Identifying False Teachers: Romans 16:17-19

and this is one of those passages which is fought actively fought against by many teachers today and so I'm thinking it's really important that we stop and slow down and highlight this issue because this is about false teachers and it's about when to divide and when to separate ourselves from those teachers or those influencers that's what I'll call them using a modern lingo influencers so these are people who are influencing others in negative ways spiritually speaking so Romans 16 verse 17 let's give this verse into our mind so we can then unpack it and maybe do it just maybe verse 17 says now I urge you brethren note those who cause divisions and offences contrary to the doctrine which you learned and avoid them the basic idea here just like the simple like usually I'll do a summary at the end here's the summary in the beginning is based on doctrine we should divide based on doctrinal issues we should divide not every doctrinal issue but based on doctrine that's the simple explanation we should divide it doesn't mean hate people it says avoid people this is not about hating people it's not about putting people on your naughty list like I despise you forever it's I will avoid this person because they're they're causing these couple things here divisions and offenses and that those divisions and offenses are contrary to the doctrine that we have received this is actually as we get more into this I'll explain how it's one of those verses that I think supports Sola scriptura which is a really interesting thing because most Catholics who think about these issues they think there is no biblical support for Sola scriptura ironically just anyway when you think deeply about that issue it's like it's odd that they would say there's no biblical support for Sola scriptura but let me give you some examples of people who fight this and I'm not here singling them out because I despise them or hate them but note them and avoid them that's what it says and you can't note people without naming names not entirely right and so at some point I have to at least within my own life name names of the teachers I'm aware of there's a couple of them that I'm gonna avoid well there's there's one guy in particular who you with with Bethel Church his name's Chris valeton he's considered the prophet of that that church up in Redding California and I've talked about Bethel a little bit in the past so I think I can bring this up since I've listened to a lot of his teaching but Christopher lot and heat one of the cornerstones of their movement is he says that they are they're not gathering according to him they're not gathering for the same reasons other churches gather he says other churches they gather when they agree and they they separate when they disagree and Chris calls this denominationalism he goes I'm not against denominations but denominationalism but this is one of those moments where like you grab a word give it your own definition and then then attack it so he has kind of his own special word denominationalism and he says you would gather when we agree and we divide when we disagree and that's the spirit of denominationalism and so he's opposed to that what Chris thinks Chris valeton thinks we should do is gather around fathers instead of around doctrines now this is his teaching and this is a cornerstone teaching in that group as we gather around spiritual fathers because we're a family and Families don't split apart when they disagree what the reality is that while a wife should stay with her husband if he's an unbelieving husband so the family shouldn't split apart because they disagree guess what he can't do he can't be part of that fellowship if he rejects Christ so there is a sense of division that takes place that is part of the Christian family so they highlight coming around individuals distressing doctrinal issues and just coming around people and in this case it's like Bill Johnson or or you name the different spiritual leaders in the circles this is completely wrong it's unbiblical right let me read verse 17 again as though it was speaking to Chris be like hey Chris consider this I urge you brethren note those who cause divisions and offenses contrary to the doctrine which you've learned and avoid them this is literally suggesting that we divided over doctrine don't please don't let people soften you up and move you away from the text of Scripture be I have a radar in your in your head that goes off when a teacher starts to ignore the plain teaching of the text and moves into fluffy fluffy like poetic I don't know nice isms that that we often will hear and people saying that just really that sounds nice but it's not true and accurate according to the doctrine which we've learned there are a lot of groups doing this today and I don't mean to sound like an alarmist but I do want to raise a bit of an alarm recently the Pope came out with the video or the the the Catholic Church promoted Catholic news program whatever promoted a video of Pope Francis and in the video Pope Francis has a kid come up to him and ask him is my father my daddy is he in heaven he's an atheist but he baptized me and my brother now I don't know the backstory I don't know if if they knew I'm imagining that of all the millions of kids that would like to ask the Pope a question they somehow filtered these questions and do ahead of time what they were but but but the question seemed genuine the kids seemed very genuine he didn't look like an actor or something the Pope decided to answer this question openly and publicly now personally I would never put this kid on TV and put and make a show out of it I would post I would have talked to him privately all that sort of thing but but you see this is where we're softening you up because if you say he's not in heaven you're just a mean person and you're mean to this little kid you see how we raise the stakes let's make this about emotionalism let's make this about your gonna we're gonna vilify you if you don't and so what he did was he basically affirmed the guys in heaven and if you just watched the video it's not very long and this translated into English so you can read the subtitles and the Pope basically says hey you know look at this guy this guy had a Father's heart he baptized his kids and therefore would God keep a man with such a Father's heart far from God's own heart and he asks the crowd to affirm and agree with him would God put him far away from him and he says be courageous speak up and they and the obvious answer that he's looking for is no so they go no and he goes that's right and then he tells the kid pray to your father which is my understanding of Catholic doctrine would be you can only pray to people who are confirmed Saints so I don't think he meant to make the guy a saint but his words if they are true confirmed that the guys not only saved not only in heaven but he's able to receive prayers and intercede or hear his his son which means in Catholic teaching something pretty profound like Mother Teresa was recently made into a saint this is a pretty big deal so so now the contrary side is this is like what do you tell the kid what do you know in all honesty like I'm not gonna answer this question to a little kid like that that age all sobbing and crying he just loves his daddy but let's just pretend for a moment that his dad was Adolf Hitler and Adolf Hitler has a five year old little boy who comes up to you and said is my daddy in hell are you gonna tell him you know and what if he says my daddy had me baptized maybe he did I don't know Adolph Hitler tried to tip his hat to different religious groups so maybe he did I don't know do you then say well let me find a reason to say he's in heaven or do I just say you know what this is not something I'm ready to discuss with you at this age at this time there's things you don't talk to kids about at certain ages that's appropriate but this is this is what's gone out now this is I don't know if I was a Catholic I'd be having a heart attack as I heard the Pope saying these words because this really goes against actual Catholic doctrine official Catholic doctrine that's been affirmed by councils and things like that and they're gonna find ways around it oh the Pope it didn't really mean that he didn't really mean the guy was in heaven like they'll find a way around it but if you just listen to what he says it's pretty apparent what isn't what is being intended about what he said this is the kind of teaching though because it's softened nice teaching that lays the groundwork for vilifying the actual biblical position for vilifying the biblical position this is something we're seeing a lot nowadays there's ecumenical movements out there and ecumenical the idea of the church becoming one obviously this is important but the idea of the church becoming one with those who don't even believe in Jesus or don't have the gospel this is obviously not possible you don't get to create Christian unity like the Holy Spirit creates the unity we preserve we endeavour to keep the unity of the Spirit we don't manufacture it so I don't even have the option of being unified with someone who's not saved I have the option of extending the gospel to them so that they might know Christ and then our unity is created by the Lord and to preserve it but often these ecumenical movements they're often just covering up their own false teachings now there are there are maybe two sides in my opinion there's maybe two sides to these issues you have people that are really too strict in their doctrine they're too strict genuinely then there's the people that are way too loose in their doctrine in their theology so like the too strict people in my experience it seems that the too strict people are protecting extra biblical teachings this is why they're so strict because they don't they have not only the Bible but they have extra stuff on top as well and they kind of keep it all is in the same drawer so to speak there's no there's it's all essential doctrine there's no difference and so sometimes are really strict because they're protecting this whole this whole entire you know circle of doctrine that they have and that or and maybe they can't tell the difference between the gospel and everything else they believe like I've been reamed because of the recent teaching I did online just by some people most people appreciated it but where I taught about the issue of alcohol and and some people really were mad at me over this issue because they saw that if I didn't agree with them on alcohol it was as though I had compromised the very word of God and the very gospel of Christ now they can't have a scripture for that there's no there's no scripture for that which is scriptures King okay to me this is the issue but they really can't see any difference between the gospel and this issue of alcohol because then everything becomes gospel that can be dangerous everything's not gospel gospel is gospel the gospel is the gospel and other things are not some people they'll they'll see there's like say we believe in the gifts of the Spirit and and over there that church is denying the gifts of the Spirit saying they're not for today and then they say that's denying the Holy Spirit so therefore they're not saved and I go woo-hoo-hoo-hoo hold your horses let's not take every doctrine and turn it into a gospel essential let's let's take the gospel essentials and make them essential and a lot of the other ones to not be so that's the to strict people but then there's unstretched and the unstruck people see the difference between them I respect the to strict people a lot more because the people who are too strict are upfront there this is what we believe but the unstruck the loosey-goosey people often hide their beliefs and pastors nowadays will come up in a church having heretic Elise and they'll pretend they believe the same thing that church does and then a few years down the road they unravel and expose themselves for who they are ultimately being heretics and this happens even just not long ago there's a new facebook video that just came out Ryan Meeks of East Lake Community Church who's basically he's there openly gay affirming and he's like this is the only position you can have it's I'm gonna do a video on this because I think it warrants it but basically shaming and vilifying everyone who doesn't agree with him and what does he accuse them of doing shaming and vilifying everyone who doesn't agree with them which is kind of ironic that he's using the tactics that he opposes but that's how it is now what happens these groups these unstriped people unstruck meaning they're super loosey-goosey with even gospel essentials they're often hiding their own counter biblical teachings so i'm i personally prefer this to strict ones because I'd rather have the gospel with extra stuff that's not needed then not even have the gospel if I had to pick between the two but a very specific group of people's described in Romans 16 in Romans 16 verse 17 he says I urge you brethren note those who cause and there's two things divisions and offenses divisions and offenses offenses divisions is disunity so it's actually disunity that's that's the concern here so what you think an ecumenical movement is bringing a unity well again they're bringing unity that doesn't exist they're fabricating unity that's not really there but the disunity is a big deal Titus 3:10 it says reject a divisive man after the first and second admonition so you do try to correct him you try to fix it but if it's just a divisive individual they cause division reject them the other thing is offenses now so disunity is one the other ones offenses offenses is like sin I was like I'm causing you to sin so I I'm worried about people who were who were causing disunity in the body but I'm also worried about people who were causing sin in the body and I think this creates our balance of who what teachers am I supposed to reject what leaders what influencers am I supposed to reject that is they they on one side they can cause disunity because they're creating divisions where divisions don't need to be then on the other side there may be even overly unit over overly unified but they're causing sin and they're preaching sin and so I'm to note those who cause divisions and offenses they're not just privately wrong here these like I said are influencers these aren't just oh I have a friend and they have some wrong doctrine that doesn't have to divide from them necessarily but when they're propagating these things to others that's a big issue so they're not just privately wrong they're influent influencers false teachers apply to this for sure but also just people who are influential anywhere in the community they can be applied to this passage but then there's the key and I think the whole key is contrary to the doctrine which you've learned contrary to the doctrine which you learned so this is this is the key right divisions that are contrary to doctrine those are bad divisions causing offenses that are contrary to doctrine those are bad offenses but all division and all offenses are not bad that's simple truth but something that I think people fight against today and we need to remind ourselves of this and there's a reason why it's here in Romans and here at the end of Romans after he's given us all this doctrine and he's like ha now hold fast to this stuff and watch out for people who are trying to water it down or wash it away or lead people astray all divisions are not bad doctrine divides people say and it's interesting when people say doctrine divides I always wonder what they mean by it right do they mean doctrine divides yes or doctrine divides therefore doctrines bad because there are those on both sides and if you're one of those who thinks doctrine divides and therefore doctrine something we should avoid you're missing the point doctrine divides and it's a good thing in that situation that's a positive thing doctrine should divide it should separate the basically real believers from false believers or believers who are walking with the Lord from those who are polling them astray is the idea the gospel offends people so we have division and offense is being created by the Word of God Jesus himself is an offense to people and I we always see this right where people try to hijack Jesus they try to take Jesus and use them for whatever their cause nowadays alright Jesus he was he was whatever I'm like he was Jesus was apparently part of every political party and supports every candidate just ask them obviously this is true I think it's interesting that people would think Jesus would never offend people but they forget that they killed Jesus because they were so offended by him well those were the religious leaders those are just the religious leaders like as though as though the fact that Jesus was was had even ridiculed in some sense the Pharisees means that irreligious people are off the hook certainly not the truth Jesus if he were here today I want you to imagine for a second what if Jesus really came in 2018 instead of the first century what it became right now I think if Jesus was here today if he came in the first not in the first century but if Jesus came to day right now 2018 he would call the world to repentance he would say just like he did in every one of the Gospels his first public message was repent his first public message and every single one of the Gospels and Oprah Oprah would condemn him for being an from being narrow-minded and for not being inclusive enough Jesus are you saying your religions right and everyone else's is wrong modern liberal Christian pastors everywhere would complain that he wasn't acting like Jesus this the Southern Poverty Law Group would be classifying Jesus as a hate group and his followers is a hate group Google would not allow him to advertise his teachings because their hate speech if he was scheduled to speak at Berkeley they'd have a riot and protest and not allow him to get in the building and California would ban his books that's that's just the reality of the teachings of Christ and that's our based on the recent law in California 1st Corinthians 1:23 it says but we preach Christ crucified to the Jews a stumbling block and to the Greeks foolishness so we realize that division and offenses are par for the course for Christians the ones we want to avoid are the divisions and offenses that are being caused within the body of Christ when you're causing believers to stumble or divided over and not according to doctrine but contrary to doctrine that's the problem this is one of the reasons why doctrine is so incredibly important to us because it becomes the dividing line like this is how I discern whether or not that's appropriate or not appropriate it's not based on my feelings and this is this is key because a lot of these these false teachers what they do is they use we'll get there in a minute they use smooth words so then they just talk so good and they seem so nice I mean false prophets generally seem nice that's that's the general idea the false prophets always bring good news false teachers always speak positively and so how can I discern it's not based on how good they make me feel when I'm listening to that guy teach it's based on how true they are according to the doctrine we've received it's an interesting study you might try sometimes like go into like a Bible software program or on a blue letter Bible and you can search in quotes for the phrase the faith and just look at every reference in the New Testament especially of the faith that phrase the faith because there's faith which is my personal belief but most the time the phrase the faith is being used in reference to the doctrines we believe right like the core the core doctrines of Christianity are called the faith because there's the fact that I believe that's my faith then there's the faith which is that's what I'm believing so when you realize that these verses change their meaning for you Jude chapter one because there's only one chapter in Jude right Jude Jude 3 which is Jude verse 3 beloved while I was very diligent to write to you concerning our common salvation I found it necessary to write to you exhorting you to contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the Saints once for all the faith the doctrines of Christianity have been given to us one time and it will not change end of story there isn't new light that will alter the doctrines that we've received there isn't going to be a change it's once delivered as in I don't expect another Testament there isn't going to be a new New Testament but it's once delivered for all for all people not just to the to the Jewish people but to the whole world and I'm to contend earnestly for it and whose Jude written to everybody all of us as believers not just past and leaders and teachers but just Christians all of us to be I will I will contend right not in the flesh but I will contend for the doctrines and the faith of Christianity Galatians 1 we aware this is the famous passage it uses the phrase uh naphtha in the Greek which the implication here is your accursed to hell like this is the worst possible fate upon you and that's when he says let them be accursed it's that word anathema in the Greek and here Galatians 1 verse 6 he says I marvel to the Galatians I marvel that you are turning away so soon from him who called you in the grace of Christ to a different gospel notice that when one turns to a different doctrinal gospel they turn away from him who called them it's a personal turning away from God to a false gospel it's not just I have my information wrong it's like I've left the Lord because to leave the doctrines of the gospel of Christ is to leave the Lord Himself he says 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 that's an interesting Greek word which means another of the same kind it's not really a different gospel it's not like there's many roads that all lead and you just picked a different path and you'll be ok it's a it's a different like of an ineffectual kind of gospel but there are some who trouble you and want to pervert the gospel of Christ but even if we or an angel from heaven look at this hypothetical even if we who's we he's like me Paul the Apostle might my traveling companions us gospel preachers even if we or an angel from heaven notices us from heaven from heaven which would be you would think an angel from heaven as a good Messenger of God he's not even an angel from heaven preach any gospel to you than what we have preached to you let him be accursed as we've said before so now I see again if anyone preaches any other gospel to you than what we have received let him be accursed that's what Paul listed where Paul takes the Bible and he says look because guess what guess where the gospel Paul preached is contained it's in the text of our New Testament so he takes it and says this is it once and for all for all time you can't change it even if I Paul come back later and try to change it first this remains guess what apostolic authority did not extend beyond the or up to the level of the authority of the message they delivered I delivered the message that's what I have the authority to liver but now it has authority even over me so this is Sola scriptura which is I think neat it's finding it right here in the text of the Bible it may be possible that there's no greater sin than preaching a false gospel and this is one reason why I need to avoid those who are doing such things because I mean I'm increasing their influence okay so Sola scriptura Sola scriptura is the doctrine that the Bible is the only infallible source of doctrine that we have the in follow a rule of faith for Christians so there are other sources of like I as a pastor I have a certain level of authority or in leadership but it certainly doesn't come anywhere near the authority of the scripture right I all of the real true simple doctrinal this is what the church believes this is how the church should live it comes from the Bible it stems from Scripture and so we have that one infallible source whereas others would say oh no no but if a church council convenes and they all agree then that becomes official doctrine and the church has to submit to that we'd all be like no we'll test that with the Bible just like alation says we should so so yeah I one day I'm going to do a whole thing on Sola scriptura make a biblical case for Sola scriptura because of many people who are asking for such a thing and I think it would be a blessing for them so the idea is this looking at Jude 3 Galatians 1 the idea is this doctrine goes out and then it stays the same period end of story unchangeable that's the Christian faith if your Christian faith does not match the 2,000 year old Christian faith then you're not a Christian that's not Christianity Christianity doesn't get to evolve and transform now all the window dressing can change all you want I don't care if people are using ukuleles or guitars or harpsichord or whatever for worship the liturgy of the order of service can change like do we do it this way or that way the the outfit of the during teacher can check all this stuff is not even specified in Scripture right but the doctrines and the core teachings of Christianity are unchangeable truths you can either accept them or reject them what these false teachers often do is they act like they can change them they put they offer another version that's not really a gospel at all and this is something we have to be you we have to be aware of so new light no Paul in Galatians 1 refutes the idea of new light giving a new new information about essentials of the Gospel message that's absolutely refuted by Galatians 1 by Jude 3 by the passage we read today in Romans so doctrine does divide and it's ironic that he goes note those who cause divisions and avoid them or I'm dividing from them so he's like note the dividers and divide but the way I decide whether or not it's all doctrine that's how I figure out which ones I should divide from so there's three kinds of division think of it this way there's divisions and offenses according to the doctrine we've learned and that's totally acceptable I just teach the truth of Christ and people decide they don't like me and they didn't want to spit in my face and run the other way or they they can't stand me that's fine they did that division is entirely appropriate and acceptable there's divisions and offenses for unrelated issues unrelated issues and that is not really acceptable dividing over convictions dividing over over basically things that are not part of this core of Christianity that's not acceptable and then there's divisions or offenses for for false doctrines are completely extra biblical teachings that we obviously we're dividing from them naturally but we're not going to sit here and say I'm gonna add add to the gospel and make my gosh if you're part of a church you got to ask yourself this I mean your guys are a part of a church you got to ask yourself this like how how thorough is this is this message of doctrine that I've got do I have doctrine for every single little issue in life like I could tell you doctrinally how long a woman's hair is going to be and that's essential and I will divide from you if you with me on that issue like if that's the case I think now you're moving away from the the teaching of scripture on this issue you need to slow down and not make everything essential because it's not so there are issues which do not just disturb the core of Christianity but when it comes to the death and resurrection of Jesus when it comes to repentance of sin and faith in Christ these are core issues and so we don't mess with those we talked about convictions in Romans 13 and 14 but I want to make it make something clear because of the culture we live in the culture keeps throwing the issue of homosexuality into our faces and so we're not bringing this up because we're so homophobic and freaking out about it but rather because it's the issue they're talking about we should address it because it's in the public forum here there are teachers out there along this Ricky what is near icky Meeks Ryan Meeks thank you who just recently people been sending me his video recently so just over the past couple days and and and they've embraced openly embraced people who are active engaged in homosexual behaviors and they are embraced for every every capacity to be leaders in the church and to preach that this is okay to perform marriages all that stuff they think it's wonderful this is actually a gospel issue but let me explain why and why we should divide because he says no those who cause divisions and offenses the preaching here is that there's a sin which God absolutely commands people to repent of and they're preaching you don't need to repent you can be openly practicing a lifestyle of this sin and it's okay whereas the scripture says let me read it to you 1st Corinthians 6 verses 9 and 10 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 now imagine if there was a person who was an extortioner and my my teaching I come out and I say hey guys I know you're an extortioner and you're taking advantage of other people but it's okay to totally live that lifestyle and Willie embrace you in the leadership you don't need to repent of it we're celebrating it and we're affirming you now I've led them to actually reject Christ because they're not repenting of sin if someone's living a drunkard they're an alcoholic and they're living in the lifestyle and I tell them I openly affirm you you don't even need a change you could be the pastor of the church and it's totally fine but the scripture says that you will not inherit the kingdom of heaven because of this and yes in the Greek that is absolutely talking about homosexual behavior it's actually very the carefully constructed to make sure that it includes all scopes of that type of sexual sin it's not talking about identities there's no such thing as identities in that sense it's just an active sinful behavior lifestyle that someone has to leave so anybody who says you don't need to turn from sin and you can still have Jesus has taken away the first part of the message of Christ when you said repent repent so that to me becomes I have to divide with you on this issue I would never allow someone to be influencing me in that area of teaching I would certainly say you as a Christian if a pastor comes out openly supporting homosexuality you've got to stop listening to this guy or girl or whoever it is you got it you got it you got to note them and avoid them based on Scripture there they're causing sin so note them don't turn a blind eye you've got actually confront it you can name names if you want but I encourage you to be accurate and here's words we have to have a caution I like dealing openly with difficult issues and but I try to be careful with it I try to be thoughtful with it but there are discernment ministries that are out there and sometimes I I'm actually glad they're out there but sometimes they go too far and what happens is you know you're writing your blog and your whole thing is finding error in the church so you find error in the church and you write a blog and people start reading it and you get the hits and you're noticing you get oh following and stuff like that and then you're thinking all right what do I have to find more error in the church oh and if it's a popular teacher and a well-known guy where I find error now my blogs really taken off and you see there can be ulterior motives - cause people to be reckless or to very quickly condemn somebody but without really hearing them out and understanding them clearly and carefully and that's something we have to be careful with we don't want to turn it into a witch-hunt right there's there's a there's an analogy for this back in the day when they were gonna hang somebody a criminal they would wait until the guy was convicted for they built the gallows consider that what if they built the gallows first you what I mean so so I want to go like let me make sure I understand that this person is really truly wrong here their case understand what's coming from and then I'll build the the gallows so to speak you know to just cut them off from being able to access the the believers are being able to access me in their teaching building build the gallows after the conviction of the crime not before is the idea so note them and avoid them avoiding them again does not mean hating them it doesn't mean despising them or having great emotional to just your you know feelings towards them you may or may not have that but that's irrelevant I have to remember they're they're impacting others they're causing division and offenses leading people towards sin and causing the wrong kind of division and and all the people who teach ecumenical isn't you know what they do they target Orthodox simple Christianity and they vilify it because that's pretty much how they teach their ecumenical ISM this is they vilify the the one simple following of Jesus and so they're actually more divisive probably than anybody else in the big picture um so there's there's conviction issues then there's blatant sin issues and that's there's a difference between those things um I think it's interesting that that this admonition to like you know use the doctrine you've received to judge the teaching you're getting and it's interesting because it actually calls Christians every day Christians to evaluate their teachers and decide which ones to avoid isn't it interesting like you are really called to your call to exercise this kind of discernment but not based upon how you feel or how boring they sound or how how funny they are it's based upon doctrines based upon scripture and precious things sometimes are really precious stuff can take a backseat in our mind and doctrine can do this as well we just go like you know I know that I know that I know that but as Christians we kind of have to obsess over these truths there are the central that are the core truths they can never take a back seat because there are creeping creeping heretics that's what I'll call them there's the creeping heretic right they they they know that they don't really leave kore Central Christian doctrine issues but they try to speak the lingo so they sound like they believe it and they get their way into the churches and they start influencing people and then they eventually at some point they flip a switch and they use that influence to preach false things they know those false things are unacceptable to Christians that's why they were hidden for so long and we see this happen occasionally here and there note them avoid them note this as we read Romans we realize it was written to the Romans and he says contrary to the doctrine you have learned right that's that's the standard this doesn't mean as I try to apply the scripture to my life contrary to the doctrine you have learned like whatever doctrine you've learned don't let anyone change it that's not what it means because then it would be telling every religious group out there to never change anything to all be exclusively separate from each other never changed their opinions it's contrary to the doctrine the Romans had learned they've been taught the pure gospel of Christ in fact we have sixteen chapters of doctrine right here that they had learned so we use the scripture to be the test by definition division is not necessarily bad so doctrine divides yay good do it take those steps and the hard part is this means there are some people we simply have to literally just avoid like I just I'm gonna avoid that person I'm just gonna avoid them this is hard for us to do because sometimes we just want to hold on to that relationship somehow and this doesn't again this is not talking about individuals with private wrong beliefs but those who are influencers but maybe there's a teacher I like but they've gone off base it's an important serious issues so I just avoid them alright verse 18 let's keep reading because it's gonna describe to us the tactics these guys use and I think it's really profound and it will help us to notice this stuff when it happens and not be fooled verse 18 for those who are such do not serve our Lord Jesus Christ but their own belly they serve their own belly and by smooth words and flattering speech deceive the hearts of the simple so they don't serve Jesus now in my opinion when I've examined some of these sketchy teachers nobody is faster to yell out loud how much they love Jesus as a sketchy teacher who's got weird things going on but the funny thing is is I've never stood in front of a group of people and just been like guys I love Jesus so much I just love him so much with all my heart and soul in mind I just love him so so like I would ever think to get in here proclaim my incredible love now I've gotten in front of crowds and told him how much Jesus loves us how much God loves us but I remember a thought but I've heard it several times as I'm examining a teacher and they respond to maybe someone asking them a tough question about theology and they respond to it by going you know I love Jesus so much but maybe that's why Paul had to say they do not serve the Lord Jesus he doesn't make it a question of whether they quote say they love the Lord or not it's they do not serve Jesus no one's faster to proclaim their love for Jesus than a false teacher because it's the that's the that's the sheep's clothing on the wolf if I love Jesus it's kind of like in having done a lot of domestic violence counseling in the past it's kind of like abusers abusers have intense love for the people they abuse just ask them the intensity of their feelings for those people is really strong but they're totally abusers and we just go that's not really look like that's love confusion we call it and one of the things is to realize that that the more intense the abuse is the more intense that person thinks he loves that person that's typical abuse behavior it's it's delusion it's narcissism it's it's ego confusion where they're like treating the person as though it's they're just basically part of my property it's like someone who abuses their children and then you you say something mean to their kid and then they jump it's for punching you in the face and you're like that's so funny cuz you did way worse than that to your kid but you saw them as like your property and and so this is the thing I love Jesus so much but then I go and proclaim things that are not true according to Christ that's not really love love we like to think of love as a verb so love can be tested by actions not by not by poetry and now if I proclamations of how much and how deep my love is for the Lord if my doctrine is true then that's demonstrating a love for the Lord if my life is obedient that's demonstrating love Lord so why do they say because they're deceiving according to verse 18 the hearts of the simple simple here is people that are just not thinking very deeply about things that's what they're deceiving there really are just tricking people who are kind of simple-minded people they're Golub 'el and not to these teachers are going after I wonder if you put together all of the followers of some of these guys that are false teachers online and in the world around us and you said let me talk to see let me see how deep they are in theology let me see how deep they are in the in the Bible and they probably aren't very deep because they're this simple and they're just served there they're deceived by these guys so who are they serving they're not serving Jesus according to verse 18 they're serving their own belly now first time I strike you is kind of strange like so they're gluttons like they're serving their badly it's all about the carne asada they get for what no it means belly is here using symbolism for a carnal appetites because your your bellies represents your desires but I'm hungry for what I'm craving so what they're really serving is their own desires and their own cravings now this might be pride this might be power this might be wealth this might be their own fame or it might you know you can you name it it could be just any group of things some people are literally in ministry because they they love the accolades of other people which is ironic because that has not been my experience in ministry too is that you it's a great way to get accolades but for some people it is I think doing use ministry in particular is not a good way to get accolades not that we need them please don't give me accolades it's not my goal I just wonder what world they live in where they're getting all this praise from people all the time I don't even want it that's it's just awkward anyhow how do I just turn these guys how do I recognize them for who they really are is they have these weird cravings these desires whatever those desires are they're their desires not the Lord's but how do I recognize them what do you guys think doctrine doctrines the thing like that's how I discerned between them I use doctrine I don't use my gut feeling I use doctrine now the Holy Spirit might just simply show me I mean I was just a just wisdom of discernment from the Lord but the way to discern it for the sake of everybody else in the body is gonna be to show the doctrine is or the doctrine is right again that's that Sola scriptura testing teachers with the given word so what do you do when you've got wrong theology how do you get people to believe you're bad theology and you're wacky teachings the tactics are right there the two things he says in verse 18 smooth words flattering speech smooth words means you're good at talking you're smooth talker like you're just you're not only effective at communicating truth you're you're smooth like whew you took me for a ride with that speech of yours and this is not even considered a bad thing you're just this is what they use though this is the tactic I will hide my bad teaching with my smooth words they also use flattering speech this is a very interesting word because it's your look you you loggia you loggia excuse me in the Greek but it means to like to eulogize to bless you can actually translate it as blessing so I'm going to use smooth words and I'm gonna just bless people it's all good God loves you so much I'm just proclaiming the love of the Lord for you he loves everybody he affirms everybody bless you God's gonna bless your business God's gonna bless your kids God's gonna bless your health God's gonna bless my false doctrine it's just so much blessing blessing blessing blessing blessing blessing as Christians when I'm evaluating teachers that person blessing me means nothing it just doesn't mean anything I need to get to the doctrine I gotta listen to the actual teachings now there are blessings that are good and they're from the Lord right Paul in Romans 15 29 one chapter ago he says I'm gonna come to you Romans I'm gonna visit you and I'm gonna come in the fullness of the blessings of Christ same word the difference is these teachers will use blessing as a mask to hide false teaching and because it sounds so positive and it sounds so nice that people lap it up nothing's different nowadays than it was back then the teachers are using the same things so my thoughts are this like as I teach my fear is that I would I would work too hard crafting the the the speech craft of what I'm saying and that I would actually set congregations up or people who I'm teaching that I would set them up for this kind of false teaching because if you're raised in the congregation where smooth words and flattering speech is the normal spiel that comes out of the pulpit then your even if that guy wasn't a false teacher you're more susceptible to it because that's what you identify as preaching so my thought is this just just a pragmatic thing is rather than using smooth words and flattering speech I just go for uh tur clarity as much as possible like be as clear as possible explain it as carefully and and plainly as possible and use clear words and use accurate theology that's been my strategy personally and I'm hoping in all honesty as it because I put these teachings online hoping to influence other pastors that they don't have to filter all their Bible studies through smooth words and flattering speech like there's nothing wrong with a beautiful poem that represents your point but let the core of your teaching be teaching be the clarity of the truth of God's Word and not the smooth words and flattering speech because I fear that if I use others other things tactics even to teach accurate theology I set people up to be tricked and let me let me give an example what I mean in case this is a little bit elusive when Joseph Smith fabricated the Book of Mormon and then presented it to people trying to say that it was another testament of Jesus Christ a new New Testament he did one particular thing to try to trick them do you guys know what it was when he when he when he fabricated it he tried to make it sound like the King James Version because for the most part the King James was the one book in your library that sounded quite like that thus thou write thicket forsooth I don't think forsooth is in there but right now the King James nothing's wrong with the King James what I'm trying to tell you is what he did was he tried to make it sound like the like the lyrical sort of crafting that happened with the King James translation why because the simple-minded would read the Book of Mormon and go this just feels like the Bible like now this is when you really think about it it's idiotic right like as if you would say lie well if you're right like the King James it must be scripture like that's totally utterly folly like the you know it's first off it was in Greek originally right and Hebrew and it didn't it translated into that particular style because they wanted to not not because anyway long story short this is the same thing I see is that if we if we identify preaching as having a certain kind of smoothness to it in a certain cadence and a certain kind of heart effect and all this then if someone can copy those Cadence's and they can make people think they're false teaching is real teaching because we didn't focus on theology I think the church has to focus on doctrine and theology because how do you discern false teachers if you didn't get really good teachers to begin with and who does he ultimately deceive the hearts of the simple not though not the wicked just the naive the false teachers are tricking the naive they're just naive that's it they're just simple well how do we fix this well we educate them with Christian teaching so that they won't be naive so we have to avoid them so they won't have access to the simple I'm gonna name I'm gonna name a few names for your sake in case you were curious to know them but guys who we should avoid I said a few of them are they're popular on TV instead I got creflo dollar like avoid that guy but please note him and avoid him this is not good teaching Benny Hinn avoid that guy please Joel Osteen smooth words and flattering speech is his method now in and of themselves smooth words and flattering speech aren't automatically evil but the doctrines not right the theology is left in the dust and he rarely will deny good teaching but he rarely will actually teach it when there's something missing there any pastor espousing the pro-gay agenda which is an entirely cultural thing being pushed on the church but many are buckling to it because they'd rather be approved by the world and they believe that they're being simple-minded oftentimes about the issue is not really thoughtful about it I think that this is these are guys we have to avoid note and avoid this isn't just restricted to the church though is it Oprah Winfrey is I mean she's definitely the definition of a false teacher she talked about the gospel of Jesus as though it was an evil thing when she does occasionally talk about but then she'll reference Jesus as though she supports him she loves Jesus I love Jesus everybody loves Jesus right it's at which Jesus but she goes the idea of a jealous God is just is just repugnant to her God is jealous I'm like well have you thought about the issue okay probably not unfortunately and I think I have to throw in Pope Francis in this list he's his teaching currently is not very Catholic actually but we should note them and avoid them now the world's like you're being mean okay that's fine doctrine divides let it let it be let it be well I'm just gonna touch verse 19 then we're gonna end for tonight and we'll pick up here next week but next time it says for your obedience has become known to all therefore I'm glad on your behalf but I want you to be wise in what is good and simple concerning evil and the one thing I want to point out is this why is it what is good is is in the in the context he's gone going here is you understand doctrine well enough to actually test the teachers you're listening to that that's why isn't what is good in this context you get it you're not tricked by flattering speech it's not just wow it was so encouraging or he was such a good speaker such a good orator you're able to hear all that and pick out the doctrinal points and make good decisions based upon that that that's what I think why isn't what is good in this context so it's calling for the church to be educated as Christians in the things that we believe let's pray father God tough stuff because it's heavy when we think about how many false teachers there are that there's there's whole areas of the of the world right now where false teaching is actually abounding but we trust your word and we want to let your word be the thing that gives us discernment to divide between true and false teaching and things we should we should embrace and people we should avoid we pray for great wisdom Lord we pray for discernment we wouldn't divide with a divisive attitude but would divide with simply a a faithfulness to your word and a faithfulness to to the doctrines of Christ we pray Lord God for the discernment to see what's going on around us and for wisdom to know how to handle it we pray for those discernment ministries out there Lord who are actively seeking to expose false teaching we pray Lord you'd help them to not get caught in the black hole of seeing witches everywhere but rather to have real discernment and to bring their information with clarity and truth we ask Lord that you'd you'd let them be a healthy and fruitful part of the body of Christ and they're in their ministries in Jesus name Amen [Music]

Channel: Mike Winger

Views: 271,196

Rating: 4.8171544 out of 5

Keywords: False teachers, doctrine divides, modern false teachers, false teachers 2018, how to identify a false teacher, Creflo dollar, Oprah, is Oprah a false teacher, is Creflo Dollar a false teacher, is Joel Osteen a false teacher, is the Pope a false teacher, is, marks of a false teacher, how to recognize a false teacher, Ryan Meeks, is kris volloton a false teacher

Id: e2jpwEoo8aY

Length: 50min 0sec (3000 seconds)

Published: Mon May 07 2018