Tag: False Teachers

Your Word is Eternal…

Psalm 119:160 (NIV)

All your words are true; all your righteous laws are eternal.

As we look at our world and the culture in these last days, we can ascertain that the primary cause of the unfolding tribulation can be traced to the conflict between light and darkness … between good and evil … between truth and lies. But what I have learned from the Scriptures is that truth is unchanging. The revelation of truth from God to mankind has been consistent, trustworthy, and authoritative since creation. Consider that Moses compiled the Torah around 1400 BC, and it is still the foundation of faith almost 3,500 years later. As the inspired writers of the Psalms expressed well over four centuries later: “Forever, O Lord, Your Word is settled in heaven.” (Psalm 119:89) and “All Your words are true; all your righteous laws are eternal.” (Psalm 119:160) In another 300 years, the Prophet Isaiah would affirm, “The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the Word of our God endures forever.” (Isaiah 40:8) And had anything changed by the time the Prophets Daniel or Zechariah preached in their generations?

Daniel 9:4-14 (NIV)

I prayed to the Lord my God and confessed: “Lord, the great and awesome God, who keeps His covenant of love with those who love Him and keep His commandments, we have sinned and done wrong. We have been wicked and have rebelled; we have turned away from your commands and laws. We have not listened to your servants the prophets, who spoke in your name to our kings, our princes and our ancestors, and to all the people of the land. “Lord, you are righteous, but this day we are covered with shame—the people of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem and all Israel, both near and far, in all the countries where you have scattered us because of our unfaithfulness to you. We and our kings, our princes and our ancestors are covered with shame, Lord, because we have sinned against you. The Lord our God is merciful and forgiving, even though we have rebelled against Him; we have not obeyed the Lord our God or kept the laws He gave us through His servants the prophets. All Israel has transgressed your law and turned away, refusing to obey you. “Therefore, the curses and sworn judgments written in the Law of Moses, the servant of God, have been poured out on us, because we have sinned against you. You have fulfilled the words spoken against us and against our rulers by bringing on us great disaster. Under the whole heaven nothing has ever been done like what has been done to Jerusalem. Just as it is written in the Law of Moses, all this disaster has come on us, yet we have not sought the favor of the Lord our God by turning from our sins and giving attention to your Truth. The Lord did not hesitate to bring the disaster on us, for the Lord our God is righteous in everything He does; yet we have not obeyed Him.

Zechariah 1:1-6 (NIV)

In the eighth month of the second year of Darius, the word of the Lord came to the prophet Zechariah son of Berekiah, the son of Iddo: “The Lord was very angry with your ancestors. Therefore, tell the people: This is what the Lord Almighty says: “Return to me,” declares the Lord Almighty, “and I will return to you,” says the Lord Almighty. Do not be like your ancestors, to whom the earlier prophets proclaimed: This is what the Lord Almighty says: “Turn from your evil ways and your evil practices.” But they would not listen or pay attention to me, declares the Lord. Where are your ancestors now? And the prophets, do they live forever? But did not my words and my decrees, which I commanded my servants the prophets, overtake your ancestors? “Then they repented and said, ‘The Lord Almighty has done to us what our ways and practices deserve, just as He determined to do.’”

When we evaluate the historical relationship between the people of God and His Word, the Word of God has stood firm. Disobedience to the truth produces consequences … separation from the presence, provision, and protection of God in our lives. Rebellious Israel has been a solemn reminder of the realities that come with walking in disobedience and darkness … even though the light of truth had been given to them through the Word of God. When God created the first humans, they were deceived through lies into disobedience. When God made a covenant with Abraham to choose a people to Himself and to separate them out of the world – to be a HOLY people and to be His priests to the nations – we observe the continued spiritual struggle between embracing the truth of God and succumbing to the lies of Satan. Indeed, deception and distortion of the truth has been present from the very beginning … and this has been the test of faith ever since.

It is my solemn prayer for the people of God to be awake and alert in these last days! For many false messiahs and false prophets will appear and perform signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect. (Cf. Matthew 24:24; Mark 13:22) There were false prophets in Israel just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the sovereign Lord who bought them—bringing swift destruction on themselves (Cf. 2 Peter 2:1) Dear friends, 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. This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming and even now is already in the world. (Cf. 1 John 4:1-3) Indeed, we need to contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to God’s holy people. For certain individuals whose condemnation was written about long ago have secretly slipped in among you. They are ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into a license for immorality and deny Jesus Christ our only Sovereign and Lord. (Cf. Jude 1:3-4) Indeed, we need to be aware … to be alert … for our enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. (Cf. 1 Peter 5:8)

So Now You Know…

Have a Blessed Day!

Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished. Therefore, anyone who sets aside one of the least of these commands and teaches others accordingly will be called least in the Kingdom of Heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the Kingdom of Heaven. For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the Kingdom of Heaven. ~ Matthew 5:17-20

Is God Testing You?

Deuteronomy 13:4 (NIV)

It is the Lord your God you must follow, and Him you must revere. Keep His commands and obey Him; serve Him and hold fast to Him.

I want to spend some time on our Verse of the Day because it resonated so deeply with me. I believe the most important thought or concept that God wants us to embrace is His Being. He IS! God said to Moses, “I am who I am. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I am has sent me to you.’” (Cf. Exodus 3:14) He is the self-existent One … and that is difficult to wrap our finite minds around. Yet the God who created all things … who created us in His image … did so with intent. His purpose was to have fellowship with His creation…. And I believe that He has communicated His will for that fellowship to be expressed in relational terms – according to the word He spoke to Moses. So, let’s put our verse into context so that we can understand God’s passion for us to truly know Him:

Deuteronomy 13:1-5 (NIV)

1 If a prophet, or one who foretells by dreams, appears among you and announces to you a sign or wonder, 2 and if the sign or wonder spoken of takes place, and the prophet says, “Let us follow other gods” (gods you have not known) “and let us worship them,” 3 you must not listen to the words of that prophet or dreamer. The Lord your God is testing you to find out whether you love Him with all your heart and with all your soul. 4 It is the Lord your God you must follow, and Him you must revere. Keep His commands and obey Him; serve Him and hold fast to Him. 5 That prophet or dreamer must be put to death for inciting rebellion against the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt and redeemed you from the land of slavery. That prophet or dreamer tried to turn you from the way the Lord your God commanded you to follow. You must purge the evil from among you.

If you read the rest of Deuteronomy 13, you will continue to sense the great concern God has for us to know Him … the only true God. We are to worship Him and Him alone … not follow after anyone or anything besides Him. This exhortation from Moses is prominent throughout His inscription of God’s word to us:

Deuteronomy 4:32-40 (NIV)

32 Ask now about the former days, long before your time, from the day God created human beings on the earth; ask from one end of the heavens to the other. Has anything so great as this ever happened, or has anything like it ever been heard of? 33 Has any other people heard the voice of God speaking out of fire, as you have, and lived? 34 Has any god ever tried to take for himself one nation out of another nation, by trials, by signs and wonders, by war, by a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, or by great and awesome deeds, like all the things the Lord your God did for you in Egypt before your very eyes? 35 You were shown these things so that you might know that the Lord is God; besides Him there is no other. 36 From heaven He made you hear His voice to discipline you. On earth He showed you His great fire, and you heard His words from out of the fire. 37 Because He loved your ancestors and chose their descendants after them, He brought you out of Egypt by His Presence and His great strength, 38 to drive out before you nations greater and stronger than you and to bring you into their land to give it to you for your inheritance, as it is today. 39 Acknowledge and take to heart this day that the Lord is God in heaven above and on the earth below. There is no other.40 Keep His decrees and commands, which I am giving you today, so that it may go well with you and your children after you and that you may live long in the land the Lord your God gives you for all time.

King Solomon, when he had finished building the temple and prepared the people for its dedication, testified to the faithfulness of the one true God toward His people and how devoted worship of Him is the proper relational response:

1 Kings 8:54-61 (NIV)

54 When Solomon had finished all these prayers and supplications to the Lord, he rose from before the altar of the Lord, where he had been kneeling with his hands spread out toward heaven. 55 He stood and blessed the whole assembly of Israel in a loud voice, saying: 56 “Praise be to the Lord, who has given rest to His people Israel just as He promised. Not one word has failed of all the good promises He gave through His servant Moses. 57 May the Lord our God be with us as He was with our ancestors; may He never leave us nor forsake us. 58 May He turn our hearts to Him, to walk in obedience to Him and keep the commands, decrees and laws He gave our ancestors. 59 And may these words of mine, which I have prayed before the Lord, be near to the Lord our God day and night, that He may uphold the cause of His servant and the cause of His people Israel according to each day’s need, 60 so that all the peoples of the earth may know that the Lord is God and that there is no other. 61 And may your hearts be fully committed to the Lord our God, to live by His decrees and obey His commands, as at this time.”

The Prophet Isaiah captured this same theme in his prophetic writings as well. Isaiah Chapter 45 hones in on the uniqueness of God as creator … who declares: “I am the Lord, and there is no other.” This same God reaches out to us … reveals Himself to us … calls us to believe in Him:

Isaiah 45:18-19; 22-23 (NIV)

18 For this is what the Lord says—He who created the heavens, He is God; He who fashioned and made the earth, He founded it; He did not create it to be empty, but formed it to be inhabited—
He says: “I am the Lord, and there is no other. 19 I have not spoken in secret, from somewhere in a land of darkness; I have not said to Jacob’s descendants, ‘Seek me in vain.’ I, the Lord, speak the truth; I declare what is right. 22 “Turn to me and be saved, all you ends of the earth; for I am God, and there is no other. 23 By myself I have sworn, my mouth has uttered in all integrity a word that will not be revoked: “Before me every knee will bow; by me every tongue will swear.”

So why is knowing the “true God” important for us? Well, a deep concern of Paul and the Apostles, is that people will fall into apostasy … abandon faith in the one true God … and forsake His covenant of love. The loss of fellowship with the Father was the very reason Jesus Christ was sent into the world. “For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him.” (Cf. John 3:17) Yet, this good news, and its power to redeem people, has been subverted. And it continues even today in both subtle and overt ways:

1 Timothy 4:1-2 (NIV)

1 The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons. 2 Such teachings come through hypocritical liars, whose consciences have been seared as with a hot iron.

2 Peter 2:1-2 (NIV)

1 But there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the sovereign Lord who bought them—bringing swift destruction on themselves. 2 Many will follow their depraved conduct and will bring the way of truth into disrepute.

1 John 4:2-3 (NIV)

2 This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, 3 but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming and even now is already in the world.

Jude 1:3-4 (NIV)

3 Dear friends, although I was very eager to write to you about the salvation we share, I felt compelled to write and urge you to contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to God’s holy people. 4 For certain individuals whose condemnation was written about long ago have secretly slipped in among you. They are ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into a license for immorality and deny Jesus Christ our only Sovereign and Lord.

So why has God allowed deception to continue since Adam and Eve? Why are we warned to recognize it and to resist it? I think the answer is found in the context of our verse: “The Lord your God is testing you to find out whether you love Him with all your heart and with all your soul.” The issue is whether we truly desire to follow God … whether we want to believe the Truth in our own hearts. The Apostle John offered this sobering insight into the human heart: “This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed.” (Cf. John 3:19-20)

So, I want to encourage us to be aware of false teachers, deceiving spirits, and to acknowledge the test we have been presented. Jesus Christ has revealed the Father to us. He is the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Him. (Cf. John 14:6) Because of His great mercy, we have been shown these things so that we might know that the Lord is God; besides Him there is no other. And as Moses reminds us: “It is the Lord your God you must follow, and Him you must revere. Keep His commands and obey Him; serve Him and hold fast to Him … so that it may go well with you and your children after you and that you may live long in the land the Lord your God gives you for all time.” This is my prayer for us all … to pass the test! Amen.

So Now You Know…

Have a Blessed Day!