Letters To Leaders- False Teaching Series

INTRODUCTION

· PC VIDEO

· SLIDE #1

· Today as we continue in our Letters to Leaders series, we are going to delve into a subject that is important for us to consider.

· Today we will touch on a subject that has plagued the church from the beginning.

· The issue is doctrine, specifically false doctrine or teaching.

· In our video clip, the emphasis was on not getting too deep into the Word, not to get to know one another too much.

· Today it is somewhat popular to imply or say that doctrine is not important, it does not matter what you believe as long as you believe.

· Does it matter what we believe? I WHAT we believe important?

· Jerry referenced some prominent worship leaders and an author who has turned their back on the faith? Why?

· Why would someone who PROFESSES a faith in Jesus, one who makes a name for themselves by writing books, writing worship music, or leading worship, one day simply walk away?

· Could it have something to do with what they were or were not grounded in?

· Could some of the problem stem from what they were taught or what they taught?

· Could the issue with doctrine and teaching?

· Believe it or not, theology influences everything we do.

· Some Christians can view doctrine and theology as unimportant and divisive.

· However, everyone is a theologian. Everyone has opinions and beliefs about God.

· How you view God is a part of your worldview—and, ultimately, how you view the world impacts how you live.

· For example, if human beings are created in God's image, then they have innate value and should be treated with respect. Theology leads to ethics.

· What you believe impacts IF you will believe and how you will stand amid the world around you falling apart.

· In our passage today, Paul gives some strong encouragement to the young evangelist Timothy, to stomp out false teaching. Why? If it does not matter what you believe as long as you believe is true, why is Paul concerned?

· Paul is concerned with false teachers and doctrine in the church because he knows that all of life hinges on the truth of Jesus and a distortion of that truth has serious consequences to human life and discipleship.

· These false teachers are not only teaching bad theology but are causing believers to concentrate on things that don't matter; myths, genealogies, practicing certain laws (1 Timothy 1:3–4).

· When people say that theology can be divisive, sometimes they are right. Theology that stresses minor issues or trivial matters is divisive.

· Here are a couple thoughts to ponder as we dive in today.

· Christian theology should be grounded in the Bible and not in minor opinions or divisiveness.

· This subject is also important because all Christians are theologians and are responsible to reflect a biblical view of God to the world.

· Let’s turn to 1 Timothy 1:3-4 together.

· As you find the passage, just a brief background to this letter.

· After his first Roman imprisonment, Paul visited all the churches he planted during earlier Missionary Journeys in the 40’s and 50’s A.D.

· Paul passes through Ephesus on the way to Macedonia (where he writes 1 Timothy in 65 A.D.) when he urges Timothy to remain in Ephesus to take care of the problems that were occurring on the church.

· SLIDE #2

· 1 Timothy 1:3 (CSB) — 3 As I urged you when I went to Macedonia, remain in Ephesus so that you may instruct certain people not to teach false doctrine

· SLIDE #3

SERMON

I. The charge against false teaching.

· False teaching in the church is nothing new, the early church was plagued with the problem.

· The main problem with the first-century church was the attempt of the Judaizers to make those who were Gentiles first try to become Jews before they became Christians.

· Today, we face issues like the Prosperity Gospel, false teachings on sexuality, among other issues.

· There were many other false teachings that were going on in the Early Church.

· What you believe does not matter as long as you believe was not something for which Paul subscribed.

· Paul had previously warned the Ephesian Christians that some of their own group would draw them away (Acts 20:29–30).

· Later in this chapter, he mentioned two of the offenders by name (1 Tim 1:20).

· The heresy in Ephesus had arisen from within the church, and Paul was urging Timothy to act on Paul’s behalf to thwart the advance of mischievous falsehood.

· Paul tells Timothy to instruct…

· The word INSTRUCT is a strong word calling for strict orders.