The marks of false ‘christian’ teaching and teachers Part 7 - Signs and Wonders
January 6, 2008 by Alan Higgins
For false christs and false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect. (Matthew 24:24)
These days, there seems to be a lot of emphasis on ’signs and wonders’. It is as if we take it as a validation for a persons credentials. However we seem to conveniently not read the above passage. That false teachers will be doing exactly the same. You only have to read Exodus 7:8-13 to see an example of this.
13 For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into apostles of Christ. 14 And no wonder! For Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light. 15 Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also transform themselves into ministers of righteousness, whose end will be according to their works (2 Corinthians 11:13-15)
So how do we determine who is false and who is not? Simple. Jesus said by their fruits you will know them. And how can you discern if it is good fruit or bad fruit? Simple again. By their doctrine. And you can only know sound doctrine if you take time to study it for yourself. Check out my previous post ‘How important is doctrine?’
A lot of people get so hung up on seeing people getting ’slain in the sprit’ (thats another post all by itself) and getting ‘healed’ at crusades, that doctrine flies out the window. Do I believe that God performs miracles today? Yes I do but not in the way we see most tele-evangelists do it today
Here is an example
How do these people get away with this? Because they prey on your ignorance of the word. Some signs and wonders are fake and staged but some of them are very real. Ask those who are involved in the occult. Jesus says that they will show GREAT signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect. That is how strong the delusion is and will be. The sad thing is many people are being deceived by these teachers which leads me to believe that they are not part of the elect.
Remember to pray for these teachers
To be continued……
Related posts:
The marks of false ‘christian’ teaching and teachers Part 1 - A Form of godliness
The marks of false ‘christian’ teaching and teachers Part 2 - Scripture Twisting
The marks of false ‘christian’ teaching and teachers Part 3 - The abuse of biblical numerlogy
The marks of false ‘christian’ teaching and teachers Part 4 - Man Centered Theology
The marks of false ‘christian’ teaching and teachers Part 5 - The Prosperity Gospel
The marks of false ‘christian’ teaching and teachers (Interlude) - My reason for doing this
The marks of false ‘christian’ teaching and teachers Part 8 - Deconstruction
The marks of false ‘christian’ teaching and teachers Part 9 - Giving False Hope
The marks of false ‘christian’ teaching and teachers Part 11 - The Gospel of Inclusion
The marks of false ‘christian’ teaching and teachers - The Conclusion
Just because someone represents themselves as a religious shepherd doesn’t make them a disciple of Christ. Membership is not discipleship. Neither is humanism and morality Christianity.
Interesting post! People forget that Christians should be Christ followers, not necessarily followers of Christian best sellers or popular preachers. Like many people I struggle with this sometimes. It’s hard to be Christ-like in our society. Great post!
Thank you for continuing the series, Alan. I’ve pointed quite a few brethren to your series and I hope that they have visited and learned much as I myself have.
Shalom Aleichem.
I see that you have The Way of the Master as a useful link. Are you a fan/supporter of the Left Behind Series?
I really like your site.
Thanks Matt. I have read the books which I thought were quite good but wouldnt go as far to say that I am a fan/supporter
A friend invited me to see a “healing evangelist” at her church. The guy was obsessed with money,and diamonds,and cars,and mansions..that’s 95% of what he talked about.I was disgusted.People fell to the ground,just attempting to walk up on the stage to be prayed for.many were “slain in the Spirit,when he touched them.I saw no one get healed,including my friend’s autistic son. At one point,the “minister” mentioned that he had the “word of knowledge”gift even BEFORE he was saved.He said he could always “read people’s minds”.Creepy. The final straw was when he said that GOD TOLD HIM that everyone in the audience must give “the man of God” 100 dollars.He said that if you did not obey this order,God was going to CURSE you.He said,this is not my idea,this is God’s decree.He said that if you did not have 100 dollars on you,you had to make a pledge to pay him that amount just as soon as you had it.People strolled up,smiling and happy,to give their hard earned money to “God’s Man!”(It was a poor church,too) My friends boyfriend,Dean,said “By,this guy is good!He has his own sweet racket going on!” The phony healer,John Couch,proceeded to tell my Dad that he would have a “long life.My Dad had given him hundreds of dollars.Sadly,my dear father died of cancer a little over a year later. Please dont be fooled by people falling down,signs and claims of miracles.It doesn’t prove that someone is from God.Would a godly man speak curses on other Christians?Would he lie,and give false prophecies?Would he frighten people out of their money?Of course not.This guy does on a small scale,what Benny Hinn does on a big scale.Disgraceful.