2 Cor 11:13 For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles
of Christ.
14 And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light.
15 Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of
righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works. KJV
In a "X-Files" episode, we were transported to the hills of Tennessee to a fundamentalist, Pentecostal snake handling church, which was portrayed as intolerant and the worshipers as ignorant fanatics led by a maniac preacher. There were murders and rumors that the preacher had impregnated his daughter. All of this is standard fare for Hollywood so while I was incensed, I was not shocked. According to Hollywood, the worst people on the planet are Southerners and fundamentalists. Baptists are the worst, but Pentecostals are flashier. I am guilty on at least three counts. I hang my spurs in Texas and I am a Baptist fundamentalist.
Counter to the nutcase preacher was a fellow I called Pastor Goodwords in a previous article. He was mild mannered and was tolerant of all people and faiths except the snake handler. He was well dressed and respected in the community and pastor of the community church. Sometimes community translates, as we don’t believe anything or we are not sure what we believe so come on in. Not always, but sometimes so if you are a good community church don’t take offense.
I did like it when the snake handler told Mulder that the devil would deceive Mulder and he would not even know it because Mulder was looking through his eyes and not his heart. Imagine my astonishment when Mulder shoots the fanatic for trying to knife the "respectable" preacher and it finally dawns on Mulder who is the real murderer. Mulder pulls his gun on the "good" preacher and says that he knows who he really is and the doors slam shut and snakes appear to "test" Mulder. The modern preacher is the devil and the show closes with him in a church in Massachusetts with a lady saying how thrilled she is that the church finally has a pastor with such modern views of God. She leaves and he feeds a rat to the serpent within him. Man, I nearly became Pentecostal!!!!
Now I am not sure that the creator and writers of the show are Christians or that they even understood the biblical impact of their portrayal of an angel of light. Someone just saw that it would be a great suspense and shocker. However, the literal portrayal of a false prophet could not have been done any better than if Bob Jones University had made the film and they have made some pretty remarkable films or maybe I should say unusual since that is their logo.
How often are those who hold to the old Book and the old faith made to look like narrow-minded intolerant insensitive fools? Ah, but the highly educated one who believes in nothing firmly and very little generally is the one who is in touch with God or so they and Hollywood think.
The show also contrasted the two preachers preaching of Revelation 3:16. The fanatic of course emphasized the hot and cold and then screamed in threatening anger the spitting out of the lukewarm. Whereas old Pastor Goodwords read the passage calmly and then said of the spitting out, "Now that might sound a bit harsh, but." Had they continued he would have done a political speech review thing about what God really meant here. To those types of lads, God never really says what He means and they have to help the poor old guy out and explain. Balderdash! I get rather incensed when I see one of these guys start that stuff with that knowing little grin and twinkle in their eye like some grandfather about to show their grandchild a trick. That is the tip off that some heresy is about to be spoken. (Proverbs 6:12-15)
I admit that many fundamentalist preachers dress more like John the Baptist than like the folks on the magazines. We take the passage where God looks on the heart passage seriously and do not care as much as what men think. When we are trying to bring home a point with passion, we sometimes sound more like we are angry than impassioned. And yes, because we believe God said what He said and we do not have to second guess Him or rewrite His speeches so we can come across as a bit intolerant. However, what can we say when God wants it His way and He clearly states what way is His way and what way is not His way? Narrow paths versus broad highways and gathering with or scattering abroad does not leave much room for personal opinion or modern cultural concepts.
All roads may lead to Rome, but only one way leads to God. That was His choice and not mine or any other preacher’s choice. He often calls fellows to preach that by the world’s standards are not very handsome, educated, or cultured. That is because the message is important, not the messenger. That is another message in itself. If you look with your eyes and not your heart, the devil will deceive you with a Pastor Goodwords. Remember the tares look like wheat and so do the angels of light. In fact at times, they look a lot better than the wheat, but they are still tares.
In fact, the last chapters of I Corinthians deal with Paul having to defend his apostleship to the very ones that he won to Christ. Some good looking Pastor Goodwords with great credentials had arrived and made the short, ugly, not so eloquent in his speech Paul look like maybe he was not much of anything at all. Paul tried to wake them up by telling them that if he was not an apostle then they better rethink their own salvation since it was he that lead them to Christ. It did not matter to the Corinthians that these guys were trying to take their freedom in Christ and make them more like Jews. Doctrine was not that important. These guys just looked like they knew more than Paul did. They knew all the right people. They had cool looking papers and letters of recommendations. Yep, all that and they were heretics. Be careful what you see with your eyes. (Eph 4:14; 5:6)
Know any angels of light? You had better check them with your heart and more importantly against the Word. Hell is full of people who followed these types of guys. The ones who can paint the prettiest pictures of Heaven with their lips may never see the gates. Don’t be one of the blind led by the blind.
