How can you spot a false teacher?

In Ezekiel 13, God confronts the false prophets who tell people what they want to hear. Dr. Toby Holt explains how to recognize false teaching — and why it is so dangerous.

These prophets spoke "out of their own heart" while claiming, "Thus says the LORD." They cried "Peace, peace" when judgment was coming, like men whitewashing a flimsy wall that cannot stand the storm. The mark of a true minister is faithfulness to God's written Word, not clever words of his own. A teacher who sets the Bible aside to "speak from the heart" is the most dangerous of all.

Questions this study answers:

1. What was the job of a prophet? To speak God's words faithfully — not his own opinions. A true prophet delivered what God said, even when it was unwelcome.

2. Why were there so many false prophets? Because people "love to have it so" — they prefer comforting lies to hard truth. False prophets supplied the message the crowd wanted.

3. How can we recognize false teaching today? By testing it against Scripture. The mark of faithful teaching is God's Word opened and obeyed, not feelings or flattery.

"Because they have seduced My people, saying, 'Peace!' when there is no peace." — Ezekiel 13:10 (NKJV)

Dr. Toby Holt is President of New Geneva Theological Seminary, and his sermons have been downloaded more than 1.9 million times on SermonAudio. Find more verse-by-verse Bible teaching at newgeneva.org; support this ministry at newgeneva.org/give.

A tsunami is a sudden and destructive tidal surge.

2

It's a sudden, destructive tidal surge.

3

Tsunamis involve what you would say is a displacement

4

of a large body of water into another place,

5

typically in the form of a large and scary wave.

6

Now, if you're on a beach,

7

what would be a sign of a tsunami's approach?

8

What's one of the signs?

9

You've seen movies, you've seen these things.

10

We have some marine biologists in our midst.

11

What's a sign that a tsunami might be on the way?

12

I'll tell you.

13

one of the signs one of the signs is what you see is this drawback you see

14

that the ocean suddenly draws back unto itself the ocean suddenly retreats back

15

vast portions of the tide pools under the shoreline suddenly become dry and

16

exposed now on the one hand at that moment at the moment that the water

17

retreats out things seem kind of peaceful right there's no depth no fear

18

of drowning right at that very moment there's no waves crashing down upon you

19

at that moment of the ocean's drawback, things feel okay. Tranquil, even. And so you might think

20

that this is the perfect time. Sunbathe, build a sandcastle, take a selfie, what have you. But is

21

it actually safe to do so? Not so much. And that's because, as many of us are aware, at that very

22

moment, maybe off beyond the horizon, but that very moment, this large tidal surge is already,

23

even at that moment, speeding across the ocean with you in its sights. Now, let me use a more

24

familiar example to make the same point. Here on the Gulf Coast, we know something about hurricanes.

25

Now, if you've had the front edge of a hurricane pass by your home, does that mean that the danger

26

is gone? Let's say the front edge passes by your home and suddenly you look out, hey, it's sunny.

27

Happy times are here to stay. Whoa, it's so nice and peaceful. Is that a safe time to be out?

28

Well not so much. Why? Because at that moment in all likelihood you are sitting within what's

29

called the eye of the hurricane. The front wall has passed you but guess what? The back wall's

30

coming and the back wall being more destructive than the front wall. It hit like a ton of bricks.

31

Some of the most destructive natural phenomena, some of those destructive natural phenomena are

32

preceded by moments of peace, moments of tranquility. Some of the most dangerous deadly

33

natural phenomena are preceded by these moments when things couldn't look better, when everything

34

seems very, very peaceful. Well, spiritually speaking, today's scripture reading from Ezekiel

35

13, there's a lot of talk about peace. If you were to underline it, you'd see it on multiple

36

occasions. In today's text, there's a lot of talk about peace, but the ones talking about peace are

37

who? They're the false prophets. They're ones who are looking about at all the same apostasy and

38

horrors and abominations that God showed Ezekiel, and when they look at these things, they think

39

everything's okay. The people thought that things were going well, that the future was bright even.

40

The exiles would shortly return. Everything would get back to normal. This was what the prophets

41

were saying. They're saying the future is so bright, you have to wear shades there in Israel

42

in order to apprehend it. The people are being given by the prophets the all clear. The people

43

were being told the things are okay. In fact, the future is very, very promising. The things that

44

we're now doing, which involves a lot of gross idolatry, is actually virtuous, and the future

45

couldn't be better. And meanwhile, the people were yielding to all that. They were listening to the

46

false prophets telling them this stuff. They're dancing what you would call the spiritual shallows

47

right before the tidal surge would come in and wipe them away. And that's what we see in Ezekiel

48

13. The storm was coming, the people were unprepared, and the main reason they were

49

unprepared is because the people who had been charged with speaking to them were not doing

50

their jobs. Let's see how God will redress them as we look at verses 1 and 2 of today's text.

51

Verse 1, and the word of the Lord came to me, saying, Son of man, prophesy against the prophets

52

of Israel who prophesy, and say to those who prophesy out of their own heart, hear the word

53

of the Lord. Have you ever during the night lost something, maybe a watch, glasses? I tend to lose

54

them both, but in the dark of the night, have you ever misplaced something? You can't find what you're

55

looking for. Well, what do you need to do in order to track it down? Well, it's not hard. You need to

56

turn on the light. If it's dark amongst you and you lost something that you need, be it your phone,

57

your wallet, your watch, your keys, what have you, in order to find what you have lost, you need to

58

turn on the light and give some transcendent illumination to your circumstances in order for

59

you to discern the reality of the room around you. And apart from some sort of transcendent

60

illumination from overhead, you're just going to stumble around, just blindly grasping in the dark.

61

In a sense, that's what the prophets were doing in Jerusalem and in the exile. These were prophets

62

that had the option of looking to transcendent illumination to help and instruct them.

63

And yet, what they were doing instead is what we see in verses 1 and 2.

64

They were looking within chambers of their own hearts for assistance, for help, for decrees,

65

for how to act, how to prophesy.

66

They were following their own hearts and not yielding to the light that comes from on high.

67

And then they did something really ridiculous.

68

After listening to what their own hearts were saying

69

and then telling the people what their own hearts had decreed,

70

After doing that, they had the gall to then append to their prophecy.

71

These are the words of the Lord.

72

You see what they're doing?

73

They prophesy of their own hearts.

74

They look around and say, you know, what do the people want to hear?

75

And whatever that is, I'll tell them that because that will allow my life to go much better.

76

I'll look for cues within the fallen, darkened world and not from on high.

77

and I'll tell them these things that come from the hearts of my neighbors

78

and apply for myself.

79

And then when I'm done telling them those things,

80

then I will say, these are the words of the Lord.

81

You start to wonder, you start to figure out why God was upset with these prophets.

82

These guys were making things up as they went along.

83

And that's what God calls them out on here in verses 1 and 2.

84

They're making up things as they went along.

85

They were cooking up a prophecy in the kitchen of their own heart.

86

They served up a dish and said that God had prepared it.

87

It wasn't going to turn out well for them.

88

Let's look at verses 3 through 7 to see God's building response.

89

Verse 3.

90

Thus saith the Lord God, woe to the foolish prophets who follow their own spirit and yet who have seen nothing.

91

O Israel, your prophets are like foxes in the deserts.

92

Some translations say ruins there.

93

You have not gone up into the gaps to build a wall for the house of Israel to stand and battle on the day of the Lord.

94

They've envisioned futility, false divination, then said, thus say the Lord, but the Lord has

95

not sent them. And they hope that the word may be still confirmed. Have you not seen a futile

96

vision? Have you not spoken false divination? You say, the Lord says, but I have not spoken.

97

God's rebuking these false prophets for having the gall to tell people nonsense and lies and

98

then attach his name to it. You know, if you ever have a chance to visit Israel or the Middle East,

99

really anywhere in the Middle East, what you'll notice there is there's archaeological sites

100

everywhere. I've had a chance in Israel and Egypt, a few different areas, and because these are lands

101

of antiquity, there's ruins just about everywhere you look. There's all sorts of sites you can visit

102

across the deserts. Now, if you were to visit really any one of these different sites, especially

103

the ones in South Israel, especially the ones towards the south, towards the Dead Sea and the

104

like, you'll find something. You'll find that there's these piles of rubble out in the desert,

105

and about the only thing, outside of the tourists, but the only other thing that has any interest

106

in these sites are things like foxes, jackals, things that can make dens and burrows in the ruins.

107

Outside of the tourists, that's about the only thing that has any interest in the ruins are the

108

dens, or the jackals and the dens that they're forming there. In a sense, the prophets of Ezekiel's

109

day, God is saying, you are like those jackals. The very ruins of a once vibrant faith are all

110

around you. But instead of patching up the walls, instead of speaking the truth, instead of helping

111

the people and validating my word, instead of trying to firm up the wall to protect against

112

people like the Babylonians, what are y'all doing? You are like the foxes in the ruins down the road

113

just going in and out, and finding dens, and making yourself comfortable. Meanwhile, the city burns.

114

Meanwhile, the people die, and you, you're just making yourself comfortable. And then you have

115

the gall, as you're making yourselves comfortable, to continue to claim that you're speaking on my

116

behalf. He says, that's not the way this is working. Now, these men, they were prophets by name,

117

but not by calling, not by ordination, you might say.

118

As a side note, just because someone's referred to as a prophet

119

or even as a pastor does not mean that that individual

120

has actually been called by God to that office.

121

That's what we see in verse 6.

122

It says, the Lord had not sent them.

123

They were called prophets by their peers,

124

but God says, hey, I didn't send these guys.

125

It was true in that age. It's true in ours as well.

126

Just because someone has the title, the pulpit, the sign on the door of their office

127

does not necessarily mean that they're ordained of God to this work.

128

So how in their day and how in our day can you discern those who are sent

129

or called or ordained of God to the role and responsibility?

130

Well, the primary way, the primary means is to ask yourself,

131

is the individual who presumes to speak, speaking words that reflect what's in the book?

132

That's the number one sign.

133

Whether you're in this church or any church where God should take you down the road,

134

The number one sign of a healthy church, a healthy pulpit ministry,

135

is the degree to which this book is open and its words are repeated in the ears of the congregation.

136

And the degree to which anything else the pastor says reflects what's here.

137

That's the first sign of a healthy pulpit ministry.

138

It was the first sign of a healthy prophetic ministry.

139

But these guys weren't doing that.

140

They were ministering out of their own hearts.

141

And God says, no.

142

He says, this is not the way that this works.

143

This is a spiritual office, not a carnal one.

144

It's a spiritual office.

145

You use spiritual means.

146

You don't look inside the chambers of your own heart

147

and declare what you find there to be true.

148

You point to the Word.

149

There's a famous modern Baptist pastor.

150

He said the most dangerous man in the world

151

is the man who comes up to the pulpit,

152

looks at the congregation, and says,

153

Today, today I'm just going to preach from my heart.

154

Why is that dangerous? Because the heart is deceitfully wicked. Who can know it? You do not

155

want what's in a man's heart. You want what's in this book. Again, it was true in that day's age

156

as well. This should be intuitive. Every culture of our age should say amen to this stuff. The

157

problem is people have itchy ears, and we'll get to that in a few moments. Whatever the case here,

158

these people, these people, Ezekiel's contemporaries, they needed a word from the Lord. That's not what

159

the false prophets were giving them. Let's see how things turn out for them. Let's look now at

160

verses 8 and 9. Verse 8, therefore, thus saith the Lord God, because you have spoken nonsense

161

and envisioned lies, therefore I am indeed against you, says the Lord God. My hand will be against

162

the prophets who envision futility and who divine lies. They shall not be in the assembly of my

163

people nor be written in the record of the house of Israel they shall not enter in the land of

164

Israel speaking to those in exile at the time and then you will know that I am the Lord you know

165

back when I was in seminary I knew I was reformed and I knew I was Presbyterian but I was spending

166

a lot of time taking a look at how other denominations approached ministry and trying

167

to learn from these things well one particular night I don't remember the context but I was up

168

late. I think my son was small and the car down was diaper changed due to your what. But I remember

169

it was late night, about two o'clock in the morning. I turned on the TV. That was back when

170

you change channels from one thing to the next. I'm changing the channels there. And there's a

171

televangelist because I guess it's easy to buy time at two o'clock in the morning where there's

172

a lot of hopeless, broken people watching the tube. So two o'clock in the morning, I sit there

173

and I turn on the TV and there's a televangelist. And this televangelist at this particular day had

174

this pile of handkerchiefs in front of him. I didn't know what this was all about. What's going

175

on here? And the guy began to talk and very quickly it got to money. And he said this, he says,

176

if you would just sow your seed into this ministry, I will touch one of these cloths,

177

these prayer cloths. I will pray over it and I will send it to you as my gift that you might

178

be blessed. Now, what was being conveyed here? Well, number one, send money. That was the number

179

one thing was sin money. But number two was this idea that by virtue of touching this cloth with

180

his sweaty, money-stained hands, he'd send it to you and somehow, somehow you'd be blessed as a

181

result of wiping it around or touching it or just having it. It was like a relic. It was like the

182

papacy, like Rome. If he does touch this thing, somehow you're going to be blessed as a result.

183

Now, this is one example of many. One example where the standards have slipped, where we've

184

introduced pragmatism, just doing things that are right in our own eyes. What seems to make sense

185

to us? How should we minister? How should we preach? How should we lead the church? I don't

186

know. Whatever feels right to our own hearts. We see this time and time again throughout the

187

greater church. We see this tendency people have to rely on their own thoughts about what's right

188

and then to do their own thoughts or to apply their own views to the church, to ministry,

189

to preaching. That's not the way that this is supposed to work. And what we see in today's

190

text in verses eight through nine is God says, therefore, because you did this, talked to the

191

false prophets in Ezekiel's day, because you've done this repeatedly, time and time again,

192

habitually, because that's the ministry you've chosen for yourself, therefore, you've made me

193

your enemy. What does it say here? Because you spoke at nonsense, vision lies, therefore, I am

194

against you. I don't know about you, but it's a bad idea to make an enemy of God. I wonder what's

195

the power to smite you with a breath from his nostrils. That's a bad plan. And God says to the

196

false prophets, to guys who look religious in tall pointy hats and like, he says, I'm against you.

197

It didn't matter that they still had a temple. It didn't matter that they still had all the facade

198

of religion that once was. They still had the facade from 10,000 feet up. If you were to look

199

at that culture, you'd say, boy, they must be religious. There's sacrifices and the like. There's

200

tall pointy hats. They got the temple. They must be religious. Not so much. And God says, I'm going

201

to turn first against the leaders, against the prophets. And we saw last week the elders. It's

202

the leaders who have led the people astray that I'm coming after initially. In our day and age,

203

I would hate to be in the shoes of the televangelist who milks and squeezes broken

204

people at two in the morning to fatten his coffers. In the case of the false prophets,

205

God says that the names of these, they'll be written out. They'll be written out of the record,

206

out of Israel's history. And those who have prophesied while in exile, because there was

207

guys in Tel Aviv and elsewhere in Babylon that were also prophesying, saying, we're going to

208

get to go home real soon. God says, not so much. You're not going to set foot in the land ever

209

again. All right, let's look at verse 10 through 16. This is a little bit of a larger block of

210

text. Verse 10. Because indeed, because they've seduced my people. Listen to that word. Because

211

they've seduced. Touch my prayer cloth, so to speak. Because they've seduced my people, saying

212

peace when there is no peace. And one builds a wall and they plaster it with whitewash or

213

untempered mortar. Say to those who plaster it with the untempered mortar that it will fall.

214

There will be flooding rain and you, O great hailstone, shall fall and a stormy wind shall

215

tear it down. Surely where the wall has fallen will it not be said to you, where is the mortar

216

with which you plastered it? Therefore, says the Lord your God, I will cause a stormy wind to break

217

forth in my fury and there shall be a flooding rain in my anger and great hailstones and fury

218

to consume it. So I will break down the wall that you've plastered with untempered mortar and I will

219

bring it to the ground. So its foundation will be uncovered. It will fall and you will be consumed

220

in the midst of it. Then you will know that I am the Lord. And thus will I accomplish my wrath on

221

the wall and on those who plastered it with untempered mortar. And I will say to you, the

222

wall is no more, nor those who plastered it. That is the prophets of Israel who prophesied concerning

223

of Jerusalem. We see visions of peace when there is no peace, says the Lord your God.

224

You know, the security of a city in days of antiquity, the security of old cities back in

225

the day, back in Ezekiel's time, you might think that the security was based on, you know, the size

226

of the army, right? How many men do they got? Or maybe the nature of their weapons, how kitted out,

227

you know, what kind of weaponry they had to fit their army with. You might think that that was

228

the basis of their security and their protection. Well, not so much. The main thing that protected

229

a city in ancient days was not the size of the army and it wasn't their weaponry. It was what?

230

It was their walls. You ever seen Masada? The Romans tried to go against Masada. You can defend.

231

Even the most ragtag bunch of farmers can defend a city presuming that it's built in the right spot

232

presuming that its walls are strong enough to endure the enemy's attacks now with that said

233

what if you got a city and and it's got walls but you know the walls are kind of shoddy kind

234

of falling apart maybe there's some gaps in the walls or broken in other places and what if the

235

guys who are charged with kind of fixing the walls what if they took a white wash just kind of threw

236

it on their untempered mortar right it's like the equivalent of taking bubble gum and patching walls

237

What if guys did that in a wall that you were hoping would protect you from the enemy?

238

How comfortable would you be for a wall that was assembled with paper mache and bubble gum and things like that?

239

Well, probably not that much.

240

You see, this isn't going to last long.

241

This isn't going to go well for us.

242

The prophets of Israel, the spiritual walls had already come tumbling down.

243

The people had given in to all manner of idolatrous practices, doing all manner of things wrong.

244

And the prophets had the opportunity to build those walls back up by preaching the word,

245

by telling people the truth.

246

They had the opportunity to do that.

247

And instead, when they came up to the wall, they took their chewing gum out and spackled

248

it on there and said, we're good.

249

We're protected now.

250

And God says, not in the least.

251

And so he uses this analogy in verses 10 through 16, this idea of a city that's protected

252

by bubble gum and says, it isn't going to fly.

253

It isn't going to work when my wrath comes.

254

The people were saying, peace, peace, we're good.

255

We're protected.

256

God's on our side, and he says, I'm actually your enemy.

257

I'm actually your enemy based on what you've done.

258

You can't bow down to Tammuz and think that I'm just going to go, hmm,

259

that I'm just going to shrug my shoulders.

260

And it's not just that you've done that.

261

You bow down to the sun, Tammuz, every creepy thing on the globe you've done.

262

You of your own volition have made me your enemy, at least for a season.

263

And it's going to be a hard season.

264

And you are not protected in the least.

265

While you're declaring peace, peace, I've declared war against you.

266

Again, it's not a small thing to make God your enemy.

267

Now, this idea of peace, peace that the people are promoting, it's interesting.

268

Remember at the outset we talked about the idea of a tsunami coming

269

and everything seems peaceful for a season,

270

or being in the eye of a hurricane and everything seems peaceful?

271

Again, these people were in the eye of the hurricane,

272

and they already had the signs that things had gone bad.

273

There had already been one exile.

274

A batch of people had already been taken to Babylon.

275

Now, they still had their city and they still had their temple,

276

But they were in the eye of the storm.

277

The back wall of the eye was coming.

278

Meanwhile, they were pretending they were in an entirely different circumstance.

279

They were sitting in the eye of the hurricane,

280

and they were presuming that this was the time for Jimmy Buffett and Margaritaville,

281

that this is the restful time.

282

Now this in the New Testament, we see pictures of this as well.

283

1 Thessalonians 5, listen to what Christ himself,

284

or what God predicts through Paul's writings of Christ's return.

285

1 Thessalonians 5, it says that you know perfectly that the day of the Lord

286

will come as a thief in the night.

287

In other words, when you're not prepared,

288

when you think things are good,

289

the day of the Lord is going to come.

290

For when you say peace and safety,

291

then sudden destruction will come upon you

292

as labor pains upon a pregnant woman.

293

You shall not escape.

294

Whether you're talking about the Old Testament

295

or the New Testament,

296

there's this idea that when people think,

297

hey, everything's good, we're good.

298

Never mind that we've short-sheeted the beds of doctrine.

299

Never mind that we don't do what we should be doing.

300

never mind that we water down theology,

301

never mind that worship has become

302

this silly, trivial thing to us.

303

We're good, we're good.

304

Peace and safety, peace and safety.

305

God says, no, at the very time

306

that you get to that level of complacency,

307

that's like the eye of the storm.

308

It's gonna be bad.

309

When they say peace and safety,

310

then sudden destruction shall come upon them.

311

This is true in the Old Testament,

312

it's true in the New as well.

313

All right, let's look at verses 17 through 21.

314

Verse 17,

315

Likewise, son of man, set your face against the daughters of your people

316

who prophesy out of their own heart, prophesy against them,

317

and say, Thus saith the Lord God,

318

Woe to the woman who sew magic charms on their sleeves

319

and make veils for the heads of people of every height to hunt souls.

320

Will you hunt the souls of my people and keep yourselves alive?

321

Will you profane me amongst my people for handfuls of barley,

322

for pieces of bread, killing people who should not die

323

and keeping people alive who should not live?

324

By lying to my people who listen to lies?

325

Therefore, thus saith the Lord God, behold, I am against you.

326

I am against your magic charms by which you hunt souls.

327

They're like the birds.

328

I will tear them from your arms and let the souls go,

329

the souls that you hunt like birds.

330

I will also tear off your veils and deliver my people out of your hand,

331

and there shall no longer be prey in your hand.

332

Then you shall know that I am the Lord.

333

As you may already know, there were no women priests in Israel.

334

However, throughout the Old Testament, there are many references,

335

even in the New as well, but there's many references in the Old Testament to women who

336

had certain prophetic giftings or roles. For example, Moses' own sister Miriam is referred

337

to as a prophetess in Exodus 15. Deborah the judge in Judges 4 verse 4, she's referred to

338

as a prophetess. Even the prophet Isaiah, his own wife is referred to as a prophetess in Isaiah

339

chapter 8. It would seem that there was a precedent for women prophets during the time of Ezekiel's

340

own ministry. With that said, the women could be just as guilty and wicked as the men. In verse 18,

341

the women in question, whatever the role and office was, they were not occupying it in a good

342

and godly way. They were basically witches, for lack of a better term. They relied on what's

343

called magic charms, demonic works, to hunt souls of God's people, which is what he accused them of

344

doing here. And God has the same message for them that he had for the men. He says, behold, I'm

345

coming for you. I'm not going to let you keep doing what you've been doing. All right, let's

346

look at our last verses now, verses 22 and 23. Verse 22, because with lies you have made the

347

heart of the righteous sad, whom I have not made sad, and you have strength in the hands of the

348

wicked, so he does not turn from his wicked way to save his life. Therefore, you shall no longer

349

envision futility, nor practice divination, for I will deliver my people from out of your hand,

350

And you shall know that I am the Lord.

351

I wonder, what would you say if there was a doctor

352

who deliberately withheld life-giving medicine to his patients?

353

Well, you'd say such a doctor is cruel.

354

That's a wicked practice.

355

You have a patient who's in dire need of your assistance,

356

and you have the means, and you have the medicine that would assist,

357

and yet you withhold it?

358

That's cruel. That's wicked.

359

That's not the way it's supposed to be.

360

Now, on the other hand, what if there's a man who was to push another man in front of a speeding train?

361

What would we say then?

362

We'd say, that's cruel.

363

That's wicked.

364

You should not do such a thing.

365

You see, it's wicked to both cause harm, to cause harm, like pushing someone in front of a train.

366

It's also wicked to fail to prevent harm when you have the ability and opportunity to do so.

367

Causing harm and failing to prevent it are both bad things.

368

In Ezekiel's day, the prophets and the prophetesses were doing both.

369

Scripture says they were harming the righteous.

370

they were taking people who didn't need to be sad and making them sad. They're taking God's

371

righteous ones, the few that were left, the remnant, and they were breaking their hearts.

372

You want to know a guy who was sad at this time? Jeremiah. What was he called? The weeping prophet.

373

Righteous people, wonderful people were being made sad by these folks. Meanwhile, the wicked people,

374

their hands were being strengthened by these same folks. In verse 23, God says, I'm done.

375

I'm not going to deal with this anymore. Everybody out of the pool. Judgment is coming. And in verse

376

23, he says, I will deliver my people. I will deliver them from out of your hand. You who have

377

made the righteous sad and who have strengthened the wicked, I'm going to deliver my people out

378

of your hand. And when I do so, then you're going to know that I am the Lord. All right, let me

379

offer a final exhortation as we wrap up this morning. As you probably know, false prophets,

380

false teachers, they're not just a thing of the past. In fact, something interesting happens.

381

The closer we get to the end, whenever that should be, the closer we get to Christ's return,

382

Scripture says they become even more numerous. There's even more the later you get into the

383

pages of history. 2 Timothy 4 tells us this straightforwardly. 2 Timothy 4 says this,

384

says, the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires,

385

because they have itchy ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers. Just picture that,

386

heaping up teachers and false prophets and the like. They will heap up for themselves teachers,

387

and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and they will be turned aside unto fables.

388

A day is going to come when things are going to get worse and worse to the point that my people, God says,

389

they will have such itchy ears, they're going to turn away from the truth,

390

and they are going to heap up people who tell them what they want to hear.

391

Now, some of you know Ligonier Ministries, a ministry that was founded by R.C. Sproul.

392

Ligonier Ministries conducts something called the State of Theology.

393

It's a survey study in order to assess basic evangelical understanding

394

of essential matters of belief and practice.

395

And every year, they report on what's going on in the world around us,

396

in the church world, not just the world world, but in the church world.

397

And they say, hey, here's what the people are reporting back.

398

Here's surveys on biblical faithfulness and fidelity and the like,

399

and what people believe.

400

And as these studies come forth, every year there's a common thread.

401

Every year, the numbers get worse.

402

The numbers get worse every year that they do this.

403

Historically confessed truths, things people have believed for centuries.

404

Increasingly, by large margins, year in, year out, are replaced by heresy.

405

Now, I'm just going to give you three brief examples in our final minute or so.

406

As of this year, as of this year, 2022, 56% of professing evangelicals,

407

that means mainline Christians and whatever Protestant church they're in,

408

56% of professing evangelicals say this, that all religions lead to heaven.

409

That doesn't really matter what you believe.

410

56%. The majority. Let me stop the presses. The majority of people in pews across our country,

411

the majority, not a minority, the majority believe that you don't have to believe in Jesus Christ

412

in order to be saved. Irrespective of what God's word says, which says that there's no other name

413

under heaven given among men by which we must be saved. 56% of modern evangelicals believe the

414

opposite. As of 2022, 53% of professing evangelicals say that the Bible is not true in all

415

things. They say that the Bible contains truth. There's truth in this book, but we got to figure

416

out what it is. It's not true everywhere. It can't be. You know, it was written so long ago and it's

417

been translated and the like. 53% of professing evangelicals say the Bible is not true in all

418

things. 56% of professing evangelicals say church membership or participation is not necessary or

419

that's irrelevant for the modern believer. 56% of people think that the church is a thing that you

420

can use and take advantage of if you'd like to, but it's not essential. I could go on with the

421

statistics here. Read them for yourself. Legal and ministry, state of theology, you can find all this

422

for yourself. Now, all that's dreadful. Our eyebrows go up and our jaws drop to the ground.

423

All of it's dreadful. But again, my point to you is this. These are not a study of what the secular

424

the world is saying. This is not a study of what pagans and people out there are saying. This is a

425

study what people in professing churches are saying, at least those who profess the name of

426

Jesus Christ. Now, as you let that sink in, let me ask you, how did things get that way? It wasn't

427

always that way, so how did we get there? How did all this craziness happen? Well, it happened the

428

same way that apostasy developed in Ezekiel's own day. It happened because men who called

429

themselves pastors or priests or prophets stood in pulpits just like this, and they preached from

430

their hearts, not from the Word of God. Now, how did those men get in those positions? How did this

431

happen? It wasn't overnight, but ultimately they got there because they said what people

432

wanted to hear. They said what people wanted to hear. You know, the prophet Ezekiel had a

433

contemporary named Jeremiah we talked about a minute ago. He talked about the false prophets

434

as well. I'm going to close with his words in Jeremiah 5. Jeremiah said this, and it's a warning

435

to the people in his age, and I assure you it is a warning to the people of our age as well. He said

436

this. He said, an astonishing, horrible thing has happened in the land. The prophets prophesy

437

falsely, and the priests rule by their own power, and my people love to have it so.

438

A terrible thing has happened. The prophets, they're prophesying falsely. The priests

439

are doing their job under their own power, and my people, that's the way they want it.

440

My people love to have it so. And then he asked this question, this rhetorical question.

441

he says this. He says, but what will you do in the end? What will you do in the end?

442

Question for them, question for us. Let's pray.