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               Another Jesus, Another Spirit, Another Gospel

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By David Wilkerson
October 7, 1991
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          Some time ago a minister called our office, very
          disturbed. He said he preaches holiness and the
          crucified life in his church, and he did seem to have a
          true shepherd's heart. Then he said that some of his
          church members had attended some kind of special
          seminar - and they had come home ready to leave his
          congregation.

          They told him, "God has brought us into a new
          revelation that has changed our lives. We heard things
          we've never heard before. We thought we were saved
          before, but now we know we weren't. Everything we
          believed about the end times was wrong. We have seen
          new truth."

          "Pastor, you and your church are in error. Your people
          aren't even saved! You think you preach holiness, but
          we've discovered what true holiness is. We've found
          something new!"

          Today, that same group of people does not even attend
          church anymore, because they can't find anyone to take
          them "deeper." Instead, they feed off some teaching
          tapes.

          Their pastor told me something I've been hearing from
          churches all over the nation. He said, "What is going
          on? There are so many new, strange doctrines, so many
          teachers with new 'revelation.' And they all seem to
          have a number of scriptures to back them up. No one is
          discerning what is of God and what is of Satan, what is
          foolishness and what is righteousness. Our people are
          getting confused."

          He was so right! New doctrines, new revelations and new
          gospels are springing up almost daily. And it's going
          to get much worse. The Bible clearly warns that in the
          last days strange doctrines will come forth -
          introducing another Jesus, another Spirit, another
          gospel!

          The apostle Paul called together the elders of the
          church at Ephesus, and his final words to these beloved
          saints were: "I know this, that after my departing
          shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing
          the flock. Also of your own selves shall men arise,
          speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after
          them" (Acts 20:29-30).

          The whole time Paul ministered to the churches he had
          established, he harbored a fear that would last to his
          dying day. It is a fear any true shepherd must have in
          him, and it was never out of Paul's mind: "By the space
          of three years I ceased not to warn every one night and
          day with tears" (Acts 20:31). It was the fear of false
          teachers coming in to deceive.

          Paul said to the Corinthians, "I am jealous over you
          with godly jealousy" (2 Corinthians 11:2).

          Yet he was not talking about someone stealing his
          sheep. He wasn't saying, "Hey, these sheep are mine!
          I'm their teacher - they're under my authority." No,
          rather, Paul was indignant thinking that some teacher
          would come between his disciples and their devotion to
          Jesus: "for I have espoused you to one husband, that I
          may present you as a chaste [pure] virgin to Christ"
          (verse 2).

          Paul said he had one purpose, one goal, one desire -
          and it is the same desire all true shepherds must have:
          to stand before the judgment seat of Christ and present
          every spiritual child to Him pure, unspotted, holy and
          righteous, rooted and grounded in the Word. It is to
          see them stand before His throne with assurance,
          knowing you have given them the whole counsel of
          God...that they were not tossed about by every word of
          doctrine, not deceived by doctrines of demons...that
          they came through every test and trial with the Word of
          God hidden in their hearts!

          Beloved, my greatest joy in glory - along with Paul and
          every true minister of God - will be to hear each of
          your names called by the Lord, see you stand before Him
          overflowing with devotion and humility, and hear Him
          say to you, "Well done, good and faithful servant!"

          That truly is the one desire of my heart. And that is
          why I preach with fire and zeal. If Paul were alive
          today and preaching from the pulpit of Times Square
          Church, he would say the same thing to us tearfully
          every time he spoke: "Beware! An invasion is coming!
          False teachers and false doctrines will bombard you
          from all sides. They will introduce to you another
          Christ. They will not be of the Holy Spirit, but of
          another spirit. And it will not be the true gospel - it
          will be another."

          Paul confessed to a fear he had about them: "But I
          fear, least by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve
          through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted
          from the simplicity that is in Christ" (2 Corinthians
          11:3). Paul knew that the Corinthians were too
          susceptible to false teachers. He was saying, "You are
          too open, too willing to listen, too anxious to hear
          something new!"

          So often, a good-hearted, solid Christian will hand me
          a tape and say, "You've got to hear this teacher. The
          message is incredible, powerful! Everybody's talking
          about it." So I listen. And it sounds pretty good -
          anointed, new and fresh. But then the Spirit begins to
          churn inside me.

          Does this ever happen with you? As you listen, you feel
          an uneasiness - so you wait, and you keep listening.
          You say, "I don't hear anything wrong yet. But
          something does not sound right." And if you stay with
          it, suddenly, there it is - error. Gross, total error -
          frightful heresy! Unscriptural interpretations,
          fanciful dreams, man's own ideas, as if a mystery is
          being unlocked. But it does not line up with God's
          Word.

          Paul was amazed by how easily some of the Galatians
          were swayed: "I marvel that ye are so soon removed from
          him that called you into the grace of Christ unto
          another gospel: which is not another; but there be some
          that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of
          Christ. But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach
          any other gospel unto you than that which we have
          preached unto you, let him be accursed" (Galatians
          1:6-8).

          Paul was saying, "Don't be so gentlemanly and ladylike
          about it. If it's not the gospel you heard from me,
          it's not of God. It's accursed, rotten, deadly. It is
          serious business, and it will trouble you if you get
          caught up in it. So don't take it lightly. Don't bear
          with it, and don't be nice about it. Let the one who
          preaches it be accursed!"

          It doesn't matter if an angel appears and tells you the
          message is of God. It doesn't matter if you and your
          friends "discern" that it's all right. The Bible makes
          it plain: If it does not line up with Paul's gospel, it
          is of Satan, "accursed."

                      -------------------------------

                     How shall we know then what is the
                    true gospel, and what is accursed?

                      -------------------------------

          Let me say first that even the most demonic false
          teachers begin with warnings of false doctrine. They
          loudly and strongly warn against getting caught up in
          something unlike Christ. Nearly every false teacher
          I've heard sounds off the loudest about false doctrine,
          then proceeds to preach what is false. They spend much
          time persuading their hearers they are unlike false
          teachers - yet they're setting them up to hear their
          message.

          Doctrine is not right simply because the teacher
          appears to be holy, good, pious and sincere. Throughout
          church history the most damaging heresies have been
          taught by men who were considered good and sincere.
          That makes false doctrine all the more dangerous. Many
          a Christian has said, "But he is such a good man, so
          sober, so sincere, so loving." Indeed, a
          Christ-centered teacher will be holy, sober and
          sincere--but the devil's "angels of light" will appear
          to be too. They will come as messengers of
          righteousness, truth and revelation.

          Paul says Satan tries to deceive us, just as he
          deceived Eve in the garden. He uses the same
          craftiness, the same deception: "I fear, lest... as the
          serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your
          minds should be corrupted" (2 Corinthians 11:3).

          Nothing has changed since then! The false gospel Satan
          introduced to Eve is the same gospel he promotes
          today--and all false gospels have the same traits in
          common. God did not leave this important matter to
          guess-work. He has made it very clear, and there are
          absolute clues to watch for, which expose the teaching
          as false:

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                    1. Any Teaching That Undermines the
                  Fear of God is Accursed - Of the Devil!

                      -------------------------------

          All false teachers have this one message in common:
          "Relax, God cant' be hard. He won't hurt you--He loves
          you. A loving god wants you to enjoy life." The enemy's
          trick is to move you away from the awesome reverence
          and fear of a holy God who judges sin. All false
          doctrine has this one aim--to undermine the fear of God
          in you.

          Only the powerful, absolute fear of God kept Adam and
          Eve from disobeying Him. It was not their love for God,
          nor their daily communion. It was this: "The Lord God
          commanded the man... ye shall not eat of it [the tree
          of the knowledge of good and evil]: for in the day that
          thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die" (Genesis
          2:16-17).

          But Satan came with a smooth message: "Ye shall not
          surely die" (3:4). This was a total perversion of truth
          - another gospel! Yet it was just what Eve wanted to
          hear. You see, something inside her resisted God's
          commandment. The Lord's restriction seemed too much of
          a yoke, and she chafed under it.

          Satan knew this was in Eve, and he began to undermine
          the fear of God in her immediately: "Did God really say
          this? God is not like that. You have the wrong concept
          of Him. Do you think He will deny you knowledge and
          wisdom, when He Himself is Knowledge and Wisdom? What
          kind of a god do you think He is? You surely will not
          die!"

          You may sit under strong preaching that seems like a
          heavy yoke. You may chafe under it and say, "I don't
          like it!" But don't be deceived: It is the very thing
          that brings you freedom, peace and joy. Yet still you
          cry out within, "I can't serve God this way. I want
          liberty!"

          There is a teaching currently circulating in the
          charismatic movement about a new liberty. It says,
          "Come sing and shout and speak in tongues--and then go
          out and live like the devil!" That isn't freedom. It's
          Satan saying, "You shall not die. God is not hard. He's
          too loving, too merciful." Satan found a gospel that
          suited the lust of Eve's flesh--and he'll find one to
          suit the itching ears of restless Christians!

          I've heard from godly, heartbroken youth pastors who
          have been fired from their churches or are quitting.
          They preach holiness and the fear of God to the
          teenagers, but the pastors and parents are complaining
          that they bring a bondage to the youth: "We don't want
          you preaching that stuff to our kids." These teenagers
          (some of whom are preacher's kids) are living in total
          rebellion. They are disrespectful, fooling their
          parents, lusting after the world. And the messages
          about holiness and the fear of God are shaking these
          kids up because they're never heard it before.

          We have raised an entire generation that is totally
          devoid of the fear of God. They have never known
          anything about judgement. They've always had everything
          they've wanted. They say, "We want rock-and-roll," and
          their parents say, "don't upset them. Bring
          rock-and-roll into the church and give it Christian
          lyrics." Or, "they're going to have sex anyway, so
          let's give them protection."

          These youth have never known God's fear, because
          pastors and parents have made God out to be the great
          appeaser in the sky. Only a handful of Christian youth
          today walk in holiness. Why? Because pastors are too
          weak to preach the gospel in the pulpit--and because
          parents are living double lives, and their kids know
          it!

          Some Christians have written to me, "Brother Dave, you
          preach so hard. Do you preach that way all the time in
          your church? Do the people take it?"

          My answer is this: We are called to preach the Word
          with such power and authority that it will produce a
          constant fear of God in every hearer. Those who won't
          forsake their pet sins won't stay, because they will be
          offended. They will turn away their ears from the truth
          and will seek out teachers to cater to their lusts (see
          2 Timothy 4:1-4).

          God's Word says, "By the fear of the Lord men depart
          from evil" (Proverbs 16:6). Here is what I believe a
          true gospel message must produce in us:

          1) A hatred for sin that allows no excuses or alibis.
          2) A conviction for all spiritual laziness and
          compromise.
          3) An inner knowledge that God does not wink at our
          sins.
          4) A conviction that we will reap what we sow.
          5) A righteous, holy fear of God.
          6) A confidence that He will deliver us from every sin
          we hate and resist.

          Are you uncertain or unconvinced about the need to walk
          in the fear of God? To end that once and for all, see
          Isaiah 11:1-3. This passage prophesied about One on
          whom the Spirit of the Lord would rest--One who would
          be given "quick understanding in the fear of the Lord."
          This passage is talking about Jesus! And if Jesus
          walked in the fear of the Father and delighted in it,
          so much more should we!

          Beware of any message that breaks conviction for sin,
          that produces a spirit of non-vigilance, that eases you
          back softly and whispers, "All is well." All such
          tranquilizers are false gospels!

                      -------------------------------

                  2. Beware of Any Gospel That Diverts You
               From Single-Minded Devotion to Jesus Christ.

                      -------------------------------

          Paul solemnly warns us that Satan will transform
          Himself into an angel of light--that he will raise up
          his own false teachers, all of them posing as ministers
          of righteousness.

          Light represents truth, gospel, revelation. Satan will
          come using the lovely name of Jesus, and he will
          attempt to deceive even the elect: "Transforming
          themselves into the apostles of Christ" (2 Corinthians
          11:13). Think of the terror of such a thing! To face
          the last days under the power of false apostles,
          embracing a doctrine of the devil, being under the
          control of a false spirit.

          How could such a thing happen? How could anyone sit
          under the kind of perverted gospel Paul describes and
          not know it? There is only one way--by refusing to
          forsake lust and continuing to walk in blatant
          disobedience. Lust is the magnet that draws a person to
          false apostles. I can promise you, if you hang onto
          your lust, you'll come under false doctrine. It's
          inevitable - you'll find it, and it will find you. And
          you'll be so blind, you won't know it.

          In the 18th century, another gospel was introduced
          called antinomianism, meaning "anti-law." This gospel
          is with us today, and it is stronger than ever. It
          undermines the fear of God by suggesting that once you
          believe, you can sin and never be damned, because Jesus
          has covered it all.

          Dr. Tobins Crisp was one of the teachers of this new
          doctrine, which swept through Germany. Its proponents
          used Jesus' name as a by-word:

          "There is much talk about grace and heart-searching,
          but give me Christ! I seek not for promises, but
          Christ! I seek not for sanctification, but Christ!
          Don't talk of meditation or duty--tell me of Christ!"

          It sounds like pure devotion to Christ--a gospel that's
          centered on Jesus. But Jesus Himself tells us that not
          all who say, "Lord, Lord," will enter into His kingdom.
          Not everyone who throws around the name of Jesus will
          be preaching the true gospel.

          The doctrine of antinomianism is still being preached
          today, and the charismatic movement is falling for it
          hook, line and sinker. Listen to the rest of this
          doctrine:

          "A believer may be assured of pardon as soon as he
          commits one sin, even adultery or murder. God does no
          longer stand displeased though a believer do sin often.
          There is no sin a believer can commit that can cause
          him any hurt--therefore there is no reason to fear sin.
          Sin is dead and has no more terror. If we tell
          believers they must walk holy and do good works or God
          will be angry with them, we abuse the Scriptures. We
          are then lying in God's face. God has done everything
          in Christ--there is nothing to fear!"

          It is as though the Christians who embrace this
          doctrine are sitting in some dark pit, waiting for
          Jesus to come along. They're saying, "Lord, You know
          where I am. If You love me, come pick me up out of
          here." No! The Bible commands us to resist the devil,
          and he will flee from you!

          We've made Christians appear to be a bunch of helpless
          cripples--no power or authority, bound by sinful
          habits, waiting around for a miraculous deliverance.
          There is no holy stirring against sin, no fear of God.

                      -------------------------------

                       3. There Can Be No Devotion to
                     Christ Without a Walk of Holiness

                      -------------------------------

          This is how all doctrine must be judged: Does it
          conform you into the likeness of Jesus Christ? You
          can't call a gospel pure simply because the teacher
          preaches against sin, or because Christ is referred to
          often. The New Age movement speaks much of the Christ
          Spirit.

          I have heard reprobate preachers scream the name of
          Jesus into a microphone, thundering against
          homosexuality, drugs and the sins of society. But the
          longer I listened, the more I realized: this man is not
          really broken. His messages are not convicting. He's
          talking about someone else's sin, not his own.

          Such preachers play to the crowd, whipping up
          enthusiasm. They have no real conviction, no consuming
          desire to conform the people to the image of Christ.
          Christians love to go to meetings where they hear a
          preacher talk about the absence of prayer in schools.
          Perhaps he'll mention something about our covetousness,
          pride and adultery, the things that are in our own
          hearts. But then out comes the soothing, relaxing word.
          And once the confidence is gained, the fear of God is
          undermined.

          There is one sure test for true holiness preaching. It
          is found in 2 Timothy 2:19: "Nevertheless the
          foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, The
          Lord knoweth them that are his. And, Let every one that
          nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity."

          I feel, as Paul must have, a heart wrenching cry to
          warn God's people of what is coming. There are great
          theological wars ahead. The whole charismatic movement
          will be divided into different camps, rallying behind
          their doctrines, teachers and books, accusing each
          other of error and false prophecy. And all will believe
          they are defending the faith!

          They won't be fighting the devil, because they'll be
          too busy calling each other heretics. It will be a time
          of great confusion, and unlearned Christians won't know
          who to believe.

          Beloved, I want to fight the real enemy. And that enemy
          is out on the streets--and in our own hearts! I'm not
          going to argue over prophecy. I want to stand with any
          brother or sister who walks in the fear of God and
          whose heart is given in pure devotion to Jesus Christ.

          We must get our eyes off teachers and evangelists, and
          become students of God's Word. "Study to show thyself
          approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be
          ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth" (2 Timothy
          2:15). Don't look for an "approved" pastor or
          evangelist. You'll go to one man after another, and
          they'll all fail you, until finally you'll lose hope.
          Get your eyes off all preachers and onto Jesus Christ!

                      -------------------------------

                 4. The True Gospel Is Concerned With Your
              Heart - for Out of It Come the Issues Of Life!

                      -------------------------------

          The Pharisees saw some of the Lord's disciples eating
          bread with unwashed hands, and "they found fault" (Mark
          7:2). "For the Pharisees, and all the Jews, except they
          wash their hands oft, eat not, holding the tradition of
          the elders" (verse 3).

          These men asked Jesus why His disciples didn't walk in
          this kind of "holiness." Yet theirs was only a
          ceremonial tradition. It was all outward, having only
          to do with acts of the flesh. Jesus answered them,
          "Well hath (Isaiah) prophesied of you hypocrites, as it
          is written, this people honoureth me with their lips,
          but their heart is far from me" (verse 6). Jesus said,
          in essence, "your teaching is all in vain. It doesn't
          change your heart. It's all show, words, phony deeds!"

          He's saying to us in this, "If a gospel gives Me
          nothing but lip service and doesn't deal with the
          heart, don't waste time with it. True doctrine has to
          get to the issues of the heart." Jesus exposes the
          problem with all false gospels: They do not reach what
          defiles the man - they do not convict or change the
          heart. They offer a form of godliness, with no heart.
          "But these things which proceed from the mouth come
          forth from the heart; and they defile the man" (Matthew
          15:18).

          Paul said, "Follow righteousness, faith, charity,
          peace, with them that call on the Lord out of a pure
          heart" (2 Timothy 2:22). Don't tell me about the
          miracles in your church--the praise, worship, or how
          well the pastor preaches. No - tell me about a people
          who call on God out of pure heart! Tell me that, though
          they've not yet arrived, they are being provoked in
          that direction. They're allowing God to search and try
          their hearts, to expose their sinful attitudes.

          That's the true gospel of Jesus. It's a gospel that
          convicts the heart, deals with the heart and changes
          the heart! Is this the gospel being preached to you?
          Does it convict you of those inner, hidden sins? Evil
          Thoughts? Adultery? Fornication? Murder? Stealing?
          Covetousness? Wickedness? Pride? Foolishness?

          If not, then find and stay in a church with a people
          where your heart is exposed, shaken - and changed for
          the glory of Christ!

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