Calling Out False Teachers (2 Corinthians 11)

Welcome back to Coffee with a Calvinist.

My name is Keith Foskey, and I am a Calvinist.

Is it ever okay for a pastor to call out false teachers from the pulpit? This is actually a pretty important question, and a question which is answered a little bit differently depending on what pastor you ask.

Not all pastors feel like it's a comforting thing for them, or a false teachers from the pulpit, and I know that over the years that that has been something that I have been willing to do, at least been willing to point out people that I consider to be dangerous in their teaching, and I have had some negative feedback because of it.

I remember specifically one person even deciding that they were going to leave the church because they felt like they were not willing for me to call out people, and when I continued to call out false teachers, they said that that was something that I should not do.

And specifically in this sense, it was because it was a particular false teacher that this person enjoyed listening to, and so that became an issue that was, from their perspective, unresolvable.

So I bring this up today because of where we are in the text.

Today we are in 2nd Corinthians chapter 11.

Now 2nd Corinthians chapter 11, the Apostle Paul is challenging the Corinthians on the issue of listening to false teachers, and he says in verse 4, he basically assigns blame as to what it is that they're teaching that's false.

He says, "...for if someone comes and proclaims another Jesus than the one we proclaimed, or if you received a different spirit from the one you received, or if you accept a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it readily enough.

Indeed, I considered I am not in the least inferior to these super-apostles, even if I am unskilled in speaking, I am not so in knowledge.

Indeed, in every way we have made this plain to you all in all things." And so what's the situation here? Well, the Apostle Paul is talking about some people who were in Corinth who were teaching false things, but obviously they had some notoriety.

Paul identifies them as super-apostles, and this is just an interesting term for him to use, because this is, in a sense, an insult to them, because in some way either the people are considering them to be very high, or the people themselves, the false teachers themselves, are putting themselves on a very high level.

And Paul identifies them in a sarcastic way as super-apostles.

And one of the things that you might have noticed through 2 Corinthians is Paul uses a lot of sanctified sarcasm in this letter.

He is making an argument, and he is challenging not only the false teachers, but those who are listening to them, and he's using a little bit of sanctified sarcasm in his arguments.

And here he's talking about those who would come and proclaim another Jesus, or another spirit, or another gospel.

Of course, that would mean that they were a false teacher.

But going down a little further, I want to point something out from this passage that we should never, ever miss, and that is beginning at verse 13.

He says, Those who call themselves super-apostles or identify themselves as somehow higher, they're false apostles.

They're deceitful workmen, distinguishing themselves as apostles of Christ.

And no wonder, this is the verse I want to point out, verse 14, and no wonder for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light.

One of the most dangerous things that we often forget is that not everyone who is in the pulpit is truly a man of God.

Think about Matthew chapter 7, when Jesus is talking about the last day, the day of judgment, and he says, On that day, many will come to me and say, Lord, Lord, did we not do miracles in your name? Did we not cast out demons in your name? Did we not do this and that in your name? And Jesus will say to them, Depart from me, I never knew you, you workers of iniquity.

And so what's the point? The point is, even though those people were acting in this life in the name of Christ, those people were not genuine believers.

They were not even, or they were not genuine teachers, they were not even genuine believers.

And so there is a sense in which we have to be careful about who it is we are listening to, and we have to remember that one of the things that Satan does is Satan disguises himself as an angel of light.

We often think of Satan as the roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour, and that he is.

But the lion is cunning.

The lion is stalking his prey, and he is using deception to sneak up on the one that he wants to devour.

And one of the ways that Satan uses to sneak into the hearts and into the minds of people that he wants to devour is through the pulpit.

If we turn on the television, we can see the false teachers proclaiming false Gospels, and the sad thing is, thousands, nay millions, of people listen to them, and they think that they are Gospel preachers, when they are truly the farthest thing from it.

And so I want to just remind you today that not everyone standing behind a pulpit, not everyone who is holding up a Bible, is a man of God.

And if you'll remember, when the Apostle Paul was going on his missionary journeys, it says he came to a place called Berea.

And in Berea, it says the people were more noble than those in Thessalonica, because they searched the Scriptures to see if what the Apostle Paul was saying was true.

If you want to know if a man is a true man of God, search the Scriptures to see what he is saying is correct.

Now, every pastor can make mistakes.

Not every pastor is going to have a perfect record on accuracy, and every time I preach, I say, Lord, keep me from error.

But the reality is, if a man is a true man of God, then his preaching will line up with the Word of God.

He will be able to stand upon the Word of God to make not only his points, but also in the way that he lives his life.

And so I would encourage you, if you're going to seek out teachers to listen to, always compare what they're saying with what the Word of God says, and be very leery of those who do not even use the Word of God.

There's one of the most famous preachers in the world will read a Bible verse and then tell story after story after story, encouraging people in their lost condition, and trying to say at some point that he's preaching the truth, but he's really not.

He's really nothing more than a motivational speaker, and yet many people follow him.

He's an angel of light, but he's really not.

He is a useful tool of the devil who is masquerading as an angel of light.

So again, I want to encourage you today, always be willing to compare what you hear with the Word of God, because Satan is not going to try to tempt us often with something like the Church of Satan, or something ridiculous or out of left field.

Satan will try to tempt us away from the truth by giving us something that may sound like truth, but is an actuality error.

May we be like the noble Bereans, willing to search the scriptures to see if the things that we are hearing are in fact true.

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