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Beware of False Teaching
”God please get me out of the way, and help me share the truth of your word with clarity and love.”
These are the words I start with each week as I begin prepping for my sermon. We live in a world where there is so much skewed theology and the teaching that emanates from it is dangerous. Jesus was very vocal in his comments to the false teachers He encountered. As He walked among the wolves of the day He confronted them about their hypocrisy and false teaching. The “Woes” of Matthew 23, dive deep into the components of the Pharisees damaging impact of their hypocritical lives as religious leaders.
So, how do we recognize false teachers? Paul and Silas’ journey to Berea recorded in Acts 17, gives us insight about how to discover false teachers. These two men were working their way through several towns, “turning the world upside down.” So much so, they were thrown out of the third town, Thessalonica, and were sent to Berea. In Berea they set up shop in the synagogue and had great success. Many in the synagogue believed! Luke emphasized that, “they received the word with all eagerness.” (17:11a) Now that is the attitude we should have when the scriptures are taught. Lukes second observation gives us insight on how to prepare ourselves for false teachers, they were “examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so.” (17:11b)
They had heard Paul, and after examining the scriptures they came to the conclusion that the things he said were right.
The Bereans give us insight into the primary path to recognizing false teaching – consistently deepening in your personal understanding of God’s word.
In Jude’s letter the emphasis is on the destruction of false leaders and how to respond. Jude paints the picture of the danger that false teachers present and he then writes how the church should react.
[perfectpullquote align=”full” bordertop=”false” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]“Beloved, building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit, 21 keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life.”Jude 20-21[/perfectpullquote]
So, as we journey together as the body of Christ we are to build each other up, “by having fellowship with the Lord and his people, by continuing in the gospel and in the Word of God . . .” Continuing in God’s word provides the 1 weapons to discern the false teaching that emerges in our lives. One thing I don’t want you to miss, the key is doing it together. We need each other in our quest to walk in purity before God as the body of Christ. Let’s keep watching out for each other! You never know, our vigilance may “save others by snatching them out of the fire.” (Jude 23)
– Pastor Chuck
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