You are from God, little children, and you have conquered them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.
1 John 4:4, CSB
God is in us by the Holy Spirit, giving us power to overcome the false teachings, evil spirits, temptations, and wickedness of this world. Trust Him and His Word.
So Jesus again said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture.
John 10:7-9, ESV
There are many false teachers out there, but Jesus has given us His Word and the Holy Spirit to help us know His voice and truth.
I have started a small group series on Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7). I am sharing my notes in case anyone else wants to use them with their group. [Reminder that these are only notes!]
Sermon on the Mount – Part 14
Matthew 5:1-2: Jesus wants to teach the crowds: Who are they? Jewish disciples: People who understand the Scriptures (at least to a point). Notice from 7:28 the crowds still came along, but this teaching is for His disciples.
What does “blessed” mean? Based on the first twelve verses, blessed means realizing our own wretchedness and need for a Savior. In other words, it is becoming/being a Christian.
What was discussed last time?
ASK
Golden Rule
Wide vs. Narrow Gate
Matthew 7:15-23: “Beware false prophets …”
Deuteronomy 13:1-3 – Speak true prophecies, but lead to other gods
Can be said also “preach a different gospel”
The Gospel: Jesus Christ (fully god, fully man) was born of a virgin, lived a sinless life, died for our sins on the cross, and three days later rose again.
False gospels: We can attain the godhood, are meant to do everything Christ did, are basically little gods
• Matthew 24:9-14, 21-28 – Just before Christ’s return, the gospel will be heard everywhere, but deceit will be the highest ever
False teachers/prophets saying Christ is found in the wilderness/inner rooms (huge influx of wilderness/secret room prayer ministries in the past 2 decades)
False christs? “Christ” means “anointed one” – huge influx of “anointings” and “anointed aposltes, prophets, and teachers” who receive special anointings and revelations
They may even perform real miracles and prophecies, “to lead astray, if possible, even the elect.”
2 Peter 2
v. 13: Most if not all are aware they are deceiving people!
vv. 10b-11: They think they can control demons and “bind and decree against” them. (Obviously, most today have not met a demon like the sons of Sceva did! (Acts 19:11-20, which also points out people burning their magical books, as opposed to groups today offering heavenly viewings (sceances), destiny card reading (Tarot), and things like grave soaking (receiving anointing from the dead), all while offering sure-fire ways to make God do things for your to make your life better (magick)
vv. 4-10a: Mentioning the angels of Noah’s day and Sodom and Gomorrah points out those who allow or even celebrate deviant sexual desires (liberal Christianity, possibly even some in the hyper-charismatic movement)
vv. 17-22: They are so stuck on making the things of this world “holy” that they get stuck in the things of this world, thinking they are wise they show they are vv. 12-16, chasing money and power (like Balaam) while acting like they are barely evolved from primates.
But there end is destruction:
vv. 21-23: “Did we not …” – They put on a good show, say all the right things to sound good (how many NAR/liberal churches have orthodox statements of faith?), even accomplish amazing feats (“signs and wonders”, feeding the hungry, helping the homeless, etc.), yet they lead people from Christ.
“I never knew you.” – They claimed to know Christ, but like the sons of Sceva, they are merely riding on the coattails of Christ and Paul.
Who are we listening to?
How are we treating Scripture? The Gospel? Jesus? God?
But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” Acts 1:8, ESV
The greatest reason we receive the Holy Spirit is to share the Gospel: the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus for our forgiveness. If anything is taught as more important, that is a false Gospel from a false spirit.
For the past few weeks and over the next couple of months, I will upload short messages based on the book of Malachi. It will probably be eight total and based on the section divisions in the English Standard Version of the Bible.
No special titles. Just taking a quick look at what was said.
So read along with me, and let us study what Malachi said to his people about 2,400 years ago.
Remember that Malachi literally means “my messenger”, so he is God’s messenger, as all the Prophets were.
Chapter 1 was about God’s love for His covenant people – those who obey and love Him – versus those who refuse to listen to Him. The priests offered lame, sick, and injured animals as sacrifices, basically taking the Lord’s name in vain by calling it acceptable even though they were worthless gifts.
Now, God rebukes those priests:
“And now, O priests, this command is for you. 2 If you will not listen, if you will not take it to heart to give honor to my name, says the Lord of hosts, then I will send the curse upon you and I will curse your blessings. Indeed, I have already cursed them, because you do not lay it to heart. 3 Behold, I will rebuke your offspring, and spread dung on your faces, the dung of your offerings, and you shall be taken away with it. 4 So shall you know that I have sent this command to you, that my covenant with Levi may stand, says the Lord of hosts. 5 My covenant with him was one of life and peace, and I gave them to him. It was a covenant of fear, and he feared me. He stood in awe of my name. 6 True instruction was in his mouth, and no wrong was found on his lips. He walked with me in peace and uprightness, and he turned many from iniquity. 7 For the lips of a priest should guard knowledge, and people should seek instruction from his mouth, for he is the messenger of the Lord of hosts. 8 But you have turned aside from the way. You have caused many to stumble by your instruction. You have corrupted the covenant of Levi, says the Lord of hosts, 9 and so I make you despised and abased before all the people, inasmuch as you do not keep my ways but show partiality in your instruction.”
From verse three we see a reference to Exodus 29:14, that the sacrificial bull’s flesh, skin, and dung were to be taken out of the camp to be burned as an offering.
The unclean parts were taken away from God’s community of people and burned.
The priests were supposed to be keep/teach the life, peace, and fear of the Lord.
Naturally, our Perfect Priest – the teacher and source of life and peace – is Jesus.
Keep in mind: Malachi was written about 430 years before John the Baptist and Jesus came on the scene. He was the last prophet for 430 years, and he lived about 100 years after the end of the Exile and about the same time as Ezra and Nehemiah.
And the priesthood was already falling back into the old patterns that led to the Exile in the first place …
TODAY
We now see the New Apostolic Reformation (NAR), the hyper-charismatic movement – with people like Kenneth Copeland, Bill Johnson (and the Bethel Church at Redding, CA, leadership and friends), IHOP (Prayer, not Pancakes) with Mike Bickle and friends – who look good at first. They perform many signs and wonders and say we need Jesus, right? They say that Jesus is the Son of God, right?
I mean – we could say – doesn’t 1 John 2:23 say, “No one who denies the Son has the Father. Whoever confesses the Son has the Father also“?
But Jesus (and Paul, Peter, and John, including from the passage just quoted) warn about coming antichrists. “Christ” means “anointed one”, and Jesus warned about the last days in Matthew 24:23-36:
Then if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’ or ‘There he is!’ do not believe it. For false christs and false prophets will arise and perform great signs and wonders, so as to lead astray, if possible, even the elect. See, I have told you beforehand. So, if they say to you, ‘Look, he is in the wilderness,’ do not go out. If they say, ‘Look, he is in the inner rooms,’ do not believe it.
Almost all of these modern “apostles” and “prophets” and teachers, especially at IHOP, say we should be seeking Jesus in the inner prayer rooms. In and of themselves, prayer rooms are not bad.
However, these people teach that we can be little christs (Yes, I know “christian” means “little christ”!), that we can receive special anointings (“I am the anointed of the Lord,” they say) and perform mighty signs and wonders.
Yet they also teach things like Jesus being the first to be born again, that He did not become the Son of God until [baptism, resurrection, ascension], that we can do literally everything Jesus can because we have His authority to do whatever.
They teach we should all learn to heal people and prophesy.
These are the the people who in March 2020 declared and prophesied that the C-19 virus would not lead to a pandemic, that it would be done by Passover, that a mighty south wind would bring a heatwave (Kenneth Copeland) to kill the virus (literally the day before a days-long cold snap hit the US).
C-19 proved they are all false prophets and teachers.
Some try to claim that a wrong prophecy merely means they got it wrong, that they are not necessarily false prophets. Yet Deuteronomy 18:20-22 says that if someone prophesies and it does not come true, they are a FALSE PROPHET. (And there are more passages.)
These people are not teaching truth. The prophesy life and peace, but they are at best deceived and at worst liars.
And God said in verse 3 that they have the dung of their pathetic offerings all over their faces. They are to be taken out of God’s community and burned.
Do not follow them, or you will follow them to the same eternal destination. (NOT with Jesus!)
As verses 8-9 tell us, God curses their offspring (in this context, those who follow them and even teach others the same things), and they are despised and abased before all people. They have been proven false teachers, prophets, and apostles.
Do not follow them.
Turn to the authority of Jesus Christ who commands us to go into all nations making disciples, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to obey all He has commanded. (Matthew 28:18-20)
Follow Jesus.
Test everything I have said (and they teach) with the Word of God.
Do we truly love the Lord our God with all our hearts, souls, minds, and strengths? Maybe I can help with the mind part, at least! This is Daniel M. Klem, apparent poet, reluctant yet passionate Disciple (Peter?), and foolish man attempting to understand theology!
a simple man of God 