3 - Do Not Gather with False Teachers
GOD HATES A FALSE TEACHER
There are some things that God has said He hates. One of them is a false witness, a liar. This would include a false teacher. “... the Lord hates... a lying tongue... a false witness who utters lies...” (Prov 6:16-19) In this lesson you will study how to detect & treat a false teacher.
A false teacher is like a duck decoy. A duck decoy is a phony bird that is used by a shrewd hunter to attract real birds so that he can shoot to kill them for food or sport. The Devil uses a false teacher like a duck decoy. He lures many unsuspecting people to a person who will misguide them in an important area of truth in order to kill their chances of going to heaven. Understand that, unlike many hunters who hunt as a part time hobby, luring people to a false teacher is the Devil’s full time job. So that you will not become prey for a false teacher, you must learn how to detect and stay clear of one. Good news! John, an apostle, gave us a method to determine who is a false teacher and who is not. It centers on testing teachers in not just one, but in several weighty areas of truth. You may have thought that only teachers were supposed to be the ones to test others. Next, study how you, the student of God and His word, must put teachers to the test.
PUT TEACHERS TO THE TEST, Carefully
John told us to put teachers to the test, saying,“Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God; and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God; this is the spirit of the antichrist, of which you have heard that it is coming, and now it is already in the world. You are from God, little children, and have overcome them; because greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world. They are from the world; therefore they speak as from the world, and the world listens to them. We are from God; he who knows God listens to us; he who is not from God does not listen to us. By this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error.” (1 Jn 4:1-6)
To clear up any confusion about what is a false prophet, and so that no one will disregard John’s warnings and teachings about them-- that they apply to us today--consider what Peter likened false prophets to:“But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will also be false teachers among you...” (2 Pe 2:1)
Peter equated false prophets to false teachers. So when John warned of false prophets, he meant false teachers. You must beware of certain teachers.
Before studying three important points John made on how to test teachers for falsehood, first consider two important things he said about us. One relates to our own naivety about teachers. The other relates to our own spirit. Pay close attention to both of these things so that you will be able to overcome false teachers.