Wandering Stars

They are... wandering stars, for whom blackest darkness has been reserved forever.

Jude 13

Stars were very important in ancient culture. We have GPS, they had the regular course of the stars. That was how they navigated. Stars that were fixed or regular in their orbits meant everything to them. But, if a person were deceived and tried to navigate by a wandering star (a star that didn’t have a regular orbit), then they could very easily end up lost or even dead.

Jude says that this is what false teachers are like. They claim to be guides, but they only deceive people and lead them astray. Jude says that these false teachers will end up in the blackest darkness just like a shooting star that disappears into the black emptiness of space.

This leads us to a question that every single believer should ask about anyone who would step forward to teach or preach God's Word to them. Here it is: "Does this person adhere to the predictable pattern of sound doctrine or are they a wandering star?" In other words, if you navigate your life based on their teaching, will you arrive at spiritual maturity or be lost to the Christian faith? Where are they leading you?!

You don’t sign up to go on a trip with somebody until you know where they're going. And you shouldn’t let someone teach God’s Word to you until you’re confident that they can lead you back to Jesus over and over again consistently.

Believers today have more choices than ever when it comes to which Bible teachers and preachers they choose to listen to. Whether it's the number of churches in your community, the number of podcasts available on your cellphone, or the number of religious-themed videos and memes you come across on social media; you have more teachers and preachers vying for your attention than ever before. Be very careful who you listen to and who you follow. Make sure you know where they are leading you. 

You'll Know Them by Their Deeds

To the pure, all things are pure, but to those who are corrupted and do not believe, nothing is pure. In fact, both their minds and consciences are corrupted. They claim to know God, but by their actions they deny him. They are detestable, disobedient and unfit for doing anything good.

Titus 1:15–16

The early Christian church on the island of Crete had a problem. It was overrun with false teachers. And these verses from the end of Titus 1 give us a hint that these false teachers probably followed some special commands about what food they ate. And no doubt their adherence to these strict rules probably made them seem real holy, but they weren’t. Paul says “they claim to know God, but by their actions they deny him. They are detestable, disobedient and unfit for doing anything good.”

So, they claimed to know God but Paul casts doubt on their salvation. Why? Because their actions don’t line up with their profession. Remember what Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount. 

Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? Likewise, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them. (Matthew 7:15-20)

Jesus said that the way to spot a false teacher is by their deeds. You will know them by their fruit. But you have to test them!

The application for us is apparent. Be a fruit Inspector! Before you date someone? Before you join someone’s Bible Study. Before you join someone’s church. You need to inspect their fruit. You should be looking at their life to see if their actions line up with their words, to see if they behave like a Christ-follower should. You need to put them to the test and see if they are the real deal or not. Don’t give someone influence over your life, don’t let someone become your pastor or your teacher, don’t allow someone to shape your beliefs or your character until you have inspected the fruit of their life and beliefs. Fruit doesn’t lie. If someone is living an unholy, detestable, disobedient life, then don't give them influence over yours. Learn to inspect the fruit in someone's life before you let them speak into yours.

The Need for Reproof

[A pastor] must hold firmly to the trustworthy message as it has been taught, so that he can encourage others by sound doctrine and refute those who oppose it. For there are many rebellious people, full of meaningless talk and deception, especially those of the circumcision group. They must be silenced, because they are disrupting whole households by teaching things they ought not to teach—and that for the sake of dishonest gain.

‌Titus 1:10–11

Just as it is part of a shepherds job to protect his flock, it is part of a pastor’s job to protect his church. It isn’t unkind or unloving for a pastor to rebuke a false teacher and prevent him from tearing the families of his church apart. A pastor must protect the flock. This is part of his job.

The other day I was listening to a Christian radio station and one of their DJs came on and said something like, “If you haven’t figured it out yet, you won’t get any heavy stuff here. We keep it positive and encouraging all the time...." And I thought that’s exactly what’s wrong with so many of our church’s today. They keep it positive and encouraging all the time. Heavy topics? Not here. Difficult or confusing issues you need help thinking biblically about, we won’t touch them. Rebuke, correction, reproof? Not gonna happen. We just plaster a smile on our faces and try to make you feel good before we take your money and send you out the back door. That’s how some churches are!

If you ever wonder why the church would take up difficult topics. If you ever wonder why we would talk about what the Bible says about homosexual activity, transgender issues, abortion, sex outside of marriage, money, racism, divorce, or other hot button issues… It probably isn’t because your pastor enjoys it. It’s probably because it’s part of a pastor’s job to correct false teaching and error. There are many false teachers and influencers and talking heads in the world today trying to teach you their morality on all these topics! You are surrounded by false teaching on these topics. If yoru pastor won’t tell you what God’s Word says about them, then who will? Who will speak the hard truths to you? A pastor must correct the errors that threaten his people.

‌‌Parents. You need to think about this too. You need to understand that there are many false teachers trying to lead your kids into error. False ideas and false teaching enter your home through books, TV shows, video clips, and social media. You have to do the best you can to silence the false teachers in your kids life. You need to protect them as much as you can. Even still your kids will be exposed to error at school, at the park, at their friends house... everywhere they go. You can’t avoid it! If you don’t want them to believe these lies, then you are going to have to teach them the truth. Protect your families, parents. Cut sources of error out of their lives and be sure you are teaching them the truth.

‌‌And I would encourage all believers to do the same for themselves as well. The first mistake Eve made was listening to the serpent. Don’t make that same mistake. Watch out for false teachers in your own life. Don’t to be swept along by the flood of error in our day.‌

Jesus Silenced Them!

Whenever the impure spirits saw him, they fell down before him and cried out, “You are the Son of God.” But he gave them strict orders not to tell others about him.

Mark 3:11-12

Demons were proclaiming the gospel?! Why would they do that?

Many believe that these demons were trying to stir up trouble for Jesus. If they could convince the crowds that Jesus was the Messiah then the crowds might take Jesus by force and crown Him King. This would, in turn, be seen as an act of rebellion by Rome and would result in Jesus' death. It’s a rather ingenious plan! 

But if these demons were speaking the truth about who Jesus is, then why did He silence them? I think there are several reasons. First, He silenced them because it is not yet His time. It wasn't time for the crowds to fully know who He was yet, and it wasn't yet time for His crucifixion.

But here's another reason why He silenced the demons. The demons were not fit to procalim the gospel. It would have been inappropriate for the Messiah's arrival to have been heralded by demons. To allow them to do so would have sullied Jesus' reputation and it would have elevated theirs. He could not allow either of those things to happen. 

Lastly, I think Jesus silenced the demons because even though they were speaking the truth their intent was evil. They were trying to use the truth to work against God’s purposes, and Jesus would have none of it.

This gives us some insight into how we should think about and deal with false teachers. The test for a false teacher isn’t just, “Are they speaking the truth?”, but also “Are they twisting the truth for evil purposes? Is their intent to use the truth for some purpose that is their own and not the Lord’s?" If so, then they should be silenced too.

I think it is a valid application of this passage to say that we shouldn’t listen to everyone who speaks the truth! I would explain it this way. While the truth is always welcome, some mouths don’t deserve to speak it. For example, I like drinking nice cold milk as much as anyone, but I don’t want to drink it out of a dog bowl! Some containers aren’t worth drinking from no matter what is in them. Likewise some people aren't worth listenign to, even when they are speaking the truth. Don’t be tricked into listening to some false teacher just because they speak the truth sometimes. Even the truth can be used with evil intent. So test not only the message but also the person and their motives.