Search
Scripture Reading: 2 Cor. 11:13-15; 1 Tim. 6:20-21; 2 Tim. 4:3-4; 2 Pet. 2:1; Jude 3; Isa. 8:20
(The following message was given by Watchman Nee in Kuling on September 28, 1948, as part of the "New Believers" series. It was later excluded from the final published version of the series.)
Heresy is a big subject. We should give new believers a proper understanding of the subject so that they can build up a proper defense against it. We should read the verses above to new believers one by one, and then we should tell them that these verses show that many heretics will arise in the end times. These heretics come from within the church. Some will use the name of Christ to propagate their heretical teachings. Every Christian should be warned concerning the matter of heresy. Jude 3 says that we have to "earnestly contend for the faith once for all delivered to the saints." We must be orthodox in our faith. We must help the new believers to choose the proper path. We should warn them concerning heresies. We have covered the subject of the pathway of the church. We said that only one church will keep the Lord's word and His name in the end times — the church in Philadelphia. Our eyes must be opened to find this church.
Many curious ones like to try different things. In the end they become poisoned by what they try. Curiosity brings nothing but poison to a person. God's children do not need to become involved in a heresy, only to find out later that it is a heresy and then condemn it. We do not need to be involved in heresy after heresy and condemn them one by one afterwards. As soon as we hear some strange thing, we should turn away from it. Some people like to try things out. In the end they fall into the very things they are trying. They are stumbled by them and cannot get out of them. This is dangerous. We should never be curious, lest we fall into heresies and become trapped by them. No heresy is one hundred percent heresy; every one is a mixture of heresy and truth. Satan would not be so foolish as to come up with something that is pure heresy. Most of the time heretical beliefs are mixed in with the best truths. When a man receives the truths, he takes in heresies at the same time. It is not easy for young believers to discern these heresies. We should learn to not touch heresies. We should flee from them and reject them. Only those who are sober will save themselves from danger; those who are curious will always suffer the poisonous sting.
No young Christian can deal with heresies. The best thing for a young Christian to do is to turn away from them altogether. But if you are in a place without a church or if you are alone, here are ten criteria for you to test whether a teaching is heretical. If any of the ten criteria fits the description or if a person teaches any of these ten things, you have a heresy. What determines a group as heretical or not is not the volume of teachings it produces, but the presence or absence of heresy. As long as there is heresy, the group is off. I would rather listen to a message with little truth but no heresy than to listen to one with much truth mixed up with a little heresy. A little poison can kill a person. In the same way, a little leaven can leaven the whole lump. Some of these heresies can only be identified by men with special gifts. It may appear easy to identify these heresies, but in reality it is not that simple. We need to ask if a teaching has a little heresy in it. If it does, we have to discard it even if the rest is good.
There are many kinds of heresies. Some heresies completely deny the Lord. Some stand on the ground of miracles, works of wonders, and divination. Some have to do with prophecies, some with questions related to judgment after death, and some with mortification of fleshly lusts. Furthermore, each kind of heresy is propagated by many different groups. There are many different kinds of heresies, and they are all different in their errors. But as long as they err in one thing, they constitute a heresy. However, we must have substantial evidence before we can call a teaching a heresy. Heresy is a strong word, and we must not condemn anyone as a heretic lightly. Now let us examine the ten things that determine a heresy.
The first kind of heresy relates to the authority of the Bible. Second Timothy 3:16 says, "All Scripture is God-breathed." Christian faith and conduct are based absolutely on the Bible. Isaiah 8:20 says, "To the law and to the testimony! If they do not speak according to this word, it is because in them there is no dawn." The law and testimony spoken of in this verse is the Scripture. Everything has to be measured by the Bible. If anyone measures anything by another standard, he is preaching heresy. The most popular heresies today set up other things as standards. For example, some say that the church is the standard. Others say that the Bible sets the general standard, but that the church sets the specific standards. They put out many ordinances in addition to the Bible. We cannot have fellowship with any group that bases its teaching and judgment on any person or organization. Adding anything to the Scripture is heresy. Some have said that the Bible is right, but that they have received additional inspirations. This is surely a heresy. For example, in Shanghai a group of Bible students claim that a man must read their "Studies in the Scriptures" before he can know the Bible. These are the Russellites, otherwise known as Jehovah's Witnesses. They have other authorities in addition to God's Word. This is wrong. Consider the Christian Scientists. They claim that their words have the same standing as the Bible. Anyone who puts his word on the same level as the Bible is surely a heretic. A man can have no authority apart from the Bible. Some who believe in supernatural phenomena say that the Holy Spirit speaks through the Bible on the one hand, but that He also speaks independently through them on the other hand. They do not realize that God's revelation is one complete entity. All the revelations complement one another; there is no conflict between them. Any new speaking must complement the established revelations recorded in the Bible. Hence, anything that deviates from the Bible or elevates itself to a position of authority is a heresy.
The second kind of heresy has to do with the person of Christ. Satan's greatest goal in introducing heresies is to attack the person of Christ. The Scripture shows us that the Lord Jesus Himself is God (John 1:1-3). Yet Satan wants men to deny that He is God. Concerning the person of Christ, the Bible shows us (1) that the Lord Jesus is God, (2) that He is the Son of God, (3) that He is the Christ appointed by God, (4) that He is a perfect man, and (5) that after His resurrection He is both God and man in heaven. At that time, God made Him both Lord and Christ. Some may ask, how can He be both man and God as well as the Son of God? They think that this is too confusing and that no one can know who Christ is. You can just tell them that the Bible says so. Christ also said that no man can know the Son except by the Father's revelation (Matt. 16:17). The Lord admitted that it is not easy to know His person. Heretics only acknowledge one aspect of the Lord's person; they do not acknowledge all the aspects. But to deny any one aspect of His person is enough to constitute a teaching as a heresy. Throughout the ages, many heresies have concentrated their attack on one or more aspects of the Lord Jesus' person. As long as one can annul one aspect of His person, he can annul the entire work of the Lord. For example, some people say that the Lord Jesus was not a man. This annuls His work of redemption through the blood. Some people say that He is not God. This annuls the power of His work in the remission of sins. Those who attack the person of Christ do not have to attack every aspect of His person; they only have to annul one aspect, and then they are more than qualified to be called a heretic.
Man has many kinds of misunderstandings about the Bible. Some of these misunderstandings are excusable, while others are inexcusable. Concerning the person of Christ, we have to be very strict in upholding its integrity. Although you may not understand many teachings about the person of Christ and may not be able to satisfactorily explain them, you have to acknowledge the facts. Most heresies concentrate their attacks on certain aspects of the person of Christ. This is Satan's ultimate goal. The apostle John pointed this out in his old age. If anyone says that Christ is one person while Jesus is another, he is preaching heresy. If anyone says that after the death and resurrection of Christ, there is only the Spirit and that Christ ceases to exist, he is likewise preaching heresy. If anyone says that God first created a "Word," that the Word was God's first creation, after which the Word created the heaven and earth and all the living creatures, he is preaching heresy. If anyone says that Christ is a Spirit subordinate to God and superior to the angels, who came to earth to be a man, he is preaching heresy. Some separate the Son of God from the man Jesus on earth. Some separate the man Jesus on earth from the resurrected and ascended Christ. Some deny that Jesus of Nazareth is now in heaven. Man uses two knives, one to cut off the Son of God from Jesus of Nazareth, the other to cut off the man Jesus from the resurrected and ascended Christ. Those who do this are preaching heresy. Satan loves to confuse the person of Christ. First John 3 says that the Son of God was manifested to destroy the works of the devil (v. 8). If a man does not recognize that Jesus the Son of God has come in the flesh, it means that he does not recognize the Lord's work in destroying the devil. Hence, those who destroy the person of Christ destroy God's plan.
Second John 7 says that "those who do not confess Jesus Christ coming in the flesh" are deceivers. Man may believe that the earthly Jesus was a man, yet not believe that He was God coming in the flesh. This separates the Son of God from the earthly man. Verse 10 is a very serious word; it was spoken by one who was full of love: "If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not receive him into your house, and do not say to him, Rejoice!" Verse 11 says, "For he who says to him, Rejoice, shares in his evil works." Those who love the Lord must love and protect His person. First John 4:1 says, "Do not believe every spirit, but prove the spirits whether they are of God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world." Verse 2 is the same as 2 John 7, except it states the fact in another way. Verse 3, which is the same as 1 Corinthians 12:3, says, "Every spirit which does not confess Jesus is not of God." To not confess Jesus means to not acknowledge Him as the Lord Jesus. Jesus Christ's coming in the flesh involves His history on earth, while His becoming the Lord involves His history in glory. God proclaimed Him Lord on the day of Pentecost. Jehovah's Witnesses claim that Jesus died and never resurrected. They say that three days after Jesus was crucified, "Christ Jesus the divine" was born. This is heresy; this is not merely a difference in interpretation. All those who break up the person of the Lord Jesus into different entities are heretics. The heretics always break up the one person of the Lord Jesus into different persons. Many heresies are aimed at destroying the person of our Lord Jesus.
Some heresies try to deny the matter of sin altogether. The Bible clearly tells us that man has sinned. In saying that man has sinned, the Bible means two things. First, man has sinned in his conduct; this is sin in conduct. Second, man has sinned against God; this is sin before God. Both are sins in the Bible, and both are facts. Some people have more agreeable dispositions, yet they are still sinful before God. Any teaching that denies these two facts of sin is a heresy. Some have tried to prove man's sinlessness by philosophy. Others have tried to prove it by human physiological constitution. Christian Scientists as well as Russellites, or Jehovah's Witnesses, fall into this category of people. They are heretics. Saying that man has not sinned annuls the work of redemption and the need of a Savior. Saying this is the same as saying that the gospel we preach is a lie. All those who deny the fact of man's sinfulness are heretics.
The Bible clearly says that our sins are washed away by the blood of the Lord Jesus. The redemption of Christ is a biblical truth. There are two cardinal facts in the gospel of Christ. The first involves Christ's person, and the second involves His work. His work redeemed man through the shedding of His blood. The denial of either one of these two aspects is a denial of the gospel of Christ. Concerning the redemption of Christ, man's mind has been deceived by Satan into formulating many strange and devious teachings that lead to unimaginable results. Men try to overturn the work of the Lord. Some try to overturn it by overturning the reality of sin. They deny the fact of man's inherent sin. This nullifies the need of Christ's redemption. Others try to overturn the blood. They do not recognize the redemptive nature of Christ's blood. This also nullifies the work of Christ's redemption. Second Peter 2:1 speaks of those who deny the Master who bought them. This is surely heresy.
Some people believe in the person and work of the Lord Jesus. They believe in man's sinfulness and in Christ's redemption. But they overturn the fact of eternal judgment. They deny this by promulgating two kinds of teachings concerning death. First, they say that a man is simply sleeping when he dies. His body is asleep and his soul is also asleep. Neither the body nor the soul is conscious of anything anymore. When the Lord resurrects him, he will wake up once more. His death today is merely a gap in time. However, the Lord tells us that after a man dies, he is still conscious of many things. On the cross He told one of the thieves that he would be with Him in Paradise that very day. In Luke 16 the Lord relates the story of Lazarus and the rich man; both went to Hades after they died. Clearly they were conscious of many things. It is true that the Bible refers to man's death as a kind of sleep. But this refers only to man's body; man's soul has not gone to sleep. Men came up with this theory in order to reduce the consequences of sin. This is heresy. Second, there are those who say that the second death is not an eternal judgment but a total annihilation or perdition, in which a man ceases to exist entirely. Yet the word used in the Bible for destroy (Matt. 10:28) is the same as the word used for ruined in the bursting of the old wineskins (9:17). The wineskins are broken and ruined, but they are still around; they have not ceased to exist. Christ said that there are those who can kill the body but not the soul (10:28). He also said that in Gehenna the worm does not die and the fire is not quenched (Mark 9:48). A man in perdition is a man who suffers eternally in the lake of fire. This is God's Word. This proves that after a man dies, he does not cease to exist. For any man to nullify the second death is for him to preach heresy. Such preaching does not honor the redemptive work of Christ.
The Bible records many miracles and works of wonders. Many such miracles are related to the healing of sicknesses. These are signs used by God. But many heresies in this world attract men by miracles and works of wonders. The Lord prophesied that before His coming again, many miracles would appear to deceive men (Matt. 24:24). A big part of heretical teachings involves the healing of sicknesses. These heresies attract men by their power of healing. We have to be careful about all forms of healing and supernatural phenomena. The miracles and supernatural events in the Bible were initiated by the Holy Spirit through the hands of men. The Holy Spirit acknowledges Jesus as the Lord; He testifies for the Lord. There is nothing wrong for a man who has faith, who has a word from God, and who believes in such a word to pray and anoint sick ones in the name of the Lord. But some miracle workers in some heretical groups do not believe in sickness and death at all. They say that both sickness and death are lies. But it is interesting that they themselves also die. Christian Scientists do not believe in aging, sickness, or death. After Mary Baker Eddy died, a scandal developed. Her will instructed that a certain sum of money be given to her followers. Yet her followers insisted before a judge that she had not died. The judge considered this to be absurd, because if she had not died, the will could not go into effect, and the church could not claim her inheritance. Yet if she had died, it would disprove her teaching about the absence of sickness, pain, sin, and death. We should not be too obsessed with healing and miraculous things. Sickness is a fact. Some sicknesses are the result of natural laws. Some sicknesses are the result of attacks from Satan. Some sicknesses are the result of sin. On the one hand, we believe in the existence of sickness and death. On the other hand, we also believe in supernatural acts as the free manifestation of the work of the Holy Spirit, who always acknowledges Christ Jesus as Lord. But we should also realize that the world likes to believe in strange and inexplicable things. We should exercise our care in discerning these things.
Many people believe that the Lord will come again. But the Lord told us that no one knows the day of His coming, not even the angels or the Son of Man Himself. This is a basic principle concerning the day of Christ's coming. Jehovah's Witnesses believe that Christ came in 1874. The founder of the group, Charles T. Russell, preached this, and his follower Joseph Rutherford continued this. The strange thing is that even though they claimed that they saw the coming of the Lord, we do not see it. They say that we are already in the millennium and that this is the reason for all the wonderful inventions like the typewriter, the telephone, and the automobile. Some also believe that the Lord Jesus entered the Holy of Holies in heaven in 1844. Others say that Christ came in 1918. Two places in the Bible speak of a day as a year: Numbers 14:34 and Ezekiel 4:6. Some base their arguments on these verses and postulate that a day signifies a year in every prophecy. But God only said that in certain particular things a day is like a year. He did not say that this is true for all things. It is wrong to calculate the day of Christ's coming according to this "day-year theory." The seventy weeks in the book of Daniel may fit the "day-year theory." But other than that, all other days should be considered merely as days. If a person says that a day is always a year, then the millennium would be a period of three hundred and sixty thousand years. Some would then argue that a day, being short, can be interpreted as a long year, but that a year, being so long, is a long enough period, and there is no need for further interpretation. It is tiresome to argue about these things, and we do not have to bother ourselves with them. All those who predict the day of Christ's return based on the "day-year" theory are in danger of being heretical.
According to Deuteronomy 18:9-14 and Leviticus 20:6, God strictly forbids the living to communicate with the dead. In the Gospel of Luke, the Lord spoke about the rich man in Hades, who implored the Lord to send Lazarus to the land of the living, yet the Lord would not do it. Dead people are in Hades or in Paradise, and they cannot return to the land of the living. For a dead man to return to the land of the living or for the living to communicate with the dead is to engage in divination. The Bible strictly forbids this.
A diviner or a witch is a woman who communicates with demons. A woman can actually be acquainted with only one demon. Such a woman is familiar with evil spirits. In divination a demon pretends to be the spirit of many dead persons. The one with whom a diviner communicates is not actually the spirit of the dead person, but the demon himself. In the Bible only 1 Samuel speaks of a spirit coming up from Hades. After Samuel died, his spirit was called up, and he rebuked Saul (1 Sam. 28). The one place that speaks of the reason for Saul's death is 1 Chronicles 10:13-14, which says that Saul died because he took counsel from one who had a familiar spirit. The laws of Moses forbade a woman from communicating with spirits, and those who did so were to be stoned to death. Anyone who engages in divination is a heretic.
First Timothy 2, 1 Corinthians 14, and Revelation 2 all show that God forbids a woman from teaching. Any sect that is started by a woman or headed up by one, or any group in which the woman occupies the same place as the man is highly suspicious. More than half of the heresies in the world have been started by women. For example, the founder of the Christian Scientists was Mary Baker Eddy, and the founder of the Seventh-day Adventists was Mrs. White. When the Bible speaks about Roman Catholicism, it also refers to the teaching of the woman Jezebel.
The principle of heresy is a Satanic imitation of what the Lord is doing. For example, the Lord heals sicknesses. Satan also heals sicknesses. Concerning the Lord's coming, heresies try to confuse men. For example, some claim that the Lord will come on a certain day in a certain place. When the Lord does not come as predicted, men begin to ignore or despise the very truth concerning the Lord's second coming. Satan likes to smear the truth concerning the Lord's coming with such infamous incidents. It is true that the Lord is coming soon, and many people will pay more attention to prophecies in the future. For this reason, more heresies will be found in the area of prophecies. If any sect or group claims that it is waiting for the Lord to return on a certain date in a certain place, you can tell immediately that this is a heretical group. If anyone claims that he is one of the two witnesses, or one of the three angels, do not believe him. If anyone claims to be a certain person described in the Bible, do not trust him. The Lord says that one day men will claim, "Behold, here is the Christ! or, Here!" (Matt. 24:23). Do not believe them. These are lies.
We should not put our trust in anything. The only thing we should pursue is to be the church in Philadelphia in Revelation 3. Others may say that they are certain persons described in the book of Revelation or the book of Daniel. They are heretics, and we should not receive them. In the end times heresies will increase. This is why we have to discern. Do not be curious to try them out. Such curiosity will always cause damage to our spirit. If we try them out, we are tasting poison. If anyone does not pass any of the above ten tests, he is a heretic, and we must not have any fellowship with him. These teachings are rising up day by day in China, and we have to be on the alert against them.
