Beware of False Teachers

There has always been “False Prophets” and “False Teachers” from the time of the Old Testament on through today. Jeremiah warned the people of Israel about them:

Then the LORD said unto me, The prophets prophesy lies in my name: I sent them not, neither have I commanded them, neither spake unto them: they prophesy unto you a false vision and divination, and a thing of nought, and the deceit of their heart. ~ Jeremiah 14:14~

Jesus also cautioned us: 

⁴ And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you. ⁵ For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many. ~ Matthew 24:4-12~

Just as Jesus warned His disciples and Old Testament prophets warned their people, I am here today to give you the same warning. 

¹But 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 (meaning wicked or evil) 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. ~2 Peter 2:1-3~ 

As I said before, there were false prophets in the Old Testament false prophets in the time of Jesus. Today we to have these false teachers among us.

Teachers should be paid by the people they teach, but these teachers were attempting to make more money by distorting the truth, saying what people wanted to hear. They were more interested in making money that they were teaching the truth.

This is very true even today. We have so many false teachers out there on TV, radio, books, and even the churches are filled with the people Jesus warned us about. We must all be aware of these evil speaking people in our midst. Some these folks will try to call you out of your hard-earned money.

Peter and Paul both condemned greedy, lying teachers.

⁵ Perverse disputings of men of corrupt minds, and destitute of the truth, supposing that gain is godliness: from such withdraw thyself. ~1 Timothy 6:5~

 Before you send any money to any cause, evaluate it carefully. Is the teacher or preacher clearly serving God or promoting his or her own interests? Will the money be used to promote a valid ministry, or merely finance further promotions?

 Not all false teachers are out to scam you and take your money. Some just tell us false doctrine or teach a false Jesus or a false God, because they don’t want us to know the truth of Jesus Christ. They want us to turn away from God and turn toward Satan.  They won’t say that, but that is exactly what they are doing.

Those who deny Christ or those who deny the Word of God, the Bible, are embracing Satan….there’s no third option.

If you are listening to a preacher, a TV evangelist, a book challenging the spoken Word of God, or even reading another version of God’s Word make sure what you are hearing is what God is saying.

 “It’s a good time to be a false teacher and to espouse deadly doctrine. It seems that today’s most brazen heretic will be granted a hearing and, in all likelihood, a book deal. Novelty is appealing, orthodoxy boring. It’s the ones who sound the warning and issue the challenge that bear the risk—the risk of being labelled “haters.” There’s more patience for those who smilingly subvert the truth than for those who boldly defend it. Conviction is a sign of arrogance, while humility is expressed in uncertainty. Love, it seems, requires us to bear patiently with any amount of error. And this kind of love, we are told, is modeled after Jesus. Jesus did not judge, Jesus welcomed all opinions, Jesus would have accepted different kinds of teachings—so long as those teachings contained love and hints of truth.

A quick scan of the gospels, however, shows that this impression is a far cry from the Jesus of the Bible. It shows that society has reimagined Jesus through the relativism of our day. When Jesus interacted with people who were seeking, wandering, or misguided, he was invariably compassionate. He answered them with patience and gentleness. But when Jesus engaged with religious hypocrites and false teachers, he responded with righteous fury and bold conviction.” (From How Jesus Called Out False Teachers and Deadly Doctrine by Tim Challies

Remember the warning in Matthew: 

¹⁵ Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves ~Matthew 7:15~ 

The false teachers are here to fool you and no other reason They want to lead you away from God and His goodness and mercy…don’t be fooled…. Be obedient to God, be faithful to Jesus and turn away from these false teachers.