Today’s message is called “Beware of False Teachers.” The whole of the Bible is full of warnings against false prophets and false teachers.
1 Timothy 4:1-2 (ESV) Now the Spirit expressly says that in later times some will depart from the faith by devoting themselves to deceitful spirits and teachings of demons, through the insincerity of liars whose consciences are seared,
We are living in the later times or last days. A time in which the number of false teachers will increase. This verse speaks of believers departing from the faith and falling away from God. These people will promote false teaching, which is actually the teaching of demons.
False teaching is not the truth but lies. However, the people who teach it actually believe their teaching to be true. False teachers have been deceived themselves and end up deceiving others. Jesus warned his followers about false teachers.
Matthew 7:15 (ESV) “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves.
Outwardly, false teachers look like godly, Bible-believing teachers. False teachers always misuse the Bible in some way to make their points. Yet, inside they are not filled with God, but with evil. Their desire is not to build people up, but to tear them down and gain from them. If false prophets and teachers look good on the outside, how can we detect them?
Matthew 7:16 (ESV) You will recognize them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thornbushes, or figs from thistles?
The results and fruit of those who are false teachers will make apparent their internal character. The answer to Jesus’ question is that No, grapes are not gathered from thornbushes, nor figs from thistles. Thornbushes yield thorns and thistles yield sharp prickles. In the same way, a false teacher will not produce people loving God and one another in a biblical church.
Other than the long-term fruit, how can you recognize false teachers? By comparing their teaching with the word of God. There are two types of false teaching. The first type is teaching something contrary to Scripture. Now, some of the false teaching may be scriptural, but some is not. The second type of false teaching is teaching that does not teach important topics. Key teachings of Scripture are purposely avoided. This is also false teaching.
In my opinion, the majority of churches that identify as Christian in America today are filled with false teaching of many kinds. Our goal today is first of all to be able to identify false teaching and false teachers so that we are not influenced by it. Secondly, our goal is to be able to warn others of churches that promote false teaching. By staying in churches with false teaching, people are endorsing and are guilty of promoting that false teaching. So, today, we’re going to look at what Jesus taught on how to recognize what false teachers teach. Beware of false teachers …