Are You Willing to do the Math and Find Out what Your Fruit Reveals?
=== JESUS CHRIST DID NOT COME TO DIE TO MAKE YOU RICH IN THIS SINFUL WORLD AND ANYONE TEACHING THAT IS A FALSE TEACHER. NO, IN FACT, HE STERNLY WARNED AGAINST BEING RICH IN THIS TEMPORAL WORLD DUE TO IT’S JEOPARDIZING OF YOUR ETERNAL SOUL. JESUS TOLD US TO LAY RICHES UP IN THE COMING WORLD AND IF WE DIDN’T, WE WOULDN’T BE WITH HIM IN THE NEXT WORLD (HEAVEN, NEW JERUSALEM). READ MATTHEW 6:19-24 AND LUKE 12 AND 16 AND 1 TIMOTHY 6.
“And were baptized of him in Jordan, confessing their sins. 7 But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees come to his baptism, he said unto them, O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come? 8 Bring forth therefore fruits meet for (consistent with) repentance: 9 And think not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to our father: for I say unto you, that God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham. 10 And now also the axe is laid unto the root of the trees: therefore every tree which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.” Matthew 3:7-10
God not only looks on the heart – He inspects the fruit, the good fruit which can only come from a true, abiding relationship with Him (John 15:1-6). Even though the “O” word is forbidden and intention hidden by the lame modern church, OBEDIENCE is always found in the life of the abiding, Heaven-bound saint (Matthew 7:21; John 14:15; 15:14; James 1:22; 1 John 2:3-6; 5:3; Revelation 2:26, etc.).
“Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.” Matthew 7:19
TODAY IS NO DIFFERENT THAN THE DAYS IN WHICH THE PROPHET HAGGAI SPOKE BY THE SPIRIT OF GOD TO THE PEOPLE WHO WERE SUPPOSED TO KNOW HIM. GOD’S WORK LIES UNDONE TODAY DUE TO THE SELF-SERVING, SELF-ABSORBTION AND SELF-WORSHIP OF MANY OF THOSE WHO CLAIM TO KNOW HIM.
Haggai 1 is the record of God’s severe rebuke of His people who dwelled in their luxurious ceiled houses while His kingdom went un-built. Have you read that chapter lately?
Do we not see the same thing today? Those claiming to be saved and good church attenders will follow along with the church program as long as it doesn’t require change – true repentance – the laying down of their lives without reserve. But today the local churches (nearly all of them) are manned by spineless moral cowards who refuse to die to self themselves much less teach what Jesus taught about such being a condition for following Him (Luke 9:23-24).
“HOW MANY BOAST AS FOLLOWERS OF CHRIST, YET NEVER GIVE NOR DENY THEMSELVES OF EVEN AN IOTA OF ANYTHING, AND REBEL AGAINST IT IN ALL GREED AND SELFISHNESS TO THIS DAY. THEY’D RATHER INVERT THE CROSS THAN BEAR ANY BURDEN TO CARRY IT.” KEITH HARGRAVE
Diminishing returns were coming to the people of God in Haggai’s day for neglecting building His house – doing the Great Commission. Check out this intriguing portion of Holy Scripture:
“Is it time for you, O ye, to dwell in your cieled houses, and this house lie waste? 5 Now therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts; Consider your ways. 6 Ye have sown much, and bring in little; ye eat, but ye have not enough; ye drink, but ye are not filled with drink; ye clothe you, but there is none warm; and he that earneth wages earneth wages to put it into a bag with holes. 7 Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Consider your ways. 8 Go up to the mountain, and bring wood, and build the house; and I will take pleasure in it, and I will be glorified, saith the LORD. 9 Ye looked for much, and, lo, it came to little; and when ye brought it home, I did blow upon it. Why? saith the LORD of hosts. Because of mine house that is waste, and ye run every man unto his own house. 10 Therefore the heaven over you is stayed from dew, and the earth is stayed from her fruit. 11 And I called for a drought upon the land, and upon the mountains, and upon the corn, and upon the new wine, and upon the oil, and upon that which the ground bringeth forth, and upon men, and upon cattle, and upon all the labour of the hands.” Haggai 1:4-11
Has anything changed? No. – “There is no new thing under the sun.” (Ecclesiastes 1:9)
ARE YOU WILLING TO TEST YOUR LIFE AS IT NOW IS IN ORDER TO PREVENT A SURPRISE LATER?
The root sins of Sodom were “pride, fulness of bread (earthly wealth), and abundance of idleness.”(Ezekiel 16:49-51) Doesn’t that sound like the Laodicean’s who had forfeited their place with God and were going to be spewed – sent to hell?
“I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. 16 So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth. 17 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 (undone): 18 I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see. 19 As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.” Revelation 3:15-19
If Christ said they had to “repent” it is because they were in danger of hell fire. This command to repent clearly means that they were not ready to meet Him. Why not? Why did Jesus say they were going to be rejected (spued)? – “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)
IF in your mind you rate people by what they have or don’t have in this fleeting sinful world, you are deeply deceived and in utter need of repentance and the washing of water by the Word of God. You are carnal minded (Romans 8:5-6).
What about the once “rich man” who refused to render aid to Lazarus? See Luke 16:19-31.
What was Jesus Christ’s stated reason that the once rich man went to hell? WHY did God send Him to hell?
“But Abraham said, Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime (earthly) receivedst thy good things (he was rich before), and likewise Lazarus evil things (Lazarus was poor on earth): but NOW he is comforted, and thou art tormented.” Luke 16:26
If you deny that there is a direct correlation between the way we spend our money and our true spiritual state, you are denying Christ and calling the Son of God a liar.
The crux here is – Give now or burn forever. Yes, give your life now or it will soon be too late. If your life were given over to Christ (essential for salvation), your trinkets and treasures would be Christ’s and you would freely and generously give them to those individual believers in need and to the work of the Gospel. The reason you don’t freely give them now is that you are not given over to the LORD truly and therefore not ready to meet Him. You have not truly repented by the Bible definition and the greedy, hoarding, covetous fruit your life bears clearly testifies to such a lost state (Matthew 3:7-10).
“Little children, let no man deceive you: he that doeth righteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous.” 1 John 3:7
You must choose: Which life would you rather suffer in? – This one or the next (eternal one)? Is it time to pluck out the eye and cut off the hand of soul-damning covetousness, greed, hoarding, and self-worship? (Mark 9:43-49)
Who Are You Rich Toward? – God or Self?
“And he said unto them, Take heed, and beware of covetousness: for a man’s life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth. 16 And he spake a parable unto them, saying, The ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully: 17 And he thought within himself, saying, What shall I do, because I have no room where to bestow my fruits? 18 And he said, This will I do: I will pull down my barns, and build greater; and there will I bestow all my fruits and my goods. 19 And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry. 20 But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided? 21 So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.” Luke 12:15-21
Those who don’t give to the work of Christ and the body of Christ in need do not do so because they are too busy serving the god they really serve – sinful self (Philippians 3:18-19).
— CONCERNING THE MODERN COUNTERFEIT WHO HAS ONLY A MERE “FORM OF GODLINESS”YET DENIES THE “POWER” OR AUTHORITY OF CHRIST TO REIGN OVER HIS INDIVIDUAL DAILY LIFE AND DECISIONS (2 TIMOTHY 3:5). ……—- THEIR FANCY COFFEES ARE MORE IMPORTANT TO THEM THAN IS CHRIST. DO SOME MATH: $3.50 X 30 DAYS PER MONTH = $105 PER MONTH AND THEY GIVE LESS THAN THAT TO CHRIST’S WORK. THEIR SPORT DRINKS, JUNK FOOD AND SOFT DRINKS, THEIR MUST-HAVE NEW APPLIANCES AND AUTOMOBILES, AND HOUSING IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN THE LOST SOULS JESUS BLED TO SAVE. DO THE MATH – $50-150 IN CABLE TV OR SATELLITE AND GOD’S WORK GETS A MERE TIP IF ANYTHING. YET THEY CLAIM TO KNOW HIM WHO SAID THAT HE CAME “TO SEEK AND TO SAVE THAT WHICH WAS LOST.” (LUKE 19:10) MANY OTHER EXAMPLES CAN BE USED HERE. WASTE, WASTE, WASTE! WASTED LIFE AND WASTED SUBSTANCE. WITHOUT HESITATION, THESE DECEIVED SPRING FOR ENTERTAINMENT, UNNEEDED VEHICLES, CLOTHING, AND JUNK FOOD. THEY SPEND MORE MONEY ON PET FOOD THAN ON CHRIST WHO GAVE THEM THAT MONEY (1 CHRONICLES 29:14; JAMES 1:17). WITHOUT INVITATION THEY IMPULSE BUY WITHOUT HESITATION. THEY SEE THE BAG OF CHIPS AND HEALTH-DESTROYING SOFT DRINKS AND GRAB THEM. THERE’S NO HESITATION AND YET, WHEN THEY ARE PRESENTED WITH THE OPPORTUNITY TO GIVE TO THE ONLY ETERNAL WORK IN THE EARTH – THE WORK OF THE ONE THEY CLAIM TO BE SERVING – THEY SPURN THAT PRIVILEGE. YET, AS THEY WATCH DIVINELY CALLED OUT GOSPEL WORKER STRUGGLING TO EXIST, THEY SCOFF AT AND ACCUSE THOSE FEW LABORERS OF JUST BEING “IN IT FOR THE MONEY.”
“Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: 20 But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: 21 For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.” Matthew 6:19-21
If our treasure is in the things of Christ, it’s because that’s where our hearts are – and vice versa.
You’re going to spend your life and energy doing something. Should it not be that which holds eternal value? Isn’t everything else waste? Why waste your time and energy in this brief life on temporal trinkets and pursuits?
God addresses rich Christians, instructing them to be generous, and yet He makes it clear that no disciple of Christ should desire to be rich or pursue the riches of this fleeting world. He warns that great peril and the danger of eternal damnation lie in such a trap. Read 1 Timothy 6:3-17. | Riches
The LORD gives instruction to the rich Christian men in (1 Timothy 6:17-20).
Alan B. notes:
“God never said being rich was a sin what He did say was The Love Of Money was the sin. It is not how much you have it is what you do with it. Are you using it for God”s purpose or your own? When we use it for the purpose of God’s needs and his sheep you are using what you have for His purpose. KJV Acts 20:35 – I have shewed you all things, how that so labouring ye ought to support the weak, and to remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he said, It is more blessed to give than to receive. Matthew 25:40 says ‘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.'”
Eternal hell awaits the wicked who like the “certain rich man.” Why? Well he previously had the opportunity to help righteous and poor Lazarus and yet refused. There was no do over. He got no second chance but rather went straight to hell the instant he died (Luke 16:19-31). He has a person right under his nose to help as many of us do today. He chose to be rich unto himself and not “rich toward God.” (Luke 12:15-21)
Someone might be thinking “You mean I’m going to hell if I don’t give? How dare you insinuate such!”
Please allow me to correct you so there’s no misunderstanding: Not only am I insinuating it, I am telling you that you are absolutely bound for hell if you have not given your life to Christ. If your life was given over to Christ, the fruit of your life would clearly reflect a God-fearing stewardship of your time and talents. You’d already be giving to His work and to those in need.
At this point, your temporary treasures are being spent on yourself – the god you really serve. – “For where your treasure is, THERE will your heart be also.” (Matthew 6:19-21)
Remember that like the once rich man in Luke 16 who died and went to hell, in the end not one soul will be afforded the opportunity to do a redo – to give their way out of hell.
In Luke 16 Jesus told us the story of a “certain rich man” in order to warn us before we follow that man’s wicked ways and go where he went.
That now eternally tormented, previously rich man, would do anything to go back and give his life and treasures to Christ but it’s too late. His destiny is signed, sealed, delivered. He even begged to have someone go preach God’s Word to his five brothers so they wouldn’t come to that horrible place of fiery incarceration. His window of grace is gone but ours isn’t.
Just what earthly possession, treasure, or money is worth going to eternal damnation over?
The way we are currently stewarding the monies in our possession is a direct reflection of the true priorities of our heart.
Concerning those who have rejected the Messiah for the god of mammon, one sister in Christ notes:
“They worship Mammon, a very real demon who seduces them through their flesh, sad!” Angela A.
Warning and Description of the American “Christian”
“And he lifted up his eyes on his disciples, and said, Blessed be ye poor: for yours is the kingdom of God. 21 Blessed are ye that hunger now: for ye shall be filled. Blessed are ye that weep now: for ye shall laugh. 22 Blessed are ye, when men shall hate you, and when they shall separate you from their company, and shall reproach you, and cast out your name as evil, for the Son of man’s sake. 23 Rejoice ye in that day, and leap for joy: for, behold, your reward is great in heaven: for in the like manner did their fathers unto the prophets. 24 But woe unto you that are rich! for ye have received your consolation. 25 Woe unto you that are full! for ye shall hunger. Woe unto you that laugh now! for ye shall mourn and weep.” Luke 6:20-25
After reading these words from Jesus, should Christians be living lives of lavishness or minimalism in this fleeting life?
Are we here to be entrenched in this worlds goods or to spread the Good News of Jesus and to teach His Word to all men (Matthew 28:18-20; Mark 16:15). As those He has found and saved and made new creatures in Christ, whose “ambassadors” are we to be? (2 Corinthians 5:17-20) If we are Christ’s “ambassadors,” why would we gather things to ourselves in this sinful fallen world when He Himself did no such thing while He walked this earth?
In God’s kingdom there are goers and senders. If your primary calling from God is to work and make money, that means you are a sender of the “few” “labourers” Jesus told us to pray for God to send out (Matthew 9:35-39). That’s why you have a job or a business –“Let him that stole steal no more: but rather let him labour, working with his hands the thing which is good, THAT he may have to give to him that needeth.”(Ephesians 4:28) That is, that he may have money to give to needy Christians and to Christ’s work which is always in need of support.
He has sent out into the “plenteous” “harvest” a “few” “labourers.” (Matthew 9:35-39) Are you personally supporting Jesus’ “labourers”? No, the question is not “Are you giving to your local church because they convinced you that they are the storehouse?” Most of your money given there is a waste and actually helps the wolves who run those church businesses. You are fueling the devil’s agents in most cases by doing so (2 Corinthians 11:12-15; 2 John 7-11). How do we know they are wolves? Simple: They are not fulfilling Christ’s New Testament edict and purpose to preach the Gospel to the lost and teach all men God’s Word – in other words, get them into God’s Word for themselves, daily (Matthew 28:18-20; Mark 16:15; 1 Timothy 4:6, 16, etc.).
WE SHOULD STOP FUNDING THE WOLVES WHO ARE CHRIST’S ENEMIES AND USE THEIR POSITION AND PLATFORM AND PERSONALITIES TO BRAND THEIR OWN MINISTRY BUSINESS. HAS ANYONE EVER BECOME FAMILIAR WITH THE MARKETING TERM “BRANDING”? IT’S WHERE A COMPANY CREATES A NAME, LOGO, AND SLOGAN THAT IT BRANDS (BURNS) INTO THE MINDS, THE PSYCHE OF THE PEOPLE IN ORDER TO GET THEM TO PATRONIZE THEIR BUSINESS.
YEAH, YOU SEE, THEY REFUSE TO USE THE MONIES GIVEN INTO THEIR COFFERS TO SIMPLY PUT FORTH CHRIST’S KINGDOM WORD AND TO PREACH CHRIST ALONE LIKE THE EARLY CHURCH DID (ACTS 5:42). INSTEAD THEY HAVE TO PUT THEIR OWN PERSONAL NAME OR MINISTRY’S NAME ON IT IN ORDER TO GET GLORY FOR AND TO THEMSELVES! RED FLAG! READ PSALMS 74 AND SEE HOW THEY HAVE CAST DOWN CHRIST’S NAME AND ENTHRONED THEIR OWN NAME/“ENSIGNS”! NOTICE HOW THESE INDIVIDUALS AND MINISTRIES REFUSE TO RELEASE A PENNY OF THOSE MONIES TO ANYTHING THAT DOESN’T PROMOTE THEIR OWN CAUSE/NAME. WAKE UP AND STOP FUNDING CHRIST’S ENEMIES LEST YOU BE ETERNALLY JUDGED WITH THEM! (2 PETER 2:1-3)
Then, Satan’s children, who claim to be saved, will accuse Christ’s true servant of being in it for the money. If this wasn’t so foolish it would be a roll on the floor screaming hilarity! As a called-out servant, if I was in it for the money I wouldn’t be in it because there is no money!
YOU MUST SEE YOUR WORKING AND GIVING AS A VITAL MINISTRY TO THE LORD’S BLESSED KINGDOM. IT IS JUST AS EQUALLY VITAL AS THOSE WHO GO AND DO THE WORK. THEY CANNOT DO SUCH IF YOU DON’T DO YOUR PART.
It is YOUR privilege to give of what God gives you. You need to give in worship to the LORD more than those few good ministries need the money. Concerning the Philippians believers giving, Paul the apostle said “Not because I desire a gift: but I desire fruit that may abound to your account.” (Philippians 4:17) You see, you have an “account” in Heaven and to refuse to give the opportunity to give would be to cheat God’s people about of riches in their eternal “account” where Jesus commanded us to lay up treasure! (Matthew 6:19-21)
WHO DO YOU THINK WINS WHEN CHRIST’S CALLED-OUT SERVANTS ARE LEFT STARVING AND CAN’T PAY BASIC BILLS? IS GOD GLORIFIED OR HAS SATAN TRIUMPHED TO DISTRACT AND INCAPACITATE ONE OF JESUS’ “LABOURERS”? THE ANSWER IS OBVIOUS. WHOSE FAULT IS THAT? IT’S THE FAULT AND SIN OF THOSE WHO ARE BEING FED BY THAT MINISTRY.
We must not waste the monies God is putting in our hands on temporal comforts and trinkets. We must change our way of living and demonstrate that we are content to know Him and need no excessive stuff, things, trinkets to satisfy us. He is our satisfaction.
Nothing’s ever enough to American “Christians.” They are in big trouble spiritually and have no idea.
“WE LIVE IN A SMALL CARAVAN IN A CARAVAN PARK. WE DRIVE A VERY OLD CAR AND DO NOT OWN MUCH IF ANY FURNITURE. ARE WE HAPPY? YOU BET WE ARE.” MARIE J.
Ever notice how happy the African children are? Why? After all they have one toy to share between a whole village of children. Why are our electronic-inundated children so unhappy?
You must see your money as being a provision from God and a tool to further Christ’s Gospel by funding His workers.
WITHOUT YOUR MONEY FUELING THE GOSPEL WORKERS GOD HAS SHOWN YOU, THEY WILL NOT BE ABLE TO DO WHAT HE HAS CALLED THEM OUT TO DO AND YOU WILL BE PERSONALLY ACCOUNTABLE FOR SUCH.
Your calling may be to work and that means you are earning money that is to be firstly given to “honour” of the One who gave you the ability to earn that money.
“Honour the LORD with thy substance, and with the firstfruits of all thine increase: 10 So shall thy barns be filled with plenty, and thy presses shall burst out with new wine.” Proverbs 3:9-10
Holy Father, please bless us to have the joy of giving once again, in Jesus’ precious Name, amen!
But someone must actually DO HIS work and it’s the LORD alone who calls them out. There are goers and senders (Romans 10:14-15). And those around those divinely called-out ones are to rejoice to be blessed to support them – because they are doing GOD’s work. In fact the Bible says we are to honor His servants “for their work’s sake.” Why? – Because it’s God’s work, not man’s.
“And to esteem them very highly in love for their work’s sake. And be at peace among yourselves.” 1 Thessalonians 5:13
“Woe unto you that are rich!” (Luke 6:24)
ALL Americans are “rich” in God’s eyes. This is the richest country in world history. Woe be unto us! – if we refuse to be generous and continual in our giving.
“Charge them that are rich in this world, that they be not highminded, nor trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God, who giveth us richly all things to enjoy; 18 That they do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to distribute, willing to communicate; 19 Laying up in store for themselves a good foundation against the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life.” 1 Timothy 6:17-19
Those who have and are learning the joy of giving as Jesus taught, always rejoice to be able to give out of what He has given them and even long for more to be given them so they can give more to His work.
It has been perhaps rightly state that “Those who give the least complain the most.”
The SELF-preservationists complains with a contrary attitude toward those called out to minister. The self-serving, unrepentant church goer does not want his little personal party interrupted. So he figure that the Gospel worker should leave the post God put him on and go out and earn his own money – never realizing that if we are truly the LORD’s all we have is HIS and not ours (1 Chronicles 29:14). The counterfeit reasons that he’s too busy spending his money on self’s pleasure and status in this sinful world, and refuses to live a minimalistic lifestyle in order for Christ’s Gospel workers to be able to do His work in furthering His Gospel by winning lost souls and teaching them God’s Word. “You are inconveniencing me” he reasons in his mind. “You are taking away from my self serving creature comforts. God forbid that anything my depraved heart so desires be kept from me. When I see something I want, I just buy it or put it on credit. And I don’t appreciate people asking for money (for a ministry work).”
“ACTUALLY WHEN I USED TO BE ONE OF THOSE FANCY COFFEE DRINKERS THEY USED TO COST CLOSER TO FIVE DOLLARS PER CUP. I STILL DRINK COFFEE BUT AT HOME NOW.” MELANIE G.
Coffee is a blessing, from God it seems. Yet does having a nice hot cup of coffee in the morning have to cost $3-5 per cup per day? That’s a considerable amount of money per month. 30 days in a month x $4 is $120. Many who waste God’s money on such give far less to the work of Jesus. God is calling us to repent. This is pure rebellion.
Your money is not really yours – it’s God’s.
What are you doing with His money for which you shall give account?
“ALL things come of thee and of THINE own have we given thee.” 1 Chronicles 29:14
There are a myriad of ways “Christians” today waste God’s money. God forbid that they have to be humiliated by driving a 10 year old car. God forbid that the style of their dish washer or refrigerator is outdated. God forbid that they have to be deprived of any luxury item their little hearts desire!
I know of a ministry that was derailed due to a lack of about $300-400 per month. There was support but not quite enough which means that God was leading others to help support that ministry and yet they refused. They were too busy wasting God’s money in this sinful world – embellishing themselves with even more shoes, clothes, fancies accessories, expensive meals, etc. These refused to do their part in supporting Jesus’ work due to their waste on self and they will give account for those servants of Christ who cannot do what He called them to do due to their disobedience. Those greedy people who claim to know Christ and yet refused to lay down their lives in this sinful world will stand to give account for the souls that went to eternal damnation due to not being able to hear the Gospel through the LORD’s servants who had to leave their post.
These type people want to over spiritualize things when they are called to truly lay down their lives in this fleeting world. Yet, the same folk do not hesitate to call a number or do an internet search to buy some frivolous accessory that has no eternal value. God forbid that they be bothered with the opportunity to support Christ’s work.
They want to live in denial of the obvious fact that if those God-called Gospel workers aren’t being provided for (financially supported), they cannot do Christ’s work and that means souls will be hell due to their rebellion. In other words, they defend their right to live their lives on their own terms all the while deceiving themselves into thinking God will save them in the end.
As a kingdom disciple, you must see this as your part in fulfilling the Great Commission for which you shall give account before the Almighty on Judgment Day.
Covetousness is idolatry of self – the worship of self instead of the Savior. This is a soul-damning sin. See below:
“For this ye know, that no whoremonger, nor unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, hath any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God. 6 Let no man deceive you with vain words: for because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience. 7 Be not ye therefore partakers with them.” Ephesians 5:5-7
Of being minimalistic and appreciative, one sister notes:
“I learned that being with the Lord I have all I need. He has blessed me with all things. The most important thing to me – what I want most is to hear Him say – is ‘well done my good and faithful servant.’ With what He has given me I invest in his kingdom. So thankful for the life He has given me.” Lisa V.
You know as I read this sister’s words it occurs to me that we just push ourselves further from Christ and from knowing Him more intimately by crowding and cluttering our lives with more stuff. The Bible says that the LORD Jesus is our “exceeding great reward.”(Genesis 15:1) If we have Christ, we have all! If we truly have Christ reigning in our lives, we do not covet stuff but are rather content.
“Let your conversation (your way of life) be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.” Hebrews 13:5
God is able!
QUESTION:
“Isn’t giving supposed to be from a cheerful giver out of what he personally purposes in his heart?”
REPLY:
Yes, and yet there is great jeopardy in not using what He gives us for His glory … the servant who buried/wasted his talent went to hell – “And cast ye the unprofitable servant into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth (hell).” Matt 25:30 ….. Not giving, hoarding, clearly indicates/reveals where someone’s heart is and that they are serving mammon, not God and are therefore not saved. ….. this is the case with most who claim to be saved. They have not laid down their lives and this is obvious in that they have time, money, energy, and all the wherewithal to go lusting after this world’s trinkets and spend all they have to get them …. and yet do not find it in their unrepentant hearts to lay down their lives and give. They are lost while thinking they are saved. Laodicea. This is not small matter. It reveals they are lost and as sure for eternal damnation as if they were already there. We cannot factor our Christ’s clear teachings due to Paul’s….. perhaps the way to reconcile this paradox (seeming contradiction) is to observe the audience each is speaking to. 2 Cor. 9 is written to the church at Corinth where true believers where being addressed and incentivized to give and lay up treasure in Heaven. Jesus taught this also (Matthew 6:19-24). The Son of God also clearly taught that eternal hell awaited those who are not generous with what HE puts in their temporal possession. This is Jesus’ teaching. It seems severe because so few truly forsake their lives in this world. Yet this is exactly what Jesus taught and He clearly stated that eternal hell is the finality of this self-serving, lukewarm, disobedient, rebellious lifestyle. They must repent and when they truly do, all they have will be His …in their minds and distribution of it.
Jesus taught that the way we steward His resources that He puts in our hands is a direct reflection of the priorities of our hearts (Matt. 6:19-24).
Anyone not purposing to give at all into Christ’s eternal kingdom by helping the poor and funding His work, seems to reveal their lost, apostate (backslidden) state….. “Ye shall know (discern) them by their fruits” Matt 7:16, 20
“Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all long suffering and doctrine.: 2 Timothy 4:2
Apostasy
The Book of Jude Narrated [podcast]
The Book of Jude:
Jude, the servant of Jesus Christ, and brother of James, to them that are sanctified by God the Father, and preserved in Jesus Christ, and called: 2 mercy unto you, and peace, and love, be multiplied.
3 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. 4 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.
5 I will therefore put you in remembrance, though ye once knew this, how that the Lord, having saved the people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed them that believed not. 6 And the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day. 7 Even as Sodom and Gomorrha, and the cities about them in like manner, giving themselves over to fornication, and going after strange flesh, are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire. 8 Likewise also these filthy dreamers defile the flesh, despise dominion, and speak evil of dignities. 9 Yet Michael the archangel, when contending with the devil he disputed about the body of Moses, durst not bring against him a railing accusation, but said, The Lord rebuke thee.
10 But these speak evil of those things which they know not: but what they know naturally, as brute beasts, in those things they corrupt themselves. 11 Woe unto them! for they have gone in the way of Cain, and ran greedily after the error of Balaam for reward, and perished in the gainsaying of Core. 12 These are spots in your feasts of charity, when they feast with you, feeding themselves without fear: clouds they are without water, carried about of winds; trees whose fruit withereth, without fruit, twice dead, plucked up by the roots; 13 raging waves of the sea, foaming out their own shame; wandering stars, to whom is reserved the blackness of darkness for ever.
14 And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints, 15 to execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him. 16 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.
17 But, beloved, remember ye the words which were spoken before of the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ; 18 how that they told you there should be mockers in the last time, who should walk after their own ungodly lusts. 19 These be they who separate themselves, sensual, having not the Spirit. 20 But ye, beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost, 21 keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life. 22 And of some have compassion, making a difference: 23 and others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire; hating even the garment spotted by the flesh.
24 Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy, 25 to the only wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever. Amen.
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Abiding
“Seven Women shall take hold of One Man” [podcast]
Two Types of Believers – the mere professor and the possessor.
God created us and sent His only begotten Son that we might know Him.
“And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.” John 17:3
THE POSSESSORS
“In that day shall the branch of the LORD be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the earth shall be excellent and comely for them that are escaped of Israel.” Isaiah 4:2
The LORD Jesus is “the branch … beautiful and glorious” shall He be and shall be His reign. One commentation of this passage is as follows:
“Isaiah 4:2
a [In that day] In that day—the Millennium (Isa_4:1-6).
b [branch of the LORD be beautiful and glorious] Christ is the Branch of the Lord that shall be eternally “beautiful and glorious” in the Millennium and New Earth periods (Isa_9:6-7; Isa_11:1; Jer_23:5; Jer_33:15; Zec_3:8; Zec_6:12; Zec_14:1-9; Rev_11:15).
c [fruit of the earth shall be excellent and comely] The earth will be restored to normal fertility and productivity when Christ comes (Isa_35:1-7; Isa_58:11-12; Joe_2:21-27).
d [escaped of Israel] A remnant of Israel shall escape the future tribulation and battle of Armageddon (Isa_4:2-3; Zech. 13:8-14:14; Mat_24:31; Mat_25:31-46).”
“Them that are escaped of Israel” refers to those who come out of her, that is, they come out from among the tares or counterfeits who merely profess to be serving God and yet aren’t, and therefore do not have the fruit to prove they are truly Christ’s (Titus 1:16; Matthew 3:7-10). Those who escape the judgment to come upon the hypocrites “take root downward, and bear fruit upward” and that means they are complying with Christ and being crucified, that is dead to the self-life, buried, and raised up by Christ, bearing fruit “UPward.” Here’s the whole verse: “And the remnant that is escaped of the house of Judah shall again take root downward, and bear fruit upward” (Isaiah 37:31).
Eternal resurrection blessings untold await those who are “accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man” (Luke 21:34-36).
The Branch of the Lord Glorified
“In that day shall the branch of the LORD be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the earth shall be excellent and comely for them that are escaped of Israel. 3 And it shall come to pass, that he that is left in Zion, and he that remaineth in Jerusalem, shall be called holy, even every one that is written among the living in Jerusalem: 4 When the Lord shall have washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion, and shall have purged the blood of Jerusalem from the midst thereof by the spirit of judgment, and by the spirit of burning. 5 And the LORD will create upon every dwelling place of mount Zion, and upon her assemblies, a cloud and smoke by day, and the shining of a flaming fire by night: for upon all the glory shall be a defence. 6 And there shall be a tabernacle for a shadow in the daytime from the heat, and for a place of refuge, and for a covert from storm and from rain.” Isaiah 4:2-6
Only a remnant will remain. And Isaiah is saying here that God will bring these few through “…the spirit of judgment, and…the spirit of burning” (same verse, Isaiah 4:4). This great separation is coming.
The LORD is purifying a people for Himself. In Daniel we read:
Daniel 11:35 And some of them of understanding shall fall, to try them, and to purge, and to make them white, even to the time of the end: because it is yet for a time appointed.
Daniel 12:10 Many shall be purified, and made white, and tried; but the wicked shall do wickedly: and none of the wicked shall understand; but the wise shall understand.
Those who are truly Christ’s fellowship with other of His true disciples and also with elders who like Christ’s apostle Paul, jealously brood over God’s people, to protect them. They discern and gather with those who embrace and preach the original Gospel and expose those who preach and espouse “another Jesus … another spirit … another gospel.”
“For I am jealous over you with godly jealousy: for I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ. 3 But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. 4 For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or if ye receive another spirit, which ye have not received, or another gospel, which ye have not accepted, ye might well bear with him.” 2 Corinthians 11:2-4
THE MERE PROFESSORS
“They profess that they know God; but in works they deny him, being abominable, and disobedient, and unto every good work reprobate.” Titus 1:16
Please explain….What kind of relationship is based on the participation of only one of the parties? A non existent dying relationship. The eternal security heretics are self-serving. They could care less about Jesus but rather simply wish to use Him to get them out of Hell without any kind of a real and abiding, fruit-bearing vital union relationship with Him (John 15:1-16). Seems this is what the Holy Spirit is getting at when He led Isaiah the prophet to pen these words:
“And in that day seven women shall take hold of one man, saying, We will eat our own bread, and wear our own apparel: only let us be called by thy name, to take away our reproach.” Isaiah 4:1
In other words, “We want to use your name but don’t wish to have any kind of an intimate relationship with you.” Or, “We want the ring, the provision/money, the marriage, but we don’t want the commitment. We don’t want to be faithful to you! We want the crown but not the cross.”
And in the USA today, the woman can “get bored” and divorce her husband and get half of what he has and be grossly over-charged on “child support.” To further make the point, divorce lawyers inform us that when there is a prenup involved, the divorce rate goes down to nearly zero. hmmmm
THOUGH NEVER HEARD IN THE APOSTATE MODERN CHURCH WORLD, THE ORIGINAL GOSPEL INCLUDES….. from the Gospel of Luke
Only those who repent will be with Christ. Everyone else is going to hell irrevocably.
“Except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.” Luke 13:3
The crucified life is a must, a condition for overcoming sin and being in Heaven instead of hell.
“And whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple.” Luke 14:27
You must forsake all to follow Jesus
“So likewise, whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple.” Luke 14:33
You must lose your life to know and walk with Jesus and be in glory.
“Whosoever shall seek to save his life shall lose it; and whosoever shall lose his life shall preserve it.” Luke 17:33
Christ’s “enemies” are those who don’t let Him reign over their lives.
“But those mine enemies, which would not that I should reign over them, bring hither, and slay them before me.” Luke 19:27
In this late hour we have so very many women who simply do not want to be unmarried and so they will deceptively manipulate their way into a marriage to a man they have no intention of being a virtuous God-fearing wife to. We also have so many who want to believe the notion that they are going to Heaven because they said a prayer way back, yet they want zero to do with truly following Jesus, the Great Bridegroom, daily. They want nothing to do with the cross, the crucified daily life, living a life of prayer, repenting as needed, being holy as He is holy, etc. No desire for commitment, for intimacy, for an intimate relationship.
“And don’t we see this in today’s modern church world? They want Jesus to take away the reproach of their sin, but refuse to live according to His righteous ways. The continue wearing their religious garb, outer religiosity which is filthy rags, a mere ‘form of godliness.’ (2 Timothy 3:5) Counterfeits don’t want Christ to rule over them. On the day of His return they will expect to be invited into the marriage supper and yet will be rejected.” Karen Cochran
In like fashion, do we not have millions of church-attending counterfeits today who manifest no proof of knowing Jesus today? This was all prophesied of this last day. Read 2 Timothy 3:1-7. They have an “I go to church” mere “form of godliness” arrangement.
Many want the blessing and benefits of marriage but they don’t want the marriage commitment – and so they live in fornication. And, as was foretold of these final days before Christ’s return, there are so many who have a mere “form of godliness, but (are) denying the power (the authority) thereof” (2 Timothy 3:5). They do not want real commitment to the LORD because they are “lovers of their own selves … lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God” (2 Timothy 3:1-7).
Two verses before this revelation (4:1) the Scripture tells us of the men of Israel being killed off due to the wars:
“Thy men shall fall by the sword, and thy mighty in the war.” Isaiah 3:25
While this is physically speaking of the loss of the men in Israel, there’s a deeper, a prophetic conveyance to us in this late hour – “They are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come” (1 Corinthians 10:11).
“Seven women shall take hold of one man” – In other words these women described above wanted to be married to a man but they would do their own thing within that marriage arrangement. They didn’t want any responsibility to the man but rather just wanted the reproach of being an old maid removed from their lives. Mere professors are self-serving instead of Savior-serving.
The “seven women” spoken of here are like many today who merely want an arrangement with the Great Bridegroom yet don’t want the real relationship which involves the unreserved giving of oneself to the other party but rather simply want the benefit of the removal of the reproach, the scourge of being without that bridegroom/husband and the possibility of bearing fruit, children. Like the five foolish virgins of Jesus’ parable of the ten virgins, these counterfeits refuse the responsibilities of a real relationship and therefore forfeit the virtue, the substance enjoyed by those who have a real relationship with the Bridegroom. This is a prophetic utterance concerning the church, the division between the wheat and the chaff, the tares in the last days where some were real and others had a mere “form of godliness.” Many today who were initially saved say in their hearts: “Thank You Jesus for saving me but I will live the rest of my life on my own terms, doing as I please. Don’t bother me with the cross, but I will be expecting the crown. I’ll do what I please and that’s why I simply want an arrangement and not a real marriage and the associated involvement.” See Luke 6:46.
The false bride of Christ professes to know Him and yet they don’t want to commit to Him but they want Him to commit to them, to be that false Christ many preach today that keeps them even in their sin of fornication and spiritual idolatry. They want Christ to be faithful to keep them eternally secure yet they are not faithful to love, seek, worship, trust, walk with, abide in, and obey – as He requires!
“Isaiah 4:1 “And in that day seven women shall take hold of one man, saying, We will eat our own bread, and wear our own apparel: only let us be called by thy name, to take away our reproach.” These women want to use Jesus to keep them out of hell but don’t want a commitment. And don’t want to be faithful! They want to live as they please and take care of themselves. They only want the stain of sin removed from them. They want to be the bride of Christ with no responsibility. But they fully expect Him to take them with Him to live eternally.” Karen Cochran
OUR LORD is calling His people to daily present to Him their “bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.”
“I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.” Romans 12:1
Notice how these seven arrangement “brides” say “We will eat our own bread, and wear our own apparel.” In other words, “We’ll make our own money and buy our own food and clothes”….. “We don’t need you too involved in our lives other than an occasional hook up, when it’s convenient.” ….. Yet unless we seek and ingest the bread of Heaven, the Word of God Himself and His Word, how can we be nourished, how can our vessels, our lamps be full of His divine virtue, the oil of His presence to make it to the bridal chamber of eternal glory in this dark, fallen world? See Jesus’ parable of the ten virgins which has never been more relevant than it is in this final hour before His return (Matthew 25:1-13).
Also, the mere professors, represented by the seven women here, say “We will … wear our own apparel” (Ephesians 5:25-27).
“Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready. 8 And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints. 9 And he saith unto me, Write, Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb. And he saith unto me, These are the true sayings of God.” Revelation 19:7-9
The apparel of “fine linen” is only given to those who choose to engage in a genuine relationship with the Bridegroom, Jesus.
Of this “seven women shall take hold of one man” in Isaiah 4:1, David Wilkerson wrote:
“Scripture Always Refers to The Church in the Feminine Gender, in Many Cases As a Bride. The seven would-be brides Isaiah mentions are clearly a type of the characteristics of many in the last-days’ church. These seven would-be brides are seeking to lay hold of one man, whom I take to be Christ. Yet these brides are not interested in loving Him. On the contrary, they have only one thing on their minds – the removal of their reproach! ‘We will eat our own bread, and wear our own apparel: only let us be called by thy name, to take away our reproach’ (verse 1). I see here seven women approaching a man and saying, ‘You don’t have to provide food for us. We’ll take care of our own bread. And you don’t have to provide any clothes for us. We’ll provide our own robes… Sure, these women want to be the bride of Christ – but only on their own terms. They want an arrangement without intimacy, love or devotion. The number seven is used in regard to these brides to remind us that in every church system there are such people. They attempt to ‘take hold of one man’ – Christ – only to get relief from the guilt and condemnation of their sin. They don’t want intimacy with Him. They want nothing more than forgiveness – to have the reproach of sin removed. I call this the church of forgiveness only.'”
Today those with a mere outward “form of godliness” who are “lovers of their own selves” and “lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God” refuse to “endure (hold themselves accountable to obey) sound doctrine” but rather want “smooth things” (Isaiah 30:9-10; 2 Timothy 4:2-4). This seems to be what is prophetically conveyed here through the prophet Isaiah for these last times. Paul foretold of these “last days” where he says “perilous times shall come” and as we know, are here now.
“This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come.
2 For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy,
3 Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good,
4 Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God;
5 Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.
6 For of this sort are they which creep into houses, and lead captive silly women laden with sins, led away with divers lusts,
7 Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.”
John Wesley on Isaiah 4:1:
“In that day – In that calamitous time. Seven – Many. A certain number for an uncertain. One man – Because few men shall survive that dreadful stroke. Only – Own us for thy wives. Our reproach – Virginity was esteemed a reproach; children, the usual fruit of marriage, being both an honour to their parents, and a blessing of God, especially to that people, from some of whose loins the Messiah was to spring.”
Ignoring the inconvenient truth concerning readiness for Christ’s return will bring irrevocable damnation! (Read Mark 4:17-19; 1 John 2:15-17.) Hell is right now filled with those who ignored the warning signs. While on earth they refused to stop their life and look upward to their Maker, to make things right with Him. When He drew them they snubbed Him, relishing their darkness rather than His light and love (John 3:19-21).
“When Jesus came to the Earth the first time, His people were completely unprepared and did not recognize their Messiah was with them. But there were wise men who did recognize that He was here. They were not wise because of their intellect. They were wise because they were watching and paying attention to the signs of the times. Jesus then told us His second return would be met with both wise and foolish brides. The difference between the two is the wise are prepared and are waiting and watching. The foolish are paying no attention at all and are caught up living their best life now. Out of ten, Jesus said five are wise and five are foolish. That would mean half of the church today is completely unprepared. So ask yourself a question, ‘Am I being wise or am I being foolish?’ Because there are consequences for our actions.” Frank Telford
Make no mistake, The Great Bridegroom of Heaven is not coming back for a lukewarm, and uninvolved, a casual-love Bride who only want the reproach of their sin removed yet don’t want to give themselves to the Great Bridegroom. He’s not returning for those who treat Him like a second class citizen, a mere hobby, casually getting around to communing with Him. No, the Son of God from Heaven is coming out of the eastern sky for His bride – those wise virgin saints who are in love with Him, who daily attend unto Him, sitting at His feet to learn of Him.
DOOR SHUT IN FACE: Distinguishing between the wise and foolish virgins is quite simple. Those who seek God in His Word are the wise and all others are the foolish – upon whom the door of the Bridegroom shall be shut (Matthew 25:1-13). Anyone whom Christ has previously saved who is not nourishing his spirit in the Word daily, has already backslidden and is not prepared to meet Christ.
The vast majority of those falsely claiming to be saved have no heart for the Word of God and no fruit to demonstrate, to prove they are truly following Jesus – on His stated terms which begins with the crucified life (Luke 9:23-24). They don’t have time for God because in truth, many of these have never repented, truly. Their life is all about themselves and all their stupid trinkets they are adulterously choosing over Christ. Make no mistake: they are as sure for eternal damnation as if they were already there (Mark 4:17-19; James 4:4; 1 John 2:15; Revelation 2:4-5; 3:15-16, etc.).
YOU keep it, guard it, till it, fill it with the Word, etc.
“Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.” Proverbs 4:23
It’s your personal responsibility to keep your heart perfect before the LORD (Psalms 34:18; 51:17; Matthew 5:6, etc.). Praying Psalm 51 is a great place to camp. Oh yes JESUS! Do Your purifying work in us, Your people. I love You dear LORD Jesus!
JESUS says to those saved that they must “endure to the end,” they must “abide” which means to remain, to continue (Matthew 10:22; 24:13; John 15:6). Jesus says that those who do not “abide” with Him will be cast into the fire and He is specifically speaking to those who are in Him (John 15:1-6). Scripture teaches initial and final salvation throughout, including the parable of the ten virgins where all ten were engaged to the bridegroom (Jesus), and yet only five made it into the bridal chamber of eternal glory and the other five were shut out (Matthew 25:1-13). God put conditions on His gift – initial and perpetual. The man who gets engaged to a woman who then begins consorting with other men, would be a fool to still marry her. The Son of God who is the Bridegroom of Heaven would never marry a whore – nor remain married to an adulterous woman (Revelation 19:7-10; Ephesians 5:25-27).
“Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?” 2 Corinthians 13:5
So God wants a bride that is not engaged in participating with Him in a relationship, doing His kingdom work? Not.
More light flooding into our hearts is needed perpetually… “The entrance of thy word giveth light” (Psalms 119:130). Think and declare: “I am a wise virgin believer who is eagerly anticipating the coming of my Bridegroom from Heaven” (Matthew 25:1-13; Revelation 19:7-10). ALL who got saved in the past and yet are not devouring God’s Word daily, are of the foolish virgins and will be irrevocably shut out of the eternal kingdom of Christ. Get in the Word or perish. You CANNOT sustain a life with Christ without the daily fuel of His Word. Obey Him or you prove you do not love Jesus (John 14:21). Talk is cheap (1 John 3:18).
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Apostasy
“Warn them from Me”: The 3 Things Paul did to Protect God’s People [podcast]
The 3 Things Paul did to Protect God’s People [podcast]
Jesus and His holy apostles often rebuked and exposed false leaders and false doctrine (Matthew 23; Acts 13:10; 20:29-31; Galatians 5:11-12; 2 Timothy 4:2-4; 2 Peter 2; 2 John 7-11; Revelation 2:6, 15, etc.). Therefore we know that part of following Jesus includes doing the same. In fact, the body of Christ is mandated to do just that (Romans 16:17-18; Philippians 1:17; Jude 3-4).
PWT = Preach, WARN, Teach
“Whom we PREACH, WARNING every man, and TEACHING every man in all wisdom; that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus:” Colossians 1:28
Did you catch what the apostle Paul did to prepare the church to meet Christ?
- Preach
- WARN
- Teach
Any man not guarding, not protecting Christ’s flock, by warning of false teachers and false doctrine, is himself a wolf!
Simply put, it doesn’t matter what you think: The LORD has commanded that Satan’s ministers, his human emissaries, be exposed. Time to shut up and obey! (2 Corinthians 11:12-15)
Lest someone think that warning is a cover for slander, let’s address that.
There is a difference between warning and slander. Warning is to be distinguished from slander. William Penn said it correctly when he recorded these words of wisdom:
“Believe nothing against another but on good authority; and never report what may hurt another, unless it be a greater hurt to some other to conceal it.” ~William Penn
The love of God in us will compel us to warn. Firstly this is done in obedience to the LORD and for the protection and care of those being warned. Warning is divinely mandated in order to protect His beloved sheep.
2 Corinthians 5:9-11, 14-21
“Wherefore we labour, that, whether present or absent, we may be accepted of him. 10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad. 11 Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade men; but we are made manifest unto God; and I trust also are made manifest in your consciences. … 14 For the love of Christ constraineth (compels) us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead: 15 And that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again. 16 Wherefore henceforth know we no man after the flesh: yea, though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we him no more. 17 Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. 18 And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation; 19 To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation. 20 Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God. 21 For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.”
“The Apostle had arrived at the deliberate conclusion and judgment that the ‘all’ who realized what Christ had done for them (and he among them) must live with as much devotion toward Him as others toward themselves. A new world had been opened by Christ’s resurrection. All things had become new. Let us live in daily touch with that world of faith and glory, refusing to be judged by the old standards. It is clear that the reconciliation of the world is as complete as God can make it, but it is for us to urge men to fall in with and accept God’s proposals.” FB Meyer
“Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we the more earnestly persuade men to seek his favour; and as God knoweth this, so, I trust, ye know it in your own consciences.” John Wesley
It’s a blessing to be humbled, to be brought low. Sometimes we need to be embarrassed (Proverbs 6:23). There’s a place for it. Paul openly rebuked Peter publicly (Galatians 2). That wound worked to the glory of God and the eternal good of Peter.
“For the commandment is a lamp; and the law is light; and reproofs of instruction are the way of life:” Romans 6:23
Keep in mind that each one of us are at times in need of being admonished, corrected, or even rebuked…. it’s “the way of life” as long as we are in this world and it’s out of the love of our God and for our own eternal good.
“As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.” Revelation 3:19
Did God command us to warn the wicked?
Ezekiel 3:7 “Warn them from me.”
“So thou, O son of man, I have set thee a watchman unto the house of Israel; therefore thou shalt hear the word at my mouth, and WARN THEM FROM ME.” Ezekiel 33:7
What would you think of the father who lived on a busy street and refused to warn his children to stay away from that street?
“Whom we PREACH, WARNing every man, and TEACHing every man in all wisdom; that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus:” Colossians 1:28
Were Jesus, His prophets, and apostles trying to harm the body of Christ when they often warned of and exposed wolves and their false teachings by name? No, he sought to get the cancer out of the body of Christ so it couldn’t spread (Romans 16:17-18, etc.). Beware of the wolf defenders who refuse to believe the wolves they follow are antichrist enemies of the LORD (2 John 10-11).
“Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and shew my people their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins.” Isaiah 58:1
Most warnings in God’s Word are to the backslidden – those who after being Christ’s, have departed from the faith – and also the counterfeits who have a mere form of godliness.
Jesus says, “If ye love me, keep my commandments” (John 14:15).
Isaiah 59
“Behold, the LORD’S hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither his ear heavy, that it cannot hear: 2 But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear. 3 For your hands are defiled with blood, and your fingers with iniquity; your lips have spoken lies, your tongue hath muttered perverseness. 4 None calleth for justice, nor any pleadeth for truth: they trust in vanity, and speak lies; they conceive mischief, and bring forth iniquity.”
“Thy prophets (leaders) have seen vain and foolish things for thee: and they have not discovered (uncovered) thine iniquity, to turn away thy captivity (bondage); but have seen for thee false burdens and causes of banishment.” Lamentation 2:14
God instructed us to “mark” false leaders. Jesus is the Great Shepherd of the sheep and intends for them to be protected from being lured away (Hebrews 13:20; Romans 16:17-18).
“Christians do not judge the world. Christians must judge those who SAY they live for Christ. Wolves will not spare the flock where pretenders go unchallenged/unjudged.” Robert Lorne
Paul had the heart of the Savior as we should. He cried “with tears” for three years day and night over the protection of Jesus’ sheep and said He gave them all the counsel of God, not just some of it, to protect them (Acts 20:20-32).
Ignoring and deciding we are going to selectively pick out what we want to preach and reject the rest that WE don’t like is anything but the cross. This reveals the heart of a self-serving tare. A person truly in the cross says LORD, “NOT my will but thine be done,” and not “I’ll decide for myself what I’m going to preach” (Luke 22:42).
“And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove (expose) them.” Ephesians 5:11
After promising that we are His and we shall be persecuted as He was, then our LORD informs us that He is going to expose darkness and that we are to be a part of this process as we stand and speak His His light of truth into the darkness of our day. And to fear not anyone except Him (v 26-28).
“Fear them not therefore: for there is nothing covered, that shall not be revealed; and hid, that shall not be known. 27 What I tell you in darkness, that speak ye in light: and what ye hear in the ear, that preach ye upon the housetops. 28 And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.” Matthew 10:26-28
Jesus instructed us to know that He will bring all darkness, every dark deed and evil doer into the light (v26), and told us to shout it, to expose it to all from the housetops (v27), and to do so fearlessly as concerns mere sinful men – the guilty ones who will persecute you for exposing them (v28).
How are we to warn them? what is to be our disposition in warning others as the LORD commanded? One thing we should keep in mind is that God wants us dealing biblically – with the desire to restore – and without personal wrath (Galatians 6:1-2).
“For the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God.” James 1:20
It’s a scary thing to NOT warn the wicked….
“When I say unto the wicked, Thou shalt surely die; and thou givest him not warning, nor speakest to WARN the wicked from his wicked way, to save his life; the same wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at thine hand.” Ezekiel 3:18
“And of some have compassion, making a difference: 23 And others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire; hating even the garment spotted by the flesh.” Jude 22-23
Read these 2 verses closely. Notice how if you die in sin – no matter what your past relationship with God was – you are going to hell irrevocably. Enduring to the end of your life on earth with Christ, in an abiding relationship, is essential to eternal glory. Summation: The LORD judges people on their spiritual state at the moment of death. Share. Repent now heretic.
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