Beware of Foolish Preachers

Ezekiel 13:3

“Thus saith the Lord GOD; Woe unto the foolish prophets, that follow their own spirit, and have seen nothing!”

All throughout history there have always been foolish preachers. Ezekiel describes prophets who follow their own spirit and have seen nothing. The prophet was supposed to bring a message from God, but there were prophets who were simply bringing a message from their own heart and mind that had no message from God. These still claim to be from God, but they were not sent. Ezekiel prophesies a condemnation to such prophets.

There are preachers who do the same thing today. They do not bind themselves to bring a message from God’s Word. Instead they bring their own messages from their own heart and mind. Instead of following the Word of God they follow the lines of logic. Such preaching appeals to the flesh of mankind and draws him away from the true message of God to the logic of man. We as believers need to be able to distinguish between foolish preachers who bring a message from their own heart, but in truth have not seen anything, and the true messengers from God who bring the message from God for your life. Here are a few things to consider that will help us discern.

BEWARE OF PREACHERS WHO DO NOT USE GOD’S WORD

There are preachers who will stand to speak and never once reference the Word of God. They have their notes, they have their stories, they have their illustrations, but they do not use God’s Word. Such preachers give no pretense of coming from God with His message and blatantly use their logic to appeal to your logic in hopes that you will leave with a feeling of inspiration. We need to beware of such preachers. 

There are also preachers who use false versions of the Bible. These have been deceived by the Devil and accepted a corrupted text of God’s Word. These cannot bring a message from God out of a corrupted version of His Word. Such preachers generally use a plurality of versions, and they simply choose whichever one best suits their message at the time. We need to beware of such preachers.  

BEWARE OF PREACHERS WHO DO NOT USE PROPER TITLES

When a preacher uses a title like “Apostle” they show a lack of Biblical understanding. To be an apostle one had to be an eyewitness to the resurrection of Jesus Christ. They were authenticated by the miracles that they performed. The apostles were a part of the foundation that the church was built upon according to Ephesians 2:20. There is no one alive today that is an eye-witness to the resurrection. Also, while God still does miracles He no longer uses such miracles to validate his preachers. His preachers are validated by the Word of God. Other titles like Prophet or Priest are also not applicable to us today. The term Bishop is seldom properly used, though it is still a valid term today as a synonym for the Pastor of a church. Beware of preachers who use false titles. 

BEWARE OF PREACHERS WHO DO NOT LIVE GOD’S WORD

There are preachers who stand to preach in direct violation to God’s Word. The Scriptures are clear that a woman cannot be a pastor, therefore when a woman claims to do so she is in direct violation of God's Word and should be avoided. There are preachers who stand to preach that have long hair as men. Such are in clear violation of the Word of God for He stated that it is a shame for a man to have long hair. Such preachers should be avoided. 

We live in an age where teaching is more easily acquired than at any other time in history. However, dear believer, we must beware of who our teachers are. The more information that is available the more Satan will corrupt that information to try to confuse God’s children. Do not fall prey to His misinformation. Beware of foolish preachers.