False teachers have been around for a long time. Go back to the Jewish people in Israel in the Old and New Testament and you will find them all over the place. It’s no different today in our chaotic and unscrupulous times.
Theologian and Pastor Mark Hitchcock made this profound statement, “The greatest danger to the church today is not humanism, paganism, atheism, or agnosticism. The greatest danger is not increasing hostility against our faith from the culture. Our greatest danger is apostasy on the inside arising from false teachers, theological liberals who deny and distort biblical doctrine and lead others down the same path”. (The Coming Apostasy: Exposing the Sabotage of Christianity from Within. (Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale, 2017), 65.
We must be aware of what is going on in our churches today so if we see behaviour or hear of preaching that doesn’t align with historical Christian faith we need to either question that sermon or if it continues, leave that church. If you continue to hear a false teacher preaching a different gospel you may eventually start to believe the lie.
This might sound harsh but discernment is paramount when listening to sermons by false teachers.
Let me be very clear that there are very good churches preaching “Jesus” each and every time. We shouldn’t paint everyone with the same brush.
Jesus Christ said in Matthew 7:15, “Beware of false prophets who come disguised as harmless sheep but are really vicious wolves.”. NLT
Satan is always on the prowl for undiscerning and luke warm churches and Christians. He is especially interested in Christian movements that are gaining ground.
Satan is not after false teachers; on the contrary, he already has them and they pose no threat to his schemes. He is not concerned with the carnal and inactive churches, he already has them.
Wherever you find people who are followers of Jesus and who regularly read the Bible you can be sure false teachers will be around waiting to move in.
Ever since he tempted Adam & Eve in the garden he is relentlessly ambushing people because he knows his time is fast becoming his demise and he wants to take as many people as he can with him in hell. Misery loves company.
Satan will do everything and anything to contaminate, debilitate, pervert, and revise the Word of God.
We live in a 24 hour/365 days of social media, TV, radio and the internet with a barrage of religious programs. Be careful, false teacher’s messages are slick, deceitful and manipulative. Continual listening to false teachers can seriously affect your faith.
While it is unfeasible to know everything about all religions we can test the spirits.
“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. By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you heard was coming and now is in the world already”. 1 John 4:1-3 (ESV)
In 2 Peter 2:1 the King James Version says it this way, “But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privately shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction”.
Albert Barnes (December 1, 1798 – December 24, 1870)[1] was an American theologian, clergyman, abolitionist, temperance advocate, and author. He summed up false teachers this way, “They come under plausible arts and pretenses”. Therefore, they concoct feasible untruths”.
False teachers are steadfast in providing people pleasing material even if it contradicts scripture. They do their homework when it comes to what’s trending in the marketplace. Their main goal is to captivate their audiences with claims that becoming a Christian will guarantee health, wealth and abundance.
It is said of one of the health, wealth and prosperity teachers is this: “The largest church in America is led by a man whose platitudes (the quality or state of being dull or banal)) are indistinguishable from fortune cookies. Tim Challies
In Jude 12 he calls false teachers, “They are clouds without rain, blown along by the wind; autumn trees, without fruit and uprooted—twice dead”. NIV
One must be very cautious when listening to teachers who give people what they want to hear which is pleasant, captivating, and brighten your day fallacies. In this type of preaching and teaching you will find Satan and his demons lurking in the shadows. So, stop listening to these false teachers! Also, hold on to your wallets, don’t buy their material.
There is no end to what God can do with one Christian who stands against the wiles of evil and with courage and determination proclaims God’s Word.
“Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it. Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves”. Matthew 7:13-15 NIV
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