Brothers, the enemy is unceasingly busy. I would not have you ignorant of any of his deceptive ways. Inasmuch as you are members of the body, both your thoughts and your actions must conform to the purpose of the creation, that is, to glorify Him. In this time, long after the dispensation of the Holy Spirit to the apostles, it is increasingly more difficult to discern truth. Those of us who are pious enough will read the scriptures, others will attempt to gain spiritual insight from televangelist, or radio ministries. Therein lies my warning. Brother, be very mindful of those teachers who have gained fame and notoriety through their teaching. Do not assume that God's favor is the catalyst for the success of any ministry. Brother, the enemy will raise up his own teachers, to pervert the gospel and lead the elect astray.
If a teacher has attained a status in the popular culture--beware! The world would not embrace Christ in any form, and it will not embrace the teachings of those who love Him. Remember, they killed John the Baptist, and several of the apostles. Most assuredly brothers we should have a healthy distrust of anything popular, for if the world loves it too much, Christ cannot be in it too much. This is not my opinion. This is a biblical principle.
My warning is this, measure everything uttered from these teachers against the word of God with the utmost scrutiny and diligence. Do not allow yourself to be led astray by those who would pander the gospel for personal gain. The purveyors of prosperity give a measure of the truth without delivering the whole message. This is a trick of the devil. They say, 'sow financial seeds in faith and God will bless you 100 fold'. This is a tool of the enemy, and it is a gross distortion of god's promise. However, there is just enough truth in it to pass with those who have not hidden the word of God in their hearts.
Here is the danger. As more people are bamboozled by the enemy's minions, the windows of heaven are still sealed and the blessings that have been promised are not being poured out. If the deception is complete, the unfulfilled expectation of blessings is not attributed to the false teacher, but to God himself. Those who were already weak in the faith are now almost totally disenfranchised. Not to say God does not fulfill his promise, rather that his blessings are not always tangible. In fact, the type of blessings promised by these pulpit pimps are almost always material goods. Does the scripture not warn us against these things. Does the scripture not say these things are temporal and our focus should be on the eternal. Why then would a loving God give us all kinds of stuff to remove our focus from him.
Brothers, it falls to us to defend the gospel. We may not have the platform to do it, but if our lives are conformed to Christ, then others can see the real Christ spirit in us. There we can speak with authority in our sphere of influence because we are known as men of prayer, study, and meditation. We can challenge the brother at work, in love. We can show the brother on our softball team where the false teacher is perverting the gospel. We can say to our family, 'I love you, and I see you being led astray.'
Brothers, this is no small issue. Do you love your brothers and sisters enough to risk their temporary anger to gain their eternal salvation. Men speak order into chaos. Men defend their territory. Men stand up.
