Satan’s Sphere of Activity: False Teachers

How do false teachers operate today?  Much the same way as they did in Jeremiah's day:

Jeremiah 29:8-9 `For thus said Jehovah of Hosts, God of Israel, Let not your prophets who are in your midst, and your diviners, lift you up, nor hearken ye unto their dreams, thayye are causing them to dream; For with falsehood they are prophesying to you in My name; I have not sent them, an affirmation of Jehovah. 

The Apostle Paul warned about this in 2 Corinthians:

2 Corinthians 11:13-15 for those such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into apostles of Christ, and no wonder -- for even the Adversary doth transform himself into a messenger of light; no great thing, then, if also his ministrants do transform themselves as ministrants of righteousness -- whose end shall be according to their works. 

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False teachers do not (by and large) fool very many people by claiming to be sent by Satan.  That is a bit obvious.  Instead, they claim the God and the Christ of the Scriptures.  Some do not even know they are deceiving, which of course, adds to the depth of the deception.  Many have some truth in what they say.

This is the tactic Satan uses today. The 19th century theologian, E.W. Bullinger, commented on this stating, "...it bids us to look at Satan's sphere of influence to-day, not in the police courts, BUT IN THE PULPITS; not in the newspapers, BUT IN SERMONS; not on the stage, BUT IN OUR UNIVERSITIES; not in our streets, BUT IN THE PROFESSOR'S CHAIRS AT OUR THEOLOGICAL COLLEGES."

It takes discernment and studying the rightly divided and correctly translated Scriptures to pick out most of today's false teachers.  Why?  Because they aren't teaching SEEMINGLY evil things.  They teach seemingly RIGHTEOUS things Theyhave a bright smile, a bible in hand, they have hundreds, thousands, millions of followers, they claim the name of Jesus (see 2 Cor. Reference above).  

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When Jeremiah prophesied (Jer.28) that Babylon would take Israel into captivity, they would not listen to the Words of God through Jeremiah.  Instead, they listened to Hananiah who claimed that God would not bring this upon them, that God was going to bring blessing on them, that they were God’s people and that He would prosper them and they just needed faith.  Sound familiar??

But, God did not authorize Hananiah and He does NOT authorize those today.  Some teach that you can speak things into existence, some teach things that are akin to Paganism[] , some will say God spoke to them and revealed things to them not in Scripture, some claim to have visions sent by God and most teach that Christ's work on the cross was necessary BUT NOT ENOUGH.

Speaking [] of these, Paul says that they are:

2 Timothy 3:5 having a form of godliness, BUT DENYING THE POWER thereof: from such turn away.