Do Not Be Carried Away

In one paragraph

Pastor Ray walked Hebrews 13:9-16 through a single central claim: grace must be the anchor of any true gospel, and anything that pulls us away from it, whether toward religious legalism or toward moral carelessness, is a "various and strange" teaching the church has always been warned against. From there he moved into what it means, practically, to go "outside the camp" bearing Christ's reproach,...

Read together

1. Isaiah 1:18 quoted in passing as 'though our sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow'
2. Hebrews 13:1 let love of the brethren continue
3. Hebrews 13:2 do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, some have entertained angels without knowing it
4. Hebrews 13:3 remember the prisoners as though you were in prison with them
5. Hebrews 13:4 marriage honorable among all, fornicators and adulterers God will judge
6. Hebrews 13:5 character free from love of money, be content, God said I will never desert you nor forsake you
7. Hebrews 13:6 so we can confidently say the Lord is my helper, I will not be afraid, what will man do to me
8. Hebrews 13:7 remember those who led you, who spoke the word of God, imitate their faith
9. Hebrews 13:8 Jesus is the same yesterday and today and forever
10. Hebrews 13:9 do not be carried away by various and strange teachings, good for the heart to be strengthened by grace not by foods
11. Hebrews 13:10 we have an altar from which those who serve the tabernacle have no right to eat
12. Hebrews 13:11 bodies of animals whose blood is brought into the holy place are burned outside the camp
13. Hebrews 13:12 Jesus suffered outside the gate to sanctify the people through his own blood
14. Hebrews 13:13 let us go out to him outside the camp bearing his reproach
15. Hebrews 13:14 here we do not have a lasting city but we are seeking the city which is to come
16. Hebrews 13:15 continually offer up a sacrifice of praise, the fruit of lips that give thanks to his name
17. Hebrews 13:16 do not neglect doing good and sharing, with such sacrifices God is pleased
18. Matthew 24:4-5 Jesus warning see to it that no one misleads you, many will come claiming to be Christ
19. Acts 20:29-30 Paul warning Ephesian elders that wolves will come and men from their own number will distort the truth
20. Romans 16:17 keep your eyes on those who cause dissensions contrary to the teaching you learned and turn away from them
21. 2 Corinthians 11:12-15 false apostles disguise themselves as apostles of Christ, Satan disguises himself as an angel of light
22. Galatians 1:6-9 amazed you are deserting Christ for a different gospel, if anyone preaches contrary gospel he is to be accursed
23. Ephesians 4:14 no longer children tossed by waves and carried about by every wind of new doctrine
24. Ephesians 5:6 let no one deceive you with empty words, wrath of God comes on sons of disobedience
25. Colossians 2:4 so that no one will delude you with a persuasive argument
26. Colossians 2:8 see to it no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception according to tradition of man
27. 2 Thessalonians 2:2-3 do not be shaken or disturbed by teaching that the day of the Lord has already come
28. 1 Timothy 4:1-3 in later times some will fall away paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons, forbidding marriage and foods
29. 1 Timothy 6:3-5 anyone advocating a different doctrine has a morbid interest in controversial questions out of which arise envy and strife
30. 1 Timothy 6:20 guard what has been entrusted to you, avoiding worldly and empty chatter
31. 1 John 4:1 do not believe every spirit but test the spirits, many false prophets have gone out into the world
32. Jude 3 contend earnestly for the faith once for all handed down to the saints
33. Jude 4 certain persons crept in who turn the grace of God into licentiousness and deny Jesus Christ
34. Jude 12 these men are hidden reefs in your love feasts, clouds without water, autumn trees without fruit
35. Hebrews 11:8 by faith Abraham when called obeyed, going out not knowing where he was going
36. Hebrews 11:9-10 he lived as alien in land of promise looking for the city whose architect and builder is God
37. Psalm 50:12-15 if I were hungry I would not tell you, offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving, call upon me in the day of trouble and I shall rescue you
38. Psalm 51 referenced as the basis for the song Cleanse Me, David convicted of sin going to God
39. 1 John 1:9 if you confess your sins God is faithful and just to forgive and cleanse you from all unrighteousness
40. 1 Corinthians 11:23-25 on the night he was betrayed Jesus took bread and cup saying this is my body and the new covenant in my blood
41. 1 Corinthians 11:26 as often as you do this you proclaim Christ's death until he comes again
42. Colossians 2:6-7 as you received Christ Jesus the Lord so be walking in him, rooted and built up, abounding in thanksgiving

Talk about it

1. Pastor Ray mentioned that someone named Durwood Perry proclaimed the gospel at a camp, and that was the moment God saved him. Who was the person in your own life who first spoke God's word to you, and how does remembering that person shape how you think about your own responsibility to share the gospel?
2. The sermon walked through passage after passage in the New Testament warning against various and strange teachings. What makes it hard, in your own experience, to recognize when a teaching has drifted from the grace-centered gospel?
3. Pastor Ray said that both adding to the gospel through legalism and taking away from it through licentiousness are equally a departure from the true gospel, and that the answer to both is not more rules or more freedom but trust in Christ. How have you seen that play out, either in your own life or in church life?
4. The sermon drew on the image of Moses pitching his tent outside the camp after the golden calf incident, and connected it to Jesus suffering outside the gate. Pastor Ray said that going outside the camp means bearing Christ's reproach. What does that look like practically for you in the place where you live and work?
5. Psalm 50 was brought in with the line, 'Call upon me in the day of trouble and I shall rescue you and you will honor me.' Pastor Ray said that when we exhaust our own resources and finally call on God, it ends in us honoring Him. Has there been a time when you waited too long to call on God in a hard situation, and what did you learn from it?