Paul warned us about these, but many of you need to be rewarned.
Wolves talk like sheep, but that’s all they are – talk.
Underneath the talk is unbelief and greed.
Here’s how you know a wolf – a wolf asks for money to preach God’s Word. Maybe not up front, maybe not even explicitly, but somewhere along the way God’s Word is twisted into Satan’s lies and gets stamped with a scanner code.
Jesus never asked for money to preach. Never. Not once. There was also never the expectation that money should be paid for preaching as if it were some kind of an entertainment performance.
If a preacher asks for money, that preacher is a wolf. You don’t have to look any further than the Donate or Buy Now buttons. Or the collection plate.
We need to better discern the wolves from the shepherds. Too many of you are being seduced through your ears. You want to believe. You love the stories. You admire the personalities. “If you want to have a deeper relationship with God and receive His full blessings, buy my book and I’ll show you how.” Who doesn’t want to have a deeper relationship with God? Who doesn’t want his full blessings? So you send in your check or money order, you click on the Buy Now button, you drop a $20 in the hat.
“My, what big teeth you have, Grandma!”
This is a reminder of Paul’s warning: Beware the wolves. Wolves want to kill sheep, not teach them. There are only two lessons you can learn from wolves: One is how not to be like them (NEVER CHARGE MONEY TO PREACH GOD’S WORD) and two is to stay far far away from them.