Software Vault: The Gold Collection/Software Vault - The Gold Collection (American Databankers) (1993).ISO/cdr11/wexp4_93.zip/JUDGERT.TXT

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                Judge With Righteous Judgment
                       by Craig Branch

"For the time will come when they will not endure sound
doctrine; but after their own lusts shall heap to themselves
teachers, having itching ears; and they shall turn away
their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables"
(2 Timothy 4:3-4).

A very discouraging and destructive trend has been growing
in the body of Christ. The world has formed people into its
mold rather than the minds and lives of people being
transformed by God's word. Too many Christians have adopted
pragmatism or substituted feelings and experience in place
of the truth of God's word.

Theology and doctrine are regarded as being 1) reserved for
the pastors, 2) boring and irrelevant, 3) not practical, 4)
divisive. As a result, very few are developing the mind of
Christ. As the writer of Hebrews admonishes the Christian
congregations, "For when for the time ye ought to be
teachers, ye have need that one teach you again which be the
first principles of the oracles of God... strong meat belongeth to
them that are full of age, even those who by reason of use
have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil"
(Hebrews 5:12-14).

Too many Christians base their convictions on feelings,
experiences, and the persuasive abilities of a preacher. If
the word of God is used, it is merely a "proof-text used"
(or misused) to support the preacher's teaching, Christians
must be called back to the clear teaching of the Scripture
and be committed to what the word of God says and means.

Watchman Fellowship urges the reader to look up cited
passages and study them in context. Be instructed by the
word of God, whether in our magazine or in any message. Like
the Berean Christians, test what is read by God's word.
(Acts 17:11). Sound teaching, doctrine, accompanied by the
Holy Spirit is essential to healthy growth.

Jesus said to the Father, "Sanctify them through thy truth:
they word is truth" (John 17:17, 8:32). John emphasizes this
essential point by warning about those who abide not in the
doctrine of Christ (2 John 9). Paul repeatedly drives home
this point as he teaches that our transformation
(sanctification) is directly tied to the renewing of our
minds by God's truth (doctrine) in the word of God (Romans
12:1-2; Colossians 3:9-20, 16; 2 Timothy 3:16-17). Peter
concurs (2 Peter 1:2-3).

Another important means that God has ordained in our
sanctification is the calling for "watchman on the wall" to
protect the flock from false doctrine (Ezekiel 3:1-7; Isaiah
62:6; 1 Timothy 6:3; Titus 1:9-11). Moreover, God stresses
the need that teachers, leaders, and those who operate in
that position (including TV evangelists) must exercise great
care and responsibility as they will "receive (incur) the
greater condemnation (judgment)" (Titus 2:7-8; 1 Timothy
4:6; James 3:1; parenthesis mine).

Christians must take heed concerning the importance of
doctrine and "study to shew thyself approved unto God, a
workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the
word of truth," especially in view of the warnings (2
Timothy 2:15; 2 Timothy 4:3-4).

It is a half-truth (lie) to believe that how one lives is
more important than what one believes. How one behaves is
ultimately and directly linked to what one believes.

Most Christians today do not understand the significance and
importance of church history as it relates to the early
councils. The church has had to "earnestly contend for the
faith" (Jude 3) against heretical attacks in the setting
forth of time-proven doctrine and tradition (2 Thessalonians
3:6).  Someone once said, "he who doesn't learn from the
past is doomed to repeat it."

Some followers of the word-faith movement have been
ministered to by the truth which is mixed with the error. In
discussion with many word-faith followers, it has been
discovered that they have not heard these leaders teach
certain heretical doctrines, or have not understood what
those teachers meant.

Today, many are blindly following the heretical teachings of
the leaders of the word-faith movement without realizing the
pattern of how cults begin and grow. Many cult leaders began
within orthodoxy and then they began to introduce novel
doctrines (destructive heresies), twisting the Scripture to
teach their doctrine (Acts 20:30; 2 Peter 2:1-3; 1 John
2:19; 2 Peter 3:16).

                      Hiding the Heresy

Just as Adam and Eve had tried to hide from God when their
sin was exposed to them, man continues to try and hide his
sin from God and others. This pattern is certainly present
with many word-faith teachers.

The most common dodge used by both Christians and non-
Christians is to misapply Matthew 7:1-5. The misguided focus
centers on verse one, "Judge not, that ye be not judged."
Yet instead of teaching that it is wrong to call attention
to sin or error, the passage, in context, actually teaches
that Christians should judge (verse 5). Their warning is not
to judge unrighteously or hypocritically.

The implication is that when anyone judges, God will judge
using that same standard. In fact, the New Testament emphatically
teaches Christians are to judge truth from error, both individually
and corporately (Acts 17:11; 1 John 4:1-2; Ephesians 5:11-13; 1
Corinthians 14:29). But whoever judges needs to be sure that
their motives are right. The responsibility is to first go to the
offender(s) with the evidence. If they do not acknowledge the error
or sin, take others and eventually the church (Matthew 18:15-18; 1
Corinthians 5:9-13; Galatians 6:1).

There is only one major problem with this process, which is
one reason why this problem continues. Most of the word-
faith teachers have no real accountability.

So when we tell it unto the church (Matthew 18:17), we must
expose the error to the church at large. Watchman, along
with many other solid ministers and ministries, have
repeatedly gone to these teachers with documented evidence
and often have been attacked in return. God's instruction in
"telling the church" is to publicly name them (2 Timothy
2:17, 4:10; 1 Timothy 1:20). Paul even publicly rebuked
Peter (Galatians 2:11-14), because the error was serious
enough, and Peter was influential enough, that the welfare
of the body needed to be protected.

The high visibility and influence of these teachers warrant
the need for public exposure. Not only have many ministers and
ministries specifically called these teachers to account, but
the general consensus of the church and the voice of the church
councils and church history cry out against the word-faith errors.

So when men, like Paul Crouch of TBN, begin their diatribes
against the "heretic hunters who pick at the little
doctrinal specks in word-faith teacher's eyes, instead of
the logs in their own," he must be asked to name which huge
doctrinal errors Watchman Fellowship, other counter-cult
ministries, and the church are guilty of not being
repentant.

The other two major attempts to dodge the spotlight of truth
is to threaten the admonisher with the warning "do not touch
God's anointed," and with the red herring, "these people are
anti-charismatic." These two false arguments are covered in
other articles in this magazine.

And finally, a charge sometimes laid at the feet of
Christian apologists (defenders of the faith) is that they
are causing divisions in the body of Christ. But the
Scripture makes it clear that those who are causing
divisions are the ones teaching novel false doctrines.

Watchman's (and many others) original concern was the
misguided and harmful teaching of what is called "name-it
and claim-it" or "positive confession." But commonly what
may seem to be a less important error can be symptomatic of
outright heretical beliefs. For example, faulty anthropology
(doctrine of the nature of man) can negatively impact the
doctrine of the gospel.

The Watchman staff began to lift the lid and look, and was
appalled to see that the word-faith teachers are teaching
fundamentally heretical doctrines on the nature of man,
Christ, God, and the atonement. It is because of this that
Watchman Fellowship has joined with others in Matthew 18,
which has resulted in this magazine.

We pray for the correction of these teachers, the defense of
the faith, and the protection of the flock.