Excerpt from the book Predators in Our Pulpits
“And Ezra the scribe stood upon a pulpit of wood, which they had made for the purpose.” – Nehemiah 8:4
Did you notice the words “pulpit” and “purpose” in this verse? A reading of this passage reveals that they are mentioned together in this context relating to the issue of corporate worship. Peering into this passage will help us to discover and return to God’s original “purpose” for the “pulpit.” During the gathering together of His people to worship Him, this is vital in order to ensure that we are walking in His truth and escaping apostasy (1 Timothy 4:1-3). The “pulpit” simply represents a platform of communication and understanding the divine “purpose” for it is critically important, as it will prevent us from “being led away with the error of the wicked” who, in our day, use the pulpit for a purpose foreign to the divine intent (2 Peter 3:17).
Nehemiah 8 contains the only mention of a “pulpit” in God’s Word. Examining the setting where the original pulpit appears is crucial to understanding the divine intention for its use. The purpose for which it was established has not changed. God’s “purpose” when His people gather is, in part, seen just four verses down. Nehemiah 8:8 says: “So they read in the book in the law of God distinctly, and gave the sense, and caused them to understand the reading.”
Nehemiah 8:8 sets forth the pattern for the gathering of the people of God. It is to worship the LORD Himself and no other and in doing such, we read His Word and no one else’s. Replacing His Word with anything else is worshiping at the altar of another god. In order to become intimately familiar with this truth and these words of our LORD that we are looking into, let’s read these words again: “So they read in the book in the law of God distinctly, and gave the sense, and caused them to understand the reading” (Nehemiah 8:8).
The elders of God’s people Israel stood up and read God’s Holy Word to the people. They simply spoke the divinely inspired Precepts which we now have today in the complete Old and New Testaments. Would to God that men who lead today would know and understand the divine truth in this Nehemiah 8 passage of Holy Scripture!
See what others are saying about the book Predators in Our Pulpits and order your copy here.
Nehemiah 8 is a very important Bible text. Today, we must follow the divine pattern set forth here or we will greatly “err”; which many have done “not knowing the scriptures nor the power of God” (Matthew 22:29). The Scriptures provide the only divinely ordained instructions for worship and ministry. Anyone not following them has greatly erred. According to Romans 15:4 and 1 Corinthians 10:11, Nehemiah and all of the Old Testament Scriptures were written “for OUR learning” and “for OUR admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come.”
Nehemiah 8:4 says: “And Ezra the scribe stood upon a pulpit of wood, which they had made for the purpose.” That day when God’s people gathered, the “purpose” was for His Word to be read to them from that wooden “pulpit.” The divinely ordained “purpose” for the “pulpit” and for which they built this structure is given in this very text: “So they read in the book in the law of God distinctly, and gave the sense, and caused them to understand the reading” (Nehemiah 8:8).
This author is aware he has re-quoted these words more than once, and that is intentional. Reader and friend, are you hearing these words? This is the only time the word “pulpit” is found in the Bible and we must understand the divinely-ordained purpose for it. Knowing this simple truth will do wonders to help our discernment.
The wooden pulpit in Nehemiah’s day was for the people to gather and hear the very words of God; and for the leaders to speak them so they could understand the Word and will of God for their lives as a people.
In its most basic definition, a “pulpit” is merely a venue or central place of communication. It is simply a medium where a message is transmitted and conveyed to a person or people. As we see in this Nehemiah 8 setting, the pulpit was a place to stand and read or declare the written Word of God and nothing else. Notice that the elders stood and “read in the book in the law of God distinctly.”
Parash is the Hebrew word for “distinctly” and is defined this way: to separate, literal (to disperse) or figurative (to specify); also (by implication) to wound: scatter, declare, distinctly, shew, sting.
Does this definition sound like “rightly dividing the word of truth”? (See 2 Timothy 2:15.) Notice the words separate, disperse, wound, and sting. The words of God separate or sanctify the saints as they are dispersed into the hearts of God’s people (John 15:3; 17:17). Also, the Word of God many times first wounds us, stinging our consciences to convict and bring us to repentance (Deuteronomy 32:39).
Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth.
“Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord” (Colossians 3:16). The dilemma today is not the piece of wood our leaders stand behind, or the various mediums of communication we have today, but rather what they are communicating as they use these vehicles to transmit information. In God’s eyes the audiences are equally as guilty as the wolves they migrate to and support (Hosea 4:9; 2 John 7-11). We were long ago forewarned of an hour when men who claimed to know the LORD and had a “form of godliness,” would “turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables” (2 Timothy 3:4; 4:4).
And how does this happen? “For the leaders of this people cause them to err; and they that are led of them are destroyed” (Isaiah 9:16).
The fact that so many people who call themselves Christians sit in front of deceptive wolves and listen to foolish, shallow, empty, non-convicting, psycho-babble and stories (“fables”) today, is an indictment of a whole generation of lost souls who do not fear the LORD and are biblically illiterate (Colossians 2:8). These two soul damning flaws go hand in hand—refusing to know God’s Word and not fearing God (Deuteronomy 4:9-10).
The great apostle Paul warned God’s people: “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).
Today, in this late hour of great apostasy, the essential Word of God has been replaced with notions, philosophies, pop psychology, traditions, and the doctrines of sinful men.
When men in leadership do not bow down to the Most High in their daily lives, it will show up in the pulpits. When men don’t uphold Christ in their personal lives, but instead have control of their own lives, the same will transpire in their “ministry.” They will be in control, not the LORD. This is one reason that the daily cross Jesus commanded is essential to following Christ and leading others in the biblically prescribed pattern of worship.
See what others are saying about the book Predators in Our Pulpits and order your copy here.
God surely has ordained the preaching of His Word, and yet very few do so in this late hour. Satan’s desire is to control the pulpit and what is spoken from it, so he has targeted and attacked the seminaries and the personal lives of those who lead. If he can ensnare leaders in sin (living in the flesh), he can thwart the flow of God’s Word to the people. The enemy’s goal is to replace the life-giving Word of God with “another gospel,” which is no gospel at all (2 Corinthians 11:2-4). Those human emissaries he has enlisted, who wear sheep’s cloaks, are “accursed” for participating in this rebellion against the LORD (Galatians 1:6-9).
The Pulpit
What most people hear and trust from the pulpits of today is going to pull them into the pit of eternal hell.
The word and concept of “pulpit” is found in the Bible, but it is so very grossly misused in our day. We see so very few who stand behind a pulpit who are truly and simply preaching the pure Word of God which was what the elders in Israel were doing when we see the word “pulpit” in Nehemiah 8. Let’s read a larger portion of this revealing passage:
And all the people gathered themselves together as one in the square before the Water Gate. They told Ezra the teacher of the Law to bring out the Book of the Law of Moses, which the Lord had commanded for Israel. – Nehemiah 8:1
The Ezra Example
Ezra and the elders of Israel read God’s written Word and helped the people understand God’s Word and nothing else. They offered nothing else but God’s Word. Do we get it? These God-fearing men had no personal agenda. They weren’t raising money or building a local business called a church. They had no message of their own but were mere conduits to communicate God’s Message which is God’s Word. Where O where are the Ezras of today?
How important is God’s Word?
God’s Word is our protection: “Every word of God is pure: he is a shield unto them that put their trust in him” (Proverbs 30:5).
God’s Word is our life: “And Jesus answered him, saying, It is written, That man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God” (Luke 4:4).
The importance of the words of God being heard and ingested by the people of God both individually and corporately, cannot possibly be over emphasized. To His people, the LORD says:
Only take heed to thyself, and keep thy soul diligently, lest thou forget the things which thine eyes have seen, and lest they depart from thy heart all the days of thy life: but teach them thy sons, and thy sons’ sons; Specially the day that thou stoodest before the Lord thy God in Horeb, when the Lord said unto me, Gather me the people together, and I will make them hear my words, that they may learn to fear me all the days that they shall live upon the earth, and that they may teach their children. – Deuteronomy 4:9-10
He taught me also, and said unto me, Let thine heart retain my words: keep my commandments, and live. – Proverbs 4:4
My son, attend to my words; incline thine ear unto my sayings. Let them not depart from thine eyes; keep them in the midst of thine heart. For they are life unto those that find them, and health to all their flesh. – Proverbs 4:20-22
Bow down thine ear, and hear the words of the wise, and apply thine heart unto my knowledge. For it is a pleasant thing if thou keep them within thee; they shall withal be fitted in thy lips. That thy trust may be in the Lord, I have made known to thee this day, even to thee. Have not I written to thee excellent things in counsels and knowledge, That I might make thee know the certainty of the words of truth; that thou mightest answer the words of truth to them that send unto thee? – Proverbs 22:17-21
Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom.– Colossians 3:16
Nehemiah 8:1-8:
And all the people gathered themselves together as one man into the street that was before the water gate; and they spake unto Ezra the scribe to bring the book of the law of Moses, which the Lord had commanded to Israel.
2 And Ezra the priest brought the law before the congregation, both of men and women, and all that could hear with understanding, upon the first day of the seventh month.
3 And he read therein before the street that was before the water gate from the morning until midday, before the men and the women, and those that could understand; and the ears of all the people were attentive unto the book of the law .
4 And Ezra the scribe stood upon a pulpit of wood, which they had made for the purpose; and beside him stood Mattithia, and Shema, and Anaiah, and Urijah, and Hilkiah, and Maaseiah, on his right hand; and on his left hand, Pedaiah, and Mishael, and Malchiah, and Hashum, and Hashbadana, Zechariah, and Meshullam.
5 And Ezra opened the book in the sight of all the people; (for he was above all the people;) and when he opened it, all the people stood up:
6 And Ezra blessed the Lord, the great God. And all the people answered, Amen, Amen, with lifting up their hands: and they bowed their heads, and worshipped the Lord with their faces to the ground.
7 Also Jeshua, and Bani, and Sherebiah, Jamin, Akkub, Shabbethai, Hodijah, Maaseiah, Kelita, Azariah, Jozabad, Hanan, Pelaiah, and the Levites, caused the people to understand the law: and the people stood in their place.
8 So they read in the book in the law of God distinctly, and gave the sense, and caused them to understand the reading.
In verse one above, we see that “all the people gathered themselves together as one man … and they spake unto Ezra the scribe to bring the book of the law of Moses, which the Lord had commanded to Israel.” Wow! These people wanted, desired, and were calling out for God’s Word! These people of the LORD did not want fables, stories, psychology, commentary, or poems. No, they desired the sincere or pure Word of God (1 Peter 2:2). They were ready to “receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls” (James 1:21).
Notice in verse two of Nehemiah 8 where the Bible says that “Ezra the priest brought the law before the congregation.” Would to God that leaders today brought only “the law” (or written Word) before the people and eliminated all else from their lives and ministries!
See what others are saying about the book Predators in Our Pulpits and order your copy here.
In verse three the Bible says, “the ears of all the people were attentive unto the book of the law.” We must stop here and ask ourselves just what it is that we desire and want to hear? The answer to this question will plainly reveal just where our hearts are—our current spiritual state. We are told that in the last days that “some shall depart from the faith.”
Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils; Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron. – 1 Timothy 4:1-2
Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables. – 2 Timothy 4:2–4
The people of God in Nehemiah’s day wanted God’s Word and there is a remnant today that desires the same. When Jesus preached to “many of his disciples,” “many … went back, and walked no more with him” (John 6:66). Why? John 6:60 says: “Many therefore of his disciples, when they had heard this, said, This is an hard saying; who can hear it?” Only twelve remained, while “many” of His “disciples” departed or apostatized. As has been prophesied, many in this last generation before Jesus returns, have “itching ears” and do not “endure sound doctrine” because of “their own lusts” (2 Timothy 4:3-4). So, they “heap” up or set up before themselves “teachers” who do not preach God’s Word which they do not want.
Pulpits in the Dark Ages
“But this thou hast, that thou hatest the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate. … So hast thou also them that hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitans, which thing I hate” (Revelation 2:6, 15). What is Jesus really trying to communicate here? After all, the Son of God tells us here that He hates the “deeds” and the “doctrine of the Nicolaitans.” Wow! We’d better look into this.
Let’s begin by breaking down the Greek word from which we get the English word “Nicolaitans.” In the Greek, nico means to conquer and laitans means the laity or people. So, “Nicolaitans” means to conquer the people.
You see, the Bible teaches us that if we believe a lie, we are brought under bondage to the person who told us that lie. While speaking specifically of “false teachers” and “false prophets,” the Bible says: “While they promise them liberty, they themselves are the servants of corruption: for of whom a man is over come (by using a lie), of the same is he brought in bondage ” (2 Peter 2:19).
Pulpits became the place of evil men who used their religious myths, lies, and doctrines of demons to control and beguile the masses. The remnant of God’s elect went outside the walls of the visible church and stayed alive in Christ!
During the dark ages (after Christ was born, died, was raised again, and His Church was launched), evil men brought in a perverted version of Christianity, yoking souls to their hellish doctrines and organizations (Mark 23; Mark 7:6-10).
A “pulpit” is merely a platform for communicating and teaching others. So, what is truly important has little to do with a physical, wooden pulpit, building, or anything physical in this fleeting world. We have no record of the earliest disciples of Jesus constructing any building or using a wooden pulpit. The pulpit resurfaced when the evil leadership of Rome began and took over the visible religious visage of a false “Christianity,” amalgamating it with paganism. It was from those pulpits in those majestic and expensive physical buildings that the Nicolaitan leadership Jesus hates began to wage their war against the Almighty, bringing men into bondage as they deceived them into thinking they had the exclusive rights to access the LORD (Revelation 2:6, 15).
The earliest followers of Jesus simply went forth preaching God’s Word (Acts 8:4). They gathered “house to house daily” and at times met in synagogues which were physical buildings already built before the birth of the New Testament church. See Acts 2:42-47.
Do we need the church building and the pulpit? No. But in fact, millions in America are dependent upon a mere man or ministry feeding them instead of learning to feed themselves daily. Yes, servant elders are to feed Christ’s sheep and yet, if the pure Word of God is not coming from a pulpit, why would any true disciple continue to hear those mis-leadings? The pulpit is a mere medium and not an end in itself. All that is spoken from a TV or radio transmission, in a book, from a podium, or on the web or paper is to be weighed and discerned against the written Word.
When Paul preached, the astute, God-fearing, Scripture-intensive believers in Berea judged what he spoke against the Holy Standard—God’s written Word. “These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so” (Acts 17:11).
Yet today, many who claim to know Jesus have handed over the care of their souls to mere sinful men and are in danger of hell fire. It is a terrifying truth that, in most cases, these deceived souls have no idea they are going to be kindling for the fires of hell.
The Bible says that we are not to forsake “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” (Hebrews 10:25). There is no command in the New Testament Scriptures to go to a so-called church building and sit before a pulpit on Sunday mornings. What’s important to the LORD is that His children individually and corporately dwell worshipfully before His holy presence, richly in His Word, in prayer communion with Him and in fellowship with one another as they break bread and pray together (John 4:23-24; Acts 2:42-47; Colossians 3:16-17).
The Book of Acts shows us the church of Jesus Christ before it became fat and short of breath by prosperity. – Leonard Ravenhill
The pulpit or medium of exchange is not what is important but rather the content of the communications that are coming over those airwaves, that wooden podium, that book, that audio message, that TV or radio program.
A communication medium is just that—merely a medium for the exchange of data, namely that of communicating religious beliefs of some sort. So, the title Predators in Our Pulpits in no way limits beguilers and false teachers to those standing behind a physical pulpit on Sunday mornings. As we see in Ezra’s example in Nehemiah 8, the biblical and proper use of the pulpit or place of humbly leading others is to communicate the Holy Scriptures. Whenever some other philosophy replaces God’s Word, there is a predator in that pulpit or medium of informational exchange. Of this late hour the LORD foretold and warned us that there would be “many false prophets,” and of course they abound today using every type media communication medium known to man (Matthew 7:15; 24:5, 11, 24; 1 John 4:1).
The big question is just who is behind that medium of communication. What is coming out from and through that communication? What is coming from that man’s mouth?
Either make the tree good, and his fruit good; or else make the tree corrupt, and his fruit corrupt: for the tree is known by his fruit. O generation of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good things? for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh. A good man out of the good treasure of the heart bringeth forth good things: and an evil man out of the evil treasure bringeth forth evil things. – Matthew 12:33-35
Where else can Satan work best than through someone who feigns to represent Jesus Christ while misrepresenting Him? (See 2 Corinthians 11:12-15.) Where can the enemy of all souls be better camouflaged and undetected than using the medium typical of Christian ministries?
Today’s modern church and its philosophies, methods, gimmicks, approach, and processes are completely irreconcilable with Christianity as it is revealed in the New Testament record. The diligent Bible student sees this.
The modern church’s marketing schemes and seductions are designed to farm the community to attract the masses of unregenerate people; getting them into their church building and keeping them coming. So, to do this, they search out and hire (or elevate from within) the slickest, most persuasive wolf in sheep’s clothing (hireling) to be their head or lead marketer. He’s called the pastor and yet, in reality, he is basically a CEO of a religious firm with a marketing program. Marketing to one’s community is much of what is taught and learned in seminary nowadays and in religious seminars and conventions.
The biblical criteria for leadership do not include oratory elegance or skills of eloquence, nor does it consist of charisma and the ability to organize and amass large crowds (Matthew 7:15-20; Luke 6:26; Acts 6:1-6; 1 Timothy 3:1-7; Titus 1:5-16; Jude 3-4). There is no tenet to be a good entertainer—that’s for goat herders, not sheep-feeders.
This great apostasy was foretold by the Holy Spirit and is now upon us at the hands of false leaders who fill pulpits, air waves, cyber-space, and books with their evil leaven (Isaiah 9:16; 56:10-12; Amos 8:11; Matthew 7:15-23; 24:3-5, 11, 24; 2 Thessalonians 2:3; 10-12; 1 Timothy 4:1-3; 2 Timothy 3:1-7; 1 John 4:1-6, etc.).
Prayer: Father in Heaven, please forgive me for ever alienating the affections of my heart to any mere man or other idol. I here and now repent and turn my heart and life to You alone as my supreme LORD, God, Savior, and friend. I beg You to unite my heart to truly fear Thy holy Name and to serve You in spirit and in truth. In Jesus’ holy Name. Amen.
Capture Points
- What is to be preached when one or more people gather in Jesus’ Name? Cite and discuss
- What does “Nicolaitans” mean? (See Revelation 2:6.) Why is this important to know for today?
- Why did the LORD say the Berean Christians were “more noble”? (See Acts 17:11.)
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Apostasy
The Truth about Yoga [podcast]
Yoga brings demon possession which keeps the person captive to the lie – that they have to do their little séance breathing technique. They have to keep doing their little witchcraft drill. That’s just it – it doesn’t work.
Your silly little yoga pose won’t forgive your sins, give you peace, or save you from going to hell.
“Ye cannot drink the cup of the Lord, and the cup of devils: ye cannot be partakers of the Lord’s table, and of the table of devils. 22 Do we provoke the Lord to jealousy? are we stronger than he?” 1 Corinthians 10:21-22
WHAT kind of absolute pansy of a “man” feels like a man after doing yoga? Get a clue. NO ONE needs yoga to stretch and work out. That’s what gyms are for. Delusional. God is calling you to repent and get a spine.
DABBLE WITH YOGA AND YOU’VE GOT DEMONS!
The devil is slick…and sick…. yet can only fool those who are outside God’s will (James 4:7). Example: WHO ever said one needs yoga for relaxation or exercise? Delusional. Repent and break all bonds with this demonically-yoking practice.
There’s no such thing as a Christian who does yoga.
ANY person doing yoga has demons! Any company or organization promoting or allowing it, is demonic. 100%. Repent now sinner.
Yoga is a diabolical placebo, a cheap substitute for what you truly need. You need Jesus to forgive your sins, sinner. Turn to Him in humility and in full repentance.
It doesn’t matter how widespread the advertising push is for yoga, it’s still witchcraft. Why add the witchcraft? What’s Revelation 12:12 say?
“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
by Debbie Lord
DID YOU KNOW?
The serpent (Satan) described in Genesis 3 as the most subtle of all beasts of the field, has deceptively presented yoga to the world as “innocent” exercise and “a positive” experience just as he did when he approached Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, challenging God’s words, in essence calling Him a liar: “Hath God said?”… and thus begins the elevating of the creation over the Creator.
All around us, the name of our most holy God is taken in vain, while the popularity of yoga (the worship of beasts, nature, Hindu gods etc.) increases. A shift like this doesn’t just happen casually or by coincidence. The Enemy of our souls is at work 24/7 scheming his way into our societies by dethroning The One True God (the Creator of the universe and everything in it) by deceiving us into physically paying homage and bowing down to other gods by elevating the creation above the Creator through the practice of yoga.
The practice of yoga has become so common in the U.S. and the western world that we see the motions and concepts all around us on TV, in commercials, movies, all forms of entertainment media and in our every-day lives. It is common to see someone strike a yoga pose or put the palms of their hands together and make a bowing gesture. It appears so kind, gentle and gracious … innocent, right? Here is the real meaning and the root from which this position is derived:
“Namaste”—the word spoken in conjunction with the bow—”translated roughly, means ‘I bow to the God within you,’ or ‘The Spirit within me salutes the Spirit in you’—a knowing that we are all made from the same One Divine Consciousness.“ Urban Dictionary
Yoga means “to yoke with.” Just exactly who or what are you “yoking with”?
Portions of article by Julie Roys:
The word yoga is problematic. Yoga means “to yoke.”… using the word begs the question, “Yoked to whom?” …the postures and techniques of yoga were designed to be offerings to the millions of Hindu gods. But ultimately, yoga was intended to yoke a person to the so-called “Lord of Yoga” – Shiva, the destroyer. …these realities make yoga, regardless of how it’s packaged, incompatible with Christianity.
Quotes from The Chopra Center:
“When you bow your head and say namasté at the end of a yoga practice, you have the chance to do more than simply mark the ending of the session. In fact, a spiritual revelation is on the other side of a truly felt namaste.”
“One of the most common translations of namasté is ‘The divine light in me bows to the divine light within you,’ and ‘I honor the place in you where the entire universe dwells.'”
All of the above fly in the face of the Truth of God as Creator of the universe and everything in it, and that we humans are God’s creation (not the Creator) as told to us in His holy Word—the Bible. God is holy “set apart” and “other than.”
“Hinduism is pantheistic and teaches that god is in everything — its 330 million gods, plants, animals, and every human being. So, to salute the divine in another person makes total sense to a Hindu.
“Christianity, however, teaches that God is transcendent and distinct from His creation. Though it’s true that the Holy Spirit resides in each believer, the Holy Spirit does not bow to himself in other believers saying, … ‘That light in me honors that light in you.’ According to Scripture, the Holy Spirit honors the Father and the Son. And a Christian’s worship, though emerging from within him, should always be directed upward and outward. So, the Psalmist says, ‘I will praise thee, O Lord, among the people: I will sing unto thee among the nations.’ In Christianity, we, the creature, direct our worship to the Creator.” Author Unknown
The yoga fad that is exploding in popularity world-wide is more than a passing fad, it is one more step toward the slippery slope of the Christ-denying apostasy of the church.
You may say: “Yoga exercises help my body. It works for me.” But by what power is it working? Satan is setting the stage for the great deception of the world and the church for false miracles in the end times.
“Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil;” Isaiah 5:20
Quote from John Edmiston: “The end-times religion will be both idolatrous and magical. Idolatry is the substitution of the creature for the Creator. Magic is any system that claims to give people access to God’s power without having to accept God’s will.” John Edmiston, False Miracles in The End Times
Yes, there are many professing Christians who fail to understand the origins and power at the root of the practice of yoga. And yes, there are several different kinds of yoga, however, they all have the same origin and root.
At the very root of every kind of yoga, each physical posture is pointing toward, bringing attention to (worshiping) and is even named after an animal, an element of nature and false gods.
Yoga has its roots in Hinduism, which espouses that “God” is in every living thing and so the creation itself should be worshiped.
If you say: “Well, to me it’s just stretching, concentration, balance and strengthening exercises” . . . then why is the class named “Yoga”?
Why would you choose to knowingly, intentionally engage in a practice that has at its core, denial of the supremacy of the very God you say you believe in, and by participation are giving your body over to worship other gods—even Satan himself?
Quote from wikipedia regarding one kind of yoga—Kundalini Yoga
“It was adopted as a technical term in Hatha yoga during the 15th century, and became widely used in the Yoga Upanishads by the 16th century. Eknath Easwaran has paraphrased the term as ‘the coiled power’, a force which ordinarily rests at the base of the spine, described as being ‘coiled there like a serpent.’”
“Coiled like a serpent.”
Again, just who or what are you “yoking with”?
“Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness?” 2 Corinthians 6:14
How many times have you heard “I just take the class for the exercise—I’m real careful to stay away from the spiritual part of it.”
How can that even be possible when the very positions (poses) themselves are based on positions that focus on/elevate an animal, nature or a Hindu god?
How can you separate one from the other?
“Choose you this day whom ye will serve” (Joshua 24:15).
“What? Know ye not that your BODY is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: Therefore glorify God in your BODY, and in your spirit which are God’s.” 1 Corinthians 6:19-20
If you are a Christian who participates in “harmless” yoga exercises, are you asking the Holy Ghost within you to worship a Hindu god or a creature rather than the Creator, the One True God? Do you think the Holy Ghost is going to stick around for that?
“And the very God of peace sanctify you WHOLLY, and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and BODY be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Faithful is he that calleth you, who also will do it.” 1 Thessalonians 5:23-24
Are you willfully, not only limiting but actually rebelling against the Lord’s sanctification in your spirit, soul and body?
“I beseech ye therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye PRESENT YOUR BODIES A LIVING SACRIFICE, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And BE NOT CONFORMED TO THIS WORLD: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.” Romans 12:1-2
How can you as a Christian do one thing in your spirit and do exactly the opposite with your body? Impossible.
“But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. 7 For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord. 8 A double minded man is unstable in all his ways.” James 1:6-8
You may have heard the saying by Hudson Taylor: “Christ is either Lord of all or He is not Lord at all.”
“No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other.” Matthew 6:24
“Choose you this day whom you will serve.” See Joshua 24:14-16
Still some will say: “Well, still, in my spirit, I’m not serving the gods of Hinduism, I’m praying to the one true God all the time I’m doing yoga”
Read Romans 12:1 again (above).
So, is it important what you willfully choose for your body do?
The Apostle Paul said: “But I keep under my BODY and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway” (1 Corinthians 9:27).
What chances are you willing to take, how far are you willing to go even if the consequence of your choice may result in being cast away from God?
Are you willing to risk being cast away from God and His presence for eternity?
Even if you can’t bring yourself to think there’s a possibility that what is put forth in this article is true and should be applied to your life and exercise routine, are you really ready to gamble with your eternal destination by continuing to willfully, purposely engage in yoga exercise?
There are alternatives. There are classes out there that engage in stretching, cardio, balance and strengthening exercises that do not have their roots in the practice of yoga. Prayerfully seek them out.
Hint: The word “Yoga” will not be anywhere in the title of the class.
Yoga is Satanic | Kundalini Witchcraft in the Church
UPDATE FROM SISTER DEBBIE LORD:
Had good time of fellowship with the 2 ladies that came over this afternoon.
Conversation moved to the practice of yoga!
So, we had our first Bible study together and prayed
a prayer of repentance, deliverance and cleansing of its
effects. We included all of us in the prayer and it was
especially for one lady who expressed verbally her horror
at what she had done in participating in yoga in any way.
The Holy Spirit had already been preparing her heart.
This revelation re yoga triggered another question about “rock stacking” (Cairns) so we looked into it together and found that they have many meanings — one is simply for hiking trail directions so you don’t get lost, but have also been used for centuries for burial and other ritual ceremonies. Schools have used the practice of building Cairns inside the classroom so that their students can “reflect on themselves and realize what their priorities in life are, a form of meditation tool.” Idol worship and witchcraft.
This info caused us to pray for increased Holy Spirit discernment and awareness of what’s going on around us in this world — including the church world.
YOGA IS SATANIC: IF you’re doing yoga, you’ve got demons. Repent and denounce it now.
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Apostasy
Beware of the Crown Stealers! [video]
by Glenn and Dezi Langohr
“Behold, I come quickly: hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown.” Revelation 3:11
In the next teaching we are going to go over all of PAUL’S WRITINGS that false teachers manipulate.
False teachers today — OSAS, Hyper-Dispensationalists, Free Gracers, and Pretribbers — are crown stealers . They twist Paul’s writings to promise a salvation that requires no endurance, obedience, or holiness. But Jesus and Paul speak the same Gospel . Jesus warned through parables: some hear the Word with joy but fall away in tribulation ; servants who neglect their calling are cut off ; virgins without oil are shut out of the wedding feast ; unprofitable servants are cast into outer darkness . These mysteries of the Kingdom reveal that salvation is conditional — not “once saved, always saved.”
Paul confirmed the same truth . He warned believers not to believe in vain (1 Cor 15:2), to run the race and fight the good fight of faith (1 Cor 9:24; 1 Tim 6:12), to hold faith with a good conscience or risk shipwreck , and to lay hold of eternal life through endurance. He declared that believers can be cut off if they do not continue in God’s goodness (Rom 11:22). He said Christ could be hindered from being fully formed in the heart (Gal 4:19). He exhorted believers to test themselves to see if they were truly in the faith, warning that without Christ in them, they would be reprobates (2 Cor 13:5). He even named names FOR CAUSING OTHERS TO SHIPWRECK THEIR FAITH LIKE PRETRIBBERS DO— Hymenaeus, Philetus, and Demas FOR FORSAKING PAUL DURING PERSECUTION FOR A LOVE OF THIS PRESENT WORLD — DEMAS was a fellow laborer with Paul so let that sink in. Paul preached the full counsel of God (Acts 20:27), the same Kingdom Gospel Jesus proclaimed, not a new “Paul’s gospel.”
Revelation seals the testimony . Jesus calls His churches to repent, endure, and overcome — warning that names can be blotted from the Book of Life (Rev 3:5) , crowns can be stolen (Rev 3:11) , and lukewarm believers will be rejected (Rev 3:16). Seven blessings are promised to the faithful: eating of the Tree of Life, the crown of life, hidden manna, authority to reign, the first resurrection, entering New Jerusalem, and eternal life with God. But alongside these blessings are terrifying judgments : beast worshippers tormented forever, Babylon’s fall, the great white throne, and the fearful and unbelieving cast into the lake of fire. The conclusion is clear: endure, overcome, hold fast — let no man steal your crown .
Follow the Langohr’s youtube channel here: Jesus Preachers
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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)
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Providing Christ-centered Scripture-rich resources to feed, edify, and equip the body of Christ (John 21:15-17; Ephesians 4:11-15).
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