My fear is that too often now we have people who are following a way that pretends to be the Good News but is not the Good News at all! It is filled with leaven and compromise. We can be easily fooled by those who twist the truths concerning Christ. And look at what Paul says -- he is obviously not trying to win the approval of man by saying these things. I echo his sentiments. But this is usually a good indicator of the false teaching. It is grounded in trying to please man. It sees the Gospel as not being sufficient enough or relevant enough for these days and the next generation. So it cuts a bit here and changes a bit there. It allows a little leaven here and a little compromise there. The end result may not be so obvious to the untrained eye. It will appear just as regular Christianity. Not everything is as obvious as Mormonism. Sometimes it may just appear a bit out of focus -- like 20-30 vision. But thankfully the perfect vision can re-grow. It requires the corrective lens of the Bible to look at everything through.
Lastly from the key verse we see the motivation. First we saw the source -- from within. Second we saw the schemes -- to distort the truth. Now we see the motives -- to draw a large following. How perfectly does that fit into the logic of modern Christianity in this country? It has become all about the numbers. How many people are attending? What percentages are tithing? How many "salvations" did you have? The wolves do not always attack on the spot. The focus is in leading people away from the Great Shepherd so that on the last day He will say He does not know you. Like we said earlier, the wolves in question may not even realize this themselves. This is not an indictment against the motivations of the heart but rather an examination of the fruit. The Apostle Paul warns the Elders of Ephesus and us today. Look from within! Test everything against the Word of God! See who is trying to gain their own following. Their own following. What did Paul teach us?
Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ. -- 1Corinthians 11: 1 (NIV)
But remember beloved, recognizing this is not always easy. The apostasy is not always so blatantly obvious. Sometimes the wolf has a really nice smile and makes a lot of sense to our human finite minds. Sometimes things are just slightly out of focus, like 20-30 vision. Perhaps even 95% of what is being preached is spot on but that 5% has jumped off the doctrinal cliff. I am not talking about peripheral doctrine but matters that are central to what we believe. Matters that God has warned us people would be accursed for altering at all! Perhaps even 100% of what is being preached is spot on but then when it is time to practice what is preached the church is hypocritical. You cannot preach about the importance of spiritual warfare on Sunday and ignore it Monday through Saturday. You just can't. You cannot preach on Sunday the importance of avoiding any appearance of evil and not care about those appearances Monday through Saturday. You just can't. The Bible tells us to watch two things closely -- our lives and our doctrine. You cannot pay attention to one and ignore the other. If you do, you will be out of focus. We watch our lives because that is how we claim to live before God and man. It is how we will be viewed and ultimately how some will view the God we claim to serve. We watch our doctrine because that represents what we believe in. It cannot be negotiated. It must not be compromised or else we are just making it up as we go along. There are so many different religious opinions out there that it is crucial that we stand for the Bible as the absolute inerrant truth of God. That is what will lead us to the narrow path and the gate that leads to life. That is what will lead us to stand before Jesus Christ on the Day of Judgment and know that we know that He knows us. Check your vision today and check it regularly. The wolves are always out there; smiling or not. By your vision -- you will see them.
Reverend Anthony Wade -- April 28, 2012
