Wolves in Sheep's Clothing (Part III)

[This is part three of a three part article entitled Wolves in Sheep’s Clothing. For continuity be sure to read part one posted August 18 and 19, 2010.]

TBN = Treasure, Babes, and Nicole Miller

Paul Crouch and his ilk are quick to mark those who stand against them. They call their “opponents” heresy-hunters. Anyone who challenges their heresies that they pump into millions of homes everyday are quickly denounced as evil heresy-hunters. Crouch and his ilk react violently to any criticism of their ministries. They have even pronounced judgments of death on all persons who challenge their method or mission.

“God, we proclaim death to anything or anyone that will lift a hand against this network and this ministry that belongs to You, God. It is Your work, it is Your idea, it is Your property, it is Your airwaves, it is Your world, and we proclaim death to anything that would stand in the way of God's great voice of proclamation to the whole world. In the Name of Jesus, and all the people said Amen!' (Paul Crouch, Praise The Lord television program, November 7, 1997)

"To hell with you! Get out of my life! Get out of the way! I say get out of God's way! Quit blocking God's bridges or God's going to shoot you if I don't. I don't even want to even talk to you or hear you! I don't want to see your ugly face!" (Paul Crouch, Praise-a-Thon, April 2, 1991)

Yet, the church as a whole does not stand up and teach the children of God that they are the heretics. The church is hesitant in saying that they are teaching falsely. How do we know that they are false? Discernment. Compare their teaching with scripture and use biblical discernment. Scrutinize their prophecies, their pronouncements, and their polemics.

False teachers do not want to scrutinized with Scripture. Why don’t we have the discernment as a “church at large” to mark out the false teachers while we are discipling the new believers to reject these men and their ministries? Seems, in the spirit of cooperation, tolerance, love, and oh yes, refusing to be though as judgmental, men like these are accepted as Christians but perhaps with aberrant views. They are not Christians they are wolves, ravenous wolves in sheep’s clothing preying on the lost, the naïve and the undiscerning.

Secondly, let me share something with you that may shock you. First, my heart goes out to those who are deceived by these ravenous wolves. My heart breaks for them because as II Cor 10:3-6 states they are captives in the stronghold of Satan. They are captives of satanically devised arguments by these ravenous wolves. They are captive to lofty opinions that have been lifted up against our great sovereign and holy God. Oh, that God would deliver them all!

Many who are giving their last nickel of their Social Security check are getting what they deserve and warrant. Why do you think many of those “widows” who are living on social security or disability send in their money? They send it because of their greed. They want more. They don’t send their money without the expectation of the promised return. Their greed is fueled by the greed of the ravenous false teacher’s greed.

Before you say it, I am not judging motives and yes I do allow for the fact that some of these dear and desperate widows maybe sending their offering or gift out of sincerity. There are probably a few who truly want to advance the kingdom of God but due to being spiritually dead or extremely spiritually naïve are deceived into thinking that their donation will matter. The majority want, covet, and are desperate for the promised 10 fold or 100 fold promise of return. These false teachers prey on desperate, broke, sick, and hurting people. Sometimes these desperate people hate their poverty and want financial wealth, not unlike anyone else, and therefore they give in order to get.

Deception is a judgment of God on those who reject His Word and His Son as given to us in the Scriptures. Everyone loves the Jesus they have manufactured in their own vain imagination. Christ answered the disciples one day when they asked Him why He spoke to the crowd in parables. Christ response may shock you; He stated He spoke in parables so that they would not understand.

We as believers must expose the false by presenting the truth of God. God reveals what is true to edify His children but also to expose what is false. God does send waves of deception to hardened hearts who reject the truth for a “revised” brand of the truth. See II Thessalonians 2:11; II Kings 22:22; Ezekiel 14:9.

When people like Gandhi or Anne Rice, who by their own “testimony” reveal that they are not believers, and decide to denounce Christianity, we should not be offended by that. We should not give them a pass as if they are “seeing through” the lies and distortion of what they define as Christianity, but we should shine the light of the Word of God in such a way that perhaps they will see the truth.

If the church cannot discern the real from the false, and is unwilling to mark, or name those who are wolves in sheep’s clothing, in order to avoid them then the church is in real trouble. This is why so many so called churches have no influence or impact on the world around them. They have, in the name of love and tolerance compromised the truth to allow anyone who says they are a Christian to “be” a Christian.

Stand Up, Stand Up for Jesus, ye soldiers of the cross. This is war, a spiritual war; not a game!