To Deceive Even The Elect

My Brothers and Sisters,

I am greatly concerned about the worldliness of the Church today. And I also cannot believe the foolishness of the things being preached today. Are people so unable to discern between the holy and the profane?

The Holy Spirit keeps reminding me of the scripture in 1 Timothy about how there will come a time when men will no longer put up with sound doctrine but they will gather around them teachers to tell them what their itching ears want to hear. Is this not that time? Have their ever been more itching ears?

Church members today don't want to hear about holiness, producing fruit in keeping with repentance, suffering, being persecuted, denying oneself or taking up their cross. In fact the gospel that Jesus declared is hardly ever mentioned anymore. Let's face it, his gospel is bad for business. It just doesn't promote church growth.

Another glaring trend I have observed these days in churches is the fact that ministers don't preach the word anymore. They sound more like polished motivational speakers who have spent more time reading Psychology Today than they have their bibles.

How are we ever going to be found spotless, blameless and living at peace with Him when people don't even know what He requires of them. Holiness is not optional.

If I hear one more person distort the scriptures to tell me that Godliness is a means to financial gain I am going to cry. I am serious. I can't believe how deceived so many people are. People that should know better. Don't they read their bibles?

What do they do with scriptures like :

Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth

If we have food and clothing, we will be content with that

Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have

You cannot serve two masters

Men of corrupt mind who have been robbed of the truth who think that godliness is a means of financial gain

People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plungle men into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.

When are we going to come back to Jesus?

Murray

I feel your burden and your pain, brother. I deal with the products of the modern gospel all the time. You can't even mention sin anymore. "Sin? What's that? Oh, you mean my occasional mess-ups? Well, nobody's perfect, so stop judging." I'm so tired of dealing with this mindset.

Just this last weekend, I was witnessing to a woman interested in Wicca. She wanted to come by my office to "open the lines of communication" with God. I told her not to bother; God will not hear her. I then quoted Isaiah 59:2 and she got really upset, as she considered herself very spiritual and a friend of God. I told her that she was actually his enemy, and needed to repent. I lovingly, gently told her this, I explained sin, judgment, hell, the atoning blood of Jesus Christ, forgiveness and eternal life. I offered to pray for her, and she accepted.

Well, today I received a hateful email from her, demanding a formal apology for verbal abuse. She told me I had no right to call her an enemy of God. Then she said she got on "Yahoo answers" and spoke with some real "Christians" who told her I was wrong to say the things I did. That real "Christians" understand and accept all different faiths and are not arrogant and judgmental like that "false preacher" who spoke to her.

Friends, this is so sad. The ones who do the most damage to the Kingdom are the ones who claim to march under the same banner as we do. It's mutiny, it's high treason! Their soft, effiminate "gospel" sends more people to hell than anything else in the universe. Satan knew what he was doing when he began tinkering with the gospel.

To true. Recognizing one's condition is the firt step to fixing it, yet the majority of the Body of Christ doesn't wasnt to recognize where they really are at. It is ignorance and a lack of true discernment.

It is grieving to see what is allowed, much less considered "christian" these days. As I was praying the other morning a scripture continued to pop into my mind. Here it is, and I believe it is fitting for us all.
2Ti 4:2 Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine.4:3 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; 4:4 And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables. 4:5 But watch thou in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, make full proof of thy ministry.
Though it will be difficult, brethren hold tight to the "truth" of the scriptures, better still hold tight to The Truth Himself.
If you look around christendom at the moment the very Bible itself is being attacked, the fundamentals of Christianity are being challenged as being out of date in a post-modern world. Men are twisting scripture to suit there own desire, and unfortunately many are being drawn after them could this be the great falling away Paul wrote of?
But brethren know your Bible, know the voice of the Holy Spirit,because if you don't, I do not care who you are or how long you've been a Believer you will be sucked in. It is that appealing, and that provocative.
My heart goes out to all on this site as I know there is a common heart for truth, let us please pray for one another that we wold finish our course strongly and to bring pleasure to our LORD.

Psalm 119v136 says 'Rivers of water run down from my eyes because men do not keep Your law'
I always thought this spoke in relation to the unsaved. It does, but I also believe the Church in the West is a grief to God, being neither hot nor cold, as it says in Revelation.
It is heartbreaking to see the state of the Church today, inefficient and deficient in the things of God. If God was really our God, we would worship Him. I mean really worship Him. Sometimes, spend the time worshipping God for who He is, rather than praying for what WE want.
Who isn't hungry for revival? Who isn't hungry for God? Who isn't hungry to see God glorified as His power is revealed on the earth in different ways? We all are.
Yes, we are living in the last days, but God is still God. God bless.

In Acts 2 3,000 were added to the Church on the day of Pentecost, 5,000 in Acts 4. Slow growing?

Complacency, tolerence of the tainted word and lack of obedience...sounds like a lot of "SAVED" are going to hear the infamous words that they have always thought of as belonging to the 'other' brother/sister.

[i] [b]The Sheep and the Goats[/b]
31 “When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory.
32 All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them one from another, just as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.
33 He will put the sheep on His right and the goats on the left.
34 Then the King will say to those on His right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.
35 For I was hungry and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty and you gave Me something to drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in;
36 I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you took care of Me; I was in prison and you visited Me.’
37 “Then the righteous will answer Him, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You something to drink?
38 When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or without clothes and clothe You?
39 When did we see You sick, or in prison, and visit You?’
40 “And the King will answer them, ‘I assure you: Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of Mine, you did for Me.’
41 Then He will also say to those on the left, [b]‘Depart from Me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the Devil and his angels!
42 For I was hungry and you gave Me nothing to eat; I was thirsty and you gave Me nothing to drink;
43 I was a stranger and you didn’t take Me in; I was naked and you didn’t clothe Me, sick and in prison and you didn’t take care of Me.’[/b]
44 “Then they too will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger, or without clothes, or sick, or in prison, and not help You?’
45 “Then He will answer them, ‘I assure you: Whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for Me either.’
46 “And they will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”[/i]

Again this was written to the 'saved' not the lost. Not only in these specific see-act instances but in all things, we are denying God and offending Christ's sacrifice when we do not do that which He calls us to do.

Christ made salvation so simple for us...Believe, Repent, Confess, ...we KNOW Him, we surrender our worthless lives to Him and we OBEY Him...we're baptized and we rise from the water to walk the life He lays out for us. As we draw near to Christ, moment-by-moment, we will then walk in His power, heal His children and bring Him the Glory that is His right and His desire.

We are the ones who choose to complicate our lives by wandering off the path and seeking our own fulfillment, when we 'know' He will supply all that we need.

If your preacher is preaching anything other than the Gospel, call him to task, upclose and personal, and tell Him seek a right relationship Christ so that he will know how to address God's children. If he will not listen, lovingly show him Matthew 18...

[i][b]Restoring a Brother[/b]
15 “If your brother sins against you, [/i][as you are a child of God, he is sinning against you and the rest of his listeners if he is offending God] [i]go and rebuke him in private.If he listens to you, you have won your brother. [/i]

And ALWAYS be prepared to continue to walk the walk if he is not convinced ...

[i] 16 But if he won’t listen, take one or two more with you, so that by the testimony of two or three witnesses every fact may be established.
17 If he pays no attention to them, tell the church.But if he doesn’t pay attention even to the church, let him be like an unbeliever and a tax collector to you.
18 I assure you: Whatever you bind on earth is already bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth is already loosed in heaven.
19 Again, I assure you: [b]If two of you on earth agree about any matter [u]that you pray for[/u], it will be done for you by My Father in heaven. [/b]
20 For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there among them.” [/i]

Not disprove, question. Growth has slowed down, definitely. But then, prayer is not what it was back then. That is less prayer, less souls, more prayer, more souls. God bless.

Correct!

Dear Brothers and Sisters:

What is being described by this thread is exactly what God has told us in His Word will happen in the last days. The Bible teaches that there is a coming counterfeit revival.

It is predicted (prophesied) that before the Lord Jesus Christ comes back that the apostasy must come first (2 Thessalonians 2:1-3). There will be a turning away from [i]the faith[/i] which was once for all handed down to the saints. This is brought about by false prophets proclaiming a false, wide-gate gospel that is based on pragmatism (results) and humanism (man-centered instead of God-centered)and ultimately ends in Socialism/Capitalism. This false gospel offers response to Jesus without repentance; it offers grace without guilt; and it offers a crown without a cross.

The coming counterfeit revival is also illustrated in the Bible in Matthew 13:24-30; 36-43, in the Lord's parable of the wheat and the tares. This parable teaches of the corruption of the kingdom with a false growth. But to me the interesting aspect of the parable is the fact that the Divine order of harvest is, "[i][b]First[/b][/i] gather up the tares and bind them in bundles..." (v. 30). The tares are bundled up before the wheat are gathered into the barn. God is going to clean His church up before He presents her to His Son. The tares (counterfeit Christians) will be drawn in by the false prophets and their false gospel of "easy-believism."

The coming counterfeit revival is also elucidated (clarified) in the Bible. The Bible tells us of [i]the people[/i] of the counterfeit revival - unregenerate church members who have a form of godliness but deny its power (2 Timothy 3:1-5). The Bible tells us of [i]the problem[/i] that leads to the counterfeit revival - itching ears that turn (literally apostasize) from the truth (2 Timothy 4:3-4). And the Bible tells us of [i]the purpose[/i] of the counterfeit revival. It is a just and judicial judgment of God who gives to people who would not believe the truth what they want - lies! (see 2 Thessalonians 2:9-12).

While these are "difficult days in which to minister", don't give up. Now more than ever there is the need of the church being the pillar and support of the truth, holding forth the Word of life and leading people to the knowledge of the truth. "Those who have insight will shine brightly like the brightness of the expanse of heaven, and those who lead many to righteousness, like the stars forever and ever" (Daniel 12:3).

Insight comes through a personal intimate relationship with Christ.

Living in His light and power moment-by-moment and seeking the Holy Spirit's discernment in all manners and matters.

Knowing the Word of God, it precepts and its promises.

You're right brother, insight and discernment are synonyms and it is the Word of God that gives it - "I have more [i]insight[/i] than all my teachers, [i][b]for[/b][/i] Your testimonies are my meditation" (Psalm 119:99).

Also Proverbs 2:1-12 teaches the same truth on how to have insight and discernment - it comes from receiving God's Word and treasuring His commmandments within you.

Grace and peace
Olan

Brothers and Sisters,

I guess I should not be shocked by the state of the North American Church, but at the same time it is disheartening. Jesus, Peter and Paul all warned that there would be false apostles, false teachers and false brethren.

Of course people would rather believe that they don't have to live a holy life, when there is the Jesus presented in the other gospel that is your best friend no matter what you do.

I think what frightens me the most, is the extent of the people deceived. I mean senior pastors, deacons, and Christians who have been going to church for thirty years are buying in to a gospel which entertains but does not convict people of sin. The holy scriptures are not read aloud. Prayer is hollow and hurried. The messages given are meant to pump you up and at the same time assure you that you are a friend of God while living a worldly existance.

Everyone wants to be exalted. Everyone wants to be appreciated. Everyone wants to be rewarded.

Lord, I want to overcome. It is my heart that I don't compromise. Lord help us, teach us, please don't spew us out of your mouth.

Murray

Ok...I'll bite! ;-)

Which verse? Where are you headed?

Take us upward, Dear one... ;-)

It certainly is amazing how so many people get tricked by false teaching, I think it very comes down to the fact that all too many people are led according to the lusts of their flesh and not the spirit of God.

Galatians 5
16 I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. 17 For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.
19 Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery,[c] fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, 20 idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, 21 envy, murders,[d] drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law. 24 And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. 25 If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. 26 Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.

Like me I'm sure you all could write a huge long list of preachers (oops, sorry I mean False Prophets), who love to teach selfish ambitions, heresies and envy as described in Vs 20 & 21 as lusts of the flesh. How increasingly rare it is to find preachers who preach things like longsuffering and self-control.

Praise God though that by his spirit we can stay clear of such flesh driven teaching, I have to confess that if it were not for his awesome faithfulness and his steady hand that guides me I may very well be one of these false prophets myself. Praise God for sites like Sermon Index, it certainly is like breath of fresh air to find a website with such an abundance of sound teaching. :-)