predestination in scripture raises several genuine concerns. Has God predestined all of us? Has God already determined whether I am ending up in hell or heaven? If we are predestined, are we free to make any choice? Do we need the power of choice if we are predestined? The key questions are two, (1) has God already determined where all of us will end up, whether heaven or hell? (2) Do human beings have a power of choice and how does it relate to divine predestination?
The Bible in our key text today tells us that believers have totally changed. What they were before conversion and what they are now is no longer the same. Because of the gospel and conversion, believers who were previously low rated are now highly rated. The gospel improves your ratings in society!