Discerning False Doctrine - Chapter 3: Characteristices Of Teachers

Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. Ye shall know them by their fruits. Matthew 7:15-16

I discovered long ago that it takes knowing the whole word of God to be able to expose and weed out the false from the true. That is the reader's responsibility. This chapter will give some of the characteristics of the false teachers, prophets and doctrines that, along with the previous chapters, will set you on your way to beginning to recognize them. It will also give you understanding when reading other articles that actually discuss some of the issues and false teachers we have corrupting the church today.

The Scriptures of the "Old" Testament give us the foundation by which we can discern true teachings from the false. God starts out quickly on this with Israel after they were freed from the bondage of Egypt and their control over Israel by the Pharaoh and his system. So when we look at Egypt as a model the world and it's systems, traditions, and religions, and Pharaoh as the ruler of this world (Satan), we can begin to see how God intended things to be for his people. So I will start with this foundation because it reveals the template for building of the church.

The Tabernacle: The First Dwelling Place Of God Among The People

"And let them make me a sanctuary that I may dwell among them. According to all that I show thee, after the pattern of the tabernacle, and the pattern of all the instruments thereof, even so shall ye make it... Exodus 25:8-9

And look that thou make them after their pattern, which was shown thee in the mount. Exodus 25:40

When God delivered Israel out of Egypt, his intent was to "sanctify" or separate Israel from the rest of the nations. They were to be different. He made a covenant with them in this separation. When God spoke with Moses on Mt Sinai He gave Moses the law and detailed instructions on the building of a sanctuary (the Tabernacle). The purpose of building this tabernacle was so that God would dwell among the people in relation to the Ark of the Covenant within the Holy of Holies inside this precursor to the temple in Jerusalem, and eventually, the church and the redemption of it by Jesus. It was, and is, God's pattern, his instruments, his plan. Moses was to listen to God and build this sanctuary according to his words and non else.

Adam and Eve were created and lived in the first sanctuary he created for them. This was the place God dwelt among them in this garden in the land of Eden. They lost it by listening to and being deceived by the first false teacher, Satan. But now God had chosen Israel to begin to reinstate his sanctuary so that he could again, dwell among the people and provide a salvation to them and us.

God was specific when he told Moses that it was to be built according to "ALL" that God showed him. The tabernacle, it's design, building materials, and ALL of the instruments and implements in this sanctuary were to be made according to the pattern and plan God gave to Moses. This included the dress of the priests that Aaron and his sons were to wear and every aspect of how God was to be revered and worshiped. There was to be no input from man in how this was to be built; it was all by God's Word and by people God gifted to accomplish this work.

God also told Moses;
Ye shall offer no strange incense thereon, nor burnt sacrifice nor meat offering... Exodus 30:9

God set out his pattern and plan. It is his. Moses did not have the option to manipulate it; to change, add, substitute, or delete from it. It is a narrow way of thinking; it is God's way. The two sons of Aaron, the High Priest, were destroyed because they brought in incense fire ("strange fire") from a source outside the commands of God. We are told in the New Testament, which refers back to the pattern of Scripture, that we are now the dwelling place, the temple of the Holy Spirit. The church as "living stones" and each individual is built upon the words of God as seen in the Scripture. In the same manner, His word is our guide and we are not to go out from it in building it.

As you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious, you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. For it stands in Scripture:

“Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone,
a cornerstone chosen and precious,
and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.” 1 Peter 2:4

Paul further said,

What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's. 1 Corinthians 6:19-20

Jesus, his word, his truth and this only, is the true cornerstone that we are to align ourselves with. He and his words are the guide in not going off on our own. We, his temple, are being built up according to his word and not outward additions.

When you read the account of finishing the building of each aspect of the Tabernacle, you see that it is said,

Thus was all the work of the tabernacle of the tent of the congregation finished: and the children of Israel did according to all that the Lord commanded Moses, so did they. Exodus 39:32 (Also Exodus 39:42, 40:16)

They obeyed God at this time. And what was the result of obeying and building this sanctuary and worshipping in a manner in accordance with God's Word?

...So Moses finished the work. Then a cloud covered the tent of the congregation, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. Exodus 40:33-34

So here is the basic cornerstone of truth. God's church and we as individuals who are part of it, are supposed to be built in accordance with God's Word; period! His word is Holy and perfect. We are separated from the world and other religions by it. Therefore, the first thing noticeable about false teachers and their doctrines; they do not build "according to ALL" that the Lord commands. But there are numerous persons of the past and those of today who do not obey this and come up with their own plans and patterns. If we want to be filled with the glory of God, then we must be built up according to the pure word of God.

A number of times in the Scriptures we see God warning Israel that they were never to return to Egypt, (the world), and that they were not to go there for help against their's and God's enemies. In Isaiah 30 God told the rebellious people;

“Ah, stubborn children,” declares the Lord,
“who carry out a plan, but not mine, and who make an alliance, but not of my Spirit,
that they may add sin to sin; who set out to go down to Egypt, without asking for my direction,
to take refuge in the protection of Pharaoh and to seek shelter in the shadow of Egypt!
Therefore shall the protection of Pharaoh turn to your shame, and the shelter in the shadow of Egypt to your humiliation. Isaiah 30:1-3

This example above brings us to other examples of how false teachers can be recognized.

You Will Know Them By Their Fruits

In giving an example of how to recognize and separate the false out, in Matthew 7 Jesus said "...you will know them by their fruits..". "Fruit" does not mean that if something works or has some seeming benefit that it is of God. In Matthew 7 Jesus goes on to explain this. It reflects back to what happen in the garden of Eden with the two different trees that confronted Adam and Eve. Jesus continued;

Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit.

Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them. Matthew 7:16-20

Going back to the beginning in the garden of Eden as seen in Genesis 3, there were two trees in this garden; the Tree of Life, and the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. One, the Tree of Life, was the good tree that produced good fruit. The other, the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, produced the bad fruit that when taken, separated man from God. One, the word of God; the other, the words of Satan, which can look real appealing.

God warned them about the evil tree and told them they could not partake of it. False teachings and teachers glean their fruit from the doctrine of Satan. Like this bad tree, they have two sides; good and evil. But Satan's tree is a corrupt tree; thus so are the methods and doctrines. One brings life, the other will result in being outside this sanctuary that God wanted to reinstate through the sacrifice of his Son, Jesus. Thus, the things that these sheep in wolves clothing teach are not the truth found in the unpolluted word of God. Satan will use God's word; but he will pollute it. We will see some examples of this of this in the articles on this website.

Satan's Tactics Of Deception

"Now the serpent was more crafty than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made."Genesis 3:1

Satan is a formidable adversary and all deception and false teachings originated from him. Although he is extremely crafty, he can also be predictable. His tactics for deception do not change; only the packaging. His ways and doctrine are seen throughout God's word. By looking into his basic tactics we can learn how this enemy attempts to deceive us into following him instead of God.

The first encounter of how his deception works is to look is found in a conversation he had with Eve. We can learn much by studying this scenario.

THE SETUP

"And he said to the woman, 'Indeed, has God said, "You shall not eat from any tree of the garden"'. Genesis 3:1

Now there are two things to note here. First, Satan is challenging the validity of God's word; "Did God really say that? Is His word really true?". Next we find that he purposely misquotes and twisted what God said and causes confusion because "indeed" God did not say what Satan quoted.

The key word to look at is the word "any". Did God tell Adam & Eve they could not eat from any tree? No. Looking back at Genesis 2:16-17 we find that God said, "From any tree of the garden you may eat freely; but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you shall surely die." So, Satan will use the word of God, but twist it so he can set us up to accept his doctrine.

Now we find an obviously confused Eve responding to the distortion by saying, "From the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat; but from the fruit of the tree in the middle of the garden, God has said, 'You shall not eat from it or touch it, lest you die'." Eve is really setting herself up now because she also has misquoted God by saying if they "touched" the fruit they would die. God did not say that: but if they ate the fruit. She now opens the door to more deception because she shows she really did not know what God said.

TEARING DOWN TRUTH

Now that Satan had broken Eve down, it was time for the bait;
"For God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened and you will be like God."

Here we can see the ultimate deception. There is something hidden that God knows that will give you enlightenment and an eventual realization that you can be like God; i.e. realization of the so-called god within. The other lie is in the statement that you can be like God. There are many verses in Isaiah 44-47 that says there are none like Him, and there would be none. But this new thinking looked good!

It even looks good today. Not only are those in the New Age and some other religions saying we are gods, so are some of those who are popular Television preachers such as Kenneth Copeland . Copeland published a book on the early 1900s faith healer, John G. Lake. Lake professed the same thing. The Healing Rooms of today are based upon the ministry of Lake. It is also and underlying aspect to the current "revivals", Dominion/Kingdom Theologies and others.

"When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and the tree was desirable to make one wise, she took from its fruit and ate..."

Satan's doctrine; [1] looks like it will be beneficial, [2] is attractive to our flesh, [3] and can give some sort of special or metaphysical knowledge. His doctrine is followed by the world, but he will use God's word with Christians and it ends up replacing some aspect of God's word.

They Appear As Great Men Of God

Those that are the messengers of the false doctrines can be attractive in and of themselves too. It adds to the success of the deception. Paul told the Corinthians;

But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ...

...But what I do, that I will do, that I may cut off occasion from them which desire occasion; that wherein they glory, they may be found even as we. For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ. And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light.

Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works. 2 Corinthians 11:3, 12-15

I'll share an extreme example of this. Many years ago I came upon a young man in a hotel. He was a handsome young man in his late 20's, clean cut and wearing a nice blue suit; and he carried a Bible. He had been in the bar of this hotel, Bible on the table, was intoxicated, and got in trouble by offering to pay for drinks he did not have money for.

It was bad enough that he may have represented some aspect of Christianity to people in the bar; but in talking with him I found something more disturbing. He was the high priest of a group of Satanists in another city. He told me that he had memorized the Bible for the purpose of using God's word to trip up Christians. Imagine some church being impressed by his appearance and Biblical knowledge, charm, and allowing him into ministry. Yet this happens a lot. These may not be Satanists, but are those who are disguised a teachers of the word, but are not.

There is another interesting aspect to this story. He told me that something happened as he was reading this word; he was starting to believe it. He was now in a spiritual tug of war for his soul. God on one side and Satan on the other. He was confused and disturbed. He told me there were some Christians in the city he was from who were trying to help him in this dilemma. I spoke with one of them on the phone and she verified what he had told me. I asked him if he wanted me to pray for him and he said yes. I don't know what the outcome with him was.

But not all of these transformed angels of light are from without the church; most come from within. We are informed in 1 John;

Little children, it is the last time: and as ye have heard that antichrist shall come, even now are there many antichrists; whereby we know that it is the last time. They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us: but they went out, that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us. 1 John 2:18-19

These false teachers within the church only look like they are teachers of the truth. But the will become manifest because they may start with the truth, but then depart from it so as to be exposed. Like bad trees they will be thrown in the fire as their teachings will not stand up to the fire of God's word.

BEATING DECEPTION

The Teachings Of God Can Be Seen In His Scriptures; Not Outside Of Them

God shows us in another scripture the bottom line of false teachers when he said,

To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them. Isaiah 8:20

It does not get more direct that this. If teachers are not teaching according to the Scripture, they are of darkness. Paul warned Timothy;

I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom; Preach the word; be instant in season and out of season, reprove, rebuke, exhort with all long suffering and doctrine.

For the time will come (has come today) when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; and they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall turn unto fables. 2 Timothy 1:1-4

This is what happened to Eve in the garden. She and Adam followed after their own lusts because of the attractiveness of the false doctrine of Satan; you will have this knowledge and you will be like God. True teachers of God will teach the Word and teach it in truth. They teach sound doctrine and will not incorporate the traditions of men, ways of the world, sciences, or the aspects of other religions into their teaching. False teachers will incorporate these things.

False teachers will add to the word, leave things out, or twist things out of context that change the meaning to fit their agenda. They will lead us away from knowing and relying on God's unpolluted word. Sadly there are many of them today deceiving hundred's of thousands, no, actually millions of people who have "heaped" these teachers to themselves. These many do not know that many of their favorites turn them away from the truth of God; they just love them and what they say. This is also what happened with Adam and Eve in the garden. Satan left out, added to, and twisted what God really said to lead Adam and Eve to believing his lies. Satan's tactics have not changed. I'll cover a little more on this shortly in this article.

Honestly, like I said on the home page of this website; if we don't know the word of God, we are deceived right now. If a person is teaching something that is supposed to be of God, you will not know if it is or not unless you know what God says.

In this same theme John said,

Whosoever transgresseth, and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ, hath not God. He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ, he hath both the Father and the Son. If there come any unto you, and bring you not this doctrine, receive him not into your house, neither bid him God speed. For him that biddeth him God speed is partaker of his evil deeds. 2 John 9-11

The above verses tell us that when we go outside (abideth not) the word of God, we really do not have God. It is like Paul said of the false, that they did not remain, but went out (1 John 2). But it goes beyond this and it is a bit scary. So if anyone then comes and teaches something not of the word of God, we are not to acknowledge that person. It is the same as being in agreement with that person and their falsehoods. If we do this, we then are a partner is this evil. This is a real problem today.

It happens when those who teach the falsehoods have their teachings recommend by others. Some false teachers have their books endorsed by other well known personalities to validate what they say or validate their authority on something. It not only includes teachings that appear to be "religious" in nature, but also philosophies that are outside the church; those from the secular world or other religions.

Pastors may quote phrases from books of these popular personalities during their teachings, not realizing that the person is a teacher of falsehoods. Not seeing this, they partake in their deception by receiving his teachings and giving him the green light as being acceptable.

Some well known pastors end up validating the false when they speak at the venues of the false ones in their churches and events. There are also those false teachers who validate and promote each other. We will see examples of this in other articles.

In the music industry it is the same. There are a number of Contemporary Christian Music (CCM) bands that bring a false message in the words of their music and in the messages and techniques they interject during their concerts. These too are given validity by the group, church, or others that invite them into their buildings or promoted them. It goes the other way too. These music performers, especially if popular, give validity to the false teachers when they perform at the events and conferences these teachers put on. Still, a number of these popular CCM bands are the mouth pieces of the false churches that send them out; and this validates the false teacher and his church.

This is where I would like to interject a couple of examples to help understand what God is talking about concerning these aforementioned scriptures; but I am going to have to wait a little longer. There is a little bit more to understand and the examples would take too long to explain right now.

One of the excuses to glean out and use things from false teachers we have heard over the years are the phrases and clichés; "We just eat the meat and throw away the bones", or "You don't throw out the baby with the bathwater" and "We are reclaiming what Satan stole", and ," we can't put God in a box". None of these concepts are Biblical; especially when taken in the context of 2 John 9-11. We will see some examples of this being used today later on. We don't use what we think are the good aspects of false teachers to bring them into the church, and discard the rest.

When thou art come into the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee, thou shalt not learn to do after the abominations of those nations.

There shall not be found among you any one that maketh his son or his daughter to pass through the fire, or that useth divination, or an observer of times, or an enchanter, or a witch.

Or a charmer, or a consulter with familiar spirits, or a wizard, or a necromancer.

For all that do these things are an abomination unto the Lord: and because of these abominations the Lord thy God doth drive them out from before thee.

For these nations, which thou shalt possess, hearkened unto observers of times, and unto diviners: but as for thee, the Lord thy God hath not suffered thee so to do.

The Lord thy God will raise up unto thee a Prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me; unto him ye shall hearken; Deuteronomy 18:9-15

The unfortunate thing is that the church has disobeyed God as Israel did and has become involved with the people and practices of many of the abominations above. Instead of listening to and following the words of the "Prophet" (Jesus) that God raised up, the church today is failing in this. Jesus is still the Chief Cornerstone that the builders are still rejecting. I will explain these things in other articles on this website and give examples of how these things in Deuteronomy have been incorporated into the church today.

Do Not Add To, Twist, Or Take Away From God's Word

Later on toward the end of Israel's journey out of Egypt, God reminded Israel by Moses before they went into Canaan,

Now therefore hearken, O Israel, unto the statutes and unto the judgments, which I teach you, for to do them, that ye may live, and go in and possess the land which the Lord God of your fathers giveth you.

Ye shall not add unto the word which I command you, neither shall ye diminish ought from it, (Why?) that ye may keep the commandments of the Lord your God which I command you. (It is no longer God's pure word when it is manipulated)

Your eyes have seen what the Lord did because of Baalpeor: for all the men that followed Baalpeor, the Lord thy God hath destroyed them from among you.

But ye that did cleave unto the Lord your God are alive every one of you this day.

Behold, I have taught you statutes and judgments, even as the Lord my God commanded me, that ye should do so in the land whither ye go to possess it.

Keep therefore and do them; for this is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the nations, which shall hear all these statutes, and say, "Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people". Deuteronomy 4:4-6

It is God's pure word and his ways that separate his people from the rest of the world that the world is supposed to see. This is what where man cannot take credit for anything and that it all comes back to God's plan without interference from man or other spirit. As seen in Deuteronomy 18, God's people were to be perfect and that came from not polluting itself with other doctrines. Israel was further told,

For what nation is there so great, who hath God so nigh unto them, as the Lord our God is in all things that we call upon him for?

And what nation is there so great, that hath statutes and judgments so righteous as all this law, which I set before you this day?

Only take heed to thyself, and keep thy soul diligently, lest thou forget the things which thine eyes have seen, and lest they depart from thy heart all the days of thy life: but teach them thy sons, and thy sons' sons; Deuteronomy 4:7-9

There are a number of times the Bible speaks of not messing with God's word Deuteronomy 4:2 and 12:32, Proverbs 30:6, Galatians 1:8-9 and Revelation 22:19. Acts 17:11. In Galatians 1 Paul warned about a different gospel and a different Jesus being preached. Proverbs 30:6 says if you add to the word of God you are a liar. Revelation 22:19 says that if a person adds to or takes away from the prophecies in the book, the plagues in the book would be on them.

Do you see how important the pure word of God is and how important it is to know it and pass it on in truth? False teachers will corrupt the Word of God by cleverly adding things to it, or removing things, or twisting the words in some fashion that corrupts its meaning to fit another way. Over time, if it is not exposed and corrected, it is the false will be that which is taught to "sons, and thy son's sons". Parents, it is your responsibility to be teaching God's word to your children and not just leaving them in a Sunday school class at church. Unfortunately this is the situation today. We have a large part of an entire generation or two that has been, and is being raised in falsehoods. If it started 2000 years ago, how much more is there today? More than imagined.

Behold, the days come, saith the Lord God, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the Lord Amos 8:11

But here is another contributing problem: There are even popular pastors and others of influence that downplay the need for studying the word of God. Here are a few examples of what a few of them have said about the word of God.

The first example is of Brian Brodersen, Pastor of Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa. Brodersen is the son-in-law of the late Chuck Smith who "took over" the church at Costa Mesa and assumed a leadership position over others there. He spoke the following at a Northwest Calvary Chapel pastor's conference a couple of years ago. One of the results of this conference was the departure of a number of Calvary Chapel churches from associating with the Costa Mesa group. And rightly so.

“My goal is that people will know the important kind of key points of each book. Because I started thinking about– I really started to think about the new person that comes in to church, whose never been through the Bible and I started thinking about, man, going like literally reading every word of every book of the Bible, that could be pretty brutal, especially for some." end quote

I think you can teach the whole counsel of God without teaching all 66 books of the Bible. I don’t think that’s what Paul meant… I know Chuck (Smith) meant that..

…I mean look at the New Testament; don’t you think that is the whole counsel of God?" end quote

No, it is not the whole council of God. Jesus taught and opened up the mind of his disciples to understand "the Scriptures", the Old Testament, which is the whole council of God. One pastor counters Brian by rightly saying that the New Testament is built upon the 39 books of the Old.

“…But I think there’s enough built into the New that gives you the essential information about the Old that enables you to comprehend the New…” end quote

In the New, Paul gave examples of why we need to know the Scriptures. For instance Paul said of Israel's rebellious ways,

Moreover, brethren, I would not that ye should be ignorant, how that all our fathers were under the cloud, and all passed through the sea;

And did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ.

But with many of them God was not well pleased: for they were overthrown in the wilderness.

Now these things were our examples, to the intent we should not lust after evil things, as they also lusted.

Neither be ye idolaters, as were some of them; as it is written, The people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play.

Neither let us commit fornication, as some of them committed, and fell in one day three and twenty thousand.

Neither let us tempt Christ, as some of them also tempted, and were destroyed of serpents.

Neither murmur ye, as some of them also murmured, and were destroyed of the destroyer.

Now all these things happened unto them for examples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come.

Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall. 1 Corinthians 10:1-12

The Old Testament shows us what to avoid, how not to go astray by showing using the follies of Israel. If we do not know it, we will not see many of the false teachings that lead us astray from God. Paul is saying to the Corinthians; you might be baptized, you might think you are following Christ, you might be reading the Bible, but you might also be deceiving yourself; so learn from what happened with Israel.

Brodersen thought that Chuck Smith talked too much about prophecy. At this conference he said that after Chuck Smith's sermons he would "counter" what Chuck Smith taught on the three previous weeks. Brodersen said he was concerned that teaching this way (which he referred to as "doom and gloom") was not giving the youth any hope, that there was nothing left for them to do????. Of this he said,

"There are people to touch there are missions to be accomplished, there are churches to be planted, and so I’m really you know kind of challenging you guys if you’re beating the prophecy drum, just tone it down because you don’t know." end quote

You can listen to the audio of Brodersen at this conference at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gj3ggFUj9UU and read about it at http://bereanresearch.org/calvary-chapels-brian-brodersen-instructs-pastors-tone-youth

But again, here we an example of not only downplaying God's word, but rendering it as really kind of insignificant. It becomes a watered down "key points" story like understanding. Think for a minute; how can we know God, and obey his word without knowing it? Jesus admonished the Pharisees saying,

Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me. John 5:39

What part of the testimony of Jesus does Brian Brodersen think we do not need to know? Again, the Scriptures ("Old" but relevant Testament) were what Jesus taught! He opened their minds to understand them! Why would another pastor say that reading every word is idolatry?

On the subject of prophesy, we see in Revelation that an angel from God told John when he tried to bow down before him,

"See thou do it not: I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren that have the testimony of Jesus: worship God: for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy. Revelation 19:10

Why then is testimony of Jesus seen in prophesy not important with pastors such as Brodersen? This angel told John that John's brethren have the testimony of Jesus. What part of his prophetic testimony is just to be "highlighted" or not even taught? Honestly, who, or what would not want us to know these prophetic words or render them as not really that important to know or call reading them idolatry? I would hope these pastors and others who teach the same see the need to repent of these things; scary.

Perhaps he and others of the same diabolical persuasion do not understand or do not want us to understand that,

The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul: the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple.

The statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart: the commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes.

The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring for ever: the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether.

More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold: sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb.

Moreover by them is thy servant warned: and in keeping of them there is great reward. Psalm 19:7-11

What of these great attributes of the word do teachers think we do not need to know? Among one of the standout ones is that by them we are warned. If you do not know the word, which one of the warnings might you miss? If they are "more to be desired are they than gold" why are they (the Scriptures of the "Old' Testament that Jesus taught) just to be something skimmed over? This is what allow the false teachings to come in. There is nothing that is supposed to come into this temple of God to pollute the building of it. His word is perfect, pure, clean, and true. Man's ways, and Satan's ways are not. They pollute the church and deny Jesus.

Another extremely popular personality as an example is Eugene Peterson, the writer of "The Message". The Message is supposed to be a paraphrased version of the Bible. But it is extremely corrupt and many times Peterson blatantly disobeys God's word by adding his own words, taking out God's words, and twisting God's words to interject his own belief system. I will have an article on this, but until then, there is plenty of information out there that exposes this book.

What is interesting is what Peterson says of God's word, even though he spent a lot of time revamping it for The Message. Peterson was interviewed in 1995 by a Michael J. Cusick about his book. The interview was published in the Mars Hill Review. Peterson; said some revealing things in this interview on studying the word as seen in part below.

"MH It seems that it is the ordinariness that is so powerful for people. One pastor has said that he hopes The Message will "smash through our comfortable thinking about the Bible." Why do you suppose we have become so comfortable with the scriptures?

EP: I think it's partly our sin. One of the Devil's finest pieces of work is getting people to spend three nights a week in Bible studies.

EP: Well, why do people spend so much time studying the Bible? How much do you need to know? We invest all this time in understanding the text which has a separate life of it's own and we think we're being more pious and spiritual when we're doing it. But it's all to be lived. It was given to us so we could live it. But most Christians know far more of the Bible than they're living. They should be studying it less, not more. You just need enough to pay attention to God...." end quote

Part of this is true, that it needs to be lived. But the part of not needing to know all of it is not. Since when is studying the Bible a lot, a sin?. It is like the Calvary pastor who said it amounted to idolatry. Then there is the shame trip that studying too much will make us more pious and spiritual. He diminishes the attributes of the word and says something that is not true when he said, "You just need enough to pay attention to God...". But Peterson side stepped a little later on when he said,

EP: I think I would want to say it a different way. We treat the text as if it is in a separate world of its own, apart from our lives. This text reveals God lovingly at work in the world. And the intent of the text is to draw us into that world of God's action. Study is normally an over intellectualized process. It takes us out of relationships. And so I guess I'm just not at all pleased with all the emphasis on Bible study as if it's some kind of special thing that Christians do, and the more they do the better. It needs to be integrated into something more whole.

EP: Yes, but as long as we're ignorant of the Scriptures we won't have a clue as to what God is doing. We do need to recover the large world of the Bible. What I see happening is that when people read the Bible, they reduce the world to something which they call Bible study. But the world of the Bible, the world revealed in Scripture, is a much larger world than anything you get in the newspapers or history books. If we're doing Bible study right we ought to get a glimpse of that. But the way Bible studies are often conducted often ghettoizes the people doing them. " end quote

Peterson flipped and has now said, in contrast to what he said earlier, that if we are ignorant of the Scriptures we won't have a clue to what God is doing. But then he says when people read the Bible, they reduce the "world" of the Bible to "something they call Bible study". What does Peterson mean when he said, in opposition to Scripture, that the scripture "...needs to be integrated into something more whole..."? Peterson is a fan of "the arts" and wants to see the arts as the way to teach the Bible. This was the way of what was called "The Church Growth Movement" in the late 80s and the 90s. It is now referred to as the Emerging Church and is incorporated in churches associated with the false "New Apostolic Reformation". But the real problem is, if Peterson's The Message is used as a bible study tool, you are also getting falsehoods that are in it.

What Peterson said in 1995, Brodersen echoed in 2016 at the pastor's conference. It is the things like this and others that show us the need to read and study the word. For the false teachers mix untruth with truth. Doctrine and the ideas out of it are important. Because if the doctrine is not right, neither is our belief system. As we saw previously, Paul warned that people would not endure sound doctrine. He also stated that doctrine is used to teach, exhort and even rebuke.

Therefore thus saith the Lord, If thou return, then will I bring thee again, and thou shalt stand before me: and if thou take forth the precious from the vile, thou shalt be as my mouth: let them return unto thee; but return not thou unto them.

And I will make thee unto this people a fenced brasen wall: and they shall fight against thee, but they shall not prevail against thee: for I am with thee to save thee and to deliver thee, saith the Lord.

And I will deliver thee out of the hand of the wicked, and I will redeem thee out of the hand of the terrible. Jeremiah 15:19

This is what God says to everyone today. Separate the precious from the vile, recognize the difference between the two. Note the blessings he offered to Jeremiah who was having a difficult time with the false prophets and teachers of that time.

There is one other disturbing trend concerning the teaching of the word of God which is seen in some realms of the Contemporary Christian Music (CCM) industry. There are some within it that declare that the preaching of the word of God is being replaced by it being taught through their music and not through preaching. For instance a former CCM performer and self admitted lesbian, Vicky Beeching said,

“I believe that songwriters are the theologians of our day, as songs stick in people's memories far more easily than sermons so the primary vehicle for teaching doctrine is now through song… Songs are the soundtracks of our lives, so getting good theology into worship lyrics is vital.“ Vicky Beeching – Former CCM singer / song writer Source: cbn.com/music/vicky-beeching

Luke MacDonald, son of James MacDonald and "Creative Director" of the Vertical Church Band, says, "music plays an important role in Harvest Bible Chapel. He also says, “Church music has this way of living in people’s minds and framing their thoughts and opinions and theology in this incredibly powerful way,” He also notes that they write music that fits the mission of his church.
Source: lancasteronline.com/features/faith_values/vertical-church-band-makes-music-specific-to-the-philosophy-of/article_761f1568-05cc-11e7-9d83-9b326afa4ba6.html

"I’ve heard it said that songwriters are the theologians of the modern church, and I believe there is an incredible responsibility and weight that lies in the words and the message behind the song. Instead of aiming to write a catchy melody or a fun ‘hook’, I think there are powerful songs that can be written when we start with a focused, intentional message and theme of the song." Danae Leslie, song writer

Rick Joyner, false teacher of Morning Star Ministries said of a "Heart of David: Worship and Warfare Conference in 1996

"In the first meeting there was a holy electricity that charged the air. The worship immediately hit a level that was as strong as we have ever experienced, and immediately started pushing back the limits. It continued for over two and a half hours. There was no time left for a message or ministry, but it was right. We did not just want to talk about worship and warfare, we came to do it! Experience is a much better teacher than words". Source: Morning Star News, May 1996

How opposed to scripture that "experience" has precedence of the the word of God. And as we will see in other articles, Joyner offers plenty of experiences; and they have nothing to do with God.

So, song writers and music performers are becoming the theologians in today's church? If so then the church is in trouble because a lot of the false teachings and occult practices are being spread through the lyrics and on stage teaching and manipulative experiences of some of today's popular songs and performers. Do we want music and performers framing the thoughts of ourselves, our children? Or do we want sound doctrine, the pure word of God taught by unpolluted teachers framing the thoughts. Some of the most popular performers come out of churches that teach things that are not of God.

False Teachers Are Of The World

They Use People As Merchandise For Gain

And through covetousness shall they with feigned words make merchandise of you: whose judgment now of a long time lingereth not, and their damnation slumbereth not. 2 Peter 2:3

Having eyes full of adultery, and that cannot cease from sin; beguiling unstable souls: an heart they have exercised with covetous practices; cursed children: 2 Peter 2:14

For when they speak great swelling words of vanity, they allure through the lusts of the flesh, through much wantonness, those that were clean escaped from them who live in error. 2 Peter 2:18

These are the prosperity and word/faith pastors and teachers of today. Many are the popular "personalities" we see on television, on the internet, or on the shelves in bookstores. Most of these ministries are large and they get that way because they deceive people into giving them money by making some appealing promise that they will be blessed by God financially or in some other way if they give. Many of these pastors, teachers, and so called prophets, are associated with some of the most popular mega churches or signs and wonders ministries of the past 30 years and today.

I have watched some of their sermons. It is interesting to see how they promote and validate each other by showing up at each other's churches or events. They speak of one another as a "great man of God" and sometimes spend ten minutes doing this. It is despicable to see how they falsely use the word of God and use emotional manipulation to get people to send them money. They follow marketing schemes, like a sale promotion and infomercials. They even set deadline dates to have your money reach them in order to receive the blessing from God. Sometimes there is even a, "But wait; there's more!". Apparently God gives special deals too. They have another emotional trap that consists of they have to have your money by a certain date or their ministry will suffer or you will not be able to take advantage of the special offer. They're just marketing schemes used by advertisers. Like Satan used the desires of her flesh to lure Even in, so do these false teachers. They bait with a monetary, spiritual power gain or some other appealing benefit.

I will give an example of this below. It is just one of the numerous persons and methods of getting money out of people.

There is a Prosperity seed/faith preacher by the name of Rod Parsley. He is the pastor of a multi-campus mega church called World Harvest based out of Columbus, OH. I saw an on-line video of him in an infomercial style presentation with Steve Munsey, pastor of the Family Christian Center, in which Munsey was attempting to raise money for Parsley's ministry. Munsey is a fund raising marketer for Parsley and other pastors such as Benny Hinn.

This infomercial with Parsley was done on October 4, 2016. In it Munsey said that within the next ten days (from October 4th), that God was going to make a decision about if he is going to let the rapture of the church take place. Munsey tells the viewers that God wants the church to seek God for ten days. He then says this; that if the rapture does not take place, there is an earthly blessing that will take place. There were to be seven "Jubilee blessings" that will come upon the viewer. He then lists the blessings. Some of them are financial, instant healing, family blessings, miracles, and even the presence of God. But wait! These are double portion blessings! Munsey said that these things were going to happen in hours / days of his speaking this. Munsey says,

"Jesus could come back, and that would be wonderful. But you are getting ready to step into a double portion." Munsey said God warned us through the blood moon and the viewer needs to buy Parsley's book on this. And what is more important than Jesus coming back: A double portion blessing!

Well how do we experience this double portion? Munsey explains that in order to just "initiate" the blessings you need to give an "atonement" offering to Parsley's ministry. He calls it a seed offering. BUT, you have to have it sent in by October 12, two days before the date the Rapture MIGHT take place. Parsley said, "But delay, will put you away from this moment. God is a god of seasons..." "...God will do things in one season that he will not do in another season..."

In other words, if you do not send in the money before October 12th, you will not received the blessings. People actually buy these things. Below are some photos from that infomercial video. How their message targets our fleshly desires. Double portions in finances, healing, the alleged presence of God. We just have to buy them! And setting a date for the return of Christ? Jesus said that no man knows the day nor hour.

Below are some captured screenshots from that infomercial to give you a visual of what it looks like

If you are viewing this site in Explorer, below is a time edited version of the aforementioned video which is used here in conjunction with the Fair Use Act. After starting it, you can view it in full by right clicking on it and then clicking on the "Zoom" (Full Screen) on the menu.

If you are using a browser such as Firefox it will not be visible. Click on this link to view it Parsley . Select, "Open with - TWINUI" and click "OK". It will open in it's own window in about 20 seconds.

Parsley is associated with a number of well known persons who, by their association and endorsements, are partakers in his evil deeds. Some of them are shown below. Many of them are false teachers too. You will see these names come up in other articles.

Ecumenism And A One World Spirituality

One of the more notable "signs of the times" phenomena going on today is the more toward a one world spirituality. This is going on within and without Christianity. You can see that the political correctness, chaos, and violence in the world are some the driving forces of this movement. "Love" and "tolerance" are the rallying points instead of the truth and having faith in the word of God. It has become as was prophesied as did happen in Israel, where good is evil and evil is good.

God through Isaiah said;
Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter! Isaiah 5:20

One of the more outstanding examples of this today is the cry for acceptance of homosexuality, gay marriage, and transgenderism as good and normal. Although God has condemned all of these, many churches are now moving toward accepting these things as good and accepted by God. The activists on these things prey upon our emotions. They wrongly say that Jesus never really addressed these things. Well if they understood the word of God they would see that he did address them in the Scripture. They fail to see that Jesus said that the Scriptures testify of him and when we see that these things are condemned there, Jesus did condemn them. There is a lot of emotionalism put out by the media to influence this acceptance. They do not do these people any good service by promoting the acceptance of this behavior which the Bible says will have bad consequences like any other sin. These are sins that just happened to be highlighted in the forefront in both the Old (Scriptures) and New Testaments. God knew what was coming in the last days

We have false teachers referred to as "Evangelicals" having meetings with Pope Francis. One of the most popular and influential of these today, Rick Warren of Saddle Back Church referred to Pope Francis as "our new Pope" (youtube.com/watch?time_continue=23&v=igNCUw1adIw ) Is this Pope, leader of a denomination that is apostate from God in its many practices, now the leader of all ? Rick Warren seems to think so as do the many others that the Pope invited to have an audience with him. I'll get into these things in later articles.

But again the word of God gives us examples of what Israel did that got them into trouble and into captivity for 70 years. One of their main issues was their ecumenism. They had gotten involved in incorporating the religions and gods of the nations around them into their worshipping God. God said in Zephaniah;

I will also stretch out mine hand upon Judah, and upon all the inhabitants of Jerusalem; and I will cut off the remnant of Baal from this place, and the name of the Chemarims with the priests; And them that worship the host of heaven upon the housetops; and them that worship and that swear by the Lord, and that swear by Malcham; and them that are turned back from the Lord; and those that have not sought the Lord, nor enquired for him. Zephaniah 1:4-6

Is there still the worship of the "host of heaven" and these ancient gods going on today? Yes; more than many know and it is just in different packages. This will be brought out in other articles.

But I say, that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to devils, and not to God: and I would not that ye should have fellowship with devils. Ye cannot drink of the cup of the Lord, and the cup of devils: ye cannot be partakers of the Lord's table, and the table of devils. Do we provoke the Lord to jealousy? are we stronger than he? 1 Corinthians 10:20-22

Many churches have adopted very popular occult practices that have to do with health. Many do not realize that these practices are witchcraft and are actually partaking in the fellowship of the false god(s) behind them. So what Paul is saying is, how can we partake in the table of the Lord (Communion as an example) yet at the same time being involved with things of these false religions? And there is a great problem that comes with this. Paul further said of parking of the table of the Lord

Wherefore whosoever shall eat this bread, and drink this cup of the Lord, unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup. For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord's body.

For this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep. 1 Corinthians 11:27-30

The context of the above verses had to do with the Corinthians somewhat making a mockery of the Lord's supper in their selfishness and combining this with a feast. How much more an issue if we are partaking with practices associated with demons? So while taking communion and bringing into the remembrance the blood and beaten body of Jesus, and "by his stripes we are healed" (Isaiah 53:5, 1 Peter 2:24), we go to some practice of another religion for health reasons. Some of these practices are from the Hindu religion such as Yoga and guided imagery which I will address in other articles.

Jesus warned the church of Thyatira who were actually tolerating false teachings,

Notwithstanding I have a few things against thee, because thou sufferest that woman Jezebel, which calleth herself a prophetess, to teach and to seduce my servants to commit fornication, and to eat things sacrificed unto idols. And I gave her space to repent of her fornication; and she repented not.

Behold, I will cast her into a bed, and them that commit adultery with her into great tribulation, except they repent of their deeds. And I will kill her children with death; and all the churches shall know that I am he which searcheth the reigns and hearts: and I will give unto every one of you according to your works.

But unto you I say, and unto the rest of Thyatira, as many has not this doctrine, and which have not known the depths of Satan, as they speak: I will put upon you none other burden. Revelation 2:20-24

So there is the manifestation of ecumenism with the merging of false churches, leaders, and the incorporation of the practices of other religions going on today.

False Prophecies Can Manifest - God Is Testing Us

If there arise among you a prophet, or a dreamer of dreams, and giveth thee a sign or a wonder, and the sign or the wonder come to pass, wherof he spake unto thee, saying, Let us go after other gods, which though hast not known, and let us serve them; Though shalt not hearken unto the words of that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams:

For the Lord your God proveth you, to know whether ye love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul. Ye shall walk after the Lord your God, and fear him, and keep his commandments, and obey his voice, and ye shall serve him, and cleave unto him. Deuteronomy 13:1-4

So while some of these false prophets can manifest signs and wonders that will manifest and come to pass, the validity of their source and what their goal is will also be manifest if we know Gods word as seen in the next characteristic.

But the prophet, which shall presume to speak a word in my name, which I have not commanded him to speak, or that shall speak in the name of other gods, even that prophet shall die.

And if thou say in thine heart, How shall we know the word which the Lord hath not spoken? When a prophet speaketh in the name of the Lord, if the thing follow not, nor come to pass, that is the thing which the Lord hath not spoken, but that prophet hath spoken it presumptuously: thou shalt not be afraid of him. Deuteronomy 18:20-22

So, false prophets will speak things that will not come to pass, BUT they can also speak things that will come to pass that will, however, seduce us into believing teachings that are not of God's word. So this is what God is saying when he says he "proveth" or tests to know if we really are fearing him, his voice, his commandments and will not listen to those who are outside his words. Again, this is why it is imperative that we know the word of God.

I am going to give an example of the false prophets here but without going into detail until later articles. There is actually a large worldwide group I have mentioned that have declared they are the leaders, the apostles and prophets, of God's church. They believe they are the chosen to perfect the church, so the church can perfect the world, and that only after this can Jesus come back.

Their philosophy does not match what the word says in that [1] Because of listening to the falsehoods there will be a great apostasy, a falling away from faith in God to faith in other things. [2] Aided by the false church, this will allow the anti-Christ, the false Messiah, to step in and become the world leader and oppose God and declare he is God. [3] which will be the beginning of the Tribulation period. [4] At the end of this seven year period apostate period Jesus will come back with his church (previously removed by the "Rapture" that his group does not believe in) and put down the rebellion.

While this group is involved in many aspects of the falsehoods discussed previously, I will give an example that shows their utterances fit what God said in the previous verses about false prophets.

This group of men and women belong to an organism / movement that is called "The New Apostolic Reformation" (NAR). It was started a number of years ago by the late C. Peter Wagner of Global Harvest Ministries, Fuller Seminary and the old Fuller Institute of Church Growth. There are numerous well known and highly followed leaders of this organism of deception. Some of them are:

C. Peter Wagner (deceased 2016), Bill Johnson (Bethel Church, Redding, CA), Rick Joyner, Kim Clement, Bill Hammon, Mike Bickle, James Goll, Cindy Jacobs, Todd Bentley, Ché Ahn, John Arnott (Toronto Airport Vineyard's Toronto Blessing and "Catch The Fire" ministry), Stacey Campbell, Georgian and Winnie Bannov, Heidi Baker, Randy Clark, Dutch Sheets, Chuck Pierce, Cal Pierce (Healing Rooms), and many more.

These have what they call "The Seven Mountain Mandate" that have "The Seven Mountains Of Societal Influence" that have to be reached before Jesus can come back. These mountains are; Religion, Family,Education, Government, Media, Arts & Entertainment and Business. Self proclaimed Apostle Brian Houston of Hillsong in his own version of the same thing calls these categories, "spheres"

A number of years ago, a group from this organism consisting of many of those listed above, got together to "commission" Todd Bentley as an evangelist. In starting this ceremony Peter Wagner said;

"This commissioning represents a powerful spiritual transaction taking place in the invisible world. With this in mind, I take the apostolic authority that God has given me and I decree to Todd Bentley, your power will increase, your authority will increase, your favor will increase, your influence will increase, your revelation will increase.

“I also decree that a new supernatural strength will flow through this ministry. A new life force will penetrate this move of God. Government will be established to set things in their proper order. God will pour out a higher level of discernment to distinguish truth from error. New relationships will surface to open the gates to the future.”

Banov prophesied

"And The Lord says that because you’ve loved his personal presence there are two anointings that are released on His presence and I just want to release those two anointings on you from the LORD. By the way, the Lord says ‘you are well pleasing son.’ The Father, Abba, says that to you personally. The first anointing is the anointing of the pleasure of the LORD." [emphasis mine]

A short time later it came out that Bentley was having an affair with one of his staff. He left his wife, married the other woman, and lost his ministry. Thus, prophecies and declarations that were supposed to be of God were not true. Nor are those prophets that uttered these false prophesies or were present at this commissioning. As God said, these self proclaimed prophets did not proclaim his words, they did not come to pass, and therefore are not from him. One would wonder if God took pleasure in his adultery.

Later, Bill Johnson and another false prophet stepped in to help re-establish him.

By the way, in the late 80s and early 90s C Peter Wagner sold a number of books to churches via Fuller Institute of Church Growth that contained subject matter and resources that oppose God. One book listed in their 1990-1991 catalogue really caught my eye back then. It was called "Megatrends For Women" by Patricia Aburdene and John Naisbitt, 1988. The authors are considered "futurists"

"Women of the 90s are challenging the male dominated status quo, integrating female values into the social, political, and economic megatrends of the day... Megatrends For Women documents the current achievements of women and the sweeping changes women need to be appraised of to excel now and throughout the future".

If one has studied God's word it should be apparent that the false church, along with the anti-Christ will be the powers behind bringing about this very ecumenical "New World Order" with it's one world system of government, economy, and spirituality. In Revelation this system is called "Babylon". This is where all these false teachers, prophets, and their teachings originate. God called this false church, "the whore of Babylon" and gave this warning;

And after these things I saw another angel come down from heaven, having great power; and the earth was lightened with his glory.

And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird.

For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies.

And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues. For her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities. Revelation 18:1-5

God would not have to tell his people to come out of this system... unless they are in it.

So it is important to know what the word says about the characteristics of these false teachers and their false teachings. The simple thing to remember is; these teachings are not in the word of God. So simple yet so ignored.


Steve Munsey	Parsley "Sow $50 in each hand"	"Atonement seed deadline is October 12"

	Order in the next 20 minutes to get the price for the Sham	There is no difference between Parsley's Infomercial and the ShamWow. They both have deadlines to get the great offer and are both selling Shams.


Elevation's Steven Furtick	False faith healer Benny Hinn	Kenneth Copeland


Morris Cerullo (referred to as "God's anointed General" a term used by the group of false apostles / prophets of the New Apostolic Reformation [NAR] ), Pat Robertson (CBN), Tommy Barnett, Cindy Jacobs (false prophetess of the NAR who is also called a "General"), Jonathan Cahn (Messianic Rabbi and prophet), John Bevere (Messenger International - associated with false NAR apostle Bill Johnson of Bethel Church - Speaker at Open Heavens 2017 Conference at Bethel), Lou Engle (The Call - associated with the NAR)

Discerning False Doctrine Chapter 4: Characteristics Of False Teachers and Doctrines