Got the Holy ?Ghost ?

II. Christ's Sheep Flee.

Those who have received the love of the truth would not hang around such broad way "Christianity," because they would know the truth does matter, and in loving the truth they would "hate every false way" (Psalm 119:104, 128, 163), as Proverbs 8:13 says, "the fear of the Lord is to hate evil." False doctrine, on any Biblical matter, is evil (Proverbs 30:5-6).

Note how Jesus describes His sheep. He says they follow Him. They follow the truth (John 14:6).

My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. (John 10:27)

Earlier Jesus describes Himself and His sheep by saying,

And when he brings out his own sheep, he goes before them; and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. They will by no means follow a stranger, but will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers. (John 10:4-5)

Jesus' sheep are those who are saved (John 10:27-28), and they are described as those who "will by no means follow a stranger." This "by no means" dictates that under no circumstances will Christ's sheep follow a stranger.

Who is a stranger? A stranger is anyone other than Christ whom the sheep do not know. The context of John 10:5 is false spiritual leaders (John 9:40-41), and a stranger is seen as equivalent to "thieves and robbers" (John 10:8). Christ's sheep hear neither strangers (John 10:5) nor thieves and robbers (John 10:8). Anyone who would speak so as to divert a person away from Christ would fit "a stranger," and this is what false teachers do. "They speak great swelling words of emptiness" (2 Peter 2:18), and bring people into the same bondage and corruption by which they themselves are held (Luke 6:39-40; 2 Peter 2:19).

Therefore, anyone following any of the men listed at the beginning of this article, or any like them, are not Christ's sheep. Because the Lord says, not only will they not follow them, but they "flee from him."

Christ's sheep do not hang out with false teachers and false churches. They flee from those who do not speak the truth ("strangers"). Whether it is a Catholic church, Mormon church, Jehovah's Witness Hall, Muslim mosque, or any of the myriad of churches on the broad way (like a "church of Christ," or Grace Community in Panorama City, CA; or Lancaster Baptist in Lancaster, CA, etc.), Christ's sheep are not found counted in their ranks. The only ones who are found heeding such religion are the wicked, as Proverbs 17:4 declares,

An evildoer gives heed to false lips.

Evildoers are to be found in these churches, not those who follow Christ (John 10:5). Therefore, if you are involved in a false church, you prove yourself to be still lost in your sin. God calls you an evildoer (Proverbs 17:4), and by His Word identifies you as not one of His own by the sheer fact that you do not flee such wickedness (John 10:5; 1 Timothy 6:5; 2 Timothy 2:20-21; 3:5; Hebrews 12:14; 13:13).

Someone might argue, "But, the Lord used Billy Graham [or some other false teacher] to bring me to Christ." This too is a lie, because false teachers, like those mentioned at the beginning of this article, are,

III. Wells Without Water.

Speaking of false teachers, Peter wrote,

These are wells without water, clouds carried by a tempest, for whom is reserved the blackness of darkness forever. (2 Peter 2:17)

Peter calls false teachers "wells without water." Jude says they are "clouds without water" (Jude 12). What does this mean?

In the Scriptures, water is used to speak of the Spirit of truth (i.e. the Holy Spirit, John 7:37-39; 14:15-18; 15:26; 16:13), God (Jeremiah 2:13/17:13), and salvation (Isaiah 55:1; Psalm 36:9; John 4:10-14; Revelation 7:17; 21:6; 22:1,17). Therefore, if false teachers are without this water, they do not have the Holy Spirit (like in Jude 19). They are without God (2 John 9), and do not have salvation (2 Peter 2:3, 12-14, 17; Jude 4, 11, 13). As 1 Timothy 6:5 says, they are "destitute of the truth" and know "nothing".

The Lord calls them "wells" and "clouds." A well is a hole in the ground that is supposed to have water, or gives the appearance that it would have water. A cloud likewise gives the appearance that it carries moisture. Yet, a well or a cloud without water gives a false impression, and false teachers do this well. They fool the masses into thinking God is using them to bring people to Christ, but it is all a Satanic facade (as in 2 Corinthians 11:13-15). They have no water. They have no truth (truth mixed with lies = deceit and no truth), no salvation, and no Holy Spirit. Thus, they do nothing but deceive people. They are as Jesus said, "blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind leads the blind, both will fall into a ditch" (Matthew 15:14). Jesus also said,

The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. (John 10:10a)

This statement is made in the context of "thieves and robbers" (John 10:1, 8). It is not speaking solely of Satan, but rather his ministers as well (2 Corinthians 11:15; John 10:1). It lets us know the sole purpose of these charlatans, and that is to deceive (to steal, kill, and destroy). They steal using "great swelling words of emptiness" (2 Peter 2:18). They kill by being used by the devil (1 Peter 5:8) to divert people away from the words of life (Proverbs 4:20-22; 14:12; 18:21; Philippians 2:16). And they destroy with their "destructive heresies" (2 Peter 2:1). They may not be aware of the depth of their own evil (e.g. John 16:2-3; 2 Timothy 3:13), but they are nonetheless "like natural brute beasts made to be caught and destroyed" (2 Peter 2:12); and they do destroy others.

If the Lord were to use a false teacher for some good, it would be in spite of him, not because of him. As the Lord used Balaam the false prophet to bless Israel (Numbers 22-24), it was not because Balaam was a godly man or one who lead people to God (Numbers 25:1-9; 31:16; 2 Peter 2:15-16). It was simply because God turned the curse into a blessing (Deuteronomy 23:5; Nehemiah 13:2). Scripture does not teach that the Lord uses false teachers to lead people to Christ. On the contrary, the Word teaches that God uses false teachers to lead people away from Christ (Psalm 118:22-24; Romans 11:36; 1 Peter 2:7).

False teachers falsely boast of giving the gospel to people. But they are like the one mentioned in Proverbs 25:14.

Whoever falsely boasts of giving is like clouds and wind without rain.

They are clouds and wells without water, a dry disappointment.

If you are going to "draw water from the wells of salvation" (Isaiah 12:3), you need to go where the water is to be found (John 4:10, 13-14). It is not found with the likes of the men mentioned above. It is not found in the myriad of false churches and ministries. It is found in the pages of the Word of God (1 Peter 1:22-23; Hebrews 4:12-13; Revelation 19:13). Fear God (Luke 12:4-5), cry out (Proverbs 2:3), weep (James 4:9), and seek for understanding (Proverbs 2:4) like there is no tomorrow, because for most, there is no tomorrow (Psalm 9:17; 92:7; Proverbs 1:24-32; Matthew 7:13-14).