False Apostles
About this sermon
In “False Apostles,” Pastor Dean Odle presents a Scripture-centered message about the condition of the church, spiritual leadership, family discipleship. Drawing especially from Colossians 3:15, Ephesians 4, 2 Corinthians 11, Matthew 7, the teaching emphasizes that the church is called to recover biblical faithfulness instead of accommodating compromise. Odle connects that foundation with the conviction that leaders are accountable to teach faithfully, serve the flock, and model the character they proclaim.
Chronological teaching outline
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Odle focuses on the condition of the church while working through Colossians 3:15. The message argues that the church is called to recover biblical faithfulness instead of accommodating compromise. It connects this with the conviction that material stewardship reveals priorities and should be governed by generosity, integrity, and obedience to God. The practical emphasis is to test the teaching by Scripture and apply it through faithful obedience.
Odle focuses on the condition of the church while working through Colossians 3:15, Ephesians 4, 2 Corinthians 11. The message argues that the church is called to recover biblical faithfulness instead of accommodating compromise. It connects this with the conviction that prophecy should produce discernment, readiness, and faithfulness rather than speculation alone. The practical emphasis is to remain watchful, grounded in Scripture, and ready to obey Christ.
Odle focuses on the condition of the church while working through Matthew 7. The message argues that the church is called to recover biblical faithfulness instead of accommodating compromise. It connects this with the conviction that leaders are accountable to teach faithfully, serve the flock, and model the character they proclaim. The practical emphasis is to remain watchful, grounded in Scripture, and ready to obey Christ.
Odle focuses on angelic messengers. The message argues that angelic activity is examined within the biblical passage and its prophetic sequence. It connects this with the conviction that Islamic claims and biblical revelation present incompatible accounts of God and salvation. The practical emphasis is to test the teaching by Scripture and apply it through faithful obedience.
Odle focuses on the condition of the church while working through Romans 1. The message argues that the church is called to recover biblical faithfulness instead of accommodating compromise. It connects this with the conviction that the reality of final judgment gives urgency to repentance, salvation, and faithful witness. The practical emphasis is to test the teaching by Scripture and apply it through faithful obedience.
Odle focuses on the condition of the church while working through Genesis 18. The message argues that the church is called to recover biblical faithfulness instead of accommodating compromise. It connects this with the conviction that salvation is presented as God’s work in Christ that produces a changed life and continuing faith. The practical emphasis is to remain watchful, grounded in Scripture, and ready to obey Christ.
Odle focuses on the condition of the church while working through 1 Corinthians 5, Proverbs 29. The message argues that the church is called to recover biblical faithfulness instead of accommodating compromise. It connects this with the conviction that leaders are accountable to teach faithfully, serve the flock, and model the character they proclaim. The practical emphasis is to test the teaching by Scripture and apply it through faithful obedience.
Odle focuses on the condition of the church while working through Proverbs 27, 1 Corinthians 13. The message argues that the church is called to recover biblical faithfulness instead of accommodating compromise. It connects this with the conviction that biblical love is demonstrated through truth, patience, sacrifice, and conduct toward others. The practical emphasis is to remain watchful, grounded in Scripture, and ready to obey Christ.
Odle focuses on prayer. The message argues that prayer expresses dependence on God and prepares believers to hear and obey Him. It connects this with the conviction that biblical love is demonstrated through truth, patience, sacrifice, and conduct toward others. The practical emphasis is to seek God in prayer and act on what Scripture requires.
Odle focuses on family discipleship. The message argues that faithfulness in the home requires instruction, loving correction, protection, and a consistent Christian example. It connects this with the conviction that prayer expresses dependence on God and prepares believers to hear and obey Him. The practical emphasis is to seek God in prayer and act on what Scripture requires.
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- 0:00:00
But you promised if we would draw near to you, you would draw near to us. Lord, one thing I found in all these years is that you are faithful to your word. You will do what you said you would do. If we will do our part, Lord, you will do your part. There's no question about that. We praise you today. We worship you today. And as in Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Hallelujah. You may be seated this morning. We welcome you to firing grace church today. Baby, you got my water? I do. I need that. Hallelujah. Are we there? Okay. See you, brother. Hallelujah. All right. We welcome those here today. We welcome those listening by Blogtalkradio, Mixlr, Facebook live. We welcome you. Um I want to start again in Ephesians. We're going to go to Ephesians chapter 4 this morning first. Uh once again, this is kind of uh this is a series I didn't plan. And it's a series I thought, well, it'll be when the Lord gave me the second one, I thought, well, that'll be it. And now this is the third one, I thought, well, this will probably be it. But we'll see. Um Soon, I don't know, I'm going to have to do a subject where it's going to be so difficult to do that we might not even have be able to have the children in the service. So, can't do that one can't do that one just yet. But uh we've been talking about the church of Jesus Christ the last few weeks. Uh the difference between um the faults counterfeit churches versus true churches. And I may going to repeat a few things just to give us where we need to be, but in Ephesians chapter 4, we read this even I think both weeks last 2 weeks because we're talking about the church of Jesus Christ and the fivefold ministry and how the church is supposed to operate and what your relationship is to be to the church. And um the more I dig into things out there is going on in the world, the more I dig into the crazy mega church world in America, the more of a cesspool I discover. And I mean a cesspool. I won't be able to get into all that and name names, particularly on this cuz there's some things I have to dig out even further. But Jesus said we if you remember I started this off with Matthew chapter 16
- 0:03:03
where Jesus was talking to the disciples to the apostles and he said, you know, "Whom do men say that I am?" And they said, "Some say you're John the Baptist, some say you're Elijah, some say you're Jeremiah." And then he said, "Who do you say that I am?" And Peter, answering by the Holy Spirit within him, said, "Thou art the Christ, the son of the living God." And Jesus said, "Blessed are you, Simon, for flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but the my father which is in heaven." So, supernatural revelation of Jesus and then Jesus spoke and said, "You are Peter, you are Petros, a little stone, but upon this rock, Petra, I will build my church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it." Now, Jesus is the rock. He is the Petra, the revelation of who he is. All right? Those are the Greek words if you look them up. Peter, Petros. Rock, big rock, petra. So what what Jesus was basically saying to Peter is that you're a little you're a chip off the old block here. Right? You're a little stone, I'm the big stone, but you're part of me. So Jesus said I will build my church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it. But Satan also always comes along and builds a counterfeit. Always. If God does something, the devil tries to take it and either he tries to corrupt it, he tries to twist it, or he tries to counterfeit it the best he can so that he can control through deception and manipulation or false teaching or whatever. Um the devil is great at counterfeiting. Okay? Very good at it. Now I worked for a bank many years ago. And I remember going through the training of how to discern between a fake bill or counterfeit bill and true bill. Now what was amazing is that training that I went through, we spent most of our time looking at the real money. And them showing us all the little details to look for in that. Particular I remember one thing in particular and I don't even know, you know, they've changed how they make bills now so much but this cuz this was back in the early 90s. But they used to talk about you have to look real close and you can see the little pieces of red and blue silk that's in the paper. Okay? And so what they would plainly tell us is if you get a bill, first of all, if it doesn't feel right. Might look exactly the same at a quick glance. It might look the same. But when you take it in your hand, if something doesn't feel right, because you've been handling real money a lot, you'll feel that the paper's different. You'll feel something's different. I remember I used to sit in the vault every Monday morning. This was my job. Now, some people would like this job, but I would
- 0:06:04
count about half a million dollars in cash every Monday morning because uh in the vault, by hand and through the machines and double-checking and everything because we would get the Walmart and the Farmor deposits over the weekend, and we would have to sit in the vault, me and another person, and count all that money underneath cameras. So, I got real familiar with feeling the feel of real money. So, when you got one in your hand that was fake, first thing is it just didn't feel quite right. Something just didn't feel quite right. Now, folks, I want to tell you something. That in the spiritual realm equates to your spiritual discernment, okay? It doesn't go by what you see, right? Because remember, when you initially look at a fake bill, it's it's not going to be a good one unless they make it look as much like the real as possible. So, the first thing is that you can't go by your outward senses. You don't go by what you see, you don't go by what you hear, but something just doesn't feel right. And in the spirit, your spiritual senses or your spiritual feelings is what the Bible calls discernment or discerning of spirits. Can I just tell you I mean, most of you could say this. Some people call it intuition. Uh and and there that is a a real aspect to this, but how many times have you just known inside you you've gone into a situation, maybe. You've gone into a new workplace or you've met someone or you've gotten into a relationship or you go to a different church or you go to a different school or whatever, and you walk in or the person you meet and you just you you don't know what's wrong, but you just something just doesn't feel right on the inside. How many of you you get around some people you get you feel that they they got creepy lust problems, right? You get around other people and you feel like they're dishonest. But a lot of times what we do is those feelings that we have are so subtle and gentle, we tend to brush them aside and go by what we see. Now for Christians, especially in discerning what's going on in this church world and the the many people that are out here trying to deceive us, we cannot afford to push that aside. Hear what I'm saying? That's why I'm going to give you a verse real quick. Colossians 3:15. I'm just going to quote it. You can look it up. But Colossians 3:15 says this. It says, "Let the peace of God rule your heart." Everybody see that? If you Y'all can go ahead and turn your so you see it for yourself. "Let the peace of God rule your heart." Now the peace of God cannot be seen with the eyes. It cannot be touched by anything, really. But the peace of God is something that you can literally feel and sense in your heart, in your spirit.
- 0:09:06
It is a spiritual feeling. Let me just say this. If you were ever truly born again and Jesus you made Jesus your Lord and Savior, you truly repented, and you truly were born again, renewed by the Holy Spirit, you felt that peace. I felt that peace at 11 years old when I walked down the aisle of that church. It was overwhelming. At 11 years old, it made me cry tears down my face. Not tears of sadness, but tears of joy because I had never felt such peace and love on the inside of me. Does anybody in here know what I'm talking about? So, when you get saved, you encounter this peace, the touch of God, the presence of God, or you can feel the absence of that peace. And when he says here in this verse in Colossians 3:15, when he says, "Let the peace of God rule your heart." What he's saying there is And in And with the word rule, if you look it up in the in the Greek, it means umpire. Now, guys and ladies in here, my wife used to be a big Atlanta Braves fan. What's the umpire call when somebody comes sliding into the base? They're going to call it either what? Safe or out. Well, guess what? If you're born again and you have the Holy Spirit living in you, you have inside information and he wants to let you know by the peace or the witness of the Holy Spirit in you or the absence of that peace, him removing it and letting you feel the creepiness or the weirdness or the demonic forces. God wants to give you a touch on the inside so you know if something's safe or out. Not by your what you see, not by what you hear. Cuz how many of you know some people look like they're sweet and nice. Some people talk like it. Some people are good at fooling everybody. That's why you have to learn, and I talked about this a few weeks ago when we started this, the number one priority for born-again Christians is to learn to be led by the Holy Spirit who dwells within us. Amen. We can't go by 100% of the time. We cannot go by what we see, hear, and know in the natural. We have to have spiritual revelation, discernment, knowledge on the inside. So, let the peace of God Now, what's interesting about that verse, he says, "Let the peace of God." Meaning, you have to let it. If God warns you about a situation or a person or a place, if he warns you and you don't listen, you push that aside, you're not letting the peace of God be the umpire in your life. You're being the umpire. You hear me? And to be led by the spirit and to walk
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