You Will Either TOLERATE Or TRY Those Liars

 

"Neither miracles nor multitudes are certain signs of a true church, for all the world wanders after the beast."

 

"Those that would cheat us of any truth, and possess us with error, whatever they pretend, design mischief to our souls." - Matthew Henry

 

 

Revelation 2:2 says - "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."

 

If you knew that the Lord Jesus commended a certain church for carrying out a designated practice, wouldn't you want to do the same in order to win His approval also?

 

In Revelation 2:2, we read how He praised the Ephesian Church for refusing to tolerate evil men in their midst and for testing those who claimed to be His ministers. He expects us to do the same today.

 

"thou canst not bear them which are evil..."

 

The Ephesians could not and would not endure wicked men in their midst. Having a zeal "according to knowledge"(Romans 10:2),  they demonstrated no sympathy for their evil doctrines or practices but  utterly opposed them.

 

How many Christians today are displaying this same zeal?

How many vehemently oppose the doctrines or practices of those who are spreading error throughout the churches and land?

Are you one of them?

Or has the enemy of your soul caused you to become nonchalant and indifferent toward these evil speakers?

Are you too busy with your own agenda to even care what kind of error is spreading throughout the Body of Christ?

Do you just take it for granted that because someone is speaking from the Word of God that surely the Lord Jesus has sent them?

 

"thou canst not bear them which are evil..."

 

Who are these "evil" or wicked men whom the Ephesians refused to tolerate?

 

2 Corinthians 11:13 - They are the "false apostles..." - the ones who pretend to be sent by God on a specific mission. They are the ones who pretend to have a claim to the apostolic office, but, in all actuality, bring another Gospel to the people and, resultantly, are enemies of the Cross.

 

2 Corinthians 11:13 - They are the "deceitful workers..." who are crafty, cunning, and hypocritical. They are very diligent in promoting their error. They have no interest in advancing God's Kingdom; they are too busy promoting their own.

 

2 Corinthians 11:13 - They are those who transform "themselves into the apostles of Christ." They are phonies and imposters. They assume the habits, doctrines, and mannerisms of a true apostle, only to deceive the people for their own gain.

 

Matthew 7:15; Matthew 24:11 - They are "false prophets." They pretend to be divinely inspired -"prophesying" for God - yet they are teachers of erroneous doctrines. They don't teach the truth according to godliness. They assume the appearance of holiness, purity, innocence, sincerity, harmlessness, meekness, and usefulness - "come in sheep's clothing" - yet their hearts and minds are defiled and full of wickedness.

 

Matthew 7:15 - They are "ravening wolves" who are only interested in making a "prey" or gain of the people. They are not interested in the souls of men. They will pretend to be so. But their main focus is to gain the money and property of their listeners. Their "Gospel" causes people to be drawn away from spiritual pursuits and a Closer Walk with Jesus unto the material things and idols of this world.

 

Matthew 15:9 - They teach "FOR DOCTRINES THE COMMANDMENTS OF MEN." If you will notice, they will get each other's tapes and books, diligently study them, and then teach that man or woman's "interpretation of the truth" to their people. Very seldom do they have a fresh "Word" from God. It is usually a repeat or mimic of what one of the "Big-Named Preachers" is preaching at the time.

 

1 Timothy 1:7 - "Desiring to be teachers of the law; understanding neither what they say, nor whereof they affirm." They all want to be teachers of the Word, yet many of them were never called by God to do what they are doing.

 

1 Timothy 4:2 - "Speaking lies in hypocrisy..." - Many of God's people knowingly or unknowingly have apostatized from the Faith. By following the hypocritical teachings of these who seek to implant their lies and falsehood every where, they have "left their first love" for the love of money or the goods of this world. They have become earthly rather than spiritual. Their main agenda is not how close they can draw to Jesus or how many  people they could witness to in one week, but how much "stuff" they can gain in this life.

 

Matthew 5:19 - "break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so...called the least in the kingdom of heaven..." These evildoers encourage sin in their followers. They mock any type of strictness in holy standards or serious devotion before God. Theirs is a "loose" or "broad" Gospel that they preach, making allowances for many "pet" indulgences of the flesh.

 

Revelation 2:2 goes on to say - "...thou hast tried them which say they are apostles..."

Besides not tolerating these wicked workers in their midst, the Ephesian Church also put to the test all the self-proclaimed apostles. They thoroughly and carefully examined their claims to be sent by God.

 

Please take note of what the Lord Jesus said here - "...thou hast tried them which say they are apostles..." If there ever was a day and an hour when these words would have special meaning to us, it is now. So many times you will hear Preachers from the pulpits telling their audiences to "Say this" or "Say that..." The people are encouraged to "say" or "confess" what they want to become, and then given the assurance that it will surely come to pass.

 

But we must never forget what Lamentations 3:37 says - "Who is he that saith, and it cometh to pass, when the Lord commandeth it not?"

 

People can "say" all day long that they "are apostles," but only God can determine a man or woman's calling. He and He alone ordains those whom He chooses into the 5-fold callings. So many today think that if they go around "confessing" that they are "Prophets" or "Apostles," that that is what they will become because some Preacher told them it would happen this way. Nothing could be further from the Truth!

 

"...thou hast tried them which say they are apostles, and are not..." I wonder how many "are not's" we have in the land today? They "say they are apostles," but truthfully, we all know they "...are not..."

 

"...and hast found them liars." In fact, under closer examination, you will find that they are false, pretenders, and outright "liars."

 

How should we respond to the Pretenders who are invading the Churches throughout the land?

 

The Apostle Paul instructed Titus with these words - "Whose mouths must be stopped, who subvert whole houses, teaching things which they ought not, for filthy lucre's sake"(Titus 1:11).

 

These, who are turning entire families away from the Preaching of the Cross with their False Gospel, must be unmasked at once. Their hypocrisy and pretensions to ministry must be made manifest before the people whom they are endeavoring to seduce with their false doctrines and error. Their real purpose in ministry - to get rich and accumulate the things of this world - must be exposed before all.

 

The Ephesians were commended by the Lord Jesus because they sought for a "pure ministry" where all claims were well founded. We must seek to do the same in our Christian circles.

 

We have a Choice - We can either tolerate or try those liars.     

What will it be?

Your decision can cost you your very own soul.