Discerning The Word of the Lord
Notes
Transcript
Beware of False Teachers
Beware of False Teachers
15 “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves.
1 But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing upon themselves swift destruction. 2 And many will follow their sensuality, and because of them the way of truth will be blasphemed.
8 See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ.
29 I know that after my departure fierce wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; 30 and from among your own selves will arise men speaking twisted things, to draw away the disciples after them.
13 For such men are false apostles, deceitful workmen, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. 14 And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. 15 So it is no surprise if his servants, also, disguise themselves as servants of righteousness. Their end will correspond to their deeds.
1 Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world.
3 For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, 4 and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths.
The Bible warns us over and over again to be wary of false teachers.
Scripture doesn’t say that false teachers MAY rise up, but rather emphatically declares that they WILL rise up.
One of the biggest concerns of the Biblical authors was that false teaching and false teachers would sweep in and lead their spiritual children astray when they were no longer there to defend and protect them.
In light of this concern, they continually entreated us to hold fast to the truth and to contend for the faith.
They instructed teachers and leaders to protect the flock from false teachers and to be diligent that their own messages were faithful to the truths delivered to them by the Apostles.
They instructed all believers to study the word and ground themselves in the truth. To be on guard against false teachers and not to condone their teachings or their presence in the assembly.
Under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, the Biblical authors understood the danger and threat of false teaching in a way that we often fail to grasp.
The devil has managed to convince this generation that things like theology and doctrine don’t matter. Even worse, that they are somehow bad remnants of old dead religion. That it doesn’t really matter what you believe.
The truth though is that what we believe is of utmost importance.
It is our beliefs that shape and define the form of our faith.
It is our beliefs that influence and mold our actions and the way we live.
And what we believe in any one area impacts and effects what we believe in a multitude of other areas.
Galatians 5:9 Amplified
9 A little leaven [a slight inclination to error. or a few false teachers] leavens the whole batch [it perverts the concept of faith and misleads the church].
Sometimes a very small deviation can result in dramatic and catastrophic consequences as the leaven spreads.
illustration of an airplane that has its course plotted off by just a few degrees.
Where we stand today
Where we stand today
With the proliferation of radio, television, and now the internet, there is a greater abundance of wide spread false teaching circulating than ever before in all of history.
As our world continues to devalue critical thinking and reject the notion of absolute objective truth, things are going to continue to just get worse.
There are probably more Bibles in circulation than ever before. Yet the modern generation is probably the most biblically illiterate generation since the Dark Ages when the average believer had no access at all to a Bible in their own language.
To illustrate the problem, lets look at a few findings from recent Gallup and Barna polls about the state of churchgoers in America:
Fewer than half of all adults can name the 4 gospels.
Many Christians cannot name more than two or three of the disciples.
60 percent cannot name even 5 of the 10 commandments.
82% believe that ‘god helps those who help themselves” is a Bible verse
12% of adults believe that Joan of Arc was Noah’s wife.
over 50% of graduating High School Seniors think that Sodom and Gomorrah were husband and wife.
One poll even showed that a considerable number of respondents believe that the Sermon on the Mount was preached by Billy Graham.
Things don’t look any better when it comes to having a Christian Worldview. Only 69% of Americans identify as Christian. The following statistics are limited to just the responses of professing Christians.
Only 62% believe that the Universe was designed, created, and sustained by God.
Only 61% believe God is the all-knowing, all-powerful, perfect and just creator of the universe who still rules the universe today.
only 52% believe that the Bible is the accurate, reliable word of God.
72% believe that people are basically good
71% believe that their feelings. experiences, or the input of friends and family is their most trusted source for moral guidance.
77% say that having faith matters more than which faith you pursue (It doesn’t matter what you believe as long as you believe it passionately)
64% say that all religious faiths are of equal value
60% believe that if a person is good enough, or does enough good things, they can earn their way into heaven
62% contend that the Holy Spirit is not a real living being but is merely a symbol of God’s power, presence, or purity
65% claim that moral truth is up to each individual; there are no moral absolutes.
None of these stats even touch upon all of the blatantly unbiblical theology being taught today or the exposure of some of the many false gospels being spread in the name of Christianity.
The sad reality is that the majority of professing Christians in the world today are biblically and theologically illiterate.
This means we are desperately vulnerable to falling under the influence of false teachers. And it also seems to be a glaring indicator that a great number of Christians have already fallen prey to them.
So what are we to do?
So what are we to do?
The question we should be asking about now is, in light of all of this, how can we recognize false teachers and how can we protect ourselves from them?
Bad counterfeit money illustration. Why it is wrong and a better application.
First and foremost we do want to become intimately familiar with the truth.
We need to immerse ourselves in the Scripture which is the standard of all truth. God’s very own self revelation to us.
Anything which contradicts His holy word is false and to be rejected.
Don’t just casually read the Bible study it,
15 Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.
Sometimes I think the most spiritually beneficial class a church could provide wouldn't be Financial Peace University or a class on discovering your spiritual gifts, but rather Hooked on Phonics.
Teach us how to read responsibly again and keep on reading.
Every Christian would benefit from a good course on Hermeneutics.
We also need to find good solid Biblical teachers to sit under.
11 And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, 12 to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, 13 until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, 14 so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes.
We have the Holy Spirit within us who teaches us, but He also gave us teachers and pastors to guide us and equip us and protect us from error and deception.
So we absolutely have to be grounded in the genuine and real truth. But we also need to be wise and not be ignorant of the methods of the counterfeit.
We have to realize that not everyone who claims to be a minister of Jesus Christ, is accurately representing Christ or His Gospel.
As we read earlier
14 And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. 15 So it is no surprise if his servants, also, disguise themselves as servants of righteousness. Their end will correspond to their deeds.
Deceptive teaching is usually packaged in very attractive and convincing trappings.
If it didn’t look like authentic genuine Christianity then most Christians wouldn’t fall for it.
Never forget that when Satan tempted Jesus he did so using Scripture itself.
Like Jesus we need to be discerning and be rooted enough in the word of God, that when the deceptive twisting of Scripture comes to lead us astray, we can respond like Jesus by declaring what the Scriptures actually teach.
We also don’t want to fall for the snare of believing that just because someone is moving in what appears to be a powerful anointing, that their teaching should automatically be accepted because of their anointing.
Matthew 7:22–23 (ESV)
22 On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ 23 And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’
24 For false christs and false prophets will arise and perform great signs and wonders, so as to lead astray, if possible, even the elect.
There have been a great number of men with major healing ministries that have taught rank heresy when they attempted to teach and preach. The same can be said about many prophetic ministers.
Even if one has genuine faith to lay hands upon the sick and believe for their healing, that doesn’t automatically mean that they have diligently studied to show themselves approved a workman rightly dividing the word of truth.
A gift of healing does not equate to a gift of teaching.
When we talk about false teachers we also tend to think of wicked men intentionally deceiving others for their own sordid gain.
Those kind of false teachers certainly do exist, but a great many heretics throughout church history that spread false gospels and led multitudes astray, were sincere men who honestly believed what they were teaching.
They were not intentionally deceiving others but they themselves were deceived and unwittingly led others astray with them.
Many false teachers are genuine and sincere people who genuinely love God and are trying to help others, but they have been deceived by bad theology and an insufficient or erroneous understanding of God and the Gospel.
It isn’t enough to be sincere.
Spurgeon once said:
“If you sincerely drink poison, it will kill you: if you sincerely cut your throat, you will die. If you sincerely believe a lie, you will suffer the consequences. You must not only be sincere, but you must be right.”
This is why one should not take lightly the decision to become a teacher. No matter how sincere we may be, we will be held accountable for how we guide and influence others.
1 Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness.
Most false teachers are very gifted speakers. They are like-able, passionate, sincere, they quote scripture, they often seem to have strong anointings. But their teaching is not biblical and does not accurately reflect Christ and His gospel.
That’s why we need to listen with a discerning ear and weigh what they say against the word of God.
Beware of proof-texting. Check scripture and see if it actually says what the preacher claims. Pay close attention to the context. Does the rest of scripture support their interpretation?
Be cautious of Bumper sticker or meme theology. pithy short sayings like you’d find on a meme or a bumper sticker that sound clever but may have little to no biblical or theological merit to them. We tend to fall for them because they sound catchy and we like them without ever really stopping to consider them.
Don’t assume that just because someone has a large following or are on TV that they are trustworthy teachers.
wide and narrow ways. the crowds often left Jesus while only the few stayed. May need to be doubly cautious of anyone on TV.
Beware of the novel or new.
Be careful when they use “culture” or the Greek to change the seemingly plain meaning of a text rather than expanding the depth and nuance of the text.
Be wary of teaching that overly exalts the believer at the expense of God’s glory. theology that robs God’s glory and gives it to man.
Look out for ministries that encourage you to serve God for idolatrous reasons. We worship Him because He is God and worthy of our worship, not so that we will receive earthly blessings and feel fulfilled in life. Not that God doesn’t bless us and fulfill us, but what is the driving emphasis and motivation.
Be very wary of alleged spiritual experiences that give special revelation that shapes doctrine and biblical interpretation.
8 But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed.
Moralistic Therapeutic Deism
Moralistic Therapeutic Deism
If we are discussing False Teaching we need to at least briefly touch upon Moralistic Therapeutic Deism.
I believe this is one of the 3 biggest false gospels in modern America and is probably the most wide spread.
MTD is not isolated to a particular denomination or sect. It is not an organized religion. It is a worldview that has come to dominate the American way of thinking and has infiltrated much of the church.
There are 5 core beliefs of MTD
A god exists who created and ordered the world and watches over human life on Earth.
God wants people to be good, nice, and fair to each other, as taught by the Bible and most world religions.
The central goal of life is to be happy and to feel good about oneself.
God does not need to be particularly involved in ones life except when God is needed to resolve a problem.
Good people go to heaven when they die.
It is Moralistic because of points 2 and 5. Now being moral is a good thing. The Bible teaches a lot about moral living. But the danger comes when a church moves beyond encouraging moral living into moralism.
Our morality flows out of our justification, it does not cause or even contribute to our justification.
MTD also tends to view “being good” upon cultural standards rather than biblical ones.
Most MTD influenced churches will talk about being good, but will absolutely never talk about sin.
MTD is therapeutic in that its primary focus is on feeling good about oneself and being happy. God’s job is to take care of us, bless us, and help us to fully actualize or be all that we can be,
The Deism comes from the idea that God is relatively uninvolved except when needed to fulfill the therapeutic parts. Deism is probably not the best term since it is not true Deism, which believes that God never intervenes in human affairs, but I wasn’t consulted when they came up with the name.
An MTD church will likely appear biblical by prooftexting scripture out of context to prop up the message they are imposing on the text.
They won’t talk about sin, but will instead emphasize that people are basically good and just need a little help.
They won’t preach repentance or submission to God’s commands. Instead they will focus on living a blessed and full life here on Earth and being happy. God wants us to be prosperous and succeed in life and His main function is to help us in that.
While they call themselves a church, there is no sharing of the gospel with its confrontation of sin and call to repentance. there is nothing that will bring anyone into real salvation or sanctification,
It might make you feel good. It will be very therapeutic and encouraging, but it isn’t the gospel nor is it truly even Christian.
Its more like a self-help success seminar baptized by out of context scripture to give it a Christian facade,