by Sandy Simpson, 7/28/08

1 John 4:4-6  You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world. They are from the world and therefore speak from the viewpoint of the world, and the world listens to them. We are from God, and whoever knows God listens to us; but whoever is not from God does not listen to us. This is how we recognize the Spirit {Or spirit} of truth and the spirit of falsehood.

The reason why false teachers, who deny one or more of the core doctrines of the Faith, gain so many followers is that they are saying what the world wants to hear.  They organize their churches so that they cater to unbelievers, and once non Christians come in they are fed a diet devoid of the essential nutrition of the Gospel and sound doctrine.  False teachers conduct surveys to see what non-believers are looking for in a "church" and then provide those things.  False teachers claim they are bringing people into the Kingdom when in fact they are bringing them out of the world and back into the world, the only difference now being that they are spending their money in support of some apostate leader and/or group.

John saw the false teachers of his day and has taught us how to recognize the difference between those who have the Spirit of truth and those who have a spirit of falsehood. Yes, there is such a thing as a spirit of falsehood!  One of the marks of the spirit of falsehood is that they gain many followers from the world because their message is not really different from the world.  Those who speak the truth in love, however, can expect to be rejected most of the time.  Not all the time, but most of the time.  There is no sugar coating to this concept.  Few will follow the narrow road and enter the small gate (Matt. 7:13-14).  Those who have the spirit of falsehood are so successful because they have dumbed-down the Gospel and do not teach the truth about man's condition of sin, needing repentance and belief that Jesus Christ is Lord.  They teach what people want to hear, and the Bible foretold long ago that people would want myths and fables.

2 Tim. 4:3-4  For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.

So called Christian teachers today are happy to tell stories of healings and dead raisings which they have not verified and do not care to verify.  Their followers, assuming their teacher would only tell the truth, spread these lies even further.  And so the cycle perpetuates itself.  Yet the Bible is clear that true believers check to see they are telling the truth because unrepentant liars don't go to heaven.

Re 21:8  But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars—their place will be in the fiery lake of burning sulphur. This is the second death."

Yet followers of the false teachers, that the world love, will hear nothing negative about their idols.  They become very angry and verbally abusive of any hint at the unbiblical practices and lies of their heroes.  I could share with you hundreds of emails to prove my point.  Thankfully a few have been saved out from under the spell of false teachers because they were finally able, with the help of the Spirit and the Word, to wake up from their fable-induced haze to reality.  I also have hundreds of emails of those who have come to their senses.  But they are in the vast minority.  Those who say they are Christians but have not left the world are clearly not interested in the facts.  They are interested in their feelings.

2 Tim. 3:1-5  But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days.  People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God—having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with them.

Those who have spent any time with the new generation of pleasure lovers in the Church understand that, ultimately, you have to "have nothing to do with them".  They are self-deceived and have no real love of the truth.

2 Thes. 2:9-10  The coming of the lawless one will be in accordance with the work of Satan displayed in all kinds of counterfeit miracles, signs and wonders, and in every sort of evil that deceives those who are perishing. They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved.

You can claim you are saved all you want, but if you don't have a love of the Truth then you are clearly not regenerate.  Those who have the Spirit of truth, by virtue of being born again, show a love of the truth and will turn and repent when they are presented with the facts.  Those who claim to be followers of Christ yet will not turn from disobedience to the Word of God when warned and instead cling to their feelings or some experience they have had, are pretenders.  This is a time of testing for all those who claim to be Christians.  If you cannot tolerate the truth and speak the truth, then you have no part in Christ and His Holy Spirit.

Ac 8:21  You have no part or share in this ministry, because your heart is not right before God.

These words, spoken to Simon Magus by Peter, ring true today.  There are many Simon the Sorcerers in the churches today who follow after signs and wonders for fame and fortune.  Those who follow them do not have a heart that is right before God.

REPENT!  Repent and turn from your evil ideas, your evil associations, your evil false apostles, your evil false prophets, your evil false Christs, your evil false teachers.  If you don't believe that these people are evil, then you don't know how God perceives them.

2 Cor. 11:12-15  And I will keep on doing what I am doing in order to cut the ground from under those who want an opportunity to be considered equal with us in the things they boast about. For such men are false apostles, deceitful workmen, masquerading as apostles of Christ. And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light. It is not surprising, then, if his servants masquerade as servants of righteousness. Their end will be what their actions deserve.

Repent and recognize that you may be involved in a church or ministry that appeals to the world but is not teaching the truth.  Stop relying on your feelings to guide you, and start searching the Word of God, asking the Holy Spirit for discernment.  Stop listening to false teachers who teach you that discernment and doctrine are bad things.  Admit that you may have been deceived, for that is the beginning of your salvation.

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