Category Archives: False Prophet-Teacher

Good Shepherd Sacrifices

Good Shepherd Sacrifices

Good Shepherd Sacrifices
By Pastor David Cox

hireling Good Shepherd SacrificesJesus described the good shepherd in John 10:7-18 (below). The concept in Jesus’ mind is one of being essential and beneficial to the sheep. The shepherd is paired with the sheep.  In this article I want to pull some ideas from this teaching to apply them to false prophets.



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Biblical Overview of Covetousness

Biblical Overview of Covetousness

Taken from Biblehub.com see more there.

Easton’s Bible Dictionary

A strong desire after the possession of worldly things (Colossians 3:5Ephesians 5:5Hebrews 13:51 Timothy 6:9, 10; Matthew 6:20). It assumes sometimes the more aggravated form of avarice, which is the Mark of cold-hearted worldliness.




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A study on False Prophets and Teachers

A study on False Prophets and Teachers is excerpted from some good old books about false prophets and teachers.

taken from http://www.sounddoctrine.net/apologetics.html



A cult becomes destructive when:

¨      It isolates members from family and friends.

¨      The group interferes with an individual’s ability to think freely.

¨      A charismatic figure dominates the group, claiming to have a direct line to God or some secret knowledge that makes the group elite.

¨      The cult persuades members that the group goal is more important than individual needs, using guilt and shame to keep followers from questioning doctrine.

¨      The leader instills fear that something dreadful will happen to anyone who leaves.

Continue reading A study on False Prophets and Teachers

What do false prophets want?

What do false prophets want? These are reflective, meditative thoughts about false prophets in our churches. What is it that a false teacher seeks when he or she takes the place of a real pastor?

What a true man of God seeks out of the ministry

We need to begin with the positive. First of all, a true man of God is called by God to be a minister and serve God. It is assumed that God will provide for him and his family, but that most probably will not “get rich” in the ministry. Anybody that goes into the ministry to get rich is just wrong and misguided.



There is the divine calling, and then there is the satisfaction that a true man of God is blessing others in his labors. A true man of God is not self-centered and concerned always and foremost with his own benefits and blessing back to him. This is very distinctive. A man of God really likes blessings back to him but from blessing others. A false prophet is concerned not with “spiritual type” blessings but with other things, like cold hard cash, fame and glory, and an unhealthy zeal for power and control.

What do false prophets want? Money, riches

For the vast majority of these False prophets what they want is money. They dream of riches. You can tell that the preacher is a false prophet because he is always talking and preaching and teaching about money and riches and well-being.

Christians are not given to glory in pleasure and luxuries in this life, but to use everything God gives us to work for heaven. Their working premise is “I am a beloved child of God, therefore God wants to give me all my desires.” What happened to suffer with Christ as a child of God, so that we can reign in glory (heaven) with Him? No, they don’t like to accept the thought that we are here to suffer, and much more than just what happens to us, that is God’s will for our lives! The idea that God would send poverty to one of his children like Lazarus and the rich man is beyond their abilities to capture. They defend their line of thought with, “Well Lazarus didn’t take opportunities that God offered to him obviously.”

We turn to the story of Ruth or Job, and the suffering and poverty in both cases were parts of God’s plans for those people. The false prophet cannot understand that. He is blinded to all such things in God’s will, and he can only see riches and health. This “blindness” is because of a single factor, the false prophet wants to use God to advance the false prophet’s will and desires, and not God’s.

But just survey what you hear typically from your preacher in a year. Men of God do preach on money and possessions. They should. That is of God. But the underlying idea is not to make you rich but to correctly, biblically steward what you have from God. The preacher should receive something for his labors. But to make him wealthy is unwise. Consider, would you think God would be happier if you gave your preacher a liveable salary and then $250,000 more? or Would God be happier if you paid 5 more ministers to come in as evangelists? or missionaries? or pastors to minister to the needs of your own church (like old folks pastor, teens, or even Christian school teachers)?



A false prophet will press the church on giving that money to him instead of more workers.

What do false prophets want? Power and Glory

A second driving force in false prophets is to look or after the money to power and glory. I say after money because once a false prophet gets a salary that will make him rich, he is not satisfied with “just” that, but he also wants total control of the lives of those in his power (congregation).

This actually begins in the pulpit. The false prophet tells other people what the Bible says they should do, but very subtly that changes to his own interpretation of the Bible as becoming infallible. No one can countermand his positions and commandments. To do so is to oppose God himself. (The false prophet stepping aside at this moment telling you that he is just God’s mouthpiece, and your opposition is to God.)

But the point here is how does God speak to us (his children), to the church? It probably is not by the visions of the pastor. This is how the false prophet wants God’s people to believe, it is through his vision alone.

God first of all speaks to us through the Scriptures. If there is a commandment of God to do something for us in the New Testament age, then it is legitimate to press the church to do it. We should pray, read our Bibles, and study our Bibles, witness, be holy, etc. There is nothing wrong with a pastor or preacher emphasizing these things. But when the preacher starts to press the church people for things that are not exactly for us, then we see where the congregation begins to be used by God. If the preacher can convince the congregation to give “in goodwill”, then maybe it is of God. But so many times there are voices of descent and opposition. Wise leaders go very slowly when a goodly portion of people “are not onboard.”



If the pastor cannot pay for a new building project out of his own pocket, both from a money standpoint and willingness to sacrifice standpoint, then he must depend on his church to shoulder the burden across all of them. So if they don’t see why, he should go very slow or just put it off. His “power” is actually shared with the other church leaders and pillars. Convince your people then see if they want to go down that road.

I have personally seen the destruction of unwise pastors over the years. They have gotten churches into million-dollar building programs, and the majority of the church tithers left, and those who didn’t leave had to shoulder the financial chaos. Without a doubt, the foolish pastor that got the church into this situation also leaves. The name of the Lord is drug through the mud. Why all of this? Very simply. The false prophet wanted people to see his name associated with a huge building with lots of people and more, for that pastor’s personal glory.

So what happens to evangelism, to Bible teaching, to prayer in these churches. 1) People leave, and often innocent good laborers for the Lord leave the church. 2) Prayer changes from prayer for salvation, prayer for healing, prayer for missionaries, to pray that we make the monthly payment on the new building. 3) Finances go from missions and staff to mortgage payments. In other words, they effectively destroyed the ministry of that church. Short of putting all the key members into jail, how else can you destroy a church so well?

What do false prophets want? Sex, Control over the lives of others

There are cases of false prophets taking advantage of women in their churches. When the pastor gets ideas of authority, and by that, I mean “HIS” authority over the other members of the church, then they entertain ideas of pleasure with other men’s wives or daughters.



What is incredible here is that there are actually churches, and people in these churches that defend these false prophets after it comes to light that they had sex with other women.

Conclusion

It is not difficult to evaluate and see what are the main points of focus of a pastor. Some pray and want their congregations to also pray with them. Others want to back missions. Others want to evangelize their communities. All of these focuses are valid and perhaps they are all wrong if they do not at least partially focus on the others. But when a pastor focuses on money, his authority, or the greatness of he and his church instead of Christ and God’s people, then something is wrong. Distance is the only good solution here.

Read Tracts about False Prophets and the True Man of God

More Articles on False Prophets and False Teacher



FP: The Bad Fruit of a False Prophet part 2b

FP: The Bad Fruit of a False Prophet part 2b will investigate what the fruit (life and ministry) of a false prophet.

Summary: This study will investigate what the fruit (life and ministry) of a false prophet. Part 2 of this series is simply an introduction and begins by contrasting a man of God’s fruit (piety and holiness) with the false prophet’s fruit (sin, not doing God’s will).

For an overview, see
False Prophets and Teachers Overview



Continue reading FP: The Bad Fruit of a False Prophet part 2b

Pastoral Covetousness NT

Pastoral Covetousness

Pastoral Covetousness: Effects of Covetousness
By David Cox



A false prophet is easily identified by their Pastoral Covetousness. Simply put, he desires a high life which he gets from his relationship with the church. In this study, we look at how the Bible requires the man of God to stand far off from covetousness. To not associate with it in any way.

This is the first article in a series of articles on money and the minister. See Tag: http://www.theologicalsystems.com/tag/money-and-the-minister/

Continue reading Pastoral Covetousness NT

FP: The Burden to Confront Sin

FP: The Burden to Confront Sin

The Burden to Confront Sin
by David Cox



Titus 1:13 This witness is true. Wherefore rebuke them sharply, that they may be sound in the faith;
14 Not giving heed to Jewish fables, and commandments of men, that turn from the truth.

One of the true signs of a man of God is his burden to confront sin. Perhaps the single most horrible manuever of Satan is that of setting up many churches that are really good places, with good likeable people, and a great dynamic pastor that preachers wonderfully, but not of that actually confronts sin. There is no Burden to Confront Sin. This is a church where you can go and feel good about yourself, and where you can really go in total confidence that nothing there will challenge the sin in your life. These churches are often designer specific, such as the homosexual church, or the rich person’s church, or the yuppie young people’s church. The thing that stands out about them is whenever there is a public rebuke, it is like the end of the world. “We never heard that before. Why did the preacher just ruin our church?Continue reading FP: The Burden to Confront Sin

Pastoral Covetousness OT

Pastoral Covetousness

Pastoral Covetousness
By David Cox

A false prophet is easily identified by their Pastoral Covetousness. Simply put, he desires a high life which he gets from his relationship with the church. In this study, we look at how the Bible requires the man of God to stand far off from covetousness.

This is the first article in a series of articles on money and the minister. See Tag: http://www.theologicalsystems.com/tag/money-and-the-minister/



Continue reading Pastoral Covetousness OT