Wolf-Spotting - Part One
It is the duty of pastors and the elders of the church to guard and promote sound doctrine. This is a source of life to believers because it promotes truth and righteousness and exalts the gospel- which is a collection of truthful, life changing propositions about God, Jesus, and salvation we call ‘good news’.
The New Testament is full of battles over truth and the preservation of the truth of the gospel. Paul fought the Judaizers in his letter to the Galatians. He fought the false apostles and the wisdom of this age with the power of the cross in his Corinthian correspondence. He fought the miasma of secular and pagan philosophy in Colossae. The writer of Hebrews battled apostasy and the return to old covenant shadows in the face of new covenant realities found in Christ. The Apostle John fought proto-gnosticism which attacked the nature and person of Christ and the truth of the Apostolic testimony. Peter devotes most of his second letter to warnings and judgments against false teachers and false teaching. And of course, there are the strong warnings and exhortations of our Savior himself to the seven churches in Revelation 2-3.
The sweetness and light of the American megachurch and emergent therapeutic gospel simply ignores this biblical reality, as they ignore the battle for truth and belief that is being waged all about us (as it always has been and shall be till Christ returns). This duty to ‘fight the good fight’ and ‘demolish strongholds’ and ‘wage spiritual warfare’ will cause- actually compel - wise leaders to jump into the fray. It means we will have to fight. It will get ugly. As any good shepherd will tell you fighting wolves , bears, and lions (oh my!) is a messy, bloody business. But then, not fighting gets a whole lot messier and bloodier. So, praise Jesus and pass me the sling shot.
Consider some passages of Scripture:
Matthew 7:14 "For the gate is small, and the way is narrow that leads to life, and few are those who find it. 15 "Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves. 16 "You will know them by their fruits. Grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes, nor figs from thistles, are they?
Luke 10:3 "Go your ways; behold, I send you out as lambs in the midst of wolves.
Acts 20:28 "Be on guard for yourselves and for all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood. 29 "I know that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock;
Mark 13:22 for false Christs and false prophets will arise, and will show signs and wonders, in order, if possible, to lead the elect astray. 23 "But take heed; behold, I have told you everything in advance.
Galatians 1:6 I am amazed that you are so quickly deserting Him who called you by the grace of Christ, for a different gospel; 7 which is really not another; only there are some who are disturbing you, and want to distort the gospel of Christ. 8 But even though we, or an angel from heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary to that which we have preached to you, let him be accursed.
2 Corinthians 11:12 But what I am doing, I will continue to do, that I may cut off opportunity from those who desire an opportunity to be regarded just as we are in the matter about which they are boasting. 13 For such men are false apostles, deceitful workers, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. 14 And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light.
1 Timothy 1:3 As I urged you upon my departure for Macedonia, remain on at Ephesus, in order that you may instruct certain men not to teach strange doctrines, 4 nor to pay attention to myths and endless genealogies, which give rise to mere speculation rather than furthering the administration of God which is by faith. 5 But the goal of our instruction is love from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith. 6 For some men, straying from these things, have turned aside to fruitless discussion, 7 wanting to be teachers of the Law, even though they do not understand either what they are saying or the matters about which they make confident assertions.
1 Timothy 4:16 Watch your life and doctrine closely. Persevere in them, because if you do, you will save both yourself and your hearers.
1 Timothy 6:3 If anyone advocates a different doctrine, and does not agree with sound words, those of our Lord Jesus Christ, and with the doctrine conforming to godliness, 4 he is conceited and understands nothing; but he has a morbid interest in controversial questions and disputes about words, out of which arise envy, strife, abusive language, evil suspicions, 5 and constant friction between men of depraved mind and deprived of the truth, who suppose that godliness is a means of gain.
1 Timothy 6:20 O Timothy, guard what has been entrusted to you, avoiding worldly and empty chatter and the opposing arguments of what is falsely called "knowledge "-- 21 which some have professed and thus gone astray from the faith. Grace be with you.
2 Timothy 3:1 But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come. 2 For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, 3 unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good, 4 treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God; 5 holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power; and avoid such men as these. 6 For among them are those who enter into households and captivate weak women weighed down with sins, led on by various impulses, 7 always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.
2 Timothy 4:3 For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires; 4 and will turn away their ears from the truth, and will turn aside to myths.
2 Peter 2:1 But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will also be false teachers among you, who will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing swift destruction upon themselves.
1 John 4:1 Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world.
2 John 1:9 Anyone who goes too far and does not abide in the teaching of Christ, does not have God; the one who abides in the teaching, he has both the Father and the Son. 10 If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not receive him into your house, and do not give him a greeting; 11 for the one who gives him a greeting participates in his evil deeds.
Of course we should recognize the call to humility, grace, patience, and love in the midst of the fight. It seems contradictory to speak of such virtues in the same breath that we call each other into battle. But the battle is lost before we begin if we don't fight with the fruit of the Spirit. The exhortation to love and patience should not keep us from the fight, but temper our hearts in the fighting. We do well to heed Paul's command to oppose false teaching in 1 Timothy 1:3 and always hold before us the goal and purpose of his command- 'love which comes from a pure heart, a good conscience, and a sincere faith' (1 Timothy 1:5). The sentimental excuse, "I'm a lover, not a fighter" will not do for pastors today. Our shepherds must be lovers and fighters. They must be fighters because they are lovers. Lovers of God, lovers of the truth, and lovers of the flock they serve.
The New Testament is full of battles over truth and the preservation of the truth of the gospel. Paul fought the Judaizers in his letter to the Galatians. He fought the false apostles and the wisdom of this age with the power of the cross in his Corinthian correspondence. He fought the miasma of secular and pagan philosophy in Colossae. The writer of Hebrews battled apostasy and the return to old covenant shadows in the face of new covenant realities found in Christ. The Apostle John fought proto-gnosticism which attacked the nature and person of Christ and the truth of the Apostolic testimony. Peter devotes most of his second letter to warnings and judgments against false teachers and false teaching. And of course, there are the strong warnings and exhortations of our Savior himself to the seven churches in Revelation 2-3.
The sweetness and light of the American megachurch and emergent therapeutic gospel simply ignores this biblical reality, as they ignore the battle for truth and belief that is being waged all about us (as it always has been and shall be till Christ returns). This duty to ‘fight the good fight’ and ‘demolish strongholds’ and ‘wage spiritual warfare’ will cause- actually compel - wise leaders to jump into the fray. It means we will have to fight. It will get ugly. As any good shepherd will tell you fighting wolves , bears, and lions (oh my!) is a messy, bloody business. But then, not fighting gets a whole lot messier and bloodier. So, praise Jesus and pass me the sling shot.
Consider some passages of Scripture:
Matthew 7:14 "For the gate is small, and the way is narrow that leads to life, and few are those who find it. 15 "Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves. 16 "You will know them by their fruits. Grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes, nor figs from thistles, are they?
Luke 10:3 "Go your ways; behold, I send you out as lambs in the midst of wolves.
Acts 20:28 "Be on guard for yourselves and for all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood. 29 "I know that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock;
Mark 13:22 for false Christs and false prophets will arise, and will show signs and wonders, in order, if possible, to lead the elect astray. 23 "But take heed; behold, I have told you everything in advance.
Galatians 1:6 I am amazed that you are so quickly deserting Him who called you by the grace of Christ, for a different gospel; 7 which is really not another; only there are some who are disturbing you, and want to distort the gospel of Christ. 8 But even though we, or an angel from heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary to that which we have preached to you, let him be accursed.
2 Corinthians 11:12 But what I am doing, I will continue to do, that I may cut off opportunity from those who desire an opportunity to be regarded just as we are in the matter about which they are boasting. 13 For such men are false apostles, deceitful workers, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. 14 And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light.
1 Timothy 1:3 As I urged you upon my departure for Macedonia, remain on at Ephesus, in order that you may instruct certain men not to teach strange doctrines, 4 nor to pay attention to myths and endless genealogies, which give rise to mere speculation rather than furthering the administration of God which is by faith. 5 But the goal of our instruction is love from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith. 6 For some men, straying from these things, have turned aside to fruitless discussion, 7 wanting to be teachers of the Law, even though they do not understand either what they are saying or the matters about which they make confident assertions.
1 Timothy 4:16 Watch your life and doctrine closely. Persevere in them, because if you do, you will save both yourself and your hearers.
1 Timothy 6:3 If anyone advocates a different doctrine, and does not agree with sound words, those of our Lord Jesus Christ, and with the doctrine conforming to godliness, 4 he is conceited and understands nothing; but he has a morbid interest in controversial questions and disputes about words, out of which arise envy, strife, abusive language, evil suspicions, 5 and constant friction between men of depraved mind and deprived of the truth, who suppose that godliness is a means of gain.
1 Timothy 6:20 O Timothy, guard what has been entrusted to you, avoiding worldly and empty chatter and the opposing arguments of what is falsely called "knowledge "-- 21 which some have professed and thus gone astray from the faith. Grace be with you.
2 Timothy 3:1 But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come. 2 For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, 3 unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good, 4 treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God; 5 holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power; and avoid such men as these. 6 For among them are those who enter into households and captivate weak women weighed down with sins, led on by various impulses, 7 always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.
2 Timothy 4:3 For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires; 4 and will turn away their ears from the truth, and will turn aside to myths.
2 Peter 2:1 But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will also be false teachers among you, who will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing swift destruction upon themselves.
1 John 4:1 Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world.
2 John 1:9 Anyone who goes too far and does not abide in the teaching of Christ, does not have God; the one who abides in the teaching, he has both the Father and the Son. 10 If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not receive him into your house, and do not give him a greeting; 11 for the one who gives him a greeting participates in his evil deeds.
Of course we should recognize the call to humility, grace, patience, and love in the midst of the fight. It seems contradictory to speak of such virtues in the same breath that we call each other into battle. But the battle is lost before we begin if we don't fight with the fruit of the Spirit. The exhortation to love and patience should not keep us from the fight, but temper our hearts in the fighting. We do well to heed Paul's command to oppose false teaching in 1 Timothy 1:3 and always hold before us the goal and purpose of his command- 'love which comes from a pure heart, a good conscience, and a sincere faith' (1 Timothy 1:5). The sentimental excuse, "I'm a lover, not a fighter" will not do for pastors today. Our shepherds must be lovers and fighters. They must be fighters because they are lovers. Lovers of God, lovers of the truth, and lovers of the flock they serve.
Labels: False Prophets, Theology
posted by Pastor Erik at Wednesday, May 14, 2008
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