Beware of Wolves, Part 2

The Wake-up Herald

And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed. The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light. Let us walk honestly, as in the day; not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying. But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfill the lusts thereof. Romans 13:11-14

_______________________________________________________________________

  Robert McCurry, Editor & Publisher 
February 25, 2011 
_______________________________________________________________________

Beware of Wolves in Sheep's Clothing
Part Two
 

by Robert McCurry

Understanding the nature, spirit, and activity of the wolf

All wolves want to be leaders

Wolves have a social behavior based upon a hierarchical structure. There is an "alpha male" and an "alpha female." The "alpha male" is the leader of the pack. All other male wolves submit to him. There is also an "alpha female" who is the leader of the females in the pack. The "omega male" and "omega female" are the lowest ranking wolves. Each member of a pack knows its position in relationship to the other members, but all wolves want to be leaders and detest submitting to authority. Wolves that are driven from the pack or choose to leave on their own because they refuse to submit to authority and follow the "alpha" leadership are called lone wolves. However, since like-kind attracts like-kind, a lone wolf will soon find other lone wolves and together they will form a new pack and make another wolf den.

A wolf in sheep's clothing may come to a church appearing to be alone, but in reality he is a scout for its pack! If the hunting looks good, it won't be long until the rest of the pack will start drifting in. However, members of a wolf pack may not always attend the same church, but they maintain contact with one another and will work in concert to eventually produce division and havoc wherever they are.

Wolves are skilled strategists

Wolves are meat-eaters (carnivores). They use their incredible sense of smell combined with excelled hearing to help them find vulnerable prey. Wolves look for the animals they can kill easily, expending as little energy as possible and decreasing chances of injury to themselves. They are skilled at noticing the weak, young, or sickly animals and going after them.

When hunting large game, the wolf pack separates and surrounds its prey. In the attack wolves usually bite the shoulders and flanks. Some harry the prey from the rear while others seize it by the nose.

Wolves' jaws produce immense power - a crushing pressure of about 1,500 pounds per square inch compared with 750 pounds for average large domestic dogs. Wolves have 42 teeth specialized for stabbing, shearing, and crushing bones. The first four front bottom teeth are called incisors and are used for nipping and gnawing meat from the bone. Wolves use their canine teeth, which can grow to be 2 inches in length, for gripping and holding the prey. The premolars are used for slicing and grinding. The specialized molars, called carnassials, are used for slicing and tearing. The last molars are used for pulverizing and grinding food.

The wolf's sense of smell is up to 100,000 times greater than a human's. Under the right conditions a wolf can smell things from 300 yards to a mile away.

The wolf's hearing is also excellent. Wolves can hear a howl as far as six miles away in the forest and ten miles away on the open plain.

Today people have made the mistake of breeding wolves with domesticated dogs. These animals are known as wolf-hybrids. Remember: Wolves are not pets. They are wild animals and should remain wild and free. Wolves will kill for the sake of killing.

Interestingly, church wolves in sheep's clothing may initially be very agreeable to everything that is going on when they first arrive at a church and will be profuse in their praise for the church and the pastor. A wolf will maintain an agreeable posture until he can identify and separate the young, weak, and sickly sheep from the flock and the shepherd, and then he moves in for the kill. This may take years. But it will eventually happen because this is the wolf's nature -- the wolf's disguise in sheep's clothing notwithstanding.

Pastor Milby speaks of his personal experience with church wolves:

"My dear brothers and sisters, you cannot predict the actions of the wolves in your congregation. Just because they were nice to you at Christmas or during the time of death or tragedy involving your family does not mean they will be the same tomorrow. Remember. A wolf is a wolf and the true wolf nature will come out when the situation is right. Once a wolf has taken down a preacher, he or she will never be satisfied until they have tasted blood again. Remember. You cannot predict the actions of a wolf.

"When the wolf is known to be a wolf, no mercy should be shown him. I have never known a wolf to straighten up his act permanently. If you get hot on his trail, he may change for a season, but when the heat is off he will revert to his old nature and redouble his efforts to a wicked end."

A church wolf in sheep's clothing is very observant and has a keen sense to detect a weak, inexperienced, or sickly sheep. A wolf uses his hearing as much as, and in some cases more, than any of the other senses to detect prospects for a kill. A wolf uses the skills of his mouth to destroy a lamb or sheep by feeding it garbage and refuse about the church and the preacher. His primary attack will be about "how the church is run and the preacher having too much authority." Remember. A church wolf despises and rejects God-ordained Scriptural authority and strong leadership.

In addition to his attacks on the church and the pastor, the wolf will convince the sheep of his superior "spirituality" and "intellectual knowledge" about the Bible. Church wolves may study and memorize the Bible in order to argue, prove their point, or reach their goal. Of course, the wolf is subtle about his activities. He will allege that he is doing what he is doing only because he is "concerned."

Remember. Wolves are "night creatures" and operate in the dark. Church wolves in sheep's clothing fear the exposure of light and perform their work in "private, confidential" conversations on the telephone, the Internet, in a church corner, the church parking lot, or at a restaurant under the guise of "fellowship."

Wolves swallow their food at the kill site, returning to the den, and vomit it up for the pups or other members of the pack who are too weak or lazy to hunt for their own food. A church wolf will take great pride in retelling, rehashing, and reliving in the ears of his family, friends, acquaintances - anyone who will listen - their sordid tales and experiences of trouble and problems in the church.

The wolf's mouth skills are set on fire of hell. "Even so the tongue is a little member, and boasteth great things. Behold, how great a matter a little fire kindleth! And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity: so is the tongue among our members, that it defileth the whole body, and setteth on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire of hell" (James 3:5, 6).

Wolves are ravenous

Pastor Milby writes:

"This word ravenous means that the wolf will take by force and consume greedily. It is also defined in Webster's Dictionary as to seize or devour hungrily. Believe me, there are not enough rough words and expressions in the English language to describe the awfulness of the attack of the wolf. Many times what occurs in an attack makes no sense at all. There are times when hunger seems to have very little or nothing to do with it. Four or five wolves have been known to kill five or six elk or caribou. They then drank some blood, ate some backbone, consumed the tongue, and left the area, never to return. A single wolf has been known to repeatedly pounce on a grizzly bear.

"Dear friend, if you think you can defeat the wolf in your congregation by a mild rebuke, you had better think again. By his very nature (he is not saved) he is there to 'steal, to kill, and to destroy.' There is no such thing as a nice wolf. If he is allowed to go unhindered by weak leadership, he will pull you down, chill your blood, steal your backbone, still your voice (your tongue) and then walk away and say, 'Why is everyone so upset?' And here is a special wonder. When he sees you the next week at the restaurant he may act as though you are his long-lost friend. I have had the appalling experience of meeting them after a bloodletting episode at the church when they would greet me with a smile, handshake, inquire about my health and my family and act as though nothing had ever happened."

Remember. The Hebrew word ravenous means: "to rip and tear into shreds," indicating the bloodthirsty nature of the wolf. It speaks of fierce cruelty. Wolves seem particularly cruel because they seek out the weak, the young, the old, and the defenseless as victims. The flow of blood incites them to rip and tear even more with their powerful jaws.

Continued in Part 3