Isaiah 8:20

Main Thought: The ministry of Isaiah the prophet was a time for the most part when the kings of Israel were evil and the Hebrew people had departed from worshiping the true God, instead worshiping the false gods of the surrounding pagan nations. God did raise up true prophets during this time, like Isaiah, Jeremiah, and many of the minor prophets, who spoke the truth of God, but for the most part, they were ignored and persecuted for speaking the truth. God is speaking here and His testimony is that when a prophet speaks and it is not according to the truth of God, not according to His revealed Word, and according to the prophets such as Isaiah, it is because there is spiritual darkness within them; there is no dawn. These words also have application for us in this day as a warning concerning what preachers and teachers we are to heed. Those who have no dawn, no spiritual light within them, will be evident by what they speak. Paul speaks of this in 2 Corinthians 11:13, warning that there will be “false apostles, deceitful workmen, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ.” He also spoke of this in Galatians 1:6-9 when he warns of deceitful preachers speaking “another gospel” and not the true gospel of grace through Christ, but a gospel adding works and other requirements. In 1 Timothy 6:3-5 he speaks of those who supposedly teach the Word of God but deny the personal godliness that Christ taught is the lifestyle of the Christian, instead saying even that godliness is a way of gaining great wealth. Peter adds to these warnings of false teachers who have no spiritual light in them, by saying that “there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Master (Lord) who bought them…many will follow their sensuality, and because of them the way of truth will be blasphemed” (2 Pet. 2:1-2). How do we discern those who have no light in them but only spiritual darkness? Examine the Word of God against what they say, especially when it comes to what the Gospel is, what is said concerning practical holiness, bearing fruit in the Christian life, and especially concerning the person of Christ. If these teachers deny the Gospel of grace, the necessity of practical holiness and sanctification, the necessary evidence of the fruit of the Spirit, and deny the eternal deity of Christ, then flee from these teachers. There is no dawn in them, and whoever follows them is following a path of destruction. Immerse yourself in the Word of God, saturate your mind with it, and ask God by the Holy Spirit to illuminate you so that you may know how to discern false teachers and their heresies.