Have you ever listened to a Christian speaker and had the uneasy feeling that what you were hearing did not ring true? Perhaps it was a television preacher whose appeal for funds seemed a bit manipulative. Or maybe you've attended a Bible study where the leader seemed to suggest that the Bible is a helpful book but not necessarily true in all it affirms.
The early church faced many threats. Some were from outside enemies, but the greatest danger came from within. The problem was false teachers. People who claimed to be students of Christ began emerging in various locations with new or distorted versions of the gospel. Some were chasing tangents, while others claimed to possess a new, superior knowledge of spiritual things. The same is very true today as well. Ancient heresies never die, they are simply recycled after a hundred years or so. The church today is in no less danger from false teaching than it was in the first century. The scripture I am reading from this morning deals with the problem of false teachers in the church. While we must be cautious about making an accusation about false teaching (a person may simply be uninformed or poorly trained as a teacher), we must also be vigilant about guarding the essential tenets of the Christian faith. Read 2 Peter 2:1-22 today. Ask God to speak to you. Remember God is not the author of confusion. He is very easy to understand.
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This is very true. We have encountered someone within our previous church that claimed to have a word from the Lord all the time. He appeared very "wise", yet his life didn't match up with what he was sharing and in further study, we found that what he was claiming was from the Lord sometimes didn't match up with what Scripture actually said.
It is important to continually check Scripture against all human teaching. Wouldn't Satan love to sneak in through ways we least expect it? I've seen it first hand and it took a few years to come to fruition, but eventually he was exposed for what he was. Satan twists Scripture "just enough" to make it sound true....look at Genesis in his deceit with Eve. He quotes Scripture and twists it just enough to make it sound truthful. We must be watchful and vigilant to know our Scriptures to know the Truth.
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