HEBREWS 12:2
Jesus cautioned His disciples that false doctrine and false teachers would arise within the church. He spoke of thieves, robbers, strangers, hired hands, and wolves in John 10, for example. So it ought not to come as a surprise to us when this happens.
The Anglican Reformers also warned, citing Jesus’ teaching in Matthew 13:24-30 and 37-43, “Satan, who is the chief enemy of the Christian name, infuses such pestilential heresy (like weeds and tares) into the saving seed of the divine Scriptures, which is scattered about in the church of God, that the total number of these fireballs by which the church is inflamed and continues to burn miserably can hardly be counted, as the devil daily piles up even more firewood in the shape of false opinions.” (Reformatio Legum Ecclesiasticarum)
Jesus faced a great deal of opposition – from slanderers, legalists, traditionalists, Pharisees, Sadducees, scribes, Herodians, and many others.
He told His disciples that they too would be persecuted and opposed. In contending for the faith we are joining in something that Jesus Himself endured. We walk in His steps. He is our example to follow.
Photo: Braden Collum
