Teaching - How can I be a teacher?
June 18,2005
I. I have no formal training, so how can I be a teacher?
Deuteronomy 6:4-9;
- 4, “Hear, O Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord alone.
- 5, And you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your strength.
- 6, And you must commit yourselves wholeheartedly to these commands I am giving you today.
- 7, Repeat them again and again to your children.
- 8, Tie them to your hands as a reminder, and wear them on your forehead.
- 9, Write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.
(2 Tim 2:15 KJV) Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.
A: How?
1. love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your strength.
2. commit yourselves wholeheartedly to these commands
3. 7Repeat them again and again to your children
4. Talk about them when you are at home and when you are away on a journey, when you are lying down and when you are getting up again.
5. Tie them to your hands as a reminder
6. Write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates
II. By their constant example, parents are teachers, whether trained or not.
Psalm 78:5-8
- 5, For he issued his decree to Jacob; he gave his law to Israel. He commanded our ancestors to teach them to their children,
- 6, so the next generation might know them—even the children not yet born—that they in turn might teach their children.
- 7, So each generation can set its hope anew on God, remembering his glorious miracles and obeying his commands.
- 8, Then they will not be like their ancestors—stubborn, rebellious, and unfaithful, refusing to give their hearts to God.
III. Every believer can become a teacher by setting a good example
1 Timothy 4:11-12
- 11, Teach these things and insist that everyone learn them.
- 12, Don’t let anyone think less of you because you are young. Be an example to all believers in what you teach, in the way you live, in your love, your faith, and your purity.
Teaching others about God’s Word comes from knowing God’s Word. Commit yourself to knowing as much of God’s Word as possible
Ezra 7:6-10 Eleazar, son of Aaron the high priest.
- 6, This Ezra was a scribe, well versed in the law of Moses, which the Lord, the God of Israel, had given to the people of Israel. He came up to Jerusalem from Babylon, and the king gave him everything he asked for, because the gracious hand of the Lord his God was on him.
- 7, Some of the people of Israel, as well as some of the priests, Levites, singers, gatekeepers, and Temple servants, traveled up to Jerusalem with him in the seventh year of King Artaxerxes’ reign.
- 8, Ezra arrived in Jerusalem in August of that year.
- 9, He had left Babylon on April 8 and came to Jerusalem on August 4, FOR the gracious hand of his God was on him.
- 10, This was because Ezra had determined to study and obey the law of the Lord and to teach those laws and regulations to the people of Israel.
IV. Why is false teaching so dangerous, and how can I recognize it?
A. False teachers can be recognized by their dishonest motives and ungodly character.
Micah 2:11; Suppose a prophet full of lies were to say to you, “I’ll preach to you the joys of wine and drink!” That’s just the kind of prophet you would like!
Matthew 7:15-18 15“Beware of false prophets who come disguised as harmless sheep, but are really wolves that will tear you apart.
- 16, You can detect them by the way they act, just as you can identify a tree by its fruit. You don’t pick grapes from thorn bushes or figs from thistles.
- 17, A healthy tree produces good fruit, and an unhealthy tree produces bad fruit.
- 18, A good tree can’t produce bad fruit, and a bad tree can’t produce good fruit.
B. Again I emphasis False teachers can be recognized by their dishonest motives and ungodly character.
V. Teachers have a God-given responsibility to be good role models.
Titus 1:10-14
- 10, For there are many who rebel against right teaching; they engage in useless talk and deceive people. This is especially true of those who insist on circumcision for salvation.
- 11, They must be silenced. By their wrong teaching, they have already turned whole families away from the truth. Such teachers only want your money.
- 12, One of their own men, a prophet from Crete, has said about them, “The people of Crete are all liars; they are cruel animals and lazy gluttons.”
- 13, This is true. So rebuke them as sternly as necessary to make them strong in the faith.
- 14, They must stop listening to Jewish myths and the commands of people who have turned their backs on the truth.
VI. False teaching is dangerous because it can lead to the spiritual destruction of both individuals and families.
James 3:1 Dear brothers and sisters, not many of you should become teachers in the church, for we who teach will be judged by God with greater strictness.
C. Warnings against False Teachers
VII. Instruction for elders
1 Timothy 4:1-13
-1, Now the Holy Spirit tells us clearly that in the last times some will turn away from what we believe; they will follow lying spirits and teachings that come from demons.
- 2, These teachers are hypocrites and liars. They pretend to be religious, but their consciences are dead.
- 3, They will say it is wrong to be married and wrong to eat certain foods. But God created those foods to be eaten with thanksgiving by people who know and believe the truth.
- 4, Since everything God created is good, we should not reject any of it. We may receive it gladly, with thankful hearts.
- 5, For we know it is made holy by the word of God and prayer.
VIII. A Good Servant of Christ Jesus
1 Timothy 4:1-13 (continued)
- 6, If you explain this to the brothers and sisters, you will be doing your duty as a worthy servant of Christ Jesus, one who is fed by the message of faith and the true teaching you have followed.
- 7, Do not waste time arguing over godless ideas and old wives’ tales. Spend your time and energy in training yourself for spiritual fitness.
- 8, Physical exercise has some value, but spiritual exercise is much more important, for it promises a reward in both this life and the next.
- 9, This is true, and everyone should accept it.
- 10, We work hard and suffer much in order that people will believe the truth, for our hope is in the living God, who is the Savior of all people, an d particularly of those who believe.
- 11, Teach these things and insist that everyone learn them.
- 12, Don’t let anyone think less of you because you are young. Be an example to all believers in what you teach, in the way you live, in your love, your faith, and your purity.
- 13, Until I get there, focus on reading the Scriptures to the church, encouraging the believers, and teaching them.
God bless you and yours.
On behalf of this generation,
Your friends in the service of Christ,
Tony and Marge Abram
Abundant Life Crusades
