False Teachers at the Time of the End

The True Teacher Always Glorifies Jesus Christ

 

1 Tim 4:1-3 Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils; Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron; Forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from meats, which God hath created to be received with thanksgiving of them which believe and know the truth.

The Spirit of God said there would be false teachers lead by evil spirits and demons, in the time of the end. These false teachers would be deceitful and would teach the doctrines of demons. The deceiver does his work by declaring that he has the truth and teachers the truth; but in reality he teaches lies, by boldly proclaiming them continuously, until people believe them. These false teachers are hypocrites; they don’t really do or believe the things they proclaim. They claim to believe in Jesus Christ and salvation by faith, and many other doctrines the true Christian believes in. They will agree with any truth in order to gain a foothold, in order to earn the trust of the Christian; but in reality they don’t really believe, they only claim to believe. Furthermore, they don’t feel any guilt or remorse about all the lies they continuously proclaim. When they finally gain someone’s trust, they then teach them all kinds of false doctrine. They try to bring people under the bondage of some kind of law, to do away with faith, by adding works to grace. They are teachers of another gospel.

Jude 1:4 For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ.

False teacher have infiltrated the church and are leading some astray. These false teachers were unnoticed when they came into the church because they came in proclaiming to believe the truth as everyone else believes. Once they gain acceptance, they start teaching false doctrine, to lead people away from following after God. They teach that there is no such thing as sin, that Christians can do anything they desire to do because of the grace of God. They claim that we are our own masters, that we are lords of our own destiny. They seek to bring the judgement of God upon the Christian. As a result of their teaching God must bring discipline upon any that would follow them. Satan has many schemes, in one case he will try to bring people into bondage to some kind of legalism, and in another case he will try to bring people into bondage to sin and lawlessness. Our only defense against these false teachers is a thorough knowledge of the word of God.

2 Pet 2:1-3 But 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. And many shall follow their pernicious ways; by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of. 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.

There were false prophets in the Old Testament days who secretly lead people into sin and away from believing in God. There are false teachers in the church who are doing the same thing, by leading people into a sinful lifestyle, and teaching unbiblical doctrine. The goal of all these false teachers is the same, they are trying to destroy the faith of believers and trying to keep others from believing. The church is suppose to be light in this world of darkness; and these false teachers are trying to put out the light. The Christian is a light because he is different from the world, and he reflects the light of Christ because he is like Christ. If Satan can get people to behave like the unbelievers of this world, there will be no light in this darkness. We can rejoice because someday all false teachers who hate us and are out to destroy us, from within, will be judged.

2 Pet 2:15 Which have forsaken the right way, and are gone astray, following the way of Balaam the son of Bosor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness;

Balaam knew the truth, he knew that the God of Israel was the one true God, and he knew what God expected of him; nevertheless, he disobeyed God because he loved money more than God. In the same way the false teachers, in the church, know the truth, but they do not care about truth or about God; all they care about is money and so they do and say whatever is necessary to get money. As one pastor of a church once said to me “I am in the ministry because it is a good racket”.

2 Pet 2:17 These are wells without water, clouds that are carried with a tempest; to whom the mist of darkness is reserved forever.

These false teachers don’t really have anything of any value to teach anyone. They only put on a show and lead people into religion, they do not satisfy anyone’s spiritual thirst, they do not bear fruit, they are worthless. They all have the same destiny, separation from God forever.

2 Pet 2:20-22 For if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein, and overcome, the latter end is worse with them than the beginning. For it had been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than, after they have known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered unto them. But it is happened unto them according to the true proverb, The dog is turned to his own vomit again; and the sow that was washed to her wallowing in the mire.

False teachers know what the bible says about Jesus Christ, they know who He is, and what He has done. They know all about Christian beliefs, and they may even be educated in the best known Bible Schools and Seminaries. False teachers are counterfeit Christians, they claim to believe in Jesus Christ; but, they only know about Him, they don’t know Him. As long as it is to their advantage they live like Christians, but in the end they will be exposed for what they really are, children of the devil. The holy commandment delivered to them and to all people is to believe in Jesus Christ; they believe many truths about Him, but they do not believe in Him. A false teacher is not someone who lost his salvation; false teachers have never been saved, they have never been born again. They may be religious and do good works, they may look like Christians, act like Christians, and talk like Christians; but they are not Christians because they have not been born again, by believing in Christ.

We know that they never did believe because they are compared to a dog that will always have the nature of a dog. No matter how well trained a dog may be, a dog is still a dog, that will never change. They are also compared to a pig that has been washed, but still has the nature of a pig. The difference between a true Christian and a false Christian is that the true Christian has been born again, he has a new nature, but the false Christian has never been born again, he still has his old nature.

2 Pet 3:17-18 Ye therefore, beloved, seeing ye know these things before, beware lest ye also, being led away with the error of the wicked, fall from your own stedfastness. But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and for ever. Amen.

We have been warned about false teachers so that we will be on our guard against them. The best way to prevent ourselves from being led astray, by false teachers, is by growing in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. We grow by feeding on the word of God. We must look to God to lead us and to teach us the truth. We must not trust in men, we can learn from men, but we must compare what men say with what the bible says. False teachers cannot cause us to loose our salvation because we are secure in Christ, having been born again; but, they can mess us up so that we do not live to the glory of God as we should. If we guard ourselves against false teachers, we will live so as to glorify God in this life.

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

Jesus Christ warned us to be on guard against false prophets. He described them as wolves in sheep’s clothing. A wolf is a destroyer and they like to feed on helpless sheep. A false prophet is likewise a destroyer of Christians. They hide their true identity, by pretending to be a Christian. They pretend to love Christians, and never stop saying “I love you”; but in reality, they don’t love anyone, but themselves. Their only purpose is to feed themselves on the true Christians.

Matt 7:21-23 Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.

Many people call Jesus Christ Lord, but all of them do not believe in Him. He is Lord only to those who believe in Him because the will of His Father is that we believe in Him. He is not Lord to those who do not believe in Him, even though they call Him Lord, because they do not do His will, they do not believe in Him. There are many people who are involved in many forms of religion who do not believe in Jesus Christ, yet they claim to believe. Many unbelievers are involved in religion and are doing many things in the name of Jesus Christ, but they don’t truly believe in Him. Jesus will tell them “I never knew you”, because they never believed in Him.

I Jn 4:1 Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.

The word of God tells us not to believe everything we see and hear, but to test all that we see and hear to determine if it truly is of God. We test everything by the word of God; the word of God must verify the truth of what we have seen and heard. We must never let our guard down because there are many false prophets in the world, and they do not come to us with a sign saying that they are false prophets; but on the contrary, they disguise themselves as Christians.

I Jn 4:2-3 Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God: And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world.

The true believer confesses from within his spirit that Jesus is from God because he has the Spirit of God within him, controlling his spirit. The unbeliever does not have the Spirit of God and his spirit does not confess that Jesus Christ is from God, even though he often lies and says Jesus is Lord. There are many unbelieving antichrist in the world who will claim to believe exactly as we believe in order to gain our confidence. It is not difficult for them to lie because they do not have the Holy Spirit of God to convict them of sin. Anyone who does not believe in Christ but opposes Christ is an antichrist. Many antichrist claim to believe in Christ because they are in the business of trying to destroy Christians by deception.

I Jn 4:5-6 They are of the world: therefore speak they of the world, and the world heareth them. We are of God: he that knoweth God heareth us; he that is not of God heareth not us. Hereby know we the spirit of truth, and the spirit of error.

False teachers do not have the truth, even though they may speak some truth, with their lie, as a means to deceive. They lie and do not know the truth, they do not accept the truth, and they do not believe the word of God. They have many followers in this world; unbelievers love them and accept whatever they say. They are as the blind leading the blind and yet they do not know they are blind. All who follow their teaching will be led from one form of error to another because they have the spirit of error. They are always seeking for truth from place to place, and from teaching to teaching, but never able to find it. The spirit of error always produces more error and confusion, multiplying itself like a snowball rolling down hill.

True teachers have the truth because they have Jesus Christ, and Jesus Christ is the truth. True teachers know God; and they are sent to us from God. Believers listen to them and believe their message because they know God and believe the word of God. All who listen to their teaching will be led from truth to more truth because they have the spirit of truth. They are established in the truth and firm in what they believe and teach. Their teachings produce peace and rest in those who believe the word of God because they teach the all powerful word of God.

I Jn 4:7-10 Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God. He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love. In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him. Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.

Christians love one another, they seek the benefit of another before oneself, because they know God and love is from God. We love because God is love and we are made in the image of God. All Christians are children of God; therefore, they love one another. If anyone claims to be a Christian and does not love his fellow Christian, his brother in Christ, he does not know God.

God made His love known to us when He sent His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, to take our sins upon Himself, and to die in our place, for the forgiveness of our sins. God loved us even though we did not love Him. His love for us is totally undeserved on our part. God was angry with us because of our sins against Him, but He did not abandon us to our sins, as we truly deserved. Even though God was justifiably angry with us, He still loved us so much that He sent His Son to make appeasement for us, to pay the penalty for our sins, by dying for us, in our place.

True Christian teachers love there fellow Christians as God loves them, unconditionally. True teachers are not seeking their own benefit as they minister to the spiritual needs of their brothers in Christ Jesus. They are willing to sacrifice themselves, and often do, for the benefits of others. They are known for their love, for the way they love others, not in word only, but in deed and in truth.

All Scripture taken from King James Bible

* Bible Studies by Max Swan
Thus says the LORD, “Let not a wise man boast of his wisdom, and let not the mighty man boast of his might, let not a rich man boast of his riches; but let him who boasts boast of this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am the LORD who exercises lovingkindness, justice, and righteousness on earth; for I delight in these things,” declares the LORD. (NAS) Jer 9:23-24