How to spot a false teacher

[arcticmonster2003]

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[martincisneros]

Actually, the angels are ministering spirits sent to minister FOR the heirs of salvation, rather than TO.  And Jesus deligated when He ascended.  Ephesians 4, a couple of Christ's parables that I don't have handy references for right now, and Ephesians 3 says that the principalities and powers in the heavenlies have the manifold wisdom revealed to them through the Church.  Terry Law's got an "adequate" book on the subject of Angels called "The Truth About Angels."


In the early Church, the number 1 way that they designated a false teacher was ANYONE who taught things that WEREN'T their LIFESTYLE.  Period.  We tend to say nowadays to "practice what you preach."  Back then it was "preach what you practice.  If you're not doing it, then SHUT UP!"  I don't have the early Church Father quotes handy either on that.  It sucks to be between apartments right now and to not have my books and notes handy!  Paul was sending Timothy to one of the Churches - Corinth, I think - and he said that Timothy would remind them of his ways in the Lord.


And then of course, there's the different things that John designated as false teachings, such as denying that Jesus Christ is in your flesh, if you pass the test, according to Paul in 2Corinthians 13.  John also said that anyone that denied the anointing was an antiChrist.  Those who don't love don't have God.  And John also said that those who denied the Father and the Son were false prophets.  In Revelation it says that those who imply that fornication is something that God is cool with are also in serious error, along with those who eat what's been sacrificed to idols.  On that latter one, John seems to have deliberately butted heads with Paul in 1Corinthians 8, but not in a severe way because the longer Paul talked about it, the more nervous he got about it and finally took the gracious way out in 1Corinthians 8:13.

[arcticmonster2003]

Just wanted to clarify what I meant by teachers who teach to contact their guardian angels. I was watching a show on TBN and a preacher actually said that each and every one of us should meditate and contact our guardian angels and until we do so our purpose here will never come to fruitition, then he proceeded to say don't worry the angel won't let you worship it and so on and so on. Well, what if it is not a angel of light that you actually contact? I would say that God may send angels to us, even to speak with us, but I don't think it is a good idea to meditate and wait on angels and try and contact angels instead of God for our awnsers, even though God uses angels for our benefit and may actually even send many to us for the things we are seeking from God. I would agree somewhat with the early church about the lifestyle thing, I just think that this could be used in a bad way, afterall, were they talking about the lifestyle of faith in God and our salvation or were they talking about the lifestyle of living in scrict accordance with Gods laws, church laws, mans laws, local laws, local traditions - if the law and sin are the measure of a true or false teacher, then there is not one true teacher on earth, we shouldn't nitpick on which sins are greater and so on, if this is the measure, then we are all guilty of the whole law and no person is a true teacher. I say the LIFESTYLE is living in faith, faith in God for all things, including our salvation thru Jesus, material needs and everything else and above all grace and love and forgiveness when we fall short, for us and for others. This is why the reasons quoted were given by me and not simply calling people who sin false teachers. Shall we not forgive a pastor who falls short of the law and sins? Does this make him a false teacher? Does he not deserve our grace? Gods message ultimately was simple repent, have faith, love. When this gets twisted into something else, we got a problem, and why would one want to detour from this simple path unless they are deceived? And who would want to preach anything but the Good News of God, unless they are trying to destroy people or are themselves deceived? Perhaps I have clarified my position a bit better.

James 2:10  For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.

[Kratos]

I think that false teachers are rare. They are the ones who the enemy plants and who knowingly serve the wrong side as undercover agents of darkness while hiding in sheeps clothing. Like Satan appears as an angel of light, his ministers appear as ministers of righteousness.

On the other hand, false teachings are in us all and will be until we attain to the full mind of Christ.

So, at least for me, I will focus on cooperating with God as He removes all of the false teachings within me (tares) so that His good seed (wheat) will bear fruit for His glory. I leave the false teachers to Him.

John

[arcticmonster2003]

Hello Kratos, though I would disagree on the point of false teachers being rare,

Matthew 24:11  And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many.
Galatians 2:4  And that because of false brethren unawares brought in, who came in privily to spy out our liberty which we have in Christ Jesus, that they might bring us into bondage:
1 John 4:1  Â¶Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.

I do agree that focusing and cooperating with God is the only true way to bear fruit. And I would also agree that false teachings still reside in us all. I really don't want to focus too much on the negative, I simply am trying to open my eyes to the things going on around us, and I know a lot of people who are harmed by teachings leading away from the simplicity of the Good News as pertaining to our salvation and status in Gods eyes and teachings leading people away from faith in god for all of our needs. As we all know that there are false teachers I am trying to gain insight on how one may distinguish, unfortunately the people who will see teachings that harm people do see them, the ones who don't see it are the ones who are harmed by them. The biggest reasons I have put any time at all in this is so that when I want to have fellowship with fellow christians I can know if I am with a harmful group or a good group and also my curiosity, knowing full well that everything here on earth is not as it seems I was investigating to see if anyone has received insight from God on this matter other than the insight that I have. I have prayed to God to open my eyes here, to have discernment of spirits. My problem comes when I think of a man of God, lets say a catholic priest, one who has given up this world in order to serve God, he has dedicated his time to serve God, to fast, to gain understanding, to know God and serve as a priest to the people. Frankly it is hard to believe that so many priests are really doing this and yet so little insight, knowledge, and gifts of the holy spirit have come about and been given to the people who attend these churches. I'm not picking on catholics in particular, just a good example since catholic priests really do give up a normal life as we know it for the service of God. Maybe this is a different matter than false teachers, but I truly believe that when one takes that step, to proclaim to people of God that they are their teacher, priest, pastor, evangelist, ect.., when a man takes that step, and he leads people away from the Good News, and he leads people away from the simple teachings of repentance, love, and faith, if he does this knowingly, whether to stay in good stature with the church, or because he doesn't even believe in God and is just making a living, or because this is the message that is accepted in that particular neck of the woods, or simply because he is a ravenous wolf, then there is a very real problem. I'm not saying I can do anything about the problem, except to pray to God, but I can at least protect myself from these things, and with all the varied religious teachings, all christians need to know enough to at least spot people to stay away from, for their own protection. Maybe your right though, to leave the false teacher to God, but I believe God has given us some power to help people here, otherwise there would only need to be one thing spoken in every church in the world as teaching: "Seek God until you find him, and pray the lords prayer often, and read his words in the bible", although this would be among the best advice a person could give, I believe God has also chosen men to help to help others with their relationship with God, and part of this is at least understanding the basics of the enemy who wants to kill, steal, and destroy. Shall we not train ourselves to discern good and evil?

Hebrews 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.

I don't want to drink milk forever! :Angel7:

[Kratos]

I just have only run into a few false brethren like Paul discussed who are ministers of Satan pretending to be ministers of righteousness. Most are just right on some things and wrong on others.

I was very grieved being around a Lutheren pastor who was very big in the ecumenical move in our area. He kept trying to pull me in by offering me things that he thought I desired like glory and position. Anyway, he was scheduled to perform my Mom's wedding and I was praying for him and the Spirit interupted me and said that I should no longer pray for this man because he is not deceived, but has willfully chosen to serve the enemy. Wow. I was shocked. I thought of the sin unto death that we were not to pray for, but just obeyed and quit praying for him.

At the wedding, he was laughing and drinking champagne with a group and I looked over at him and I immediately knew that he knew that I knew what he was. (Did I loose anyone). He waited until no one was around and came over and growled at me like a wolf showing his teeth and said that he would bury me if I stood in his way in our area.

Well, I had stopped praying for him, but started praying against him to be removed. He had been in the area 17 years and within two months, he was exposed in sexual sin and removed from the area.

This is what I mean by a false teacher or false brethren. The rest of us are just learning and growing and wrong sometimes.

John

[arcticmonster2003]

Ok, Kratos, I do see what you are saying now, sometimes a personal testimony on an issue carries more weight and understanding than speculation and debate. Thanks for sharing.

[Seeker]

When you say he growled at you and showed his teeth, do you mean his faced turned into that of a wolf or he was just attempting to intimidate you with his regular face?  Forgive the blunt question, I'm being sincere here.

-Seeker (AKA Ruth)

[Kratos]

I am not really sure how much of it was a physical change and how much it was God opening my eyes through the manifestation of discerning of spirits. But his eyes seem to turn yellow and became elongated and he raised his lips to expose his teeth like a dog does when it snarls, then he said what he did in a real gutteral voice that was not his own.

I had seen a similiar thing once before when a demon manifested in a young man in a healing line. His parents brought him up flailing his arms and they said that he had MS. So, I went to lay my hands on him for physical healing and his face changed and he growled and his breath almost knocked me over. I commanded the spirit of MS to leave his body in Jesus Name and he went down to the floor so I continued to command and it left after a few minutes. He came up to me at another church over 5 years later and was still perfectly healed and was married and let me meet his two little children.

I know that people do not like the term "free will" on this board, but that is what seemed to be the difference and why I was allowed to pray for the first and not for the second. The young man with MS had not asked for this spirit and wanted to be free of it, but the Lutheran pastor was not deceived and liked the power that this religious spirit gave him over people. I assumed that this is why I was told not to pray for him to be free, but this is only an assumption. God only gives us information sometimes on a "need to know" basis.

John

[AbbasChild]

Thank you John for sharing this. I also had similar experiences. For me also it seems clear that people have a 'free will' even though a limited one. I know this topic has caused a lot of trouble in the past and that's why I won't get into it to much. Just wanted to tell you that your testimony blessed me, because of the similar situations I have experienced and are going through at the moment. 

[hopeful]

I looked over at him and I immediately knew that he knew that I knew what he was. (Did I loose anyone).

Didn't loose me!
I had the same type of thing happen to me
and the man tried to run me out of town!   :mshock:

[Livelystone]

More common than false teachers are the blind sheep that in turn become false teachers because it is them that the secular world sees day in and day out. Whether we admit it or not we are not excused from being held responsible for not knowing and living the truth every day and every where we go.

There is always somebody watching and when you are lifting up Christ both yourself and others are either being drawn directly  to Him or to Him through you........... if not than He is not being lifted up in your daily life message that is seen by all and you become a false teacher by not reflecting the truth of Jesus Christ in all that you do.

Being chosen to tear down one like John was chosen for is a good thing and we should all be prepared to be soldiers when the need arises but those are pretty extreme situations. Meanwhile the real battle is for us to obtain victory over all evil that is prohibiting Christ from shinning forth from us and carry the message of the good news to all.

Blessings

Doug

[Redlettervoice]

I think that false teachers are rare. They are the ones who the enemy plants and who knowingly serve the wrong side as undercover agents of darkness while hiding in sheeps clothing. Like Satan appears as an angel of light, his ministers appear as ministers of righteousness.

On the other hand, false teachings are in us all and will be until we attain to the full mind of Christ.

So, at least for me, I will focus on cooperating with God as He removes all of the false teachings within me (tares) so that His good seed (wheat) will bear fruit for His glory. I leave the false teachers to Him.

John

I like the way you think there, Kratos. Because there is "no good thing" in the flesh of anyone.
The flesh actually "wars" the Spirit.......some give in to it more than others, but all flesh is the same, and it
all withers soon as the SON hits it!  He just must not hit it all at the same time, ha. To tell you the truth,
Jesus said "ALL that come before me are what?" 
I am standing with you concerning your wife!  Her deliverance is YOUR deliverance. Because you are looked
upon as ONE I believe. She is a blessed woman to have YOU for her husband. God bless her, and may you
find a middle ground with her on the issues I read about. Sometimes it is very costly to "follow" the Lord!
Wish it were not that way, but it is.  Anyone that tells you differently ............well, you know what Jesus
said, "ALL that come before ME...."

[Cardinal]

 :thumbsup: Here's the rule of thumb  :wink: He gave me, to discern the spirits. Simple and works every time, as all His direction is and does. The Spirit on the day of Pentecost spoke about the magnificent works of God, ie. the Spirit always exalts the One who sent it. Apply that principle for yourself and see how fast it separates the wheat from the chaff. 

Of course, you have to know what Spirit you yourself are of (as in what Jesus spoke to the disciples that wanted to call down fire from heaven to burn up their adversaries) else you'll eat of a lot of legalistic bondage first that appears as an angel of light. Blessings.........

[julzabro2]

Who were our examples of False Teachers in the NT? The Pharisees and Sadducees, right? What did they do? They judged by APPEARANCES....they lived in the LAW. These are those who have fallen from Grace. Who like to APPEAR as righteous by doing certain works that they THOUGHT made them and other's righteous but, in doing so, showed that they were false. Jesus called them hypocrites, liars (I believe) and a brood of evil doers. They did not accept that Jesus/God FULFILLED the law.

Anyone who judges the salvation of other's by works alone and does not lead people to thee One true Judge is a false teacher. In fact, we were all once false teachers in that we had to learn the law. It was in learning/accepting faith and grace that we learned that those who are righteous do not judge by outward appearances nor do they pray/fast on the rooftops.

False teachers only teach the law, they deny Grace.

[Redlettervoice]

Who were our examples of False Teachers in the NT? The Pharisees and Sadducees, right? What did they do? They judged by APPEARANCES....they lived in the LAW. These are those who have fallen from Grace. Who like to APPEAR as righteous by doing certain works that they THOUGHT made them and other's righteous but, in doing so, showed that they were false. Jesus called them hypocrites, liars (I believe) and a brood of evil doers. They did not accept that Jesus/God FULFILLED the law.

Anyone who judges the salvation of other's by works alone and does not lead people to thee One true Judge is a false teacher. In fact, we were all once false teachers in that we had to learn the law. It was in learning/accepting faith and grace that we learned that those who are righteous do not judge by outward appearances nor do they pray/fast on the rooftops.



False teachers only teach the law, they deny Grace.

I get "this" impression the other day reading the verse "I make myself a transgressor ..etc. etc." that if I
"go back under my own works" for RIGHTEOUSNESS, I am making myself a transgressor by "building again
the things destroyed!"

Won't be anyone being exhalted in the end, for sure, but HIM!

[julzabro2]

Well said, Redlettervoice!  :thumbsup:

[rockclimber]

when i was in my late teens i worked at Sams wholesale in Houston (25 year ago) i was on my major "let your light shine trip" so every one that come any where near me know what i believed in. there was this one guy who bugged me all the time. he was not a "Christian". he wanted for us to go in to business togeather, he wanted me to be a TV preacher and he would be the manager.

[Cardinal]

 :cloud9: That sounds like to me, he saw your light shining......... :thumbsup: