We avoid deception when we are taught by the Holy Spirit
"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"--2 Timothy 4:3
The
scriptures teach that in the last days we shall heap to ourselves
teachers having itching ears, because we ignore sound doctrine and
follow our fleshly desires.
This is referring to the believer and unbeliever alike.
We
are perishing for lack of knowledge. We know it deep in our hearts. We
know it in our souls and spirits. Something is wrong and we seek to know
what it is. We seek anything to fill that gaping hole that can only be filled by God. (Hosea 4:6)
At the same time, we are
surrounded by people who want to be important. They think they are the
smartest one in the room and they often make sense or are so
charismatic, that they seem wise or command respect.
So
we gather around these people having itching ears and desiring to hear
from God through them, or anyone who can give us a spark of insight.
These people are shiny. They transform themselves into angels of light.
They teach works, and their end will be according to their works. They
are from Satan. (2 Cor. 11:12-15)
But, the scriptures teach that God Himself, has gifted teachers and given them to us. ( 1 Cor. 12:28, Eph.4:11.)
A
teacher from God is not the same as a teacher from man; or Satan. God
uses the base things to confound the wise. (1 Cor. 1:15-31)
But
we are so eager to fill a spot or chase after some preacher or teacher
who might not be from God.That we miss the real teachers from the Lord.
We want the pretty thing, not the rough thing. We want polished, not the
beat up clunker.
I'm not talking about learning a trade from a tradesmen. Although, we should seek to be led by God into that as well.
I'm talking about spiritual things.
So, how do we avoid the false teaching?
Jesus said that the Holy Spirit teaches us and leads us into all truth. (John 16:13)
John said that we have no need for any to teach us but the anointing will do it.(1 John 2:27)
James said, if we desire wisdom we can ask of God and He will give it.(James 1:5)
So,
how does this work? Well, first we turn to God and confess Jesus as our
Lord and believe in Him. We must be saved, have the Holy Spirit and
willing to believe what He teaches and what the Word says. (Romans
10:9-10, Romans 4:3, Gal. 3:6, James 2:23, Luke 11: 11-13, John
14:16-17)
Then, we ask the Lord to teach us and guide us. (Prov. 3:5-8)
He will open up the scriptures to you. He will open up your mind, heart and life to learn from Him.
You will see things around you and in your life that will grow you and change you and teach you.
God will lead you to the church and the teachers and preachers He wants you to have. Listen to His Spirit as He guides you.
In all your ways acknowledge Him and He shall direct your path.
But,
this takes time.
After being saved, Paul went
into the desert of Arabia to hear from God. Then after 3 years he talked
with Peter, to make sure what he heard was correct. Then, he continued
to learn from the Spirit for 14 years as he served. Even then, he still
made sure of what he was teaching. He already had head knowledge from
his
years as a pharisee. But, he needed heart knowledge, he needed Spirit
knowledge, he needed brokenness. This takes time. (Gal.1:1-24-Gal
2:1-10)
God calls his teachers and
preachers as He sees fit. It is a burden. A calling. It's not something
you get from a few classes. It's not something you get because you are
important in the community and able to attract listeners.
Jesus said "I told you, and ye believed not: the works that I do in my Father's name, they bear witness of me. But ye believe not, because ye are not of my sheep, as I said unto you. My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand. I and my Father are one."---(John 10:25-30)
With
so many voices around us, is it any wonder that we can't hear from God
anymore? Have you heard His voice? Would you know it? Jesus says you
will if you are with Him. Believe it.
How do we hear from Him? We listen to the still small voice not the earthquake or raging fire full of fear. (1 Kings 19:11-12)
Jesus said "If I have told you earthly things, and ye believe not, how shall ye believe, if I tell you of heavenly things?" (John 3:12)
Do
you believe the hard things in His Word? Do you believe the crazy
things in the Bible? Do you believe in six days of creation and one day
of rest? Can you believe in talking serpents and global floods? If you
can't believe that, then how can you believe that He rose from the
dead? (Romans 10:9-10)
How can you believe He is
coming again? How can you believe He answers prayer or will never
forsake you? How can you believe there is an enemy, and how can you
believe there are false teachers? Maybe even the one who preaches to you
about works every Sunday.
He
has given us teachers. But are we listening to HIS teachers?
Like the leaders of Israel
ignored and killed the true prophets. Do religious leaders keep the
people in darkness today as well? Do we heap to ourselves teachers today thinking we are so smart, or so spiritual?
If we trust the Holy Spirit and let Him teach us we will avoid the deceptions of these last days. We will know the truth. This is how the elect avoids deception, in these days of lies. (Matt. 24:24)
By letting the Holy Spirit teach us we grow in relationship with God and we avoid heaping teachers based upon our fleshly desires. Whether we mean to or not we have a tendency to want to hear from teachers who are agreeing with what we already know or believe.
This verse is not speaking of "desires" in the sense of lusts. No preacher is telling you to commit adultery or steal or kill, or be a drunkard. No one would follow this guy. But, the teacher is teaching based upon the desires of the fleshly mind, instead of the things of the spirit. Teaching a salvation by works, instead of grace. Teaching the religion of the Anti-Christ to come. A religion that twists and ignores the Word. Teachers serving Satan instead of God. A religion of deception and control, in order to lead the people into the Apostate Church to come.
Ask the Holy Spirit to teach you. Start listening to Him right now. We avoid false teachers by listening to the Holy Spirit. He will lead us into all truth and open the Word for us. He will renew our mind. He will change us.
There really is only one thing moving behind the scenes.
What is going on in the world? Why are things like this?
Are you a conspiracy theorist or have you seen things that goes on in
history or in the news that doesn’t make sense? Things that seem to be
connected, but there’s really no rational way they could be.
Have you noticed that we always seem to head in the same direction,
like some unseen hand guides the events of the world and history.
Something you can’t prove but you can plainly see?
Have you considered the spiritual element?
Have you considered that humans have a spiritual enemy that seeks to rule over us and to dethrone God?
All those connections you cannot seem to make or that make you feel
crazy, are easily made when you consider that Satan, Fallen Angels,
Unclean Spirits, Demons, and the spirit of antichrist is working behind the scenes. It’s not just humans doing all the work themselves.
You wanna know who “They” are?
This is them.
“They” are spiritual forces of darkness in high places who direct humans to move us in a certain direction. (Eph. 6:12)
Do you see the pantheons of gods in history? Zeus, Odin, Osiris, Hades, Set?
In every part of the world?
This is them. The Fallen Angels. The Nephilim. The gods.
They have worked since the beginning of the world to bring it under
their complete control, and for Satan to be worshiped as the most high
god. (Isa. 14:12-20, Ezek. 28:1-19)
They have done the same thing, over and over again throughout history.
They corrupted Adam and Eve telling them that they would be as gods, getting them to doubt God’s Word and Goodness. (Gen. 3)
This allowed them to be able to take dominion of the Earth from Adam.
They now rule behind the scenes, and have for a long time.
Why does this matter?
Because history is one big story of these guys trying to take over and be worshiped.
It is believed the Fallen Angels came to Earth at the time of Jared in the Bible. (Gen. Chapter 5.)
They corrupted humanity, and abused all of nature. (Gen. 6)
They were with human women and giants were born to them. These were the Nephilim.
Mythology also speaks of “gods” like Zeus taking human women, and demi-gods were born.
The ancient gods were the fallen angels, and their offspring. Like
all stories it changes over time. Little details change here and there
but the core is the same. These “gods” were known all over the world.
When Alexander the Great of Greece invaded Egypt it is said he was amazed that they worshiped the same gods.
The stories of the gods are the same to some extent all over the world.
Could it have been the fallen angels?
How did ancient people come up with the same beliefs all over the world?
Ok, so the fallen angels came to earth and connected with the line of Cain.
St. Augustine says that the fallen ones in the Bible are referring to
the line of Cain corrupting the line of Seth. He rejects the idea of
fallen angels.
St. Augustine’s view became the common teaching. Helping to hide the
truth. But, one must ask. How does two human groups procreating with
each other bring out giants? And the Bible teaches there were giants.
Goliath was a giant.
I believe it was both. Fallen angels came, giants (demi-gods) were born, and the line of Cain corrupted the line of Seth.
The world was ruined.
So the Flood came and washed it all away.
Now, when you look at this story and read the Biblical texts. What
you will find is that the same corruption is going on in the world
today, as we race towards destruction.
By the time the Flood came the humans and giants under the direction
of the fallen ones, created a world wide trade system. They built huge
structures. Globally. It is claimed that they did lots of evil things.
Human sacrifice, Cannibalism, Slavery, mixing of animals and humans, if
you can imagine an evil thing, it was happening. It’s believed there was
science and sorcery of the most vilest types. Were there really ancient
aliens? Or were they Nephilim, and humans directed by fallen angels?
Could aliens be fallen angels or demons from another dimension of
existence, instead of another planet?
After the Flood only eight humans survived.
Do you think God believed that a flood would destroy angels and demons? Nope.
Do you think God believed a flood would destroy sin? Nope.
Sin is a corrupting plague.
But He washed the Earth clean, and waited to see if the corruption
came back. If it does then it must be burned. And that is where the
earth is headed. To be burned with fire.(Lev. 13:47-59)
So, what we see after the Flood, is that the whole world is united.
They are led to build a tower. This tower was supposed to unite and
protect humans from another catastrophe like the Flood.
It is believed that Nimrod was the king that led in the building of
the tower. He is a picture of the Anti-Christ to come. He was led to
build the tower by the fallen angels and demonic forces it is believed.
This tower is a picture of the New World Order being built today. It is
also a picture of the technology that is working to unite the world.
(Gen. 10 8-9, Gen. 11)
God came down and confused the languages and the people scattered over the Earth.
This is why there are different names for the gods, and for the first
king and his family. This is why the mythologies are the same, but
different globally.
Satan and the fallen angels were thwarted again. This is the second
time they tried to build a global empire to worship Satan and oppose
God.
Do you see the pattern?
From this point in history the “gods” directed humans and led them to create massive empires. To control and unite humans again.
God does not want humans united, unless and until we are finally united under Christ.
History is full of kings who claimed to be descendants from gods, who went forth to conquer and united the world under them.
Do you think that’s a coincidence?
Perhaps they really are descended from the Nephilim?
When you look at history, the Bible, prophecy, mythology, and
conspiracy with this mindset, you really see some interesting things.
Who is really behind the scenes and why?
When we look at the book of Daniel we see an image of a human, which
described global kingdoms throughout history. It shows Babylon, Persia,
Greek, Roman, and a future (or present) kingdom. But, the entire idol is
one idol. Which means that all these kingdoms are not really separate.
They are all united and they are led by Satan, the fallen angels and
demonic forces. (Daniel Chapter 2)
This is a very simple picture of the ancient world. Controlled by
empires and the “gods’. Which brings us to the time of Jesus Christ.
Jesus was killed by the Roman empire and by the religious leaders.
Both of whom were controlled by Satan, the fallen angels and demonic
forces. Paul plainly states that the “princes of this world”
crucified Jesus. He is not talking about the pharisees or Rome. he is
referring to demonic princes, described in Daniel. He is talking about
Satan and the fallen angels who are principalities and powers in high
places. (1 Cor. 2:8, Daniel Chapter 10, Eph. 6:20)
We read in John Chapter 13, that when Jesus gave Judas the sop of
bread. Satan entered into him and he went to betray Christ. This plainly
shows that demonic forces killed Jesus. They used Judas to betray, They
used the religious leaders to condemn, and they used the Roman Empire
to execute him.
But, when Jesus was crucified and rose again He broke the power of
the Fallen Angels. We see the power of the “gods” being destroyed
globally in history throughout the world.
Coincidence?
What we see from this point is the same thing as before,
Empires growing around the world led by Kings, Priests and Presidents.
We see great atrocities committed globally. We see the creation of
global economies and corporations. We see international bankers and
secret societies coming into being.
We see problems created, then solved by the same people who created
them. We see money controlling the world, while billions are kept in
poverty and bondage.
We see the world uniting constantly under new empires of commerce and ideology.
The world always heading in the same direction. More control. More connectedness.
All of it directed by those who rule behind the scenes. Those who have ruled from before the Flood.
So, when you discuss conspiracy theories, whether it’s the Catholic
Church, or The Royals, or the Rothchilds, or the Illuminati, or the
Knights Templar, or the Tri-lateral Commision, or the Bilderbergers, or
Bohemian Grove, or the Federal Reserve, or any of it.
For the past week meteorologists have been warning about a coming
winter storm. It’s freezing rain and snow will cause problems, they say.
And folks believe them. They stock up on bread and milk. They buy icy
melt. They break out the snow gear and the shovels. They check on
family. They stay home to keep roads clear and safe. They close
businesses to keep people safe.
Because they believe what they are told.
The Word of God tells us that there will come a time in the future when the world will face great trouble.
The Word tells us that we will face trouble in our own lives.
The Word tells us that we will face death someday.
A storm is coming.
Are we going to believe it? Are you prepared?
When an ice storm is coming, we listen to the experts. We listen to
the people who have seen it before, and we rest in the experiences we
have had in the past. This helps us to prepare for the coming storm.
Likewise, we can turn to God to save us and see us through the future
storms of life and death. He can save us for eternity. We can trust
Him. We can trust His Word.
When we believe the warnings of the ice storm we respond.
When we believe the Word of God we can respond also.
Belief leads to response. Faith leads to action.
Jesus told the paraplegic man to take up his bed and walk. (John 5)
But, what if the man had not done it. Would he have been healed?
He was healed because He believed and responded to the Word given him.
We are told “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord
Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from
the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto
righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.”—
Rom. 10:9-10
When we read this verse do we believe it? Or do we doubt?
Do we say “Yeah but there has to be more to it than that. How can a
person just say some magic words and get saved? Don’t they have to love
God and obey Gods law?”
We make up all kinds of excuses because we cannot believe the simplicity of salvation and the love of God.
Satan is more than happy to give us excuses to get us to doubt God’s
goodness and Word. It’s the same thing He did to Eve in the Garden.
(Gen.3)
Our belief leads to a response. The response is to turn to God
(repent) and confess Jesus is the Lord and He is our Lord, and believe
that He rose from the dead. Which is believing the Word we have been
given.
Do you believe it? Do you believe He died for you, and rose from the dead? Do you believe He is God?
Yeah but… “Faith without works is dead.” Some will say. — (James 2)
Belief or faith requires a response, and the response is confessing
Jesus as our Lord. Confessing is a work. Baptism is a work. Communion is
a work.
What did the thief on the cross do?
He confessed Jesus as Lord, then he told the other thief about Jesus.
That’s it. And Jesus said “Today you will be with me in Paradise”–Luke 23
Likewise, when we confess Jesus as Lord, and tell others about Him, we will be with Him in Paradise, when we die or He returns.
That’s it. Jesus said, “Whosoever therefore shall confess me before
men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven.”—Matt.
10:32
We confess because we believe. Belief leads to a response.
God’s grace and our belief and confession is how we are saved. That
salvation leads to a relationship with God as we see Him moving in our
life. Our faith and belief grows in Him.
We trust that He forgives us. We trust that He is with us and will
never leave us. We trust that He loves and cares for us and will take
care of us, and we see Him moving and doing it. This leads to praise and
thanksgiving which helps grow the relationship, faith and trust.
That is belief. That is faith. Our response is to confess Him as
Lord, love others and build the kingdom. We are saved and healed so we
lead others to be saved and healed in Jesus name.
But, there’s a storm coming.
Storms in our lives and in the world.
Trouble comes, and we can turn to Him and He will move. Stand on the
promises of God in His Word. Trust Him. And when you see Him move it
will build your faith and relationship.
But, the coming storm will be of darkness without hope. Some say believers will escape,
but that has not been proven. God will be with us through the storm.
Just like He was with the disciples on the boat, and with Israel through
the plagues.—(Luke 8, Exodus)
He will be with us as this world gets worse and worse. As terrible things fall upon the Earth preparing for Christ’s return.
Do you believe it? Are you preparing for the times of trouble and His
return? Are you getting people saved, and preparing your own self?
The scriptures are clear that when He returns there will be church
people who thought they were saved but were not. People who prayed a
prayer, or people who sat in church every week. But, never believed.
They never really confessed Him as Lord. They never fully trusted Him to
save them but instead trusted their own works. They never had a
relationship with Him.
The storm is coming.
But, many do not believe.
These false brethren will fall away when the trouble comes. They will say “Where is the promise of His coming.”. They will wonder why He has delayed His return. —(2 Peter 3:4, Luke 12:45-46)
Then, they will form the apostate church and help the Anti-Christ
persecute the saints. They will beat the men servants and maid servants.
They will go back to living for the world. They will be like Judas the
betrayer. —(Luke 12:45-46, Rev. 6, Matt. 24, )
And when He returns they will be foolish virgins without oil. (Matt. 25)
They will have taken the gifts and talents and salvation the Lord
gave them, and buried it in the sand instead of responding in belief and
serving the Lord. (Matt. 25)
They will stand before Him saying “when did we see you naked?”
Because they never believed and turned and let the Holy Spirit lead them
to serve others and love people and help them. (Matt. 25)
They will not be clothed in the wedding garment because they never knew the King. (Matt. 22)
They never had a relationship with Him or confessed Him as Lord.
They just went to church every week, judged others, and tried to obey rules.
And He said “Depart from Me, I never knew you.”
The storm is coming. Do you really know Him.
Can you trust Him when they are killing your church? Can you trust
Him when they threaten to fire you from your job if you won’t take the Mark of the Beast?
Can you trust Him, when people who call themselves Christians lie to
you, attack you, betray you and destroy your life, or lead you to death?
Can you trust Him when you face homelessness and starvation? or will
you turn back like Lot’s wife, desiring the comforts of the world?.
(Gen. 19)
The storm is coming, the Word says.
Turn to Him,
and ask Him to save you. Confess Jesus as your Lord. Believe He rose
from the dead. Believe the Word, given to you. Tell others about Jesus,
building the kingdom.
The Holy Spirit will come and teach you and lead you into all truth. (1 John 2:27)
And you will know Him and have a relationship with Him.
And when the storm comes you will be safe in the Ark, that is His salvation and care.
When the waters rise and beat upon you, you will stand firm because
you’ve built your house on the Rock of Jesus Christ, who is the living
Word. Not on the sand of your own works and power. (Matt.7)
As Saints we need to understand the Word, and the work we are called to do.
We need to understand the world around us and what is going on in our lives, and the lives of people we are in contact with.
Why do we sin?
Why do we have difficult lives?
The reason is because Adam chose to eat of the fruit of the knowledge of good and evil, after being warned not to.
This brought death into the world. It caused humans to have a
corrupted nature. It allowed Satan to take dominion of this world from
Adam.
That is why we sin. That is why we die. and that is why there is a power that seems to rule over this world.
But, God did not leave us like that.
He came and brought a curse, “for our sake”. (Gen. 3 KJV)
The curse did not bring death or sin or Satan, those things already
existed because of the fall. And God does not cause us to sin. That is
not His character.
We commit sins because of what is in us from the fall. Our corrupted
nature. This is important to understand. It’s like the symptoms of a
spiritual plague. The plague of Sin.
God laid down His curse not as a punishment but as a tool to cause us to turn to Him and be saved. He is our only Hope.
He created the woman to be a helper to the man. So, the curse plays
on her desire to help and nurture. It causes her to seek God for
salvation and help, through her desire for family. She needs help and
God is the only help.
The man is not cursed. But, the earth is cursed, so that no matter
what he does, it only brings forth thorns and thistles. His hard work,
is supposed to cause him to turn to God for salvation and help.
This is literally true. But, there is a symbolic truth involved, because thorns and thistles are symbols of sin.
It means that all his works are sin. It means that no matter how hard
he tries he cannot produce good. This symbolism is supposed to teach us
that there is nothing we can do to fix ourselves, only Christ can do
that.
Everything around us are symbols of the truth of God. Every aspect of reality is interwoven with the truth of His Word.
So, let’s look at more thorns and thistles.
Paul says that Jesus Christ was made sin for us. (2 Cor. 5:21)
God made a sinless Christ into sin for us and nailed it to the cross.
He nailed Sin itself to the cross.
Notice how Jesus was given a crown of thorns and a robe of scarlet. (Matthew 27:27-30)
These are the symbols showing He was made sin for us.
Sin and it’s power over us has been destroyed on the cross if we turn
to Him. If we ask Him to save us and confess Him as our Lord. (Rom
10:9-10)
That doesn’t mean we don’t sin. Remember every work we do is filthy rags. It is all sin, unless we do it through and in Him.
And when we sin we confess our sins to Him and He is faithful and just to cleanse us of ALL sin. (1 John 1:8-10)
But, ALL of our sin is gone in Him. It is as though we had never
sinned at all. Christ’s blood washes us clean. So, clean that we do not
sin, even in the midst of our sin. It is not held to our account.
But, have we really turned to Him? Do we really know Him?
That is important.
In these last days we need to make sure we are in Christ. He is our Ark for salvation.
The scriptures teach that there will be people who think they are
saved, because they are relying on their own works, instead of the
finished work of Christ.
Are we relying totally on Him, or are we trying to do things ourselves, and only producing thorns and thistles?
Jesus said, “Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?”— (Matt. 7)
The fruits of love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness,
faith, meekness, and temperance, do not come from the flesh. They come
from the Holy Spirit in us and working in us. Our fleshly works only
produce thorns and thistles.
Are you growing in the Spirit? Are you producing good fruits? Are the
people you seek to follow as leaders really producing good fruits?
The narrow way that leads to life is Jesus Christ and Him alone for
salvation. It is not by works. It is not by flesh which produces thorns
and thistles. It is not because you quit sinning. You cannot quit
sinning, its all thorns and thistles without Christ.
Jesus tells us of the Sower in Matthew 13.
The Word of God goes forth into the World.
Some people become quickly deceived by Satan and demonic forces and cannot understand the Word, or refuse to receive it.
Others hear it, and are overjoyed that God will forgive them of sins
and work in their life. But, trouble comes and people make fun of them
or persecute them. So, they turn away from God. They never knew Him.
They had no root, in Him.
Some people hear the Word, but thorns and thistles choke it out. They
let the problems of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches choke
out the Word. They never turned to God and let Him save them. The sin
and flesh in their life overpowered the Word. They relied on their own
works and wealth to save them.
But, when we are willing to let God work, and give ourselves to Him.
When we are broken enough, like good soil prepared for the Word. We can
turn to God and be saved. Growing in Him.
God keeps coming. His Word is everywhere. He does not just try one
time and you are done. He keeps working to save us till we are dead.
We might be hard hearted, but over time He breaks us and softens us
so that we can hear Him speak and accept Him. Then, His Word grows in us
a mighty Oak, that thorns cannot stop. God works to prepare the soil of
our heart to receive Him. We cannot.
Never stop turning to God. Never stop relying on Him alone for salvation, not by our works but by His grace and goodness.
By His Holy Spirit working in us, we can produce fruit, instead of the thorns and thistles of the flesh.
The Word speaks that in these last days there will fall away great
numbers of Christians who never really knew Him. They will beat the men
servants and maid servants. They will give in to persecution and have no
root in God. They will have no oil of faith in the their lamp, when He
comes. They will be rejected. (2 Thess. 2:3, Matt. 25, Luke 12:45,)
The
spirit of antichrist has been working in the world since before the
Flood of Noah, even till today.( 1 John 2:18, 22, 1 John 4:1-6, 2 John7 KJV)
It has one job. To create the Anti-Christ system in preparation for the appearance of Satan's messiah, the Anti-Christ in these last days
When
you see in the Bible the world being taken over by evil before the Flood of Noah. That was the
spirit of antichrist. When you see Nimrod building the Tower of Babel
and uniting the world against God. That was the spirit of antichrist.
When
you look at history and see all the world conquerors. That's the spirit
of antichrist. When you see the idol of Daniel, showing the kingdoms of
history. That is the spirit of antichrist.
When you see the 20th
century and the struggles between capitalism and communism and fascism
for global control, and control of the mind. That is the spirit of
antichrist.
As you see the uniting of the world through torment and destruction, and fear. That is the spirit of antichrist.
The
word antichrist, does not mean against Christ. It means "instead of"
Christ. It's job is to unite the world under the Anti-Christ, and get
them to worship, another god. That god being Satan who desires to be the
most high.
The spirit of antichrist does not care about our
politics. It uses all sides to push its agenda. It works through
individuals, groups, religions and governments to gain more control and
build the infrastructure for the Beast system.
There are humans
who rule this world, and have submitted to the antichrist spirit and
other demonic forces. These humans from top to bottom are deceived
slaves.
Even good Christian people can and are used by this spirit to help push the agenda.
The
Holy Spirit and God's Word, helps us to fight these things if we are
Saved and Spirit led. Remember, Satan can quote scripture and use it to
oppress people. It is the Holy Spirit that leads us into all Truth. It
is the power of the Holy Spirit that quickens, the Sword of the Spirit.
We
are called to fight the good fight of faith against the enemy in all
its forms. But, we know we have already won, and the final victory must
be Christ's.
When they say Christ has come, do not be deceived, you will know when your Lord comes.
When they say you are an extremist. Rejoice for so persecuted they the prophets before you.
When they threaten you, and strip everything from you, and beat on the door to come in, fear not for He is with you.
Remember, all these things must happen but the end is not yet.....for He is coming...quickly.
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Bio: Chris Bunton is a writer, poet and blogger from
Southern Illinois. He has published in several magazines, and has
written a poetry eBook called “Against the Man” and an Addiction Recovery eBook called “Made Free: Overcoming Addiction“ a collection of dystopian short stories.“The Future is Coming” and his latest book “The Latter Days‘ is a book on Bible Prophecy and avoiding the deceptions to come.
Is it complaining against God? Or complaining about life? or
complaining all the time? Or is it actually speaking the truth against
false things? Sometimes the Holy Spirit shows us things that are wrong,
and we don’t know how to properly deal with it.
I have been involved in Christian Ministry for over 20 years. I’ve
been to churches where the members are silent about the most ridiculous
ungodly activities and projects, because they do not want to be accused
of murmuring or complaining.
In the book of Exodus Chapter 4 and Numbers 17, we see that the
Israelites are murmuring and complaining against the Lord, and He
expressly condemns it.
Some Leaders in churches use this verse and others as a tool to stop
ALL dissent in a church. According to these leaders, the flock are
supposed to accept and silently go along with everything the leadership
does. They are supposed to be silent in the face of abusive behaviors,
and the latest fad that does nothing for the Kingdom.
That is false. Sin in leadership, is still sin. Does God support sin?
The scriptures speak of false teachers, false prophets, and false brethren. (2 Cor. 11:28, Gal 2:4, 2 Peter 2)
We are supposed to be wary of such things. That means we should rebuke and stand against it.
As the latter days get closer and closer things will get worse and
worse. Believers need to stop being silent about the direction their
churches are going in.
When the Holy Spirit reveals that something is not right. Your duty
is to pray and ask the Lord, whats wrong. Pray for the people, and study
the Word to make sure you are correct. Sometimes, it’s better to just
pray, than to confront. Or speak out.
But, when the Lord leads you to speak out, do it in the right way, with love and respect.
You will probably be rejected and ignored, or even attacked. You
might be accused of causing division or murmuring and complaining. You
might be treated as a troublemaker, and never asked to do anything in
the church.
Yes…these are Christian people who do these sorts of
things to other believers. There are people in churches who are about
controlling things not building the Kingdom.
Understand that “Murmuring and Complaining” in the book of Exodus,
was a specific thing. They were saying that they wanted to go back to
Egypt. They spoke of all the good things of Egypt.
You have to understand what this really is.
It’s like if God delivers a man from alcohol abuse.(Egypt) and the
man constantly says that his life was better as a drunk. He misses the
parties, and fun. Even though God is moving him to a good place.
That’s what murmuring and complaining is. It is not speaking against
false brethren or leaders, or opinions on how to spend money. If
leadership must twist scripture to maintain control, then that should be
a red flag. You need to know this because churches in these last days
will be ran by false brethren and teachers. Look at China today. The
legal above ground churches are all ran by pastors who are taught in
government funded colleges and are government sanctioned, not God
ordained. The churches from God are underground. In China, if you speak
out against false doctrine they call the secret police and you find
yourself beat. That is where we are headed globally.
Real murmuring and complaining is against the work God is doing in
us. It is a tough work. It is a battle between spirit and flesh. The
flesh wants to go back to Egypt, but the Lord is taking us to the
Promised Land. The journey is hard. We might lose jobs and homes, and
friends, and family, and reputation and everything that we hold dear.
But, we are gaining the Lord. He is our promised land.
The minute He saves us we have Him. IF we really have Him. Then He works in our lives to change us.
The Israelites refused to confess Him as Lord and trust Him. It’s not
about the Law. Joshua and Caleb were not saved because they obeyed
rules. They were saved because they trusted in God alone for salvation.
They did not trust in their own strength, but in His. They believed His
promises. When we complain about the Lord, we are doubting Him. It
destroys faith in us and others.
We are called to abide in Him. That is a relationship.
When we cry out to God, He comes running. But if we are not willing
to really give ourselves to Him, then we are not saved. The Israelites
refused to trust that God was good and doing good things. This is the
same lie Satan told Eve in the Garden. He got her to doubt God’s
goodness, and promises.
So, understand that murmuring and complaining is about a specific
thing in the scriptures. It is not a blanket term to be used to silence
people. In the book of Acts, murmuring led to the creation of the
deacons. (Acts 6:1-8) So, as I said the Holy Spirit could have stirred
some of the people to notice something was wrong, and used it to help
the early church, and the deacons were formed. In today’s churches if
someone said that the widows were being neglected, they would be called a
complainer. They would have to speak to 5 different committees and then
go before a business meeting, and then just maybe they might get
something fixed. At least until the next committee takes over. Unless of
course, they are a member with money. (James 2:1-9)
In Phillipians, it says “Do all things without murmurings and disputings:” (Phil. 2:14)
In context, this is referring to two things. God’s working in our lives, and our appearance before the unbeliever.
“Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my
presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own
salvation with fear and trembling.For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.” (Phil. 2:12-13)
God’s
work in our lives can be hard. If we are not careful it can open doors
for a spirit of bitterness. Where we become snarky and talking trash
about the hardness of the battle between the flesh and spirit, or the
changes in our lives.
This phrase “work out your own salvation
with fear and trembling” often leads people to wrongly assume it refers
to a works based salvation doctrine. but it’s actually referring to
dealing with the work God is doing in our lives. Like a child whose
parents have decided to move to another city for work. The child has to
work out how to deal with this, while not becoming angry and bitter.
They have to work out how to deal with the loss of a school, and friends
and a life they had. Major changes happen when we really turn to God,
and we need to work out how to deal with it and not become bitter.
This bitterness can lead to murmurings and disputing with others in
the church. So Paul goes on to explain, that we should be of one mind
and not murmuring and disputing in front of those who we are trying to
help, and lead to Christ. Again, it is not a blanket verse to silence
people from speaking out when something is wrong. It is an admonition to
do it properly, at the right time, and in the right way, when possible.
Course, understand that control freaks and oppressors, also control all
the means of speaking out.
We can see in the next verses that Paul’s admonition for us to not murmur and dispute is to avoid driving people from Christ.
“That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without
rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye
shine as lights in the world;
Holding forth the word of life; that I may rejoice in the
day of Christ, that I have not run in vain, neither laboured in vain.”
(Phil. 2:12-16)
Our murmuring and complaining doesn’t hurt God. But, it can drive
others away from knowing Christ. Because who would want to join a group
that is so un-happy? And again, it comes back to false leadership.
Leadership should solve things properly. Not just silence dissent.
Leaders who do not treat people rightly, are actually engaging in the
thing they seek to stop. Hiding it, doesn’t fix it. It is fixed through
love, and a proper answer that heals.
Not only does complaining drive people away in church situations, but
also in your own life. Nobody wants to be around that. If every time you
come around it is always negative or complaining. No one will want to
be around you. Drive that demon out.
A final word on murmuring and complaining is that when you do it, you
are driving away your blessings. The tongue has power. You can speak
the promises of God and believe them and watch Him work. or you can
speak negative, complaining words, and watch it work. Both will reap a
harvest. If you constantly speak negative things about yourself or
others, do not be surprised if it doesn’t become true in your life.
We reap what we sow.
As we get more and more into the latter days we need to get rid of
the false beliefs and teachings we have clung to. God will do it if we
don’t. Scripture says that we are to judge ourselves lest we be judged
with the world. In these last days, the things we have done or not done
can come back to haunt us if we refuse to see it and confess it to the
Lord to change it. This goes for entire churches, not just individuals;
as it shows in Revelation. So, when we see wrong things in the church
we need to speak out about it. This is judging ourselves as a body. It
is not complaining. (1 Cor. 11:31-32, 1 John 1:9-10, Rev. Chapters 1-3)
As we move into these latter days we are going to face tough times.
We will see that the things we complained about and disputed over,
really do not matter. When you can barely afford heat, new carpet won’t
matter. When you have to quietly meet in a hidden basement because of
persecution, having the latest sound systems and praise music, won’t
matter any more. There are believers all over the world, who have
nothing. While we bicker and destroy peoples faith because of opinions
on a building or types of paint, or views on doctrines.
Only God will matter, as He leads us through the dark dry desert in those days.
Don’t be like Lot’s wife, who desired the fine things and life of Sodom.(Gen. 19)
Understand that the Bible is full of these warnings for a reason. It
is not about murmuring and complaining. God can handle your complaints.
It’s about looking back after putting your hand to the plow. (Luke 9;62)
It’s about never confessing Him as Lord, and never having a
relationship, and never knowing Him. It’s about not trusting Him. The
Israelites in the wilderness did not trust Him.
If we do not know Him. We cannot trust Him. We cannot abide in Him. (John 15:4)
Our complaining is a reflection of our feelings toward God and His
promises. It drives people away from Christ and us. It drives blessings
away.
Turn to Him and trust Him.
—–
Bio: Chris Bunton is a writer, poet and blogger from
Southern Illinois. He has published in several magazines, and has
written a poetry eBook called “Against the Man” and an Addiction Recovery eBook called “Made Free: Overcoming Addiction“ a collection of dystopian short stories.“The Future is Coming” and his latest book “The Latter Days‘ is a book on Bible Prophecy and avoiding the deceptions to come.
Yes, it is the modern equivalent of the Tower of Babel from the days of old.
It is a picture of the same battle that has been fought between good and evil since the Fall of man. Since the enemy rebelled against God. Since the Lord ascended and the promise of His return was given.
We can see throughout history, the struggle between forces.
We can see the common tongue, in Jesus day was Greek, and the violent Roman empire ruled the known world.
And it was through Greek, Latin and the roads of the Roman empire
that the Gospel was spread, and the saints grew in number, till the
Church became the religion of Rome.
Then, Satan used false leaders in the Catholic Church to suppress the Word, excommunicating and killing anyone who opposed them.
But, the Word was printed and translated into other languages so the
truth and the Gospel could spread. But evil spread with it, and tried to
stop it.
Kings of Europe, rose up and fought wars, colonizing, and spreading
their power around the world. Satan’s servants enslaving, murdering,
worshiping money, and annihilating entire people groups. Putting the
whole world in debt to the fallen ones.
But,
within it the Gospel and God’s Word spread around the world using The
Spanish, French and British languages and empires, as a tool.
Till the world broke free from the Kings, and formed new governments,
and Constitutions promising free religion and free speech to spread the
Gospel and God’s Word around the world.
But a new last days empire has arose, and was taken over by the same
desire to grow, and kill and exploit the world and create a New World
Order Kingdom of the Anti-Christ.
In the midst of it, the Gospel is spread globally, even in restricted countries.
Then the internet came into being. The new Tower of Babel, to unite the world.
But, it allows the saints through social media and websites to spread
the Gospel so the Word can be published in every nation, till the end
comes. (Matt. 24:14)
As governments, corporations and religious leaders work to quell
rebellion and to control free speech on line, working to silence
opposition, and to prepare for the coming of the Mark of the Beast. The saints continue to work.
While things move towards the final persecution of the saints when the Anti-Christ over comes them. (Daniel 7:21, Dan. 7:25, Rev. 13:7)
Till the Lord returns and sets up his ever lasting kingdom.
Are you working?
Bio: Chris Bunton is a writer, poet and blogger from
Southern Illinois. He has published in several magazines, and has
written a poetry eBook called “Against the Man” and an Addiction Recovery eBook called “Made Free: Overcoming Addiction“ a collection of dystopian short stories.“The Future is Coming” and his latest book “The Latter Days‘ is a book on Bible Prophecy and avoiding the deceptions to come.
It is available at Barnes and Noble, Apple Books, Kobo, Wal-Mart, and other major outlets. It is only available as an eBook at this time. Purchase HERE
It’s a collection of articles on Bible Prophecy. It speaks of the
spirit of antichrist, the ancient past and how it has moved forward to
building the New World Order today.
The book also leans toward helping people to get saved and avoid the
deceptions that are coming upon the Earth, in these latter days.
Get your copy at most eBook sellers. (Except Amazon)
You can get my other eBooks online as well.
Made Free: Overcoming Addiction
is a free ebook for addicts and family members or friends suffering
with the addict. It gives new insight into addiction and ways to help
overcome it, from someone who has been there. I have an addiction
recovery Facebook page as well. Recover Freedom.
The Future is Coming, is a book of dystopian short stories I wrote about about the future and where we are heading. It is a warning in story form.
Against the Man, is a collection of poems that speaks of the plight and slavery of the worker in a beast system that seeks to devour the poor.
You can also support my work and ministry through PayPal, or through the links below.
Bio: Chris Bunton is a writer, poet and blogger from
Southern Illinois. He has published in several magazines, and has
written a poetry eBook called “Against the Man” and an Addiction Recovery eBook called “Made Free: Overcoming Addiction“ a collection of dystopian short stories.“The Future is Coming” and his latest book “The Latter Days‘ is a book on Bible Prophecy and avoiding the deceptions to come.
Jesus said that the thief or Satan has come to steal, kill and destroy. What does this mean? (John 10:9-10, John 8:43-44)
Well the very first thing. Is our soul. The enemy does everything in
his power to keep people from salvation. He fights to keep people from
hearing the call. From knowing God. From having a relationship with Him.
( Matt. Chapter 13, verses 4, 19)
But, once God has broken through into our lives and we have heard Him, believed Him and accepted Him. He saves us.
Even after salvation, the enemy still attacks us. He still seeks to steal, kill and destroy.
He gets us to waste our money on things that won’t bless others, or survive the fire.
He gets us to focus on things that don’t matter, stealing our time and our life, and our finances.
He gets us to see only this world, instead of storing up treasures for the next.
Because where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. (Matt 6:19-21)
Overcome evil with good. Turn everything over to God. Surrender it
all and use all of it for His glory. That redeems our waste. That turns
uselessness into value. (Romans 12:21)
That enemy seeks to destroy our health, and to murder us. He gets us
to worry about the belly. What we shall eat and what we shall wear. He
gets us addicted to this life, and the filth of it. Feeding us garbage
to make us sick, to destroy our health and make us doubt God. Our
sickness from the garbage of this world, gets us to focus on our bodies,
instead of the things of the Spirit. (Matthew 6:24-34, )
We eat like kings, and gain all the diseases that come with it. And
the enemy uses it to turn our minds from the things that matter.
He sends us to early graves, because we seek the things of the flesh.
All things are lawful, but not all things bring us closer to God. (1 Cor. 6:10, 10:23)
Our spirit matters more than the body, but the body can be used to
distract us from the spirit. We need to try to prevent that. Like a
soldier shoring up a weak position. Our health, both spiritual and
physical matters.
That enemy wants to destroy our service to God, and others. He
distracts us into things that doesn’t matter. He does things to make us
look evil to others. He throws monkeywrenches into our work, and leads
us to do things that cause people to not listen to us, when we preach
the Gospel or share truth.
He destroys our families. Our lives. Our hopes and dreams. He gets us
to blame God and run from Him. Which allows more destruction, death and
loss.
Like a lion
going around seeking whom he may devour, he makes a loud roar. And the
fear, causes the weak, young, foolish, and sick to run. And the lion can
find you away from the shepherd. (1 Peter 5:8)
The enemy destroys us by getting us to leave the presence of the shepherd.
He makes us feel that God is mad at us. That God is hurting us. That
God is deceiving us or tricking us. He tells us that we are too far
gone. That we have lost our salvation, or given it away. (Gen. Chapter
3)
He does everything in his power to keep us from our only savior, Jesus Christ, the Lord Almighty. (Matthew Chapter 13)
The Parable of the Sower shows that the enemy tries to steal the Word
from our heart, while trouble and temptations come to draw us into the
distractions of this life and get us to ignore God or hate God. These
troubles cause us to fear, and doubt and forget. (Matt. Chapter 13)
The soil of the heart can only become good when we turn to God, get
saved and let Him work in our lives. Even then we have attacks of the
enemy. The heart never fully turns good. It is deceitful and wicked. Do
not trust it. Trust God. (Jer. 17:7-12)
The answer for everything is to turn to God. Confess to Him. Grow in Him. Trust Him.
No matter what it is. Turn to God, and let Him work. Have faith that
he loves you. Have faith that He is working, and that He is a rewarder
of those who diligently seek Him. (Heb. 11:6)
Turn to God. Always.
Our protection stands in God. When we get saved we are in Christ.
But, the question must be. If trouble comes, where do you turn? A
person who knows God and trusts God and has put everything in God turns
to Him. We trust His promises in His Word. We trust the relationship He
has shown us that we have with Him.
A person who never really knew God or never really accepted Him does not turn to Him.
Of course we question things. That is the enemy putting doubt into our hearts. That is a temptation.
But, what do we do with it?
Do we reject Satan and turn to God? Or do we reject God, who is our only Hope?
God wants us to seek Him and question Him in these times. It helps
build the relationship. He shows us His love and power and we grow in
Faith. Even Jesus in the Garden had questions and concerns. (Matt.
26:36-46)
A person who really knows God, turns to God. This is abiding. (John 14:6, John Chapter 15)
Some
believers, will act as though we should not concern ourselves with the
enemy. But, that is the exact opposite of what the Word teaches.
We have an enemy. We are at war. We need to understand his devices
and wage war. Our protection lies in Christ, not our own works. But, we
are called to serve in this war. (2 Cor, 2:10-11)
We are called to abide in Him. We are called to endure. (2 Tim. 2:3, Matt. 24:13)
We endure and abide by knowing Him and trusting Him. By turning to
Him always, confessing to Him, and building that relationship.
Not by works. But, by His Grace in Him.
Tough times are coming. The Flood is coming.
Is your faith in Him built on the Rock of Christ?
Or is it built on the shifting sands of your own efforts, and worldly things? (Matt. 7:24-29)
Bio: Chris Bunton is a writer, poet and blogger from
Southern Illinois. He has published in several magazines, and has
written a poetry eBook called “Against the Man” and an Addiction Recovery eBook called “Made Free: Overcoming Addiction“ His newest book is called “The Future is Coming” and is a collection of dystopian short stories.