THE TRUTHFUL OBSERVER
I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either cold or hot! So because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I am going to vomit you out of my mouth! (NET Bible)
TEACHERS-
Warning of
15"Watch out for false prophets, who come to you in sheep�s clothing but inwardly are voracious wolves. 16You will recognize them by their fruit. Grapes are not gathered from thorns or figs from thistles, are they? 17In the same way, every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit. 18A good tree is not able to bear bad fruit, nor a bad tree to bear good fruit. 19Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20So then, you will recognize them by their fruit.
21"Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter into the kingdom of heaven�only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven. 22On that day, many will say to me, 'Lord, Lord, didn�t we prophesy in your name, and in your name cast out demons and do many powerful deeds?' 23Then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you. Go away from me, you lawbreakers! (NET Bible)
Matthew 24:9-13 Click for- NIV or MSG
9"Then they will hand you over to be persecuted and will kill you. You will be hated by all the nations because of my name. 10Then many will be led into sin, and they will betray one another and hate one another. 11And many false prophets will appear and deceive many, 12and because lawlessness will increase so much, the love of many will grow cold. 13But the person who endures to the end will be saved. (NET Bible)
1 Timothy 4:1-2,6-7 Click for- NIV or MSG
1Now the Spirit explicitly says that in the later times some will desert the faith and occupy themselves with deceiving spirits and demonic teachings, 2influenced by the hypocrisy of liars whose consciences are seared.
[and here's what Christ's servants are instructed to do...]
6By pointing out such things to the brothers and sisters, you will be a good servant of Christ Jesus, having nourished yourself on the words of the faith and of the good teaching that you have followed. 7But reject those myths fit only for the godless and gullible, and train yourself for godliness. (NET Bible)
2 Peter 2:1-3 Click for- NIV or MSG
1But false prophets arose among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. These false teachers will infiltrate your midst with destructive heresies, even to the point of denying the Master who bought them. As a result, they will bring swift destruction on themselves. 2 And many will follow their debauched lifestyles. Because of these false teachers, the way of truth will be slandered. 3 And in their greed they will exploit you with deceptive words. Their condemnation pronounced long ago is not sitting idly by; their destruction is not asleep. (NET Bible)
2 John 1:7-11 Click for- NIV or MSG
7For many deceivers have gone out into the world, people who do not confess Jesus as Christ coming in the flesh. This person is the deceiver and the antichrist! 8Watch out, so that you do not lose the things we have worked for, but receive a full reward.
9Everyone who goes on ahead and does not remain in the teaching of Christ does not have God. The one who remains in this teaching has both the Father and the Son. 10If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not receive him into your house and do not give him any greeting, 11because the person who gives him a greeting shares in his evil deeds. (NET Bible)
Jude 1:3-4 Click for- NIV or MSG
3Dear friends, although I have been eager to write to you about our common salvation, I now feel compelled instead to write to encourage you to contend earnestly for the faith that was once for all entrusted to the saints. 4For certain men have secretly slipped in among you - men who long ago were marked out for the condemnation I am about to describe - ungodly men who have turned the grace of our God into a license for evil and who deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ. (NET Bible)
Jude 1:17-23 Click for- NIV or MSG
17 But you, dear friends�recall the predictions foretold by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ. 18 For they said to you, "In the end time there will come scoffers, propelled by their own ungodly desires." 19 These people are divisive, worldly, devoid of the Spirit.
[and here's what you are instructed to do...]
20 But you, dear friends, by building yourselves up in your most holy faith, by praying in the Holy Spirit, 21 maintain yourselves in the love of God, while anticipating the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that brings eternal life. 22 And have mercy on those who waver; 23 save others by snatching them out of the fire; have mercy on others, coupled with a fear of God, hating even the clothes stained by the flesh. (NET Bible)
TEACHERS-
What Church Leaders Must Do
28Watch out for yourselves and for all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God that he obtained with the blood of his own Son. 29I know that after I am gone fierce wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock. 30Even from among your own group men will arise, teaching perversions of the truth to draw the disciples away after them. 31Therefore be alert, remembering that night and day for three years I did not stop warning each one of you with tears. (NET Bible)
Romans 16:17-18 Click for- NIV or MSG
17 Now I urge you, brothers and sisters, to watch out for those who create dissensions and obstacles contrary to the teaching that you learned. Avoid them! 18For these are the kind who do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites. By their smooth talk and flattery they deceive the minds of the naive. (NET Bible)
Why are so many Christian leaders silent? Some even appear with these false teachers and support them by their presence in violation of 2 John 9-11.
The sad thing is the Christians that question this unbiblical association are either ignored or labeled "divisive" while the perpetrators of these heresies are given adulation and praise. The ones who truly are being divisive are the people that preach false doctrine and those ministers that associate with them. For them to endorse these false teachers undermines both true biblical discernment and true Christian unity.
By Gil Rugh
Sound Words
A Resource Ministry of
Indian Hills Community Church
1000 S. 84th. Street
Lincoln, NE 68510-4499
"Paul said that these false teachers (Romans 16:17,18) are effective in deceiving believers. They're effective for two reasons: (1) These false teachers are very effective communicators-'They use smooth and flattering speech to deceive people;' _ (2) Believers aren't paying attention. Believers are unsuspecting _ They're [the false teachers] using smooth and flattering speech. They have personal magnetism about them. Our attention gets turned away from what they are saying to how they are saying it, to the impression they are making with their own personality. And when we are put in that situation we turn our attention from the content of what is being taught, and _ we open ourselves up to be deceived and turned away from our purity and devotion to Jesus Christ.
"Now, one of the ways that believers get deluded is they begin to focus on what they agree with in false teaching, but what is at issue is what we disagree with. Many believers are being deluded today [in this way]. In such a debate [with false teachers], we have to be sure to focus on what we disagree on---we have to be very careful as we are exposed to false teachers.
If we're talking about it being the power of God that establishes us, how do believers get deceived? Did God's power not work for them? _ You must understand the means of God's power according to my Gospel'. The Gospel of God is the message of Jesus Christ. He is the subject of that message. The Gospel includes everything related to His death, burial, and resurrection. The whole book of Romans is a detailed presentation of the Gospel. God's power always works in the context of His Gospel, His revealed Word. That is true not only in the initial salvation of the lost, but the ongoing salvation that the believer experiences [i.e., progressive sanctification]. God's power does not work in the life of God's child to establish them, to firmly plant them, to strengthen them apart from the ministry of the Word of God in that life. If you are not being regularly exposed and taught and saturated with the Word of God, then God's power will not operate to establish you, and you will become a prey to satanic deception.
"I hope you have this underlined in your Bible.'There will also be false teachers among you.' He doesn't say maybe. We're not talking about the [cults]--we're talking about those that rise from within the Church of Jesus Christ and promote false doctrine. 'They will secretly introduce destructive heresies.' How can you secretly introduce a destructive heresy among believers? Well, you present it under the guise of being truth to believers who are unsuspecting. You present it very cleaverly, very smoothly.
"We [the Church] are more concerned with our feelings and our experiences than we are with the Truth of God. You better be looking for a place where the Word is believed and taught. That's what the Church is; it's the pillar and support of the truth. Are you looking for friends or are you looking for the truth? We want to corrupt and twist the Church to make it what people want. Come to the church that believes and teaches the truth! God's power does not operate apart from God's Word. If Satan wants to disrupt the work of God in your life, what does he do?---attack the Word, so that the power of God does not work . You could never have been saved apart from the Word of God, and you ought to understand, you can never grow, you can never be firmly planted as a child of God, unless you are constantly, constantly taking in the diet of the pure milk of the Word of God. We must have that imbedded in our hearts and minds. Never be satisfied, never tolerate anything else, than a ministry that is focused in its entirety on the Gospel of Jesus Christ."
http://cnview.com/on_line_resources/watch_out_for_false_teachers.htm
www.bible.org
www.biblegateway.org
Page listing All of the Various Letters
My Resignation as Chairman of CMC Council (dated January 11, 2005)
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