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Devotion Archive

True Faith: Judgement #103
19th March 2010

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Good Morning Dear Ones,

I am led to continue looking at Scriptures that reveal the lifestyle of false prophets and compare them to what we have already seen in Christ's Sermon on the Mount. Let's look at 2 PET 2: 1-3, 10-19. "False prophets appeared in the past among the people , and in the same way false teachers will appear among you. They will bring in destructive, untrue doctrines, and will deny the Master Who redeemed them, and so they will bring upon themselves sudden destruction. Even so, many will follow their immoral ways; and because of what they do, others will speak evil of the Way of truth " (1-3). Let's consider a problem group in Paul's time, the Gnostics. This group believed that one needed to be a part of their secret society in order to be blessed with the truth. Those committed to this heresy believed that Jesus Christ was only the Lord until His physical death and then some other being took over. With this and other lies, they did a lot to undermine the spread of God's truths, and Paul was acutely aware of them. That is why Paul's God-breathed arguments in the first eleven chapters of the book of Romans were designed to prove Gnostic thinking to be a fallacy.

In my own experience, I have been exposed to the Masonic organization, the Rainbow girls. This, like Eastern Star for adult women, De Molay for young men, and Masonry for adult men, was an organization which held a portion of its deliberations secret. Had I known then what I know now, the moment I was in indoctrinated with Rainbow's secrets, I would have been tipped off that I was not following God's path. Our Lord's attitude is revealed in MT 28: 19-20, "Go, then, to all peoples everywhere and make them My disciples: baptize them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and teach them to obey everything I have commanded you. And I will be with you always, to the end of the age." I would be remiss if I didn't mention my own problem with the practice of closed communion. This is where the pastor or other trusted figure in an individual church is given the right to deny people access to the communion table, if he so deems. Clearly, this is a human intermediary getting in between the believer and God. From the words of 1 COR 11: 23-26, we can see that Christ is inviting all who understand His words to come to take communion, the most intimate connection we have to Him while still on earth. My opinion, whether or not you agree, is that Christ's outstretched arms are a reality, and that He particularly wants those who want to be more worthy than they are to come and receive Him as their personal Savior. The song "Just As I Am" puts the point across better than I can.

2 PET 2: 10-11 describes some false teachers as "those who follow their filthy bodily lusts and despise God's authority. They are bold, arrogant, and show no respect for the glorious beings above; instead, they insult them. Even angels, who are much stronger and mightier than these false teachers, do not accuse them with insults in the presence of the Lord." These people act by instinct, like wild animals born to be captured and killed; they attack with insults anything they do not understand. They will be paid with suffering for the suffering they have caused. They are deceitful and a disgrace in their actions. I remember reading about a cop gone bad, who was more of a problem for the good police officers than himself. The same is true of a pastor, teacher, or church leader who lives this holy life in church and then is committing immoral acts outside of it. Once his behavior is uncovered, and we can believe it will eventually be, it makes it hard for the members of righteous pastor's congregation to place their trust in him. The founding pastor of our church once said that pastors, teachers, and leaders of a congregation must be held to a higher standard by the Lord than the ordinary members. And yes, I truly believe this! It's because they can influence a greater number of people. The appetite of false prophets for sin is never satisfied. They lead weak people into a trap. Their hearts are greedy, and yes, they are under God's curse! They have lost their way and are taking the same path that Balaam son of Beor, who loved money took [NU 22: 34-35]. Balaam was rebuked for his sin. His donkey spoke with a human voice and stopped the prophet's insane action [2 PET 2:10-16]. 2 PET 2: 17-19, "These men are like dried-up springs, like clouds blown along by a storm; God has reserved a place for them in the deepest darkness. They make proud and stupid statements, and used immoral bodily lusts to trap those who are just beginning to escape from among people who live in error. They promise them freedom while they themselves are slave of destructive habits-for a person is a slave of anything that has conquered him." I'll wager that most of us have come in contact in one way or another with people like these false teachers at some time in our lives. I know I have. Remember, RO 7: 15? "I do not understand what I do; for I don't do what I would like to do, but instead I do what I hate." Further on, we read verses 17 and finally 24-25a in RO 7, "So I am not really the one who does this thing; rather it is the sin that lives in me...What an unhappy man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that taking me to death? Thanks be to God, Who does this through our Lord, Jesus Christ!" Dear Ones, we must all remember that the only way the evil one can establish a stronghold in us is if we allow it. Never forget that as believers, we have been imbued with the same strength and discernment that God used to raise Christ from the death to eternal life to fend off the evil one and win in spiritual warfare in Christ's holy name [EPH 1: 18-20].

PRAYER: O Lord, we stand before Your throne today as imperfect and vulnerable human beings. You and You alone are the only One Who has the power to guide us -and give us discernment in decision-making that we need to recognize false teaching when we encounter it. Just as You told a youthful Jeremiah that "I chose you before I gave you life, and before you were born I selected you to be prophet to the nations," in JER 1: 5, You have chosen us to believe in the Lord Jesus and to repent of our sins. Furthermore, You gave us the self-discipline to endure in that faith and to learn to rely on You for truth. It is a wise person who has reverence for You and who trusts You. If we will turn to You, You will do as You did for Jeremiah, in JER 1: 8, and tell us "Do not be afraid of them, for I will be with you to protect you" when we are exposed to liars and deceitful false prophets. Earlier in this prayer, I said we are vulnerable, but I must qualify that and say, "we are only vulnerable when we refuse to turn to You for help in times of this kind of trouble." The devil is "like a roaring lion who roams around looking for someone to devour" [1 PET 5: 8], so indeed we must be "alert and on watch." You know this and protect us when we are wise enough to pray first asking for Your help. Your promises to protect and for us not to be afraid are some of the most often-repeated messages in Your word. We must trust You, Dearest Abba, and turn to You first in every possibly compromising situation. There are cults eager to snap vulnerable people up into their lies. There are deceitful false prophets who are "wolves in sheep's clothing" [MT 7: 15] who are in it for personal gain and aggrandizement. You will, out of the love You have for us, let us know who they are and what are their motives. We thank and praise You, Dearest Father, for all You are and all You do for us. In Christ's holy and mighty name, we pray. Amen.

Next week, the Holy Spirit commands me to continue in this expose of the lifestyle of a false prophet but examining 2 PET 2: 11. In the meanwhile, we need to balance these warnings with constant reminders of the power God gives us, through the Lord Jesus, to extricate ourselves from the influence these evil people try to have. EPH 3: 12, "In union with Christ and through our faith in Him we have the boldness to go into God's presence with all confidence." Spiritual warfare is tiring over time, and God knows this. He is present in the same way He was when a young David faced the Philistine giant, Goliath, with nothing more than a simple sling shot. David's strong trust and faith in God was the force that gave him superior power over his adversary. 1 SAM 17: 45-46a, "David answered, 'You are coming against me with sword, spear, an javelin, but I come against you in the name of the Lord Almighty, the God of the Israelite armies which you have defied. This very day the Lord will put you in my power; I will defeat you...'" We are with God on His team when we endure in faith, obedience, reverence, and trust in Him. God often puts us in situations where our faith is tested, just as Abraham's was when he had been commanded to sacrifice his son, Isaac, in GN 22. But God will never allow our faith to be tested beyond the point where we can remain firm in it [1 COR 10: 13]. When we ask God for His help, He is only too willing to give it. PS 46: 1, "God is our Shelter and Strength, always ready to help in times of trouble." We are given His word and prayer, two great arsenals of strength in spiritual warfare to use at any time. Ask for it, and our God will protect us. PS 5: 7, "But as for me, I will come into Your temple protected by Your mercy and Your love; I will worship You with deepest awe." Praise and thanks be to God!

Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn

© Lynn Johnson 2012. All Rights Reserved.

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