Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered outside the gate. Therefore, let us go forth to him outside the camp, bearing his reproach. For we have no continuing city here, but we seek one to come.
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It seems that in every passing generation, God's people on earth have to suffer with an abundance of false doctrines proclaimed by an abundance of false teachers. In every era of history recorded in the Bible, this was the case. And the many "false teachers" who throughout history have claimed to have heard from God usually caused the few individuals to whom God really spoke to feel discouraged. More than once did a prophet in ancient Israel plead with God for help in understanding why it was that God's people were more attracted to false prophets than to faithful servants of God. Jeremiah became so frustrated by the false prophets that at one point, he swore he would never again speak to God's people in the name of the Lord (Jer. 20:9). He wept bitterly because his fellow Israelites believed men whom he knew had not heard from God. He cried out to God, "My heart within me is broken because of the prophets" (23:9).
I remember when my father went through a terrible struggle with the spirit of discouragement. He knew that he really had heard from God, but the abundance of false teachers thwarted, it seemed, his best efforts to communicate the truth he had heard. One evening as we sat in his living room, he described his feelings perfectly. In the face of so much false teaching, he said, to try to persuade God's people of the truth seemed as futile as trying to blow a hurricane backwards. There were just too many false teachers at work among the saints, it seemed to him at the time, too many false teachers of great reputation and influence. He could not compete with them for the hearts of God's children. He didn't look as good or sound as good as they did.
But God will not allow the spirit of discouragement to swallow up those who love Him. Knowing that Jesus would battle the same spirits of discouragement that all of God's servants face, God promised that His mighty hands would uphold His Son. Through Isaiah He promised (42:4), "He shall not fail, nor be discouraged until he has established justice on earth." My brother, you cannot fail if you will not be discouraged. What you have received from God, no matter what it is, will overcome the entire world and all its false teachers if you only have the patience to continue to love God and His ways. That was the Father's promise to His Son, and through him, it is His promise to us.
To encourage all His servants, God sent the following exhortation by the much-persecuted Jeremiah (who needed these words as much or more than did anyone who heard him speak): "The prophet that hath a dream [which is really from God], let him tell a dream, and he that hath My word, let him speak my word faithfully. What is the chaff [in comparison] to the wheat?, saith the LORD." (Jer. 23:28).
If you really have received something from the Lord, go ahead and confess it before men. That is how we confess Christ: by confessing what he has said and done. Do not be concerned if there are many who confess contradictory things. The Word of God will shine through the clutter of self-appointed shepherds; it will touch the heart of every person who is truly seeking for God. And who else, after all, can possibly recognize the voice of the true Shepherd and be glad? Jesus said that only a few would find the way of life. This must mean that only a few will recognize Jesus' voice in the multitude of voices that claim to be speaking for God. Be encouraged to continue to confess the truth you have from God. What is man's word in comparison to the word that truly comes from God? If what you have in your soul is truly from the living God, it will accomplish God's purpose; it will bless the few who will find the right way; it will sound right to the few who recognize the Voice; and it will overcome every challenge that arises against it from the darkened imagination of vain men, regardless of how many such men there may be.
With what God gives us, we cannot fail if we will simply believe and will not be discouraged. That is why Jesus warned his disciples, "In your patience, possess ye your souls" (Lk. 21:19). And that is why the saints are reminded that "we are made partakers of Christ if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast until to end" (Heb. 3:14). If we are wise, we will trust in what we have from God. If we do that, His blessings and His gifts will save us from a thousand heartaches.
What we have from our God will save us forever "if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm unto the end." Do not be discouraged. God will win, and all who are faithful to Him will win with Him.