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The Bible Speaks
by Gino Geraci
. . . likewise, also these dreamers. . . (Jude 8a).
In the last century the world saw an explosion of false christs and false prophets. They used to be rather obvious. People like Sun Myung Moon, Charles Taze Russel and Herbert W. Armstrong. Some of us are old enough to remember Jim Jones and the People's Temple.
The most effective false prophets and false teachers are the ones who start off looking like real Christians, because most Christians are not taken in by people who are visited by UFO's, alien abductees, or people who dress up in tin foil and receive messages from the spirits in the next world.
But Christians are sometimes fooled by people who use extra-biblical revelation. They may be duped by people who believe in the Bible plus some other important source of information allegedly from God or about God.
False teachers will invariably create a false basis for salvation and an uncertain hope in good works or good deeds. False teachers make false claims of personal messiahship, doctrinal ambiguity, claims of special discoveries about the Bible--unique to their group, and so on.
False teachers have a defective Christology or view of Jesus. They create an enslaving organizational structure, and financially exploit their members. They thrive on fear and denounce orthodox, biblical Christianity. False teachers deceive people and destroy families. They pretend to provide medicine for the soul, but in fact poison people. No wonder the New Testament writers devote such a large portion of their writings to exposing these people!
They are Dreamers
False teachers are “dreamers” whose false doctrine are either the pretended perversions of their own imagination, or the carefully placed lies of supernatural beings called demons.
The Old KJV inserts the word “filthy” dreamers. However, the word “filthy” does not appear in the original text. The word dreamers probably refers to people who are not “in touch with reality.” It may be an allusion to the Old Testament reference to prophets as “dreamers” (Deut.13:1).
It would appear the false teachers Jude is making reference to justified their conduct on the basis of alleged “visions.” This was not just a problem in Jude’s day, but continues even now. For instance, Joseph Smith allegedly had a vision from an angel named Moroni. A child guru (Maharaji) announced to 30,000 devoted followers in a Houston stadium “I am the lord of the universe.” Kim Miller claims to speak the words of God and is God's mouthpiece.
It’s important to understand that certainly God spoke to people in visions. For instance, much of the book of Revelation is a vision given by God to the Apostle John. But the Bible also recognizes that people would abuse 'visions' by making fraudulent claims. They may say, “I got this vision from God.” Really? Consider the words in 1 John 4:1, “Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God.”
We live in an age where some in the Church are always looking for the next great prophet, the next great vision, the next great prophecy. Some in the church have been preoccupied with 'prophetic words' to lead and guide and direct people in the church. This has led to some abuses. Dougles J. Moo writes, “The Vineyard movement, in particular, has placed considerable emphasis on prophetic ‘words’ that encourage and direct the church. Some of the spokespersons for the movement have sought to curb abuses by laying down careful and generally biblical guidelines for the exercise of the prophetic gift” (The NIV Application Bible Dougles J. Moo p. 254). The problem I see is there is still considerable abuse of the gift, as people seek to justify dubious or even sinful behavior on the basis of a vision, or try to get their own way on a contentious matter by claiming to have received direction from God” (ibid).
Moo goes on and writes, "We cannot dismiss visions altogether: God may still choose to communicate to his people by this means. But we must insist that any claimed visionary or prophetic message must conform to the truth of God revealed in Scripture and must be subject to scrutiny by other Christians" (see p.255).
Although it’s true that God can speak to people through visions, we must be aware that many false prophets and false teachers justify their false teaching by some bogus vision. They may say, “I had a vision from the Lord.” Your response to such a claim from a false teacher should be something like, “Really. Then why is the vision inconsistent with the Word of God or the character of God or the principles of Scripture?”
© 2007 by Gino Geraci
He has served as a police chaplain for several police departments and currently serves as a Police Chaplain for the Arapahoe County Sheriff's Department. Gino has provided emergency service support in many national tragedies. He was a first responder at Columbine High School, Ground Zero in New York, and Platte Canyon High School.
Gino has appeared on scores of national and local radio programs as a guest, including television appearances with Lee Stroebel's Faith Under Fire. He currently hosts a daily radio program with Salem Media in Denver, Colorado area.
Gino is a much sought after conference speaker. He has conducted leadership conferences, Bible conferences, and emergency service support conferences with the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, Samaritans' Purse, Gospel for Asia in India and Sri Lanka, the Bible League in Africa, Food For The Poor in Jamaica, Mike McIntosh Crusades in Mexico, Somebody Loves You Bible Conferences with Raul Ries in Chile, Columbia and Peru, and pastor's conferences in much of the continental United States.
Gino is currently the pastor of Calvary South Denver where he continues to minister, preach, teach, and serve.
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