Watchout For WOLVES: Keys To Discerning Authentic Ministries & Evaluating Doctrinal Trends

False ministries were found in both the Old and the New Testament time. They had them in Old Testament times and God warned His people about prophets who prophesied falsely (Deut. 18:20-22). God even gave them tests to be able to distinguish between the true and the false. But the prophet who presumes to speak a word in My name, which I have not commanded him to speak, or who speaks in the name of other gods, that prophet shall die. And if you say in your heart, “How shall we know the word which the LORD has not spoken ?” -- when a prophet speaks in the name of the LORD, if the thing does not happen or come to pass, that is the thing which the LORD has not spoken; the prophet has spoken it presumptuously; you shall not be afraid of him. Deuteronomy 18:20-22 In addition, there were false ministries in New Testament times (Rev. 2:2). Jesus addressed the Ephesian Church in the Book of Revelation. I know your works, your labor, your patience, and that you cannot bear those who are evil. And you have tested those who say they are apostles and are not, and have found them liars… Revelation 2:2 The Ephesian Church was especially vulnerable because it was located on a major highway to Rome. God commended the Ephesian Church for being willing to put apostles to the test rather than just accepting them at face value. Because the false is mingled with the true, it is necessary for them to be discerned (1 John 4:1-3). In the Early Church they had to contend with three primary problems in this realm. First of all, here were people who had been converted from Judaism who did not fully understand the New Covenant who were attempting to entangle Christians again into the demands of the Mosaic Law. These people were referred to as Judaizers. The Book of Galatians was written by

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