Any teaching that undermines Christ and His mission, as taught in the Bible, is of the devil!
(Reflections on Acts 20:27-38)
According to the Bible, the Church Age (which, incidentally, was conceived in God’s mind before He created the world) commenced with the birth of the Church on the day of Pentecost, about 2000 years ago. As correctly observed by Bible commentators, the book of Acts is the connecting link between Christ’s life and the life of the church – it is the link between the Gospels and the Epistles. It was during this period in the first century that the New Testament was being written by the eye-witnesses of Christ’s glory – the first band of apostles – and those who were closely associated with them. The book of Acts, written by the Gospel writer Luke, is an accurate historical record of the birth, life and witness of the early church.
Paul’s major concerns for the Church
The passage before us (Acts 20:27-38) for our short meditation is the concluding part of Paul’s farewell address to the Elders of the church in Ephesus where Paul spent nearly three years preaching and teaching about the kingdom of God (Acts 19:8-10). When the idol worshipping Gentiles and Jews heard the good news of God’s grace, they gave up their sinful ways and idols and turned to Jesus Christ for forgiveness and salvation.
Paul founded a church at Ephesus in AD 53 and trained the leaders who would continue the work of God’s kingdom in the power of the Holy Spirit after he left them for good. There were two major concerns that weighed on Paul’s heart for the infant church in Ephesus: 1) Spiritual nurture of the believers (Acts 20:28). “Keep watch over yourselves and all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers.” 2) Protection against false teaching (vv.29-31): “Be shepherds of the church of God, which He bought with His own blood. I know that savage wolves will come in among you and will not spare the flock… (v.31). So, be on your guard! Remember that for three years I never stopped warning each of you night and day with tears.” The Elders took Paul’s advice and instructions seriously, as evidenced in the letter Paul wrote to them seven years later (Eph.1:15-17).
Subtle deceptions
Today the Church is facing two major challenges: leadership crisis and proliferation of false teachers. The Enemy’s (Satan) attack from within the Church is more dangerous than his attack from outside! There are many “Bible teachers” and “pastors” out there, misleading the flock by withholding from them the complete will of God (20:27). One of the reasons for ignorance or incorrect understanding of Scriptures is the practice of picking a verse or a passage out of its context and presenting it as the complete truth; this results in failure to grasp the truth in its entirety, which could be dangerous! A manifestation of this subtle deception is seen in the Bible verses and messages going viral on social media, promising God’s love and protection and temporal blessings. Though well-intentioned, in these messages there is no mention of God’s call for His people to be holy, nor any mention of the conditions that apply for anyone to claim God’s promises and blessings!
The Lord Jesus warns us in Matthew 24:4-5: “Watch out that no one deceives you. For many will come in My name, claiming, I am the Christ, and will deceive many.” What the Lord meant was that there will be many who merely claim to represent the Christ who was anointed by God. Therefore, when we listen to preachers of God’s word, we need to be on our guard. What is our only source of defence against deceptive teaching? It is God’s written word (Genesis to Revelation) as revealed and taught by the Holy Spirit. The central theme of the Old and New Testament is the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ. Any teaching that undermines Christ and His mission, as taught in the Bible, is of the devil!
How does the devil deceive?
While there are thousands of ways (some obvious, some subtle) the devil employs to deceive the Christian believers as well as the non-believers, I have identified only two of them in this short article:
- Praying to saints. One can understand non-believers praying to Mary, the mother of Jesus, and to various saints, for they have been brought up in that man-made tradition from infancy. However, it is sad and shocking that some adult ‘evangelical Protestant Christians’ in our churches, who have been faithful church-goers for decades, are posting messages on the social media assuring their relatives and friends that they are praying to Mary and their favourite saints, who would then pray to Jesus on their behalf! This is a subtle form of idolatry!
Christians who post such messages are perhaps not aware of what it means to be a child of God and a disciple of Christ. If this is true, then they need to examine themselves in the search-light of God’s word, so that they would know where they stand in the Christian Faith. Please listen to what the word of God says:
- All who received Him (Jesus), to those who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God (John 1:12).
- No one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again (John 3:3).
- Jesus answered: “I am the Way, the Truth and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through Me” (John 14:6).
- For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus (1Timothy 2:5).
- But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it, and how from infancy you have known the holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus (2 Timothy 3:14-15).
- In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted (2Timothy 3:12).
- Blessed is the man who makes the LORD his trust, who does not look to the proud, to those who turn aside to false gods” (Psalm 40:4).
- This is what the LORD says: ‘Cursed is the one who trusts in man, who depends on flesh for his strength and whose heart turns away from the LORD. But blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, whose confidence is in Him’ (Jeremiah 17:5, 7).
- Prayer chains. Another deception that is making its rounds in the social media is the practice of forwarding a prayer, with the promise of an unusual blessing or a pleasant surprise to follow in the life of the recipients of that prayer, if they forward it to a specified number of people within a specified number of days. Sadly, many professing Christians have fallen for this deception! However, true Christians who know the Biblical principles on prayer and the one our Lord taught His disciples will ignore such prayers.
Therefore, be on your guard and know what you believe and why, so that you are not deceived and led astray!
“All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work” (2 Timothy 3:16).
