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“Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood. For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock. Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them. Therefore watch.”[1]

In previous chapters, we have examined the characteristics of false prophets as revealed in Scripture. The Bible warns believers of the existence of evil leaders who desire to destroy followers of Christ and His Church. This study shifts the emphasis to examine those doctrines that false prophets and teachers avoid or teach erroneously.

This passage describes when the Apostle Paul met with the Church leaders from Ephesus for the last time. Paul had established a Church in Ephesus and established spiritual leaders in the Church. He met with them as he returned to Jerusalem, certain that persecutions awaited him. Not fully understanding his future, he wanted to give his friends some instructions regarding the future. His message combined a warning as well as directions on how to face the coming problems. He warned them that grievous wolves would come into their Church and draw aside many after them.

The wolves in sheep’s clothing have infiltrated the Church. They have twisted the Scriptures to their own benefit. Consequently, the Church has declined. Since we have had centuries of false prophets, teachers, and Church leaders, we can draw upon Paul’s counsel and warning for encouragement and direction.

In his directions, Paul compared these Church leaders to shepherds. God had entrusted them with the responsibilities of shepherds over the flock of God, the Church. They had the duty to feed the people of God, not with physical food, but with spiritual food. God required these shepherds to protect their flock from their enemies, who wanted to destroy them. Finally, God expected these spiritual leaders to give direction to their flock. Paul instructed the spiritual leaders of the Church at Ephesus to shepherd the sheep God had given to them.

Paul emphasized these obligations because he knew that danger lay ahead. We now live in perilous times. False leaders victimize the Church. The false prophets and teachers of our day presently attack and undermine Biblical doctrines. Often, they proclaim them as untrue. They say, “These doctrines are not essential. You do not need to follow them. Besides, we cannot really know truth.” Yet, they mislead people away from these truths to follow error, which they falsely present as truth.

What spiritual food must Church leaders provide? What truths must they protect? In what paths must they direct us for food and safety? This study will examine briefly seven Biblical doctrines that serve as the foundation of our faith in Christ. We must understand, believe, and defend them. When we encounter preachers who proclaim otherwise, we will identify them as the grievous wolves of which Paul warned.

First is the doctrine of God, His person and works. The Scriptures provide a lengthy list of His attributes, which I will not enumerate now. However, we must believe His self-existence from all eternity, existing in three persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. As the only true and living God, He sovereignly created and controls all things according to His plan and purposes. Through His appointed Judge, Jesus Christ His Son, He will pronounce the justice of God upon all who fail to trust and obey His word as revealed in the Bible.

Second, true shepherds of the Church must believe and defend the person and works of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. Without eradicating His deity, He took upon Himself human flesh, born of the virgin Mary. He became the God-man, God in the flesh, in Whom dwells all the fullness of the godhead bodily. His works could fill volumes describing His supernatural miracles. His greatest work came when He gave His life on the cross as atonement to God for the sins of men and women.

Everyone is born with a sinful nature from the moment of conception. This sinful nature alienates and separates humanity from God. This sinful nature so thoroughly permeates mankind that it renders us completely unable to satisfy God or to reconcile ourselves to Him. The Bible describes humanity as dead in our trespasses and sins. However, God made provision to reconcile sinners back to Himself through His Son, Jesus Christ. His death brought reconciliation between God and people like you and me.

Therefore, everyone who comes to God through Jesus Christ will find forgiveness and peace with God. Justification by faith in Christ alone provides salvation for all who believe. His resurrection on the third day after His death and His ascension into the Father’s presence confirmed it.

Third, foundational Biblical doctrine includes the person and works of the Holy Spirit, an equal member of the godhead. Unlike humanity, He does not have a physical form. Although a spirit, He possesses none-the-less the attributes of a person. Even though deity, He inhabits the lives of believers and works in them. Jesus taught in John 14-16 many of the works of the Holy Spirit. He empowers believers with His supernatural authority and ability to serve God, worship and glorify Christ, and walk in holiness. He molds our lives into the image of Christ.

Sadly, we do not hear very much about the Holy Spirit in our day. We have set Him aside and have grieved Him. In the process, we have quenched His work among us. 

Fourth, we must hold dear and trust the doctrines—I say doctrines because there are several of them—of salvation. Today, the phrase “born again” carries little meaning. False prophets and teachers have taught this truth incorrectly and have confused many. Multitudes of people have followed after those who have done exactly what Paul said would occur. These wolves in sheep’s clothing have come to destroy people’s faith, and to guide them away from Jesus, the only Savior of sinners.

For this reason, I will discuss briefly several important doctrines of salvation, which we must believe in order to follow the Scriptures faithfully. For example, you cannot make your self born again spiritually any more than you can physically. You had nothing to do with your physical birth, and you have nothing to do with your spiritual birth. You can do nothing to deserve it or prepare the way for it. No amount of religious actions, even though earnestly and faithfully performed, contributes to your spiritual new birth. You contribute nothing to it. The Holy Spirit produces the new birth through an experience called regeneration. It is a sovereign, gracious gift from God to you by the work of the Holy Spirit in you.

Once the Holy Spirit regenerates a person, He always produces certain changes in those whom He regenerates…always, always, always. He causes you to repent from your sins. You turn from them and no longer follow your sinful lifestyle. Furthermore, He makes you trust Christ and Christ alone for your salvation. When you trust Christ, you then become justified before a holy and just God. As the Holy Spirit works in your life, He produces a desire to follow Christ and obey Him.

These short statements identify the basic doctrines of salvation. By no means do they describe the totality of these doctrines. Volumes of books list and describe them in detail. However, these provide a list of the initial experience of the new birth. As you grow in faith in Christ, the fullness of salvation will stagger your mind. It includes the nature of God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit, as well as what you become in Christ…literally a new creature.

Fifth, the Church needs to understand the doctrine of the Scriptures, the Bible. Down through history, the enemy of the souls of mankind has attempted to destroy the Bible. Governments have outlawed it. Religious leaders have misused it. Elitists have mocked it. “You can not trust it,” they say. “It contains errors. It contains some good moral teachings, but it I nothing more than a good book. You cannot trust it fully.”

Despite these challenges, God's word endures. In it, He provides trustworthy evidence and revelation of Himself. The Holy Spirit moved upon human instruments to record faithfully God's inspired message to humanity. Because of its inspiration by God, it is authoritative for life and practice. It describes the nature of God and the responsibilities of humanity to Him. He presents what He has provided for people like you and me. When you believe and obey it, the Holy Spirit brings into your experience the reality of the Bible’s message as it presents it. It presents how you can know God and experience Him your daily life.

Sixth, the shepherds of God's people must preach on the doctrine of holiness. Many people revolt at this one, because they fall short of God's demands, and they do not want to think about it. As children of God and followers of Christ, we must become increasingly holy. Our lives should show development from the day that we first trusted Christ. As we have grown older physically and our lives have changed, so our spiritual lives should also show growth. As believers examine themselves today in contrast to when they first trusted Christ, they should see a difference. They do not live the same way or think the same way. They have lost the desires and interests that they once had. That describes growth in holiness.

All believers in Christ experience spiritual growth. Not all grow at the same rate or in the same fashion. However, they become increasingly like Christ. I will stop here and ask you a question. Does that describe your experience? Can you honestly say that you have greater interest today in pursuing after God and obeying Him than when you first trusted Christ? You should see a difference as the Holy Spirit works in your life. You will not attain ultimate perfection, but you should grow and develop spiritually.

Preachers today do not preach on holiness. False pastors and teachers do not emphasize personal holiness. It is not popular, nor enjoyable to contemplate. We do not like to have people tell us our sins. We do not like to hear that. However, Paul reminded his friends from Ephesus of their responsibilities as teachers and as leaders to feed and tend their sheep. That work involves this corrective ministry as much as any other aspect.

Finally, I will mention the doctrine of the Church. The Bible describes how the Church should function. It tells how to identify spiritual leaders. It explains how those shepherds should function. Further, it reveals what we should do when we encounter leaders who lead people astray from what the Bible teaches. It says that the Church is the body of Christ, a living organism.

Unfortunately, the Church has become nothing more than an organization. We run it just like Wal-Mart. Our leaders have led the Church to function like a business. As a result, the Church has developed into nothing more than an organization, and it follows all the patterns of secular structures. Nothing supernatural about the Church remains. We can explain it all in terms of management and business styles.

However, the Church is not an organization. Nor should it function like one. We need to return to the Scriptures and examine them for what they say about the Church. It is a living, vital thing. Moreover, it is called the body of Christ. He is the King. He is in charge of it. We need to counsel with the King to find out how He wants His body to function. 

We do not do that today. We totally disregard the kingship of Christ in these matters. When you hear teachers and leaders counsel you away from the Lordship of Christ in these issues of the Church, you can identify them as false leaders. As wolves in sheep’s clothing, they pretend to follow Christ but in fact deny His authority as enemies of Christ.

These seven doctrines comprise the foundational truths essential to true biblical Christianity. The false pastors and Church leaders of today attack them, as Paul warned. He said they would come, and they have arrived in full force. The Church reels under their evil influence. I pray that the Holy Spirit will open your eyes to see the truth of these doctrines, their necessity, and, unfortunately, their absence in today’s Church. May He lead you to pursue the truth and to conform your life to it.

Thank you, heavenly Father, for these wondrous truths that we have examined in such a brief fashion. They present the truth as presented in your Word about Yourself and things You want us to believe and to defend. When we examine others about us who teach things contrary to these truths, may You open our eyes to see their errors, to turn aside from them, and to pursue after the truth. I ask you, Holy Spirit of God, to open our eyes to understand the truths that we have examined, to believe them, and to commit our lives to them. May the understanding and the belief of these truths ultimately bring a change in the way we live and act as we conform our lives to the truth. We will give to you, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit honor, glory, and praise for all that You accomplish. I ask these things in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.