The Voice of the False Prophet

Appreciating Good Wherever It Is Found

“Some indeed preach Christ even of envy and strife; and some also of good will: The one preach Christ of contention, not sincerely, supposing to add affliction to my bonds: But the other of love, knowing that I am set for the defence of the gospel. What then? notwithstanding, every way, whether in pretence, or in truth, Christ is preached; and I therein do rejoice, yea, and will rejoice.”* (Philippians 1:15-18)

This scripture passage brings us face to face with an unpleasant reality: some preach Christ of envy, strife, and contention, not sincerely. How we wish that this were not so! We would that all men would preach Christ of love and good will. We would that there was no such thing as the unadulterated message. No poison in the pot (2 Kings 4:40). That all representation of the gospel was without blemish or perversion. That all who professed the name of Christ spoke as the oracles of God (1 Peter 4:11). That all worship of God was in Spirit and in truth (John 4:23-24).

We must face the reality. As Brother Paul said, we must “speak forth the words of truth and soberness.”* (Acts 26:25) We are commanded to think soberly (1 Peter 5:8; 4:7).

“What then?” What attitude should we take toward the voice of that which is partly true and partly false?

To be filled with perfect love for God and truth is to have the attitude: “I am closed to everything that is not of God, and I am open to everything that is of God.” For charity (perfect love) “rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth.”* (1 Corinthians 13:6)

This is a hard saying for the scornful. Those who despise others focus on what is wrong. To them, the presence of error completely negates the presence of good. And they hold that to rejoice in the good in spite of the evil is to compromise—to give place to the devil. Very few things among men are entirely free from error or evil, so the scornful finds very little in which to rejoice. The scripture quoted above (Philippians 1:15-18) sounds suspicious to the man in the seat of the scorner.

But charity “rejoiceth in the truth.” What a dark world this would be indeed without the presence of good! Yes, there are many people who hold the truth in unrighteousness. There are many who do not live up to what they say or understand. But how much worse off all would be if they did not say or understand any goodness at all! We should rejoice that the thoughts of hearts of men are not all evil continually, even while we deplore and abhor the evil that is there.

On the other hand, many heartily agree that we should look for the good in everyone and ignore the evil. “There’s some bad in the best of us and some good in the worst of us,” they say. But this attitude is not the characteristic of perfect love, either. Perfect love abhorreth that which is evil (Romans 12:9). This is the manner of its “rejoicing not” in evil—perfect love abhors evil. To have a perfect love for truth and a perfect hatred for evil is to esteem and value right wherever it is found and to abhor and detest evil wherever it is found. It is sober (realistic) thinking.

“For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.”* (Romans 12:3) This is unprejudiced, unslanted thinking. It is after the facts. It just wants to know the reality of things. Men can only think like this when God does a work of grace in them. “Through the grace given unto me.”

This sober love for truth and abhorrence of all else is evident in Brother Paul’s statements in Philippians. “Some indeed preach Christ even of envy and strife.” He didn’t like that. He would rather have been able to conclude that all who preached Christ did so out of good will, but he couldn’t. A rock-bottom, blunt honesty in him held the facts before him. He had to tell the truth, even when the truth was bad. He had to tell the truth when the truth was good. And the same honesty that caused him to acknowledge the facts of the matter also governed his conclusions. He saw that the envious and strife-filled preaching of Christ produced contradictory results. It did both good and evil. He rejoiced in the good. “What then? notwithstanding, every way, whether in pretence, or in truth, Christ is preached; and I therein do rejoice, yea, and will rejoice.”* (Philippians 1:18) He also abhorred the reproach and the harm that came from the impure motives.

The Power and Influence of Truth Under All Circumstances

We need to acknowledge that there is in good a power that lies beyond the influence of the vessel. We might well say that the truth is above us; that is, it will stand on its own merits, regardless of how well we measure up to it. We cannot destroy it (2 Corinthians 13:8), although we can bring a great deal of reproach on it, as David did (2 Samuel 12:14) and frustrate it in its work among men (Ecclesiastes 9:18). A great deal of unscrupulous effort is done in the name of upholding the truth (the standard), but the fact is that the truth does not need to be propped up by human effort. We may get away from the truth, but the truth does not change because we fall away. It is right where it has always been since God first revealed it to mankind. It will still be there on the judgment day. We see people desperately striving to uphold the truth as though it would change if they were not successful, but they are worried in vain as far as the truth changing is concerned. It won’t change—it will never change (Malachi 3:6; Matthew 5:18). Men change, but the truth does not. We should be concerned about getting away from the truth, but there is no need to be concerned about the truth changing. It is right all by itself.

This is why perfect love rejoiceth in the truth—even when preached of envy and strife. There is no rejoicing in the envy and strife, for that is not right, but the truth has great power. It is able to go far beyond the dishonorable advocate who portrays envy and strife. It has that potential.

In 2 Kings 13:21, we read, “And it came to pass, as they were burying a man, that, behold, they spied a band of men; and they cast the man into the sepulchre of Elisha: and when the man was let down, and touched the bones of Elisha, he revived, and stood up on his feet.” This is a wonderful thing. The dry, dead bones of the prophet brought to life a man that was being buried. “He revived and stood up on his feet.” This illustrates the power of truth. It has the power to revive and bring to life regardless of the condition of the men who are burying.

The adversary is well aware of this. In his masterpiece of evil, the Roman Catholic Church, he took pains to keep the Word of God away from the minds and hearts of the vast majority of people. The devil knew what the Word of Truth would do if there was too much exposure to it. At a later time in human history, by substituting loyalty to the creeds of men instead of the Word of God, he effectively insulates the Protestant church adherent from the raw power of the Bible. Any attempt of a nominal Christian to really read the Bible with an open and totally honest heart will lead to questions. And these questions can only be resolved one of three ways. The seeker will draw closer to his church and its creed and farther away from God, or the seeker will draw closer to God and His Word, or the seeker will throw down everything and depart into unbelief and skepticism.

We catch a glimpse of the awful power of truth revealed in Revelations 11:11: “And after three days and an half the spirit of life from God entered into them, and they stood upon their feet; and great fear fell upon them which saw them.” Prophetically, this is after the Protestant era. These same witnesses (the Word and the Spirit) had been slain (in the sense that their influence was totally destroyed and replaced by the creeds of men), yet their dead bodies were not suffered to be buried (lip service was paid to them). But a mighty and wonderful thing happened. The spirit of life from God entered into them, and they stood upon their feet.

It is a wonderful thing to see the Word and the Spirit on their feet, beholding their enemies. Occasionally, a shallow discussion of some Bible truth will suddenly reveal a glimpse of the true depths involved in the Word of God. This possibility, this potential, is an occasion for rejoicing.

It was a great blessing for Brother Paul to be delivered from sourness and scorn. As long as he stayed with truth, he was on the winning side. Truth is not degraded because someone who has not obeyed it starts to flourish it. There is more to it than the flourisher realizes. It is possible to abhor his condition even while rejoicing in the truth. One need not enter into sectarian rivalry and strife to contend for what is right. We do not have to “get it in” for people or become partisan. Thank the Lord!

“And the servant of the Lord must not strive; but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient, in meekness instructing those that oppose themselves; if God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth.”* (2 Timothy 2:24-25)

God’s Attitude Towards a Lack of Purity in Truth

“For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.”* (Ecclesiastes 12:14)

“I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth.”* (Revelation 3:15-16)

“For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book: And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.”* (Revelation 22:18-19)

The Voice of the False Prophet

Having acknowledged the unassailable power and influence of truth wherever it is found, no matter how it is hindered, we now turn our attention to the the voice of the false prophet.

Let us realize that all truth and light come down from God (James 1:17). Those who possess part of the truth have it because God allowed them to realize it. God, in great mercy to all in the world, reveals truth even in nature and in many other places (Psalm 19:1-4; Romans 10:18). We might say that the seeds of truth are sown far and wide by the mercy of God to mankind. All have a fair opportunity of responding to the truth around them.

Perhaps you are aware of some of the awful snares of Satan around you—some tare-infested fields, some pernicious den of iniquity that defies all good influence. You doubt the access to fair opportunity. It does not look like many have a chance at all. Their doom seems certain.

The Bible answers you in this matter. Speaking of Jesus, Brother John wrote, “That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world.”* (John 1:9) I call your attention to that wonderful phrase: “which lighteth every man that cometh into the world.” We see that God obligates Himself to light everyone. Even in the most awful places of diabolical influence, God deals fairly with each soul. God has made a way of escape for everyone who is willing to take it. He knows how to help every human being escape from our enemy. Jesus has tasted death for every man (Hebrews 2:9). It is fair and just for each human being to face the Day of Judgment, for God has faithfully dealt with each human being.

He who declares “the end from the beginning”* (Isaiah 46:10) understands the history and degree of response to truth in any given individual and in groups of individuals. God knew and knows the exact, precise history of the Israeli nation to His truth, in all the complexity of that history. He understands the history of spiritual Babylon in absolute detail. He knows when and to what extent she was a golden cup in His hand (Jeremiah 51:7), and when she ceased to be a golden cup. He understands her afflictions and need of healing (Jeremiah 51:7), and He knows the appropriate and fair judgment of those who hold the truth in unrighteousness.

Every nation has been fairly dealt with by God throughout its history. We catch a glimpse of God’s forebearance and longsuffering, as well as the inevitability of judgment in Genesis 15:16: “But in the fourth generation they shall come hither again: for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full.” Note the words: “not yet full.” Ponder for a moment on the wonderful fairness and the reality of God’s monitoring and dealing with this people, the Amorites. When a religious movement does not follow Him with all the heart, God knows when the iniquity of it is full—when it is time for judgment and how to bring about that judgment. He sees us before we are even created; He knows us when we are yet in loins of our forefathers. It is very much past our comprehension, and yet it is so.

Reader, God has been fair with thee! He knows thee, thy downsittings and thy uprisings. He understandeth thy thoughts afar off. All things are naked and open to the eyes of Him with whom you have to do (Hebrews 4:13). “For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.”* (Ecclesiastes 12:14) “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that everyone may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.”* (2 Corinthians 5:10)

God knows just where men back up on Him. He knows where a little leaven comes in. Just as surely as He knew that something had happened in the Garden of Eden after the sinning of Adam and Eve, so He knows the exact point where an individual or a group of individuals receive something else other than heavenly light and truth.

How I would to God that all loved Him with a perfect love and detested anything that was not of Him! How pure the rays of truth that shine in such a heart! How clean the ways of the sons of God that are led by the Holy Ghost! How faithful that same Comforter is to reprove, to check, to instruct, and to guide! “But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.”* (John 14:26) “And thine ears shall hear a word behind thee, saying, This is the way, walk ye in it, when ye turn to the right hand, and when ye turn to the left.”* (Isaiah 30:21)

It is because men listen to other voices than the voice of the Holy Ghost that they become partly right and partly wrong. The voice of the false prophet is a voice of mixture. It is not entirely wrong, and it is not right, either. “Then spake Jesus to the multitude, and to his disciples, Saying, The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat: All therefore whatsoever they bid you observe, that observe and do; but do not ye after their works: for they say, and do not.”* (Mt. 23:1-3)

You will notice a peculiar note to this passage of scripture. It does not command to withdraw from the scribes and Pharisees. Not yet. It does lay an obligation on those who loved God that could only be followed with help from God. It was necessary to discern and separate between the practices of the scribes and the Pharisees and the truth that they spoke. Open to everything that is of God, closed to everything that is not. Avoiding both the seat of the scorner and the seat of the apostate. The judgment of the Jewish nation was not yet complete. A little further along, their complete and thorough rejection of Jesus and truth sealed their fate. In all that time, a distance was steadily growing between those who loved God with all their heart and those who loved Him less than that. Eventually, no one who loved God with a pure heart could stay among these people. Because of their rejection of truth, tests of fellowship evolved that pretty much eliminated and continued to eliminate anybody who did not subscribe to their false doctrines, tacked unto what truth they tried to retain.

This is an accurate picture of the Church-of-God Babylon we see around us today. Most of them have varying degrees of truth in doctrine and various levels of spirituality in holding that truth. The Spirit of God works among them as best He can, faithfully dealing and striving to turn them from other spirits back to the Living God. The conditions of these various splinters is very much like the conditions of the seven congregations portrayed in the second and third chapters of Revelations. Some have considerable spirituality and life; others are dead. Pretty much everything in between is represented, too. False doctrine has crept into some; abominable practices are found in some. Some have had their candlesticks removed; others are in the process of losing theirs; while still others admit a smoky and flickering light, stronger at times than others.

“The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat: All therefore whatsoever they bid you observe, that observe and do; but do not ye after their works: for they say, and do not.”* (Matthew 23:2-3)

Men naturally follow the ways of the flesh when they step aside from following the Spirit of God. They naturally graviate to holding together a group of people instead of absolute trueness to God. When they encounter the reality of the human condition, they either give it room and thereby compromise, or they fight and suppress it with fanaticism. Neither of these two methods bring deliverance.

The Lack of Consecration to God’s Ways and Purposes

“This is an hard saying; who can hear it?”* (John 6:60)

It is absolutely useless, yea, terribly dangerous, to lower the standard to get people on it, and then try to lift it up to where it ought to be. The people will get on, all right, when the standard is lowered, but when the lifting begins, notice what happens. The raising of the standard is resented, rebuked, fought against, and either you must yield and let it back down and repent for having tried to lift it up, or else you must get off and get back yourself to where you belong. But if you persist in trying to lift it up with all those people on it, you will find, as it is raised, that they were tied to the world and to self by cords of pride, covetousness, love of adornment, amusement, preeminence, etc., and they will be pulled off of the standard and hurled back into the world. This you cannot endure unless you are consecrated to do a work for God, even if there are only two or three who measure to God’s holy standard.

[Charles E. Orr; The Spirit of Influence]

To follow God is to have this consecration established by the Holy Ghost in you, and to put no confidence in the flesh. “For we are the circumcision, which worship God in the spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh.”* (Philippians 3:3) It is to accept the fact that the numbers who want to really serve God are few. It is to consecrate against a sensational show in the flesh (2 Corinthians 5:12).

In a biography of James Blaine Chapman (Spirit Filled), D. Shelby Corlett quotes Mr. Chapman as saying:

The group in which I was saved were heroic in their method of taking care of young children in the faith. I never heard them recite their creed on the subject, but I think the creed, in substance, was: If they are really saved and sanctified, they will make it without your help, and if you must help them, that proves they are not what they claim to be.

It was expected in our group that every one, young and old, who claimed to be saved and sanctified, would pray and testify at every opportunity and would undertake any possible Christian service without being urged. In fact, we did not lay much stress on leaders. We thought all of God’s people were prophets; as such they should know what to do and should instantly volunteer to do it. I would not say that we who came through the process of training young Christians, in the group in which I was brought up in, made great men, but I would say that those that did not fall out by the way certainly did prove that they meant business.

I cannot help mourning over the ones who did not make it. The statisticians reported forty-two professions in the meeting in which I was saved. At the end of the year all we could really account for were my sister, two other young women, and myself. A wiser plan of training new converts surely would have shown better results than this.

Mr. Chapman believed that “a wiser plan of training new converts surely would have shown better results.” Instead of simply realizing that he had survived the high attrition rate of new converts because he and the other survivors passed the tests that God had allowed them, he proceeded to devise such a wiser(?) plan. Again, from Spirit Filled:

There is a growing interest in holiness churches among our people everywhere. Holiness churches are no longer an experiment but they are now an existing reality…. The day has come when the holiness people must organize or the work will suffer. Scattered among all denominations the usefulness of the holy people is greatly hindered, when out of all organizations they are branded as “Come-outers,” thus shutting many doors of usefulness in their faces. The bands, which are substitutes for churches, have seen their day and proved a failure…. In a disorganized state, we are prey to great impositions. Many people are beginning to see and confess these things and are finding a solution in the organization of local holiness churches.

Earlier, the author of this book testifies to the nature of those holiness bands, which Mr. Chapman later stated were failures:

The people among whom this boy preacher was converted and sanctified placed little emphasis upon church organization and membership, hence it is not surprising that he preached for one year without joining any sort of Christian organization.

Now I must confess that I do not see any wiser plan than the one administered by the Author of our salvation, who stated that, “Strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.”* (Matthew 7:14) And of the few who profess to get it, there is only a small minority that proves out. “And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried: they shall call on my name, and I will hear them: I will say, It is my people: and they shall say, The LORD is my God.”* (Zechariah 13:9) God is much more interested in quality than quantity. Read the scriptures in the Bible concerning the remnant, or meditate on Gideon’s experience with God in reducing the number of men with him to three hundred in the face of the host of the enemy. “And the LORD said unto Gideon, The people are yet too many; bring them down unto the water, and I will try them for thee there: and it shall be, that of whom I say unto thee, This shall go with thee, the same shall go with thee; and of whomsoever I say unto thee, This shall not go with thee, the same shall not go.”* (Judges 7:4)

The following is from a quotation in Birth of a Reformation about the formation of the Free Methodist sect:

B. T. Roberts in his discipline says the Free Methodist organization was a necessity. Was it? Let the hundreds testify who were wonderfully and lovingly united together in the Holy Ghost. The truth is this: God’s heritage and work were spoiled by the laying on of man’s hands.

While enjoying this spiritual fellowship all was peace and harmony and the work of conversion went on, the saints rejoiced, and the sectarian devil was mad, sinners in Zion were afraid and trembled as they saw the weakest saint upon his knees.

B. T. Roberts started out with a trap in hand, making a new test of fellowship. He visited far and wide among the live pilgrims, preaching sect fellowship as the one thing needful, and that they could go no further without it.

In most cases it took them by surprise. They examined themselves and reasoned thus: We are already in fellowship with the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, and in holy spiritual fellowship with the saints, and God has given us the victory again and again while fighting against the unholy sects. What can the sect yoke do for us? We are now free to go everywhere preaching and teaching in the name of Jesus. Thus many stood out for a while. Oh, what robbery, what treachery, to pervert and use this work of God, which began so gloriously, to the building up of a carnal and selfish organism! At every gathering, large or small, the sect yoke was presented and held forth as “the cross.”

My husband was satisfied with God’s way of ordering the battle; yea, more than satisfied, he rejoiced and was exceeding glad to see the prosperity of Zion in our midst. While B. T. R. said in action by the formation of his sect, “I have suffered enough reproach and shame; I will number Israel and become as other nations,” then the work of building up “our church” commenced. How the enemy triumphed! At all the gatherings the spirit of sectarian zeal was worked up to the highest pitch, and so fulfilling the scripture which saith, “Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever.”* (Romans 1:25)

…And today he (B. T. R.) has no more influence than any other sect bishop, whereas he was once a terror to evildoers and a praise to them who did well. From this time the battle of the Lord ceased and the enemies rejoiced. Some who remember the former days of liberty and power ask B. T. R. why the same power is not manifested now as formerly. He answers on this wise: God then gave the people a special blessing for a special work. Very good; but why not continue under these special blessings and in this special work? What an absurdity, what inconsistency to build another sect in order to go through the same variations and evolutions of its predecessors! Was it pleasing in the sight of God to manufacture another class of backsliders? Was it a necessity? Wherever I go I find the burden of Free Methodist preaching is to backslidden membership, whereas before its formation—while they remained in God’s order, where He placed them—every man, woman, and child was able to do a full day’s work. In visiting many places I find them (the F. M.’s) nearly, if not quite, extinct. In missionary fields the work takes well for a season, but when they begin proselyting and making it a “necessity” to gather them into their peck measure, then the Lord leaves them to themselves. As I am passing through the land I often meet with those with whom I was acquainted during the war of the Lord, and immediately they refer to the former days of power and salvation and say, “We don’t have such meetings nowadays; I would go a long distance to enjoy such privilege.”

[Sidney M'Creery—quoted in Andrew L. Byers; Birth of a Reformation, “The Crisis”]

“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD.”* (Isaiah 55:8)

I once listened to a brother who had possessed considerable light on how God deals with His people. He had fallen away from that light and come under the influence of fleshly reasoning. In his enlightened time, he was insistent that every Sunday school teacher be anointed of the Holy Spirit and feared any other standard, but he had changed. He was preaching about an old man, who was possibly not even saved, who just wanted to help out. “Why not let him help?” the fallen brother said. His tone of voice was full of sympathy. It was suggested that perhaps he would be helped by helping, so to speak.

I thought of a brother who went to pray for a man who appeared to be on his death bed. This man was a pillar in the local congregation, taught Sunday school, and had done so for many years. The prayers for healing weren’t getting anywhere. The brother took to the woods to get alone with God and pray the matter out. The Lord gave him a vision. He saw the words “HELL FIRE” in letters of flame in the sky. Back he went to the man. He told him what he had seen. The man confessed, “I’m not saved.” He admitted that he never had been saved. He was just there and wanted to help out. God, in great mercy, had permitted his condition to come out in this way.

The people we attempt to help are exposed to more from us than we realize. They are exposed to what we are, instead of just what we say. If you are unsaved, you will pass an unsaved influence; if you are not filled with the Holy Ghost, you will communicate an unsanctified influence. It does not matter how orthodox is your doctrine; what you really are in heart will exert itself upon the listeners. Evil communications do corrupt good manners (1 Corinthians 15:33). If you have regard to the praise of men and human political skills in general, it will manifest itself and work corruption. How necessary that the children of God be purged so that they may offer an acceptable offering to the Lord in righteousness! (Malachi 3:3).

It seems reasonable to one under the influence of the sectarian spirit to keep Joab in a position of leadership in the kingdom. A man such as Joab causes discomfort at times, for he is hard and devious and does not forgive, but he is effective and gets results. At times, he even exerts a spiritual influence, as when he resisted the king’s desire to number Israel. He was very loyal all his life to David. He was not really in fellowship with David all the time that they worked together, but, on the whole, Joab respected David, and this was deemed sufficient. All of this came to a head when David was about to die. It became painfully obvious that Joab followed a man (David), not God. Whom would he follow after David died?

The spirit of sectism does not weigh out people from the standpoint of how loyal people are to God. It values or devalues according to how loyal people are to something else, i.e., the church or the leadership of a given group. If you consider Joab from the standpoint of his love for God and his obedience and love for truth, Joab doesn’t look so good. If you consider him from his love and loyalty to David, he was a great leader of the army, an asset to Israel, and a good man in a pinch. The same is true of many a member in a man-made church. From the standpoint of Bible standards, there are many questions about the members-in-good-standing, but they are highly regarded in many things and tolerated in others. It is common in sectarian churches for really spiritually-minded children of God to be regarded with suspicion and reserve. “They have problems,” it is said. Even as the man-made church points with a certain pride to the spirituality of so-and-so, this very quality of spirituality makes them seem a little less than reliable to the man-made church. And so the unspiritual are wary of the spirituality of the merchandise they exhibit (2 Peter 2:3).

It is not that the spirit of sectism does not value love for God. It just values love for itself more. You can love God all you want, just as long as the church is first. How fitting the words of the Bible! “Thou shalt have no other gods before me.”* (Exodus 20:3) “Little children, keep yourselves from idols.”* (1 John 5:21) The whole point of a man-made church is to create a rival to God and divide the loyalty of a part of God’s children. “No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other.”* (Matthew 6:24)