The Bryce Crawford Podcast - Wolves In Sheeps Clothing (EP 15)

Episode Date: February 23, 2024

In this episode, Bryce talks about false teachers.

What's going on, guys. Welcome back to another episode of the Bryce Crawford podcast. I'm Bryce. And today we have an episode that we're going to talk about something that really burdens my heart and frustrates me in a very righteous way. We're going to talk about false teachers. The title of this episode is called Wolves and Sheeps Clothing. And I actually want to take a different approach to this topic on false teachers. And so we're going to get into it. If you guys are watching, you guys can see I'm in the lovely free spiritual. readings hoodie is that lovely beautiful jesus merch our website jesus in the street com is the unofficial official official unofficial sponsor of the bryce cropper podcast and so if you want to rock some fire jesus merchandise some boldness for the gospel stuff to wear conversation starters go to jesus in the street dot com get you some shirts and hoodies today but let's get into the topic i want to start out with a few scriptures real quick before we go into what a false teacher is 2 Timothy 4 3 through 4 says for the time is coming when people will not endure sound doctrine I mean people will not endure sound teaching but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves

teachers to suit their own passions and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths and then 1st Timothy 6 through 3 through 5 says if anyone teaches a different doctrine and does not agree with the sound words of our Lord Jesus Christ and the teaching that accords with godliness, he has puffed up with conceit and understands nothing. He has an unhealthy craving for controversy and for quarrels about words which produce envy, dissension, slander, evil suspicions, and constant friction among people who are depraved in mind and deprived of the truth, imagining that godliness is a means of gain. This is huge. We need to go back to 2 Timothy here because he talks about how people will listen to certain teachers because their ears are itching.

A lot of people will decide not to listen to sound doctrine because they want to hear what they want to hear. You know, some people don't want to know that it's important for them to confess their sins and repent. Some people don't want to know or don't want to hear that they've got to stop sleeping with their girlfriend before they get married. You know, some people don't want to hear that. So they'll change who they're listening to because they don't want the truth. and they're deceiving themselves. Deception is the nastiest thing on the planet because you don't know you're being deceived

when you're being deceived. And so there's a lot of people out here that are being deceived and there's a lot of people that know when people are teaching false doctrine but are purposefully listening to it because they want to hear what they're saying. But it's not the truth.

And what does First Timothy say? He says if anyone teaches a different doctrine that doesn't align with the words of Jesus, if something that doesn't align with the character of the words of Jesus, he is puffed up with conceit and understands nothing. You want to know the first thing I think about when you want to talk about a false teacher or a false doctrine that comes in a place.

I think of Islam. I think of Mormonism. I think of these sects of religion that claim that God visited them or an angel of light. And if you read Corinthians, Paul is actually writing about false teachers and he says just like Satan, for he will disguise himself as an angel of light and his and his demons as angels of righteousness.

And so there's false doctrines out there and people that claim to have the truth. Look at Mormonism, Joseph Smith. If Jesus is the embodiment and the physical representation of the invisible God and he is existed before time ever existed and the Bible is the only doctrine and the gospel of Jesus Christ is the only gospel we listen to, and the Bible says that we shouldn't take or add to it, and then someone claims that God visited them, and that Jesus Christ visited them, and that they need to add to the Bible, that just doesn't make sense. That's puffed up to see. And what does First Timothy say? That he is puffed up and understands nothing, and people do it for greed and their own

selfish desires. Very interesting. Matthew 715, beware of false prophets who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves. And then Jude, one says for certain people have crept in unnoticed who long ago were designated for this condemnation on godly people who pervert the grace of our God into sensuality and deny our only master and Lord Jesus Christ. Do you notice that a false teacher described in the Bible is someone that hates God? A false teacher in the Bible is someone who is blatantly against God. So a lot of you keyboard warriors out there want to call people false teachers and heretics and you don't even know them, you don't know their heart, much less if you look at the fruit on their tree, they have fruit on their tree.

But you want to call someone a false teacher, but the Bible makes it very clear that false teachers are people who blatantly are against God and are trying to pervert the truth on purpose. So just because you don't agree with someone's secondary issue doesn't mean you get to call them a false teacher, we have to look at the sound biblical doctrine that makes something Christian or Christianity. What makes Christianity? Whether you believe in the Trinity. Whether you believe that Jesus was 100% man and 100% God. Whether you believe that Jesus' death and resurrection is what saves you and not your works. Like there are basic sound doctrine ideas that we have to understand versus whether you believe in predestination or not. Whether someone believes in predestination or not, you want to call him a false teacher because that's a secondary issue.

That's not going to get you in heaven. Why are we doing that? And so a lot of you guys want to look at people on the internet or preachers or you want to take a 30 second clip of a sermon and call someone a false teacher when you don't know their heart and you don't look at the fruit on their tree. And here's the reality. Different ministries and different people that are Christian in different churches, they might sway one way in the wind where they preach one type of thing or they might sway in this tree with this way or the right where they preach one thing. but at the end of the day you can tell if someone's a false teacher or not based on the fruit on their tree

do they have fruit on their tree just look at the fruit on their tree because we look through 1st Timothy and what is he saying first Timothy that false teacher does he has an unhealthy craving for controversy

quarrels for words it produces envy dissension slander evil suspensions and constant friction among the people so there's root to false teachers. Second Peter says something really interesting about false teachers.

He says, but false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the master who brought them bringing upon themselves swift destruction. What is heresy? Heresy is a belief that's contradictory to biblical sound doctrine. And a false teacher is someone who's blatantly against. God. So a false teacher will preach heresy. And so something that I think is really interesting, which has been really burdened on my heart, and I'm just going to say it because I'm like really

burdened about it, is I notice that when you lay hands on the sick, people think that's false doctrine. But it just blows my mind that Jesus calls everyone all believers to be a witness and to lay hands on the sick. But if you pray for healing in Jesus' name, because it's not by our power, it's by Jesus' power. They get healed. And if they get healed, somehow that's heresy and that's a false doctrine. Yet Jesus himself says that we'll do greater things than he did with the Holy Spirit. And Jesus raised himself from the debt. So just think how you want on that. But if we pray for the sick, somehow it's a false doctrine. But it's almost as if we're too quick to accuse people of being false teachers than actually believing in the Holy Spirit in them and looking and observing with

discernment of the fruit on their tree. Look at the fruit on their tree before you make a judgment about them. And to all do you people out there that call people a false teacher, this, this isn't that? If you care about someone, if you care that they're really a false teacher, then when's the last time you prayed for them? Because it sounds like a lot of you guys have been gossiping about people and claiming people are false teachers without praying for them. And I actually want to give you guys some chapstick because your lips are chapped too much from talking too much, but how many false teachers you know rather than praying for him. I'd rather you guys be praying for them than call them a false teacher. And if you really care that they're a false teacher, pray for them.

Don't just say they're a false teacher on the internet. Look at the fruit on their tree. Second Peter goes on and many will follow their sensuality and because of them the way of truth will be blasphemed. And in their greed they will exploit you with false words. False teachers have a secret agenda. And it's out of greed and desires for something That's that secret agenda behind them. And then Colossians 2-8 encourages us, see to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition,

according to the elemental spirits of the world and not according to Christ. There's something very interesting about preachers and false teachers and teachers and things like that. I would highly encourage you guys to steer away from listening to preachers and teachers that don't preach hope. because Jesus is the hope and he's the light of our world and the light of salvation and so if people aren't preaching hope i would argue to you that they aren't preaching jesus because jesus is the hope and so coloshan says see to it that no one takes you captive so when we when we listen to preachers when we listen to teachers we don't have to be super analytical and critical,

but we need to discern their words and weigh their words. So if you're listening to preachers and pastors that aren't using much scripture, that's not to say that what they're saying isn't biblical, but discern and weigh their words with the scriptures. Or if people are using a lot of scripture, still weigh their words with the Spirit of God and discern whether the scripture that they're using is in context or out of context for their own deceitful desire.

because sometimes there are people out there that will take scripture and manipulate it for their own agenda versus what it's meant for in scripture and so if we allow ourselves to partner with the spirit of god and discernment james says if anyone likes wisdom ask god and he'll give it to you like ask god for wisdom and discernment when it comes to to discerning whether something is biblical or not or whether something is is false or not or whether someone is a false teacher and i'm not going to say that you can't identify false teachers. You can. You have the spirit of God inside of you.

This is more of a just be careful what you say kind of thing. Because a lot of people call many people false teachers. And I have met many people that a lot of people claim to be false teachers. I've met many people that people on the internet and all these stuff claim to know that they're false teachers, but they don't know them personally. They've never met them. They've never talked to them. and they based their theology of false doctrine off of a 30 second video clip.

Like that's awful. Imagine if people base their perception off you off of a 15 second audio clip of something stupid you said in class. I've said many stupid things. And I bet many people could clip up many sermon clips or many things that I've said that could make me sound like a false teacher. There's a difference in teaching something incorrect versus being a false. teacher. Being a false teacher means that you continually teach false doctrine for your own selfish desires and for your own selfish gain versus teaching something incorrectly and correcting yourself later on or taking it down or something like that. There's a difference in that. And look,

people repent. People repent on the internet and things like, guys, we just have to be careful. This comes out of the bottom of my heart. A lot of people are going to get frustrated. at me for this episode a lot of people are going to say yeah but yeah but you're just saying this because this isn't that but i would really check your heart before you just start going on the internet and blasting someone on the internet how many times you praying for them before you call them a false teacher on the internet how many times have you been praying for them before you gossip about them because if you ain't praying for them before you talk about them then you got a really big heart check to go after yourself before you start talking about somebody behind their back because at the end of the day

that's a human being and if you're incorrect about their ministry then you have shamefully cursed their ministry to other people when their ministry is for the Lord and not for you. And so a lot of people, and you see this stuff, there's so many ministries out there that are just devoted to calling out false teachers. And the Bible actually says, like, we should call people out for their false doctrine, but me personally, I don't think there should be a ministry dedicated just to calling out false teachers. I think that's, I think that's, I don't even know how to feel about that.

A ministry just dedicated to calling out false teachers. I'm not about that because there's no hope in that. Like that's just putting people down in the ministries that I've seen that call out false teachers only. There's no hope. It's just degrading them and devaluing them and this, this and that, and discouragement, and this isn't that. And one of my favorite things I've ever heard, this is the last thing I'll end the podcast on. There's a clip of Bill Johnson, pastor of Bethel. there's a clip of him in this interviewer asks him a silly question

he goes so bill what do you think about the people that hate you you know i think that's such a stupid question and bill sits there and he waits a second before he speaks very wise he waited a second and thought about what he was going to say before he spoke interesting how people that call bill a false teacher will say immediately what comes to their head but supposedly the false teacher himself is weighing his words before they come out of his mouth very interesting

how you look at his heart but he's sitting there and he goes well i i pray for them and i bless them and i bless their ministry and when i take communion i bless them and then he starts weeping uncontrollably and he's like i love them and i care about them and i i just bless them and i pray that god will increase their ministry and god will provide financially for them and bless their family and their offspring and their kids kids and then i love the thing that he ends it with he says i'm not mad at the people that hate me or call me a false teacher because they're doing it because they believe in the power of the gospel he's like i don't hate them because they're claiming i'm teaching something

false for the sake of the gospel but he goes but they're wrong they don't know me they don't know me personally and none of them have reached out to have a genuine conversation with me so he says i'm not mad at them, but they're wrong. Powerful response. The way he responds is he blesses them and he prays for them and he blesses their kids and their ministry, the ministry that is dedicated going against him. I mean, Bill Johnson has people that have ministries that are dedicated just against him and his ministry. And he blesses their ministry. And he blesses them because he believes in the power of the tongue and he believes in the gospel. But he says, I love them and I bless them because even though they're wrong, they're doing it for the sake of the gospel. What a powerful response.

And so I actually just want to pray for you guys as we close out this podcast that God will give you discernment for the sermons and scriptures and preachers that you listen to so you will be able to discern whether you should listen to peace certain people or not. But I also pray that God will give you discernment and wisdom on what to say and when to say it. Because that's not just for a false teacher thing. That's just for a gossip thing. That's for anything, even when you're teaching. Guys, I've said so many things. that have been incorrect, and many people could clip up things about me that could sound false. But praise God that I love Jesus, and Jesus is renewing me daily, and Jesus is teaching me things.

And, you know, you could probably clip up 30 seconds of a podcast I've talked about, and I've said something incorrect. But my heart here isn't to lead you astray. My heart is to point you to the Father. So when you look at people and analyze their life, look to see if they're hardest to point you to the Father and not for their own selfish gain and selfish ambitions. And look at the fruit on their tree. I thank you for people watching and listen into this. God, I pray that you will give them discernment and wisdom

when it comes to listening to certain teachers, preachers, God, will you give them discernment to weigh their words with the word of God and with the words of Jesus Christ? God, we thank you for them, God, and I just pray that you will give them wisdom to hold back their tongue and wisdom to speak when they should. God, we love them and bless them in Jesus' name. Guys, thank you for listening to this podcast.

If you like it, subscribe to our YouTube, Bryce Carper podcast. Follow us on Instagram, Bryce Carver podcast. We're on Spotify, Apple. We post clips on YouTube shorts And Instagram guys love you guys Go visit Jesusinthe street.com for some fire Jesus merch And we'll see you guys next time