“And many false prophets will appear and deceive many people.” (Matthew 24:11)
I think the word prophet in the above verse is misunderstood and has kept a lot of Christians from seeing that some of the preachers we see in the pulpit today are deceiving people, too. That’s right. Some of today’s most popular evangelists and pastors are teaching a form of Christianity that doesn’t line up with the Word of God.
Now look here. I am not pointing the finger at you. The truth is what inspired today’s column was the realization on my part that one of my favorite televangelists was not preaching the Gospel in which I believe. Allow me to explain.
This particular evangelist was encouraging his listeners to give to his ministry and explained that the Lord will bless Christians that help him spread the Gospel. He even referred to a verse in the Parable of the Four Soils in which Jesus compared seed that fell on good soil to the Christian who accepts God’s message and produces a harvest as much as a hundred times what was planted. “Do you believe God can bless someone a hundred fold,” He asked? I’m telling you,” he said. “If you give a thousand dollars tonight, God could give you a hundred thousand dollars this week. If you believe it, you can receive it.”
I realized that this guy was deceiving people. His theology was all wrong. Sure it can happen, but that’s not what the Bible teaches about the principle of giving. We shouldn’t give with the expectation of receiving anything in return. We should give because we’re grateful for what God has done for us, so grateful that we desire others to reap the same rewards we are enjoying.
What was being taught by this preacher, and a lot of others who stand in our churches today, is what has become known as “Prosperity Gospel.” In other words, if we’re suffering in life, then there must be something wrong with our faith. We don’t receive because we don’t believe.
Don’t you believe that lie for a moment. I don’t like to suffer either, but I don’t believe I suffer because my faith is weak. I suffer because of the curse of sin in the world. The Apostle Paul said it best: “For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now.” (Romans 8:22)
The Prophet Ezekiel once boldly spoke for the Lord and warned that those who preach such false doctrines will be held accountable for what they are preaching. Here’s the Living Bible’s translation: “Woe to the shepherds who feed themselves instead of their flocks. Shouldn’t shepherds feed the sheep? You eat the best food and wear the finest clothes, but you let your flocks starve. You haven’t taken care of the weak, nor tended the sick, nor bound up the broken bones, nor gone looking for those who have wandered away and are lost…As I live, says the Lord God, you abandoned my flock, leaving them to be attacked and destroyed, and you were no real shepherds at all, for you didn’t search for them. You fed yourselves and let them starve…I will hold them responsible for what has happened to my flock.” (Ezekiel 34:2-4, 8,10)
Beware of those who preach such untruths, my friends. Remember what Jesus said about them. “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits.” (Matthew 7:15)
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