Liars and Labels examines how people claim to be something that they are not, and they use labels, yet their lives prove that they are liars.
Revelation 2:2 I know thy works, and thy labour, and thy patience, and how thou canst not bear them which are evil: and thou hast tried them which say they are apostles, and are not, and hast found them liars:
G652 ἀπόστολος apostolos (a-po’-sto-los) n.
1. a delegate.
2. (specially) an ambassador of the Gospel.
3. (officially) a commissioner of Christ, “apostle” (with miraculous powers).
[from G649]
KJV: apostle, messenger, he that is sent (Strongs Dictionary)
The word “apostle” is to send someone with a commission. A commission is authority, sustenance for their living, and equipment that they need to do a job. This is what a country does when they set up an embassy in another country, they commission an ambassador, and they send him with authority to represent the country as well as a specific mission to accomplish, which can be a long term thing as well as something specific.
The Apostle John recommends the church of Ephesus because they were workers who were very much involved in the work of the Lord and in promoting and advancing God’s work. But he especially commends them because there were people traveling in the New Testament world proclaiming themselves to “be apostles” like the 12 apostles, or like Paul. They were not commissioned by God, but rather they wanted to be received and given accommodation by the churches as though they were. This was just food and shelter, but these false teachers wanted to influence and persuade the churches to follow them in doctrine and other things.
John’s commendation of the Ephesian church was that they did not believe what these people were saying, basically the Ephesians followed the same practice with all newcomers, but they “tried” them to see if they were liars.
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Deceivers want Acceptance because of their Labels
The point here is that deceivers and evil workers get involved with the people that they want to harm, rob, or influence with false doctrines and practices (Colossians 2:8 “philosophy and vain deceit… traditions of men“) by identifying with the common folk of the church as “being one of them.”
Matthew 7:15 Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.
Matthew 16:16 Jesus warns the people of the harm that the Pharisees and Sadducees would possibly do them. Both groups were seen as good religious people to the Israelites of the day.
Mark 12:38 Identifies these groups as having particular religious conduct which, in the eyes of Israel, they should be honored as being very spiritual.
Matthew 24:24 “shall shew great signs and wonders”
2 Peter 3:17 “Beware lest ye also, being led away with the error of the wicked”
Matthew 24:5 Jesus says some will even say that they are Jesus Christ. and 24:11 “will deceive many.”
Jeremiah 16:14-16 God denounces the false prophets of “I sent them not, neither have I commanded them, neither spake unto them.” As an apostle, or authorized embassador, they failed. god disavows them and everything about them. It was highly damaging to the people of God to accept them when they didn’t come from God. Ruin and destruction will be the result in the people of God’s lives.
Jeremiah 23:13 And I have seen folly in the prophets of Samaria; they prophesied in Baal, and caused my people Israel to err.
Jeremiah 23:14 I have seen also in the prophets of Jerusalem an horrible thing: they commit adultery, and walk in lies: they strengthen also the hands of evildoers, that none doth return from his wickedness: they are all of them unto me as Sodom, and the inhabitants thereof as Gomorrah.
Jeremiah 23:15 Therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts concerning the prophets; Behold, I will feed them with wormwood, and make them drink the water of gall: for from the prophets of Jerusalem is profaneness gone forth into all the land.
Jeremiah 23:16 Thus saith the LORD of hosts, Hearken not unto the words of the prophets that prophesy unto you: they make you vain: they speak a vision of their own heart, and not out of the mouth of the LORD.
Jeremiah’s words here point to the false prophet using lies to ply his craft. It is extremely important to understand that a false prophet’s telltale mark is that they are not focusing on their followers really morally changing. “none doth return from his wickedness” Salvation is initiated with repentance (moral change and abandonment of sin), and that same moral character permeates and saturates everything in the life of a true Christian. A God-called minister will always focus on real moral change. But this element is absolutely essential in distinguishing between a false prophet and a true man of God. This is always the difference between the two. Ministers who cause no moral change in their people are the same as ministers who lead Christians into satanism or other doctrinal errors. Doing nothing is this context is the same as doing wrong.
Ezekiel 13:16 To wit, the prophets of Israel which prophesy concerning Jerusalem, and which see visions of peace for her, and there is no peace, saith the Lord GOD.
When a people are in danger, usually they take special actions and make extra attention to attend to that situation so that they do not fall into harm. Yet, the false prophet de-emphasizes God’s importance of the evil of sin (wickedness). They cause a feeling of well-being when the person should be alert, working as much as possible to avert the danger that threatens them. So the false prophet wants to identify as one of the people in the church, and he wants to make everybody “feel good.” Preachers that ruffle the people’s feathers are usually losing their people, because new people coming into the church just don’t want this constant spiritual challenge to examine their lives and draw near to God. That want to continue in their sins and feel good about God. They will flock to a preacher that makes them feel that they are good with God, even if they have unrepented sin in their lives.
We are to Try their “Labels” against their actual lives
John’s recommendation of the Ephesian church’s practice was that they “tried them which say they are apostles, and are not, and hast found them liars” (Revelation 2:2). Isaiah 9:16 spoke of how individuals would get into places of authority and leadership over the believers, and these would cause the believers in God to err, leading them to be destroyed. Obedient Christians are to constantly compare a person’s talk with their walk. This is even more important when people come proclaiming themselves as being spiritually superior to you, and want to impose their influence, doctrines, practices, etc. on the group or individuals in the group.
Deuteronomy 13:1 If there arise among you a prophet, or a dreamer of dreams, and giveth thee a sign or a wonder,
Deuteronomy 13:2 And the sign or the wonder come to pass, whereof he spake unto thee, saying, Let us go after other gods, which thou hast not known, and let us serve them;
Deuteronomy 13:3 Thou shalt not hearken unto the words of that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams: for the LORD your God proveth you, to know whether ye love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul.
Moses gave the same instructions to Israel. The doctrinal and practical content of their proposals has to both check with the teaching of the Bible and be actual in reality.
What we are to understand here is that the false prophet wants people “to trust a lie.”
Jeremiah 28:15 Then said the prophet Jeremiah unto Hananiah the prophet, Hear now, Hananiah; The LORD hath not sent thee; but thou makest this people to trust in a lie.
When a person is spiritually harmed when he accepts and makes part of the counsel that guides their life something that God has not declared. This is believing a lie.
What are lies?
We need to broaden our understanding of truth and lies in Scripture. A lie is not just 2+2=5, but lies can be doctrinal, such as God is not so holy and angered at sin that He would actually send somebody to hell. Many Christians believe that they can be right with God but put forth very little in their Christian lives, and even “dabble” in sin from time to time, and God is okay with that. That is a lie. It is a false belief that is not substantiated in the Bible.
Likewise, truth is not just factual things (although all truth is factual), but goes beyond where it is factual or not to include the concept of something moral, spiritual, and eternal. Jesus is God is a truth. But what you do with Jesus (a moral application that absolutely must be addressed in discussing if Jesus is God) is what decides your eternal fate.
The false prophet is a person who disseminates things that are doctrinal poison, causing harm to all who embrace them and possibly causing that person to not come to a saving knowledge of the Savior.
The point here is to not allow the proclaims (labels a person applies to themselves) to be separated from the actual walk and actions of that person. False prophets and unsaved “Christians” in our churches are abundant, and they all claim to be sheep, just like us, but they are not. Their attitudes, motives, and most importantly their actions and speech tell the truth of who they are.
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Liars and Labels