Hey everyone, this is Tony with a little production note before we begin.

You know, just when you cannot imagine John Piper's voice diving any lower than it already is,

here we are. It's a bronchial stuff of some sort. And it's plunging Pastor John into new realms

of sub-base that only a Hollywood movie trailer voiceover guy could probably normally reach.

And that's true here for about the next week or so.

Alas, here's today's episode.

Pastor John, here's a question from Caden in Boca Raton, Florida. Hello, Pastor John,

after seeing the documentary American Gospel, I was conflicted because I'm not sure if I'm supposed

to call out false teachers. Second Peter 2 versus 1 to 3 make it obvious that there will be false

teachers. But the text also doesn't say we should point them out. I have heard both sides to this

argument, but I'm still not quite sure. I want to be careful not to pronounce judgment before

the time. First Corinthians 4.5. Does this passage apply here in this situation? Are we taking a

judgment that isn't ours to take? Or should we rest in God's ultimate knowledge? And if a

prominent false teacher is to be called out, who does this? Where and how?

Maybe it would be helpful to step back first and get the bigger picture of the New Testament

response to those who live and teach in ways that lead others into error and ruin. And then

zero in on 1 Corinthians 4.5 and some guidelines for how we should speak and write about such people.

So let's begin with Jesus, Matthew 7, 15. Beware of false prophets who come to you in sheep's

clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves. And the word beware means all of us should be alert,

but especially shepherds. To identify not just false teaching, but false teachers whose ways are subtle,

like they're clothing themselves with lambs, wool, while they're wolves. And Paul used the same

Greek word for beware in Acts 20 when he said, pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the

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