Confrontation and Encoragment

Intro

how do we deal with confrontation? nobody likes it all that much and we try to avoid it at all cost sometimes. We fear we might offend people, or lose them as friends maybe or just maybe fear that what is going on might just be none of our business.

while this may be the case, that it is none of our business, it is still important that we learn to confront each other in love. There was once an englishman and a scotsman who lived next door to each other. The englishman owned a hen and each morning would look in his garden and pick up one of his hens eggs for breakfast. One day he looked into his garden and saw that the hen had laid an egg in the scotsman's garden. He was about to go next door when he saw the scotsman pick up the egg. The englishman ran up to the scotsman and told him that the egg belonged to him because he owned the hen.The scotsman disagreed because the egg was laid on his property. They argued for a while until finally the englishman said "In my family we normally solve disputes by the following message: I punch you as hard as I can and time how long it takes you to get back up, then you Punch me and time how long it takes for me to get up, whomever gets up quicker wins the egg." The scotsman agreed to this and so the english man got a pair of brass knuckles he took a few steps back, then ran toward the scotsman and punched as hard as he could in the stomach .The scotsman fell to the floor clutching his stomach howling in agony for 30 minutes. Eventually the scotsman stood up and said "Now it's my turn to punch you." The englishman said "Keep the egg."

Not a good way of confronting someone I will admit but we learn that there are times when we will need to confront people because of the things that they believe and it is difficult to do. but we learn that their are people who teach things about chritianity that are false, the bible says that their will be false teachers that come up that will lead people astray.

How is it that we can walk in love and still confront those that teach false things that lead people astray? is this even biblical? Be encouraged as we walk through how it is we can confront those false teachers that are leading us astray and learn for ourselves what the bible teaches so we will not be lead astray.

HBI - Be encouraged and stand firm on the word of God so we know when someone is teaching false things and how to deal with them in love and wisdom.

22:30-23:10 - Confronting the Sanhedrin

We continue with Paul escaping flogging by the Romans only to find that the Roman commander Claudias Lysias had no idea what the deal was with Paul and the rest of the Jews. So he decided I am going to release Him and convene the Sanhedrin to see what this is all about.

Sanhedrin is a Greek word that means sitting together. The Sanhedrin was a Jewish council of seventy-one members. They were patterned after the seventy elders that God established through Moses. In the gospels they are called, "the council of the elders." In Judea, they were under Roman authority and could not carry out capital punishment. This is why we find them sending Jesus to Pilate after they had condemned Him to death. They acknowledged to Pilate that they did not have the authority to execute anyone. When Jerusalem was destroyed in A.D. 70 the Sanhedrin ceased to exist. They where comprised of Saducees and Pharisees. This is here we start, with Paul, the Roman commander addressing a group of very angry Jewish Religious leaders.

Paul had the audacity to tell them He was innocent. Acts 23:1

Acts 23:1 (CSB)

Paul looked straight at the Sanhedrin and said, “Brothers, I have lived my life before God in all good conscience to this day.”

They smacked him in the face for that remark and Paul got after them. You see Paul knew the Pharisees because he used to be one and He knew the rest of them as well. They claimed to be children of God yet taught false things. The Sduccees say there is no resurrection from the dead and no spirit or angels. What they believed was wrong even though the claimed to be right. False teachers that where leading people astray. I like his response to them. Acts 23:3

Acts 23:3 (CSB)

Then Paul said to him, “God is going to strike you, you whitewashed wall! You are sitting there judging me according to the law, and yet in violation of the law are you ordering me to be struck?”

You see, what the high priest did when ordering Paul to be struck was against the law. Paul had not been proven guilty or innocent yet and the court had no right to strike him before any verdict was brought. Paul remarked by calling them whitewashed walls. Which is like the saying “putting lipstick on a pig, it is still a pig” a whitewashed wall was a deteriorated wall that was hidden by a coating to make it look good. like bondo on rust the paint may make it look nice but on the inside it is rotten.

He called them out on their lying and false teaching and then pitted them against eachother. Acts 23:6

Acts 23:6 (CSB)

When Paul realized that one part of them were Sadducees and the other part were Pharisees, he cried out in the Sanhedrin, “Brothers, I am a Pharisee, a son of Pharisees. I am being judged because of the hope of the resurrection of the dead!”

now all of a sudden, after hearing Paul used to be a pharisee they decided to side with him and a riot broke out amongst the two factions. the confrontation of the Jewish Sanhedrin. They taught false things and Paul had been calling them out on the false teaching. What should we do about false teaching and should we like Paul call out false teachers and is it important to begin with?

23:11 - Encouragement

Before we get into some specifics on that I want to get into the next point. first we have confrontation of a false gospel and then an encouragement fro the Lord. Paul was on the right path. Acts 23:11

Acts 23:11 (CSB)

The following night, the Lord stood by him and said, “Have courage! For as you have testified about me in Jerusalem, so it is necessary for you to testify in Rome.”

The times Paul were going through where difficult. Beaten, mobbed, arrested, almost scourged, slapped in the face and these Hippocrates had the audacity to confront him on his beliefs? If it where me I would have been at my breaking point.

we have a message of encouragement from the Lord. a reminder for Paul, and for us as well that as we are following the will of the Lord we can take courage, we can be strengthened with the knowledge that the strength of the Lord will always see us through.

He was on the right path and commended by the Lord God for the message that he shared in Jerusalem. Knowing that He was doing the right thing and in line with the will of the Lord. so encouraged, commended and given confidence by the Lord, Paul was on the right track.

sometimes we need this, it is okay you know to ask the Lord for encouragement, for the confidence to do His will, that you will find joy in doing the will of the Lord. I have said it before and I will say it again we can not do this on our own, we where never meant to. That means though that it is not our will that we are seeking but God’s will.

23:12-35 - The Confrontation Results.

and lastley we have the results of the confrontation Paul had with the Sanhedrin. They where stil quitew mad, in fact they where so mad it says in Acts 23:12

Acts 23:12 (CSB)

When it was morning, the Jews formed a conspiracy and bound themselves under a curse not to eat or drink until they had killed Paul.

The started to scheme and find a way to get Paul to come before them again so they could investigate His case more thoroughly. When in reality they where going to kill him the second they had the chance.

Paul’s Nephew heard about this and went to Paul who sent Him to the Roman Commander and told Him the news. It would have not gone well for the commander if a Roman citizen had been killed under His watch so the commander got 200 soldiers to take Paul to The Governor Felix who was going to hear Paul's case and make a decision on His life. They snuck Him out in the night and brought Him to the governor where he was going to wait for His accusers to come before Hearing Paul’s case.

So What?

3 things I want to explain that come from what Paul went through in this chapter. Is it biblical to confront False Teachers? There may be consequences to confronting a false Gospel, and be encouraged as we seek to stand on the word of God and follow His will as our strength comes from God alone.

Is it biblical to confront False Teachers?

is it okay to confront people that are preaching a false gospel. Is it true that we should call out false teachers? this is something we have been wondering for a while, is it my business like Paul did to confront false teachers for this is what he did and he faced the consequences for it.

lots of people will quote 1 Cor 4:5 “So don’t judge anything prematurely,

This is where I love context. Context is key, it is one of my favorite words. This is one of the main passages people will quote when it comes to saying we should not confront and call out false teachers. but take that verse within context and the meaning becomes clear. 1 Cor 4:4-5 “For I am not conscious of anything against myself, but I am not justified by this. It is the Lord who judges me. So don’t judge anything prematurely, before the Lord comes, who will both bring to light what is hidden in darkness and reveal the intentions of the hearts. And then praise will come to each one from God.” “Don’t do what only Christ can do at that last day — on the day of judgment.” Don’t presume to know the heart like Jesus will know the heart on that day. Only Christ “will bring to light the things now hidden in darkness and will disclose the purposes of the heart.”

Beware and identify false teachers - Acts 20:28-29 “Be on guard for yourselves and for all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has appointed you as overseers, to shepherd the church of God, which he purchased with his own blood. I know that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock.”

Avoid, Rebuke, Call Out - 1 Cor 5:11 “But actually, I wrote you not to associate with anyone who claims to be a brother or sister and is sexually immoral or greedy, an idolater or verbally abusive, a drunkard or a swindler. Do not even eat with such a person.”

1 Tim 5:19-20 “Don’t accept an accusation against an elder unless it is supported by two or three witnesses. Publicly rebuke those who sin, so that the rest will be afraid.”

1 Tim 1:19-20 “having faith and a good conscience, which some have rejected and have shipwrecked their faith. Among them are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I have delivered to Satan, so that they may be taught not to blaspheme.”

In order to protect the flock, we should expose them and minimize the spread of the gangrene (as Paul calls it).

Five factors for calling out false teachers

How can we best — in our situation, with our gifts and our responsibilities — help the most people believe and live the most truth, and how can we protect the most people from destructive beliefs and behaviors?

I want to quote John Piper on 5 things I agree with when confronting false teaching.

The seriousness and deceitfulness of the error.

The size of the audience. Is it growing?

The duration of their ministry. Did they make one blunder or are they constantly doing it?

The vulnerability of the people for whom you are responsible.

The role you have in influencing shepherds who really need to be discerning for who the false teachers are.

When you do name a false teacher, it’s best to do it in a setting where you do more than name-drop. You explain the error, you give reasons for rejecting it, you communicate complexities, you set a tone of longing for truth and love — you’re not just slinging mud.

The last thing I would say is to let your teaching be so powerful in clarifying the greatness and the beauty and the worth of God’s truth that your people will smell error before it infects their lives. The shape of error is always changing. You can’t preach enough negative sermons to stay ahead of it. And you don’t have to. The best protection against the darkness of error is the light of truth.

so it is best to preach the light of the gospel, but when necessary, speak out against a false gospel in case it is leading people away from the one true God.

https://www.desiringgod.org/interviews/should-we-call-out-false-teachers-or-ignore-them#five-factors-for-calling-out-false-teachers

There may be consequences for Calling out false teaching

in a postmodern world we can know that not everyone is going to like being told that what they are teaching is wrong, even when we do it in love to try and bring them back to the truth. but for fear of them leading more people astray we need to remain firm on the word of God and what it teaches.

Be encouraged.

As we are following the will of God and go through difficulties know that if we are standing firm on God and His word no matter what the world throws at us we can find strength in our Lord and savior.

The Bible Exposition Commentary Chapter Twenty-One: Paul the Prisoner (Acts 22:30–23:35)

God’s people can afford to be daring, in the will of God, because they know their Saviour will be dependable and work out His perfect will. Paul was alone—but not alone! His Lord was with him and he had nothing to fear.