1265) In the years I have spent writing these minutes, I believe I mentioned, at least once, my trip to the U.S. Mint when I was in high school, but it’s worth repeating.

When we visited the Mint, our tour-guide informed us of those whose sole job was looking for counterfeit money. He asked us if we had a guess how these people were trained and we suggested, as many would, they must spend their time looking at counterfeits and seeing what others have done. We were wrong. The guide told us that the way they train these people is to have them study the “real” money; knowing every mark, color, figure, font, ink, etc. This man told us if you thoroughly know the “real” thing, you will easily see what is counterfeit. I remember thinking at the time the same could be true about our spiritual lives.

Paul instructs in 1 Timothy 1:3 that God’s people need to identify and put a stop to false teachings. This means that you need to know the truth so false can be exposed.

There are many sad events in history where false teachings have done a lot of damage. These can be avoided if you know the Truth.