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Exposing False Doctrine
Written by J.R. Hall
Sunday, 11 November 2007 19:00
Exposing False Doctrine
Standing Firm Against the Promised Apostasy
A Careful Caveat to Exposing False Doctrine
Over the years I have recognized a few things with many Christian leaders who are dubbed as 'false teachers'; 'false prophets' and sometimes called 'workers for Satan'. In many instances if you research them, they are not really bad people. Although I do personally believe that some are knowingly working iniquity and deceiving, others many times, believe that they are doing the Lord's work and are merely deceived or working iniquity through ignorance of scripture. Usually this is evident through dumb choices the ministry or individual has made, but then who of us hasn't made a dumb choice? The difference is for most of us that our Dumb choices don't potentially effect thousands of people, which is why high profile preachers and leaders should be more careful and be held to a higher standard of accountability. And they should at least be ready and open, if required, to a loving rebuke from brethren in the body of Christ. In fact they should, for the sake of integrity, welcome it.
On this point I have noted a disturbing trend. A trend that, thanks to the internet and our lightning fast means of communication has done a lot of damage to the process of accountability in the body of Christ. I have seen many misquotes, and misrepresentations of many preachers that it's just maddening. In attempts to expose them as false teachers, sometimes people are misquoting, or misapplying quoted words to suit their own agenda or premise. Perhaps to add shock value to their own sermons, talks, books, etc.
There is a danger in exposing error that we may end up being over critical. And I see too much of this as can be evident by any who research the claims of what I would call the 'heresy hunters'. I read what they say... and then I look it up, and realize that the preacher said no SUCH thing. Or that the quote was taken completely out of context with the implications of the author's, speaker's, or preacher's main premise. Sometimes they pour through every word, spoken or otherwise, of the individual in hopes to criticize. They go into each review with the presupposition of finding something wrong and not really giving a 'fair' chance. This is downright dirty pool, and is nothing but a cheap attempt at shock value. Nitpicking everything that someone says and tearing it apart is foolish. It's not being Berean, it's being stupid. We're not, any of us, perfect human beings. To expect perfection, is a fruitless and exasperating mission. We need to balance rebuke, with the love and respect it deserves. We need to look at each new issue with a neutral mindset, and allow our conclusions to be scripture based.
If we don't, unfortunately what ends up happening is that the 'heresy hunter' mentality actually ends up creating a preacher/teacher/leader who now ignores claims against them because of the so many times that the little boy cried wolf> when being over critical. When honest rebuke is required and relayed, the preacher now ignores it because he simply brushes it away as another unwarranted 'persecution'.
My friends, research both sides of the story. Don't accept someone else's word for anything… including mine. Gain your knowledge from first hand sources, and then make your biblical judgment on the issue.
Now that's 'rightly dividing', and 'earnestly contending' for the faith as required of us by 2 Timothy 2:15 and Jude 1:3
Introduction
On the subject of Bible prophecy there is one part that is often ignored. The sad thing is that often times it leads so many down the wrong paths. The Devils deception is great. And we the body of Christ are many times left unprepared by modern teachers, preachers and churches.;
The Bible says this about the 'End'.
"Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils;" 1Ti 4:1
"And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many" -- Matthew 24:11
In fact the deception will be so great, that many that either think they are Christians, or those that are Christians will be fooled by this deception.
"For false Christ''s and false prophets shall rise, and shall show signs and wonders, to seduce, if it were possible, even the elect." -- Mark 13:22
"Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity". - Mat 7:22-23
You see the devil is very sly. There are many warnings about our adversary that we would all be wise to remember.
1Pe 5:8 Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:
Eph 6:12 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.
One of Satan's most powerful deceptions is to make a mock copy of all that is good.
2Co 11:3 But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtlety, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.
2Co 11:4 For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or if ye receive another spirit, which ye have not received, or another gospel, which ye have not accepted, ye might well bear with him. .....
2Co 11:13 For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ.
2Co 11:14 And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light.
There is another gospel... another Christ.... another spirit. In the study of things to come, we see that the one called Antichrist will wield power so convincing the saints might fall for it. And we know from 1 John 4:3 that the spirit of the Antichrist is already at work.
So what should we ministers of Lord's work do about it? What are we the 'body of Christ' supposed to do in the wake of this promised apostasy? Are we supposed to ignore it, and preach truth along side of error and hope our voice is LOUDER than the voice of the adversary?
Contrary to what many modern Christians believe the answer to this question is a definite NO!
This Post Modern era that we live in would have us believe that truth is only but a social convention. That the truth of is merely what we ourselves, or a group of us believe to be true. We live in a time of conformity. We believe that extremism of any form is an absolute sin to society, even if it an extreme belief in things that are actually true. As truth is defined as whatever our social constructs deem it to be at the time, we are left in a soup of muddied waters with no hope of clarity. We believe in live and let live, and that by merely suggesting our beliefs to another we have violated that person's right to their own version of truth. There are no absolutes. Truth, I mean good, honest and God-given absolute truth is dead in the minds of the philosophers. This same mindset is just as prevalent in the churches today as it is in the rest of society.
There are many individuals and ministries out there that believe that we are not to address what we feel to be false doctrine and unsound biblical teachings. They cry out that we are not judge others - That we are not to name names - That we are to simply pray for them and leave them be. They claim that if we do speak out we are tearing down the body of Christ. They vehemently are against those that would expose false doctrine. In a "Why can't we all get along?" mentality they forsake the safeguarding of the truth.
I am here today telling you that this is not one of those individuals, nor is this one of those ministries.
Why should Christians name names when dealing with those in public ministry?
Because of precedence.
Jude 1:3 Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints.
Jude 1:4 For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ.
1 Timothy 5:20 Them that sin rebuke before all, that others also may fear.
2 Timothy 4:2 Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all long suffering and doctrine.
Titus 1:13 This witness is true. Wherefore rebuke them sharply, that they may be sound in the faith;
Proverbs 27:5 Open rebuke is better than secret love.
So what about Matthew 7:1?
Mat 7:1 Judge not, that ye be not judged.
I believe we have been misled into a wrong understanding of this verse and therefore failing to do our duty for the body of Christ.
Read in context we can see that Matt 7:2-5 clarifies that v. 1 is referring to hypocritical judgment. A brother who has a beam in his own eye should not be judging the brother who may have a mote in his eye. The passage is reading, you cannot judge another for his sin if you are guilty of the same sin. And that we shouldn't judge others unless we are prepared to be held to the same set of standards.
Those who cling to "Judge not, that ye be not judged" to condemn those who expose error should read the entire chapter. Jesus said, "Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing... " (v. 15). How can we know false prophets unless we judge them by what is written in the Word of God? If we know of false teachings, and those who teach them, how can we fail to warn the sheep of these "ravening wolves?" The Bible contains many passages that give us proof that these false prophets should be identified and exposed.
John 7:24 Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment.
Righteous judgment is based upon the solid word of God for our foundation. We can judge others based upon the Word of God. Using the Word as our guide, we judge others.
Look how Paul Judged in 1 Corinthians 5:1-13
1Co 5:1 I can hardly believe the report about the sexual immorality going on among you-something that even pagans don''t do. I am told that a man in your church is living in sin with his stepmother.
1Co 5:2 You are so proud of yourselves, but you should be mourning in sorrow and shame. And you should remove this man from your fellowship.
1Co 5:3 Even though I am not with you in person, I am with you in the Spirit. And as though I were there, I have already passed judgment on this man
1Co 5:4 in the name of the Lord Jesus. You must call a meeting of the church. I will be present with you in spirit, and so will the power of our Lord Jesus.
1Co 5:5 Then you must throw this man out and hand him over to Satan so that his sinful nature will be destroyed and he himself will be saved on the day the Lord returns.
1Co 5:6 Your boasting about this is terrible. Don''t you realize that this sin is like a little yeast that spreads through the whole batch of dough?
1Co 5:7 Get rid of the old "yeast" by removing this wicked person from among you. Then you will be like a fresh batch of dough made without yeast, which is what you really are. Christ, our Passover Lamb, has been sacrificed for us.
1Co 5:8 So let us celebrate the festival, not with the old bread of wickedness and evil, but with the new bread of sincerity and truth.
1Co 5:9 When I wrote to you before, I told you not to associate with people who indulge in sexual sin.
1Co 5:10 But I wasn''t talking about unbelievers who indulge in sexual sin, or are greedy, or cheat people, or worship idols. You would have to leave this world to avoid people like that.
1Co 5:11 I meant that you are not to associate with anyone who claims to be a believer yet indulges in sexual sin, or is greedy, or worships idols, or is abusive, or is a drunkard, or cheats people. Don''t even eat with such people.
1Co 5:12 It isn't my responsibility to judge outsiders, but it certainly is your responsibility to judge those inside the church who are sinning.
1Co 5:13 God will judge those on the outside; but as the Scriptures say, "You must remove the evil person from among you." (NLT)
A person who is able to discern between good and evil, has at least one of the major marks of spiritual maturity. Let's look at Hebrews 5:14
Heb 5:14 But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.
The very word 'discern' means to judge. In the greek the word is diakrisis which is defined as judicial estimation - to discern or disputation.
If we are to be fully equipped with discernment as this passage says, should we not then point out issues contrary to what scriptures teach?
The answer is an invariable YES.
So is it right for us to expose false teachers?
If we sit idly by we are in essence encouraging false doctrine to be spread.Wolves in sheep's clothing are thus enabled to ravage the flock, thereby destroying many.
Remember John the Baptist? He called the Pharisees and Sadducees (the religious leaders of his day) "a generation of Vipers". Today would we dare tell him to "your too harsh, be kind to our brethren and don't judge"??
We must always remember that the scripture admonishes us if we do not expose error in the flock. What are we to do when we know of 'false' teachers?
We are to TRY them.
"Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits, whether they be of God; because many false prophets are gone out into the world" - I John 4: 1
All doctrine and teachers are to be tried according to the Word of God.
Isa 8:20 To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.
Every sermon, every message, pastor, preacher, so called prophet or any methodology it to be judged through the looking glass of God's Word. On that note, I hope that right now your bibles are open, and you're verifying this talk with scripture.
Have a look at what Christ says to the Church of Ephesus in Revelation 2:2.Christ commends them on what?
"I know thy works, and thy labor, and thy patience, and how thou canst not bear them which are evil: and thou hast tried them which say they are apostles, and are not, and hast found them liars:"
We are to therefore do the same.
Never is it to be acceptable to us to ''tolerate'' false teachers within our midst.
We are to MARK them and AVOID them.
Rom 16:17 Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offenses contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid them.
Rom 16:18 For they that are such serve not our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly; and by good words and fair speeches deceive the hearts of the simple.
Those whose conduct and teaching contradicts the Word of God are to be marked and to be avoided. How can we mark them? We need a standard in which to comparethem to. In other words we require discernment and judgment in light of God's Word. These are not my words. I am merely quoting scripture. We cannot mark and avoid, unless their words and deeds are judged according to the Word of God.
We are to REBUKE them.
Tit 1:13 This witness is true. Wherefore rebuke them sharply, that they may be sound in the faith;
Look at the surrounding passages of Titus 1:10-16. To whom was Paul referring when he wrote this to Titus?
Tit 1:10 For there are many unruly and vain talkers and deceivers, especially they of the circumcision:
Tit 1:11 Whose mouths must be stopped, who subvert whole houses, teaching things which they ought not, for filthy lucre's sake.
Tit 1:12 One of themselves, even a prophet of their own, said, The Cretians are always liars, evil beasts, slow bellies.
Tit 1:13 This witness is true. Wherefore rebuke them sharply, that they may be sound in the faith;
Tit 1:14 Not giving heed to Jewish fables, and commandments of men, that turn from the truth.
Tit 1:15 Unto the pure all things are pure: but unto them that are defiled and unbelieving is nothing pure; but even their mind and conscience is defiled.
Tit 1:16 They profess that they know God; but in works they deny him, being abominable, and disobedient, and unto every good work reprobate.
For money's sake - unruly, vain talkers and deceivers were fooling whole houses, and leading them astray. Teaching them things that they should not teach. Sounds familiar doesn't it? Just watch a couple of hours of the so-called Christian broadcasting and you'll bear witness to on the television stations today.
Many high profile preachers and evangelists are subverting whole houses with their false doctrine today. Are we to sit silently by, while they do this, without rebuking and admonishing people to avoid their teaching? I say NOT! Sound doctrine is supposed to be too precious to us.
Tit 1:9 Holding fast the faithful word as he hath been taught, that he may be able by sound doctrine both to exhort and to convince the gainsayers.
We are to have NO FELLOWSHIP with them.
Eph 5:11 And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them.
This one is very important and one of the most often overlooked commands on this subject.
Reprove means to show disapproval, condemn, find fault, rebuke, and to refute. How can we obey Ephesians 5:11 unless we try them by the Word of God?
You may be wondering, "Well that verse says 'works of darkness'; certainly a fellow Christian who is only slightly off doctrine is not involved in works of darkness?"
John said this:
2Jn 1:9 Whosoever transgresseth, and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ, hath not God...
1Jn 1:5 This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all.
False religion and false doctrines are brambles that grow across the path of truth. They are designed to ensnare and bind people to the author of this confusion - the prince of darkness. If Satan can twist the true gospel to something of his own making, then he has pulled the spirital wool over the eyes of those who follow. He then in-turn renders that person inadequate for duty as a disciple of Jesus Christ. I think we can all agree that the source of all false doctrine is the prince of darkness.
We are to WITHDRAW from them.
If we have rebuked them. If we have shown them the error of their waysthrough scripture, and they still refuse to turn away from their sinful practice, we are to withdraw from them.
2Th 3:6 Now we command you, brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye withdraw yourselves from every brother that walketh disorderly, and not after the tradition which he received of us.
2Th 3:14 And if any man obey not our word by this epistle, note that man, and have no company with him, that he may be ashamed.
2Th 3:15 Yet count him not as an enemy, but admonish him as a brother.
We are to TURN AWAY from them.
2Ti 3:5 Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.
2Ti 3:6 For of this sort are they which creep into houses, and lead captive silly women laden with sins, led away with divers lusts,
2Ti 3:7 Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.
Concerning the last days, Paul says that some will have "a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof. from such turn away." How can we turn away from them if we do not identify them?
We are NOT to RECEIVE them into our house.
2Jn 1:9 Whosoever transgresseth, and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ, hath not God. He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ, he hath both the Father and the Son.
2Jn 1:10 If there come any unto you, and bring not this doctrine, receive him not into your house, neither bid him Godspeed:
2Jn 1:11 For he that biddeth him Godspeed is partaker of his evil deeds.
This should be an easy one right? But what about Radio, TV, music, etc? Once we have marked someone as a false teacher we are to NOT receive them into our house.
We are to look out for those who preach another gospel.
I mentioned in the opening lines of this talk that Paul warned about those who preached "another Jesus ... another spirit ... or another gospel"- 2 Cor. 11:4. How can we identify them unless we judge their Jesus, their spirit, and their gospel by the Word of God? Paul goes on to call such preachers, false apostles who transform themselves into apostles of Christ. He also hints at who their master is and refers to Satan himself as an 'Angel of Light'.
Paul reiterates some of this in Galatians:
Gal 1:6 I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel:
Gal 1:7 Which is not another; but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ.
Gal 1:8 But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed.
Gal 1:9 As we said before, so say I now again, if any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed.
'Let him be accursed'. Let those words echo in your head for a minute or two.Now think of how many 'perversions' of the gospel there are today.
Those who teach salvation by baptism, or by works, are teaching a perverted gospel. The hyper charismatic, the Roman Catholic Church, many once evangelical and Christian fundamentalists are preaching a perverted gospel. Albeit, perhaps unknowingly, but they are doing it just the same.
Yet according to many in the church today, we are supposed to cooperate with them in evangelism and Christian work and cast aside our differences for the sake of the Gospel. Yet I must ask you that if we fail to expose these falsities and errors, have we not betrayed the very Gospel we believe we're furthering?
Is it right to name names?
Many mistakenly believe that it is wrong to name the teachers who proclaim false teachings. Again I believe that scripture tells us that they are wrong.Mark these passages in your own bibles and see.
- Paul named and rebuked Peter publicly. - See Galatians 2:11-14
- Paul named Demas for loving the world. - See 2 Timothy 4:10
- Paul named Hymenaeus and Alexander. - See 1 Timothy 1:18-20
- Paul named Hymenaeus and Philetus. - See 2 Timothy 2:15-18
- Paul named Alexander the coppersmith. - See 2 Timothy 4:14-15
- John named Diotrephes. - See 3 john 9-10
- Moses called the name of Balaam. - See Num. 22-25 (Peter also exposed "the way of Balaam ... who loved the wages of unrighteousness " in 2 Peter 2:15)
There are more examples, but this last one is of particular interest. You see Balaam was a prophet that was in the business of the Lord's work for money. Now think of some of the Televangelists today; they beg for money and live like kings, while multitudes of innocent people send them their hard earned money.Kenneth Copeland for instance bought a $20 million personal jet so he could spread the gospel and do the work of the Lord more effectively. In 1997, Benny Hinn told CNN that he earns between $500,000 and $1 million a year. They are always building colleges, hospitals, TV network satellites, and amusement parks all in the name of Christ. The early church was something that looked much different however.
Act 4:32 And the multitude of them that believed were of one heart and of one soul: neither said any of them that aught of the things which he possessed was his own; but they had all things common.
Act 4:33 And with great power gave the apostles witness of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus: and great grace was upon them all.
Act 4:34 Neither was there any among them that lacked: for as many as were possessors of lands or houses sold them, and brought the prices of the things that were sold,
Now doesn't that stand in stark contrast to how the popular ministries and churches are run today? We run our churches like cruise ships, when God designed them to be life boats.
My friends. It is certainly proper and our duty to expose error and to name those who are in error. It is right and our duty to "earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints" as commanded of us in Jude 3. Faithful messengers will indeed warn the sheep of these heretics, and identify them by name. It is not enough to broadly hint of their identity, for the young lambs will not understand and will be destroyed by the wolves.
Mat 7:15 Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.
Act 20:28 Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood.
Act 20:29 For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock.
Act 20:30 Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them.
In this time of End Times apostasy, now more than ever before it's time to expose, warn, and prepare the flock for the onslaught of false teachers, the spirit of the antichrist that's already in the world. You will note that this very thing is in our ministries mission statement, and always has been. "…to equip and strengthen believers with sound apologetics and warnings against the false teachings in the world..." Our very motto is 'Safeguarding the Truth' as we pledge to do all we can to that effect.
A Careful Caveat to Exposing False Doctrine
Over the years I have recognized a few things with many Christian leaders who are dubbed as 'false teachers'; 'false prophets' and sometimes called 'workers for Satan'. In many instances if you research them, they are not really bad people. Although I do personally believe that some are knowingly working iniquity and deceiving, others many times, believe that they are doing the Lord's work and are merely deceived or working iniquity through ignorance of scripture. Usually this is evident through dumb choices the ministry or individual has made, but then who of us hasn't made a dumb choice? The difference is for most of us that our Dumb choices don't potentially effect thousands of people, which is why high profile preachers and leaders should be more careful and be held to a higher standard of accountability. And they should at least be ready and open, if required, to a loving rebuke from brethren in the body of Christ. In fact they should, for the sake of integrity, welcome it.
On this point I have noted a disturbing trend. A trend that, thanks to the internet and our lightning fast means of communication has done a lot of damage to the process of accountability in the body of Christ. I have seen many misquotes, and misrepresentations of many preachers that it's just maddening. In attempts to expose them as false teachers, sometimes people are misquoting, or misapplying quoted words to suit their own agenda or premise. Perhaps to add shock value to their own sermons, talks, books, etc.
There is a danger in exposing error that we may end up being over critical. And I see too much of this as can be evident by any who research the claims of what I would call the 'heresy hunters'. I read what they say... and then I look it up, and realize that the preacher said no SUCH thing. Or that the quote was taken completely out of context with the implications of the author's, speaker's, or preacher's main premise. Sometimes they pour through every word, spoken or otherwise, of the individual in hopes to criticize. They go into each review with the presupposition of finding something wrong and not really giving a 'fair' chance. This is downright dirty pool, and is nothing but a cheap attempt at shock value. Nitpicking everything that someone says and tearing it apart is foolish. It's not being Berean, it's being stupid. We're not, any of us, perfect human beings. To expect perfection, is a fruitless and exasperating mission. We need to balance rebuke, with the love and respect it deserves. We need to look at each new issue with a neutral mindset, and allow our conclusions to be scripture based.
If we don't, unfortunately what ends up happening is that the 'heresy hunter' mentality actually ends up creating a preacher/teacher/leader who now ignores claims against them because of the so many times that the little boy cried wolf> when being over critical. When honest rebuke is required and relayed, the preacher now ignores it because he simply brushes it away as another unwarranted 'persecution'.
My friends, research both sides of the story. Don't accept someone else's word for anything… including mine. Gain your knowledge from first hand sources, and then make your biblical judgment on the issue.
Now that's 'rightly dividing', and 'earnestly contending' for the faith as required of us by 2 Timothy 2:15 and Jude 1:3
-- J.R.Hall
| Exposing False Doctrine |
| Written by J.R. Hall | |
| Sunday, 11 November 2007 19:00 | |
Exposing False Doctrine
Introduction
The Bible says this about the 'End'. "Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils;" 1Ti 4:1 In fact the deception will be so great, that many that either think they are Christians, or those that are Christians will be fooled by this deception. "For false Christ''s and false prophets shall rise, and shall show signs and wonders, to seduce, if it were possible, even the elect." -- Mark 13:22 "Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity". - Mat 7:22-23 You see the devil is very sly. There are many warnings about our adversary that we would all be wise to remember. 1Pe 5:8 Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour: Eph 6:12 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. One of Satan's most powerful deceptions is to make a mock copy of all that is good. 2Co 11:3 But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtlety, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. There is another gospel... another Christ.... another spirit. In the study of things to come, we see that the one called Antichrist will wield power so convincing the saints might fall for it. And we know from 1 John 4:3 that the spirit of the Antichrist is already at work. So what should we ministers of Lord's work do about it? What are we the 'body of Christ' supposed to do in the wake of this promised apostasy? Are we supposed to ignore it, and preach truth along side of error and hope our voice is LOUDER than the voice of the adversary? Contrary to what many modern Christians believe the answer to this question is a definite NO! This Post Modern era that we live in would have us believe that truth is only but a social convention. That the truth of is merely what we ourselves, or a group of us believe to be true. We live in a time of conformity. We believe that extremism of any form is an absolute sin to society, even if it an extreme belief in things that are actually true. As truth is defined as whatever our social constructs deem it to be at the time, we are left in a soup of muddied waters with no hope of clarity. We believe in live and let live, and that by merely suggesting our beliefs to another we have violated that person's right to their own version of truth. There are no absolutes. Truth, I mean good, honest and God-given absolute truth is dead in the minds of the philosophers. This same mindset is just as prevalent in the churches today as it is in the rest of society. There are many individuals and ministries out there that believe that we are not to address what we feel to be false doctrine and unsound biblical teachings. They cry out that we are not judge others - That we are not to name names - That we are to simply pray for them and leave them be. They claim that if we do speak out we are tearing down the body of Christ. They vehemently are against those that would expose false doctrine. In a "Why can't we all get along?" mentality they forsake the safeguarding of the truth. I am here today telling you that this is not one of those individuals, nor is this one of those ministries. Why should Christians name names when dealing with those in public ministry? Because of precedence. Jude 1:3 Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints. 1 Timothy 5:20 Them that sin rebuke before all, that others also may fear. 2 Timothy 4:2 Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all long suffering and doctrine. Titus 1:13 This witness is true. Wherefore rebuke them sharply, that they may be sound in the faith; Proverbs 27:5 Open rebuke is better than secret love. So what about Matthew 7:1? Mat 7:1 Judge not, that ye be not judged. I believe we have been misled into a wrong understanding of this verse and therefore failing to do our duty for the body of Christ. Read in context we can see that Matt 7:2-5 clarifies that v. 1 is referring to hypocritical judgment. A brother who has a beam in his own eye should not be judging the brother who may have a mote in his eye. The passage is reading, you cannot judge another for his sin if you are guilty of the same sin. And that we shouldn't judge others unless we are prepared to be held to the same set of standards. Those who cling to "Judge not, that ye be not judged" to condemn those who expose error should read the entire chapter. Jesus said, "Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing... " (v. 15). How can we know false prophets unless we judge them by what is written in the Word of God? If we know of false teachings, and those who teach them, how can we fail to warn the sheep of these "ravening wolves?" The Bible contains many passages that give us proof that these false prophets should be identified and exposed. John 7:24 Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment. Righteous judgment is based upon the solid word of God for our foundation. We can judge others based upon the Word of God. Using the Word as our guide, we judge others. Look how Paul Judged in 1 Corinthians 5:1-13 1Co 5:1 I can hardly believe the report about the sexual immorality going on among you-something that even pagans don''t do. I am told that a man in your church is living in sin with his stepmother. A person who is able to discern between good and evil, has at least one of the major marks of spiritual maturity. Let's look at Hebrews 5:14 Heb 5:14 But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil. The very word 'discern' means to judge. In the greek the word is diakrisis which is defined as judicial estimation - to discern or disputation. If we are to be fully equipped with discernment as this passage says, should we not then point out issues contrary to what scriptures teach? The answer is an invariable YES. So is it right for us to expose false teachers? If we sit idly by we are in essence encouraging false doctrine to be spread.Wolves in sheep's clothing are thus enabled to ravage the flock, thereby destroying many. We must always remember that the scripture admonishes us if we do not expose error in the flock. What are we to do when we know of 'false' teachers? We are to TRY them. "Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits, whether they be of God; because many false prophets are gone out into the world" - I John 4: 1 All doctrine and teachers are to be tried according to the Word of God. Isa 8:20 To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them. Every sermon, every message, pastor, preacher, so called prophet or any methodology it to be judged through the looking glass of God's Word. On that note, I hope that right now your bibles are open, and you're verifying this talk with scripture. Have a look at what Christ says to the Church of Ephesus in Revelation 2:2.Christ commends them on what? "I know thy works, and thy labor, and thy patience, and how thou canst not bear them which are evil: and thou hast tried them which say they are apostles, and are not, and hast found them liars:" We are to therefore do the same. Never is it to be acceptable to us to ''tolerate'' false teachers within our midst. We are to MARK them and AVOID them. Rom 16:17 Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offenses contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid them. Those whose conduct and teaching contradicts the Word of God are to be marked and to be avoided. How can we mark them? We need a standard in which to comparethem to. In other words we require discernment and judgment in light of God's Word. These are not my words. I am merely quoting scripture. We cannot mark and avoid, unless their words and deeds are judged according to the Word of God. We are to REBUKE them. Tit 1:13 This witness is true. Wherefore rebuke them sharply, that they may be sound in the faith; Look at the surrounding passages of Titus 1:10-16. To whom was Paul referring when he wrote this to Titus? Tit 1:10 For there are many unruly and vain talkers and deceivers, especially they of the circumcision: For money's sake - unruly, vain talkers and deceivers were fooling whole houses, and leading them astray. Teaching them things that they should not teach. Sounds familiar doesn't it? Just watch a couple of hours of the so-called Christian broadcasting and you'll bear witness to on the television stations today. Many high profile preachers and evangelists are subverting whole houses with their false doctrine today. Are we to sit silently by, while they do this, without rebuking and admonishing people to avoid their teaching? I say NOT! Sound doctrine is supposed to be too precious to us. Tit 1:9 Holding fast the faithful word as he hath been taught, that he may be able by sound doctrine both to exhort and to convince the gainsayers. We are to have NO FELLOWSHIP with them. Eph 5:11 And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them. This one is very important and one of the most often overlooked commands on this subject. Reprove means to show disapproval, condemn, find fault, rebuke, and to refute. How can we obey Ephesians 5:11 unless we try them by the Word of God? You may be wondering, "Well that verse says 'works of darkness'; certainly a fellow Christian who is only slightly off doctrine is not involved in works of darkness?" John said this: 2Jn 1:9 Whosoever transgresseth, and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ, hath not God... 1Jn 1:5 This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all. False religion and false doctrines are brambles that grow across the path of truth. They are designed to ensnare and bind people to the author of this confusion - the prince of darkness. If Satan can twist the true gospel to something of his own making, then he has pulled the spirital wool over the eyes of those who follow. He then in-turn renders that person inadequate for duty as a disciple of Jesus Christ. I think we can all agree that the source of all false doctrine is the prince of darkness. We are to WITHDRAW from them. If we have rebuked them. If we have shown them the error of their waysthrough scripture, and they still refuse to turn away from their sinful practice, we are to withdraw from them. 2Th 3:6 Now we command you, brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye withdraw yourselves from every brother that walketh disorderly, and not after the tradition which he received of us. We are to TURN AWAY from them. 2Ti 3:5 Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away. Concerning the last days, Paul says that some will have "a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof. from such turn away." How can we turn away from them if we do not identify them? We are NOT to RECEIVE them into our house. 2Jn 1:9 Whosoever transgresseth, and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ, hath not God. He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ, he hath both the Father and the Son. This should be an easy one right? But what about Radio, TV, music, etc? Once we have marked someone as a false teacher we are to NOT receive them into our house. We are to look out for those who preach another gospel. I mentioned in the opening lines of this talk that Paul warned about those who preached "another Jesus ... another spirit ... or another gospel"- 2 Cor. 11:4. How can we identify them unless we judge their Jesus, their spirit, and their gospel by the Word of God? Paul goes on to call such preachers, false apostles who transform themselves into apostles of Christ. He also hints at who their master is and refers to Satan himself as an 'Angel of Light'. Paul reiterates some of this in Galatians: Gal 1:6 I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel: 'Let him be accursed'. Let those words echo in your head for a minute or two.Now think of how many 'perversions' of the gospel there are today. Those who teach salvation by baptism, or by works, are teaching a perverted gospel. The hyper charismatic, the Roman Catholic Church, many once evangelical and Christian fundamentalists are preaching a perverted gospel. Albeit, perhaps unknowingly, but they are doing it just the same. Yet according to many in the church today, we are supposed to cooperate with them in evangelism and Christian work and cast aside our differences for the sake of the Gospel. Yet I must ask you that if we fail to expose these falsities and errors, have we not betrayed the very Gospel we believe we're furthering? Is it right to name names? Many mistakenly believe that it is wrong to name the teachers who proclaim false teachings. Again I believe that scripture tells us that they are wrong.Mark these passages in your own bibles and see.
There are more examples, but this last one is of particular interest. You see Balaam was a prophet that was in the business of the Lord's work for money. Now think of some of the Televangelists today; they beg for money and live like kings, while multitudes of innocent people send them their hard earned money.Kenneth Copeland for instance bought a $20 million personal jet so he could spread the gospel and do the work of the Lord more effectively. In 1997, Benny Hinn told CNN that he earns between $500,000 and $1 million a year. They are always building colleges, hospitals, TV network satellites, and amusement parks all in the name of Christ. The early church was something that looked much different however. Act 4:32 And the multitude of them that believed were of one heart and of one soul: neither said any of them that aught of the things which he possessed was his own; but they had all things common. Now doesn't that stand in stark contrast to how the popular ministries and churches are run today? We run our churches like cruise ships, when God designed them to be life boats. My friends. It is certainly proper and our duty to expose error and to name those who are in error. It is right and our duty to "earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints" as commanded of us in Jude 3. Faithful messengers will indeed warn the sheep of these heretics, and identify them by name. It is not enough to broadly hint of their identity, for the young lambs will not understand and will be destroyed by the wolves. Mat 7:15 Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. Act 20:28 Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood. In this time of End Times apostasy, now more than ever before it's time to expose, warn, and prepare the flock for the onslaught of false teachers, the spirit of the antichrist that's already in the world. You will note that this very thing is in our ministries mission statement, and always has been. "…to equip and strengthen believers with sound apologetics and warnings against the false teachings in the world..." Our very motto is 'Safeguarding the Truth' as we pledge to do all we can to that effect. A Careful Caveat to Exposing False Doctrine Over the years I have recognized a few things with many Christian leaders who are dubbed as 'false teachers'; 'false prophets' and sometimes called 'workers for Satan'. In many instances if you research them, they are not really bad people. Although I do personally believe that some are knowingly working iniquity and deceiving, others many times, believe that they are doing the Lord's work and are merely deceived or working iniquity through ignorance of scripture. Usually this is evident through dumb choices the ministry or individual has made, but then who of us hasn't made a dumb choice? The difference is for most of us that our Dumb choices don't potentially effect thousands of people, which is why high profile preachers and leaders should be more careful and be held to a higher standard of accountability. And they should at least be ready and open, if required, to a loving rebuke from brethren in the body of Christ. In fact they should, for the sake of integrity, welcome it. On this point I have noted a disturbing trend. A trend that, thanks to the internet and our lightning fast means of communication has done a lot of damage to the process of accountability in the body of Christ. I have seen many misquotes, and misrepresentations of many preachers that it's just maddening. In attempts to expose them as false teachers, sometimes people are misquoting, or misapplying quoted words to suit their own agenda or premise. Perhaps to add shock value to their own sermons, talks, books, etc. There is a danger in exposing error that we may end up being over critical. And I see too much of this as can be evident by any who research the claims of what I would call the 'heresy hunters'. I read what they say... and then I look it up, and realize that the preacher said no SUCH thing. Or that the quote was taken completely out of context with the implications of the author's, speaker's, or preacher's main premise. Sometimes they pour through every word, spoken or otherwise, of the individual in hopes to criticize. They go into each review with the presupposition of finding something wrong and not really giving a 'fair' chance. This is downright dirty pool, and is nothing but a cheap attempt at shock value. Nitpicking everything that someone says and tearing it apart is foolish. It's not being Berean, it's being stupid. We're not, any of us, perfect human beings. To expect perfection, is a fruitless and exasperating mission. We need to balance rebuke, with the love and respect it deserves. We need to look at each new issue with a neutral mindset, and allow our conclusions to be scripture based. If we don't, unfortunately what ends up happening is that the 'heresy hunter' mentality actually ends up creating a preacher/teacher/leader who now ignores claims against them because of the so many times that the little boy cried wolf> when being over critical. When honest rebuke is required and relayed, the preacher now ignores it because he simply brushes it away as another unwarranted 'persecution'. My friends, research both sides of the story. Don't accept someone else's word for anything… including mine. Gain your knowledge from first hand sources, and then make your biblical judgment on the issue. Now that's 'rightly dividing', and 'earnestly contending' for the faith as required of us by 2 Timothy 2:15 and Jude 1:3 -- J.R.Hall |
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