Test All the Things!

God has, for the edification and growth of the Church, established the office of Pastor and graced his church with competent teachers.  However, God has permitted Satan to sow much false teaching, and indeed many false teachers in the Church.  It has been this way since the first century, and it will no doubt continue this way until the Lord returns.  It is obvious then that there are no perfect teachers, and no perfect churches.  That is why it is our duty as Christians to test and discern what is being taught and preached.  We need to compare what people are saying in the name of God to the Word of God.

C.F.W. Walther, theologian and first president of the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod, stressed why this is so important, in his sermon, The Sheep Judge Their Shepherds, ”Why is it that so many Lutherans now turn to the sects? It is because they have not known the teaching of their church, or if they have known it, because they have accepted it, not on the basis of God’s Word, but only on the recommendation of others. Such people let themselves be ‘tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine.’”

We need to examine what is said in the name of God to the Word of God. We can’t just let our teachers and preachers start teaching us from the Bible without examining their teaching. If they are preaching from the Bible we need to know if that’s actually what the Bible says. Walther explains why this is so necessary. It’s because false teachers are among us and are here to lead the sheep astray. Our Lord warns us similarly,

“Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will recognize them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? So, every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit. A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus you will recognize them by their fruits.” – Matthew 7:15-20 ESV

Paul also warns the Ephesians Elders that these false teachers could be among them,

“I know that after my departure fierce wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; and from among your own selves will arise men speaking twisted things, to draw away the disciples after them. Therefore be alert, remembering that for three years I did not cease night or day to admonish every one with tears.” – Acts 20:29-31 ESV

Why would we be warned about false prophets and wolves if we are to do nothing about it? We are warned that our elders and Pastors can be false prophets and wolves, and are we supposed to just accept everything a pastor says just because he’s a pastor?  Walther again says, “God reveals his mysteries only to the babes who humbly acknowledge their natural blindness and darkness. Therefore in divine matters no one is excluded from the judicial office. All Christ’s sheep are judges, both learned and layman, man and wife, bachelor and spinster, young and old, for it concerns each one’s soul, his own life, his own salvation.”

Now you may think, well, Pastor Joe has been the pastor of this church for 45 years, and he isn’t a false prophet or a wolf so this passage can’t be about him. You may be correct, that your pastor isn’t a wolf or a false teacher.  But that doesn’t mean you don’t examine what he teaches. I’m sorry, but thinking like that is naive and the kind of thinking that will lead sheep astray. It will lead sheep astray because the sheep will not be looking for false prophets and wolves.  In order to find the false prophets, false teachers, and wolves among us, we have to examine all who teach and preach in the name of God.  We must examine all pastors, good and bad. If we examine everything that is preached by everyone, then we’ll notice when false prophets and teachers are twisting the Word.  And this isn’t just a one time thing.  ”We’ll I examined him once and it seemed good to me.” People change and Pastors can go astray in their teaching.  We must constantly be testing everything according to the Word.

If you don’t examine what is said in the name of God by the Word of God, then when a teacher or pastor teaches error and heresy, you’ll end up believing error and heresy because you failed to examine his teaching. The cry of the Renisanse was “Ad Fontes”, “To the Source”. We need to go back to the source of all correct doctrine, the Word of God.

Now it is true that we need to respect the office of the Holy Ministry. It has been given the keys of the Kingdom, the power to forgive sins in the stead and by the command of Christ. In 1 Thessalonians 5, Paul talks about this respect for the office of the Ministry by admonishing us to respect those who labour and esteem them very highly. When a Pastor preaches the Word, he is not the one speaking, but insofar as he is correctly handling the Word of Truth, it is God himself who is speaking through him. But, in the same breath, Paul also says, “Do not despise prophecies, but test everything; hold fast what is good.” (1 Thessalonians 5:20-21 ESV) Our respect for the Office and for God’s mighty work through it, does not neglect our responsibility to test what they say. The Scriptures are called “God-Breathed”, but that Pastor isn’t. So we rely on the “God-Breathed” Scriptures, not the Pastor.  Walther says again, “You see then, my dear ones, God does not desire that you shall, without testing, receive either a human book, or a human lecture, or a human resolution, or instruction. You shall let no man rule over your conscience. ‘One is our master, even Christ.’”

“Let two or three prophets speak, and let the others weigh what is said,” says Paul. (1 Corinthians 14:29 ESV) Now you may be thinking, this is not talking about preaching, it’s talking about prophecy. But preaching God’s Word is a form of prophecy. It is proclaiming God’s Word. It may not be foretelling, but it is forth-telling. There is a puritan book called, “The Art of Prophesying”. This is a puritan manual for preaching. We are to weigh what is preached and proclaimed in God’s name. “The spirits of prophets are subject to prophets.” – 1 Corinthians 14:32 ESV

When Israel ran to the occult, and to inquire of false religion, God tells them where to turn. “To the teaching and to the testimony! If they will not speak according to this word, it is because they have no dawn.” (Isaiah 8:20 ESV) We must do the same thing. Return to God’s teaching and testimony. Those who don’t speak according to the Word do not have light, so we must examine everything according to that light. “Whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God.” (John 3:21 ESV) If a preacher or teacher is from the light, he will not have any objection to his teaching being brought to the light of God’s Word for examination. In fact, he’ll encourage his flock or hearers to examine what he says by the Word.

When the Apostle John writes his first epistle to deal with the rising Gnostic threat, he tells his reader, “Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world.” (1 John 4:1 ESV)  Don’t believe everything you hear from the pulpit.  Why not? Because, John says, there are false prophets in the World.  So what do we do?  Test.  Test all the things!

“Now these Jews were more noble than those in Thessalonica; they received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so.” (Acts 17:11 ESV) In this text, notice what the Bereans did not do when they heard the Word of God preached.  They did not immediately dismiss Paul’s preaching as false. The Bereans gave Paul a chance and were willing to test the apostle’s teachings in the light of Scripture.

However, the Bereans also did not immediately accept Paul’s preaching as true. If Paul had concluded his sermon with an altar call, I’m guessing the Bereans would have stayed in their pews. The Bereans were unwilling to embrace Jesus as the Christ until they had a chance to review the evidence.  Paul’s statements had to be tested against Scripture, and the Bereans are commended for this. Rather than immediately rejecting or accepting the apostles’ teaching, they resolved to look at the issues more deeply.

Only when a sermon or teaching has been carefully examined and tested with Scripture can accurate conclusions be made. What is said from the pulpit must be carefully examined and tested under the light of Scripture. I encourage you, after every sermon, examine it and see if the things that are said are based on the Word of God. Also, it is a good idea to compare what is preached to your Church’s confessions. So if you’re Lutheran, you would also compare what your Pastor is preaching to the Book of Concord, as Walther instructs. ”But here many will perhaps say, I am so weak in knowledge, how shall I test the teachings? You also, my dear Christian, have been cared for. You have Luther’s Small Catechism. There you have a glorious summary of the whole Christian faith and its chief articles. What is not in accord with that you can boldly throw out, you make no mistake. All that is necessary for you to know for your salvation and for the testing of the pure doctrine is found briefly and simply in your Catechism. In the first part you learn of true God-pleasing works. In the second part of saving faith, in the third of proper acceptable prayer, and in the fourth, fifth, and sixth of the true sacraments and the Office of the Keys. In the table of duties you learn the true Christian attitude toward your calling and condition.”

Now why would we believe everything from the pulpit anyway?  Has not history and experience shown us that men often can not be trusted to teach the Word of God faithfully? Men twist and distort the Word of God to make it say what they want all the time. I was raised in the Watchtower Society.  I was a Jehovah’s Witness.  I am a Christian today largely because I compared what was being said in the name of God to the Word of God.  If I didn’t, I would still be a Witness to this day.  Most of the arguments I’ve heard against examining what your Pastor preaches are exactly the same things that were thrown at me six years ago by the Watchtower Society.  ”Your Elders know better.  They’ve been to seminary and you haven’t.  They’ve been elders for decades and you’re only twenty years old.  Don’t you think they know their Bibles better then you?  Isn’t it proud and arrogant of you to think you know better then them?  You’ve just got a critical spirit.  You should just listen to what Jehovah has to say and teach you.  The Elders love you, they wouldn’t mislead you.  They aren’t false teachers.”  I’ve heard it all before.  Similar things were said to Martin Luther, and indeed, our Lord himself. (John 7:14-18)  The Scriptures are clear.  We are to test what is said in the name of God to the Word of God.  All the training, experience, love, and good character do not remove our responsibility to hold to what the Scriptures say.

But making sure the preaching or teaching are in harmony with the Word of God, still isn’t enough.  Even if a sermon is theologically correct in its doctrine, the Law and the Gospel must still be properly distinguished in it.  That will be the topic of a future post. I conclude with another quote from Walther, “Since the sheep are to be the judges of their shepherds, you see that each Christian is hereby seriously admonished to search daily in the Scriptures, so that he can separate the true from the false and gold and silver from hay, straw, and stubble.”