Identifying False Teachers

Eliezer Roque Cisneros / General

Spiritual Defenses / False Teaching; A False Teacher; Heresy; Truth / 2 Peter 2:1; 1 John 4:1–3

Every Christian should be well equipped to tell when a false teacher is near.

Notes

This message is to build and make sense of some popular teachers who want to lead people into dangerous and careless practices.

Introduction

This marks part one of my messages on Spiritual Defenses.

The bible warns that many false prophets will assault the people of God. Because i car for you i want to make sure that you keep a watchful eye on what kind of messages you allow access to your mind and heart. Not just from the pulpit but from podcasts, and news stations, and independent ministries. I cannot, in good conscious, let you nourish yourself with dangerous and corrosive teachings.

False Prophets

Matt 7:15-16 ““Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will recognize them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thornbushes, or figs from thistles?”

Isaiah 8:20 “To the teaching and to the testimony! If they will not speak according to this word, it is because they have no dawn.”

1 Jn 4:1 “Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world.”

Greedy Preachers

Matt 7:15 ““Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves.”

• Some people get into preaching and teaching because they see it as an easy avenue to money

• Christians are some of the most guillible people i know

• Believers are often coming from a life of abuse, gaslighting, fearfulness, and above all, vulnerability. if this is part of your story, take heed.

2 peter 2:3 “And in their greed they will exploit you with false words. Their condemnation from long ago is not idle, and their destruction is not asleep.”

Matt 23:25 ““Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and the plate, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence.”

Clout Chasing Personalities

1 Thess 2:3-6 “For our appeal does not spring from error or impurity or any attempt to deceive, but just as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel, so we speak, not to please man, but to please God who tests our hearts. For we never came with words of flattery, as you know, nor with a pretext for greed—God is witness. Nor did we seek glory from people, whether from you or from others, though we could have made demands as apostles of Christ.”

Blind leading the Blind

Youtube, instagram, and tiktok accounts that make sensational claims with little or no training or credibility

• who is this person?

• why should i trust them?

• what are their sources?

• what else do they teach

if all they teach is novelties you’ve never heard of, chances are this person is making stuff up. maybe not on purpose, but because they have little or incomplete understanding of the scriptures

Luke 6:39 “He also told them a parable: “Can a blind man lead a blind man? Will they not both fall into a pit?”

Matt 15:14 “Let them alone; they are blind guides. And if the blind lead the blind, both will fall into a pit.””

2 Peter 2:12 “But these, like irrational animals, creatures of instinct, born to be caught and destroyed, blaspheming about matters of which they are ignorant, will also be destroyed in their destruction,”

Hateful and Turned around

Isaiah 5:20 “Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter!”

These are teachers who are often hateful toward some group or some thing. They often make it their brand to “tell it like it is” when what they’re really doing is just using inflammatory language for the sake of seeming tough or honest. Often these teachers will say contradicting things or twist the words of scripture to mean the literal opposite. For example, a turned around preacher may say that we should hate someone in sin because that is the loving thing to do. They may say that we should be hard and critical of a certain class because they are an abomination and will claim that this is how god wants us to treat the gay or the pedophile or the convict or the catholic. Avoid these hateful preachers. they teach that hate is love, and that criticism is encouraging. they teach that condemnation is mercy and that judgement is good news. Think twice before accepting a teacher that uses intentionally contradicting language.

Beware of the False Teacher within

• Perhaps the greatest deception comes not from without but from our own thoughts.

• This is not in the Bible, but it changed my life

Don’t believe everything you think

We often ignore the biggest blindspot of them all, personal confirmation bias. We’re quick to measure up a preacher or teacher in person or on the internet if they say something we don’t think is right. When we have a hard time making sense of it, we default to looking for the red flags.

The false teachers you should avoid won’t always be teaching things you will disagree with. Where would the danger in that be? The danger is that they will teach things you already accept—things you already believe to be true—things you already think make sense—things you already assume.

One last passage (exegesis)

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2 Cor 10:2-4 “I beg of you that when I am present I may not have to show boldness with such confidence as I count on showing against some who suspect us of walking according to the flesh. For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds.”

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• What does stronghold mean?

• this is an exercise in determining the basic first step in identifying a false teacher or their teaching

• Our first reaction to a new term or sentence that’s hard to make sense of, is to keep reading

2 Cor 10:5 “We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ,”

Test it All against Christ

• Even the stuff you agree with

• Especially the stuff you agree with