FALSE TEACHERS Here we go!  You are getting into the judging business!  Who authorized you to be a judge about these things?  Glad you asked.   As a Christian, I, myself, am not  authorized by God or anyone to make    myself (by Stewart’s authority) a judge of others; however, Jesus does command His people to “judge with righteous judgment” (John 7: 24).  What does that mean?  How can you or I know with certainty what righteous judgment is?  To begin with we need to rule out  human  judgments,  personal  feelings, opinions, or church positions. These standards of judgment are always in flux, changing according to the day, or one’s mood or even physical chemistry.  Such a changing  standard of judgment as this certainly    cannot be viewed as “righteous judgment.”   One who loves God will seek to understand and express the temperament of God.  The lover of God expresses his love for God in Psalm 119:104 by saying, “I hate every false way.”  You know, today the clear majority of the mind of man wants to be politically correct and not be offensive to anyone.  These folks will not make any   religious judgments regarding right or wrong because they might offend someone.          I don’t know about you, but I am only concerned about offending my God and my eternal judge.  Through His word God has helped  me  to  know  how  to  examine myself to see if I truly am part of the faith (2 Cor. 13:5) that was once and for all time delivered (Jude 3) by the apostles and prophets of the first century (Eph. 2:19-20).  Judgment day will bring no surprises to the child of God who before God is constantly preparing for either his death or the return of his Lord. Safeguards are in place to protect and help the child of God know of his sure bond with His God through Jesus Christ.  For example, if a sincere, religious leader — be they minister, evangelist, preacher, priest, or pastor — gives spiritual counsel which is contrary to God’s word, we can know with Certainty that they are wrong simply because God is always right.  ”Let God be true but every man a liar” (Rom. 3:4).  The one who is diligent will seek the Lord while He may be found.  Christians are not to be beguiled by sincere religionists and throw their brains on the ground because some religious type says something.  The   responsible  Christian  before  God  is  commanded  to  test  or  prove  all things and they are further encouraged to hold on to what is good, true, and reliable  (1 Thess. 5:21).   Most of us were brought up under the religious influence of some member or members of our families.   There is a danger here that we may never develop our own faith but only develop the faith of our parents or family.  In the church and out of the church, let all heed the admonition of John and the Holy Spirit in 1 John 4:1.  Let us understand that in our sincerity we are loved by God; however, we are    challenged to NOT BELIEVE EVERY SPIRIT (attitude- everything we read or hear).  It is not disrespectful to test the spirits to see if they are truly approved of by God.  Christians, as sheep we are commanded to do this to protect ourselves and our souls that can be both sincere and beguiled.  In the first century and in the twenty-first century there are many false prophets or teachers in the religious world that may even call themselves “Christians.”  Question your preacher or religious teacher if he says something contrary to the holy inspired and preserved word of God called the Bible.          We must realize that it is vanity to think that sincere and uninspired human beings with their human counsels can ever IMPROVE on God’s perfect word.  Jesus warns us that there will be religionists who will pretend to be part of God’s sheepfold but inwardly they are as ravening wolves who seek only to perpetuate themselves (Matt. 7: 15).  History proves all religious counsels change, modify, and apologize for every generation that comes along.  Such instability does not represent the majestic and perfect creator of the universe.  God’s word is intended to unify believers.  It is the counsels and manuals, and handbooks, and creeds of sincere and usurping religions that continually divide those who want to believe in the Christ of the Bible.  There is a sobering principle and admonition in the closing verses of the Revelation.  In Revelation 22:18-19 all who will seek to honor and obey God are soberly charged not to ADD to or to TAKE AWAY from the book of Revelation. Those who will modify God’s Revelation will have ADDED to them by the righteous judge, Jesus Christ, the plagues found in the book or they will have their NAMES REMOVED FROM THE BOOK OF LIFE.  In awe and fear of my God, I dare not take His counsel lightly.  I will prove the spirits.  I will examine my own faith to make sure I am not taking anything for granted.  It ultimately is a sober and fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God (Heb. 10:31).  Please choose to pay attention to God’s word.  Psalm 111:10 sums up the heart and attitude God is looking for in His people.  “The fear (deep awe and reverence) of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom.”  Let us all choose to be wise in the eyes of our God and let us not lean upon our own          understanding (Prov. 3:5) but rather let us trust in our LORD who will never fail us with all our hearts.   The Holy Spirit speaks and tells us clearly that there will be those who will depart from the faith practiced by the apostles and that there will be deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons who will lie and be hypocritical (1 Tim. 4:1-2).  Let us all make sure we are not part of such.   Let us not beguile ourselves into thinking, “It can’t happen to me.”  It can happen to you and me.  Let us soberly heed God’s warnings.