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Jesus said the end of the age would be characterized by
great deception and an upsurge of false prophets:
"Watch out that no one deceives you... False messiahs and false prophets will arise and perform great signs and wonders to lead astray, if possible, even the elect." - Matthew 24:4,24
No doubt, this is already happening. The Body of Christ is infiltrated with deceptions and false prophets and prophecies that will drag many souls into tribulation and hell. As someone with a sheep dog ministry who is called to watch the flock and, occasionally, to bark at these infiltrations, I can tell you the greatest resistance comes from Christians themselves who don't want to hear the warnings and would rather suppress them or call me a gossiper and slanderer, rather than have an open, honest and Bible-based dialog about the problems.
The Scriptures say we are supposed to test the spirits, expose darkness and not to tolerate sin and evil. Jesus faulted the church in Thyatira for tolerating a false prophet and false teacher:
"But I have this against you: You tolerate the woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess and teaches and deceives My slaves to commit sexual immorality and to eat meat sacrificed to idols." - Revelation 2:20
Jesus also criticized the church in Pergamum for having false teachers in their ranks.
We can't root out these problems unless we talk openly about them. Sometimes that means naming names, like the Apostle Paul did:
"Alexander the coppersmith did great harm to me. The Lord will repay him according to his works. Watch out for him yourself because he strongly opposed our words." - 2 Timothy 4:14-15
In fact, leaders in the church are to be rebuked PUBLICLY, like the Apostle Paul did with the Apostle Peter when Peter started favoring the Jewish Christians and distancing himself from the Gentiles. I'm not saying mean, snarky comments are acceptable, or that we should not follow biblical protocol for confronting people, but there are times to publicly expose and rebuke people:
"Don’t accept an accusation against an elder unless it is supported by two or three witnesses. Publicly rebuke those who sin, so that the rest will also be afraid." - 1 Timothy 5:19-20
I do not always phrase things in the nicest, gentlest way, and the Lord is working on me there, but that does not mean these things should not be said. They should. Those who shut down open, honest discussions and warnings about false teachings, false prophecies and false prophets are just as guilty as those who do not bridle their tongues.
"Watch out that no one deceives you... False messiahs and false prophets will arise and perform great signs and wonders to lead astray, if possible, even the elect." - Matthew 24:4,24
No doubt, this is already happening. The Body of Christ is infiltrated with deceptions and false prophets and prophecies that will drag many souls into tribulation and hell. As someone with a sheep dog ministry who is called to watch the flock and, occasionally, to bark at these infiltrations, I can tell you the greatest resistance comes from Christians themselves who don't want to hear the warnings and would rather suppress them or call me a gossiper and slanderer, rather than have an open, honest and Bible-based dialog about the problems.
The Scriptures say we are supposed to test the spirits, expose darkness and not to tolerate sin and evil. Jesus faulted the church in Thyatira for tolerating a false prophet and false teacher:
"But I have this against you: You tolerate the woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess and teaches and deceives My slaves to commit sexual immorality and to eat meat sacrificed to idols." - Revelation 2:20
Jesus also criticized the church in Pergamum for having false teachers in their ranks.
We can't root out these problems unless we talk openly about them. Sometimes that means naming names, like the Apostle Paul did:
"Alexander the coppersmith did great harm to me. The Lord will repay him according to his works. Watch out for him yourself because he strongly opposed our words." - 2 Timothy 4:14-15
In fact, leaders in the church are to be rebuked PUBLICLY, like the Apostle Paul did with the Apostle Peter when Peter started favoring the Jewish Christians and distancing himself from the Gentiles. I'm not saying mean, snarky comments are acceptable, or that we should not follow biblical protocol for confronting people, but there are times to publicly expose and rebuke people:
"Don’t accept an accusation against an elder unless it is supported by two or three witnesses. Publicly rebuke those who sin, so that the rest will also be afraid." - 1 Timothy 5:19-20
I do not always phrase things in the nicest, gentlest way, and the Lord is working on me there, but that does not mean these things should not be said. They should. Those who shut down open, honest discussions and warnings about false teachings, false prophecies and false prophets are just as guilty as those who do not bridle their tongues.
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