In our last article, we began our study of the reign of Jeroboam in Israel as a picture of the apostate church. We noted the striking similarities between Jeroboam and Moses and how the king could offer compelling testimony of being qualified to lead the people of God in Israel out of the oppression of the southern kingdom as Moses was qualified to lead them out of Egypt.

A powerful testimony by itself could make for some impressive credentials for any man if it involves comparisons to a great prophet of God or to great events as portrayed in the Scriptures. While these similarities would certainly lead us to give credibility to a man, we would be in great error if we were to neglect taking the differences into account. While there are similarities between Moses and Jeroboam, there are some vivid — and crucial! — contrasts as well. Note:

1. As Moses condemned the worship of the golden calf by the people of Israel (Exodus 32), Jeroboam encouraged the worship of the golden calves at Dan and Bethel (1 Kings 12:28).

2. As Moses proclaimed Yahweh as bringing the Israelites out of Egypt (Exodus 20:2), Jeroboam proclaimed that the golden calves were the gods who brought them out of Egypt (compare Exodus 32:4 with 1 Kings 12:28).

3. As Moses received the law that established a holy priesthood that furthered the worship of Yahweh, so Jeroboam established a priesthood of his own to further his religion (1 Kings 12:31; 13:33).

Look carefully at numbers one and two. They give us a sobering truth that ought to be applied to every man who calls himself a minister of Christ! With all of the similarities that the man Jeroboam had to Moses, the colossal difference was in the nature of the GOD he proclaimed before the people.

The people under Moses beheld a God who was holy, awesome, powerful, One before whom men are to tremble. Jeroboam, though a man profoundly popular with the people, was a vast departure from a true man of God in that he was content to present to the populace a cheap imitation of Yahweh in order to achieve his goals.

Men and women who call themselves “ministers” to the body of Christ can minister in ways that may be legitimate manifestations of the Spirit of God or those same manifestations could be from the spirit of God’s enemy. Consider these tidbits of truth:

** Signs and wonders could be a work of God, but they could also be the work of false prophets (see Deut. 13:1; Rev. 13:11-14; 16:14; 19:20).

** Miracles, prophecy and the casting out of demons are indeed the works of true ministers, but these ministries can also be done by workers of iniquity (see Matthew 7:21-23).

** A church can be very evangelistic, but so were the Pharisees (see Matthew 23:15 and consider the evangelistic nature of cults).

** Miraculous signs were done by Christ and His apostles, but they were also done by, “...the one whose coming is in accord with the activity of Satan...” (2 Thessalonians 2:9).

** The preaching of the gospel of salvation is one of the greatest stewardships a minister has today, but there are those who call their message “the gospel,” yet they preach what God’s word calls “another gospel” (see 2 Corinthians 11:4; Galatians 1:6-8).

** Every true minister of Jesus Christ should be “filled with the Holy Spirit,” but the Scriptures tell us that there are other “spirits” than the Holy Spirit that can fill people (see Luke 4:33; Acts 16:16; Romans 8:15; 11:8; 1 Cor. 2:12; 2 Corinthians 11:4; 1 Timothy 5:21; 2 Timothy 1:7; 1 John 4:3, 6).

** The ministries of giving for the work of the gospel, prayer and fasting are all mighty tools in the furtherance of God’s kingdom, but these things can be done by hypocrites as well (see Matthew 6:2, 5, 16).

** Prayer is a mighty weapon for the cause of Christ, but not every prayer offered up to God is going to be regarded by Him (see Psalms 66:18; Isaiah 1:15; 59:2, 3; Micah 3:4; Matthew 6:5, 7; 23:14; 1 Peter 3:7).

The great abomination going on in the churches today — Baptist, Charismatic, Assemblies, etc. — is that so many of the tremendous treasures of grace in Jesus Christ are being withheld from the masses and worthless counterfeits are being pandered in their place. Walking the aisle at an evangelistic meeting and parroting a “sinner’s prayer” are cheap imitations for the supernatural “new birth” brought about in true salvation. Falling on the floor for a few moments, being “slain in the Spirit” is a cheap imitation for a lifelong walk of holiness before God.

“Holy laughter” in a so-called assembly of worship is a cheap imitation of the joy that comes from the Spirit of God as we are persecuted by the world for His sake. “Marches for Jesus” and meetings at flagpoles are cheap imitations for conformity to the image of Christ, and the inward transformation of heart and life brought about by daily walking in the Holy Spirit. The seeker sensitive worship services are cheap imitations of bearing the cross of Christ daily. Many of today’s ministers are the spawn of Jeroboam when they put forth these forgeries and proclaim, “Behold your gods....”

So how can we really know if a minister is a true minister of God or a false minister? Here are a few sticks by which to measure:

He will proclaim God faithfully as described in His holy word. He will not seek to mold a god that will pander to the flesh of the people. He will not just proclaim a God of infinite love in saving sinners, but also a God of holy justice who will condemn unrepentant sinners. He will not just proclaim a God who blesses people with mercies and patience, but also a God who judges sinners and chastens His saints. He will not proclaim a God who merely sits and waits for sinners to come to Him, but one who draws sinners by His power.

He will preach the whole counsel of the word of God. Many denominations and ministry movements have been built upon a single, narrow point of Scripture or theology — evangelism and missions, social works, charismatic gifts, signs and wonders, sacrament, eschatology, etc. None of these things rightly considered is wrong except when other Scriptures are ignored.

A godly minister will not hammer on one subject alone, but will feed the sheep of Christ from all of the word of God. He will preach God’s sovereignty as strongly as man’s responsibility; the place of works in salvation as strongly as the place of faith; the purity of the church as strongly as the conversion of the lost; the fruit of the Spirit as strongly as the gifts of the Spirit; and perseverance in sufferings as strongly as miracles and victories.

He will be willing to suffer and stand alone against the majority for the sake of God’s truth. The “itching ears” of men (2 Timothy 4:3) cause them to be intolerant of sound teaching. They will not seek a minister who is a faithful man of God, but a hireling who will not dare awaken their slumbering consciences with the trumpet of truth. He will preach unbiblical myths that feed their carnal desires.

Consequently, a faithful minister will either turn aside from God for the sake of dishonest gain (Titus 1:11) or they will be willing to take their stand with the great prophets of old who were persecuted and even killed for the sake of God’s truth. God’s man is willing to bear the reproach of Christ.

He will be as willing to lose members and money for the sake of truth as gain them. This is a day in which many ministers seem more interested in building religious empires than in proclaiming the truth of God. The modern measure of success is no longer whether or not a man is faithful to God, but whether or not he has the biggest ministry, most people or richest funding.

Having a large ministry in itself is no sin; the sin is found in the question: “How did it get so large?” Did the ministers have to compromise truth and cater to carnal men to draw them in? An interesting illustration of this is in John 6 where Jesus begins with a crowd of thousands and as truth is unfolded, dwindles to only a few.

It is not our purpose here to necessarily condemn the ministry overall. It is evident that there is much sin in every denomination and ministry that needs to be repented of. But our exhortation in these articles is this: Be discerning when it comes to men and women who call themselves spiritual leaders! Or, as John puts it: Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world (1 John 4:1).