The Winds of False Doctrine
What does Wind do? It blows here and there; it swirls and turns as it pleases. It can blow hard like a hurricane or tornado, or as soft as a whisper, as light as a feather. Wind is powerful, it is commanding, and it can be friend or foe.
Therefore, it is with doctrine. It can be full of truth or full of lies depending on who is spreading the doctrine. Our Bible is our doctrine of Christ, His words are there, and it is truth. False doctrine is spread by false shepherds, elders of the church and others who take the Word of God and twist it for their own advantage.
We who love the Father of Creation, who gave us His Son as a sacrifice to save us from sin, know His word, and we follow our shepherd Jesus Christ because we know He is Truth and will never lead us astray. We do not follow man, because he cannot be trusted to give us the truth. Very few men who have the wisdom and knowledge given to them by God are able to lead as did the Apostles and disciples who followed Christ in His time.
There are those who claim to have the ear of God and who speak with Him on a personal level, but even these men cannot be trusted, because if they do not follow the doctrine of Christ as it should be followed, then they are only fooling themselves and us. We must be wary of those who claim to walk with God and they themselves only act the part. It is the “do as I say don’t do as I do” mentality.
These pastors and ministers who are suppose to have our welfare and souls grounded in the Scripture of God’s Holy Word are themselves wolves in sheep’s clothing because they tell you that you must follow this and do that, but secretly they do not follow Christ as they should, but take liberties in doing things that are wrong and expect us to do right.
This double standard or forked tongue thinking is dangerous, not only for these ministers and pastors who are suppose to be God’s shepherds and protect the flock, but we too must be careful that we do not become like them, giving false doctrines to others.
You would think the good apples in the barrel would rub off that goodness onto the bad one, but in effect the bad apple is the one that corrupts the whole barrel. It starts out slowly and creeps from apple to apple. Bruising and spots begin to form on the outside, and the corruption spreads to the inside until it stinks and is untouchable. Therefore, it is with us as a church, if we were to let a teacher of false doctrine come in amongst us the apostasy would begin to spread slowly until the whole church is infected with the corruption.
We must protect our church by getting good and trusted pastors to lead and shepherd us. He is to guide us as Christ would guide us, and as our pastor looks out for us we must look out for him and our members.
The strong winds of a tornado or hurricane can pick you up and blow you away, so is the wind of doctrine taking away the people, blowing them this way and that. Do you feel like you are pushing against the winds of false doctrine?
A Tornado twists and spins and tears apart everything in its path and this is exactly what Satan is doing to us, tearing us apart with lies and error, piting us against each other. We must be strong and stand together against the buffeting of the winds, in unity we can do all things, be all things in Christs name.
1 Timothy 1:10 For whoremongers, for them that defile themselves with mankind, for menstealers, for liars, for perjured persons, and if there be any other thing that is contrary to sound doctrine;
2 Timothy 4:3 For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears;
Titus 2:1 But speak thou the things which become sound doctrine:
Ephesians 4:14 That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive;
John 7:16 Jesus answered them, and said, My doctrine is not mine, but his that sent me.
2 John 1:9 Whosoever transgresseth, and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ, hath not God. He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ, he hath both the Father and the Son.
2 John 1:10 If there come any unto you, and bring not this doctrine, receive him not into your house, neither bid him Godspeed:
John 14:15 If ye love me, keep my commandments.
Rev 22:14 Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city.
1Timothy 4:1 Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils;
The word doctrine derives from the Latin term for teaching and refers to the content that was taught in the New Testament. The proper teaching of Scripture was called “the apostles’ doctrine,” meaning that which the apostles taught. This contrasted with the erroneous teaching called “doctrine of devils in 1 Timothy 4:1, meaning that teaching whose source is not God but the messengers of Satan, whose desire it is to substitute false religion for Christianity (2 Corinthians 11:13-15). The apostles’ doctrine was true, not because an apostle taught it, but because it was consistent with the Scriptures. The Bereans examined the teaching of Paul in light of the Scriptures before accepting it (Acts 17:11). Also, the church at Ephesus examined some who called themselves apostles and found them liars (Revelation 2:2). A Christian should attempt to understand and believe true doctrine, while rejecting all that disagrees with the Word of God (1 John 4:1).
Apostasy: The word apostasy means “a standing away from” in the sense of falling away, withdrawal, or defection from the truth. It may be the result of persecution (Matthew 24:9, 10)
False teachers (Matthew 24:11),
Temptation (Luke 8:13),
Worldliness (2 Timothy 4:4),
Inadequate knowledge of Christ (1 John 2:19),
Moral lapse (Hebrews 6:4-6),
Forsaking spiritual living and worship (Hebrews 10:25-31),
or Unbelief ( Hebrews 3:12).
This following verse speaks of apostasy. It speaks of not letting any man deceive you and of a falling away.
2Thessalonians 2:3 Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;
While there are those in every generation who fall away, this will be a general condition prior to the revelation of the Antichrist. In classical Greek, the word apostasy was used of a revolt staged by a military commander. The apostasy of Saul and Amaziah are but two examples of individuals rebelling against the revealed will of God. The Christian should be careful to obey the Word of God to the best of his ability.
Many of today’s churches are in apostasy by spreading false doctrines and leading the flock of Christ astray. Those that profess to be followers of Christ should be wary of going against God and betraying the trust and position He has given them to protect His flock and to lead them on the right path. God’s wrath upon those that harm His flock will be severe.
What can we do as a church to keep false doctrine from hurting the flock?
For starters a reliable Bible must be used and that is the King James Version.
Books from Ellen White should be used as a reference guide which points to the Bible.
Stay with what you know and don’t go looking outside your church for information. It is like opening an email, you don’t know who its from, but you open it anyway and let a virus in. This is what happens when you let false doctrine into the flock. Error comes in and causes a virus that spreads and infects and we cannot let that happen.
There are too many websites out there today that have a mixture of truth and error. Why go to Sunday keeping websites when you know there is error there. Stay with what you know. If you find new light in your church share it with the rest of the flock and verify it, prove it with Scripture before taking it to heart.
Do not get angry or feel slighted by your brethren if they confront you regarding materials that you bring to the table which is questionable; they are only looking out for your soul and welfare. They love you enough to chastise you, just as Jesus did when those around Him were in error. He chastised with love and so should we as well when confronting apostasy and error.
May God be with you this day and remember to be as the Bereans and verify everything with the Bible.