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Wolves In Sheep's Clothing "For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock." [Acts 20:29] Introduction Now more than ever, true believers need to be on guard against wolves in sheep's clothing. Jesus warned His flock many times about the spiritual dangers awaiting them:
He pointed out that the most dangerous people to the flock would be those who appear to be true believers (i.e. sheep), looking just like themselves:
In Christendom today, many people claim to represent Christ and claim to be shepherds and watchdogs and yet are not sounding the alarm or they are sounding the alarm 'selectively'. Even 'faithful' watchdogs are a mixed blessing Even the seemingly faithful watchdog organizations are causing problems for the believer, however unintentional it may be. Some of these problems include:
We can never afford to assume that the man in the pulpit is infallible or even saved. In fact, we are admonished by God to check everyone's teachings with what the Bible has to say: Acts 17:10-11 - "And the brethren immediately sent away Paul and Silas by night unto Berea: who coming thither went into the synagogue of the Jews. These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so." I was once in a church where the pastor sure sounded saved and sure sounded like he knew the Bible, and he was even in the ministry for 30 years. And yet, he was a member of a religious cult - the Masons to be specific. How could this be? There was an associate pastor in this church who also seemed to know the Bible and who was in the ministry for about 20 years. Also, there were many elders in this church, some of whom should have know that the Masons are a religious cult. And it was no secret that the senior pastor was a Mason - he wore the Mason's ring and every now and then he invited some of the local Masons to attend the church service wearing their Masonic aprons. Perhaps somebody somewhere was not doing the job of a Berean! Perhaps somebody was not blowing the trumpet or if someone was, people were not listening: Jeremiah 6:17 - "Also I set watchmen over you, saying, Hearken to the sound of the trumpet. But they said, We will not hearken." The wolves are leading the congregations astray: Certainly we cannot say that there is a wolf behind every pulpit. However, wolves do enter into the sheepfold when the sheep become lazy and don't check a preacher's teachings with the Bible. When we have this attitude of leaving all the studying to the preacher, we are basically asking to be led astray: Hosea 4:6 - "My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children." The knowledge mentioned here is nothing else than a knowledge of God, which is a knowledge that can only be properly derived from studying the Bible. You may say you don't have time to really study the Bible. Well then, I guess you must have time for damage control, because you will be like a captain of a ship sailing without a compass or a lighthouse. You are bound to hit a reef or some other obstruction sooner or later. It's just a matter of time. Knowing God's Word is no guarantee that the sea of your life will be smooth as glass but it will guarantee that your navigation abilities will be far better than without a good knowledge of scripture. Wolves and goats flock together: You will find that spiritual wolves and spiritual goats have an affinity for each other. The wolves love to tell the goats what they want to hear and the goats love to be lied to: Jeremiah 5:31 - "The prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests bear rule by their means; and my people love to have it so: and what will ye do in the end thereof?" Why is that? How could that be? Aren't people smarter than that? Well, perhaps some people have so great a desire to be comfortable in their sins that they become too lazy to even take the trouble to find out if they are being lied to. And certainly the lost have NO IDEA what jeopardy their souls are in. They are like the people of Noah's day who laughed at his ark until the floods came. They are like the people of Sodom who laughed at Lot's warnings until the earth vomited them into kingdom come. So just because some of the professing Christians around you are not taking sin seriously and holiness seriously, does not mean that you should take such things lightly. If you are a true believer, you are commanded to live a life consecrated unto God. Modern day wolves - a 'litmus' test: We should not be surprised that it is in the more famous ministries that the largest number of people are being led astray:
An excellent litmus test for determining which ministries are among the most deceptive and dangerous is their attitude towards the Catholic church. Catholicism, with its roughly 900 million followers is by far the largest Christian-like cult in the world. As such, it should be as aggressively evangelized as any other people group or religious group. Its false gospels should be exposed as fervently as the false gospels of the Mormons and Jehovah's witnesses. And yet the opposite is happening in many of the major Christian ministries. These mega-ministries are actually working to conceal the fact that Catholicism preaches another gospel, a gospel of works. The leaders of some of those ministries are listed here. You should already be familiar with most of them:
The wolves are ecumenical because it is not an unequal yoke for them to be in league with the unsaved: We see a common thread of ecumenism in many so-called evangelical Christian ministries today. Many ministries totally ignore the clear command of scripture to separate from fellowship with known unbelievers: 2Corinthians 6:14-17 - "Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness? And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel? And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you," As we see in the passage above, the apostle Paul made it very clear that we are not to be partners in ministry with people who pervert the Gospel by their own false gospels. It is OK to spend time with Jehovah's Witnesses, Mormon's, and Catholic apologists IF we are seeking to preach the true Gospel to them, BUT we dare not join them in some kind of ministry AND we certainly must warn others about them. But when professing Christian ministry leaders speak nothing but words of praise for men who preach false gospels, then it is very likely that these so-called Christians are just wolves in sheep's clothing. The wolves preach another gospel: In addition to the litmus test mentioned above (a hands-off policy with respect to Catholicism), many wolves in sheep's clothing can be identified by the false teachings mentioned below: Wolves preach a gospel of love without repentance, without obedience, but Jesus said: John 14:15 - "If ye love me, keep my commandments." Also, we find in 1 Samuel 15:22 - "And Samuel said, Hath the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams." Wolves preach a gospel of false peace, but Jesus said: Matthew 10:34 - "Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword." John 15:18 - "If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you." And Paul reminds us in 2 Timothy 3:12 - "Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution." Wolves preach a gospel of material prosperity, but Jesus said: Matthew 6:19-20 - "Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal" ... Matthew 8:20 - "And Jesus saith unto him, The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head." Wolves preach a works gospel, but Jesus said: Matthew 7:22-23 - "Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity. Wolves preach that Christ's kingdom IS of this world, but Jesus said: John 18:36 - "My kingdom is not of this world: if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now is my kingdom not from hence." Wolves preach a gospel of unity at the expense of biblical truth, but Jesus said: John 18:37 - "Pilate therefore said unto him, Art thou a king then? Jesus answered, Thou sayest that I am a king. To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth. Every one that is of the truth heareth my voice." Wolves say we are judgmental if we preach against sin and against error, but Jesus said: John 7:24 - "Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment." Wolves preach a signs and wonders gospel, but Jesus said: Matthew 16:4 - A wicked and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given unto it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas. And he left them, and departed. Matthew 24:24 - For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect. Who Is In The Pew? A Lamb Or A Goat? We must always remember that Jesus said the wheat would grow up among the weeds (the tares). Churches will always have unbelievers in the pews (i.e. goats), even people that sound just like the true believers: Matthew 13:29-30 - "But he said, Nay; lest while ye gather up the tares, ye root up also the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn." Likewise, the Good Shepherd will not separate the sheep from the goats until the end of time when He will come in His glory: Matthew 25:31-32 - "When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory: And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats" The goats want to be told things that allow them to feel comfortable in their sin: 2Timothy 4:3 - "For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears;" The goats love to earn their salvation, but Jesus said: Matthew 7:22-23 - "Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity." The goats love signs and wonders, but Jesus said: Matthew 16:4 - "A wicked and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given unto it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas. And he left them, and departed." The goats love to add to God's word with tongues and prophecies: Revelation 22:18 - "For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book:" The goats are preoccupied with this life: Mark 4:19 - "And the cares of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the lusts of other things entering in, choke the word, and it becometh unfruitful." John 18:36 - "Jesus answered, My kingdom is not of this world: if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now is my kingdom not from hence." The goats are only interested in gold crosses that you wear as jewelry, but Jesus said: Luke 9:23 - "And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me." The goats want treasure on earth: Matthew 19:21- "Jesus said unto him, If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me." The goats will be totally unprepared for Judgment Day: 1 Thessalonians 5:2-3 - "For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape." Will YOU be ready for Judgment Day? |
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