For such are false apostles, deceitful workers,
transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ. And no marvel; for Satan
himself is transformed into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing
if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose
end shall be according to their works. II Corinthians 11:13-15
It is with a heavy heart that I
bring forth the message set forth in this article. It is imperative that you read and carefully, with much prayer, consider
this message; especially if you claim
to be a born-again Christian. Nothing can be as crucial as your eternal status
with God. Humble yourself, and live.
Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil,
and he will flee from you. Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you.
Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded. Be
afflicted, and mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning, and
your joy to heaviness. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall
lift you up. James
4:7-10
If you have followed this blog at
all, then you know I have been warning that the end of the world is at hand. We
need to prepare to meet God! But what I am seeing here all around me is that
few Christians are even aware that anything is wrong. Yet I have found that
underlying this circumstance is a very frightening truth, which is this: The
GREAT MAJORITY of professing Christians ARE NOT SAVED. Most that
supposedly come to Jesus today have been steered into a false Christianity. And of those believers whose initial salvation
was legitimate, most have been seduced back into a fallen spiritual state.
This is the condition into which I
had fallen. I saw behavior from professing Christians that I could not
understand; things being done that either ignored or contradicted Biblical
instructions. Yet I also saw, from the scriptures, that this apostasy is
exactly what we can expect in these last of the “last days.” And after I had
seen this in others, I realized that it was also in me. What an agony it
was to know that I was a phony Christian, and had shamed and grieved my God!
Real repentance, then, finally came. And this is generally what is missing in
the “Christians” of today; a knowledge of our sin and separation from God, the
atonement for those sins by Jesus on the cross, and the need for REPENTANCE
from our sins. Evangelism today mostly focuses on building up a person’s
self-esteem, and bribing them with gifts God wants to give them. It tends to
indicate that God has already accepted them, and all that they must do is
acknowledge Him. This type of presentation will lead many into a profession of Christianity when no real change has
occurred. The Bible (KJV only) warns us that such will be the case in the last
days.
For false Christs and false prophets shall rise, and
shall shew signs and wonders, to seduce, if it were possible, even the elect. Mark 13:22
For I know this, that after my departing shall
grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock. Also of your own
selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after
them. Acts 20:29,30
And for this cause God shall send them strong
delusion, that they should believe a lie: That they all might be damned who
believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness. II Thessalonians 2:11,12
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. II Timothy 4:2-4
Unto the pure all things are pure: but unto them that
are defiled and unbelieving is nothing pure; but even their mind and conscience
is defiled. They profess that they know God; but in works they deny him, being
abominable, and disobedient, and unto every good work reprobate. Titus 1:15,16
Jesus also warned us in the parable
of the sower (Matthew 13:18-23; Mark 4:14-20; Luke
8:11-15) that some would turn willingly to Him, but later fall away. Please
read the account for yourself in the King
James Bible.
But another important comparison is
found in the book of Revelation. The
seven churches of Asia minor, found in chapters 2 and 3, are also considered to
be representative of seven church ages of the church. We are now in
the last age, the Laodicean age, found in Revelation 3:14-20.
(1) First of
all, Jesus refers to these “Christians” as Laodiceans; residents of the city,
rather than saying that they are merely believers in Laodicea. That’s
because the Christians of this time cannot be distinguished from the world
around them; they are just like it. (2) This is the only church of the seven
that has nothing good said about it! (3) These believers are called
lukewarm, and they produce in our Savior a symptom He likens to stomach
sickness; and He spues them out from His mouth! We are the friends of this world,
and have become God’s enemy.
Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the
friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a
friend of the world is the enemy of God. James 4:4
He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that
hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal. John 12:25
There are several types of phony
Christians that I see today, and we will know them by their fruit (Matthew
7:16-20). Generally, you can tell of their integrity by how they respond to
challenges from the Bible, or by the way they use the Bible when they attempt
to support their “faith”. Many of these alleged conversions weren’t ever real,
but some started out well, and later fell away. (1) From the parable of the
sower, we have the seed in shallow soil. These are real converts, but have no
depth. These fall away quickly if they are persecuted, or they may be upended
from troubling scriptures—which tend to imply the need for greater commitment.
(2) Again from the sower parable, we have the seed among thorns, which is a
genuine conversion. But the world, with all its allures and distractions choke that
seed—and no fruit will come. These branches will be burned (John
15:2-6). (3) There is an intellectual assent to the Christian
life. These are well acquainted with the tenets of Christian faith, and will
readily be in verbal agreement. They will not, however, live to these
requirements. If pressed as to why, usually they will relativize the truth of
the Bible, and declare that it doesn’t fit their situation. (4) Another one I
would call a “turning point” alleged conversion. The individual comes to a
desperate point in their life, and Jesus seems to be a way to turn things
around. Their supposed salvation is based upon God’s unconditional love and
acceptance of them, and there is never any real repentance from sin. This is a
self-esteem gospel, where men may have “a form of godliness, which denies the
power.” This is II Timothy 3:5, and real believers are to withdraw from
these.
We find Jesus directly giving an
account of phony faith in Matthew 7:21-23. Please read the following
verses carefully;
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. Matthew 7:21-23
(1) First,
you can see that not everyone that calls upon Jesus as Lord will be saved. It
is the doing of God’s will, which is
discovered through prayer and Bible study that shall be the accepted approach.
(2) Jesus said that there will be MANY who will face Him in judgment in the way
he describes here! Scriptural prophecy supports this. (3) These are not
marginal church laymen being described here. These individuals were dedicated
and religious, even to the point of apparent miracles being done through them.
Let us judge and discern rightly, brethren. Please see John 7:24 and I
John 4:1. (4) Jesus is declaring to these here that He never knew these people.
They had not known Him at one time, and fallen, but in fact they had done all apart from Him.
But the book of II Peter, chapter 2, is our primary scripture for prophecy
concerning the false faith deception of the last days. You are encouraged to
read the entire chapter, but for my purpose here I will mostly skip over the
center section of verses.
But there were false prophets also among the people,
even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in
damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves
swift destruction. And many shall follow
their pernicious ways; by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken
of. And through covetousness shall they with feigned words make merchandise of
you:… II Peter
2:1-3a
Chapter 2
opens with the prophecy of false teachers rising amongst true believers. They
will bring not just small heresies, but damnable
heresies; big ones, that even deny Jesus and His Lordship. We see, again, that
MANY will follow them in their destructive teachings. And it is by the behavior
of such that the right way of truth is spoken of as evil. They will tell us
soothing lies, because they covet both our esteem and our money.
For when they speak great swelling words of vanity,
they allure through the lusts of the flesh, through much wantonness, those that
were clean escaped from them who live in error. While they promise them
liberty, they themselves are the servants of corruption: for of whom a man is
overcome, of the same is he brought in bondage. For if after they have escaped
the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus
Christ, they are again entangled therein, and overcome, the latter end is worse
with them than the beginning. For it had been better for them not to have known
the way of righteousness, than, after they have known it, to turn from the holy
commandment delivered unto them. But it is happened unto them according to the
true proverb, The dog is turned to his own vomit again; and the sow that was
washed to her wallowing in the mire. II Peter 2:18-22
These false
teachers promote a “way’ of salvation the indulges fleshly appetite—which is
more appealing than self denial, and daily crucifying the flesh. They promise
their adherents that they are eternally
secure with Christ, and that they will not be held accountable when they
yield to fleshly passions.
It is plain
enough to see that these verses are indicating that many who are honestly born
again will be taken in by these false teachers, and again be entangled in a sin
separation from God; this later fall will be worse than their initial sin-fallen state. Why will it be worse?
Because at the first, they knew they
were sinners in need of salvation. But the latter state tells them that they
are saved even WITH their worldly, sinful, fleshly lifestyle (whether moderate
or extreme, they have no desire to be obedient to God or to be more
Christ-like).
The prophecy of II Peter 2 is
being fulfilled today, right out in the open. It is rampant here in the United
States, and only by God’s mercy have my wife and I been able to see it and
escape.
Ye hypocrites, well did Esaias prophesy of you,
saying, This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me
with their lips; but their heart is far from me. But in vain they do worship
me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men. Matthew 15:7-9
The very point of this article is so
that those who have taken the name of Christ may come to serve Him in truth.
Humble yourself before God, and ask Him to show you where you are falling
short. Study diligently the New Testament of the King James Bible; God will show you the great abyss that separates
today’s “Christian” practices from the instructions for living which God gave
us in His Word. Embrace the cross. Repent of your sins. Seek God in prayer, and
by His Word, for daily direction in your life. Put away worldliness. Make Jesus
the true LORD of every part of your life, without merely doing
lipservice for Him.
Time is almost up, brethren. Make sure
your Heart is right with God. Jim Elliot, a martyred missionary in Ecuador once
said, “When it comes time for you to die, make sure that all you have to do is
die.” Let’s take care of eternal business right now.
O LORD, are not thine eyes upon the truth? thou hast
stricken them, but they have not grieved; thou hast consumed them, but they
have refused to receive correction: they have made their faces harder than a
rock; they have refused to return. Jeremiah 5:3
Sow to yourselves in righteousness, reap in mercy;
break up your fallow ground: for it is time to seek the LORD, till he come and
rain righteousness upon you. Hosea 10:12
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