False Teachers
Pastor Dave Monreal, Lead Pastor
“For such men are false apostles, deceitful workmen, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. So it is no surprise if his servants, also, disguise themselves as servants of righteousness. Their end will correspond to their deeds.”
2 Corinthians 11:13-15
One summer night when I was in college, I came home to find a well-dressed couple sitting in my parents’ living room talking about theology. I was studying for ministry so I was keenly interested in what they had to say. As I sat there listening to these two talked to my parents they began talking about “another testament” of Jesus Christ. They began to explain that when Jesus died, he didn’t stay in the grave or go to the Father but instead came to America! They continued to explain that Christianity was corrupted but that those who became believers wrote other Scriptures that were put into the Book of Mormon. They tried to argue that the Bible actually foretold the Book of Mormon by quoting Ezekiel 37 which talks about two sticks that would be joined together saying that this was the Bible and the Book of Mormon!
I had recently taken a class dealing with Old Testament history and another on biblical prophecy. When one understands the history of Israel the passage has absolutely nothing to do with the Book of Mormon! Following King Solomon’s reign his son Rehoboam became king. He was foolish and followed the poor advice of his young advisors who instructed him to be even more demanding and harsh than his father. In 922 BC the Kingdom was split in two having a northern and southern kingdom. It seemed that Israel would be forever divided. Ezekiel takes two sticks, one representing the southern kingdom (Judah) and another representing the northern kingdom (Joseph representing Israel). He says that God is going to take the splintered nation and join them back into one unified nation by the hand of God.
There are religious teachers all around us. They come knocking on our door or over the airwaves to our radio. We can turn on television 24/7 and find religious teacher preaching with emotion and conviction. When I was a new Christian, I was given a word of advice from the pastor who shared the gospel the night I accepted Christ. He said I should always look everything up in my own Bible no matter who I was listening to or who was preaching. He pointed to the Bereans who were listening to the message of the Apostle Paul. “Now these Jews were more noble than those in Thessalonica; they received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so.” (Acts 17:11) They were commended for “fact checking” Paul and not just accepting his teaching without proof. If they searched the Scriptures to affirm Paul’s message, how much more should we fact check when someone is preaching today!
No matter how sincere they sound, no matter how many degrees they have, no matter how big (or small) the church, we have a responsibility to make sure what they are saying lines up with the Bible. Notice that Paul says that false teachers dress themselves up like apostles of Christ. He tells us that the enemy doesn’t come to us having a red tail carrying a pitchfork. He comes to us dressed as an angel of light. The most dangerous lie is the one that is a hairsbreadth from the truth but is in error. We may never be led astray by two young men coming to our house on bicycles or someone from the Watchtower organization. But we may listen to pastors or read books that sound good on the surface but do not accurately interpret the Bible. I consider it an honor when you bring your Bible to church and examine for yourself the sermon in light of the Bible. May you be like the Bereans who searched the Scriptures to see if these things were so.
