5 Dangerous False Teachers to Mark and Avoid

We live in a time of great deception, and I want you to be armed so that you can identify 5 types of false teachers that you absolutely must mark and avoid. Number 1, there's the charlatan, and these are those who use outright fakery. Sadly, there are those who only pretend to be of the faith and use the church as a system of gain. In 2 Timothy 3:13, we But evil people and swindlers will grow even worse as they deceive others while being deceived themselves. It's sad, but it's true. People fake miracles. And when I say fake miracles, I'm not talking about Christians who maybe think they got healed or are believing for a healing and confessing that by faith. I'm talking about people who outright pay actors. Talking about people who fake the spiritual gifts, I myself had a run-in with an individual like this who was using my old outdated Facebook information to prophesy over me. I called it prophelying. And the moment I identified what they were doing, I told that individual, you can get all of this information on my Facebook. And again, I knew it wasn't coming from the Lord because it wasn't accurate. It was just outdated. It was from an older Facebook page. That they had found of mine. So we have to be aware that not everyone who claims to be moving in the power of the Holy Spirit is indeed moving in the power of the Holy Spirit. I understand that sometimes this can cause confusion, but I think a good balance is to not be so paranoid that we just outright reject the miraculous and not be so gullible that we just embrace everyone who tells us they're moving in the miraculous, but rather keep a healthy observation of what is going on around you. Keep a healthy level-headed discernment, not moved emotionally and not stubborn-hearted, not closed to the miraculous or the things of the Spirit, because we know the Holy Spirit still moves in great power. We know the Holy Spirit still heals, that prophecy is still for today, deliverance is still for today, the gifts of the Spirit are still for today. Just have a healthy balance between being gullible and being paranoid. So watch out for— Misleading spirits. The charlatan. Number 2, the hypocrite. Now, these are those who live lives that contradict what they believe. I'm not talking about ministers and preachers and teachers who make mistakes or who are struggling with something. I'm talking about people who are outright actors. In Matthew 7:15-20, we read, Beware of false prophets who come disguised as harmless sheep, But are really vicious wolves. You can identify them by their fruit, that is, by the way they act. Can you pick grapes from thorn bushes or figs from thistles? A good tree produces good fruit, and a bad tree produces bad fruit. A good tree can't produce bad fruit, and a bad tree can't produce good fruit. So every tree that does not produce good fruit It is chopped down and thrown into the fire. Yes, just as you can identify a tree by its fruit, so you can identify people by their actions. The word hypocrite literally means actor or one who wears a mask. In other words, that person that you see on the screen, the person you see on the platform, coming to the church and ministering and teaching, in some cases, that is a persona. That is a facade. That is a costume that they wear, a character that they play in order to gain status, in order to gain power, in order to gain wealth. And it really is all a performance. Now, Jesus said something key here. He says, you can identify them by their fruit. Now, we as believers sometimes make the mistake of equating ministry success with fruit, but that's not the fruit that Jesus is talking about. Often when someone is confronted for their hypocrisy, they'll say something along the lines of, well, look at the fruit. Look at how many people attend the church. Look at how many people watch the television program. Look at how many people buy the books. Look at how many people subscribe to the channel or follow the social media page. But that's not fruit. Those are just metrics. That's, if you will, the harvest, because people are getting saved and God can use anyone he wants. But that says nothing to the character of the individual who is teaching and preaching and prophesying. ministering in any capacity. So we have to make sure that we're being aware, not necessarily of the ministry metrics or the effectiveness of their organization. Rather, we're looking for how they treat people. Can you see the fruit of the Spirit? Is there love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, meekness, and self-control? Do they act like Jesus? Do they care about crowds or do they care about people? There's a difference between the two. And so you have to be aware that there are some who are simply playing characters. They're putting on a persona. They're wearing a mask that they might gain money, power, and fame. So beware of the hypocrite. You know the hypocrite by their fruit. And again, I wanna throw this caveat on there so we're not erring away from grace. There are ministers who struggle. Not every minister you listen to, in fact, no minister you listen to is perfect. But there's a difference between making mistakes and working on some character issue versus just outright playing a part with no sincerity whatsoever in the faith. Now, the next kind of false teacher I'm gonna mention is very sneaky, very difficult to spot. And really because of the virtue signaling and because they can come across as being so truthful, it's very difficult to discern this one. I'm gonna share that one with you in just a moment, but first, if you're enjoying this content and you think the church needs discernment like this, then make sure you like this video to help spread this content to more people. Additionally, if you're enjoying the content, I encourage you to subscribe so that you can continue to receive biblical teachings. They're biblically grounded, Jesus-centered, Spirit-empowered. I release teachings on the Holy Spirit, prayer, and spiritual warfare. So if you wanna learn more about the Holy Spirit, you wanna deepen your friendship with the Holy Spirit, you wanna learn more about prayer, you wanna learn more about the spiritual realm and the miraculous in a biblically grounded way, this is the channel for you. Make sure that you subscribe now and click that notification bell when you subscribe. Now, number 3 is the heresy hunter. Now, these are those who turn every doctrinal difference into a reason for condemnation. In 2 Timothy chapter 2, beginning at verse number 23, we read, Again, I say, don't get involved in foolish, ignorant arguments that only start fights. A servant of the Lord must not quarrel, but must be kind to everyone, be able to teach and be patient with difficult people. Gently instruct those who oppose the truth. Perhaps God will change those people's hearts, And they will learn the truth. You know, on YouTube, there's such a thing as drama channels. And this type of genre of video creation simply involves YouTubers talking about YouTubers. So-and-so is mad at so-and-so, so-and-so did this in their business, so-and-so is being talked about in this way. And it's a lot of gossip. It's very high school-like in terms of the mentality. But sadly, the church has the equivalent of drama channels, and that is the heresy hunter type channel. Now, let me give this caveat. It is important to call out heresy. It is important to call out false doctrine. We mustn't sacrifice purity in the name of unity, but we also mustn't embrace division while calling that truth-seeking when really it's nitpicking. So we have to have, again, a biblical balance. So you ever been to a restaurant and maybe there's someone in your group who you know like this, and they're just very nitpicky. Every time you go out to eat, you know, there's gonna be a complaint. You know, the waiter's gonna get talked to poorly. You know that they're gonna leave a bad review on Yelp about how they had a bad experience. And the internet has a name for this type of person. And forgive me if this is your name, this is just an internet meme, okay? A complainer. They call them Karens. And so this is what heresy hunters are. They are the Karens of the Christian world, nitpicking, constantly nagging. They have that, can I speak to the manager demeanor. Every little thing is being called out. Every little thing is being nitpicked, constantly whining and complaining about other Christians when they're not their masters. The servants serve the Lord, not them. And then they go out and tell everybody, don't visit that restaurant. I had a bad experience. I had to wait too long for my meal, or when my order came, Everything else was good, but this was undercooked slightly, or that didn't come out properly, or my friend didn't get their meal when I got mine. And there's all these different ways that they can complain. And of course, maybe there's some legitimacy to that, but there are better ways to handle it. It doesn't mean the restaurant should be avoided. It doesn't mean that the restaurant is not a legitimate business. It just means that they had a few complaints that maybe didn't meet their preferences, and that's all there is to it. But there's a lot of drama. They like to stir your emotion. And again, it's done in the name of truth-telling. So they wanna make you feel like you're virtuous. They wanna make you feel like you have discernment. They wanna make you feel like they're telling it like it is, and nobody else is gonna give you the truth. Well, that again is a form of drama. That is an immature mindset. It's an us against them. And so they're desperately desiring to be perceived as sharp-witted and intellectual. You'll notice that they always have to have the last word. They always have a comeback. They always have to explain. Why they were right and you were wrong. And these are heresy hunters. And really what it is, is it's a misplaced sense of authority where they think it's their job to go around policing the body of Christ. And again, I've already balanced this statement by making it clear that there are times that we ought to call out wrongdoing and heresy, but this type of teacher that I'm describing builds an entire ministry on it. And even if they claim that's not how they build their ministry, They do it often enough to where that's pretty much what they're known for. And that's pretty much what the people come to them for, is calling out other ministers. And so again, this is the equivalent of a drama channel. This is the equivalent of, can I speak to the manager? That Karen demeanor, this constant nitpicking and whining and pearl clutching. And they wanna make you feel like every little mistake some preacher makes is the end of the world. And again, it's very much based on emotion. They're trying to stir your emotion. They're trusting in your moral goodness. They're trusting in your desire for truth. And then they're twisting that into a misplaced zeal that ultimately condemns instead of bringing restoration. Titus 3:9-11 say this, do not get involved in foolish discussions about spiritual pedigrees or in quarrels and fights about obedience to Jewish laws. These things are useless in a word of God. That's right. Waste of time. If people are causing divisions among you, give a first and second warning. After that, have nothing more to do with them. For people like that have turned away from the truth and their own sins condemn them. Now, I know I'm spending just a little extra time on this one, but it's important because again, this one's a little more difficult to spot. So let me just kind of expose some of the tactics that they use. The heresy hunter will demonize differences. Now the Bible is perfect, but our interpretations of the Bible are not always perfect. So what ends up happening is the heresy hunter will turn every point of disagreement, blow it out of proportion, and use it as a means of causing division so that you can mark and avoid everyone who's not like them. You can mark and avoid everyone who disagrees with them. You can have nothing to do with those who don't use the ministry methods they would use. So for example, believers are gonna differ on how they think healing works. Some say you don't necessarily need to contend for healing, but that you just trust God, maybe throw up a little prayer once in a while. That's fine if that's how someone wants to minister healing and believe for healing. Others like charismatics, myself, we believe in laying hands on the sick. We believe encouraging people and speaking faith. And we believe in praying for miracles. We believe in contending for the miraculous. Amen. Now, these are 2 different methodologies, 2 different approaches, but this isn't a reason to divide. Think about how we define and practice the gift of tongues. There are some who are adamant, who will say that the gift of tongues is absolutely, positively only a known earthly language. Okay, that's one interpretation. But then there are millions of us who believe that the gift of tongues is also a heavenly language. So there's disagreement there. Is this a reason to divide? Absolutely not. Or what about what we believe about financial prosperity and how it connects to generosity? You know that there are millions of Christians around the world who practice generosity and believe that if they practice generosity, that God will increase their resources so that they can be more generous. Okay, that's one portion of the body of Christ. And then there are those who don't believe that. That's totally fine. This is not a reason to divide. We don't say that those who say not to give We don't tell them, well, you're just teaching that because you don't wanna give. And we shouldn't criticize the other side of it by saying, well, you're only teaching on giving because you want to gain. This is not the biblical approach. This is not a reason to divide. This is not a salvific issue. Now, on what they believe about, for example, the end-time events, our eschatology will differ. When does the rapture take place? What are the interpretations for the different points of apocalyptic imagery in the book of Revelation? We're gonna have varying degrees of interpretation on that, and that's okay. These are not reasons to divide. Think about how we believe the Holy Spirit manifests. There are some who believe that you can feel the Holy Spirit's power, that his power will manifest in tangible ways. Others say, well, maybe mentally you can be aware of him, emotionally you can be moved by him, but physically that's not so much a way that the Holy Spirit moves. Okay, that's fine. These are not reasons to divide. Think about how we differ on terminology. For example, one time someone was very upset that I simply used the term flowing with the Holy Spirit. Now, either they pretended to not know what I meant by that, or they really actually did not know what I meant by that. Either way, flowing with the Holy Spirit simply means obeying the Holy Spirit, listening to his voice, reading the word of God, and doing what the Holy Spirit says. And because the term flowing with the Holy Spirit was a bit bothersome to them, they threw out the entire teaching, which was mainly about obedience to the Holy Spirit. So again, we can nitpick on terminology too, but this is a tactic of the heresy hunter. They will demonize differences. Number 2, they craft narratives. And by this, I mean that they will work very hard to get you to think what they think and how they think. Now, this is important because I watched this several times. For example, maybe you'll see, They take a video of a preacher that you watch. And instead of just showing you the clip, they'll spend 5 or 6 minutes maybe telling you what you're going to see, how you should feel about it, how angry they are about it, how sorry they feel for the other people in the video who supposedly are being taken advantage of. Then they show you the clip after having primed and conditioned you to see it a certain way. And then they react again. And now they're the hero calling out what they believe is false when really, They're just nitpicking about methodology and minoring on the majors, majoring on the minors. And this is important because you'll see it done in editing. It's not just in what the video is showing, it's also what's not being shown in the video. It's also how you're being primed emotionally to perceive that portion of the video. And then you'll hear phrases like, well, I didn't say anything, that's in their own words, or you saw the clip for yourself, when really it wasn't as simple as that. There was a narrative that was crafted Around that particular video. And this, of course, is what leads you to their conclusions. And think also of how they assume motives and try to get you to likewise assume motives. For example, they'll show you a clip of a man or a woman of God, and they'll tell you what that individual is thinking. They'll tell you why they're doing what they're doing. They'll tell you the hidden meaning behind everything. And they make all sorts of assumptions, all the while those assumptions aren't proper. Those shouldn't be made. We shouldn't be thinking the worst of fellow brothers and sisters in Christ. But again, this is all part of crafting the narrative. And so I think it's important that you're aware that that is what's done. By the way, it's the same tactic that the mainstream media uses. They stir up your emotion, they get you to agree with some basic premises, and then try to paint a picture of that individual contradicting what you believe, when in fact, again, it was all narrative crafting. And finally, number 3, one of the tactics of the heresy hunter is they misapply key scriptures. Now remember, context is very, very important when you're looking at any particular portion of scripture. So there are certain verses that people will use to justify their constant demonizing and attacking of fellow brothers and sisters in Christ. Like for example, 1 John 4, beginning at verse number 1, dear friends, do not believe everyone who claims to speak by the Spirit. True. You must test them to see if the spirit they have comes from God. Great advice. For there are many false prophets in the world. And this right here is typically where they stop. They say, this is why we have to test the spirits, test the spirits, test the spirits. I remember one time I was watching a particular video of a friend of mine who had put out a teaching and someone said, you have to use discernment with this guy. And I thought, well, that's interesting because I thought we're supposed to use discernment with everyone. And that's simply because they misunderstood what discernment was. They thought discernment was just outright criticism and cynicism, but that's not at all what it is. In fact, we are seeing, we see here in verse 2, where mostly the heresy hunter will stop at verse 1, we should go further. What is the context saying? How do you know who's not of the Spirit of God? Tells us plainly in verse 2. This is how we know. if they have the Spirit of God. If a person claiming to be a prophet acknowledges that Jesus Christ came in a real body, that person has the Spirit of God. 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. So there's a very specific point being made here in 1 John chapter 4. Context, context, context. We can't just prove text scriptures all day and try to force our meaning upon them simply because we're worked up emotionally. In Jude 1:3-4, we read, Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith. Fight for the faith. Yes, we should. Which was once delivered unto the saints. Now, why is this? There are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ. In other words, teaching people that the grace of God allows you to continue sinning. Well, that's very plain. The context is very clear. It's very specific on what we ought to do in terms of defending the faith. Now, some will take that, broaden it, push it beyond its meaning. And that of course is not a healthy approach. And again, that is one of the tactics of the heresy hunter. They misapply key scriptures. Number 4, the heretic. Now, these are those who violate the fundamental of the faith. I'm gonna give you a definition of what a heretic actually is. Someone who violates the fundamentals of the faith. What are the fundamentals of the faith? The inerrancy of God's word, 2 Timothy 3:16-17. So if somebody starts telling you that the Bible can be questioned, that the Bible's not the word of God, or the Bible's not infallible, okay, now you're getting into heresy. Christ's deity, John 1:1 and 14, and John 8:58. Jesus is God. Someone starts to teach against that fundamental truth, That is a heretic. Christ's sinless perfection and death, Hebrews 4:15. Salvation by grace through faith, Ephesians 2:8-9. Christ's bodily resurrection. Christ's ascension, 1 Peter 3:22. A literal heaven and a literal hell. An eternal heaven and an eternal hell. So literal eternal heaven, literal eternal hell, Matthew 25:46. Sin is sin, 1 Corinthians 6:9-12. Amen. Think of the Godhead, Matthew 3:16-17. So these are fundamental biblical truths. These are foundational. It's when you begin to contradict these fundamental truths that you now err into heresy. Think about how one might change the gospel, for example, salvation by grace through faith, Ephesians 2:8-9, but some people twist that into a sin-permitting gospel. They tell you, go on living how you want, it doesn't make a difference. there are no consequences, God won't be mad at you 'cause he doesn't judge you. Wait a minute, that's not biblical either, because the Bible's very clear that God chastises those whom he loves. Or you might fall into legalism. In other words, teaching people that they can earn their salvation by their works. That's the gospel of legalism. So those would be fundamental twists of the truth, and those would be to change the primary foundational subject matter. And finally, number 5, the hireling. Or the person who only does ministry for money. Now, another caveat here, balancing a lot of these points, there's nothing wrong with the preacher getting paid for preaching the gospel. Those who preach the gospel should live by the gospel, very clear there. And we as Christians have a responsibility to financially back the kingdom of God. So in fact, you should give to your local church. You should give to ministries, you should give to charities. That is one of our Christian responsibilities. So there's nothing wrong with the preacher making money. There's nothing wrong with a believer giving. In fact, all believers should give. And there's nothing wrong with the church organization or minister taking offerings. That is absolutely biblical. And if there's any issue with that, the issue is with the Word of God, and we have to align ourselves appropriately. Now, the question becomes, what is the motive of this person? Watch John chapter 10, We're gonna read verses 11 through 13. I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep. But he that is an hireling and not the shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, seeth the wolf coming and leaveth the sheep and fleeth, and the wolf catcheth them and scattereth the sheep. The hireling fleeth because he is an hireling and careth not for the sheep. In other words, they only serve because they want money. They want fame. They want fortune. They want power. Now, there will be tests of integrity that come your way. If you're a preacher or a minister watching this, there'll be a— there'll be tests of integrity that come your way. There will be moments when you have to choose, I can do this and bring in a lot more money, but then violate my conscience. Or I can stick with the word because I care about the word. I honor God. And I love the people. And you may be able to gain a few extra bucks. You may be able to increase your giving by a certain percentage, okay? And you may reach what you think is success. When you finally reach that place that you call success, my question is, will you even like yourself when you get there? And this is something I bring to my team's attention all the time. I say, look guys, Of course we want to increase our resources. Of course we wanna see more money come in so that we can expand what we're doing here. Of course we want to be prosperous. Of course we wanna be fruitful. But I tell them, never sacrifice your integrity and never sacrifice the people for that. That's ill-gotten gain. We have to be very watchful for these kinds of people because they will tell you things like, you know, if you don't, If you don't give, you're not gonna be healed. Or if you don't give, you're not gonna be delivered. That's not even biblical. That's not the message. That's not how that works. Now, someone teaches on giving, that's different. There are biblical grounds to say that if you sow financially, you can reap financially, but moving beyond what the scripture says, this is sorcery, telling people that there's a special seed you can sow for the deliverance of your child. Telling people that there's a special gift that you can give and maybe your family will be saved. No, that is not how that works. Jesus paid the price already for healing, for deliverance, for miracles, for salvation. So we have to be very careful and be watchful of this. There are those again who will only serve because of the money. Money's gonna be involved one way or another, but we have to have our motives purified. So Father, I pray you would give your people discernment, open their eyes to see, help them to see when others don't have their best interest in mind, help them to see when those who claim to be of the name of Jesus are not. Give us discernment, Lord, and help us to mark and avoid those who would bring deception and destruction. In the mighty name of Jesus, we pray. I want you to say it because you believe it. Say amen. Well, I wanna encourage you, if this ministry is a blessing to you, please get involved today and help us with this cause of souls. We want to continue to spread the gospel all around the world in the power of the Holy Spirit through events and media. And this is where you come into play. Partners around the world are who back what we do as a ministry. All of the events that you see us doing, we don't charge registration for those. Those events are partner-funded. The content that we release, the production that goes into it, partner-funded. The Holy Spirit School, where we train believers, we equip them with the Word of God, and people can become students and take courses for free, that is partner-funded. And so I want to encourage you today, consider becoming a $30 a month partner now. That's about a dollar a day. That's less than the cost of a cup of coffee, as the common saying goes, per day. Ask yourself, what is it that you give to on a monthly basis? Think of all the things we give toward gym membership, movies, games, going out. Nothing wrong with those things. And of course, don't be condemned for doing those things. But shouldn't we also add to that our supportive ministries that we receive from? So I'm gonna encourage you now, go to davidhernandezministries.com/partner to become a monthly supporter. You can also give a single gift by going to davidhernandezministries.com/donate. This giving funds the work of the ministry, help us continue to go and to grow as we fight for the soul. of this generation. Thank you so much for your support. And until next time, remember, nothing is impossible with God.