Preachers: How to Tell if They’re Telling the Truth

In April of last year, there was a disaster in Waco, Texas. You remember it. That was when the members of a strange cult known as the Branch Davidians perished in flames rather than give themselves up to law enforcement officers. Over 70 people: men, women, and children died that day. What a tragedy.

None of those people, whose bodies were charred beyond recognition, started out with that as their goal. But over a period of time, they allowed themselves to be captured and captivated by a very persuasive, magnetic preacher who claimed to be teaching them the truth. He claimed to be teaching them the Word of God.

First he captured their minds, then he captured their wills. They gave up their money to him. They gave up their families to him. Some of the men even gave up their wives to him. And ultimately, they all gave up their lives to him.

Now, most people look at the tragedy of Waco, Texas and say “Well that was too bad. But those people, in a way, had it coming to them. They weren’t smart. They weren’t level-headed. They were too accepting; too naive. They didn’t use common sense.” And the unspoken assumption is, “It could never happen to me.”

But I want you to know today that there are a lot of preachers and teachers out there who are looking to capture you. Oh, they may not be as extreme as a David Koresh, or a Jim Jones. They may not ask you to go live in a commune.

All they may ask you to do is to buy their book. Or watch their program. They may be dressed in a three piece suit, and walk into your living room via Cable TV. But their intent is the same. They are out to build a following. They are out to make a name for themselves. They are out to spread their particular brand of teaching.

Times haven’t changed. Things were exactly the same in the first century. That’s why John wrote what he wrote in 1 John 2:18-27. He wrote about preachers who don’t tell the truth. And he wrote to tell us how to identify them. Let’s look at what the Word of God has to say.

1 John 2:18-19 Dear children, this is the last hour; and as you have heard that the antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come. This is how we know it is the last hour. They went out from us, but they did not really belong to us. For if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us; but their going showed that none of them belonged to us.

There are four questions that John answers for us in these verses:

1. What time is it?

2. Who’s out there?

3. What are they saying?

4. What should you do about it?

1. What time is it? It is the last hour.

There are many prophets of doom running around today crying out that we are closer to the end than we have ever been before. One of them has even written a book about it called “1994”.

I want you to know that the Bible says that we have been living in the last hour for the last 2,000 years. (I guess that means that this isn’t a sixty-minute hour.) Ever since the Apostle John wrote these words in 85 AD, we have been living in the last hour. In fact, ever since Jesus ascended into heaven, it has been the last hour. In that sense, there’s nothing new about today being the last hour.

Paul wrote to Timothy about the last days in 2 Tim. 3. He said that there would be terrible times in the last days. People would be “lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God—having a form of godliness but denying its power.”

And then he said, “Timothy, have nothing to do with them.” In other words, “Timothy, you and I are living, right now, in the last days!” The world has been a wicked place for the last 2,000 years. It’s no more wicked now than it has ever been. It’s no harder to be a Christian now than it’s ever been.

So keep that in mind when you hear these prophets of doom telling you that this is a unique period in human history. It’s not. It has been like this all along.

2. Who’s out there? Many antichrists. v.18 - “many antichrists have come”.

Now when we hear the word “antichrist” all sorts of alarm bells go off in our brains. We think of the Tribulation Period. We think of someone Satanic and evil; someone we wouldn’t want to get close to. Someone who is obviously against Jesus Christ and against Christianity.

And there is an Antichrist coming who will be like that. But John says that there are many antichrists out there right now.

The word “antichrist” not only means “against Christ”, it also means “instead of Christ.” John says that in the last hour in which we are living, there are many false teachers running around offering up teaching that is not only “against Christ”, but also “instead of Christ.”

And those teachers may come dressed up in respectable Christian garb. After all, John says in v.19 that they start off in the church. They are “with us” in the church.

But they are teaching things which subtly pull you away from the centrality of Christ; from the essentiality of Christ, and offer you something else instead. Could be anything.

It could be an emphasis on the Holy Spirit. It could be an emphasis on the OT dietary laws. It could be a fixation on health-and-wealth; the name-it-and-claim-it theology. It could be a preoccupation with Bible prophecy, or spiritual warfare, or self-actualization, finding your inner self.

But whatever it is, their underlying aim is to get your eyes off Jesus Christ and onto something else. If you follow their teaching, you soon begin to think that you don’t need Jesus anymore. He becomes a sidelight to your real passion in life. Oh, you still give lip-service to Him, but He really isn’t at the center of your life anymore.

This is at the bottom of what the antichrists are trying to do.

3. What are they really saying? Look at verses 22-23.

Who is the liar? It is the man who denies that Jesus is the Christ. Such a man is the antichrist—he denies the Father and the Son. No one who denies the Son has the Father; whoever acknowledges the Son has the Father also.

At the bottom of all false teaching is the assertion that Jesus is not who the Bible says He is. If you want to test a man’s teaching, ask this question: “What does he really believe about Jesus Christ?” That is the acid test of whether a preacher is telling the truth. What does he think about Jesus Christ?

Every cult, every false teaching in some way, either subtly or overtly, will devalue the person and work of Jesus Christ as revealed in the Scriptures.

This is why John writes in chapter 4…

Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming and even now is already in the world.

When you look at some of the more well-known cults, you can see this…

The Mormons say that Jesus is just one of many spirit-children of God. Lucifer was actually his brother. And we will all become Gods like Jesus some day.

The Jehovah’s Witnesses teach that Jesus is not God, that he and the archangel Michael are actually one and the same person, that Jesus only became the Messiah at his baptism, and that his death on the cross was not in payment for our sin.

The Moonies say that Jesus of Nazareth was an illegitimate son of Zechariah and Mary and that he died before he could accomplish his real mission; a mission that Rev. Sun Moon will complete.

The New Age religions say that Jesus is just one of many ways to God.

Now you may say, “Alright. It’s pretty obvious that the cults deny the person and work of Jesus Christ. But what about these other teachers who claim to be Christians, who claim to be part of the church? What about them?”

Listen to me very carefully: Any teaching which does not place Jesus Christ at the very center; any teaching that implies that what he did on the cross is not enough - you still need something else in order to have a successful Christian life - is not of God.

I don’t care if you found it in some book you bought from Hackmans, or if you heard it on some TV show on the Trinity Broadcast Network, or you got a tape from some high-powered evangelical ministry. Any teaching that doesn’t put Jesus Christ at the center is not from God.

4. What are we supposed to do about it? How can we guard against this subtle kind of false teaching? John gives us the answer in verse 24:

See that what you have heard from the beginning remains in you. If it does, you also will remain in the Son and in the Father.

What’s he talking about? He’s talking about the Gospel. That’s what they had heard from the beginning. That’s the teaching they received from John and from the other Apostles.

The Gospel is your protection against the false teaching of the antichrist, so don’t let go of the Gospel. It’s your bullet-proof vest. When people let go of the Gospel, or set is aside, they fall prey to false teaching.

Paul said “I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile.” (Romans 1:16).

1 Corinthians 15:2 By this gospel you are saved…

What is the Gospel? The Gospel is that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. That he came to earth and died for our sins. That he rose again the third day according to the Scriptures. And that anyone who believes in Him will not perish but have everlasting life. That’s the Gospel.

The person and work of Jesus Christ is at the center of the Gospel. In fact, Jesus is the Gospel.

Any other Gospel isn’t a Gospel. Paul said, in Galatians 1:8 “But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let him be eternally condemned!”

We started out today by thinking about the Branch Davidians. And we concluded that they were deluded. They fell under the sway of a false teacher and he led them to their death.

But let me tell you this: If Jesus Christ isn’t at the center of your life this morning, then you are no better off than they. You have been taken in by a false gospel. A gospel that says that you can make it through life, that you can find true happiness and peace, without Jesus Christ at the center.

Perhaps what you need to do this morning is to get back to what you heard from the beginning. Get back to the true Gospel with Jesus at the center.

There is a second line of protection against false teaching. John writes about an anointing in these verses.

1 John 2:20 But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and all of you know the truth.

1 John 2:27 As for you, the anointing you received from him remains in you, and you do not need anyone to teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about all things and as that anointing is real, not counterfeit—just as it has taught you, remain in him.

The word “anointing” is the word “chrism” and the anointing spoken of here is the Holy Spirit. Every person, from the very moment he puts his trust in Jesus, receives the Holy Spirit. You know what that means? It means that every Christian is a charismatic, because every Christian has received the chrism, the anointing. And one of the Holy Spirit’s jobs is to lead us to the truth. He’s even called in Scripture “the Spirit of Truth”.

If you have the Holy Spirit in your life, you have an internal navigation system - a spiritual direction-finder - who will lead you to the truth. He will help you to recognize the truth, He will help you to appreciate the truth, and He will help you to apply the truth.

The false teachers in John’s day were telling everybody “You need us to teach you the truth. You need us to initiate you into these spiritual mysteries.”

John said “That’s a lot of baloney. You don’t need anyone to teach you the truth. You’ve already got the truth - the Gospel - and you’ve got the Holy Spirit to help you appreciate and apply it.”

But the Holy Spirit can only do what you will let him do in your life. If you are living a sinful, self-controlled life as a Christian, don’t expect the Holy Spirit to be able to do his job. You’ve grieved Him; you’ve quenched his ministry in your life.

This is why a lot of born-again Christians get mixed up in false teaching. Because they are living sinful, self-controlled lives. They’ve taken their eyes of Jesus, they’ve put themselves on the throne of their life, and they’ve quenched the Holy Spirit. And when a false teacher comes along, they’re easy game.

So what have we learned today?

1. We’ve learned that we’re living in the last hour. It’s late and it’s getting later. The world is a wicked place. You’ve got to be alert and awake to be a Christian.

2. We’ve learned that there are a lot of antichrists out there; false teachers teaching false doctrine, attempting to pull you away from Christ.

3. We’ve learned that their false teaching, at it’s very core, is a denial of the person and work of Jesus Christ. This is at the heart of all false teaching.

4. We’ve learned that there are two lines of defence for a Christian against false teaching: the truth of the Gospel, and the guiding presence of the Holy Spirit.