Matthew 7:13-15, “Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it. Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.” Matthew 24:4-5, “And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you. For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many.” 1st John 4:1, “Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.”
These text Scripture passages are but a few of hundreds in the Word of God that warn us about false teachers. In Matthew 7:13-15 Jesus Himself warned that false prophets would come to us in SHEEP'S CLOTHING to deceive us. The Devil knows that people are smart enough to reject him in his true form. Satan is evil to the core by nature (John 8:44). So to trick his victims, the Devil masquerades as an Angel of Light, and so also are Satan's ministers transformed to appear as ministers of righteousness (2nd Corinthians 11:13-15). Satan and his minions are actors, pretending to be something that they are not.
There are a couple different interpretations of Jesus' prophecy in Matthew 24:4-5, “And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you. For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many.” Two suggested meanings are:
- False prophets will come claiming to be Jesus Himself.
- False teachers will come, who acknowledge that Jesus is the Christ, but they will preach a counterfeit gospel to deceive people.
Although both of these heresies are popular in the world today, only one can be biblically accurate. It is my humble opinion that Jesus is warning us about false messiahs who would come claiming to be Christ.
But one of my mentors of the Christian faith, Pastor Hank Lindstrom (1940-2008), believed that Jesus was referring to the former, that false prophets would come to us professing Christ while preaching another gospel. They are not saved. Dr. Lindstrom is correct that some people who profess Christ are not really saved, because they are really trusting in partial faith in Christ plus works. Such false religions are the Jehovah's Witnesses, Seventh-Day Adventists and Roman Catholics, who all falsely claim to be Christians.
These cursed false religions profess that Jesus is the Christ, yet they corrupt the Gospel of free grace by adding works to it. Any faith that requires even the least amount of human effort is not true faith, because it adds works to grace, Romans 11:6, “And if by grace, then is it no more of works: otherwise grace is no more grace. But if it be of works, then is it no more grace: otherwise work is no more work.” Salvation is by faith alone, and “by faith” I mean simply resting in the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, which is the Good News that Jesus died on the cross for our sins, was buried and bodily resurrected three days later (1st Corinthians 15:1-4).
Dr. Lindstrom is correct in his teaching that some false prophets will come professing Christ while mixing it with a false gospel. However, I disagree with him humbly that this is what Jesus was referring to in Matthew 24:4-5. Listen to yourself to Pastor Lindstrom's sermon titled, "Deception." It is an excellent sermon. Everything that Dr. Lindstrom is preaching is sound doctrine, I just don't think that his application is correct to Matthew 24:4-5.
Of course, I could be wrong and Dr. Lindstrom could be right. I am simply sharing my opinion. The reason why I believe the way I do is because of the disciple's question to Jesus in Matthew 24:3b, “and what shall be the sign of thy coming...” The disciples wanted to know what signs would precede Jesus' Second Coming. So it is logical that the answer to their question would regard Christ Himself. Jesus said that MANY would come in His name to deceive many, saying: “I am Christ”...
Matthew 24:5, “For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many.”
Mark 13:6, “For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many.”
Luke 21:8, “And he said, Take heed that ye be not deceived: for many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and the time draweth near: go ye not therefore after them.”
There are MANY false teachers in the world today! 1st John 4:1, “Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.” The Bible commands us to “try” (test) every spirit (i.e., every book, sermon, philosophy, song, movie, website, et cetera) to determine if it is of God. Any spirit that is not the Holy Spirit is a familiar spirit (a demon). We can test every spirit by simply comparing everything against the inspired King James Bible.
A major problem in churches today is pastors who won't stand. Ladies and gentlemen, a pastor who won't call out the wolves is part of the problem! If you know someone who has commit the horrible crime and sin of murder, but you remain silent and say nothing to help police apprehend the culprit, in a very real way you are guilty too. You are bidding Godspeed to evil. You are privy to the crime. All across the United States there are cowardly pastors who refuse to expose false prophets, making them privy to the crime.
I'm talking about Pensacola Christian College (PCC) who are eerily silent about fake Bibles, damnable heresy and dangerous false teachers who corrupt the Word of God and cast stumbling blocks before the people. PCC has a spirit of “us four and no more,” isolated from the rest of the professed Christian world. While Bob Jones University damns thousands of students to Hell with a Calvinist false gospel, PCC refuses to break ties from BJU and expose them as a dangerous religious cult. So what does that say about PCC and their college started Campus Church? It says they are only in business to make money, not “earnestly contend for the faith once delivered unto the saints” (Jude 1:3b).
Pastor Jeff Redlin at Campus Church at PCC is a wolf! He is complicit to the corruption at BJU today, having nothing negative to say about damnable false prophets. Instead, Jeff Redlin hobnobs with Harvest Baptist Church on Guam and the unsaved Bob Jones camp. NO ONE is saved who believes that you cannot simply accept Christ to be saved, which is exactly what infidel Dr. Steve Pettit (president of BJU since 2014) preaches! Something is VERY wrong when Bible colleges, evangelists and pastors refuse to REBUKE THEM SHARPLY who subvert whole households (Titus 1:10-13). Why am I virtually the only Christian who is exposing Steve Pettit's counterfeit plan of salvation? Where are the 7,000?
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