Dear friends, why is it even important to learn the difference between a false and a true teacher?
You are going to church, you hear THE WORD OF GOD, you study THE BIBLE, you seek GOD’S face earnestly – you will go to heaven, will find favour in GOD’s eyes, will get your reward for sure – after all, all the unbelievers and those following false religions are so much worse than you, so you will surely go to heaven when you have become a Christian, when you are a servant in a church, that’s for sure, right?
SURE???
Well, if it were up to me or according to my logic, that would make sense.
But unfortunately, to GOD it doesn’t and HE is telling us that it is not enough to call HIS name, aka go to church, HE wants us to do much more:
Matthew 7:21
Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.
Right, so we have to do HIS will.
Understood.
But friends, do we always know for sure what that actually IS?
And what it is NOT?
Me, I don’t always know!
I sometimes need help finding out – and one of my ways of getting that help is to speak to more experienced or more mature Christians, for example, my pastor.
Let alone did I know what that is when I was a new born baby Christian – none of the baby Christians who just got saved do, they can’t!
Because it takes time:
It it a process.
THE HOLY SPIRIT will shape and mold us into mature Christians once we got saved.
AND we ALL need help with developing our relationship with OUR FATHER at some point.
Explanations.
Instructions.
Correction.
Edification.
Not just the ones who got saved when they were adults, also the ones who were born into Christianity – they will need this help when they are growing up in their churches and in their Christian families.
We all need teachers at some point.
Regardless if we are babies in Christ (only) or babies because of our biological age.
And next thing to ask ourselves is:
what and whom do we believe and follow, who’s instructions do we listen to and carry out if we are too young to know what to do and when we are learning and growing?
Right, our teachers’.
So I am sure we can all understand how important it is that we have teachers who will teach us THE TRUTH and not lies and heresies.
And this is where the devil comes in: that is exactly his plan, his job even.
To teach us the wrong things.
To mislead us.
To lie to us and thus make us fall and to lead us into sin.
John 10:10
The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.
And if you were the enemy and if you were on a mission to deceive the entire world and to get every soul to hell… if you wanted to make sure you do all you can to lead every single human being on earth into destruction and not miss a single soul, where would you assume you would find the persons who are most likely not going to fall for your lies, the ones who will most likely go to heaven and who’s souls you can never, ever possess (which is your goal, your desire and the reason why you are who you are) – where would you look for them?
In churches maybe?
And how would you do it, what would be your strategy?
Perhaps you could send your people in there and let them seduce Christians and make them backslide and sin or even leave the church – very good idea! And I believe so many pastors are attacked via the spirit of lust and are destroyed by it if they fall… but what if you were really clever and made the pastor or leaders in the church themselves to be your people in the first place – they could lead everybody who set a foot into this church astray for you and serve you, the devil, under the guise of serving GOD.
That would make a lot of sense, now, wouldn’t it?
It makes a lot of sense to the devil as well and that’s why the churches are full of witches and false teachers.
Because the enemy KNOWS that Christians HAVE the power to defeat him – in fact they are the only humans who do!!! – unless he can take it from them.
And he doesn’t care where that will be!
He doesn’t mind going to church when he can accomplish his mission there.
You see, the devil never, ever sleeps and he never, ever gives up.
And he will do anything to destroy and kill as many people as he can.
And it is a myth and absolutely untrue that we are safe from the devil in our church.
That’s why we need to make sure that we are in the right church.
For our soul’s sake.
And for the glory of GOD.
Because if we are not, we are not serving GOD, but the devil.
Foto credit:
crossinthewilderness.blogspot.com (I didn’t read their blog, just found the picture on google)
Matthew 7:15
Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.
So what are the signs now?
First of all, we all have to seek THE LORD about where we are going.
Regarding everything.
Including regarding where we go to worship and listen to HIM.
Plus, I’ve said it before, we must test every “spirit” and also humans who tell us anything according to
1 John 4
Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.
Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God:
And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world.
That’s our duty.
GOD wants us to become sheep, but not sheep who will follow anyone, but rather sheep who follow HIM because we know HIS voice.
John 10: 4-5, 27
4And when he putteth forth his own sheep, he goeth before them, and the sheep follow him: for they know his voice.
5And a stranger will they not follow, but will flee from him: for they know not the voice of strangers.
27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me
but sometimes, it is not that easy and we have to learn how to differentiate between the voices and it is VITAL, it is a very lively parable, crucial for our survival that we know the difference between the voice of our shepherd and of deceivers.
Here are some signs I found and believe to be true and this list may not be complete, so please feel free to leave more signs in the comments if you can think of any more:
1. The easiest to spot are probably the “prosperity gospel gang”
They tell us all kinds of things and they live in big mansions and they drive big cars and even fly their own private jets and when we do our research on the internet, we cannot find a lot of good they are doing with all their money, but we can find many people whom they have disappointed and who say they are not who they say they are.
I believe it is very easy to understand in the spirit (not only in the spirit, but also in the mind) that these pastors are not GOD’s pastors.
It may sometimes be difficult to discern if they wanted to become big to get rich (and corrupt) or if they were good and honest men of GOD whom GOD blessed, then we have to look a little bit into their ministries to find the truth and it is usually not hard to find it.
We find it in their teachings, which often contradict GOD’s WORD.
We find it in their fruit, which is often not pretty, we find it in their lives, in their relationships and we find it in things people say about them.
No, true men of GOD do not have scandalous lives!
In fact, not even elders do!
And as usual, we find a lot about it in THE WORD:
1 Timothy 3: 1 – 13
1 This is a true saying, if a man desire the office of a bishop, he desireth a good work.
2 A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, vigilant, sober, of good behaviour, given to hospitality, apt to teach;
3 Not given to wine, no striker, not greedy of filthy lucre; but patient, not a brawler, not covetous;
4 One that ruleth well his own house, having his children in subjection with all gravity;
5 (For if a man know not how to rule his own house, how shall he take care of the church of God?)
6 Not a novice, lest being lifted up with pride he fall into the condemnation of the devil.
7 Moreover he must have a good report of them which are without; lest he fall into reproach and the snare of the devil.
8 Likewise must the deacons be grave, not doubletongued, not given to much wine, not greedy of filthy lucre;
9 Holding the mystery of the faith in a pure conscience.
10 And let these also first be proved; then let them use the office of a deacon, being found blameless.
11 Even so must their wives be grave, not slanderers, sober, faithful in all things.
12 Let the deacons be the husbands of one wife, ruling their children and their own houses well.
13 For they that have used the office of a deacon well purchase to themselves a good degree, and great boldness in the faith which is in Christ Jesus.
I will not list any false teachers here, I will let you look for them yourselves.
Because this is what we are supposed to do.
We are supposed to discern for ourselves.
May we all do so and come to the right conclusions, including me myself, in JESUS’ name!
After all, regardless of what we think is an appropriate amount of riches and if we want to cut our pastor some slack – it is absolutely clear what GOD thinks of riches and of worldly things and of money!
Matthew 6:24
No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.”
Mark 10:25
It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.
Matthew 16:25
For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it.
2. They will compromise their teachings and sermons in order to be pleasant and in order to please the people, so that they will not run away from the church, but come back and donate – they will tell the people what they want to hear instead of speaking on behalf of GOD.
Or maybe their motive is not mainly money, but foremost pride or vanity (they probably go hand in hand a lot), but they do want a large congregation and they compromise their messages in order to gain or keep people coming.
This is not what GOD tells pastors to do!
Titus 1: 7-11
For a bishop must be blameless, as the steward of God; not selfwilled, not soon angry, not given to wine, no striker, not given to filthy lucre;
But a lover of hospitality, a lover of good men, sober, just, holy, temperate;
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.
For there are many unruly and vain talkers and deceivers, specially they of the circumcision:
Whose mouths must be stopped, who subvert whole houses, teaching things which they ought not, for filthy lucre’s sake.
GOD’s word is not always convenient.
We often times don’t even want to hear HIS TRUTH, because when we hear it, we will have to think about it and when we think about it, we may discover that we must change – and nobody likes to face this truth.
So what if we simply go to a pastor who doesn’t tell us about our sins and about our iniquities?
What if we just go to a church where we like the music and where we feel soooo goood?
Well, that might be the exact church where we are not going to meet our FATHER.
Think about it:
Hebrews 12:6-7
For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.
If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not?
Yes, it is not pleasant.
But let’s look at our choices:
we can either be chastened and corrected by OUR FATHER and grow in HIM and do what HE wants for us and be HIS SONS.
OR we can do what we want, not learn what HE wants to tell us and go to hell…
Any preferences for any of the choices anyone???
3. Who do they associate with?
If they are partnered online or offline with other false teachers, appear on their websites, in their TV or church programs, or if they socialize with people who are not Christians, what is their word from the pulpit on a Sunday truly worth?
4. What do they express and demonstrate and stand for?
Do they smoke, drink or are they gluttons, aka extremely overweight – it is not what GOD wants us to do with our bodies, even though many of us (including me, but I am not a pastor and a role model in a church, but I consider myself to be very broken and even more imperfect) do not always treat it accordingly, our bodies are supposed to be the temple of the HOLY SPIRIT and we are supposed to treat it this way!
But even more so are our pastors supposed to walk before us, doing what we should do, so that we can learn and grow.
1 Corinthians 6:19
What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?”
6. That their teachings need to be in line and not contrary to scripture is an implicitness.
I will just mention the obvious heresy promoting cults/ false religions here:
catholics, mormons, Jehova’s witnesses, Jews, Moslems, hindus, buddhists, atheists, humanists – pretty much all “-ists”, New Agers, occultists, satanists…..and so on – this list is endless and we ALL need to do our homework and need to learn to differenciate between true, sound Christian doctrine and heresies, it is part of our education in THE LORD’s WORD.
5. Lastly, but not least, GOD is telling us what HE expects of leaders in HIS church and if we observe this and compare, we should be able to tell if “our Pastor” is a man of GOD or a wolf in sheep’s clothing – and I hope we are all really, really careful and thorough with our analysis!
Because the bible is also very clear about where these false teachers will end and it is definitely where none of us want to go, so we better make sure we will not go with them and rather go to another teacher instead.
Yes?
2 Peter 2
1 But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction.
2 And many shall follow their pernicious ways; by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of.
3 And through covetousness shall they with feigned words make merchandise of you: whose judgment now of a long time lingereth not, and their damnation slumbereth not.
4 For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment;
5 And spared not the old world, but saved Noah the eighth person, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood upon the world of the ungodly;
6 And turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrha into ashes condemned them with an overthrow, making them an ensample unto those that after should live ungodly;
7 And delivered just Lot, vexed with the filthy conversation of the wicked:
8 (For that righteous man dwelling among them, in seeing and hearing, vexed his righteous soul from day to day with their unlawful deeds;)
9 The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations, and to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment to be punished:
10 But chiefly them that walk after the flesh in the lust of uncleanness, and despise government. Presumptuous are they, selfwilled, they are not afraid to speak evil of dignities.
11 Whereas angels, which are greater in power and might, bring not railing accusation against them before the Lord.
12 But these, as natural brute beasts, made to be taken and destroyed, speak evil of the things that they understand not; and shall utterly perish in their own corruption;
13 And shall receive the reward of unrighteousness, as they that count it pleasure to riot in the day time. Spots they are and blemishes, sporting themselves with their own deceivings while they feast with you;
14 Having eyes full of adultery, and that cannot cease from sin; beguiling unstable souls: an heart they have exercised with covetous practices; cursed children:
15 Which have forsaken the right way, and are gone astray, following the way of Balaam the son of Bosor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness;
16 But was rebuked for his iniquity: the dumb ass speaking with man’s voice forbad the madness of the prophet.
17 These are wells without water, clouds that are carried with a tempest; to whom the mist of darkness is reserved for ever.
18 For when they speak great swelling words of vanity, they allure through the lusts of the flesh, through much wantonness, those that were clean escaped from them who live in error.
19 While they promise them liberty, they themselves are the servants of corruption: for of whom a man is overcome, of the same is he brought in bondage.
20 For if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein, and overcome, the latter end is worse with them than the beginning.
21 For it had been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than, after they have known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered unto them.
22 But it is happened unto them according to the true proverb, The dog is turned to his own vomit again; and the sow that was washed to her wallowing in the mire.
These are my ideas, but as usual, of course it is your task to find out for yourself and take everything to THE LORD in prayer and ask HIM and please leave a comment for us all if you have found more.
I hope and pray that this would inspire and bless you and that THE LORD will bless you richly in all areas of your life, that HE will keep you and shine HIS face upon you and give you peace. In JESUS’ name I pray. Amen.
Witness for Jesus 