#BibleStudy. Expressions of Faith. Acts Ch 20. Be on Your Guard

³¹ So be on your guard! Remember that for three years I never stopped warning each of you night and day with tears.

Acts 20:31 

Paul knows his missionary ministry is over.

• He calls church leaders together.
• You will get the most out of this Expression if you re-read his entire farewell Acts 20:18-35 now.

Paul warns the church about two problems in Verses 29-30.

• The first problem is savage wolves.
• These are false apostles Paul knew about who had not been to Ephesus yet.
• That’s a bad problem.

Problem number two is worse.

• Paul warns about church members destroying God’s truth to lure disciples away.
• John quotes Jesus's dictated words on how the Ephesians handled this problem in Revelation 2:6.

⁶ But you have this in your favor: You hate the practices of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.

John Wesley says this about the Nicolatians.

• Probably so called from Nicolas, one of the seven deacons, Acts 6:5. 
• [Nicolatian] doctrines and lives were equally corrupt. 
• They allowed the most abominable lewdness and adulteries, as well as sacrificing to idols; all which they … pleaded for as branches of Christian liberty.

This brings you to the key verse

³¹ So be on your guard! Remember that for three years I never stopped warning each of you night and day with tears.

• Paul reminds them of his faithful three years of ministry in Ephesus.

What is clear in the book of Revelation is this,

• The Church in Ephesus heeded Paul’s second warning.

However, John also includes this quote of Jesus in Revelation 2:4

⁴ Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken the love you had at first.

• The Ephesians ignored the first problem Paul described. 
• Being a part of the global church requires the faithful following of Christ’s Gospel message.

What about you?

Are you on guard for these problems in your life?

Or

Do you select what you’re willing to do as a follower of Christ?

If you select only what you want to do as a follower of Christ, you need to repent so that’s not held against you.

 

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