Besides the unique teaching of God’s New Testament economy, which is the teaching of the apostles, there are “different teachings”, teachings that are different, and there are winds of teaching which are used by Satan to distract us from the enjoyment of Christ and frustrate the building up of the Body of Christ.
Paul wrote in his first epistle to Timothy, his younger co-worker, that he exhorted him to remain in Ephesus to charge certain ones not to teach different things nor to give heed to myths and unending genealogies, which produce questionings rather than God’s economy, which is in faith.
Paul realized that there are certain ones, some saints in the church, who did not remain in the teaching and fellowship of the apostles but rather, spoke different teachings, and these caused more questionings rather than God’s economy.
We should not think that we are immune to this; no one is immune to the winds of teaching, and it is only by growing in life, remaining in the church life, and being constituted with the apostles’ teaching that we can discern them and reject them.
There are many things in the Bible, and all of them have their place in God’s economy; however, for us to emphasize and teach something that is not central in God’s economy, and for us to have the attitude that such a matter is very important, will bring in different teachings.
For example, the Sabbath is in the Bible, and it is a major practice ordained by God for His Old Testament people; in the New Testament, however, the Lord said that He came to be the fulfilment of Sabbath, and we can fast and keep the Sabbath by keeping Christ as the feast.
However, for someone to teach that we need to keep the Sabbath and sanctify Saturday as being the day we should meet and worship the Lord, with the practice of Sabbath, this is a different teaching, and this leads to questionings and division.
For us to teach and emphasize miscellaneous or secondary matters in the Bible such as head covering, foot washing, baptism by immersion, keeping the Sabbath, circumcision, eating only vegetables, etc will lead to questionings, rather than God’s economy, which is in faith.
Even more, for us to say like those in Corinth did, that we are of Christ – while others may say that he is of so-and-so and such-and-such – can lead to division and can be a wind of teaching.
We should simply stay with and remain in the teaching of the apostles, giving heed to the economy of God, which is in faith, and we should reject and stay away from those winds of teaching.
May we be those who grow in life unto maturity, remain in the church life enjoying Christ with all the saints, and abide in the healthy words of the Lord Jesus, being constituted with the apostles’ teaching, so that we may be able to discern and stay away from the differing teachings, the winds of teachings, and not be tossed about by them.
Realizing that the Different Teachings, the Winds of Teaching, are a System of Error Leading us away from Christ and the Church and Overthrowing our Faith
The different teachings spoken of by Paul in 1 Tim. 1:3-4 and 6:3 are differing from the New Testament teaching concerning the economy of God for the building up of the church.
For us to discern these teachings we first must have a thorough knowledge of what the proper teaching is; we need to know the teaching of the apostles, and then we will see through what is counterfeit.
Apparently, every wind of teaching is good; however, within the winds of teaching, intrinsically, is something different from the apostles’ teaching, and this is not good.
The winds of teaching overthrow the believers’ faith and devastate the church life (2 Tim. 2:18).
They cause the saints to waver in their faith, they overthrow the faith of the believers, and they cause the faith of the saints to falter.
After one listens to different teachings, he gets discouraged within, he loses heart, and he may even question his salvation; this is very unfortunate.
The different teachings become winds, carrying the believers away from the central lane of Christ and the church; these are deceptions instigated by Satan in his subtlety, with the sleight of men, in order to frustrate God’s eternal economy, which is to build up the Body of Christ (Eph. 1:10; 3:9-11; 4:14, 16).
The different teachings, the winds of teaching, are with the sleight of men, in crafty schemes to lead men into a system of error.
Here the work of Satan is not so apparent and not so easily perceived, for he doesn’t come in an obvious way but rather, he disguises himself with a sheep’s skin, coming in our midst speaking nice words, but whatever he speaks is subtle and deceitful.
Satan has a system of error, and, if it were possible, he would induce all Christians into it.
His goal and aim with his system of error are to carry the saints away from the central lane of the divine revelation; he wants to frustrate and even tear down the building up of the Body of Christ.
These winds of teaching cause the little children, the infants in the Lord who are not mature in life, to be tossed by waves, thereby suffering uneasiness in the church life.
Satan’s thoughts are not just to cause us to make a mistake; he has a system of error, and he wants to deceive us through apparently good and scriptural teachings from the apostles’ teaching, with the goal of bringing in division and loss of faith.
We may think that we still read the Bible, we still serve the Lord, but as we go on and on, we are not clear what is God’s economy and what is the teaching of the apostles.
We may not make many mistakes in our moves and actions, but we may enter into a system of error, something subtle, in the sleight of men. Oh, Lord!
It’s like they do it when they gamble, employing trickery, very crafty so that you are completely oblivious of the sleight behind it.
As we pass through certain things, especially these days during the pandemic, we can see lies everywhere; some say this, others say that, and there is much deception and lying.
May we be preserved from being led into a system of error by holding fast to the teaching of the apostles so that we may not be deceived by the lies instigated by the sleight of men.
It would be such a tragedy for us to go on and mistakenly think we accomplish this or that for the Lord, and at the judgment seat He would tell us that, yes, we did love Him and we were faithful to Him, but He never knew us, for we took the wrong way, not the way of Christ and the church, the way of the Body being built up and the bride being prepared.
May we have a consciousness in our spirit, alertness, concerning what is God’s purpose and His economy; if we are clear concerning this, it will be easy to discern things, and we will not fall into Satan’s system of error.
May the Lord expose Satan’s system of error, and may we remain in the apostles’ teaching for the building up of the Body of Christ.
The purpose of these winds of teaching – which is the evil purpose of Satan, the enemy of God and our enemy – is to frustrate the building up of the organic Body of Christ and to divide the members of the organic Body of Christ, thus causing endless divisions instead of keeping the oneness of the Body of Christ in love and kindness (see 1 Cor. 1:10-11; Jude 19).
May we realize that this is a sobering matter, and may we bring this to the Lord in prayer, telling Him in all honesty,
Lord Jesus, we love You, we love the church, and we love Your eternal economy; keep us in the apostles’ teaching and cause us to grow in life as we enjoy You with the saints in the church life. Save us from giving heed to the different teachings and from being tossed about by the winds of teaching. May we be on guard and alert concerning the teachings that are different from the New Testament teaching concerning the economy of God for the building up of the Body of Christ. May we be clear concerning the eternal economy of God and have the growth in life with the necessary discernment so that we would take Your way according to Your heart’s desire. Amen, Lord, we are here for the building up of the church as the Body of Christ for the preparation of the bride and the consummation of the New Jerusalem!
Having Discernment in our Receiving of Teachings and Continuing Steadfastly in the Apostles’ Teaching
We thank and praise the Lord for bringing us into the church life in His recovery where we can enjoy the Lord with the saints, we can grow in life unto maturity, and we can be built up as the Body of Christ.
However, besides the many positive aspects of the church life, we need to be warned concerning the different teachings; we need to beware of the teachings that are different from the apostles’ teaching.
A good way to see whether a teaching is the genuine teaching of the apostles is the effect it leaves on us.
If we listen to a certain teaching for twenty or thirty minutes and we feel cold and even deadened inside, if we feel that we have more questions about the Lord and the faith, then this teaching is a different teaching and not the healthy teaching.
If after listening to a certain teaching we lose our morale in following the Lord, if we lose our interest for the church and meeting with the saints, and if we don’t love the church and the Lord’s recovery, this is not the apostles’ teaching.
If the result of listening to a certain teaching causes us to doubt the Lord, the church life, or the Lord’s heart toward us, this is a different teaching.
This is similar to our eating; our listening to teachings can be likened to our eating food.
For example, we may like seafood, but not everything that lives and moves in the sea is good for food.
In Lev. 11:10-11 we are told that aquatic animals without fins and scales are unclean; the guarantee of cleanness is these “fins” and “scales”.
We could consider that the “fins” and “scales” of the New Testament teaching are the Triune God, the all-inclusive Christ, and the church as the organic Body of Christ.
If a certain teaching doesn’t emphasize Christ and the church, if the result of a certain teaching is not that we love the Lord and seek to build up the church, that teaching is not healthy.
Regardless of how good a teaching may appear to be, with all the Scriptural references and good and ethical principles, for safety’s sake we should not take it.
May we be full of discernment in our eating; may we discern the teachings, for not everything that flies can be eaten, and not everything that lives and moves is good for food.
We may have the morale to love the Lord, follow Him, love the church, love the Lord’s recovery, and love the Bible, but if we open to the different teachings and allow them to come in without testing them against God’s economy, our morale is gone, and we are deadened inside. Oh, Lord!
Those who bring the winds of teaching often appear to be loving, showing care and concern for us; however, we need to always test and discern the teachings we receive by bringing them to the light of God’s economy according to the teaching of the apostles.
So many Christians started so well, being full of zeal for the Lord, only to end up following a wind of teaching which eventually led them to be cold toward the Lord, lose their fervent love toward the Bible and the church, and be deadened inside. Oh, Lord Jesus!
May we be able to properly discern a teaching according to the light in the word of God with God’s economy as a compass.
If we’re not able to discern a teaching, we should fellowship with the saints to receive some help; may we all cultivate a taste for the healthy teaching of the apostles in the church life, and may we remain in and continue steadfastly in the apostles’ teaching (Acts 2:42).
We may start well, we may enjoy the Lord today, but we need to continue steadfastly in the teaching of the apostles together with all the saints for the building up of the church as the Body of Christ.
Lord Jesus, we want to continue steadfastly in the teaching of the apostles. We love You, Lord, we love the church, and we love the Bible; we love Your recovery, and we give ourselves to pursue after You and remain in the healthy teaching of God’s economy. Grow in us and give us the discernment so that we may test all things and receive only the healthy teaching for the building up of the Body. May we not receive any teaching that is not focused on the dispensing of the Triune God, on the all-inclusive Christ, and on the church as the Body of Christ. Amen, Lord, we give ourselves to continue steadfastly in the teaching and fellowship of the apostles for the building up of the church as the Body of Christ consummating in the New Jerusalem!
References and Hymns on this Topic
- Sources of inspiration: the Word of God, my enjoyment in the ministry, the message by the brothers for this week, and portions from, Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1989, vol. 4, “The Apostles’ Teaching and the New Testament Leadership,” pp. 493-495, as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, The Intrinsic and Organic Building up of the Church as the Body of Christ (2021 International Chinese-Speaking Conference), week 5, The Intrinsic Factor of the Winds of Teaching for Their Evil Purpose.
- Hymns on this topic:
– Thus we must relinquish doctrines of all kinds, / Only keep the faith that oneness we may find. / In the Lord the Spirit we are one indeed; / Just to keep this oneness is our only need. (Hymns #832)
– We’re churching in the Spirit / On the church’s local ground; / We’re churching with our brothers, / Our family we have found. / Oh, yes, we’re churching with the churches, / And we’ll make the earth resound / With hallelujahs for Christ our land! (Hymns #1236)
– The Church the myst’ry is of Christ, / For He is now to man unshown; / No man on earth may see Him now, / But thru the Church He is made known. / The Church is Christ’s expression full, / In her Christ dwelleth bodily; / She is His duplication true, / And man in her Himself may see. (Hymns #818)
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