Acts 20: 13-38 (Part 1)
Acts 20: 13-16 Paul is continuing his journey toJerusalem and stops at Miletus
Acts 20: 17 He calls for the Leaders of the Ephesian Church to join him there
He has a special Message for them
This Message is the only Message recorded in Acts given to believing Christians
The other recorded Messages given by Paul:
The stubborn, hard-hearted, un-believing Jews Acts 13: 16-41
The idol worshipping, un-believing Gentiles Acts 14: 15-17 Acts 17: 22-31
So, this Message must be very important for us too – right?!
Acts 20: 18-27, 32-37 Paul…
Reminds them about his ministry atEphesus
Shares his fears about his future
Urges them to apply what they learned from him in serving others
Commits them to the grace of God
Prays for them and says goodbye
Acts 20: 28-31 is the ‘heart’ of Paul’s Message
It warns us about…False Teaching!
1/ False Teaching is a distortion of the truth
Acts 20: 30 ‘…men will…distort the truth…’
False teaching sounds like the truth, but it is not the truth
Illustration: false teaching is like a ‘copy’ Rolex watch
A ‘copy’ Rolex looks like a Rolex, but it is not a Rolex
Do you know the difference between true and false teaching?
Some time later, Paul sends Timothy toEphesus, because the Church there (even after Paul’s warnings) becomes deceived by false teaching
Paul writes to Timothy instructing him what to do about it
1 Timothy 1: 3-7 ‘…command certain men not to teach false doctrines…’
‘These (false doctrines) promote trouble…meaningless talk…’
1 Timothy 6: 3-10 Paul says these false teachers are ‘…conceited (self important, proud, & arrogant) and understand nothing’
They are only interested in ‘…causing trouble…and quarrelling about words…’
They cause ‘…envy, strife, malicious talk, evil suspicions and constant friction between people…’
So that the end result is: people are ‘…robbed of the truth…’ 1 Timothy 6: 5
A person who sells you a ‘copy’ watch robs you of your money
A person who deceives you with false teaching, robs you of the truth
2/ False Teaching comes from outside the Church and from inside the Church
From outside the Church Acts 20: 29 ‘…come in…’
Example: Chinese man saved in our Blenheim Meeting/given false teaching by Jehovah’s Witness
But, praise God, this man has a heart for the truth!
He was also asking us about the difference between Catholic beliefs and Bible beliefs
From inside the Church Acts 20: 30 ‘…even from your own number…’
These false teachers are harder to identify!
Matthew 7:15 ‘Watch out for false teachers. They come to you dressed as if they were sheep. On the inside they are hungry wolves’.
2 Timothy 3: 6 ‘These are the kind of people who smooth-talk themselves into the homes of unstable and needy people and take advantage of them…’
2 Timothy 3: 8 ‘…these men oppose the truth. Their minds are corrupt, and the faith they teach is counterfeit’.
Over the years we have had people like this come into our Church and over a period of time they ‘smooth-talk’ their way into the lives of some of our vulnerable people
Teaching them against Bible truth, like the Baptism with the Holy Spirit, miracles for today, giving & Biblical Leadership
Next week:
3/ False Teaching divides the Church
4/ False Teaching is almost impossible to stop
5/ We must protect ourselves and others from False Teaching
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