The Prophet Zachariah warned the nation of Isreal concerning the false prophets of his day. The words of Zachariah have an timeless application to the day and age in which we live. Listen to the Prophet in Zachariah 10:2:
For the idols speak delusion;
The diviners envision lies,
And tell false dreams;
They comfort in vain.
Therefore the people wend their way like sheep;
They are in trouble because there is no shepherd.
Tim Challies, a blogger from Canada, has been sharing a very helpful series about false teachers. Recently Tim shared some timely lessons from his study that should serve as clear warnings to us!
Here is what he wrote in his article entitled: 7 Dangerous Truths About False Teachers.
“A few months ago, I began a short series called “The False Teachers.” I wanted to look back through church history to meet some of the people who have undermined the church at various points. We looked at historical figures like Joseph Smith who founded Mormonism and Ellen G. White who led the Seventh Day Adventists into prominence, and we looked at contemporary figures like Benny Hinn, the prominent faith healer, and T.D. Jakes, who has tampered with the doctrine of the Trinity.
Here are a few lessons I’ve learned from false teachers.
1. False teachers are common.
When and where there are teachers of truth, there will necessarily be teachers of error.
The first and most fundamental thing I learned about false teachers is that we ought to expect them and be on the lookout for them. They are common in every era of church history.
This should not surprise us since the Bible warns that we are on war footing in this world, and that Satan is on full-out offensive against God and his people. And sure enough, history shows that whenever the gospel advances, error follows in its wake.
When and where there are teachers of truth, there will necessarily be teachers of error. Perhaps the most surprising thing about false teachers is that we continue to be surprised by them.
2. False teachers are deceptive.
False teachers are deceptive. They do not announce themselves as false teachers but proclaim themselves angels of light, people who have access to wisdom others have missed or misplaced.
As Denny Burk says, “False teachers typically won’t show up to your church wearing a sandwich board saying, ‘I am a false teacher.’”
Instead, they begin within the bounds of orthodoxy and announce themselves only slowly and through their subtly-twisted doctrine. They turn away from orthodoxy one step at a time rather than all at once.
3. False teachers are dangerous.
False teachers are dangerous, and part of what makes them so dangerous is that they will affirm so much that is good and true.
They will not deny all of the doctrines upon which the Christian faith stands or falls but only select parts of it. They draw in the unsuspecting with all they affirm and only later destroy them with all they deny.
There is an important lesson: We only know a person when we understand both what he affirms and what he denies.
4. False teachers are divisive.
False teachers cause division within the church and often cause division even among true Christians.
Because false teachers tend to remain within the church, and because they claim to be honoring the Bible, they confuse true believers and drive wedges between them.
Amazingly, it is often those who stand fast against falsehood who get labeled as divisive. The church often trusts a smiling false teacher ahead of a frowning defender.
5. False teachers give people what they want.
As Paul wrote his final letter to Timothy, he warned that the time was coming when people would not endure sound teaching (and hence, sound teachers), but instead they would have itching ears and demand teachers who would satisfy this itch.
False teachers do this very thing. Their concern is not for what people truly need but for what people want.
The concern of the Christian is the exact opposite—the gospel does not address what we want but what we need!
6. False teachers are not innocent.
False teachers know they are false teachers.
This may not be true all the time, and perhaps some false teachers deceive themselves before they deceive others. But I believe most know who and what they are; in fact, I believe most know and delight in who and what they are.
They are not naive people who have taken a wrong turn in their theology, but evil people who are out to destroy others. Their attack on truth is far more brazen than we may like to think.
7. False teachers cannot tolerate the Gospel.
False teachers simply cannot tolerate the gospel.
At some level and in some way, they will always add to or subtract from the pure and sweet gospel of salvation by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone.
They may affirm the Trinity or inerrancy or the deity of Jesus Christ, but they will never fully affirm the gospel of the Bible.”
We must be warned of the dangers posed by false teachers and the false doctrine that provides the fertile soil in which the false teachers grow!
We call upon true shepherds to rise up and be heard! In the words of the hymn writer:
Rise up, O men of God!
Have done with lesser things.
Give heart and mind and soul and strength
To serve the King of kings.
Rise up, O men of God!
The kingdom tarries long.
Bring in the day of brotherhood
And end the night of wrong.
Rise up, O men of God!
The church for you doth wait,
Her strength unequal to her task;
Rise up and make her great!
Lift high the cross of Christ!
Tread where His feet have trod.
As brothers of the Son of Man,
Rise up, O men of God!
