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For such men are false apostles, deceitful workers, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. No wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. Therefore it is not surprising if his servants also disguise themselves as servants of righteousness, whose end will be according to their deeds.
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False teachers and preachers like those that the apostle Paul is warning against in today’s verses are nothing new. They are following the first and foremost false teacher, that ancient serpent in the Garden. And that liar was, and still is, more subtle, more crafty than any other beast of the field. {Gen.3:1}



The Scriptures are filled with warnings for us to be on guard and to test what is said. Jesus, speaking to His disciples about the end of the age, warned: “See to it that no one misleads you. For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am Christ,’ and will mislead many.” {Mat.24:4-5} Not a few, many! And by the way, the literal translation of ‘Christ’ in the Greek is the word, ‘anointed’.



While I have not run into many people who claim to be Jesus, the Christ, there are ever so many who claim to be specially anointed! So John was moved to warn us all to test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. {1Jn.4:1} So much earlier the Lord had spoken through the prophet Isaiah and said, “To the law and to the testimony! If they do not speak according to this word, it is because they have no dawn.” {Is.8:20} 



We have to test everything by the Word of God! We cannot test by how much they believe the lie themselves! We cannot test by how polished they are or how eloquently they speak, or by how many followers they have. Think of Moses who said to the Lord that he was not eloquent and was slow of speech—a stutterer. And even the apostle Paul was quick to state that he was not an eloquent speaker. {2Cor.11:6}



There was a faithful brother named Apollos who was noted as being an eloquent and knowledgeable speaker—but the Lord used Paul to bring us so much of the Word. God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the things which are strong, so that no man may boast before God. {1Cor.1:27,29} To God be the glory!



We are not to test by the size of their audience or by how many people follow them; Remember ‘the few and the many’ Jesus spoke of. But also bear in mind that you and I cannot test anything by the Word of God if we do not know the Word of God! The Lord said, “If you abide in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.” {Jn.8:31-32}



Jesus made it clear when He said that if—IF—we abide in the Word, not just visit it once in a while, we will know the truth and that the truth will set us free. {Jn.8:31-32} (it was worth saying twice) We should heed and follow the example of the Bereans!



“The brethren immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea, and when they arrived, they went into the synagogue of the Jews. Now these were more noble-minded than those in Thessalonica, for they received the word with great eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see whether these things were so.” (Acts 17:10-11)


TEST EVERYTHING BY THE WORD OF GOD