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February 11, 2017

Expositing 2John -- The Wickedness of Love without Truth

By Anthony Wade

Examining the false teaching of experiential Christianity via the second epistle from the Apostle John.

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I rejoiced greatly to find some of your children walking in the truth, just as we were commanded by the Father. And now I ask you, dear lady--not as though I were writing you a new commandment, but the one we have had from the beginning--that we love one another. And this is love, that we walk according to his commandments; this is the commandment, just as you have heard from the beginning, so that you should walk in it. For many deceivers have gone out into the world, those who do not confess the coming of Jesus Christ in the flesh. Such a one is the deceiver and the antichrist. Watch yourselves, so that you may not lose what we have worked for, but may win a full reward. Everyone who goes on ahead and does not abide in the teaching of Christ, does not have God. Whoever abides in the teaching has both the Father and the Son. If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not receive him into your house or give him any greeting, for whoever greets him takes part in his wicked works. -- 2John 1: 4-11 (ESV)

The devil knows his time is short beloved. We are living in the end times the Bible warns us about so much if we would only discern the times. Because he knows his time is limited he is stepping up his offensive attacks, hoping to limit the number of people who are saved before Jesus Christ returns. As the chosen vehicle for the Gospel, the church is always under withering attacks. These attacks are primarily from within however. They are entirely avoidable of people who claims Christianity would only read His Word. The Bible contains the final revealed will of God. It is entirely sufficient for any situation we face here in this life. It is not swayed by the whims of public opinion or human emotion. Unlike the heart which we know is wickedly deceitful above all else and desperately sick. So it should come as no surprise that one of the strategies the enemy has employed in these last days is to undermine the Word of God through the very people who ought to defend it. To seek to supplant the Word of God with our own human experience, carnal desires, and subjective opinions. Consider these three quotes:

Jesus did not say, 'My sheep will know my book'. -- Bill Johnson

"God did nottell you to memorize Scripture! He told you to become it!" -- Todd White

"Much of today's church relies more on a book the early church didn't have, than the Spirit they did." -- Bill Johnson

Bill Johnson and Todd White are just two examples of this sloppy agape, lovey-dovey, experiential Christianity. It is the central underpinning of the New Apostolic Reformation, IHOP, The Kansas City Prophets, and the false signs and lying wonders movement. To these heretics, and that is what they are beloved, experience trumps doctrine. What we feel in our wickedly deceitful hearts is to be pursued with zeal while theology and religion are denigrated into religiosity and legalism. Let us first deal with the inane stupidity of these three quotes so no one is confused. It is true that the Jesus said "My sheep will know my voice." This of course is in the very Bible Johnson seeks to put down in this quote. More importantly, one of the primary ways we hear the voice of God is through reading His Word. According to John 1, He is His Word! Johnson tries to cheapen the view of the Bible by reducing it to a mere "book." Yet what does Scripture teach us?

All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work. -- 2Timothy 3: 16-17 (ESV)

We believe that all scripture is literally breathed out by God Himself and we would rather trust our lying hearts? We can find profit in being reproved, corrected and trained by the Word. So it is not that my sheep will know my book Bill. They will know His Word. The second quote is even more asinine. Todd White is the huckster the Bible warns us about. He traffics in fake healings, false signs, and lying wonders. God did not tell us to memorize Scripture? You sure about that Todd?

I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you. -- Psalm 119: 11 (ESV)

And Jesus answered him, "It is written, - Luke 4: 8a (ESV)

God never told us to become Scripture. That is absurd on its face no matter how pious it might sound. He has told us that the more we hide Scripture in our hearts -- you know -- memorize it; the less likely we are to sin against God. The verse snippet from Luke is taken from the temptation of Christ in the wilderness. Every time the devil tried to tempt Jesus did He answer with His vast experience? No beloved, He responded with the Word of God.

The third quote from Johnson again is very similar to the nonsense Andy Stanley was trying to sell last year. While it is true that the actual Bible did not exist as a book until after the Council of Nicaea, what they are inferring here is simply untrue. The early believers, as the church was being established, still relied solely upon Holy Scripture.

And count the patience of our Lord as salvation, just as our beloved brother Paul also wrote to you according to the wisdom given him, as he does in all his letters when he speaks in them of these matters. There are some things in them that are hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction, as they do the other Scriptures. -- 2Peter 3: 15-16 (ESV)

Note how Peter refers to the writings of Paul here! He refers to them as Scripture! When Bill Johnson and Andy Stanley try to teach that the early church did not have nor rely upon Scripture they are flat out false. In Acts 2 as the church was forming it says they devoted themselves to the teaching of the disciples, not their personal experiences. Please keep in mind that this scheme from Satan is not merely being carried out by Johnson and White. The entire purpose driven models of church growth all rely upon dumbing down Scripture and changing the Bible to be a book about spiritual lessons we can glean from the stories to fulfill some dream destiny thingy here on earth. Religion is turned into a dirty word. Instead of doctrine, they shift the focus of Christianity to love. Not biblical love though because they abandon the Bible in their pursuit of their false version of love. Let us reason together today beloved regarding these matter and see what God has said through His Word, using the key verses above:

I rejoiced greatly to find some of your children walking in the truth, just as we were commanded by the Father.

Walking in the truth just as we were commanded to do by the Father. Remember the truth shall set us free. The Holy Spirit is here to guide us into all truth and the Father is looking for worshipers to worship Him in Spirit AND truth. The reality is that the brand of false teaching we have been discussing seeks to supplant truth with experience. If we are honest however, experience is rooted firmly in what we feel. Most charismatic services are exercises in trying to generate the next big emotional experience and trying to pass if off as being Spiritual. Here is today's deep theology beloved. There is no spiritual experience that is devoid of Scriptural truth. Any spiritual experience that is not firmly grounded in Scriptural truth is in fact not from God. There are no additional revelations God forgot to place into His Word beloved. The reason why so many of these charlatans claim direct revelation is that if they were to rely on the Word of God it would expose them for the frauds they are. We continue in our key verses:

And now I ask you, dear lady--not as though I were writing you a new commandment, but the one we have had from the beginning--that we love one another. And this is love, that we walk according to his commandments; this is the commandment, just as you have heard from the beginning, so that you should walk in it.

God has not changed beloved. The truths of God are eternal and do not shift like the sands of this world. It is not enough to merely pay lip service to the concept of love. It may sound pious to say "God is love" but it is also incomplete. Most Christians who follow this sloppy agape love fail to see their own carnality in their beliefs. They overly romanticize this love. In some cases they over-sexualize it. Let these few verses resonate in your Spirit beloved. THIS IS LOVE -- that we walk according to His commandments! Why do you bother calling me Lord if you refuse to do what I say? Experiential Christianity talks a good game about love but without doctrine they are simply making it up as they go along.

It is not love to hold someone's hand as they jump off a cliff. It is not love to turn a blind eye to sin. It is not love to allow someone to wallow in false doctrine. It simply is not. It is cruelty. Discernment ministries are not about judging false teachers beloved. It is about setting free captives to false teachings. It is crucial we understand some fundamental truths. The god that is preached by Bill Johnson, Todd White and Andy Stanley is false. He cannot save anyone. How do we know this? Because the Bible tells us so. The Bible teaches us that only the Gospel has the power of God unto the salvation of man. Your intentions do not matter to God. Only what you place your faith in. the Bible says that we can believe in vain! That we can spend or lives thinking we are serving God only to discover when it is too late that He never knew us. What and who we place our faith in matters greatly. Consider the Corinthian Church:

But I am afraid that as the serpent deceived Eve by his cunning, your thoughts will be led astray from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ. For if someone comes and proclaims another Jesus than the one we proclaimed, or if you receive a different spirit from the one you received, or if you accept a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it readily enough. Indeed, I consider that I am not in the least inferior to these super-apostles.Even if I am unskilled in speaking, I am not so in knowledge; indeed, in every way we have made this plain to you in all things. -- 2Corinthians 11: 3-6 (ESV)

The primary worship leader for Bill Johnson's "Jesus Culture" tells a personal testimony of a waking visitation from Jesus, who whisked her away to the throne room of God. There she met the Father face to face she claims, and He ripped out a piece of His own heart to mold a miniature version of her to worship Him. That was not God because the Bible assures us that no one can see the Father and live. She follows a false jesus and believes in a false gospel. Note the mocking here from Paul towards the false teachers of his day who considered themselves above the Apostles. For the record, Bill Johnson considers himself a living Apostle. Do not fall for false gods and false gospels. Your experience will not set you free beloved. Only the truth will. We continue:

For many deceivers have gone out into the world, those who do not confess the coming of Jesus Christ in the flesh. Such a one is the deceiver and the antichrist. Watch yourselves, so that you may not lose what we have worked for, but may win a full reward. Everyone who goes on ahead and does not abide in the teaching of Christ, does not have God. Whoever abides in the teaching has both the Father and the Son.

There are many deceivers in the world beloved. We have only highlighted a few in this devotional. It is interesting here that the example of such a false teacher provided by John is one who denies the deity of Jesus Christ. Who does not confess that the Christ came to us in flesh. If that is ringing a scriptural bell let us go back to the Gospel that bears John's name:

And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. -- John 1: 14 (ESV)

Did our experience become flesh beloved? No. The Word became flesh. Jesus Christ is His Word. You cannot minimize His Word without minimizing Him. You cannot deny His Word without denying Him. These are no trivial matters. These are the matters that determine life and death. Are we supposed to merely know His Word? Be familiar with it? Use it occasionally as it suits us? Strip mine it so we can glean life applications? No. No. A thousand times no. If we are not abiding in His Word then we do not have God! We must be living in His Word; not our experiences. If we insist on correct doctrine above all else, we prove to not only have the Father but the Son as well. The key verses conclude:

If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not receive him into your house or give him any greeting, for whoever greets him takes part in his wicked works.

Ouch. I understand these are not easy lessons beloved but they are vitally important as we see from the extreme language God chooses to employ here. We see Christians every day turn a blind eye to false teaching. They wink and nod at the likes of Joel Osteen, TD Jakes, or Kenneth Copeland. They defend the indefensible in Joseph Prince, Bill Johnson, or Benny Hinn. I hear the lament all the time -- what's the big deal? Yet these key verses make it very clear for us today. We are to have nothing to do with them. We are not to receive them. We are not to allow the false teachings to even enter our homes. We are not to greet any false teacher, whatsoever. To do so, is to actually take part in his wicked works.

Consider that very carefully beloved. People watch us very closely once we claim Christ as Lord and Savior. Who we lead them to matters. Who we lend our credibility to matters. The Bible says we are either gathering people to Christ or scattering them away. When we retweet or repost quotes from voracious wolves, even if that particular quote is benign, we are in fact scattering people away from Christ. We are in fact taking part in their wickedness. We need to be vigilant and careful. Experience apart from doctrine leaves things up to our wicked hearts. Love without truth embodies the carnality of this world devoid of the real Savior and the only Gospel that can save us. The devil knows his time is short. Do not fall for his schemes. What we believe and who we listen to does matter.

Reverend Anthony Wade -- February 11, 2017



Authors Bio:
Credentialed Minister of the Gospel for the Assemblies of God. Owner and founder of 828 ministries. Vice President for Goodwill Industries. Always remember that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purpose.

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