Do you know the difference between what's true and what's false?
1 John 4:1-6 (NKJV) ”Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world.
By this you know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God, and every spirit that does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God.
And this is the spirit of the Antichrist, which you have heard was coming, and is now already in the world.
You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.
They are of the world. Therefore they speak as of the world, and the world hears them. We are of God. He who knows God hears us; he who is not of God does not hear us.
By this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error."
Few people know the difference between the spirit of truth and the spirit of error but you can easily know the difference.
Hebrews 5:12-14 (NKJV) "For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the first principles of the oracles of God; and you have come to need milk and not solid food.
For everyone who partakes only of milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, for he is a babe. But solid food belongs to those who are of full age, that is, those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil."
The training of the spiritual senses begins by comparing what preachers say with what the Word of God said.
However you must have basic 4 elements.
1. Examination.
2. Investigation.
3. Scrutiny.
4. Skepticism.
You never take a preacher on face value. You examine and investigate everyone. No one is exempt.
Acts 17:10-12 (NKJV) "Then the brethren immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea. When they arrived, they went into the synagogue of the Jews. These were more fair-minded than those in Thessalonica,
in that they received the word with all readiness, and searched the Scriptures daily to find out whether these things were so. Therefore many of them believed, and also not a few of the Greeks, prominent women as well as men."
Paul came to preach the gospel and pointed them to the Scriptures. The Bereans said, in a nut shell, "Great teaching, but we're going to look at this closely for ourselves."
A Word from the Scriptures must be examined and investigated. If you fail to examine and investigate, you're not doing your "due diligence" to search for the truth.
Galatians 1:6-9 (NKJV) "I marvel that you are turning away so soon from Him who called you in the grace of Christ, to a different gospel, which is not another; but there are some who trouble you and want to pervert the gospel of Christ.
But even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than what we have preached to you, let him be accursed.
As we have said before, so now I say again, if anyone preaches any other gospel to you than what you have received, let him be accursed."
Paul didn't have self exemption. He included himself.
Here's another thing. If someone is teaching you something and you don't see it replicated or repeated, it's a fraud.
Additionally, what they teach has to manifest 100% of the time, every time, without fail or excuses.
False teachers will be exposed when you hold their feet over the fire. If what they've taught failed, then they're a fraud.
What they teach must succeed everywhere with everyone and not just in special meeting places.
When the Lord ministered, there was never a case where He failed. Not one time. It's easy to say that "It failed because of their unbelief."
Ok. Go to another hospital, town, house, or other places where a condition exist. Every place can't be in unbelief.
But be careful even if it succeeds. Why?
Deuteronomy 13:1-5 (NKJV) “If there arises among you a prophet or a dreamer of dreams, and he gives you a sign or a wonder, and the sign or the wonder comes to pass, of which he spoke to you, saying, ‘Let us go after other gods’—which you have not known—’and let us serve them,’ you shall not listen to the words of that prophet or that dreamer of dreams,
for the LORD your God is testing you to know whether you love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul. You shall walk after the LORD your God and fear Him, and keep His commandments and obey His voice; you shall serve Him and hold fast to Him.
But that prophet or that dreamer of dreams shall be put to death, because he has spoken in order to turn you away from the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt and redeemed you from the house of bondage, to entice you from the way in which the LORD your God commanded you to walk. So you shall put away the evil from your midst.
False teachers are dangerous. How dangerous? They're agents of satan, working to deceive you so they could take monetary advantage of you.
2 Timothy 3:13 (NKJV)
"But evil men and impostors will grow worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived."
2 Peter 2:12-14 (NKJV) "But these, like natural brute beasts made to be caught and destroyed, speak evil of the things they do not understand, and will utterly perish in their own corruption, and will receive the wages of unrighteousness, as those who count it pleasure to carouse in the daytime.
They are spots and blemishes, carousing in their own deceptions while they feast with you, having eyes full of adultery and that cannot cease from sin, enticing unstable souls. They have a heart trained in covetous practices, and are accursed children."
Jude 1:16 (NKJV) "These are grumblers, complainers, walking according to their own lusts; and they mouth great swelling words, flattering people to gain advantage."
An identifying feature of false teachers is using covetousness. They twist the Word of God to get you to surrender money. You have to remember. You don't have to give anything where you have a problem having a clear conscience.
If you're not clear in your heart about giving, there's nothing that says that you have to give.
Here's another thing. If someone is teaching you something and you don't see it replicated or repeated, it's a fraud.
False teachers will misuse Scripture to compel you to give. You don’t have to fall for it.
2 Corinthians 8:12 (NKJV) "For if there is first a willing mind, it is accepted according to what one has, and not according to what he does not have."
If you're not comfortable about giving, then it's best not to give. The Lord isn't going to fault you for not being absolutely 100% sure about giving. When a preacher tells you to give a certain amount, it's a dead giveaway that it's a clear violation of 2 Corinthians 8:12.
A true preacher of the Lord will not compel anyone to give.
Finally, another clear and present danger is sexual immorality.
Sadly, perverted preachers look to take sexual advantage of unstable souls. Some women are gullible. Some women do get smitten by the preacher’s personalities and the false preachers look in the audience to see which ones are ready to be deceived.
They meet in hotel rooms all across the world and when they end up in the bedroom, it’s too late.
The women are warned not to say a word or the “wrath of God” will fall on them.
Well. Wait a minute. As a woman, you should have known that he was a con artist that took advantage of you. But for some women, they’ll drop all their discipline and answer the phone or text. Then they meet up. As a woman, you had no business with him, but you went anyway.
You can’t blame it all on the preacher when all you had to do was avoid him in the first place.
You had no business with him but you went anyway.
In fact, it’s conceivable that you had lust in your heart as well and decided to fulfill the desires of the flesh and mind.
2 Timothy 3:6-7 (NKJV) “For of this sort are those who creep into households and make captives of gullible women loaded down with sins, led away by various lusts, always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.”
Does the Lord forgive and cleanse. Yes He does. But only after you repent and place faith in Christ alone, and never commit sexual sins with anyone ever again.
1 Corinthians 6:9-10 (NKJV) “Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God.”
Hebrews 13:4 (NKJV) “Marriage is honorable among all, and the bed undefiled; but fornicators and adulterers God will judge.”
Revelation 21:8 (NKJV) “But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.”
Revelation 22:14-15 (NKJV) “Blessed are those who do His commandments, that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter through the gates into the city. But outside are dogs and sorcerers and sexually immoral and murderers and idolaters, and whoever loves and practices a lie.”
On the other hand, there are demonically assigned immoral women that prey on the righteous preachers. Their only assignment is to discredit a righteous preacher by using their body to lure them to sin against the Lord.
So righteous preachers must be on the lookout for them.
So these are the dangers of false doctrines and their teachers.
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