Sermon Outlines: How to Avoid Being Deceived by False Teachers

Super Bowl Sunday my husband shared with our church a very important message. As a follow up to his last sermon, Understanding The Rapture, he discussed the criteria that we should use to determine if a person, religious group, or church, is teaching false doctrine.

As we draw closer to the time of Christs' return, it will become more and more difficult to discern who and what to believe. That is why it's so important to study the Word for yourself, so that if a time of testing comes, you will not be deceived. 1 John 2:18 says:

"Dear children, this is the last hour; and as you have heard that the Antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come. This is how we know it is the last hour."

The Bible makes it very clear that many false teachers (antichrists) will come in order to deceive believers until the time that the Antichrist stands in the temple proclaiming himself to be god.

Deception comes in many forms, but for the sake of brevity we are going to discuss the three main vehicles that are usually used to spread false doctrine. These three forms of deception are also the criteria that is typically used to determine if a group can be categorized as a cult.

The deception is often cloaked in truth.

Any person or group that wants to deceive you will not come right out and tell you their intentions. If someone walked up to you and said, "Let's go worship Satan," you would be able to figure that one out pretty quickly.

On the other hand, if someone comes up to you and says, "We believe that Jesus was a wise teacher with a kind heart, but he was only a man," you had better understand what you believe as a Christian because you have just been hit with a big dose of false doctrine (and I will explain why later). 2 Corinthians 11:3 says:

"But I am afraid that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent's cunning, your minds may somehow be led astray from your sincere and pure devotion to Christ."

1 Timothy 4:1-3 also warns us of the dangers of deceptive teaching which is often cloaked in good intentions and man made religiosity: