Truth or Consequences

 

“The teaching of a false prophet cannot withstand scrutiny under the divine light of Scripture.” John MacArthur

 
It’s a case that’s scandalized Kenya and has thrown a global spotlight on the too often deadly consequences of bogus religious teaching. Please don’t think it’s just the 3^rd world. It seems nearly every year there are sincere people following a false teacher that can result in deadly consequences.
  This time the preacher was prominent Kenyan ­televangelist, Ezekiel Odero, who described himself as “God’s chosen one.” Last April authorities arrested Odero along with another prominent pastor, Paul Nthenge Mackenzie, after finding more than 100 dead or starving people on Mackenzie’s property. Mackenzie, the founder of Good News International Ministries, had asked his followers to fast until they died and met Jesus. Prosecutors linked the two charlatans as business associates who led their followers in some cases even fatally astray.
  More than 85% of Kenya’s population is “Christian.” Ministers, like Odero in a country where poverty is widespread, prey on the desire for health and wealth. Those in dire poverty are easily victimized by charlatans promising “God’s relief.”
  2 Timothy 4:3-4 warns us, “For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths.” While most false teaching doesn’t have such dire consequences, it’s still spiritually deadly. How can we protect ourselves from it?
  We must test everything by the standard of Scripture. False teachers like to use phrasing “God told me.” Or “I have a word from the Lord.” They use this as a cover because if God is saying something, how can you question it? But you can question it and are encouraged to in the Bible. God’s Word is always the yardstick. At Grace, we believe in Sola Scriptura. That simply means the Bible is the only infallible source of authority for our faith and practice.
  In the book of Acts the “the Berean Jews were of more noble character than those in Thessalonica, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true” (Acts 17:11). The Bereans were being taught by the Apostle Paul himself, yet they didn’t take what even an apostle taught at face value. They examined the Scriptures to see if what he said was accurate and true.
  That should be done with whatever is taught that claims to be God’s message. Every sermon, lecture or a claim of divine knowledge must be measured by what the Bible says to determine if it’s true.
  Don’t be intimidated by someone’s celebrity status or the size of their platform. In social media there’s something known as “social proof.” It’s the idea that if many people like it, it validates the person or what they’re saying. That doesn’t work for biblical truth. Just because the one saying it has a large following, it doesn’t mean that what they’re saying is true.
  Sometimes the bigger the platform gets the less people want to tell the truth because they’re worried about losing fans or financial support. As a result, they may be tempted to say what they believe their followers want to hear so they’ll keep coming back. The size of the following is not a validation that the message is true. It often only means that the message is popular. Popularity and truth rarely go hand in hand.
  Study God’s Word personally and be a part of a community of believers committed to faithfully studying God’s Word. The most important words when dealing with any teaching is to ask, “What does the Bible say?” When we read a book, even from a trustworthy source, we must ask that question. When we listen to a sermon or someone teaching a group, we need to do that. Even when we read books, blogs, tweets and other things, it’s the question we must ask. And when we do this, when we’re committed with the help of the Holy Spirit to seek to understand the Scriptures to the best of our ability, and when we hold all teaching—even good teaching—up to the light of God’s Word, there’s no place for false teaching to hide.
  There is safety too in a community of committed believers. All of us have preconceptions and prejudices. Partnering and studying with those who love God and His Word help protect all of us.
  Half-truth is one of Satan’s most dangerous weapons. A tragic example is – Does God want us to be moral and “good” people? Does He want us to obey the Ten Commandments and other commandments in Scripture? Yes! But will that gain us God’s forgiveness and entry into heaven? No, it’s not what the Bible teaches. It’s a half truth. We’re to seek to live as good people and obey God’s Word because we’ve been forgiven and committed our lives to Christ but not to gain points with God or entry into heaven. We do it because we’re His children not to become His children.  
  As Martin Luther said, “The most damnable and pernicious heresy that has ever plagued the mind of man was the idea that somehow he could make himself good enough to deserve to live with an all-holy God.” Just this half-truth has led many to believe that if they’re relatively good, attend church, have been baptized, do nice things or give away lots of money, etc., then they’re on their way to heaven. But it’s not what the Bible teaches. Ephesians 2:8-9: “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.”
  If we could be “good” enough for heaven, would God have sacrificed His Son Jesus on the cross to pay our sin debt? Yet Satan loves half-truths. Tragically, many will go into a Christless eternity because they believed that lie and didn’t check God’s Word for themselves. There’s only one yardstick for spiritual truth – God’s Word. Please use the right measure of truth, not just what someone says is the “truth” because believing a lie could kill you. Be like those Bereans. Check it out for yourself!

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