FALSE PROPHETS AND PREACHERS

 

Matthew 7:15 "Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves.

Matthew 24

11 Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many.

24 For false christs and false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect.

Mark 10:19 You know the commandments: 'Do not commit adultery,' 'Do not murder,' 'Do not steal,' 'Do not bear false witness,' 'Do not defraud,' 'Honor your father and your mother.' "

2 Corinthians 11:13

For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into apostles of Christ.

26 in journeys often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils of my own countrymen, in perils of the Gentiles, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren;

Galatians 2:4 And this occurred because of false brethren secretly brought in (who came in by stealth to spy out our liberty which we have in Christ Jesus, that they might bring us into bondage),

2 Peter 2:1 But there were also false prophets among the people, even as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Lord who bought them, and bring on themselves swift destruction.

1 John 4:1 Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world.

Revelation 20:10 The devil, who deceived them, was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone where the beast and the false prophet are. And they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.

You have to be stupid to ignore the importance of the word “false” in the New Testament including false witness, false prophets, false brethren, false apostles, false christs, and false ministers! But it seems many in the body of Christ are stupid and don’t take seriously Jesus Christ admonition  Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves.

One of the most common deceptions that Christians fall into is the idea is that because a person has the title of clergy that person is a man of God and tells the truth! What a lie from the pits of hell!

The American Heritage Dictionary defines ‘leaven’ as:

leav·en n. 1. An agent, such as yeast, that causes batter or dough to rise, especially by fermentation. 2. An element, influence, or agent that works subtly to lighten, enliven, or modify a whole.

So we see that leaven is an element, influence, or agent that works subtly to lighten, enliven, or modify a whole, and that includes our thinking and our doctrines. Jesus warned us that religious leaders of His day and our day could with a little bit of leaven subtly modify the Word of God to make it useless to us! As a result many become deceived and destroyed for not only lack of knowledge but wrong knowledge. God’s word is unchanging:

"For false Christ’s and false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect. (Matthew 24:24)

Now the Spirit expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons,  speaking lies in hypocrisy, having their own conscience seared with a hot iron, forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from foods which God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth.  For every creature of God is good, and nothing is to be refused if it is received with thanksgiving;  for it is sanctified by the Word of God and prayer. 1 Timothy 4:1-5

But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come:  For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy,  unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good,  traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God,  having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away!  For of this sort are those who creep into households and make captives of gullible women loaded down with sins, led away by various lusts,  always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. 2 Timothy 3:1-7

Yes, we are to turn away from those who have departed from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons,  speaking lies in hypocrisy and now preach heresies, things  contrary to the Word of God.  Yes, we are to turn away from those  having a form of godliness but deny its power,  always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth even if they are pastors and preachers including people like Bishop James Pike and Dr. Henry Lyons!

James Pike was a brilliant man, raised as a Roman Catholic and trained as a lawyer. He became an Episcopalian after the war and pursued ordination in the Episcopal Church, eventually becoming dean of the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York City in 1952. In 1958 he was elected Bishop Coadjutor of the Diocese of California, and his election narrowly received confirmation because he had divorced and re-married (this was before episcopal permission for re-marriage was allowed). He became known more and more for outspoken views on the irrelevance of classical doctrines such as the Trinity and the virginal conception of Jesus.

Pike’s mediagenic personality and brilliant arguments made him the darling of some and the devil of others. His personal life gradually came apart when his son committed suicide in 1966. Pike started a highly public quest to contact his son through spiritualism. He divorced and re-married again. Many people who knew him have told me they believe he began a slide into manic depression.

Yet, Pike was a rank, unbelieving Modernist, a drunkard, an adulterer. He denied the Trinity and refused to state the traditional benediction, "In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, Amen!" He abbreviated this to "In the name of God, Amen!" Three times Pike was brought up on heresy charges in the Episcopal Church. In an article in Look magazine Pike stated that he did not believe the fundamentals of the faith. In a pastoral letter that was to be read in all the Episcopal Churches of his diocese, Pike stated that "religious myth is one of the avenues of faith and has an important place in the communication of the Gospel." He spoke of the "myth of the Garden of Eden." He said, "The virgin birth... is a myth which churchmen should be free to accept or reject." In an article in Christian Century, Dec. 21, 1960,  Pike declared that he no longer believed the doctrines stated in the Apostles’ Creed. The same month that article appeared Graham again joined Pike at his Grace Cathedral for a Christian Men’s Assembly sponsored by the National Council of Churches. Three times Pike was picked up by San Francisco police while he was wandering around in a drunken, confused state late at night. He spent four years in intensive psychoanalysis. Pike was twice divorced, thrice married, and had at least three mistresses. One of his mistresses committed suicide; one of his daughters attempted suicide. After his eldest son committed suicide in 1966 at age 20, Pike got deeply involved in the occult in an attempt to communicate with the deceased.

In 1967, Pike died from a 70-foot fall in a remote canyon in the Israeli desert near the Dead Sea. His maggot infested body was found five days later. The 56-year-old theologian had gotten lost in the desert while on an extended honeymoon with his 31-year-old third wife. A biography about Pike noted that "never before in the history of the Episcopal Church had a Solemn Requiem Mass been offered for a bishop in the presence of three surviving wives"

John W. Montgomery ,the author of more than forty books in five languages, who holds ten earned degrees, Including a Master of Philosophy in Law from the University of Essex, England, a Ph.D. from the University of Chicago, a Doctorate of the University in Protestant Theology from the University of Strasbourg, France, and the higher doctorate (LL.D.) from Cardiff University, Wales,  Lutheran clergyman, an English barrister, actions with Bishop Pike were different than that of Billy Graham. In the SIXTIES, during the “God is dead” movement, Dr. John W. Montgomery came into prominence.

Montogmery  was and is a renowned Biblical scholar with numerous degrees and an obvious brilliant mind, and a “who’s who” in America at that time. He was invited to openly debate Bishop Pike, on a Chicago University Campus, which was televised. He literally tore the Bishop’s theology apart.  His critics were upset and protested at how he destroyed Bishop Pike during the debate. Even though God’s word states that they should be destroyed:

He shall strike the earth with the rod of His mouth,  And with the breath of His lips He shall slay the wicked. Isaiah 11:4

But there were also false prophets among the people, even as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Lord who bought them, and bring on themselves swift destruction. 2 Peter 2:1

In February 2003, the media reported that The Rev. E.V. Hill, longtime pastor of the Mount Zion Missionary Baptist Church in Los Angeles and ardent supporter of lying, thieving, adulterous Dr. Henry J. Lyons is dead!  Hill died yesterday after a bout with pneumonia and other undisclosed medical problems.

Hill was a leader in the National Baptist Convention, the nation's largest grouping of black churches, and in 1998 he defended the denomination's disgraced president, the Rev. Henry Lyons, who was found guilty of racketeering. Years earlier, Hill stood by televangelists Jim Bakker and Jimmy Swaggart, both of whom were involved in sex scandals.

Hill, 69, was hospitalized nearly two weeks ago and was listed in critical condition and in intensive care.

A force in the National Baptist Convention and a speaker at rallies around the country sponsored by Promise Keepers, an evangelical men's ministry, Hill stood out among prominent African American pastors in championing conservative political causes. He had been an adviser to several prominent Republicans including President Reagan.

In 1999, Hill was an unsuccessful candidate for the presidency of the National Baptist Convention, one of the nation's largest African American Christian denominations. It was same convention about which the Philadelphia Inquirer reported on August 29, 2002 “Once the nation's largest and most prestigious African American religious denomination, the National Baptist Convention USA was taken over in the 1950s by leaders who often put their own financial interests ahead of the membership.”

Dr. Hill was on the Billy Graham Association board of directors, the board of the Los Angeles Urban League, the Los Angeles NAACP and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. He endorsed the 1984 candidacy of the Rev. Jesse Jackson for the Democratic nomination.

At the annual meeting of the National Baptist Convention in 1998, the Rev. Henry Lyons of St. Petersburg, admitted to an ``inappropriate relationship'' - an increasingly popular euphemism for adultery - with a woman employed by the nation's largest black church group. He said he was sorry and asked for forgiveness and they forgave him.

Rev E.V. Hill led the charge of corrupt ones to support his very dear friend Rev. Henry J. Lyons no matter what. As a result the Leaders of the National Baptist Convention USA stood by President Henry Lyons, who had been indicted for racketeering and grand theft and supported Dr. Lyons in every aspect of his legal endeavors that included money.

An internal church probe directed by pastor E.V. Hill determined that Lyons did not take any of the denomination's funds, and that any money he received included honorariums and fees the church agreed to pay him. Hill promised to help Lyons with his legal bills even though Prosecutors contend that Lyons diverted millions of dollars in church funds to finance a lavish lifestyle. But the courts had a different opinion about Lyons and his lying and thievery.

Rev. Henry Lyons peccadilloes and the grand theft and racketeering convictions  by State of Florida and the Government of United States against him didn't stop Rev. Hill from supporting his friend for birds of feather stick together.

Lyons resigned as head of the convention after pleading guilty to five federal counts. He served a 5 1/2-year state prison term and a concurrent 4 1/2-year federal sentence.

He was a man called by others as Rev. Hanky-Panky who was a personal friend of Bill Clinton.  A man who sought spiritual solace in the bathtub smoking marijuana after a hard day of playing patty-cake with Nigerian dictators and the financial stewardship of the NBC including secret bank accounts, forged signatures, missing files and hushed-up lobbying work on behalf of those wacky, zany Nigerian scamps.

A man who made a $200,000 rip-off of an Anti-Defamation League of B'nai Brith donation, which found its way into his pockets instead of burned out Baptist churches where it was originally intended.  A man whose whole hand picked board of the National Baptist Convention refused to see the facts about Lyons and forgave him unanimously and unilaterally. So that they could also be forgiven if caught doing the same thing in the pattern of President Oral Roberts who forgave Jim Bakker for what was not forgivable.

Lyons had been the focus of state and federal criminal investigations since the summer of 1997 when his wife set fire to a $700,000 waterfront house he owned on Tierra Verde with a former convention employee, a convicted embezzler and his alleged lover.  The fire triggered revelation about secret bank accounts and large commissions on convention business deals and deductions concerning his total gross salary.

"Born Again" Senior Pastor E. V. Hill did not accept Lyons guilty verdict charging that jury was racist. Later lying Lyons approved the National Baptist Convention advertisement which labeled Florida `the most racist state'' in the union and called for racial unrest in the black community of St. Petersburg, the same community rocked by two riots in late 1996.

Lyons was convicted in February 1999 of swindling more than $4 million from companies that wanted to market life insurance, credit cards and cemetery plots to his convention members.  Prosecutors said Lyons padded the convention's mailing list with names randomly selected from phone books across the country. Even a grand dragon of the Ku Klux Klan was on the list. He pleaded guilty to federal charges of tax evasion, fraudulent activities and lying to officials.

In his sentencing, Judge Schaeffer had ordered Lyons to pay $2.5 million in restitution to the companies who bought his phony mailing lists and to pay $97,000 for the cost of the state probe into his dealings.

Lyons, who has tested positive for exposure to tuberculosis, ``can be treated in prison,'' Pasco-Pinellas Circuit Judge Susan Schaeffer told about a dozen of his supporters. ``Prison is a place that brings on illnesses, a place where you are going to be among murderers, thugs and thieves,'' the judge said. ``There isn't anything about it that's supposed to be fun.'' Schaeffer did not mince words during an almost half-hour long oral ruling from the bench.

And neither did the media mince words - "Thieving reverend sobs his apologies" - St Petersburg, Florida:

The Rev Henry Lyons, president of one of the United States' largest and most influential black denominations, sobbed and apologized as he resigned yesterday, two weeks after being convicted of swindling more than $US4 million ($6.4 million).

"I'm just so sorry about all of this," he said at a news conference outside his Bethel Metropolitan Baptist Church, where he told the board of the National Baptist Convention USA of his decision. "I'm truly repentant about it. I hate that I hurt so many people," he said, his voice breaking. Other ministers surrounded him, saying: "You're not alone."

"I appreciate it," he said as he began sobbing.  The Rev E.V. Hill, who will run for president at the convention's next elections in September, patted Mr. Lyons on the back, saying: "We forgave any errors you have made. We love you."

Now Lying Lyons President of the National Baptist Convention and Pastor of Bethel Metropolitan Baptist Church in St. Petersburg was not a novice although he definitely broke most of the rules concerning the position of a bishop outlined in the Word of God. Dr. Henry J. Lyons was also President Emeritus of the Florida General Baptist Convention, Inc., and President of Ecumenical Counselor Community Concern, Inc. He also lectured at Colleges & Universities and was involved in National Prominence in Civic & Community Affairs Black History & Human Relations.

Dr. Lyons was born January 17, 1942. He accepted Christ in 1950 and was called to the Ministry in 1961. He and his wife, Deborah, reside in St. Petersburg.  Earlier, Dr. Lyons served as an academic dean at Cincinnati Baptist College and in two pastorates at Baptist churches in Georgia.

Dr. Lyons resume was that of  a very prominent educated Evangelical with extensive ministry and educational background and many doctorate degrees. Dr. Lyons has traveled and preached extensively abroad (17 Nations) under the auspices of the Foreign Mission Board of the National Baptist Convention, USA. In addition, his travels have included Bible study in Israel, Jordan, and Egypt, and theology study at the University of Edinburgh, Scotland. He has conducted Evangelistic Crusades in the Bahamas and Taiwan. He has traveled and preached in Brazil, Rome, Italy, London, England, Paris, France and Spain.
•            Dr. Lyons educational background includes the following degrees:
•            Associate of Arts, Gibbs Junior College, St. Petersburg, Florida
•            Bachelor of Science, Bethune Cookman College, Daytona Beach, Florida
•            Bachelor of Divinity, Morehouse School of Religion, Atlanta, Georgia
•            Doctor of Divinity, Cincinnati Baptist College, Cincinnati, Ohio
•            Doctor of Sacred Theology, Hebrew Union University, Jerusalem, Israel
•            Doctor of Divinity, Bethune Cookman College, Daytona Beach, Florida