A Layman’s Guide To False Preachers and Teachers – Part 14

We are looking at several aspects of how Christians can and should deal with false preachers and teachers in their churches, denominations, conferences, colleges and seminaries. In the last part of our series, we looked at the third aspect:

#3 – false preachers and teachers claim to speak for God, but are really spokespeople for the enemy of Christ (Satan)

You might wonder how someone who stands in the pulpit of a church, in a position of denominational leadership, as a speaker at a Christian conference, or as a professor in a Bible college or seminary and speaks for Satan instead of Jesus Christ. How is that possible? Excellent question.

Deceivers

The answer is that these people are deceivers – experts at deception. The Apostle Paul often wrote to churches with warnings about deceivers in leadership positions. One good example is 2 Corinthians. Paul addressed the scoundrels toward the end of the letter and pulled off their cloak of invisibility for all to see.

But what I do, I will also continue to do, that I may cut off the opportunity from those who desire an opportunity to be regarded just as we are in the things of which they boast. For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into apostles of Christ. And no wonder! For Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also transform themselves into ministers of righteousness, whose end will be according to their works. 2 Corinthians 11:12-15

False preachers/teachers had wormed their way into the Corinthian church and pretended that they were speaking for God. Some even claimed to be apostles of Christ. The truth was that they were really apostles for Satan. Paul called them:

false apostles
deceitful workers
transforming themselves into apostles of Christ
Satan’s ministers (servants) who transformed themselves into ministers of righteousness in the same way Satan transformed himself in an angel of light

It’s all a lie. Even as Satan is not an angel of light, false preachers and teachers are not ministers of righteousness. Just the opposite. They pretend to be one thing, but are really another thing. Instead of being ministers of righteousness, they are ministers of unrighteousness.

We’ve seen in previous parts of our series how Christians can identify false preachers/teachers and what they can do to point them out to pastors and others in their churches and denominations. What we want to look at now is what these Satanic preachers/teachers say to deceive believers and devour the flock of God.

How Deceivers Deceive

False preachers and teachers have not come up with their own playbook for deceiving God’s people. Remember, they are ministers of Satan. They simply follow the deceiver’s playbook that Satan wrote long ago. I direct your attention to Genesis 3 and Luke 4.

Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, ‘Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden’?’ And the woman said to the serpent, ‘We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden; but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.’ Then the serpent said to the woman, ‘You will not surely die. For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.’ So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make onewise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate. Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves coverings. Genesis 3:1-7

Then Jesus, being filled with the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, being tempted for forty days by the devil. And in those days He ate nothing, and afterward, when they had ended, He was hungry. And the devil said to Him, ‘If You are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread.’ But Jesus answered him, saying, ‘It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.’ Then the devil, taking Him up on a high mountain, showed Him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. And the devil said to Him, ‘All this authority I will give You, and their glory; for this has been delivered to me, and I give it to whomever I wish. Therefore, if You will worship before me, all will be Yours.’ And Jesus answered and said to him, ‘Get behind Me, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only you shall serve.’ Then he brought Him to Jerusalem, set Him on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to Him, ‘If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down from here. For it is written: ‘He shall give His angels charge over you, To keep you,’ and, ‘In their hands they shall bear you up, Lest you dash your foot against a stone.’ And Jesus answered and said to him, ‘It has been said, ‘You shall not tempt the Lord your God.’ Now when the devil had ended every temptation, he departed from Him until an opportune time. Luke 4:1-13

That’s the playbook every false preacher and teacher will use to deceive individual believers, churches, denominations, conferences, colleges and seminaries. It’s what they do. They speak lies because they are of their father who was a liar from the beginning (John 8:44).

The Apostle John summed up the playbook nicely in his first letter:

For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world. 1 John 2:16

lust of the flesh
lust of the eyes
pride of life

That’s how Satan attacks and he inspires his human agents (false preachers and teachers) to do the same thing. The deceive through the process of “temptation.” They tempt people through lust and pride. Unfortunately, that works more often than not.

Tactical Language

If you want to know what words these deceivers use, read through the Bible and you’ll find hundreds of examples. Identify false preachers and teachers in Scripture, then read what they said. Their words and actions are clues for us to follow. Even though these deceivers spoke thousands of years ago, the tactical language has not changed. Deceivers in churches and denominations today are just like their predecessors from Old and New Testament times.

Some examples in the Old Testament would be people who opposed God’s appointed leaders. They lied, complained, connived, and opposed God’s prophets at every turn. What did God tell the prophets to do? Call out the liars and expose their true identity. Who were the liars and deceivers? Many, if not most, were Israel’s leaders. That included kings, priests and prophets. Those liars, deceivers, led Israel and Judah down the road to destruction.

An astonishing and horrible thing Has been committed in the land: The prophets prophesy falsely, And the priests rule by their own power; And My people love to have it so. But what will you do in the end? Jeremiah 5:30-31

[The Book of Jeremiah is an excellent example of how Judah’s prophets and priests lied and what they said that led the people astray and eventually to their destruction.]

The same was true in the New Testament. Most of the liars and deceivers we meet in the Gospel accounts were members of the ruling class – Scribes, Pharisees, Sadducees and Priests. The people saw the leaders as examples of godly leadership, but Jesus pulled off the cover and showed that the leaders were in truth liars and hypocrites.

Look carefully at what Jesus said about the scribes and Pharisees. You’ll see some of the earmarks of words and behavior of false preachers and teachers.

Then Jesus spoke to the multitudes and to His disciples, saying: ‘The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat. Therefore whatever they tell you to observe, that observe and do, but do not do according to their works; for they say, and do not do. For they bind heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on men’s shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers. But all their works they do tobe seen by men. They make their phylacteries broad and enlarge the borders of their garments. They love the best places at feasts, the best seats in the synagogues, greetings in the marketplaces, and to be called by men, ‘Rabbi, Rabbi.’ But you, do not be called ‘Rabbi’; for One is your Teacher, the Christ, and you are all brethren. Do not call anyone on earth your father; for One is your Father, He who is in heaven.And do not be called teachers; for One is your Teacher, the Christ. But he who is greatest among you shall be your servant. And whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted. But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you shut up the kingdom of heaven against men; for you neither go in yourselves, nor do you allow those who are entering to go in.Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you devour widows’ houses, and for a pretense make long prayers. Therefore you will receive greater condemnation. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you travel land and sea to win one proselyte, and when he is won, you make him twice as much a son of hell as yourselves. Woe to you, blind guides, who say, ‘Whoever swears by the temple, it is nothing; but whoever swears by the gold of the temple, he is obliged to perform it.’ Fools and blind! For which is greater, the gold or the temple that sanctifies the gold? And, ‘Whoever swears by the altar, it is nothing; but whoever swears by the gift that is on it, he is obliged to perform it.’ Fools and blind! For which is greater, the gift or the altar that sanctifies the gift? Therefore he who swears by the altar, swears by it and by all things on it. He who swears by the temple, swears by it and by Him who dwells in it. And he who swears by heaven, swears by the throne of God and by Him who sits on it. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faith. These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone. Blind guides, who strain out a gnat and swallow a camel! Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you cleanse the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of extortion and self-indulgence. Blind Pharisee, first cleanse the inside of the cup and dish, that the outside of them may be clean also. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which indeed appear beautiful outwardly, but inside are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness. Even so you also outwardly appear righteous to men, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! Because you build the tombs of the prophets and adorn the monuments of the righteous, and say, ‘If we had lived in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets. Therefore you are witnesses against yourselves that you are sons of those who murdered the prophets. Fill up, then, the measure of your fathers’ guilt. Serpents, brood of vipers! How can you escape the condemnation of hell? Therefore, indeed, I send you prophets, wise men, and scribes: some of them you will kill and crucify, and some of them you will scourge in your synagogues and persecute from city to city, that on you may come all the righteous blood shed on the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah, son of Berechiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar. Assuredly, I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation.” Matthew 23:1-36

[Podcast version of this study coming soon.]

Next Time

We’ll look at more about what Satan’s preachers and teachers said in the New Testament in the next part of our special series, A Layman’s Guide to False Preachers and Teachers. Once we know how they behave and what they say, we can pull the cover off their deception and show them for who they really are – liars, deceivers and cheaters.

A Layman’s Guide To False Preachers and Teachers Part 1

A Layman’s Guide To False Preachers and Teachers Part 2

A Layman’s Guide To False Preachers and Teachers Part 3

A Layman’s Guide To False Preachers and Teachers Part 4

A Layman’s Guide To False Preachers and Teachers Part 5

A Layman’s Guide To False Preachers and Teachers Part 6

A Layman’s Guide To False Preachers and Teachers Part 7

A Layman’s Guide To False Preachers and Teachers Part 8

A Layman’s Guide To False Preachers and Teachers Part 9

A Layman’s Guide To False Preachers and Teachers Part 10

A Layman’s Guide To False Preachers and Teachers Part 11

A Layman’s Guide To False Preachers and Teachers Part 12