FALSE PROPHET BOB JONES
Bob Jones
Bob Jones – a Tail of a Prophet
(from http://www.letusreason.org/Latrain52.htm
Bob Jones first became known by being part of the Kansas city prophets back in the 1980’s. During this time period there was a group called Grace Ministries’ ministerial team which consisted of Paul Cain, Bob Jones, John Paul Jackson, David Parker, Jim Goll, Francis Frangipane and Mike Bickle that were of the former the Kansas City Fellowship (that became the Metro Vineyard of Kansas City).
Nearly everyone one of these men are separately or collectively involved in the “Latter Rain” false revivals that have taken place. Paul Cain, Mike Bickle (and others) are friends to his ministry and were involved in the prophetic movement that entered the Vineyard church under John Wimber and are now part of the new apostolic reformation of Peter Wagner who was friends with Wimber.
Many that run in prophetic circles have respect for Jones, others Have a DIFFERENT OPINION and consider Jones a blatant false teacher/prophet that needs to be avoided. Jones has not changed his perspective in over 20 years, he continues to influence many. He has been a major influence behind the new revival through Todd Bentley, a Toronto style copy.
Bob Jones’ spiritual experiences are extraordinary to say the least. They consist of “Voices,” “angels,” and “translations to heaven” which give him revelations that are not only contrary to Scripture but are easily categorized as of the New Age variety of spirituality. Jones is whom Todd Bentley looks to as a senior prophet and mentor.
Mike Bickle a close friend of Jones relates the degree of supernatural visitation Bob Jones received nightly: “You know, I’m going to tell you something about Bob. Ever since that time in ’74 when he was filled with the Holy Spirit he began to see the technicolor visions and the Lord began to visit him. Since that time he has seen many, many times, five, ten visions and dreams a night. And when I first met him, I couldn’t hardly comprehend that. I said, “Five or ten a night!” He said, “Oh, yes, all the time. Sometimes more, sometimes three or four” (Mike Bickle, Visions and Revelations, 1988)
Mike Bickle explains the level of spiritual warfare Jones often experiences (Vineyard in Anaheim, CA in 1989): “Bob Jones has come to me several times after ministry. . . you may not believe this, but it’s true, where. . . he’s… went to bed at night and woke up the next morning with a big red streak across his face or a big cut, gash on his arm. He’d say, ‘They got me last night’. He was at warfare in the realm of trances and visions and there was marks left on his body.” (Discernment newsletter vol.1. 4 1990)
If you have marks on your body from sleeping and entering demonic warfare during that time you have some very serious spiritual problems.
Bob Jones claims that when he was nine years old living in Arkansas, an angel carrying a “great trumpet” came riding down from the sky on a white horse and stopped before him in the middle of a dirt road. Four years later, at age thirteen, he claims he was escorted to the throne room of God in heaven (like Cerullo and others). Mike Bickle asked him in a dialogue “You say that you saw the throne room?” “. . . what did it look like?” Jones- “It looked like gold and it looked like light and it was a light not like the light you see here which is artificial,” he responded, adding that the light, the glory of the Lord, frightened him. There was a “guide,” that he identified as “the angel of the Lord” who protected him from danger by standing between him and the throne by filtering the rays from God as if the angel was “like red sunglasses.” He said that he later understood that this was God’s way of calling and commissioning him for their new important earth-changing work that could go out from America’s Midwest. It is this story that we will focus on at the outset of this article.
Jones relates his concern about the rise of abortion and homosexuality, and a conversation he had with a devil: “He told me the next time that I prophesied and told anybody about it, he would kill me. He said, ‘If you knock that off we’ll move back into all the signs and wonders you want to. You can heal people and you can prophesy day and night if you want to, if you leave these two subjects alone” (Mike Bickle, Bob Jones, Visions and Revelations, 1988, found in Vengeance is Ours by Al Dager).
What? The devils will move Jones back into signs and wonders if he will avoid these subject matters! If this is accurate, (and there is not reason for him to say this unless it is), then the signs and wonders manifested by Jones and other prophets may not be from God at all. It is devils according to his own experience? I don’t think I’m changing his words by stating an observation- since he is still living and so many signs and wonders occur at the meetings, we are left to assume he took the deal that allowed the devils to move quite freely.
This experience he had in August of 1975 Jones claims he had a near-death experience that was caused by a severe, painful nosebleed and found himself in heaven. Jones said: “… all of a sudden, the pain was gone. And I was in a dark place and I looked around and I could see that I was in a cave and I looked down there and then my thoughts were, “Oh, Lord, did I get my robe clean? Did I have enough time?” And there was a man that walked beside me and he said, “You can look now, Bob, and see” and I looked down and my robe was like crystal light” (Mike Bickle with Bob Jones, Visions and Revelations, transcript, series of five tapes from the fall of 1988.)
Jones said, “He then saw Jesus in the form of a light who would grab and kiss” men and women of different ages and then make them disappear by absorbing them into his body! “It was like two big ole doors right here in his heart and it’d be just that, and they was gone.” “… He then saw people that Jesus didn’t want who were on “an elevator and an escalator” to hell which was like “a cold storage place.” Jesus then commissioned him to touch the leaders in a new last days church so that he could absorb “a billion souls unto myself in the last day,” Jones said. (Mike Bickle with Bob Jones, Visions and Revelations, transcript, series of five tapes from the fall of 1988.)
Bickle later related that during his trip to heaven Jesus commissioned him to be one of God’s new generals to lead his end time army. Surely if Jones is one of the churches new general’s we will be led to defeat.
What kind of Jesus is this that Jones presents to the church? Who kisses men and absorbs people
More recently on this video
(approx. 4:00 into the video) we find Jones telling us the the same story – abortion would increase, homosexuality would increase and aids would be incurable and there would be an epidemic of drugs (not anything that someone who watches the culture could not predict). He then speaks of the day Aug. 8, 1975- the same story quoted above, but it is told a bit differently, minus some important details he shared in 1988. “A demon appeared to me and said if you ever share that prophesy again I’ll kill you.” And so I told him I don’t belong to you anymore, I belong to the lord and I’m not afraid of you, you have no, uh, no uh, place to touch me, well he did that day and I went to the Lord in death and I stood in a line and as I looked to my left there were a lot of people on like a roller and like in a supermarket where they were rolling past and there were a huge number of people on that line. And I was on a line where there weren’t very many and we were walking and… when I went beyond this life I went into a cave and I looked out the cave and saw a man down there at the cave entrance and he was white light, but there was a whiter light than that white light holding hands out to me and my first thought was did I die clean, was my robe spotted cause I come out of such deep skin and I was concerned to see if I was clean and there was a man that stood alongside of me I never been able to see his face, he’s the paracletos, the Holy Spirit.. he spoke to me and said look now you can see-I looked and my robe was white.” The Holy Spirit is walking with Jones but not anyone else? Jones become confident of his standing before the lord – that he did all he was supposed to do, as this line approached Him he looked to left and saw men wrapped in dollar bills, men on the inside of a whiskey bottle. Men that looked like drugs because that was the god they served on earth “In hell you will serve the god that you served on earth.”
He then explains how there was a large black woman in line with a 100 angels surrounding her and he asked the faceless man, calling him Lord what it was about, he explains how she did great things for her people with the help of the angels. “as she drew close to him he looked out and said did you learn to love and she said yes lord she threw her arms and he just put her arms around her and kissed her right on the lips and just pulled her in”… and the rest of this is even more out of context from the Bible that I refuse to write about such nonsense. This man is not right! Jones is claiming to have actually died and was at the judgment, his judgment. But he is back on earth!
Well, you are free to believe what you want, but I refuse to believe this mans fantasy tales that are unbiblical to the MAX. Is this Jesus the same one in the Bible?
Occult type Influences seem to common with Jones. There are many reports of phenomena similar to the kind Jones describe found in occultism: heat in one’s hands when the spirit of healing comes over them; touching someone to feel the same pain in order to diagnose sickness; predicting future events concerning famous personalities. None of these are recorded in Scripture but they do manifest themselves among those in the New Age/ Occult.
Jones explains to us that his healing power came when he was struck by lightning:
“It was about 76. A bolt of lightning. I was inside I didn’t have my wires grounded in the basement down there, and I grabbed ahold of the refrigerator, and lightning hit the wires outside, and a great blue flame came in. And a ball of fire danced all over that basement, and didn’t hurt me. But from that time forth my hands worked funny. And a lot of people have had a lot of good laughs about it. But a lot of people have got healed by it, too. And miracles and everything else, and got anointed by it. Anytime God is going to start a fire, he starts it with lightning. And you can take a little of that fire and impart it wherever it is needed. And it will start a God’s fire” ( Bob Jones, Visions and Revelations, 1988.)
The color blue can also mean one is not getting enough oxygen. Certainly Jones has not received enough correct Bible teaching to recognize there are other influences going on his life. Maybe Jones can point to the examples in Scripture where God used lightning for a fire. It sounds more like the Greek myths to me. The only fire I see started like this is what Jesus described – when Satan fell as lightning.
Supernatural experiences are an every day and night occurrence to Mr. Jones, and there is no end to how flamboyant the stories can be. Jones believes a spirit named Dominus, is Jesus. Bickle and Jones relate the story of an angel revealing that God would appear to Bickle and his brother in law and associate pastor Bob Scott in the form of another person named “Don” through a vision or dream to confirm Jones’ ministry.
Bickle said the vision eventually took place, Jones states “You guys are never going to learn the language of the Spirit, are you?… When they asked Jones why Don appeared and not Jesus, Jones answered, “Jesus appears in thousands of different faces to portray something.” Bickle: “He was trying to say, ‘I’m your friend, I am your familiar friend and I’m going to show you all things so you can move in the power of the Spirit’” (Mike Bickle with Bob Jones, Visions and Revelations, transcript, series of five tapes from the fall of 1988)
These type of descriptions and non- conformity to the Bibles Jesus certainly raises the suspicion of a another Jesus, or spirit at work. If he is not the same then how can we know we are encountering the authentic one? This is like people having visions of Jesus and everyone describes something different, not to worry, they are all Him.
We find out who Bob Jones’ White Talking Horse is and whom the angel of the Lord is. According to
Bob Jones when he was 13- “The first time I ever seen the white horse was when an angel called Gabriel was riding. I saw him a couple of times in the ’70’s, I didn’t understand what it meant, I would just see the white horse…(Mike Bickle interjects) “The white horse always speaks in Bob’s visions…In his vision it speaks of the corporate purpose that God is bringing to pass…” (ibid. Visions and Revelations.)
I say naaaay to this story, we have yet to see a talking horse in Scripture but we have see a donkey speak rebuke to its rider, Balaam who was the prophet for hire. Whatever is communicating to Jones has some hair raising tails to tell. And the Lord spoke and said, “Bob, the white horse is coming and that will be the Christian group that I’m going to use. Incorruptible flesh will they have, and the lightning in their hands will be the hiding place of their power” (Bob Jones, tape, Visions and Revelations, 1988).
Jones statements are not only unbiblical but cryptic except to the initiated. Jones has been found to need a translator for his speaking even though it is in English because of his incoherence in communication (one translator for Jones is Paul Keith Davis of White Dove ministry). I watched one interview on TV where the “translator” was trying to salvage what appeared to be the ramblings of a man that was not coherent in his speech and had to reinterpret nearly everything said.
Many who are into the visions of Jones also have seen the white horse who represents a sovereign move of the Spirit of truth and power. This is hardly the case as they use Revelation 19:10-11 as a proof text. This white horse is to bring to pass the former moves of God that took place overtime. There visions can mean anything they want as they use allegorical interpretations for their visions, as comets and floods all have an accompanying spiritual meaning that makes sense only to the initiate.
The MIRACLES of Joel’s Army
Bob Jones, speaks about the Army that Paul Cain taught, “Joel’s Army”:
“I went and I seen the Lord, and it was like He was looking at little yellow things—little round, yellow things like a spirit of God itself. [!] And there were billions of them. And it was like Him and. all the angels were looking through these and every once in awhile they’d say, “Hey, here’s an end-time one; get it down here on the end. Here’s another good one.”
I said, “What are you doing?”
He said, “Oh, we’re collecting those who are foreknown and predestinated for the end-times, for you see, they’ll be the best of all the seed that’s ever been. And we’re looking through the seeds and this’ll be your grandkids. This will be the end generation that is foreknown and predestinated to inherit all things. And these will be like grandchildren to you—even those that you minister to won’t be this generation; their children will be.
“You are to write into their minds, as they write into the children’s minds. You’re to bring them to a place to allow My Spirit to rule in their life where they can begin to set the Church on the proper foundations, as they will. They’ll birth the Church, but their children will attain levels of the Holy Spirit that they will not.
Although their parents will reign over them and be the leaders of the last-day church, their children will possess the Spirit without measure. For they are the best of all the generations that have ever been upon the face of the earth. And the best of all generations are those elected seeds that will glorify Christ in the last days.
“That’s the purpose so that Jesus in the last days has the seeds that will glorify Him above any generation that has ever been upon the face of the earth. They will move into things of the supernatural that no one has ever moved in before. Every miracle, sign and wonder that has ever been in the Bible, they’ll move in it consistently. They’ll move in the power that Christ did. Every sign and wonder that’s ever been will be many times in the last days.They themselves; will be that generation that’s raised up to put death itself underneath their feet and to glorify Christ in every way.
“And the Church that is raising up in the government will be the head and the covering for them. So that that glorious Church might be revealed in the last days because the Lord Jesus is worthy to be lifted up by a Church that has reached the full maturity of the God-man!” (Bob Jones, tape, Visions and Revelations, 1988.)
This is right out of the Latter Rain/manifest sons of God manual. Now we have a church out of a church with new leadership to finally have us on the right foundation. So the church has not been built on it and those who rule in it will have defeated death and become God-men. Wow that something the Bible teaches us, except I can’t seem to find the verse, but it must be there because of Jones revelation from God.
Let me highlight the main problems- “They will move into things of the supernatural that no one has ever moved in before. Every miracle, sign and wonder that has ever been in the Bible – they’ll move in it consistently. Every sign and wonder that’s ever been will be many times in the last days. They themselves will … put death itself underneath their feet… a Church that has reached the full maturity of the god-man!
GODMEN, plural! There is only one God man, the God who became man. This is no small error, it should be considered a heresy that changes the nature of God and man.
This where the influence on the new revival is seen with Bentley and others- it is a Latter Rain delusion that targets the youth, if we allow it. This full maturity is what is called the Manifested Sons of God doctrine that came from the Latter Rain Heresy. That certain overcomers become immortal on the earth before Christ even returns. The Bible teaches it the resurrection that makes us immortal. This is all Latter Rain flattery to pump up the churches self esteem which is better identified as dominionism. There is only one seed we need to be concerned about- it is the word of God which we are actually reborn with (1 Pt.1:23) not a physical seed of man. The church was birthed by the Holy Spirit , yet Jones is speaking of a new birth to a new breed of youth that will have power only despots covet for.
Jones even states … There is a ministry after the five-fold called the ministry of perfection – the Melchisedek Priesthood . . . your children will be moving into the ministries of Perfection . . . coming into that Divine Nature of Jesus Christ” [Bob Jones, transcribed from 1988 tape Interview Bob Jones with Mike Bickle).
Immortalization for a Melchizedek Priesthood? The church is never going to be a Melchizedek Priesthood because this is not God’s intention for the church- Jesus ALONE is the God man, this why the Bible teaches he is the “only begotten Son of God.” The Melchisedek Priesthood has only one priest- that is Jesus Christ and Him alone, for it is an eternal priesthood with Him as its priest forever. The 5 fold ministry is found in Eph.4:11 and there is no priesthood mentioned, it is about equipping the church. It is apparent that what Jones’ teaches is inserting his own ideas into passages to promote his own agenda- Latter Rain.
The Way the NEW Prophets prophesy
It is Jones who tells us that the prophetic movement was started by an angel named Emma who is androgynous and appeared as female. This angel is supposedly at work with freshfires revival meetings. For the first time in history we have a woman angel working inside the church bringing signs to the
A prophecy of Jones that the Broncos won the Super Bowl was a sign, because their quarterback was named Elway, “For my purpose is to get you to listen that I might show you El’s Way … for you see in every thunderstorm in every lightening strike, in every earthquake, in every volcano, I [God] have my way, for I AM ELWAY” (March 8, 1998 Crossroads Hamilton, Ontario).
Like reading words in alphabet soup this prophet can make a spiritual rhyme on a dime. But he just can’t seem to get the accuracy level past first grade prognostics.
“Bob Jones was told that the general level of prophetic revelation in the church was about 65% accurate at this time. Some are only about 10% accurate, a very few of the most mature prophets are approaching 85% to 95% accuracy. Prophecy is increasing in purity, but there is a still a long way to go for those who walk in this ministry. This is actually grace for the church now, because 100% accuracy in this ministry would bring a level of accountability to the church which she is too immature to bear at this time. It would result in too many Annaniases and Sapphiras” (The Prophetic Ministry” Rick Joyner. Morningstar Prophetic Newsletter. Vol. 3, No. 2, p. 2).
So we are too immature to have prophets be right all the time? Does this make sense or is it more correct that these prophets are not 100% right because they are not speaking for God who is ALWAYS 100% right. God was always right with his prophets in the Old Testament and New Testament, but in their ministry, they are not always right, they are not even half right; they are not as accurate as a skilled psychic.
Mike Bickle is not anymore reassuring: “Now, obviously, probably about 80% of what’s in the Body of Christ that’s called prophecy is fleshiness. And so we’re in a day when we’re in such an immature stage of this. So much of what is called prophecy is not truly prophecy. So we realize that; so what’s our reaction to that? We don’t throw out the baby with the bath water. We say, “Lord, we don’t throw out prophecy. We ask You to mature it.” We don’t take it as serious in the early days as we will in the days to come” (Media Spotlight- THE RESTORATION OF APOSTLES AND PROPHETS AND THE KANSAS CITY‑- VINEYARD CONNECTION by Albert James Dager)
So according to their end time prophetic army they have a base 10-20% accuracy level. Not to be concerned, the more practice they have inside the church the better they will get at it.
Isa 9:15: “The ancient and honourable, he is the head; and the prophet that teacheth lies, he is the tail.”
Thus, the tales these prophets speak of from their own imagination are called tails by God.The Church has accepted the teaching of prophets that are not speaking the truth. They are listening to tails.
Jesus said to those who exercise power as a group of prophets in the last days are in grave jeopardy “Many will say to me in that day; Lord; Lord HAVE WE NOT PROPHESIED IN THY NAME? And in thy name cast out devils and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you; depart from me” (Matthew 7:22.23)
Many will say this… not a few. When you hear of a prophets school and prophet meetings, or teaching others how to prophesy or giving personal prophecy that is not accurate all the time, think of this Scripture and what it has to say about this.
Bob Jones and Mike Bickle are two peas in a pod when it comes to non- biblical prophetic experiences and revelation. Jones supposedly could tell Bickle what dreams he was going to have, as well as come to him in his dreams. Because Jones was hit by lightening he developed “Golden Senses,” an ability to feel in his hands and arms sensations that would signal various spiritual realities. Jones claims a gift from God that demonstrates when the people’s prayers are being heard by the Father especially in the area of healing:
“I was over there with Jim awhile ago. My hands turned blue, and then they turned purple. And when that happens that means you’ve got some incense that’s gone up. You’ve got some intercession that’s gone up that Papa’s saying yes to. There’s some prayers that’s gone on here that the answer is yes…. When you’ve got this kind of anointing some of you are already entering that secret place of the Most High. You’re already bowing down to that altar of incense. Your tears are falling on those coals and they’re coming up before Papa. Papa’s saying, “Come with more. Believe for more.” Because when my hands turn purple it means you’re getting through to the Royalty; you’re getting through to the top. It’s yea and amen, and that’s what He’s calling you into: that holy place of divine health. The Holy of Holies which your children are called to enter in can crash that threshold. It’s called the place of divine health…. That’s what the children are entering into: they’ll have the Spirit without measure, they’ll walk through walls; they’ll be translated—everything that was ever in the Scripture” ( Bob Jones, Visions and Revelations, 1989, audio tape)
Contrary to Jones’ spiritual elitism all Christians can come boldly before the throne and their prayers are ALWAYS heard and answered if they are ask according to God’s will. Christians do not bow before anything but God
What make this a concern is that Alice Bailey, a spokesperson for the New Age Movement, described violet (or purple) light as a catalyst for bringing about healing:
[There are] four groups of angels that are bands of servers who are pledged to the service of the Christ [the New Age Christ, not Jesus], and their work is to contact man and to teach them along certain lines…. They will give instruction in the effect of colour in the healing of disease and particularly the efficiency of violet light in lessening human ills and in curing those physical plane sicknesses which originate in the etheric body.
A violet flame is able to extinguish illnesses according to New age teaching. “The more you understand the reality and the presence, the more you can accept the presence of these healing violet flame angels, the closer, they will come and the greater their strength and power of that sacred fire wrapped around you” (I Am healing decrees, Saint Germaine press 1976 p.6)
Of course both angels and fire have an important part in the “revivalism” taking place in the church today. Before God’s Spirit is actually poured out in Israel and then to the world there is another spirit that will increase to bring in the false Christ, that will be empower people to do great signs and wonders by neglecting doctrine.
“You’re going to see revelations of our Papa like you’ve never seen before. For men like me the Spirit of Elijah has fallen upon. And the Spirit of Elijah falls upon prophets. That’s all that it means there. {Mal 4:5,6} And one of our prayers is to bring the Spirit of Elijah so we can reveal to you your Papa. And you the children of God will come into that Papa/ son relationship. Now 2000 years ago the Savior was revealed. 100 years ago the Holy Spirit was revealed. {1895} We are getting ready for the last revelation. You find out Who your Daddy is, you find out who you are. You find out what your blood is and what you can do.” Bob Jones 2/95 Vancouver, Canada Vineyard
We already know what this means by Jones’ teachings- that the church will produce little God/men, who are all Melchizedik priests, sounds like the Latter Rain plan. In fact Jones has seen the next 50 years unfold, and Jesus did not come back, instead we get to establish the kingdom on earth.
At the Lakeland service with Todd Bentley, Bob Jones explains the churches future: “What is the Lord doing? I brought a 100 year prophesy for a long time, let’s look at it. The 1950’s reveal the power of God. William Branham, Oral Roberts, AA Allen. The 1960’s reveal the Spirit of God. The Holy Spirit invaded the denominations. The 1970’s reveal the great teachers of God and they began to raise up. The 1980’s reveal the prophets of God. The 1990’s reveal the government of God. The 2000 would reveal the glory of God. You haven’t seen anything. Wait till you see the next two years! The 2010 would reveal the faith of God. It’s not have the faith “in” God, it is to have the faith “of” God. And it’s going to be those that have that earring in and hear what God is saying. And what you’ll do, you’ll proclaim it. And you’ll bring it into being.” “The 2020’s reveal the rest of God. To where you can rest from your labors and God will work His work through you in your rest and in your peace. The 2030’s will reveal the family of God. 2040’s will reveal the kingdom of God. 2050’s will reveal the sons and daughters of God. I only saw til 2060 and the church was still here and it wasn’t defeated by any means. It had really grown and looked a lot like Christ. So if you’ve got short range plans, make long range plans” (Bob Jones with Todd Bentley at the Lakeland Florida revival, 5/13/08 evening service, on God TV. Transcribed by Sandy Warner, www.thequickenedword.com)
Looks like we have our future all mapped out and Jesus has told Jones he is not coming for the church in the next 50 years. Consider what some of the statements mean in relation to the Latter Rain teaching of Jones and associates and to the Bible.
“The Remnant Seed”, a prophecy by Bob Jones at Hamilton, Ontario, March 1998:
“ .And now my government is in place, and in a time of great stress I shall bring forth my next step, for Toronto was a step, Brownsville was another step; My next step will be my glory, and signs like you have never seen before…”.
The trail of the Latter Rain continues to unfold, even though it was rejected in the late 40’s, its acceptance today is by those who are unfamiliar with its past. Yesterday it was Toronto, today we have the freshfire revival in Lakeland, tomorrow it will be somewhere else. How can any of this be attributed to God when Jones is so far removed from understanding the word of God, preaching the word of God and replaces it with new words from his mystical experiences that are not even related to Biblical concepts. I would say that if this is the direction of the church, listening to men like him we
*I want to thank Al Dager whose book I read 18 years ago. It gave me understanding of what has been unfolding over the years. Dager was a pioneer on this subject as he gave a warning of the false prophets that would change the church; the very things we are seeing today. Anyone interested in this subject matter should read “Vengeance is Ours”
Quotes from this article are also referenced from Bob Hunter and Discernment ministries.
from http://www.letusreason.org/Latrain52.htm
—————————————
Bob Jones is nothing more than a story teller who attaches Christ’s name to what he is doing. This man uses little or no Scripture so we know He has “no light” in him (Isa. 8:20). Little or no Scripture is ever mentioned. This false prophet can only gain access into the lives of those who are already deluded by their rejection of the LORD and His holy truth (2 Thess. 2:10-12).
LINKS
Prophet Bob Jones Removing Blockages (watch this witchcraft and the generalizations – with no Scripture at all)
Bob Jones: 3 ft Angel
Bob Jones died- God sent him back from heaven’s door- 1
Articles
Prepared and Powerful [podcast]
“See, I have this day set thee over the nations and
over the kingdoms, to root out, and to pull down,
and to destroy, and to throw down, to build, and to
plant.” Jeremiah 1:10
God has a plan to remove that which does not belong in you
and to establish what does.
- “to root out” (destructive)
- “to pull down” (destructive)
- “to destroy” (destructive)
- “to throw down” (destructive)
- “to build” (constructive)
- “to plant” (constructive)
When Jesus cleansed the temple, after rooting out the evil, He then installed the purity, prayer, praise, and power (Matthew 21; John 2).
God has His order. One thing comes before the other.
Those who submit to death and burial, stripping, will be blessed to be prepared, raised up…..
Root out, pull down – high and low, God’s wants to rid us of the things that do not glorify Him.
2/3rds – Death, burial, then resurrection. As is the case throughout Holy Scripture, the cross is represented here… and then the resurrection. The divine cross economy is represented here. First we must be dead and buried and then the resurrection. Romans 6 He breaks us down before building us up.
I must be dead and buried with Christ in order to then be raised up by Christ.
“Our old man needs demolished! It cannot be reformed! Its whole foundation is rotten! God says it must be plucked up by the roots. Pulled down, destroyed, thrown out! Then He comes in and builds a new foundation. (1 Corinthians 3:11, Col 2:7). Otherwise our foundation is made of only sinking sand! And great will be the fall (Matthew 7:24-27).” Karen Cochran
The Cross Economy Pattern Seen throughout Holy Scripture
“But he knoweth the way that I take: when he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold.” Job 23:10
“Tried” – death and burial
“come forth as gold” – resurrection
God has to do a work in us before He can do a work through us.
Joseph
David
Isaiah
Peter
Paul
John
“Nevertheless the foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are his. And, Let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity. 20 But in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and of silver, but also of wood and of earth; and some to honour, and some to dishonour. 21 If a man therefore purge himself from these, he shall be a vessel unto honour, sanctified, and meet for the master’s use, and prepared unto every good work. 22 Flee also youthful lusts: but follow righteousness, faith, charity, peace, with them that call on the Lord out of a pure heart.” 2 Timothy 2:19-22
Jesus had to first be crucified on the cross and buried before the Father raised Him up in resurrection victory. The resurrection is God’s answer to death and burial. The must be a death and burial before there can be a resurrection.
“But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble. 7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8 Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded. 9 Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness. 10 Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.” James 4:6-10
Read Psalms 51 prayerfully.
WHEN the Word is flowing in and through your life like a river, it will cleanse like a river! A full-scale embarking on studying and walking in God’s Word will cleanse you and establish you in divine truth!
“But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night. 3 And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.” Psalms 1:2-3
Dabbling in the Word is like a mere trickle in contrast to devouring His Word daily and having His fountain of living waters flowing into your vessel, your life.
“Those that be planted in the house of the LORD shall flourish in the courts of our God.” Psalms 92:13
God is working in the hearts and lives of each of His people and He requires and expects our personal participation. He has to root things out of us, every one of us, before He begins building and planting in us. Get to know Jeremiah 1:10 closely. “LORD change me” is a great daily prayer.
We didn’t make up the terms. GOD did. We repent and obey or perish. Be engaged in His plan to cleanse you.
Those who are submitted to God truly are bowing down in death and burial and about the Father’s business.
“All these are the beginning of sorrows. 9 Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name’s sake. 10 And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another. 11 And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many. 12 And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold. 13 But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved. 14 And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.” Matthew 24:8-14
If you are not about the Father’s business of the Great Commission, it’s because you are not choosing to be truly submitted to the LORD.
Prayer: Holy Father, I ask You to change me. Do Your deeper work in my life. Here this moment I lay my life in Your hands. Have Your way dear LORD. In Jesus’ name, amen.
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 | Giving | Fellowship | Christology = the Study of Christ
Abiding
IS SUNDAY MORNING “CHURCH” ATTENDANCE ESSENTIAL? [podcast]
“Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.” 1 Peter 2:5
Being Connected to others due to the common bond, the “common salvation” one has in Christ is not the same as being connected because one shows up at a designated “church” building on Sunday mornings (Jude 3).
“But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light:” 1 Peter 2:9
Each and every true born again, Heaven-bound, blood-bought saint of Christ, WILL regularly fellowship with other of Christ’s people. And, adherence to the written Word will be the non-negotiable foundation of that fellowship (Isaiah 8:16, 20; 40:8; Mark 13:31; 2 Timothy 3:15-17; 2 Peter 1:3-4, 19-21, etc.).
WHAT’S GOD BUILDING?
WHO IS “GOD’S BUILDING”?
Jesus is NOT building your “church” – He’s building HIS “CHURCH.” You’d better find out what that means.
“And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” Matthew 16:18
The word “church” here comes from the Greek word Ekklesia which means “the called out ones” – that is, His called out people. Jesus came to die for PEOPLE, not for religious organizations of mere sinful men or for the devouring wolves He often warned us about to build their church businesses, enterprises (Matthew 7:15; 24:11, 24, etc.). There’s no such thing as an organized church that isn’t in deception. Isn’t it time we “come out of her” (religious babylon) and live the life of an authentic disciple alongside the organic Jesus worshipping body of Christ?
“And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues. 5 For her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities.” Revelation 18:4-5
Do the words “God’s building” appear in Scripture? If so, WHO, WHAT is He referring to?
Walking with God and going to a certain local “church” building on Sunday mornings are not synonymous. An official “church” building makes nothing official. Christ’s church, the members of His body are “God’s building” – He’s building His kingdom in the hearts of His blood-bought, beloved children! When Jesus declared that “I will build my church”, HE WAS SPEAKING ABOUT HIS TEMPLES – HIS PEOPLE! (MATTHEW 16:18; 1 CORINTHIANS 3:9; 6:19; 2 Corinthians 6:16).
Jesus is KING and kingdom living is all about exalting KING Jesus – not mere men or organizations or ministries! It’s only then that His divine “nourishment” is going to flow down into His beloved body!
“Let no man beguile you of your reward in a voluntary humility and worshipping of angels, intruding into those things which he hath not seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind, 19 And not holding the Head, from which all the body by joints and bands having nourishment ministered, and knit together, increaseth with the increase of God.” Colossians 2:18-19
Modern church pawns want you to become enamored with THEM, not CHRIST. It’s a sales, a con job! Beware. Read Colossians 2:18-19 closely.
“If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. 2 Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. 3 For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. 4 When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory.” Colossians 3:1-4
The Clues are Everywhere
Any person claiming to be a Christian who is just now seeing that the visible “church” is apostate, is clearly not reading God’s Word and obeying it. KJB “Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.” 1 John 4:1 …. the fact that 99% of the “church” uses one of the many fake “bibles” instead of the King James Bible, is apostasy in our faces. | 4 Verse KJV Comparison [podcast]
“A resounding no to is church essential!! It is essential if you want to feed your flesh, candy costed messages laced with poison! But if you desire a relationship with the one who saved your very soul, you better come out! The very reason we came out. How can anyone who truly loves the Lord stay in a church that is spitting in His face with lies and apostasy? And worshipping the one who hates God the most! Satan!! I can remember coming to this realization and sitting in our last church crying and saying God they don’t love You here? How can I stay? I could not!” Karen Cochran
The Unity God Ordains and Desires
“Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!” Psalms 133:1
The unity of the brethren spoken of in God’s Word has nothing to do with showing up to a Sunday morning meeting. Any lost soul could do that. No, true unity is in Christ and enjoyed uniquely by those who are born again and grounded in the sound doctrine of His written Word. This true Christ-centered unity is in part brought about by Christ’s true servant-elders, most of whom do not operate out of a physical “official” church building. No, instead, like Jesus and His apostles, Christ’s true servants today go about doing good, building up the body of Christ, giving biblical wisdom, praying for, and fellowshipping with the members of the body of Christ. They do not hide in buildings like the greedy cowards of today’s modern church world.
“And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; 12 For the perfecting (equipping, maturing) of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: 13 Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ: 14 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; 15 But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ: 16 From whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love.” Ephesians 4:11-16
Serving God, in the minds of so many simply means nothing more than engaging in some of the numerous forms of modern church activities. Truth: Serving God is not serving in your apostate modern local church. Repent now. Follow Jesus (Luke 9:23-24).
AFFIRMATION without REGENERATION is rampant in the apostate modern church world.
If the overseers in a certain Sunday morning church group aren’t biblically watching for the souls of the people, teaching them the pure Word of God, equipping them to do the work of Christ’s ministry, and instructing them of the absolute essential of daily seeking God for themselves, would that be to God considered a place to assemble? No. See Ephesians 4:11-12; 2 Timothy 2:15; Hebrews 13:7, 17, etc..
“Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching. … Remember them which have the rule over you, who have spoken unto you the word of God: whose faith follow, considering the end of their conversation. … Obey them that have the rule over you, and submit yourselves: for they watch for your souls, as they that must give account, that they may do it with joy, and not with grief: for that is unprofitable for you.” Hebrews 10:25; 13:7, 17
In the context of the book of Hebrews, New Testament saints are to fellowship, to assemble with other of God’s true people. And, they are only to do so where there are true elders – elders who speak “the word of God” and “watch for your souls.”
There is no record of the earliest followers of Jesus and the apostles collecting money to build a physical building. When they collected money, what was it for? Where did it go?
“And all that believed were together, and had all things common; 45 And sold their possessions and goods, and parted them to all men, as every man had need.” Acts 2:44-45
Notice in the above passage that “EVERY MAN” mattered and not just some group of thieving wolves who were collecting and squandering the money on their own self-serving lusts! Beware (Philippians 3:18-19; 2 Peter 2:1-3).
“And the multitude of them that believed were of one heart and of one soul: neither said any of them that ought of the things which he possessed was his own (they understood that God owns all and they were just stewards); but they had all things common. 33 And with great power gave the apostles witness of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus: and great grace was upon them all. 34 Neither was there any among them that lacked: for as many as were possessors of lands or houses sold them, and brought the prices of the things that were sold, 35 And laid them down at the apostles’ feet: and distribution was made unto every man according as he had need.” Acts 4:32-35
IS SUNDAY MORNING “CHURCH” ATTENDANCE ESSENTIAL?
“Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: 14 Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it. 15 Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. 16 Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? 17 Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. 18 A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. 19 Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. 20 Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.” Matthew 7:13-20
Jesus never said “Follow me by going to, by attending church weekly.” Never. Nor did Christ ever say “Follow me by finding a good local church to join.”
“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. 24 For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: but whosoever will lose his life for my sake, the same shall save it.” Luke 9:23-24
There is no connection between the cross Jesus mandated for any person who would truly follow Him on His stated terms, and the local churches. In fact, the passage above and a myriad of others will never be heard taught in the modern churches.
No, yet fellowship is essential. Many today who do not “attend” a certain circus called the “church” have not at all backslidden. No, instead, they left in order to preserve their faith and not because they were leaving the faith. Fellowship is a necessity – yet little that goes on in most Sunday morning church busine$$es has to do with what God’s Word defines as fellowship. “Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together” does not speak of a Sunday morning gathering in a certain building run by wolves, of course (Hebrews 10:25). Jesus says He’s in the midst of the gathering of His people, even if just 2 – “For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.” (Matthew 18:20) Also, there are elders among God’s people – yet such operation of His elders does not require operating out of a certain designated, official “church” building. If so, Christ and His apostles weren’t legit …. they had no “church” building. They went to the people – they didn’t raise money and build buildings and invite people to the building. See Acts 8:4 and Mark 16:15.
“And they, continuing DAILY with one accord in the TEMPLE (Jewish, not built by New Testament Christians), and breaking bread from HOUSE TO HOUSE, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart,” Acts 2:46
“And how I kept back nothing that was profitable unto you, but have shewed you, and have taught you PUBICKLY, and FROM HOUSE TO HOUSE,” Acts 20:20
“The Word says God doesn’t dwell in temples made with hands. I want what God’s Word says about fellowship, not what man has done.” Papaw Cline
Authenticity is a high priority to God. 1 John 3:18 and such does not come about by being a church member but rather by facing God daily with a sincere, honest heart, denying the self-life, taking up the cross, and following Jesus (Proverbs 28:13; Luke 8:15; 9:23-24, etc.). Separating oneself from all the religious noise, clutter, bureaucracy…. is a blessing in many ways.
MESSAGE RECEIVED:
“Show me a person who does not go to church & I’ll see a weak believer at best ! When the apostles went door to door & preached to groups in & out of town the rest of the time they spent in the temple! Look at the last verse in Luke after Jesus ascended!”
REPLY:
I don’t think so. Show us all these verses where people are in a “church building” please. Waiting. I stopped “going to church” over a year ago…. much fruit, due to an abiding relationship with CHRIST, has been transpiring…. so your statement, “Show me a person who does not go to church & I’ll see a weak believer at best!” rings hollow to me friend. … friendly discussion here….. Could it be that those who are weak and are not taking personal responsibility daily to seek the face of the LORD are in need of the Sunday morning gatherings? …. some fellowships which are good, many which are not New Testament at all. There’s room for both according to Scripture….
Honestly speaking, …. how many regular church-attending Christians do you know who are ready for Jesus’ soon return, actually bearing the daily cross, feeding Christ’s sheep daily, earnestly contending for the faith, Gospel workers who labor continually, and winning souls to Christ?
Until I came out from among them, I didn’t realize just how burdensome the entanglement of the local church bureaucracies were. Whew, it’s a weight lifted and yet, if an individual is immature and not ready to be diligent in getting up each morning seeking the face of the LORD, pouring over His Word and in prayer, they may wish to remain in the church system.
The Fellowship of the Believers
Act 2:42 And they continued stedfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers.
Act 2:43 And fear came upon every soul: and many wonders and signs were done by the apostles.
Act 2:44 And all that believed were together, and had all things common;
Act 2:45 And sold their possessions and goods, and parted them to all men, as every man had need.
Act 2:46 And they, continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart,
Act 2:47 Praising God, and having favour with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved.
What 4 Elements were involved in the fellowship of the earliest followers of Jesus?
“And they continued stedfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers.” Acts 2:42
“And they continued stedfastly in …
- the apostles’ doctrine (the Word),
- and fellowship,
- and in breaking of bread,
- and in prayers.”
Sister Tina writes:
“If you think for one second that being in a building for one hour on Sunday morning justifies a relationship with Christ, you’re absolutely wrong. Take a look at the visible church today and all the warnings of apostasy because of it. Jesus said ‘go out and teach my Word to all nations and signs will follow. That’s not limited to a visible church in a physical building, one day weekly. No, we are the church (the called out PEOPLE of God). When we walk in the street and see a homeless person God gives us the opportunity as we go to share the gospel and be the gospel. This can happen everyday in all areas of our life. It’s up to us to be obedient to the call.”
Support | STORE | Podcasts | Jail/Prison Ministry | Mexico Mission here | All Ministry Updates | Because You Care Page | The Greatest of these is Charity | Be Ready in the Morning [podcast] | The Sure Mercies of David [podcast] | That Repentance and Remission of Sins should be Preached [podcast] | At His Feet | Prepared to be Used of God | The Damning Myth of Unconditional Eternal Security [podcast] | The Essential of Fearing God | The KING is Coming [podcast] | Lie of the Ages (Blockbuster book exposing OSAS and calvinism)
Abiding
“Them that Seduce You” 1 John 2:26 [podcast]
From the book I Die Daily
“Them that Seduce You” 1 John 2:26
“He saved others; himself he cannot save. If he be the King of Israel, let him now come down from the cross, and we will believe him.” Matthew 27:42
“Come down from the cross” is the cry of the enemy of all souls. Here he inspired God-less men to tempt Christ to not complete the work of redemption. In the same way, today, God-less pulpiteers and writers say nothing of the daily cross Christ commanded to be taken up by any person who would follow Him (Luke 9:23-24). These are the very “enemies of the cross of Christ” Paul warned us about (Philippians 3:18-19). Of this phenomenon, a disciple writes:
“Satan works both angles. First, he tried to keep Jesus (and us as His body) from going to or staying on the cross. On the other hand, he puts us on the cross as per what he did through Judas, the high priests of Judaism, and Pilate, and the Romans. Satan is somewhat schizophrenic as to this. But 1 Corinthians 2:8 is making the point that had he, the main prince and his underling princes, if they had known what they were doing (defeating themselves as a house divided), they would never have crucified the Lord of Glory. Satan’s house is a house divided against itself and is therefore laid waste by his own forces just as Jesus stated in Matthew 12. Peter himself reviled Jesus when Christ told him He would be going to the cross. Jesus attributed that work to Satan.”
When Peter, being used of Satan spoke, the Son of God turned, and said to Peter…
“Get thee behind me, Satan: thou art an offence unto me: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men. Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it. For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?” Matthew 16:23-26
Here Jesus spoke not only of the necessity of His own redeeming cross, but also of the daily cross to be taken up by each and every one of those who would follow Him. This should forever underscore and cement in our understanding the necessity of the daily cross.
One preacher wrote:
“Galatians 2:20 says, ‘I am crucified with Christ,’ and Romans 6:5 says, ‘For if we have been planted (united) together in the likeness of His death.’ These are both in the Greek perfect verb tense.
This indicates a past event WITH CONTINUING EFFECTS. So, it could literally say ‘I have been and continue to be crucified with Christ’ and ‘For if we have been and continue to be planted ….’ Romans 8:36, 2 Corinthians 4:10, and 1 Corinthians 15:31 clearly speak of a daily death with Christ.
Ephesians 4:22-24 talks of a continual putting off (death) of the old man, as does 2 Corinthians 4:16. Martin Luther taught of a daily Spirit baptism and called it ‘dying upward.’ These people who teach otherwise resist the daily cross. This is the error of triumphalism.
As we appropriate the finished work daily, we become more
and more what we already are. We possess our possessions.
Compare Colossians 3:3 with Colossians 3:5.
Let’s take the advice above and put together verses 3 and 5
of Colossians 3: “For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ
in God … Mortify therefore your members which are upon the
earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil
concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry.”
T. Austin-Sparks stated the following:
We have not to die; we are dead. What we have to do is to
accept our death … In baptism … we simply step in there and
say, ‘That position which God has settled with reference to
me is the one which I now accept, and I testify here in this
way to the fact that I have accepted God’s position for me,
namely, that in the Cross I have been brought to an end.’
The true disciple is always “delivered unto death for Jesus’
sake” (2 Cor. 4:11.) He has “crucified the flesh with the
affections and lusts” (Gal. 5:24). He is daily putting to death
“the deeds of the body” and being “raised up” by the power of
the same Holy Spirit “that raised up Christ from the dead”
(Rom. 8:11, 13). He rejoices in “Christ Jesus” and has “no
confidence in the flesh” (Philippians 3:3).
“I die daily … Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body. For we which live are always delivered unto death for Jesus’ sake … that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh. So then death worketh in us, but life in you.” 1 Corinthians 15:31; 2 Corinthians
4:10-12
Concerning the raising up process of the Gospel of God, T. Austin-Sparks wrote:
“The unalterable basis of an open heaven is a grave, and a
crisis at which you come to an end of your own self-life. It is
the crisis of real experiential identification with Christ in His
death.”
Though we entered into His death upon initial salvation, accepting and experiencing that death is still a daily choice, an individual decision to be made on an ongoing basis. One’s choice to continue to persevere, following Christ as He clearly prescribed, will determine his eternal destination (Luke 9:62; 19:13; 21:19; Romans 6:16; Galatians 6:7-9).
The insidious circumventing of the cross can come in many clandestine ways that are masked with pious outer garb. Today, while refusing to utter the full counsel of the One they claim to be representing, smiling and charismatic men stand in sheep’s clothing, promising heavenly life to those who live in sin. They only prosper due to the volitional biblical illiteracy of the masses. Ignorance of the truth is a choice with eternal consequences (Hosea 4:6; Matthew 22:29; 2 Thessalonians 2:10-12).
Many like to hide behind works they do in and surrounding their local church home. They relish singing in the choir, ushering, doing drama or being a part of the technical team, helping in various ways, or even preaching a message, and yet the life of Christ is not manifesting in their personal lives as they go out into their world daily. His light in them is not bright enough to shine into the darkened hearts of men through personal evangelism. They have been steeped in a mere formula of godliness that does not manifest the evidential fruit of one who is truly in Christ, radiant by His glory, and flourishing in His life. A. W. Tozer wrote:
Another substitute for discipleship is: Our Lord referred to
this when He reproached the Pharisees for their habit of
tithing mint and anise and cumin while at the same time
omitting the weightier matters of the Law such as justice,
mercy and faith. Literalism manifests itself among us in
many ways, but it can always be identified in that it lives by
the letter of the Word while ignoring its spirit. It habitually
fails to apprehend the inward meaning of Christ’s words,
and contents itself with external compliance with the text.
If Christ commands baptism, for instance, it finds
fulfillment in the act of water baptism, but the radical
meaning of the act as explained in Romans 6 is completely
overlooked. It reads the Scriptures regularly, contributes
consistently to religious work, attends church every Sunday
and otherwise carries on the common duties of a Christian
and for this it is to be commended. Its tragic breakdown is
its failure to comprehend the Lordship of Christ, the
believer’s discipleship, separation from the world and the
crucifixion of the natural man.
Literalism attempts to build a holy temple upon the sandy
foundation of the religious self. It will suffer, sacrifice and
labor, but it will not die. It is Adam at his pious best, but it
has never denied self to take up the cross and follow Christ.”
Prayer—Forgive me, Lord, for trying to follow You without taking up that self-death instrument daily.
Yet another way the depraved heart, cloaked fully in a mere form of religion, seeks to circumvent the work of the cross, is by denying or ignoring that there is a cross to take up “daily.” The one whose theology is undergirded and poisoned with the unconditional eternal security lie, must resist all personal responsibility. He must take the line of least resistance. He is a moral coward, who while feigning to be walking in grace, has actually acquiesced to such a mythical position in order to avoid dying the death.
He refuses to buy into the truth of the Gospel when it threatens his own personal comfort zone he has built around himself, using half-truths and twisted and convoluted blends of philosophy, clichés, and Scripture. At all cost, he must remain intoxicated with the lie that he can do nothing to violate and fail the grace of God, and forfeit his place with God, which he erroneously believes is eternally secure—no matter what rebellion he may choose to commit against Him who is “Holy, holy, holy” (Isaiah 6:3; Revelation 4:8). So, he must fight the truth violently using his keyboard, pulpit, or pen to defend his paper-thin position. He must at all costs make sure anyone he leads believes that “God requires nothing of him, that salvation is of the LORD, and there is absolutely never any personal responsibility placed upon the individual recipient of salvation.”
What a tragic, fraudulent lie this deceiver is casting upon those naïve enough to give him ear! The bowels of hell have been nourished by millions who have bought this lie and have descended into the gaping and inescapable abyss (Isaiah 5:14). God forbid that anyone under the care of the “grace” deceiver be burdened with the slightest incentive or motivation to live holy, because in his evil theology, God Himself is no longer holy and just and doesn’t punish sin in His own people. Using whatever deceptive means and even Scripture-twisting, the deceiver will do away with all thought of personal responsibility from among his flock. He further seeks to lull them asleep with himself, as they bask in the lukewarmness of hell-bound Laodicea and those “at ease in Zion,” refusing to hear and hearken to the severe warning to turn back to the LORD—“Repent” and “Woe to them” (Amos 6:1; Revelation 3:14-21).
Circumventing Schemes
In order to accomplish keeping his flock asleep, the beguiler must only acknowledge the positional cross, while seeking to deny the experiential or daily cross Christ commanded His followers to take up (Matthew 10:38-39; Mark 8:34-39; Luke 9:23-24). Those who deny the “daily” cross Christ commanded, deny Christ (Mark 8:34-38). To deny His words is to deny Him (Mark 8:38; John 8:47; 14:21). Those who do not teach Christ’s command to deny self and take up the cross daily, hold a position of lawlessness; such are false teachers, “ungodly men” who are “turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness (a license for sin)” (Romans 6:1-2, 15; Jude 3-4). We are to “earnestly contend” against them and the heresies they spread.
Concerning the “remnant” which is a descriptive word defining the only people to be eternally with Christ, Isaiah 37:31 says: “And the remnant that is escaped of the house of Judah shall again take root downward, and bear fruit upward.” No one can “bear fruit upward” unless he is willing to humble himself “under the mighty hand of God.”
“Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time:” 1 Peter 5:6
The Last Days
God’s Word forewarns us that only a few among those once righteous will be in Heaven. “And if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear?” (1 Peter 4:18).
With all the popular last days type books in print, it is regrettable that few of them if any deal with readiness as the Scriptures present it. The human authors seem to completely overlook such an essential truth, because they have been schooled in this cross-denying way themselves. They completely overlook Christ’s severe words of warning in Luke 21:34-36. The typical modern church posture is that if one has at some moment in the past received Christ, he is forever and indelibly secure for Heaven no matter what, with no possibility of losing out with God. Is this what the Bible teaches us?
Great tribulation is coming, such as has never been experienced upon the earth. “For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be” (Matthew 24:21).
We are told by the Son of God that only those with the oil of God in their vessels will be admitted into the marriage feast of the Lamb (Matthew 25:1-13). Only those who are intently connected with Jesus Christ, foregoing the things that would hinder their relationship with Him, will “escape all these things that shall come to pass.”
“And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares. For as a snare shall it come on all them that dwell on the face of the whole earth. Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man.” Luke 21:34-36
He told us that if we will overcome and be with Him, we must “be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man.” By this we know that some shall not “escape.”
The LORD Jesus beckoned those who would follow Him to the end, to be waiting and ready for His imminent and pending return:
“Let your loins be girded about, and your lights burning. And ye yourselves like unto men that wait for their lord, when he will return from the wedding; that when he cometh and knocketh, they may open unto him immediately. Blessed are those servants, whom the lord when he cometh shall find watching: verily I say unto you, that he shall gird himself, and make them to sit down to meat, and will come forth and serve them. And if he shall come in the second watch, or come in the third watch, and find them so, blessed are those servants. And this know, that if the goodman of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched, and not have suffered his house to be broken through. Be ye therefore ready also: for the Son of man cometh at an hour when ye think not.” Luke 12:35-40
The enduring saints must discern keenly, and the only way to do such is to fully repent, love Him personally and supremely, and cast off all worldly ties that draw us from the Bridegroom (Revelation 3:14-18).
In order to escape this promised and epidemic onslaught of the enemy of God, one must be daily “crucified with Christ,” being separate from iniquity and abiding in Christ (John 15:1-6; Galatians 2:20). It is only in being “dead” that we are “hid with Christ in God” (Colossians 3:3). It is only in experiencing His “death” that His “life” can work in us and through us to others (2 Corinthians 4:10-12). It is only in taking “root downward” that He will raise us up to “bear fruit upward” (Isaiah 37:31).
As was prophesied, the enemy’s seduction of souls is in full swing and ever-increasing as the time of the return of Jesus draws nigh:
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
In the above passage, those who are already safe with Him in Heaven are told to “rejoice,” while those who remain upon the earth in this last hour are solemnly warned to beware because “the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time.” Perhaps there would yet remain among us some who are still ignorant of the devices of the enemy, and not so sure about the activities he is perpetrating among the remnant. Listen closely to what Jesus says concerning the final days which we are now living in:
These things have I written unto you concerning them that
seduce you (this is John’s inspired reason for writing to us). But
the anointing which ye have received of him abideth (remains)
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,
These things have I written unto you concerning them that
seduce you (this is John’s inspired reason for writing to us). But
the anointing which ye have received of him abideth (remains)
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 (remain) in him; that, when he shall
appear, we may have confidence, and not be ashamed before
him at his coming. If ye know that he is righteous, ye know that
every one that doeth righteousness is born of him. 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. Beloved, now are we the sons
of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we
know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we
shall see him as he is. And every man that hath this hope in him
(the hope of Christ’s soon return) purifieth himself, even as he
is pure. 1 John 2:26-3:3
According to these Holy Spirit inspired words penned by John the apostle, there are “many deceivers” seeking to “seduce you” (1 John 2:26; 2 John 7-11). One of the most insidious ways these wolves, who “lie in wait to deceive,” operate, is by refraining from preaching the true Gospel which includes the taking up of the daily cross (Matthew 16:24-27; Luke 9:23-24). If one will be safe in heavenly glory, never to suffer another iota of pain for all the eternal future, he must stay clear of the “many deceivers” who have answered the call of evil, and are sent forth to “deceive” those who would be prey due to:
• Having a lack of knowledge—not knowing the Scriptures nor the power of God (Hosea 4:6; Matthew 22:29)
• Not watching and praying (Matthew 26:41)
• Not submitting to God (James 4:7)
• Not being crucified with Christ (Galatians 2:20)
• Not being “dead” and having their lives “hid with Christ in God” (Colossians 3:3)
• Not having their affections set upon things above (Colossians 3:1-4)
• Minding earthly things (Philippians 3:18-19)
There is abundant proof that so many today vainly believe they can have the benefits of the cross without the responsibility of the cross. They want the crown but not the cross. They are self-serving (“whose god is their belly”) and so desire to feel secure by trusting that because Christ died and was buried and rose again, they are safe.
As was long ago foretold, many in this deceived generation are trusting in Christ’s atoning death without their own personal participation. They call Him “Lord, Lord,” but in the end will hear the horrific words of termination, “Depart from me” (Matthew 7:21-23.) From His blessed presence they will be forever alienated, vanquished into “the lake of fire” (Revelation 20:11-15).
“Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity (lawlessness).” Matthew 7:21-23
So many who claim the name of Christ conveniently ignore what Jesus said about taking up the cross and following Him to the end. In the riveting words listed in the above passage, did Jesus not tell us that only “he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven” will be allowed into His Heaven? The daily denial of self, taking up the cross, and following Him is at the heart of the Gospel Jesus gave us.
According to the Son of God, overcomers will be allowed into Heaven and no one else (Revelation 2-3).
Readiness test:
• Are you daily taking up your cross? (Matthew 16:24-25)
• Do you daily deny yourself so that Christ can reign in your mortal body? (Luke 9:23-24; 2 Corinthians 4:11-12)
• Are you following Christ in the way He prescribed? (Matthew 7:21; John 8:47; 1 John 2:3-6)
• Are you purifying your life of all that offends God? (Acts 15:9; 2 Corinthians 7:1; 1 John 3:3)
• Are you coming out from this sinful world system and the apostate religious system? (2 Corinthians 6:14-7:1; 1 John 2:14-17)
• In obedience to the LORD, are you remaining clear of any and all wolves, who preach or pen a cross-less gospel? (2 Corinthians. 11:2-5; Philippians 3:18-19)
• Are you learning yet more and more to hate this sinful and rebellious world system, lest you become the enemy of God? (James 4:4; 1 John 2:15-17)
• Are you daily in the Word so the Word is getting into you and washing your heart and mind of all that is not according to the mind of Christ? (Psalms 119:9, 11; Proverbs 4:4, 21; Jeremiah 15:16; John 15:3; Ephesians 5:26)
• Are you keeping your lamp full by daily communion with Jesus? (Matthew 25:1-13; 1 John 1:3-9)
• Are you abstaining from fleshly lusts and departing from all iniquity? (2 Timothy 2:19; 1 Peter 2:11)
• Are you overcoming the wiles of the enemy who seeks to seduce you from self-denial? (1 John 2:26-3:3)
• Are you watching and praying, so as to be blessed to take up your cross daily and not be seduced from essential obedience in following Christ? (Matthew 26:41; Luke 12:35-40)
• Are you watching and praying so as to escape all sin and remain ever ready for Christ’s soon appearing? (Proverbs 8:34; Matthew 26:41; Luke 21:34 -36)
• Are you calling others to come to the Fountain of living waters from which all life flows, and in which all blessings abide? (Revelation 22:17)
In this late hour, may God bless each of us—His children—to be in fellowship with those who are embracing instead of evading the daily cross, and who “call on the Lord out of a pure heart” (2 Timothy 2:22).
As we were long ago forewarned, the “great wrath” of the one who “knoweth that he hath but a short (brief) time” has “come down” upon us through an epidemic of apostate leaders, who like the deceivers of old, erroneously promise His eternal life to those who refuse to take up their crosses to follow Him (Jeremiah 23:17; Amos 9:10; 2 Peter 2; Jude 3-4). Beware! “Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ” (Colossians 2:8).
PRAYER: Jesus, please deeply quicken Your holy fear in my inner most being. From this instant forward, I look fervently for Your soon return. Heavenly Father, I beg You to unite my heart to fear Thy name and make ultra-sensitive my conscience—to be so easily convicted upon the slightest thought that varies from Your holy will. Into Your hands, I now commend my spirit. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
Capture Points
• Read and discuss Matthew 27:43 and how it applied to Christ when He was on the cross, and how this same temptation applies to the believer in his daily walk with Jesus.
• Transcribe 1 Peter 4:18 on an index card and discuss. (KJB recommended)
• Read and discuss Luke 12:35-40. (KJB recommended)
Support | STORE | Podcasts | Jail/Prison Ministry | Mexico Mission here | All Ministry Updates | Fresh Start with God | “Fear hath Torment” – 100% Deliverance from all Fear! [podcast] | Resurrection Grace [podcast] | G.O.D. = Game Over Devil [podcast] | Justification | Grace and Good Works [podcast] | More on Assurance here | Eternal Security Debunked | The Cross Life | 100’s of Christ-centered, Scripture-rich podcasts for your edification in Christ.
Prepared and Powerful [podcast]
IS SUNDAY MORNING “CHURCH” ATTENDANCE ESSENTIAL? [podcast]
“Them that Seduce You” 1 John 2:26 [podcast]
GOD is Greater than all Sin [podcast]
Mission Mexico Part 24
“The Collection for the Saints”
Understanding Ministry-A Must for all who will be used of God [podcast]
“WHY Don’t Christian Authors Just Give Away Their Books?”
“Buried with Him by Baptism into Death” [podcast]
Are You a Follower of Jesus and Considering Moving to Mexico? [podcast]
Is Romans 7 Before or After Paul’s Salvation?
Mission Mexico Elvita Dejected then Blessed [video]
What Did Paul mean by “Double Honour”? [podcast]
Sabbath Keeping, Justification, Sports, and Non-Essentials [podcast]
“But I Can’t Understand the King James Bible” [podcast]
What Church is Jesus Coming Back for? [podcast]
“But I Can’t Understand the King James Bible” [podcast]
“WHY Don’t Christian Authors Just Give Away Their Books?”
Understanding Ministry-A Must for all who will be used of God [podcast]
What Does it Mean to Follow Christ? [podcast]
IS SUNDAY MORNING “CHURCH” ATTENDANCE ESSENTIAL? [podcast]
Is Romans 7 Before or After Paul’s Salvation?
Guilty of Condoning Evil Romans 1:32
Walking in Godly Integrity Means Paying Restitution Where Needed [podcast]
TIMES OF REFRESHING FROM THE PRESENCE OF THE LORD! [video]
“The Collection for the Saints”
Sabbath Keeping, Justification, Sports, and Non-Essentials [podcast]
Hostile Watching vs Grounded Readiness for Christ’s Return [podcast]
“Called, and Chosen, and Faithful” [podcast]
Are You a Follower of Jesus and Considering Moving to Mexico? [podcast]
Prepared and Powerful [podcast]
IS SUNDAY MORNING “CHURCH” ATTENDANCE ESSENTIAL? [podcast]
“Them that Seduce You” 1 John 2:26 [podcast]
-
America6 months agoThe Drugging of America: The Pharmakeia Sorcery Deception [podcast]
-
Articles2 years ago
Children being Rescued in Tunnels: Happening Now – UPDATE!
-
Articles7 years ago
Self-Examination in Preparation for the Lord’s Return
-
Apostasy2 years ago
SHOCKING List of False Prophets Most Believe are True
Providing Christ-centered Scripture-rich resources to feed, edify, and equip the body of Christ (John 21:15-17; Ephesians 4:11-15).
Navigation
Quick links
Newsletter
Stay updated of the ministry operations. We saved a spot for you on the ministry email list.
© 2025 Safe Guard Your Soul. All Rights Reserved