Dr Paul Allen

When a wolf looks at sheep, what does he see? Food. His motivation for getting close to sheep is not to care for their needs or protect them from danger; it’s to feed on them. But in order to get close to sheep, a wolf employs deceptive tactics to keep the sheep from discerning his dangerous presence before he can achieve his aims. That’s why Paul called false teachers in the church “fierce wolves” who don’t spare the flock (Acts 20:29), a metaphor he likely adapted from Jesus, who described false prophets as leaders “who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves” (Matthew 7:15). What makes these leaders false is not merely that they teach false doctrines, but that they have false aims. Their aim is not “love that issues from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith” (1 Timothy 1:5) but something else. It’s an aim they hide from the sheep, an aim that causes them to view the sheep as a means of satisfying some ungodly appetite. Jesus, switching to a...

The most feared region of France from 1764-67 was the province of Gévaudan. An area of about 80 km2 in the Margeride Mountains became known as the attack zone of a mythical creature called La Bête du Gévaudan, the Beast of Gévaudan. The beast was widely rumored to resemble a wolf, except that it was not grey, but red with black streaks. It was described as being as tall as a man, with a massive, bushy black tail, ferocious teeth, and a chin that was always stained with blood. In a space of two years, there had been 210 attacks on humans, with 113 dead and 49 injured. And 98 of the victims had been partially eaten. Eventually, the crown got involved and King Louis XV commissioned two professional hunters, Jean d’Enneval and his son Jean-Francois to find and kill the beast. They killed dozens of grey wolves, but the attacks continued, so in 1765 King Louis replaced them with a man reputed to be the best hunter in France: Francois Antoine. Sure enough, on 20 September 1765 Antoine tracked...

I love Spurgeon. No one says it like he does. I’ve been working on my sermon for Sunday and in preparation just finished reading Spurgeon’s sermon on 2 Cor. 5:14 titled “Under Constraint.” In one section, he confronts the indifference that some Christians display toward false teachers and their error. I think Spurgeon’s intensity reflects that of the apostle Paul. This is a relevant word today, and we need to hear this: He who does not hate the false does not love the true; and he to whom it is all the same whether it be God’s word or man’s, is himself unrenewed at heart. Oh, if some of you were like your fathers you would not have tolerated in this age the wagon loads of trash under which the gospel has been of late buried by ministers of your own choosing.  You would have hurled out of your pulpits the men who are enemies to the fundamental doctrines of your churches, and yet are crafty enough to become your pastors and undermine the faith of a fickle and superficial generation. ...

“And this is that spirit of antichrist, which you have heard is coming; and even now already is it in the world.” ( 1 John 4:3 ) The four passages in the New Testament that use this term are unique to the apostle John ( 1 John 2:18 , 22; 4:3; 2 John 1:7 ). The term itself is a transliteration of the Greek compound word 'anti-plus christos', meaning one who is “against” Christ. John distinguishes between “the” Antichrist ( 1 John 2:18 ) and the “many” antichrists against whom we are continually fighting today. This is how you can detect the false teachers. They do not confess the Jesus who was described in the previous verse. This is the spirit of the Antichrist, which has been prophesied and which is now already in the world. There are many today who are willing to say acceptable things about Jesus, but they will not confess Him as God Incarnate. They will say that Christ is “divine,” but not that He is God. Although a sincere Christian should be aware of the Antichrist...

  Dear children, the last hour is here. You have heard that the Antichrist is coming, and already many such antichrists have appeared. From this, we know that the last hour has come.  ( 1 John 2:18 ) Evangelicals expect “the” Antichrist to be revealed in the future, yet there are more warnings about “many” antichrists who are currently and actively plotting evil. John lists two specific identifying factors that enable us to spot these “anti” Christs. And who is a liar? Anyone who says that Jesus is not the Christ.  Anyone who denies the Father and the Son is an antichrist  ( 1 John 2:22 ). But if someone claims to be a prophet and does not acknowledge the truth about Jesus, that person is not from God. Such a person has the spirit of the Antichrist, which you heard is coming into the world and indeed is already here.  ( 1 John 4:3 ). This much is clear. Anyone who refuses to accept the incarnated Christ as the Son of God is anti-Christ. Perhaps we need to...

The question is not whether you ever hear the voice of false teachers. You do — probably every day. The question is whether you can discern which messages are false. If you watch any television, listen to any radio or podcasts, keep up on the news, or interact at depth with just about anyone in modern society, you are being exposed to some form of false teaching. If you cannot identify any voices you hear as false, it’s not because you aren’t being exposed, but because you’re falling for it in some way. For most of church history, it took extraordinary energy and effort to influence the masses. Messages had to be copied by hand, and teachers had to travel by foot or horseback. There were no cars or airplanes, and no printing presses, websites, or Facebook pages. But today just about every false teacher has a Twitter account. How, then, does the church discern true teachers from false ones in a world like ours, where it’s easier than ever to spread false teaching? False Teachers Will...