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By Hiram E. Sutton
Christianity is under attack as never before, not
only from the outside but from numerous cancers within.
By way of application scripture admonishes the shepherds of the
flock to (1) declare the whole purpose of God and to, (2) be on guard
for themselves and the flock. It warns them that spiritual attacks would
be both external and internal. This act of looking out for
themselves and the sheep was to be applied by way of diligence and
discernment. It's execution was of upmost importance to the
apostle Paul, so much so, that for a period of three years he did not
cease to admonish each one with
tears as he spoke to the Elders of the church of
Ephesus (Acts 20:17,27-31)
In contrast and
unfortunately many pastors and Christian leaders
today have either, been asleep at the helm or made light or ignored those who
are sounding the alarm, as a result "many"
unorthodox doctrines and teachers have crept into the church either via
the pulpit, written literature (books), television and radio. False
teachers have exploited all channels of media to get their message out
and with a great deal of success.
Among the leadership and laity there seems to be
indifference and
blissful / intentional ignorance of what God has said in the prophetic
scriptures concerning the increase of deception via false teaching and
teachers as we approach the end of the age. (Matt
24:4-5, 1Tim 4:1,
Acts 20:26-31,
2 Peter 2:1-2).
It is during this time Satan will launch his most
seductive and vicious attacks against the people of God, therefore it is
imperative to put on the "Full Amor" of God. (Eph
6:11-12) and obey it.
 There
is blatant disobedience by refusing to mark them that cause
divisions and offences contrary to biblical truth
(Rom 16:17-18, 2 Thess 3:14).
This is not an exposure of those we have a
disagreement with on the minor doctrines of the faith or the correct
interpretation of difficult passages that have no bearing on the major
tenants of the faith but teachings that are foundational to the
Christian faith i.e., denying the deity of Christ, his work in
salvation, the nature of the triune God, etc. It is these major doctrines
and others that are now under attack within the church.
The very under pinning's of our Christian
faith.
We are explicitly warned not to allow false teachers to teach in our
churches nor give them any encouragement
(2 John 1:10). By way of extension this
would include the buying and selling of their books and materials,
teaching their messages and methods to others.
If we do,
we take part in their evil deeds (2 John
1:11). God's will is that
we walk in truth (3 John
1:4) not in duplicity or
false hood.
One
disturbing trend that I have begun to
run into is that some churches will have an orthodox doctrinal statement
but they engage in interfaith ecumenical associations, sell books
authored by those who practice and teach non Biblical things such as
contemplative spirituality, Word of Faith Theology and invite heretical
teachers to their churches to teach their congregations, allow its
members to be part of secret organizations such as Free Masonry, Eastern
Star, etc. without uttering one word of rebuke or correction. This
is a sinister act because of the fact that is being done by pastors who
claim to be orthodox in doctrine. Sherry Neese makes the following comment
concerning this alarming behavior in her article
called "Heresy By
Proxy":
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"Pastors,
teachers and ministry leaders with
heretofore unblemished reputations enjoy
positions of trust in ministries and
churches and may have laid down a track
record for the truth of the Lord for many
years. They may have never preached or
taught anything questionable or even
remotely heretical from their venues of
ministry yet they have started taking up
with known wolves. They may lack any evil
intent and could be unaware that they have
been deceived and are in fact a detriment to
the blood-bought Church of the Lord Jesus
Christ. These double-minded individuals have
a "form of godliness" but are in fact
betraying the Lord they profess to love.
They want the grass on both sides of the
fence. They preach words of truth on the one
hand, but abuse the trust that has been
placed in them and mock God by their
actions. Their error is obscured behind the
skirts of truth and it is next to impossible
to find a speck of error in their actual
teaching. The old adage "Actions speak
louder than words" describes this scenario
perfectly. To coin a new phrase, "You are
what you promote.
These teachers practice heresy by proxy. A
proxy is someone who stands in for another.
They consort with heretics and thereby
encourage their followers to partake of
their apostasy. They mix truth and error, a
deadly concoction. They give the impression
that the truth they speak is compatible with
the falsehood they endorse. This is not
‘guilt by association," this is guilt by
endorsement. Flirting with deluding spirits
and doctrines of demons is dangerous
business and they do so at great peril
....But those who wear their evangelical
fundamentalist that's one day and then buddy
up to apostates and heretics the next pose a
greater danger than the false teachers
themselves! (see
full article Heresy By Proxy).
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For a shepherd of God's people to allow such things as discussed
in this article is tantamount to spiritual abuse of the people of God.
It leaves the people of God at risk, scattered, confused and a prey to those who
seek to destroy them (Ezk 34:3-10). God
will hold shepherd's such as these accountable.
Unfortunately more and more are
participating in duplicity and or false hood, both leaders and church
members now speak the synergistic language of compromise between truth
and error, rather than speaking with the pure speech of Biblical Truth.
I want to close this
iteration of the article on a point of observation. It is
interesting to note the fact that God is raising up a people who have a
passion for his truth and are proclaiming it. Some of these folk are well learned via
higher schools of theological learning, some are pastors and teachers
while others are not well known nor are they part of an institutional
ministry but are ministering to the body of Christ as independent
discernment and apologetic ministries. They are warning the church of
approaching dangers by proclaiming the word
of God with passion, accuracy and under much criticism, threat of disfellowship, in some cases
even the threat of death. The Bible calls these folks watchmen (Ezk
33:7, Is 62:6).
Could it be that we are seeing a
reaction to the failure of leaders within the church to do what God has
called them to do and as a result God is raising up a people who will be
obedient to his word and warn of the spiritual dangers that are coming
against the church.
Is
there a Hireling Problem?...
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