In Matthew 7:15-20, Jesus said”Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? Likewise every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them.Twice in six verses He says by their fruit you will recognize them.

 
Paul tells us in Galatians 5:22-23 :”But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.”

But the verse above is not the only one on false-teachers. We are warned all over the New Testament to watch out for false teachers. Bad fruits are poisonous. They taste sweet and may even refresh you, but they eventually harm you. After two years as a Christian, I see clearly what is the result of false teachings. As I give you my thoughts and compare some teachings to the Holy Scriptures’ teachings, I would like to tell you that I do not wish to disparage or maliciously defame some teachers. The Bible does not tell us to be hostile toward false-teachers, but to watch out for them. In 1Peter 5:8, it is written ” Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking to devour.” Now I don’t know about you but if I’m around a roaring lion seeking to devour me, I won’t go fight him but will tell my brothers where he is and what he is seeking to do.

When I was in Mexico as an unbeliever living with Christian missionaries, I bought this Mexican wrestling mask. One day, the father of the family, Peter, told me he didn’t like masks. In my secular frame of mind, I thought, oh loosen up a bit, there’s worst things than a mask. When I gave my life to Christ I realized what he meant: Satan is the king of masquerades. So false-teachers, deceived by the beast, do not come to you announcing their deceitful ways. They’ll infiltrate wherever there is flesh to devour to get what they want (which is usually money or any other source of power like fame, applause, and false-glory).

In 2Timothy4:3, Paul tells us: “For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear.” We are in this time. And the Word Of Faith movement is catching many people into its traps.

Last night I watched a documentary by Texe Marrs called The Blind And The Dead. Sometimes I’m weary of Texe Marrs, but I guess that will be material for another entry. In this video, however, Texe stands out of the way and just provides us with Bible verses and then long streams of footage from Benny Hinn, Rodney Howard-Browne, Kenneth Copeland, Paul Crouch, and a few others. He then leaves us to make our own conclusions.

I would like to go over some footage with you and tell you my thoughts. This exchange between Kenneth Copeland and Rodney Howard Browne struck me as odd, to say the least:

This is why many people do not believe. This is not the Holy Spirit. I have no idea whether this is theatrics for money or demon-possession, but I suspect both. Jesus spoke the most beautiful words I have ever heard. The apostles were loving and tender, and they fervently defended the faith with words. Paul says in 1Timothy 4:1:”The Spirit clearly says in later times some will abandon the faith and follow things taught by demons.” Remember the fruit of the Holy Spirit. Do these men in this most unusual exchange show self-control and soundness of doctrine?

How can a Christian show such lunacy if he has the fear of God in him? My conscience rebukes me if I even think about uttering a bad word. Yet these “pastors”, whom the Bible says will be judged more severely because of the amount of people they reach, seem to have no qualms about acting the way they do in order to deceive many into giving them donations with prayer requests. I wish it wouldn’t be so, but I’m now convinced the deception is intentional. I pray that they repent from their ways because they seem to have been deceived by demons, as Paul says.

But what saddens me the most is that I know from experience these false-teachings can lead someone who is in need of Christ to almost-terminal (for nothing is impossible with God!) disbelief in Him. As a Christian teacher you must represent Jesus. Feed and care for His sheep. What these two characters do in this video and many other instances is unlike Christ or the apostles.

When I burnt-out in 1999, I began searching and I remember seeing televangelists of this kind speak on tv. While I needed Christ so badly, I did not believe a word these guys said because I could see right through them. Sadly, some of the words they uttered were Scripture.

I thank God for His Salvation. And I pray that some realize that the “Word Of Faith” movement blasphemes the name of Jesus. I hope false-teachers repent and read this verse from Titus 1:8-9: “Rather he must be hospitable, one who loves what is good, who is self-controlled, upright, holy and disciplined. He must hold firmly to the trustworthy message as it has been taught, so that he can encourage others by sound doctrine and refute those who oppose it.”