Discerning False Teachers and Prophets

In our world today, there are many many teachers and preachers providing programming on the radio, TV, and through the internet. There are books coming out constantly that claim to be from the Lord. How do we know which Bible teacher or preacher to trust? We are told that in order to recognize a counterfeit, one must be thoroughly familiar with the authentic and in that way we will be able to distinguish the true teachers from the false. I have found though, that the false teachers also proclaim some truth mixed in with their deceptions. So it can be quite a challenge sometimes to differentiate between the true and false teacher. I am not going to name any names in this blog post but I want to explore what to look for. What does the Bible say about this? How can we know and what should we be looking for? Jesus says in Matthew 7 that false prophets come in sheeps clothing but inwardly they are ravening wolves. This means that they are very deceptive - they really do look like good people whom we could trust - BUT they are not. Jesus also says - Ye shall know them by their fruits - This means that it's not so much who they say they are but their actions ( their fruits) will make it obvious for whom they are working ( either for the Lord or for satan) Jesus says a good tree bringeth forth good fruit, but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit.
Evil fruit is that which Jesus mentions in Mark 7 -evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, Thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness
SO, look at the life of the person who is claiming to be God's messenger - what kinds of things are they doing when they think no one is watching? What kind of life are they promoting?
Matthew 7: 15-17 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. 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.
Mark 7: 21-23 For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, Thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness: All these evil things come from within, and defile the man.

Let's look at some more characteristic of false prophets and false teachers as described in the Bible:

* deception and false teaching - ( shall deceive many - Matthew 24)
* sign and wonders - ( shall shew signs and wonders, to seduce, - Mark 13)
* destructive, untrue doctrines - (who privily shall bring in damnable heresies - 2 Peter)
* in word or action they deny the Lord; ( denying the Lord that bought them, 2 Peter)
* they are popular and are held in high regard by many people ; ( all men shall speak well of you! Luke 6)
* a Bible teacher must confess Jesus Christ is come as a baby, Son of God or else he or she is not from God - ( confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God 1 John )
*some other clues to discerning the false teacher is if he claims there are other ways to be saved than through Jesus alone. The Bible teaches that there is only One true God, One Savior - our Lord Jesus Christ.
* a false teacher will justify sin - especially sexual sin. This could be in promoting or tolerating the gay lifestyle, or the false teacher may preach that there is no real freedom from lust, pornography, adultery and other sexual sins. Beware of these kinds of teachers. The Bible teaches to flee sin, to put sin to death in our lives, to be a separate and a sanctified people.

As I read through this list, what I see over and over again is that the false teacher lies. He lives a lie and speaks a lie but all the while tries to have people believe that he is a true Christian. He pretends to be a true preacher of the gospel.

Overcoming Temptation....

Matthew 4:4 But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.

Jesus was led by the Spirit of God into the wilderness where He fasted for forty days. The devil tried to take advantage of Jesus in His hungry condition. We can imagine that after having been without food, Jesus's physical body will have been quite worn down. So satan tries to tempt Jesus into caving in to his own physical needs. But Jesus has just spent days in communion with the Heavenly Father, so even though in His body, he is in need of nourishment, He is still strong. Jesus rebukes satan and says : Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. Satan continues on with other temptations but Jesus remains firm and strong and never gives the devil even a bit of ground and the angels come and attend to Him and take care of Him. Matthew 4:11 Then the devil leaveth him, and, behold, angels came and ministered unto him

Many times when people are discussing temptation, and trying to justify falling into temptations you will hear them say - Well, even Jesus was tempted, but He was God so, of course He didn't sin. That is true - Jesus is God and He didn't sin.

There are two aspects of temptation that I would like to address.
 First is the real definition of temptation
 Second standing strong in the face of temptation.

1) What is the definition of temptation?
The answer is found in James 1: 14-15 where it says : But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.

Temptation is the act of Satan presenting something unrighteous (something that he thinks you might desire) before you, perhaps with a thought in your mind or a picture in a magazine or on TV. If you have made the decision to live faithfully for the Lord you will have absolutely no desire for whatever it is that satan places before you. You will honestly say No, I do not want that, I do not need that and you refuse to take a second look or toy with the thought at all. It is awesome if you can quote a Bible verse at such a time since satan cannot stand against the Word of God. That is what it means to not sin in a temptation.

If on the other hand, satan places a thought into your mind or puts a picture in front of you and you desire it in your heart- you have already sinned and you need to repent before God even though you have only sinned in your thoughts and desires at this point. At this point lust has been conceived and sin is present. When not dealt with, this then will lead to death - spiritually and in relationships, and sometimes actual physical death.

How to Stand Strong against Temptation?
Let's think back to Jesus in His temptation experience. Jesus had just spent 40 days with God so though He was weak physically, He was strong in His Spirit. If Jesus needed to get away from people and busyness of life and spend time with His Heavenly Father - how much more do we need to get serious about spending time with our Heavenly Father. The closer we walk with the LORD, the more victory we will experience in every area of our life. So we need to daily, ( I mean daily) spend time in the Bible and become quiet before the LORD and allow Him to soak and saturate us with His Word and in this way His desires become our own personal desires. The more we have with the LORD, the less we want of the world and it's useless pleasures. We need to get Scripture into our minds so that throughout our day, we are thinking and meditating on the things of the Lord. We need to have Scripture in our mind and in this way we can quote it in the midst of temptation and Satan cannot stand against the Words of the Bible and He must flee.
Our desire becomes to do only that which pleases the LORD and brings glory to Him!!
Psalm 37:4 Delight thyself also in the Lord: and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart.