This vital message is an excerpt from the book Deceivers and False Prophets Among Us
The Divine Guarantee of Counterfeit Leaders
and Their Subversion of Truth
GOD alone is in control and not the false prognosticator false watchmen! HE’s in control of the timing of all things, not you or any other fraud! … REMEMBER, when that demonic maniac hitler was on the world scene, many thought it was the end! Wrong! Think!
Any man calling himself (self-appointed) a prophet, is suspect. True servants of the lord simply do their LORD’s work humbly, never drawing attention to themselves by using titles – which Jesus forbids (Matthew 23:8-12).
BEWARE OF THE “PROPHETIC” WARLOCKS! The term “prophetic” never appears in Scripture, much less phrases invented by modern wolves such as “prophetic praise,” “the prophetic,” “prophetic warfare,” “prophetic worship,” etc. RUN from this witchcraft which is designed to bring you under the control of Satan’s warlocks pretending to have a word for you as a prophet of God! Wolves in sheep’s clothing! You have God’s Word and Holy Ghost – from Genesis to Revelation – which is the “MORE sure word of prophecy” (2 Peter 1:16-21).
2 Peter 1:12-21 is so important in realizing that the WRITTEN Word is “the MORE sure word of prophecy.” The Holy Scriptures are the divine Word which is prophetic in nature because God who gave it “inhabiteth eternity” and declared that He spoke it. He spoke “the end from the beginning” and it’s all recorded in the Holy Scriptures (Isaiah 46:9-10; 57:15). God’s written Word is even more divinely authoritative, sanctioned than the actual audible voice of the Father speaking from Heaven! Life changing revelation here. Hope it will be poured over carefully by His saints. Go read this passage in the King James Bible (always). 2 Peter 1:12-21
“But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily (secretly) shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction. 2 And many shall follow their pernicious ways; by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of. 3 And through covetousness shall they with feigned words make merchandise of you: whose judgment now of a long time lingereth not, and their damnation slumbereth not.” 2 Peter 2:1-3
Notice the promise given us here: “there shall be false teachers among you.” This is a definitive statement – “there SHALL be false teachers among you.”
The so-called “prophetic” movement is for those who want to self-actualize, a luciferian New Age term and practice. Pure damnable pride. These are warlocks and witches, operating in witchcraft while using the name of the LORD in vain.
Many seek to capitalize on your desire to discern, know, and follow God’s will. Beware.
God’s Word says “despise not prophesyings” and yet in the very next sentence it also warns us to “prove (test) all things” (1 Thessalonians 5:20-21). I don’t even read most “prophecies,” prophetic words, dreams, visions, etc. that circulate these days. Most of these “words” are coming from un-grounded novices, or flagrant flakes who don’t simply “Preach the word” but rather keep the circus wheels of their “ministry” spinning by their continual words (2 Timothy 4:2-4). Not that I despise them and yet the Word of God is inherently prophetic and the primary way God leads and guides His New Testament church (Isaiah 46:9-10; 2 Timothy 3:16-17; 2 Peter 1:19-21, etc.).
“Despise not prophesyings. 21 Prove all things; hold fast that which is good.” 1 Thessalonians 5:20-21
GOD already told us in His Word all we need to know about these final days (Isaiah 46:9-10; 2 Peter 1:3-4; 19-21, etc.). Gauging all things by the written Word is key to escaping the prophesied end time apostasy. Some people choose to be led astray by the “MANY false prophets” Jesus warns us about who would “deceive MANY” (Matthew 24:11).
Here’s what the so-called “prophetic” is all about… scary…. SHOCKING DOCUMENTARY – False spirits invade the church – KUNDALINI WARNING – Andrew Strom
The Son of God warned:
“Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening (devouring) wolves. Ye shall know (discern) them by their fruits.” Matthew 7:15-16
“Beware.” This Scriptural instruction is seldom found on a refrigerator door in a Christian household, yet maybe it should be, to keep us alert to our need for vigilance and discernment concerning the reality of those in our midst who are “false prophets” and operate in “sheep’s clothing” and yet are “ravening (devouring) wolves.”
Is it not possible that Jesus is alerting and warning His people that the very leaders, to whom you and I now listen, are deceivers among us? Doesn’t His statement make this obvious? Who will we trust and serve, the One who bled for us and is soon to return, or those who claim to be leading us in the right way?
Over reaction on the Bible topic of false leaders? If you can find the phrase “many true prophets” in God’s Word, show it. Hint: It’s not there. Yet, we are repeatedly warned of “many false prophets” who would “deceive many” and how in these last days “evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived” (Matthew 24:11; 1 John 4:1; 2 Timothy 3:13).
CLUE: False leaders say what they say and do what they do TO GET YOU TRUSTING IN THEM, PATRONIZING THEIR MINISTRY. True servants of Christ preach you into a corner so that you have nowhere else to look but upward to the LORD and nothing else to do but to cry out to JESUS in full surrender (1 Corinthians 1:29-2:5).
In the most basic sense, a true prophet is simply one who represents the LORD from a pure heart and according to His Word, whereas a false prophet misrepresents the LORD by his refusal to adhere to the teachings of Christ and His apostles.
In this same text, Jesus told us we would know all leaders according to the “fruit” of their lives and this includes whether or not they teach the pure Word of God (Matthew 7:15-20). It simply does not matter how upstanding, educated, well-spoken or popular a man is – he is still only a man, and if he is not establishing God’s Word in the hearts of people, he is false.
“Sheep’s clothing” – Whether knowingly or unknowingly, “wolves” labor among God’s people undetected by most. Stealth deceivers could be their nomenclature. Those who are convicted to love and serve their LORD to the end discern the false from the true and depart from the false, while the unsuspecting remain and unknowingly endanger their own lives and perhaps the lives of others.
“Inwardly” – God looks on the heart, not the outward appearance (1 Samuel 16:7). In walking close to the LORD, we must seek and learn to see things the way He does. He plainly reveals to us here that there are those among us who pose as His and yet are leading His sheep into deception and ultimately destruction.
“Ravening (devouring) wolves” – Many in the church world today are not even aware of and/or do not perceive the severity of the Master’s warning. Remaining under the leadership of a devouring wolf (or wolves) who exists to destroy God’s sheep, can be deadly. In general, the wolf disguised by his sheep’s clothing, is simply a person in leadership who refuses to obey the Word of God, specifically in the doctrinal essentials (John 8:47; 1 Corinthians 15:1-4; 2 Corinthians 11:1-4; 2 Timothy 3:16-17; 3 John 9-12). The written Word of God has always been and will always be the primary way the LORD Jesus Christ leads His true followers (Mark 13:31; John 10:35; 2 Timothy 3:16-17; 2 Peter 1:16-21, Revelation 22:18-19).
WHEN deceivers use the phrase “Don’t put God in a box” what they are really saying is “Don’t listen to how God described Himself, His will, and His attributes, etc. Don’t listen to HIS own Word, let me show you an alternative, something that contradicts His Word!” Apostasy! Run! See Acts 17:10-11; Psalms 33:11; 119:89, 105; John 8:47; Romans 3:4; 2 Timothy 3:16-17; 2 Peter 1:19-21.
“God is not the way we say He is, God is the way the Bible says He is.” A.W. Tozer
In his book The Great Gospel Deception, David Kirkwood writes:
“False teachers are very deceptive. They have some exterior indications of being genuine. They may call Jesus their Lord, prophesy, cast out demons and perform miracles. However, the ‘sheep’s clothing’ only hides the ‘ravenous wolf.’ They aren’t of the true sheep. How can it be known if they are true or false? Their true character can be known by examining their ‘fruits.’
What are the fruits of which Jesus was speaking? They are the fruits of obedience to all He has taught. Those who are true, teach and do the will of the Father. Those who are false, teach what is not true and ‘practice lawlessness’ (7:23). Our responsibility, then, is to compare their teaching and lives with what Jesus taught and commanded.
False teachers abound today in the church, and we should not be surprised, because both Jesus and Paul forewarned us that, as the end approaches, we should expect nothing less (see Matt. 24:11; 2 Tim. 4:3-4). The most prevalent false prophets of our day are those who teach that heaven awaits the unholy. They are responsible for the eternal damnation of millions of people. Of them, John Wesley wrote:
‘How terrible is this!-when the ambassadors of God turn agents for the devil! – when they who are commissioned to teach men the way to heaven do in fact teach them the way to hell … If it be asked, Why, who ever did this?…I answer, Ten thousand wise and honourable men; even all those, of whatever denomination, who encourage the proud, the trifler, the passionate, the lover of the world, the man of pleasure, the unjust or unkind, the easy, careless, harmless, useless creatures, the man who suffers no reproach for righteousness’ sake, to imagine he is in the way to heaven. These are false prophets in the highest sense of the word. These are traitors both to God and man…They are continually peopling the realms of the night; and whenever they follow the poor souls they have destroyed, ‘hell shall be moved from beneath to met them at their coming!’” p. 164, 165
Faith Ranger writes:
“Psychics are sometimes accurate, does this make them prophets? Does the enemy not have his own prophets? The woman that followed the disciples, telling others that they were men of God, was a false prophet and the disciples rebuked her. But what she was saying was true.”
Can devils do miracles? “For they are the spirits of devils, working miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty” (Revelation 16:14). See also 2 Thessalonians 2:9-12 and Deuteronomy 13:1-10.
EVEN IF SOMEONE PROPHESIES AND IT ACTUALLY COMES TO PASS, OR DOES A REAL MIRACLE, DOES NOT MEAN THEY ARE TRUE! GET FAMILIAR WITH DEUTERONOMY 13:1-10 SAINTS. 1. CHECK THEIR DOCTRINE, AND 2. IF THEY ARE ANNOUNCING THEMSELVES AS A “PROPHET,” THAT IS A RED FLAG.
Honesty is Essential to Kingdom Learning
Saint of the LORD, before we continue, please allow a somewhat parenthetical assertion here, which will assuredly optimize this read. Being a truthful person, void of the predisposition of bias, is imperative to prosperous learning in God’s kingdom. Such is foundational to authentic learning and fruitfulness and demonstrates before the Supreme Court of the Universe, the absence of the sinful idolatry of mere men. Many of us are grossly steeped in what Christ and Paul termed “the doctrines of men” and we don’t even realize it (Mark 7:7-9; Colossians 2:22). Let us establish that in order to “grow” in the LORD, we are to “desire” and pour over the oracles of God and “receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls” (James 1:21). “The sincere milk of the word” is to be consumed and when it is, spiritual nutrients fill the heart (1 Peter 2:2). The true, born-again believer will hunger for the spiritual food of God’s Word. In order to glorify God by knowing why we believe what we believe, we must embark upon being more deeply rooted in the divine truth of holy Writ.
Especially in light of this guaranteed last days epidemic of beguilers and their false teachings, it is essential that we become more doctrinally intensive in order to more perfectly serve the One we love (Acts 18:24-26; 2 John 7-9). Without the sincere resolve to know God’s Word, it is evident that one possesses “no root in themselves” and is going to forfeit the blessed apprehension of divine truth and place his own soul in grave danger of deception (Mark 4:17). The upright character trait of honesty when looking at God’s Word is essential to fruitful learning and living in the kingdom (Luke 8:15).
“Thou shalt not wrest (pervert, twist, dilute) judgment; thou shalt not respect persons, neither take a gift: for a gift doth blind the eyes of the wise, and pervert the words of the righteous. That which is altogether just shalt thou follow, that thou mayest live, and inherit the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee.” Deuteronomy 16:19-20
In this all-important text, God instructs His people concerning divine truth and how they are to handle it. Note in particular: “thou shalt not respect persons…That which is altogether just shalt thou follow.”
Beloved, one must be sincerely willing to stop and make the grounded determination that the LORD truly is his God, and that the words, personalities, and teachings of all mere men (people in places of spiritual leadership) are vastly inferior and less aggrandized than the words of the Almighty. Such repentance from this subtle and deadly idolatry will include laying the axe to the root of the esteeming of best-selling authors and influential speakers. We must realize that hero worship is plainly spiritual adultery and actually causes our hearts to depart from the only One worthy of our heart worship and affections (Hos. 4:11).
Deceivers Guaranteed
“And as he sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world? And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you. For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many.” Matthew 24:3-5
When His twelve asked Jesus what would be the “sign” of His return, the very first thing He revealed and promised as a sign of the end of this age would be deceivers who come in His name (using His name) bearing messages to deceive “many.” This perhaps can apply to those evil emissaries who work within and outside of the church world. Many have claimed “I am Christ.” One particular world religion has as its head a “Pope” who is said to be the Vicar of Christ, or the one on earth who takes the place of Christ. More on this later (2 Thessalonians 2:9-12).
The Son of God warned “Take heed that no man deceive you.” To the believer, the deceiver who is operating within the church world, posing as a true servant of Christ, offers by far the most dangerous threat. This is what Jesus was talking about when He spoke of wolves who wear sheep’s clothing (Matthew 7:15-23).
Who are the agents He warned would come to give persuasive, seducing, delusions and messages which would deceive “many”?
“Behold, I come quickly: hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown.” Revelation 3:11
The Son of God warns here to “hold fast” to Him and to allow “no man” to “take thy crown.”
It is unfortunate that most in leadership today refuse to teach on the subject of the end times. God’s people would be so blessed to know the very first and most prevalent sign of the last days. Is this not amazing that we have refused to inform them? Isn’t it amazing that we seldom hear this cornerstone and safeguarding truth of the end times that Christ provided? According to the LORD Jesus, the most prevalent sign that would indicate that His return is coming soon is the manifestation of deceivers! Isn’t it high-time that His Word on this matter is made known?
This epidemic of evil being perpetrated in Christ’s very name is far too important to overlook. So, let us review and make sure this word sinks down into our hearts (Luke 9:44). What did the LORD say would be the most obvious sign of the end and of the soon return of Jesus Christ to the earth? In the most popular chapter on the return of Christ in the entire Bible, the disciples of Christ asked Him an all-important question and He answered them clearly. Can we read it again?
“And as he sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world? And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you. For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many.” Matthew 24:3-5
The warning here is two-fold: “And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you. For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many.”
Deception through the vehicle of men is the very first sign that the return of the LORD is near. – “Take heed that no man deceive you.”
“Beware of men.” Matthew 10:17
Most people, especially born-again believers, would like to think the best of people around them, especially their leaders. But Jesus warned us to beware and not to serve men but God alone (Luke 4:8).
“Many,” Not a Few
Deception through self-appointed leaders bearing false witness of themselves is the second earmark of deceivers.
“For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many.” Matthew 24:5
In order to cause His remnant to awake to the grave danger of those who “shall deceive many,” the Son of God goes on to lace this last days’ narrative with warnings of false prophets.
“And many (not a few) false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many (not a few).” Matthew 24:11
Here Jesus promised that not a few, but “many false prophets shall rise” and “shall deceive many.”
Fundamentally, the Master desires to embed in His people the reality of false prophets who look like they are His yet aren’t. Christ’s goal and desire is that we be not deceived by these “false brethren” working amidst His people (2 Corinthians 11:26; Galatians 2:4).
“And he said, Take heed that ye be not deceived: for many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and the time draweth near: go ye not therefore after them.” Luke 21:8
Christ repeatedly foretold that in the final days of this age “there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall show great signs and wonders (lying signs and wonders); insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect” (Matthew 24:24).
In iteration and warning concerning these last days in which we live, our LORD revealed that “many (not a few) false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many” (Matthew 24:11).
The apostle John states:
“For many deceivers are entered into the world ….” 2 John 7
The Bible foretells a great falling away in the end, not a great revival. So, when we hear such claims of a supposed revival, a red flag should go up. See 2 Thessalonians 2:13, 9-12 and 2 Timothy 3:13.
Of all those who fill pulpits, write books, speak on radio programs, and produce any number of Christian media communications, isn’t it amazing that so little is ever stated about the danger and prevalence of deceivers and false teachings in this last day? In fact, to the contrary, at the same time so many crassly neglect warning God’s people of deceivers, some even teach that these last days will bring a great revival. This is in stark contradiction to the prophesied “falling away” of the final days (2 Thessalonians 2:3).
“Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him, That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand. Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition.” 2 Thessalonians 2:1-3
Preceding the manifestation of “the son of perdition,” the Holy Spirit warned us that there would “come a falling away first.” It seems apparent that the LORD’s people must be blindfolded and the truth must be shunned in order for this mass deception to occur. According to the biblical revelation, this mass apostasy will come and is presently well under way, at the hands of a literal global army of deceived leaders, many who have formed a “conspiracy” against the LORD (Ezekiel 22:25-27).
Should we be surprised that God is angry with leadership? Is His wrath toward leadership a new thing? No, it is an ancient “controversy” (Isaiah 56:10-12; Jeremiah 23; Ezekiel 34; Hosea 4:1-19). Israel’s leaders were throughout the centuries specifically addressed and rebuked, and cited for their evil doings and how they had led astray God’s people (Isaiah 9:16).
“Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against the shepherds; and I will require my flock at their hand.” Ezekiel 34:10
“Controversy” is an integral part of walking with the LORD (Ezek. 22:25-27; 44:23-24). As long as the LORD Almighty allows evil to exist, there will be conflict – until He returns in His time to put down all rebellion. Until then, conflict is a reality, so we must face it in His truth and power as He leads (Ps. 94:16). Since the fall of man, conflict has been and will be until His kingdom is established upon the earth with His full reign (Matt. 11:12; Eph. 1:20-22; 1 Cor. 15:24-28; Heb. 2:8; Rev. 12:11).
Make no mistake: there is a “conspiracy” (Ezekiel 22:25-27). Mass apostasy comes at the hands of false teachers and their false teachings, and yet there must be those who believe and support these false teachings in order to facilitate this departure from the faith.
Speaking of “A Foreign Grace,” David Kirkwood, in his book The Great Gospel Deception, says:
“It is not only the fruit of people’s deeds that mark them as false teachers, but also the fruit of their words. If they teach what is contrary to essential New Testament doctrine, they are false teachers.
Of course, no teacher in the church is going to stand up and declare that he is teaching what is contrary to the New Testament. Rather, he will neglect certain important scriptures and twist others to persuade his constituency that he is teaching the truth. This is being done today by many very popular and influential teachers who teach about a grace that is foreign to the Bible. The grace they proclaim is not the true grace that leads to holiness…” p. 230
As David Kirkwood points out here, the false teacher is not going to stand up and announce that he is a wolf. It is the individual believer’s responsibility to discern leaders by the fruit of their teaching. What is not taught (left out of the message) can be more deadly than what is taught. What we don’t know can kill us. “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge” (Hos. 4:6). To be able to discern one must study the Word diligently and be exercised therein (2 Tim. 2:15; 3:16; Heb. 5:11-14). This gross lack of knowledge among those claiming to know the LORD is also an indication that many have not diligently studied the Word of God for themselves, but rather have relied upon their leaders to tell them what God has said. Consequently, so very many have been deluded with a false gospel.
Saint of the LORD, is Jesus Christ important enough to you to learn what He has stated to you in His Word? Is the LORD truly your first love? Are you actively and diligently memorizing Scripture – His words?
“These false teachers literally deny (notice the titles Jude used) the “only Lord God” (Jude 4). Because obedience is, in their minds, optional for those on the way to heaven, Jesus need not be one’s Master and Lord. Thus they deny that He is who He is by their teaching and lifestyles.” The Great Gospel Deception, David Kirkwood, P. 231
Outnumbered
“And there shall be, like people, like priest: and I will punish them for their ways, and reward them their doings.” Hosea 4:9
The Table of Jesus or Jezebel?
Mass apostasy was foretold (2 Thessalonians 2:3; 2 Timothy 4:3-4). When mass departure from the faith occurs, both classes are involved – leader and listener. It takes both parties to complete the circle and conspire against the LORD Almighty. Remember that Lucifer was the very first conspirator against the Almighty and was actually successful in convincing one-third of the angels in Heaven to depart with him (Revelation 12:4). Rebellion against the LORD is a reality today as it has been throughout history, yet there is a remnant, as has also been the case throughout history (1 Kings 18:4, 19).
“For it was so, when Jezebel cut off the prophets of the LORD, that Obadiah took an hundred prophets, and hid them by fifty in a cave, and fed them with bread and water.)…Now therefore send, and gather to me all Israel unto mount Carmel, and the prophets of Baal four hundred and fifty, and the prophets of the groves four hundred, WHICH EAT AT JEZEBEL’S TABLE.” 1 Kings 18:4, 19
Like the days of Elijah, today is no different. The “MANY false prophets” we are often warned about today, eat at the table of the enemy (Matthew 7:15; 24:11). They are known in that they have sacrificed Christ for provision, a salary, the applause of sinful men, and if they don’t repent will perish.
Apparently, as we see in this scenario, those true prophets that Obadiah fed were outnumbered by the false prophets 850 to 100.
We are missing the very warnings about deception which we most urgently need. We must not allow our ears to wax heavy amidst the activities of this fleeting life lest we lose out in the end (Luke 21:34-36).
Is it not utterly astounding that many leaders do not care enough to warn their listeners to “beware of false prophets” and teachers who spawn and perpetuate the multiplicity of deceptions present within the church world today? Perhaps their refusal to warn reveals that some of them do not want to be detected as false themselves.
One of the greatest tragedies is that, in many cases, these damnable doctrines, taught by “false teachers” and “false prophets” go unchecked, unchallenged and unannounced by those in leadership (2 Peter 2:1). Does such dreadful negligence not make suspect these who refuse to recognize and announce such?
When was the last time you personally heard a message preached warning believers to “beware of false prophets” and to “beware lest any man spoil you?” (Matthew 7:15; 1 Jn. 4:1; Colossians 2:8).
Friend, are you aware that whole chapters of Scripture are dedicated to exposing false prophets? (See Deuteronomy 13, Jeremiah 23, Matthew 23, Ezekiel 22, Ezekiel 34, Jude, 2 Peter 2, Revelation 2 and 3, the end of Isaiah 56 and Philippians 3.) The frequency of such divine warnings underscore the vital nature of staying in the doctrine and will of Christ and guarding against the beguilers who “lie in wait to deceive” (Ephesians 4:14). What is staggering is that even though the LORD Himself considered it extremely important to have numerous warnings recorded concerning the prevalence and danger of deceivers and false teachings, today we are hard-pressed to find any of our leaders saying a single word about such an onslaught against the minds and eternal destiny of God’s people. What an outrage! Much is at risk. Who has ordered this gag rule? This can be nothing less than diabolical!
Storm Clouds Have Gathered
“That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive.” Ephesians 4:14
Those leaders who are true to God preach, warn, and teach in order to prepare His people for Christ’s soon return (Colossians 1:27-29). God’s people are to take personal responsibility to become grounded in His Word so that they can discern, and no more be tossed about by the many and various storm winds of false doctrine blowing through the world of the Church at large. Being grounded in the Word and able to discern truth from error is a mark of maturity.
It is a divine mandate for those who are called to “feed the flock of God” to establish His truth in the hearts of the sheep of the Great Shepherd (1 Peter 5:2). By hearing and adhering to the pure Word of God, His people are matured and no more as vulnerable to the winds which are blown into the midst of the body of Christ on the wings of an army of false teachers. God’s people are nourished and secured in His truth (Proverbs 4:20-24; 30:5; Luke 4:4; Acts 20:27-32). Those who are not being fed and who are not personally taking time to study the Word of God, are sickly, malnourished, and have become prey to the wolves in our midst. The Psalmist cried:
“Lift up thy feet unto the perpetual desolations; even all that the enemy hath done wickedly in the sanctuary. 4 Thine enemies roar in the midst of thy congregations; they set up their ensigns for signs. 5 A man was famous according as he had lifted up axes upon the thick trees. 6 But now they break down the carved work thereof at once with axes and hammers. 7 They have cast fire into thy sanctuary, they have defiled by casting down the dwelling place of thy name to the ground.” Psalms 74:3-7
Note in the above text that David sought the LORD in weeping because the enemy of souls roared “in the sanctuary…of thy (God’s) congregations.”
The fact alone that the word “beware” appears 14 times in connection with deceivers and deception in the New Testament Scripture is evidence enough that those who don’t openly declare such to the sheep of God’s pasture are, at best, deceived. It is nothing less than reprehensible that men who stand in places of leadership would not pay attention to and communicate these divinely-inspired warnings. Those who don’t are suspect as those who intentionally and dishonestly dodge truth that does not play into their own personal agenda. It seems that, unlike David, the overwhelming majority of men in leadership positions today do not care nor cry out for the LORD to deliver His people from the enemy and his ravaging lies. They also refuse to awake and warn God’s people with a warning which would otherwise secure His children in the safety of His truth (Prov. 30:5).
Sounding the Alarm
In any developed nation, alarms and meteorologists sound off when storms are approaching, in order to warn the people of that local geographic area to take cover or measures to prevent the harm the coming storm could bring. For sure, the threat is announced loud and clear repeatedly in order to warn all of the people to beware and take precaution. Yet, amazingly enough, the most deadly danger in the universe exists in the Church world which threatens the spiritual health and eternal well-being of the very people of God, and warnings arise from so few.
In 2005, when hurricane Katrina was approaching the gulf coastal states, the beckoning call to flee was sounded long and loud to people who lived in those areas. Most fled, some stayed. The winds were at 160 MPH, so the severity of the threat was at level 5. Such approaching danger could not be overly stressed, just as the great threat of the hurricane winds of deception rushing upon the coasts of the people of God cannot be over exaggerated.
When some envision deceivers, they picture one who manipulates people out of their earthly monies, yet much more evil are those who rob men of their eternal souls by not leading them to the only One who can save and secure them. One can go to Heaven while poor on earth, but he cannot go to Heaven without possessing and maintaining the riches of Christ’s salvation. Far more insidious and dangerous are those who withhold divine truth and the warning they are supposed to be giving to the souls they are called to feed, oversee, guard, and nurture.
Because they don’t drink in and heed the “more sure word of prophecy,” the Holy Scriptures, many men in leadership today do not see/perceive the storm clouds that have gathered to converge upon the people of God (2 Peter 1:19-21). We have been warned about the great falling away and the fact that Satan has but a short time and has therefore come down with great wrath upon the saints, yet little or no warning is ever heard amidst the many words of the leaders who forge ahead, building their own names and kingdoms (2 Thess. 2:3; Rev. 12:12). Have you ever wondered if we possess even a clue?
YOU won’t find many church buildings in the book of Acts (Acts 2:42-47). Yet you find true worshipers!
“Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked.” Revelation 3:17
Like those in Laodicea whom the LORD addressed here, many in leadership positions are preoccupied with self-interests. These men are blinded, having no idea how separated they are from the LORD. Perhaps these men haven’t fasted even one day for years, don’t read the Bible more than five minutes daily, and have little or no intimacy in their personal prayer lives. Like the leaders of Isaiah’s day, they are greedy and blind and cannot respond to the alarm of God much less give it to the people they oversee.
“His watchmen are blind: they are all ignorant, they are all dumb dogs, they cannot bark; sleeping, lying down, loving to slumber. Yea, they are greedy dogs which can never have enough, and they are shepherds that cannot understand: they all look to their own way, every one for his gain, from his quarter. Come ye, say they, I will fetch wine, and we will fill ourselves with strong drink; and to morrow shall be as this day, and much more abundant.” Isaiah 56:10-12
Did you notice the root cause of the blindness of these wayward leaders? Read the above text again and notice the selfishness and self-idolatry of these false prophets the LORD cites. The LORD warned us prophetically that In the final days there would be those who would have a “form of godliness” and at the same time would be “lovers of their own selves” (2 Timothy 3:1-5).
Satan is plundering the people of God with numerous cyanide-laced poisons and, like the armies of Israel, most leaders seem to be doing little about it. They are too busy with their own self-life. Like David, the man with a heart that panted after the LORD, and a valiant warrior of Jehovah, we must ask as he did:
“Is there not a cause?” 1 Samuel 17:29
The ‘giant’ of exponential falsehoods is stealing the glory of the Most High and poisoning His very people. Is this not reason enough to be outraged? Why do some take such an atrocity that strikes at the heart of our LORD so lightly and crassly overlook such a deadly threat which causes men to be spiritually spoiled (ruined)? (See Col. 2:8.) How can this be?! Perhaps the LORD is calling us to revisit and obey Isaiah 58.
False doctrines, peddled by wolves in sheep’s clothing, place the souls of men in danger of hell fire. Friend, speaking specifically of the very last days, the divinely inspired terms “doctrines of devils” and “damnable heresies” clearly communicate to us that there are devils behind certain doctrines and they will damn the souls of those who buy into them (1 Timothy 4:1; 2 Peter 2:1). Furthermore, it is essential to remain in Christ and in His doctrines and to give no approval to falsehoods, but to remain in right standing with God (2 John 9-10). How needed are those who love Christ and His body enough to obey the mandate to establish His truth and warn His people to beware!
Historical Sketch
Should we be surprised that God is angry with leadership? Is His wrath toward leadership among His people a new thing? No, it is ancient. Israel’s leaders were throughout the centuries specifically addressed and rebuked, and cited explicitly for their evil doings.
“Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against the shepherds; and I will require my flock at their hand.” Ezekiel 34:10
Terrorist Warnings
Would it be wrong for the government of any nation to neglect to warn their own people of certain cataclysmic events they have knowledge of? If information of an attack was known prior to the violence transpiring, and the government didn’t warn the people, would the people of that nation be justified in their outrage? Thousands of lives could be at stake. Would the withholding of known information by our political leaders concerning an attack on America be criminal treason? The answer is obvious.
Israeli, American, and British intelligence of criminal terrorist activities is the best in the world. Having intelligence of a terrorist plot to kill and maim the citizens of a nation, encumbers the entity that possesses that information with a moral obligation. At best, it would be contemptuous to withhold such vital data, which would lead to the prevention of many casualties. On the other hand, a national agency, having been informed of a planned terrorist attack at a certain location and time, which doesn’t divulge that information to the people, has committed treason and is responsible for the harm that comes upon that people. The written laws of civilized nations include the criminal act of conspiring to withhold information and obstruct justice. Such is contemptuous and criminal.
In the same way, if those who hold positions of spiritual leadership, armed with numerous scriptural intelligence warnings of evil emissaries and their teachings, do not warn God’s people, they are conspiring with the enemy of all souls and placing themselves under the judgment of a holy divine Shepherd. These leaders have refused to arm themselves and warn according to the divinely breathed intelligence report once delivered to the saints of Christ in holy Writ. The refusal of leaders to warn God’s people of those terrorists whom He repeatedly guaranteed would creep in secretly and sow deadly poisons is criminal.
If the officials of your city possessed intelligence of a terror attack planned against your neighborhood and refused to warn the people, how would you feel if such an attack came and killed and maimed many? Would you feel outraged? Would you now feel violated? Would you feel vulnerable or safe and secure?
Are You Outraged?
Friend, are there not people being spiritually destroyed due to the refusal of those in leadership to warn, according to the perfect divine source of intelligence, God’s Word? The apostle Paul clearly told us that warning was an integral part of the divine calling mandated upon true shepherds (Colossians 1:27-29; 2:8).
Consider the divine mandate upon those in leadership and the severe consequence for not warning:
“But if the watchman (leader) see the sword come (judgment coming), and blow not the trumpet (warn), and the people be not warned; if the sword (judgment) come, and take any person from among them, he is taken away in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at the watchman’s hand.” Ezekiel 33:6
Men who refuse to warn of the evil winds of doctrine blowing upon the people of God are liable before the holy Judge of the Supreme Court of the Universe. Without repentance and life change, these men will be found guilty of causing many of God’s blood-bought people to go astray. Such gross negligence is criminal and will be punishable at the Judgment seat.
“Whoso causeth the righteous to go astray in an evil way, he shall fall himself into his own pit: but the upright shall have good things in possession.” Proverbs 28:10
The absence of such warning transmitting from supposed men of God is nothing less than criminal.
If Paul Warned, Why Don’t Leaders Today Warn?
Paul the apostle of Jesus Christ, sets forth the standard for all who will be true to the LORD in their leadership:
“…Christ in you, the hope of glory: Whom we preach, warning every man, and teaching every man in all wisdom; that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus: Whereunto I also labour, striving according to his working, which worketh in me mightily.” Colossians 1:27-29
The Holy Spirit empowered Paul to preach about Jesus while also warning and teaching. Paul openly announced here that his calling was to preach, warn, and teach. That’s right, we are instructed to preach, warn and teach. – Not just preach and teach, but also to warn. This is the Gospel calling, and anyone who will please the LORD will do all three of these things when ministering. Does this mean that a third of what we do should be to warn? Think about it.
The apostle Paul warned the Ephesian elders:
“For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock. Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them.” Acts 20:29-30
It should be noted here that this great apostle of Jesus was deeply concerned with safeguarding the souls of God’s people, thus this explicit prophetic warning extends to all Christians of the New Testament era. He told the Philippian believers that he did “write the same things” (Philippians 3:1). Paul continually reiterated the pillar doctrines of Christ. This apostle of Jesus stated that such continual reestablishing of eternal truth was “safe” for the Philippian Christians. This servant of God was a safeguard to the people of God by teaching and continually infusing divine truth in them.
Counterfeit ministers in prominence are the very first sign that our LORD’s return is near. Why then do those in leadership seldom if ever tend to this Biblically prevalent doctrine today? This utterly astounds me personally. As I read through the New Testament, I witness the multiplicity of warnings concerning deceivers and false prophets and marvel that this is almost never mentioned much less taught in the church world today! Wow! Where is the protective concern in our leaders? Are they so busy serving their own selfish, ego-driven appetites that they have no heart for God’s sheep?
Was Jesus lying when He told us that there would be “many false prophets” cloaked in “sheep’s clothing”? (See Matthew7:15.) If we truly believe upon Jesus, we should embrace all of His Counsel, and we are mandated to divulge it (Mark 8:38).
Here is a partial Bible list by term of the type of counterfeit leaders to beware of in this last hour:
- False prophets (term appears 7 times: Matthew 7:15;24:11,24; Mark 13:22; Luke 6:26; 2 Peter 2:1; 1 John 4:1)
- False teachers (2 Peter 2:1)
- False apostles (2 Corinthians 11:13; Revelation 2:2)
- Deceivers (Job 12:16; Malachi 1:14; Titus 1:10; 2 John 7)
If Jesus Warned, Why Don’t Leaders Today Warn?
The deafening silence of those who lead today enables deceivers and false teachings and allows for God’s people to be led astray. Carte blanche access has been given to Satan’s emissaries who wear sheep’s clothing to distort, deceive, and bring ultimate damnation. Leaders (and all believers) are mandated and responsible to warn, in obedience to Christ.
On many occasions, Christ warned of false prophets and deception. Anyone who is following Him should be doing the same – in an attempt to protect those who are His. The Son of God made a public announcement, warning all to “Beware” of the writers of His day and at all times:
“Then in the audience of all the people he said unto his disciples, Beware of the scribes, which desire to walk in long robes, and love greetings in the markets, and the highest seats in the synagogues, and the chief rooms at feasts; Which devour widows’ houses, and for a show make long prayers: the same shall receive greater damnation.” Luke 20:45-47
The Method of Deception
Plainly Christ warned “Beware of the scribes.” The Greek word here for “scribe” is grammateus, which means a writer, i.e., (professionally), a scribe or secretary. As in Christ’s days on earth, we should be very careful of the writers of today, the modern-day scribes who write books, many of which are best-sellers that fill the shelves of Christian bookstores. In my estimation, the modern church world today clearly demonstrates its lack of discernment and apostasy by the way it neglects the 66 books of the Bible and runs after deceptive and doctrinally misleading and heretical fad books. Specific resources are available concerning some of these fad books on this site.
“Scribes” would include any religious or “Christian” communicator today such as Bible translators, writers, journalists, bloggers, etc.
Discernment is a landmark of spiritual maturity and to be sought for by all believers. It is the duty of all leaders to foster such in those they lead (Colossians 2; Revelation 3:18).
“Let no man deceive you with vain words.” Ephesians 5:6
The apostle Paul here warns us that false prophets, who are prevalent in our midst, deceive through words. Also, under the inspiration of the Holy Ghost, the apostle Peter and Jude penned these words of warning:
“For when they speak great swelling words of vanity, they allure through the lusts of the flesh, through much wantonness, those that were clean escaped from them who live in error.” 2 Peter 2:18
“These are murmurers, complainers, walking after their own lusts; and their mouth speaketh great swelling words, having men’s persons in admiration because of advantage.” Jude 1:16
The Test of Deception
“People want a word from God instead of the Word OF God.” Warren Smith
You may be asking: Why would the LORD allow such deceivers and deception to operate and even abound? Here is the reason:
“For there must be also heresies among you, that they which are approved may be made manifest among you.” 1 Corinthians 11:19
Apparently, we have a glimpse into the mind of God here concerning the dividing purpose of truth and lies. He ultimately rules over deceivers and their deceptions. If one can be led astray from the LORD by false teachings and false prophets, it is because his heart is simply not in right standing with the LORD. The true disciples of Christ are made “manifest” by embracing the truth of God’s Word amidst the many deceptions that abound in the church world in this last hour. In contrast, those who are not true in their heart of hearts to the LORD, even though they have an outward appearance of serving Him, will be taken in by the deceptions of the last day false prophets and their deceptive teachings, luring them to serve the lusts of their own flesh.
“For there are certain men crept in unawares (undiscerned; not noticed by most), who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness (in their teachings), and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ.” Jude 4
Ultimately, the LORD created all and is in charge of all.
“With him is strength and wisdom: the deceived and the deceiver are his.” Job 12:16
It is undeniable that there are and will be those who will be drawn away from the truth after having known it:
“Now the Spirit speaketh expressly (clearly), that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils; Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron; Forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from meats, which God hath created to be received with thanksgiving of them which believe and know the truth.” 1 Timothy 4:1-3
To religious people (those who are religious but don’t know Jesus), Christ states:
“Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.” John 8:44
Satan knows he only has a short time to use his tool of deception to lure us away from the LORD, so he has come down with great wrath through the use of many a media method and messenger.
“Therefore rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell in them. Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea! for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time.” Revelation 12:12
Remaining in the Truth
We are to nurture and remain in the truth of the Gospel of Christ until the end of our lives.
“Whosoever transgresseth, and abideth (remains) not in the doctrine of Christ, hath not God. He that abideth (remains) in the doctrine of Christ, he hath both the Father and the Son.” 2 John 9
It is imperative that we also help others to hearken to the voice of the LORD and escape the fate of the “many” who are being deluded all around us.
“If thou put the brethren in remembrance of these things, thou shalt be a good minister of Jesus Christ, nourished up in the words of faith and of good doctrine, whereunto thou hast attained…Take heed unto thyself, and unto the doctrine; continue in them: for in doing this thou shalt both save thyself, and them that hear thee.” 1 Timothy 4:6, 16
As “a good minister of Jesus Christ, nourished up in the words of faith,” other “brethren” are to “hear thee…(as you) put the brethren in remembrance” of “the words of faith.”
The Danger of Being Led Astray
“Ye therefore, beloved, seeing ye know these things before, beware lest ye also, being led away with the error of the wicked, fall from your own stedfastness.” 2 Peter 3:17
Even though the New Testament and Old are replete with such warnings, it may be the very first time anyone has ever pointed out to you that God has promised that there would be “many false prophets” in our day and that you are personally in danger of being led astray if you don’t guard your heart with His Word.
“Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try (test; examine) the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.” 1 John 4:1
Because of the numerous revelations from our LORD, we understand that there are “many false prophets” who are “gone out into the world.” And, in the complete absence of any such statement in Holy Scripture of many true prophets, we should be left to understand that the false far outnumber the true. The Bible simply never hints, much less promises, that there would ever be many true prophets or servant-leaders. The phrase “many false prophets” appears in Scripture, yet the term “many true prophets” never does. By simple deduction of what we read in Holy Scripture, we know that there are “many” false and few true godly leaders in the world.
“And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many.” Matthew 24:11
If the Apostle John Warned, Why Don’t Leaders Today Warn?
False prophets are simply identified by the fruit of their lives which would include the falsehoods they teach, leading the righteous away from the LORD and His ways. Identifying, staying clear of them, and helping others discern, are all-important tasks in this last hour before Christ returns. Consider the pastoral words of the apostle John in warning those he wrote to then, and now, to be careful of “them that seduce you.”
“These things have I written unto you concerning them that seduce you. But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him. And now, little children, abide in him; that, when he shall appear, we may have confidence, and not be ashamed before him at his coming.” 1 John 2:26-28
With all confidence, John assures all believers of the “anointing,” which is the presence of the Holy Ghost indwelling us. John confirms that the Holy Ghost will lead us into all truth, as we abide in the LORD and His Word. It is when we are continuing in the doctrine and life of the LORD Jesus Christ that “we may have confidence, and not be ashamed before him at his coming” (1 John 2:26-28).
Each and every follower of Jesus Christ is personally responsible to remain in the truth, living in the clear doctrines of Holy Scripture given to us by our Maker and Redeemer. In his book entitled Life In the Son, Dr. Robert Shank pens these words:
“John warns his dear children in the faith against the efforts of apostates to lead them astray through false doctrines, exhorting them to ‘Let that therefore abide (remain) in you, which ye have heard from the beginning [the true Gospel]. If that which ye have heard from the beginning shall remain in you, ye also shall continue in the Son, and in the Father. And this is the promise that he hath promised us, even eternal life.’ (1 Jn. 2:24-25. Cf II Tim. 3:13-15, Col. 1:21-23).
It is the testimony of our Savior and the New Testament writers that an initial reception of the word of the Gospel must be followed by faithful retention, if men are to continue in the saving grace of Christ and the eternal life of God.” Shank, Robert Lee, Life in the Son, Bethany House Publishers, Minneapolis, Minnesota, 1960. pp. 33-34)
The Promised Increase of Deceivers
We also discover from reading the New Testament that the closer we get to the end, the greater will be the proliferation of deceivers and their deceptions.
“But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived.” 2 Timothy 3:13
For some reason, unknown fully to this writer, it appears from Scripture and my own perspective of experience, that so many people who get into ministry simply are not genuinely rooted in God. Perhaps, many who enter into ministry are zealous and driven, yet may not realize motives which are foreign to the will of God.
ARE you seeking to experience God OR to KNOW HIM? (John 17:3)
Some, at least in part, enter into ministry service viewing it as a profession instead of being impelled by divinely instilled holy passion for His people. When we are not led of the Holy Spirit to do full-time ministry, will we inevitably serve ourselves utilizing this profession as a means to personal gain? Is it not His will that each of His children be led by His Spirit in the divine call which He has for their individual lives?
Like Judas and others listed in Scripture, many of those in ministry have already fallen away and certainly many more to come will also. The dangerous aspect of this fact is that many of those who have fallen away in their hearts still remain in positions of leadership. Does this not allow the enemy to truly operate through them to mislead others?
In most cases, these men have enlisted themselves into the army of Satan by simply neglecting their own personal relationship with the One who bought them with His perfect blood (2 Peter 2:1-3).
In this late hour in which the love of many is waxing cold toward the LORD and His people, the 6 o’clock news and general media have more to report concerning fallen ministers than ever before. Is this not a fulfillment of the prophecy of our Savior?
“And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another. And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many. And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold. But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.” Matthew 24:10-13
The faithful follower of Christ will lay down his life to serve God and others fully, escaping the snare of the fowler by the precious divine grace imparted into his life (1 Peter 1:5; Revelation 2-3).
The danger of falling away is a reality according to our LORD. Jesus said that there would be those who “have no root in themselves, and so endure but for a time: afterward, when affliction or persecution ariseth for the word’s sake, immediately they are offended.” (Mark 4:17)
Discernment Clue: Ministries that aren’t provoking you to get into God’s Word FOR YOURSELF DAILY, simply want you to depend on them-not God!
The LORD Jesus Christ personally promised Judas an eternal throne in Heaven, yet this fallen man kissed the gates of glory and turned and marched right into the bowels of unending damnation (Matthew 19:28).
It is obvious that some do not get into the ministry for the LORD, but more for themselves, which ultimately sets them up to become false. Like Judas, many today start out true and end up spiritually bankrupt (Acts 1:25; 1 Timothy 1:19; 6:10).
“Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints. For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ.” Jude 3-4
“Believe Not Every Spirit”
“Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try (test) the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.” 1 John 4:1
Deceivers and deceptions are promised. Any person who believes “every spirit,” that is, every person who comes in the name of the LORD, is simply in direct disobedience to the command of God clearly stated in 1 John 4:1 – “Believe NOT every spirit.”
“It is no sin to doubt some things, but it may be fatal to believe everything.” ~ A.W. Tozer
Naivety is to be pitied, not esteemed nor counted as humility or bliss. There is a clear biblical case against being naïve. Here is a mere sampling of biblical truth, which details such:
“The simple believeth every word: but the prudent man looketh well to his going.” Proverbs 14:15
In order to weaken the strength of the true Church, Satan wants to attack the very place that the LORD designed to build up His people “for the work of the ministry” (Ephesians 4:11-13). The main purpose of the church building is for the assembling of the believers to equip them for the work of the ministry – that is, so they can go out and be lights for Jesus in their daily lives. In an article entitled, The Seeker-Friendly Way of Doing Church, T.A. McMahon writes:
“The church is for the maturing and equipping of the saints, who then go out to reach the lost.”
Beloved, be not deceived. It is unfortunately observable that most local churches are nothing more than social clubs which entertain their audiences and seek to accommodate the sins of men in their language and programs. Everything seems to be honored except Christ and His words. Dispersed abroad in your community and in mine, in church buildings, on television, radio, in books, and various media, are false prophets, teachers and deceivers who “lie in wait to deceive” (Ephesians 4:14).
“These pastors put on shows that totally mock or minimize the greatness of God. The root of it is self-love, they have become ‘movie stars’ seeking self-praise in the name of ‘greatness.’ But they are clouds without water.” Bill Wegener
Jesus told us to “look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh,” when we see these things happening before our eyes (Luke 21:28). Fret not beloved, but rather rejoice! This all must transpire that the ultimate end of evil and beginning of Christ’s perfect reign might come to pass.
God has only one people, and the visible church is not the true Heaven-bound remnant church. This has always been the case, as is observable with the Pharisees of Jesus’ day (Matt. 23). The visible church is the manifested and displayed expression of the tares who will be gathered up and thrown into eternal fire (Matthew 13:40; 7:19; 15:13).
If your current pastor is not teaching discernment and warning you of the danger of deception and deceivers, you should pray for him and perhaps have a talk with him (Ezekiel 44:23; Colossians 1:17-2:8). If he refuses to repent, you should leave at once and find a true New Testament overseer (1 Peter 5:1-6).
PRAYER: LORD, please bring my heart into the reality of the blessings of security I have in abiding in You and in Your holy Word. Instill in the depth of my being Your holy fear. Please alert my heart and mind to the presence and danger of deception and the possibility of being deluded and derailed, so clearly revealed in Your Word. Fill me with Your fullness and teach my heart to trust in You fully as I obediently search out and learn the full-counsel of Your Word. I love You, Jesus. Amen.
Capture Points
- Write Matthew 7:15-16 on an index card with reference and say it aloud 3 times.
- In 2 Thessalonians 2:1-3, what is foretold in light of the soon return of Christ?
- What is the warning of 2 Peter 3:17?
- Write 1 John 4:1 on an index card with reference and say it aloud 3 times.
From the book Deceivers and False Prophets Among Us.
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Articles
“The Cross”
Excerpt from the book I Die Daily
“But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world.” Galatians 6:14
“The cross” is all about relationship. “The blood of His cross” purchased us back to God from sin (Acts 20:28; Col. 1:20). Paul here says in essence that His love for the Savior, who bled for his sins, warranted his full allegiance to Him and crucifixion with Him. Nothing was more important to this servant apostle than knowing Christ and remaining in Him (1 Cor. 9:27; Phil. 3:7-10). All else was counted as “dung” compared to the supreme and surpassing importance of his relationship with Jesus Christ. This is the “mark” the apostle pressed “toward” with all of his being (Phil. 3:7-14). Paul knew the eternal danger of not keeping under the sins of his body and in the end becoming a “castaway.” (1 Cor. 9:27) He was fully aware of the five specific sins that kept God’s own people out of their promised land, and would keep him out of the promised land of Heaven if he allowed his sinful nature, which was at “enmity against God,” to rule in his life, bringing defilement in the eyes of a holy God (Mk. 7:20-23; Rom. 8:7; 1 Cor. 9:27-10:12; Heb. 12:14-16). God’s stated will is to bring people “out from” spiritual death and “in” to the place of His divine life, that He might preserve them alive (with His life—Deut. 6:23-24; Rom. 8:1-13).
The purpose and point of “the cross” is not that God is trying to deprive anyone of something valuable, but rather that He seeks relationship with that person—“for our good always.” (Deut. 6:23-24) It is by the blood of Christ’s cross that we are saved, and “through faith” in Him that we are “kept.” (1 Pet. 1:5) Those in Him must “endure to the end.” (Matt. 10:22; 24:13)
It is “the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance.” (Rom. 2:4) From the beginning, He made us for relationship with Him (Exod. 25:8). This is why Jesus came to the earth—“And this is life eternal (the reason for it), that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.” (John 17:3)
Since the LORD is holy, and the self-life or nature is sinful and at enmity with Him, it must be put to death because He who is “Holy, holy, holy” will not commune with a sinful vessel (Isa. 6:3; 59:2; 2 Cor. 6:14 -7:1; 1 Jn. 1:3-9; Rev. 4:8). Sin breaks that fellowship (Rom. 6:23). Like it or not, “the wages of sin is” still spiritual “death” and always will be, due to God’s eternal and unchangeable nature of holiness. The cross of Christ is the answer.
Holiness or pureness of heart and thought is of supreme importance in the eyes of the Almighty. His eyes are upon our hearts and the thoughts that we are dwelling upon (1 Sam. 16:7; Ps. 51:10; 139:23-24; Prov. 15:3; Matt. 5:8; Acts 15:9). The cross, which must be daily applied to the inner life by the disciple, is the implement of death to the sinfully self-loving, self-driven, self-willed, and self -consumed life. The fervent worship of Jesus, which always leads one to the application of the cross, brings the glorious liberty that only Christ can grant—to be fully filled, led, and made free by the Holy Ghost of God.
One manifests his love in relationship with the LORD when he chooses to obey Him in denying the iniquitous deeds of the sinful nature, in order that he might commune with and serve the Father and Savior, who died on the cross to reconcile him to the One who is “Holy, holy, holy.” (Isa. 6:3; 1 John 1:3-10; Rev. 4:8) Otherwise, sin will prevent his relationship with the LORD. Sin must be confessed to be cleansed (1 John 1:9). Saving faith will always drive one to obey Christ, which includes the premium He places on His people being “pure in heart.” (Matt. 5:8; 1 John 2:3-5; James 1:22) Christ told us that only the “pure in heart” will be blessed.” (Matt. 5:8) If one who has been saved goes back and ceases to obey Christ, it’s because he no longer loves Christ supremely, nor does he now possess saving faith (1 Tim. 5:12; 2 Tim. 4:10; James 2; 2 Pet. 2:20-21).
If a person does not want more of Jesus, he is not a part of the remnant of Christ’s elect (Rev. 17:14). If a person is always looking to circumvent the “daily” cross, and looking for doctrinal ways to justify not giving over his whole will and being to Christ, he is willingly lost (Rom. 12:1). Those who are truly His “depart from iniquity,” as they daily “present” their “bodies a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable unto God.” (Rom. 12:1; 2 Tim. 2:19)
If one will guard his heart and be preserved to the end in his relationship with Christ, he must beware of the numerous cross-less and Calvinistic wolves who occupy positions of leadership and influence in the modern church world. Millions have already been deceived and will be shocked on Judgment Day (Matt. 7:15-23; Luke 13:27-28).
The LORD bless you richly today, and fill you with His Holy Ghost afresh to subdue your own self-life, that Jesus’ life might be manifested in your life (2 Cor. 4:10-12). God is able as we do things His way. His grace is fully sufficient for us (Rom. 6:14; 1 Cor. 15:10; 2 Cor. 12:9-10).
In God’s economy, holiness in His people is a must, and it’s the blood of Christ that enables the recipient and possessor of His salvation to experience overcoming victory through the cross (Rom. 6; Heb. 12:14; 1 Pet. 1:15-16; Rev. 21:8, 27). His enabling grace was made possible through Christ’s redemption, and there is therefore no excuse for living in sin (Rom. 6). There can be no variance from such biblical truth in true Christian preaching. Sin separates and hell awaits all who die in sin—no matter what their previous relationship with God may have been (Rev. 21:8, 27; 22:11, 15). Relationship with Christ, personal holiness, the cross, overcoming sin, and repentance, go hand in hand; and today, none of these essentials can be found prevalent in the mouths of most so-called “Christian” pastors, writers, and leaders (Isa. 9:16; 1 Cor. 1:18; Phil. 3:18-19). By “the blood of his cross,” Christ made us holy in our position with God, and He commands each of us to take up our own cross and count ourselves crucified with Him in our daily lives, that His holiness might be manifest experientially in our lives (Rom. 6; 2 Cor. 4:10-11; Gal. 2:20).
David Kupelian, vice president and managing editor of WorldNetDaily.com, writes:
“‘I die daily’
In ages past, Christians dwelt a lot more on the concept of taking up the ‘cross’ than they do these days. Today, the phrase ‘it’s my cross to bear’ is usually a somewhat self-congratulatory reference to the fact that we have to put up with a vexing medical condition, or a child in trouble with the law, or perhaps an overbearing, live-in mother-in law.
Admonitions from the pulpit may not shed much more light. Oh sure, a well-intentioned minister will reverently read one of the scriptures cited above on ‘taking up the cross,’ and he might even briefly plug the ideal of self-denial. But too often this amounts to a polite nod to a notion that seems both archaic and almost irrelevant, or at least unattainable, and the pastor just moves on to more pleasant topics—like how grateful we are that we’re saved by Christ’s death and resurrection.
It wasn’t always so. Throughout past centuries, Christian philosophers and mystics dwelt at length on the crucial, life-and-death need for repentance, resignation, ‘mortification,’ the ‘crucifixion’ of sin in man, and the ‘death of the carnal man’ or of ‘the creaturely self’ and so on. The Apostle Paul said it most powerfully and succinctly when he wrote: ‘I die daily.’”
If they are not crucified on the cross we are instructed to “take up,” the deeds of the body will cause one to displease the LORD by the manifestation of the soul damning “works of the flesh.” (Gal. 5:19-21)
There is perhaps room to see Paul’s words “I die daily” both concerning our lives being laid down and subject to being martyred daily and also in dying daily to self that the Savior might reign (John 12:14; 2 Cor. 4:10-12). These two truths seem to dovetail together; Being dead to self is going to be essential to dying as a martyr.
The Two Cross Deaths
There are two kinds of dying seen in the Scriptures—positional and experiential.
Positional death speaks of our oneness with the death Christ experienced when He died on the cross, when he did “taste death for every man.” (Heb. 2:9) Positionally we are dead and buried with Him (Rom. 6:3-4).
Experiential death of the inner self-life = the willing crucifixion of the personal will out of a far surpassing love for and desire to see Christ reign supreme. When we love Him more than ourselves, we will die so He can live. Life can only spring out of death (Jn. 12:24). The problem is that most people who claim to be Christians love themselves more than Christ (2 Tim. 3:1-7). They have freely chosen to resist loving the LORD with all of their hearts, souls, minds, and strength (Matt. 22:37-40).
The Positional Cross
The word “baptized” is used in more than one way in the Bible. It is used to express both a literal and a figurative immersion. Immersion simply means being placed all the way into. In Romans 6, speaking figuratively of our baptism into Christ (not water), the apostle writes:
“Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.” Romans 6:3-4
We have been immersed (baptized) completely into Christ figuratively—“we are buried with him by baptism into death.”
Our justification and sanctification are wrapped up in being buried with Christ. We are then raised with Him and enabled to “walk in newness of life.” Our position—buried with and in Christ—enables the literally manifested life of Christ to be experienced in our daily lives.
We are united with Christ in His death, burial, and resurrection. The phrase “in Christ,” seen throughout New Testament Scripture, is short for our immersion into Him—His death, burial, and resurrection and our own death, burial, and resurrection with Him. Jesus died and was raised up once, and we died and are raised up with Him in type/proxy.
“Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us (made us alive) together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus: That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.” Ephesians 2:5-7
THE LORD has “raised up” those He has found and saved out of their sinful state and into His eternal kingdom. They are “raised up” to “sit together” with Him—“in heavenly places in Christ Jesus.” This He did for His eternal purposes. He “made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus,” so this is our positional standing with Him; yet His desire is that such a positional place become an experiential reality in our “daily” lives, as we “follow” Him. And how does such a translation happen? This manifested “newness of life” occurs as we lay down our self-will in full surrender to His Majesty, crying out “Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit.” (Luke 23:46) Victorious living in this “newness of life” happens when we follow His instructions to “deny” ourselves and “take up” the cross, and let His will and life reign in our mortal bodies in place of our own. This positional seating in Christ and with God in heavenly places becomes a reality in our daily experience as we sentence our lives to death, being rooted in Christ, as we “take root downward.” (Isa 37:31) He then raises us upward in “newness of life”—with His life to bear fruit to His pleasing.
Our positional place with Him means that we died with Him, and we are seated in heavenly places in Christ. Yet, we are still on earth and subject to temptations. This is why the experiential cross is so important.
The Experiential Cross
“For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection: Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. For he that is dead is freed from sin.” Romans 6:5-6
The believer, who is buried with Christ and raised in “newness of life,” is told that he “should not serve sin.” Serving sin or the Savior is always going to be a choice as long as we are on the earth.
“For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace.” Romans 6:14
Paul told us that he had to keep under the sinful desires/deeds of his body so that he would not become a “castaway” from Christ in the end (1 Cor. 9:27). What can we learn from this? Our relationship with Christ is both positional and practical. It began in our past when we were born again, and exists now daily as we deny ourselves, pick up our cross, and follow Him. This is our personal participation with Christ as we take up the yoke and walk with our Master—His blessed Gospel—dying, being buried and then raised up daily with Him.
In studying the subject of dying daily and Paul’s words in 1 Corinthians 15:31, “I die daily,” I have read a few commentaries which seemed to only acknowledge the positional death of the believer. This is because the misguided Calvinist wants no part of anything that might cost him the suffering of death to his own will. He wants to believe that God did it all, and subsequently ignores the commandments of the very same God for him to personally experience dying to self and self-will. The Calvinist is a moral coward who wants the crown without the cross, so he objects to and flees any notion of personal responsibility. In the face of a mountain of Scriptural commands and conditional blessings, he insists that there are no requirements placed upon him. If that were so, why were we then given the many commandments of Christ and His holy apostles? The diabolical dynamic of Calvinism is to escape and deny by any means possible, any teaching that calls for a personal cost. In contrast, the Bible teaches us that to lose is to gain (Matt. 10:3839; Jn. 12:24-26; Phil. 1:21). The spiritual coward wants to hide away in his false security zone, where he is protected from all that would cause him to suffer—the circumcising sword of the Word, persecutions, tribulations, dying to sin and self, purging, and the chastening of the LORD. This is why this theology always migrates to the line of least resistance to the flesh—no baptism in the Holy Spirit or lordship of Christ, due to the myth of ‘once saved always saved,’ and a pre-tribulation rapture. (Actually, although he holds no strong position on the exact timing of Christ’s return, this writer believes that there is the possibility of a pre-tribulation rapture. In the previous statement, I was just making a point.)
Some may despise the idea that people teach the Scripture “I die daily” as something that needs to be done by the individual recipient of salvation. The Calvinistically infected mindset believes that everything that needs to be done has already been done, and that man has no choice or accountability in the matter of participation. It’s true that Christ initiated and earned our salvation, and that without Him we are hopeless. It is also just as true that this same Jesus instructed those who would follow Him to be “daily” crucified with Him, by denying themselves and taking up their crosses. Romans 6 says “Our old man is crucified with him” (v 6), and yet it also says:
- “What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound?” (v 1)—The question “Shall we” denotes volition, option, and choice.
- “For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection.” (v 5)—The “if” here speaks of volition, option, and choice.
- “Reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.” (v 11)
- “Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof.” (v 12)
- “Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God.” (v 13)
- “Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?” (v 16)
The honest student of the Bible, the one that refuses to allow himself to be infected with any predisposed notion, will see this.
The work of Christ to position us in heavenly places is a settled fact and truth (Eph. 2:6). As we are discovering from Holy Writ, the experiential cross of the individual must be taken up and died upon. Paul the apostle of Christ said, “I KEEP under my body.” (1 Cor. 9:27) The denial of the self-life and following Jesus is only accomplished by the enabling grace and Holy Spirit of the LORD, who is perfecting that which concerns us as He continues His good work in us—we who have been apprehended by Him for His purpose and glory (Ps. 138:8; Phil. 1:6; 2:12-13). This occurs as we “work out” our “salvation with fear and trembling.” (Phil. 2:1213) It is “through the Spirit” that we are blessed and empowered to “mortify the deeds of the body.” (Rom. 8:13)
There are those who know only the positional application of the cross, where we “are dead” and buried with Christ, and raised up by the faith of the operation of
God, and seated together in heavenly places in Christ (Rom. 6:3-4; Eph. 2:6; Col. 3:3). In spite of understanding that we are dead, buried, and raised up with Christ, men misunderstand or do not know about the doctrine of the daily cross—the keeping under or subduing of the sinful nature on a daily basis. The essential nature of such a biblical and vital truth is tragically seldom, if ever, spoken about in most “ministry” that transpires in the modern church world.
Love is a daily test.
Love is a daily choice.
That person who has a mere “form of godliness” and yet denies the power of Christ to reign in his life, will never experience the fellowship of His sufferings and the blessed “fruit” He desires to bring forth “upward” to His glory (Isa. 37:31; Rom. 8:11; 2 Tim. 3:5). Many seek to render rote adherence to the command of Christ while lacking the positional revelation of the death, burial, and resurrection of the Gospel. In contrast, the true disciple of Christ is that one who is driven by the greater desire and love that possesses his heart for Christ. His love for Jesus far surpasses his love for self and the pleasures of this world.
Throughout Holy Scripture, we are afforded the blessing of witnessing the joyful delight many had for the LORD. Here is a sampling:
“Whom have I in heaven but thee? and there is none upon earth that I desire beside thee.” Psalms 73:25
“That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death … Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 3:10, 13-14
“One thing have I desired of the LORD, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the LORD, and to enquire in his temple.” Psalms 27:4
The “one thing” that most deeply and profoundly moved these men and women was knowing Him more and more, seeking His face in earnest as they experienced Him daily.
“Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not.” 1 John 3:1
The love we are blessed to possess of Him, and the cross, go hand in hand. Because of His love in us, and our own decision to reciprocate that love, we make a daily choice to experience the cross. The daily cross is the application of death applied into our life and will in order that Christ’s will and life might be in control and reign in our mortal bodies (2 Cor. 4:10-12).
God made man with a choice (Deut. 30:19; Josh. 24:15; Gal. 6:7-9). Firstly, it makes no sense at all biblically speaking, to say that the person and volitional will of the individual believer plays no part in his decisions. That is a diabolical and Calvinistic heresy that has no biblical ground beneath it. Those in denial of the cross Jesus commanded us to “daily” take up, simply do not wish to deny self and sin as Christ commanded. Many of them have placed the teachings of mere men—who were heretics—above God’s Word. Instead of setting aside the “doctrines of men” for Christ’s teachings, they set the teachings of the Son of God aside for the teachings of mere men (like John Calvin). Like the Pharisees of Christ’s day, these men love their traditions more than the LORD and His Word (Mark 7:6-9). Every generation in history has its pseudo-theologians, who cast away the Word of God for their own traditions of mere men. Every day also has a remnant, which says, “Let God be true and every man a liar.” (Rom. 3:4)
Letting “God be true” in our personal lives includes silencing the call of the sinful nature, Satan, and the voices of the myriad of cross-denying wolves, who come in Christ’s name yet do not preach His original Gospel.
“And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me.” Luke 9:23
Throughout His teachings, the Son of God taught us that following Him was a “daily” experience and not a onetime event. He made it abundantly clear that this “daily” experience of His life was only possible in conjunction with the disciple’s self-denial, and his choosing to prefer the Savior above himself (Matt. 16:24-26; Luke 9:23-24; John 12:23-26).
“Many admit the positional death (at initial salvation), but there is also a present salvation (progressive sanctification or transformation) that is experiential, the daily death, burial and resurrection. The Leviticus 1 burnt offering occurred daily. The first thing the invader always did at the Temple was to do away with the daily sacrifice. This will also be 1st order of business for the antichrist, and for those who possess the spirit of antichrist today.”
Christ told us that if we would follow Him, we must “daily” take up the cross and follow (Luke. 9:23-24). As one writer has pointed out here, the daily sacrifice is attacked by the invader and enemy of our souls, and this is seen in the absence of such preaching in that which calls itself the church today. The Bible tells us that “Satan” has his “ministers,” and these men are “deceitful workers” who have infiltrated the modern church and so-called higher learning institutions (seminaries, etc.). See 2 Cor. 11:12-15. These “false apostles,” who are imposters, have hi-jacked the pulpits and publishing houses of this last hour with a message that is void of the cross and is sending many to eternal darkness (2 Pet. 2:1-3). They can be identified as the “enemies of the cross of Christ,” who do not take up their own crosses daily, and therefore do not preach the cross as a daily implement of death to self and self denial (2 Cor. 11:12-15; Phil. 3:18-19). Instead, they “mind earthly things,” even using Scripture to justify their misplaced affections (Phil. 3:18-19).
The “adversary, the devil,” can “devour” us by drawing and seducing us out from our daily and experiential death and burial with Christ, where we are “hid with Christ in God.” (Col. 3:3) When the enemy is able to draw one out into the open, he is then vulnerable as a deer that comes out of the forest and is no longer hidden and protected by the camouflage of the trees. When a deer is out in the open and in a prairie clearing, he is then prey for predators. The lions can then see and smell him, and will seek to devour him.
Taking up the daily cross and experiencing knowing Him in “the fellowship of his sufferings” demonstrates our agreement with God that we are utterly depraved in our Adamic nature, and wholly in need of His righteousness and life to reign in our “mortal” bodies (Rom. 6; 2 Cor. 4:10-11; Phil. 3:10).
In this following passage, watch for the daily experiential cross to be practiced by every true disciple of Jesus:
“Always (daily) bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest (a reality) in our body. For we which live are alway (daily) delivered unto death for Jesus’ sake, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh.” 2 Corinthians 4:10-11
As we related earlier in this chapter, the removal of the “daily” cross is the work of our “adversary.” The same vulnerability (removal of the daily cross) exists today wherever the redeemed saint allows for the “daily” sacrifice to be stolen from his life. The daily presenting of ourselves to Him as “a living sacrifice” is our “reasonable service” in light of what He has done for us (Rom. 12:1).
Because He loves us as His own, Christ instructs those He saves to “daily” deny themselves and take up their crosses to follow Him (Luke. 9:23-24). It is only in being
“dead” to sin and self that our lives “are hid with Christ in God.”
“For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God.” Colossians 3:3
“Precious Things” Stolen
“There is a conspiracy of her prophets (leaders)in the midst thereof, like a roaring lion ravening the prey; they have devoured souls; they have taken the treasure and precious things; they have made her many widows in the midst thereof.” Ezekiel 22:25
Ezekiel the prophet of God is writing here concerning the leaders of the very nation of Israel. This “conspiracy” he speaks of is a reality and not a theory. We have the divine word on it here. The Bible tells us definitively here that “There is a conspiracy of her prophets” or leaders who claim to be representing the LORD. We are also informed here that these beguilers “have taken the treasure and precious things.” They have stolen away those things which are most important for believers to be aware of, believe, dwell upon, and do.
The enemy invader is now empowering his agents in the pulpits and those who hold the pens of modern publishing. This is seen in the deafening silence of the modern messages we hear. There is a gross lack of hearing the essential truths of Holy Writ spoken or written by men who have positions of influence. In fact, in fulfillment of last day’s prophecy, hoards of self-serving people (who claim to be Christians) are heaping these smooth and deceitful messages, and the messengers who give them, to themselves. Their un-crucified sinful nature seeks out ear-tickling messages that feed their sinful nature instead of beckoning them to crucify it (Rom. 6; 12:1).
In his messages, the beguiling leader feeds the sinful nature, while the leader who is a true servant of Christ calls for the denial of and death of it (Rom. 16:17-18; Phil. 3:1-3; 18-21; 2 Pet. 2:1-3).
Many who love the truth, and therefore deeply desire more of Christ, are coming out of the cross-less and apostate modern church system. Like Paul, their deep desire is “to know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death.” (Phil. 3:10) They have seen the folly and the “famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the LORD.” (Amos 8:11)
Where We Stand
In a passage often referred to as defining the true Gospel, the apostle Paul reveals that this “gospel” is that “wherein ye stand.”
“Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand.” 1 Corinthians 15:1-4
As those found and regenerated by Him who first loved us, we “stand” in the Gospel of Christ—both positionally and experientially. In fact, the very next words speak to the essential responsibility of personal participation of the individual recipient of His “so great salvation.” (Heb. 2:3)
“By which also ye are saved, IF ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain.” 1 Corinthians 15:2
The “if” here clearly denotes condition. Our salvation is contingent upon “if” we “keep in memory” the original “gospel” the apostle Paul preached, “unless ye have believed in vain.” Our initial salvation becomes ineffectual if we do not “continue” in Christ or “endure to the end.” (Matt. 10:22; Col. 1:23; Heb. 3:6, 12-15; 10:26-39; 2 Pet. 2:20-21)
Daily experiencing death to self and the raised up life of Christ, is essential to keeping in memory the work of Christ, the coming King.
See if you can identify both the positional and the experiential standing of the believer in this Colossians 3 passage:
“If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God.” Colossians 3:1-3
He has accomplished salvation for us and we are thereby “risen with Christ,” positionally. In light of this, we should then follow suit in seeking “those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God.” This includes setting our “affection(s) on things above, not on things on the earth.” Positionally, we are to count ourselves “dead,” and consider that our lives are “hid with Christ in God.”
Some erroneously teach that the believer’s positional place with Christ is irreversible, but the Bible tells us differently in a myriad of places. Only when we keep our place or position “with Christ” are we “hid with Christ in God.” Otherwise we are not hidden away from the wrath of God and the enemy. Such a place of being “hid with Christ in God” is conditional upon the recipient of His salvation remaining in Him. One’s place with God is reversible if one does not “abide” or remain “in Christ.” Jesus told us that “If a man abide (remain) not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned.” (Jn. 15:6) Our LORD also told us that there are those “which for a while believe, and in time of temptation fall away.” (Luke. 8:13) It should be more than obvious that someone could not possibly “fall away” from something he has not previously possessed. Also, the basic fact that Jesus invented the term “fall away” plainly reveals that such is possible.
That positional standing He purchased for us is ours only as we remain “with Christ,” and “if” a redeemed person chooses to cease following Christ, he is no longer “in Christ” or “with Christ,” and is therefore no longer the recipient of any of His blessings. The Father told us on several occasions that it is only in His only begotten Son that He is “well pleased,” so anyone presently outside of Him is not pleasing to God (Matt. 3:17).
The sacrifice of Christ is a fixed reality. He is invariable and unchanging (Mal. 3:6; Jn. 19:30; James 1:17). But the experiencing of the cross of Christ in the daily life of the recipient of His salvation is volitional. One must count all else “dung” compared to knowing Christ, and in order to “know him,” one must be willing to experience “the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death.” (Phil. 3:7-10).
All of Holy Scripture testifies to the truth that God’s blessings to individuals are conditional (Deut. 11:26-28; 28:1-67; 30:19-20). The fulfillment of His promises and blessings are contingent upon the obedience of the individual (Gal. 6:7-9; Heb. 6:11-12). The recipient of His free gift of eternal life must by faith “abide” or remain in Him, or he will be “cut off.” (Ezek. 33:12-13; Matt.
10:22; Luke 8:13; Rom. 11:19-22; 1 Cor. 15:2; Col. 1:23; Heb. 3:6, 12-15; 10:26-39; 2 Jn. 9; Rev. 2-3) This important subject is covered extensively in the book titled Lie of the Ages, which can be ordered on this site.
“Many of His Disciples Went Back”
In the record of John 6, we read of “disciples” who continued not with Christ after He taught them. They chose not to partake in His death and life. They did not want to suffer for His sake, and therefore “many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him.”
“From that time many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him.” John 6:66
These people forfeited their place with Christ and all the associated benefits, both here and eternally (Ezek. 33:12 -13). Suffering is part of following Christ, and those who “draw back,” not esteeming Christ and being unwilling to suffer for His sake, will lose out (Rom. 8:17; Phil. 1:29; Heb. 10:38-39; 1 Pet. 4:1-14; Rev. 2-3).
According to God’s Word, those who refuse to follow up in their daily lives with experiential living with Christ, partaking of His blessed sufferings and the associated benefits, will lose out on their positional place they once had with Him (2 Pet. 2:20-21). Those who after being bought by His blood, “deny him,” will also be denied by Him for having “trodden under foot the Son of God.” (2 Tim. 2:12; Heb. 10:29)
One will not experience His resurrection life if he refuses to experience a dying with Him—to self, sin, Satan, and this world.
Many today are seeking to gain, but they are trying to go around the cross. These people do not yet realize that it’s only in dying to self that God’s “gain” will come to them. It’s only in dying that they can live by the resurrecting power of God in Christ, who is “the resurrection and the life.” (Jn. 11:25) He promised to raise up by the power of His Holy Spirit those that be bowed down in death to self and sin (Ps. 145:15; Rom. 8:11). The LORD promises to raise upward in fruitfulness those that “take root downward.” (Isa. 37:31)
The cross is the place of safety—being in the center of God’s will. We are safe on the cross, buried, sunk down, and hidden in Christ while being “raised up” by His power and to His glory (Rom. 6:3-4; 8:11; Col. 2:11-12; 3:3). Beware of the wiles of Satan, who seeks to lure us off the cross where we are “hid with Christ in God.” (Col. 3:3) The enemy’s design is to keep you ignorant of the necessity of the cross—to keep you from experiencing Christ’s resurrection power. When you do choose to learn of Christ to get on the cross, the enemy’s scheme will be to get you to come down from that cross—to keep you from dying that Christ’s life might reign in you and over the enemy (Luke 10:18). Is this not what he did to our LORD? (Matt. 27:42)
The only way to have upward mobility—divine resurrection power—is to plant yourself deep into the death of Christ. The further down one descends, the more powerful the raising up will be (2 Cor. 4:10-12).
Jesus told us that we must lose our lives to gain His life and eternal life.
“Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit. He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal.” John 12:24-25
PRAYER: Father, not my will but Thine be done. You must increase and I must decrease. I now this moment, choose to lay my life down—to die to self and all of its fleshly facets. I honor You, LORD Jesus and Father, and joyfully bow in humility before Your Majesty. Grant Your enabling grace to my life, so I might please You in all things. I am crucified with Christ. I am dead, and my life is hid with Christ in God. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
Capture Points
- Discuss John 12:24-26 and what it means to “fall into the ground and die,” as pertains to Christ and also all of those who would follow Him.
- According to 1 Corinthians 15:1-4, what is “the gospel” that we stand in defined as? (KJV recommended)
- What did Jesus tell us was the purpose for which He came? John 17:3
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Apostasy
How is God’s Money to be Spent by His Church? [podcast]
Have you ever noticed when volunteers go to the mission field on a short term mission trip….
“And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; 12 For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:” Ephesians 4:11-12
The highest paid position, calling in the church is what?
“the elders that rule well”
“Let the elders that rule well be counted worthy of double honour, especially they who labour in the word and doctrine. 18 For the scripture saith, Thou shalt not muzzle the ox that treadeth out the corn. And, The labourer is worthy of his reward.” 1 Timothy 5:17-18
“For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. 14 How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher? 15 And how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things!” Romans 10:13-15
The love offerings of Christ’s saints are to be spent equiping His saints to spread His Word, His Gospel to the end of the earth. This is the Great Commission mandate Jesus gave us. Are you living it out?
“And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. 19 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: 20 Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.” Matthew 28:18-20
“And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.” Mark 16:15
“Don’t bother me” with the needs of others is the crass, cold, calloused response of those who don’t step forward to contribute. Darkness consumes their life and Jesus is calling them out of that darkness and into His marvellous light! They are totally consumed in their own life—and that’s the problem, the sin. Repentance needed. Divine refreshing will only come after true repentance (Acts 3:19). God will never bless a selfish person (Matthew 20:20-28; Philippians 2:3-5). The LORD will always bless those who are given to Him and therefore giving to His work (Luke 6:38; 2 Corinthians 9:6-11).
When we spend all our money on self, who does that reveal we are serving—the Savior or self?
“No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.” Matthew 6:24
Support | STORE | Podcasts | Jail/Prison Ministry | Mexico Mission here | All Ministry Updates | The Return of Christ | Stewardship | Apostate Modern Church Exposed | Beware of the BUZZ WORD Bandits [podcast] | Preach the Word | Wolves Exposed | Church Membership Exposed | 100’s of Christ-centered, Scripture-rich Podcasts | Knowing God | The Cross Life | Christology = the Study of Christ
Articles
Sending the Divine Light into “The Prison House” [podcast]
Jesus is Bringing Incarcerated Souls to Himself: YOUR GIFTS ARE REACHING BEHIND THE COLD HARD WALLS OF PRISON CELLS – INTO THE SEARCHING, HUNGERING SOULS OF A CAPTIVE AUDIENCE OF MEN AND WOMEN: Inasmuch as there is financial supply, ministry books continue to flood jails across our nation – touching the hearts of the incarcerated for Christ! Each of these books will be read by many.
“This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief.” 1 Timothy 1:15
Support Here. | J6 Ministry Outreach category
Believers who are connected to this outreach are sending a continual stream of the names and mailing addresses of incarcerated souls they are ministering to. Dropping surprise blessings upon inmates creates a chain reaction of other inmates writing to request these Gospel filled books for themselves. Below is a mere sampling of the letters received from inmates requesting their own book(s) or additional books from this ministry.
The Body of Christ in the Earth is Making Eternal History!
WHO will say “I’m committing to $20 month!” to get Christ’s Gospel to more incarcerated souls? Who?….Many support the ear-ticklers and neglect to honor God by supporting HIS work. Will you? If God’s work matters to you, demonstrate your agreement with Him by committing to supporting His work. Those who truly believe HIS work matters, get behind it.
We His people will continue to teach His Word as He commanded (Matthew 28:18-20).
May our LORD minister to each of us, His people, concerning our stewardship of His resources.
Remember what Jesus said about “the least of these”?
“For I was an hungered, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in: 36 naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me.” Matthew 25:35-36
“And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.” Matthew 25:40
Also:
“and whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men; 24 knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance: for ye serve the Lord Christ.” Col. 3:23-24
Let us set our houses (lives) in order, readying to meet Christ, repenting and deciding to support HIS work – to take out of what HE is giving us and putting it into HIS Word, work (Deuteronomy 8:18; Proverbs 3:9-10; Matthew 6:19-24; 2 Corinthians 9:6-11; Ephesians 4:28, etc.). Each and every bit of our blessings came from His wonderful hand (1 Chronicles 29:14; James 1:17).
In America, Over 2 million souls sit in prison cells as we speak. Think: Mission Opportunity for Christ’s body.
The LORD wants to bring to Himself “them that sit in darkness out of the prison house” (Isaiah 42:7). He wants to draw them to Himself, to cause them to call upon Him as He beckons those in darkness to “Come unto me …” (Matthew 11:28-30). “The Spirit and the bride” – that’s us! – are extending the divine invitation: “And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely” (Revelation 22:17).
The world is under the darkness of sin. Perhaps We may have never stopped to realize that as WE OURSELVES did “sit in darkness,” Heaven’s KING came with His light to rescue us “While we were yet sinners” (Luke 1:79; Romans 5:6-8, etc.).
Now, in eternal gratitude for our loving Savior, may God bless each of us to participate in shining His light into the sin-stained, darkened hearts of fallen men – so they can repent and be saved by Christ, the only Savior (Acts 4:12; 1 Timothy 2:5-6, etc.).
May this never be said of us: – “I looked on my right hand, and beheld, but there was no man that would know me: refuge failed me; no man cared for my soul“ (Psalms 142:4).
“The entrance of thy words giveth light; it giveth understanding unto the simple.” Psalms 119:130
THERE is no work transpiring in the earth as important as the work of Christ’s Gospel for the eternal souls of men!
Dark jail cells and darkened hearts are being lit up with the flood light of God’s Word, bringing the light of our LORD Jesus and His glorious Gospel – Good News! (2 Corinthians 4:6)
“The law of the LORD is perfect, converting the soul: the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple.” Psalms 19:7
Your contributions in this late hour make this possible! God is so good! Together, we are shining “the light of the knowledge of the glory of God” into desperate, hurting souls of the imprisoned.
“For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.” 2 Corinthians 4:6
Support Here. | J6 Ministry Outreach category
REACHING “THEM THAT SIT IN DARKNESS”
Many of the incarcerated, with no direction to look but upward, are grasping for the light of Christ
The phrase “Sit in darkness” appears 4 times in God’s Word:
“Such as SIT IN DARKNESS and in the shadow of death, being bound in affliction and iron;” Psalms 107:10
“To open the blind eyes, to bring out the prisoners from the prison, and them that SIT IN DARKNESS out of the prison house.” Isaiah 42:7
“Rejoice not against me, O mine enemy: when I fall, I shall arise; when I SIT IN DARKNESS, the LORD shall be a light unto me.” Micah 7:8
“To give light to them that SIT IN DARKNESS and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.” Luke 1:79
A big Thank You Kindly to those who are supporting this GOSPEL outreach. You are enabling God’s Word to go forth into the hearts of men daily using nearly every communication medium known to mankind. Your funds are the fuel. God be praised. “WE are labourers TOGETHER with God” (1 Corinthians 3:9). There is room for more Gospel help. We will continue to preach Christ, to preach His Gospel, feeding His sheep and winning the lost from prisons to palaces – “we preach Christ crucified” (1 Corinthians 1:23). Jesus is coming!
May the LORD fill our hearts with His compassion for people, all of which Jesus died to save. – “But when he saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion on them, because they fainted, and were scattered abroad, as sheep having no shepherd.” (Matthew 9:36)
More on Christ’s Light Shining into dark places, the sin-darkened hearts of men and women, to bring those precious souls into His glorious light!
Unleashing a Flood of Holy Scripture ….
Scripture-rich Gospel books flooding the incarcerated with the light of truth, the light of Christ! Exciting! Captive audience of scared, cornered souls who only have once direction to look…. Upward. And in jails these books get read repeatedly by dozens or more inmates. What we do is drop to people that we know who are in jail, relatives, friends, etc. If you have someone specific you’d like a Gospel care package sent to, please forward their information to me. Thanks.
The Born Again book is a mainstay for dropping to prisoners!
Jesus came specifically “To open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in me” (Acts 26:18).
Also we go on line and choose specific individuals on the inmate lists and drop-ship books to them. As you can imagine and know, it’s exciting for an inmate to receive something, a gift. Makes them feel super special, like God is shining on them – because He is! One of the books being sent is a very important small book titled What Next Now that You are Saved? …. It’s a real foundation builder and has the plan of salvation to cover all bases.
“Thank you Lord! You have not forgotten those in Prison. We pray in the name of Jesus that Your ministry will be multiplied through Your Word.” Debbie
“WE are labourers TOGETHER with God.” 1 Corinthians 3:9
Why Jesus Came
“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, 19 To preach the acceptable year of the Lord.” Luke 4:18-19
More books going into prisons, reaching those who have nowhere else to look but upward.
“Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else.” Isaiah 45:22
This is the book I’m personally most excited to get into the hands and hearts of those who are incarcerated – Moments with Our Master 365 Day Daily Devotional . This is a Scripture-rich book with the most broad spectrum of biblical truth to feed the reader, including how to be saved, the Peace with God section and several installments with specific salvation messages, calling sinners to repent and offering them the opportunity stop, repent, pray, turn to and believe upon the LORD Jesus.
As you know, a young man named Nicholas was saved recently who received the Born Again book from the ministry. He immediately requested more books and so we sent him several more of the ministry’s Scripture-rich volumes
God be praised and thank you: Based on your support, we are able to reach the saved, the lost, the incarcerated. It’s our privilege to support our LORD’s work in the hearts of men.
Support this work here – takes seconds to give.
STORE | Podcasts |J6 Ministry Outreach category
“The Cross”
How is God’s Money to be Spent by His Church? [podcast]
Sending the Divine Light into “The Prison House” [podcast]
“Flee Fornication” [podcast]
The Victory of the Cross [podcast]
Supplying Saints and Sinners with Heavenly Sustenance
LIE OF THE AGES: From the Garden to Glory [podcast]
“They that were Scattered Abroad went every where Preaching the Word” [podcast]
“THAT REPENTANCE AND REMISSION OF SINS SHOULD BE PREACHED” [podcast]
Mission Mexico Part 29
“Ye Know not what Manner of spirit ye are of” [podcast]
The Chosen are being Called and Prepared to “Go” [podcast]
“A Just Weight is His Delight” and Gouging is Sin
Faith in Resurrection [podcast]
“The Certainty of the Words of Truth” [podcast]
Delighting in the LORD [podcast]
Sending the Divine Light into “The Prison House” [podcast]
“Evolution is a Fairy Tale for Grownups” … “The Greatest Hoax Ever
NLT New Living Translation EXPOSED
The Purpose of Elders in Christ’s Body [podcast]
Godly Integrity [podcast]
LIE OF THE AGES: From the Garden to Glory [podcast]
“THAT REPENTANCE AND REMISSION OF SINS SHOULD BE PREACHED” [podcast]
“The Cross”
Supplying Saints and Sinners with Heavenly Sustenance
Run that Ye May Obtain [podcast]
Weeping Men Win Men [podcast]
Mexico Mission Update Part 28
“Your Redemption Draweth Nigh” [podcast]
“Lord, I Believe; Help Thou Mine Unbelief” [podcast]
“The Cross”
How is God’s Money to be Spent by His Church? [podcast]
Sending the Divine Light into “The Prison House” [podcast]
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Providing Christ-centered Scripture-rich resources to feed, edify, and equip the body of Christ (John 21:15-17; Ephesians 4:11-15).
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