GLORIFYING GOD
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We glorify God when we fulfill the will of the Father for our lives. We were created for the purposes of loving God. That is the only true worship acceptable to the Lord. Everything else is the works of Cain and are dead works if not combined with the love of the Father. So much religion both organized and disorganized is about glorifying themselves and not God. Love has to be the motive or else it is not really love that is motivating us.
The Lord has placed this message heavy on my heart. It was a message that was veiled to me despite all the prior blessings and understanding I was given by the Spirit of God. Having been freed from a spirit of self-righteousness I have been prepared to share this message of Godly love. Who best equipped to point out the speck of the self-righteousness, except someone who was held in bondage to it and then freed by the mercy of the Lord?
Jesus is mighty to save. He does all the saving and nobody is saved by their obedience. As has been stated, that is the fruit of salvation, not the way. The cross is the way. Jesus died for us; we die to self for Him. That is the way of salvation and how we enter into the covenant of faith. The flesh nature does not like this gospel as it can no longer boast in its pride. The cross and the true Jesus has become a stumbling stone and a rock of offense to the religious of today just as it was to the Jews that hardened their hearts to what Jesus had done for them. Why did the Jews miss it? Paul told us.
Romans 9:32-33 because they did not seek it by faith, but as it were, by the works of the law. For they stumbled at that stumbling stone. 33 As it is written: “Behold, I lay in Zion a stumbling stone and rock of offense and whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame
Those that are truly saved and in the hands of the Lord will be obeying the gospel. They will be doers of the WORD and not just hearers. This is how you know if someone is truly a disciple of Jesus Christ, they will be shining forth love into this dark world.
John 13:34-35 A new commandment I give unto you, that ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. 35By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.
Forms of godliness devoid of love have always been the distinguishing characteristic of a Pharisee and that has not changed. Pharisees are disobedient to the commandment of Jesus Christ. We bring glory to God when we obey this foremost commandment of the Lord. This is the one word good news gospel that is the truth but those still in the flesh will hate and despise.
Galatians 5:14 For all the law is fulfilled in ONE WORD, even in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.
Even John told us what Jesus did that bearing this fruit of love would be the proof text that we are His disciple and truly saved. It has nothing to do with external forms of godliness.
1 John 3:14 We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren. He that loveth not his brother abideth in death.
In the same way as grace has been perverted into a license to sin, the same will also pervert what love is also. So yes, don’t take the false love gospel to heart that cuts out our need to walk in holiness and not be weighed down with worldly dissipations. Yet the truth is that love, the way God defined it is how we bring glory to God and worship Him in truth and in spirit.
1 John 5:3 For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous.
The whole law is fulfilled and all of His commandments are kept when we walk in love. The gospel is a gospel of love. Hallelujah! We need to stop the self-righteousness and repent of our pride. Jesus Christ is the way, the truth and the life, but what that really means and what Jesus said was to walk in love.
The Scriptures are full of proof texts that love is the way of salvation. God is indeed love. Yes we need to remember that God is not only love as He is Holy, Righteous, Just, Jealous, Vengeful, Merciful and is angry with the wicked every single day. But the simplicity of our calling as His disciples is to walk in true love from a pure heart with sincere motives. When we do that, we know that we are saved. It is a promise from God so long as we keep walking that way. We are kept in His garments and the hedge of protection is upon us. God will perfect, establish and strengthen us through His Holy Spirit. When we walk in love, HIS word says we can ask for anything in His name and Jesus will do it.
John 14:13 And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son
The Pure Heart
Only those truly walking in covenant, i.e. LOVING from a pure heart will receive this promise. If our prayers are not being answered we should look at our fruit. Are we bearing a bountiful crop of the fruit of love or are we just being religious putting forth a form of godliness that bears thorns and thistles? Jesus did not give you a thousand rules of do’s and don’ts and define godliness and holiness by denying yourself joy in this life and requiring self abasement. HE TOLD YOU TO LOVE. That is His singular command.
John 15:12-15 This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you. Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you.
We fulfill ALL the law when we obey this one commandment. All of it. Jesus said it and so did all the Apostles. Go read it in context.
Luke 10:28 And he said unto him, Thou hast answered right: this do, and thou shalt live
Romans 13:10 Love worketh no ill to his neighbour: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law
I have some very good news to those still immersed in doctrines of self-righteousness that think they have to save themselves by striving every day in their flesh. All you have to do is LOVE. Of course to love God’s way, SELF, all of it, must die. The inward things of SELF must be surrendered to Jesus at the cross. No pride, no greed, no bitterness, no jealousy, no strife, no contention — there can be NO partiality in our walk to meet God’s standard of love.
But there is bad news as the righteous judgments of God do not slumber. We either walk in love or God will destroy us. It is indeed a two-edged sword.
Colossians 3:6 For which things’ sake the wrath of God cometh on the children of disobedience
We either abide in love, which is abiding in Jesus or God will send the tree cutters to cut us off and throw us into the fire. That fire is right now – it is the wrath of God that will come to steal your peace and bring spiritual mourning and torment. I see this on very many faces of people who claim to know God and be in His will. Something is very wrong.
John 15:6 If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned
Jesus chooses His Disciples. It is God’s sovereign choice in how Jesus builds the church. But when we are chosen, we are given an ordination to go and bear the lasting fruit of love. When we do that our prayers are always answered. Hallelujah.
John 15:16-17 Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you. These things I command you, that ye love one another.
This is the walk of a disciple and a true believer in Jesus Christ. Love is what springs forth from a heart cleansed of all defilement and filled with the Holy Spirit of promise.
John 7:38 He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water
John 4:14 But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life
My prayer is that all will be granted repentance by God and the Lord will remove the veil that blinds them to this glorious gospel. It is marvelous once you see it.
The Holy Spirit is grieved and the blood of many innocent is being shed by false teachers putting people into bondage and heaping judgment and condemnation on them. Without the mercy of the Lord, these heretics and deceivers will wish they had a millstone tied around their neck and were tossed into the sea than face the Lord on the day of judgment. The words of Ezekiel 13 apply directly to them today and they are horribly deceived.
They claim to know Jesus and take pride and boast in their knowledge of God accusing nearly all that they do not know God. The are sowers of doubt, judgment, condemnation and fear. I fear for them and their arrogance and haughty spirit in attacking this gospel of love. They bear little evidence of the fruit of love and by their false words have shown themselves to really be deceitful workers serving the god of this world. The real Jesus Christ and Messiah has become a stumbling stone to them and a rock of offense. They desire and believe they can save themselves by their righteous deeds.
1 Peter 2:7-9 Therefore, to you who believe, He is precious; but to those who are disobedient, The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone and A stone of stumbling and a rock of offense.
Oh I hope they repent of their disobedience and it will be revealed the true light that is our Messiah. It is a marvelous gospel when we come to see in all its glory. Let’s pray for heardened hearts to repent so Jesus can heal them and restore their eyesight and give them ears to hear. The end of our obedience to the LORD is the LOVE of God pouring out of our heart. This is the fountain of living water that God has planted in you. Now walk in it.
1 Timothy 1:5-6 Now the end of the commandment is charity out of a pure heart, and of a good conscience, and of faith unfeigned: From which some having swerved have turned aside unto vain jangling
May God Bless You Richly!
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Sinful Works of the Flesh
Ephesians 5:5 For this you know, that no fornicator, UNCLEAN PERSON, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. 6 Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience.
My eyes have been opened to clearly see the things that defile a man and had ensnared me for many years. Far too often the focus is on the outside things yet the things to truly be concerned about are on the inside. These little kings that live inside of us will keep us in the flesh no matter how religious we become. The land must be cleansed and the things that defile given up and surrendered to Jesus at the cross.
Impure hearts will keep us from understanding the glorious gospel and a veil will remain over our eyes. Far too many believers do not yet truly understand the gospel, how and by whom we are saved and what Jesus demands from us. The confusions carries over into their definition of what constitues sin. While it is beyond this short note to cover all of the issues on sin, we all should know already that anything not of faith is sin and that sin is lawlessness. Lawlessness is any action or deed that breaks God’s law. The simple fact of the matter is that sin is any action that is not done in true Godly love. The simplicity and purity of the gospel is to love God with our whole heart and love our neighbor as ourselves. This can only be done when the Spirit of God comes to us and pours out the love of God into our heart and reveals the marvelous light that is Jesus Christ.
Many Christians don’t like this as it is just too easy and cuts them out of saving themselves. They need something to boast about. Many cling to a perverted gospel that believes their self abasement, constant religious works and denying the enjoyment of life right here on this earth is how we get right with God. No my friends, that is not right. I held to this error for a long time as I hope my recent videos and post have conveyed in exposing some false teaching. God wants us to enjoy this life and treasure it. He created many wonders and splendors for our pleasure including good food, music, animals, pets and the most precious of all, our children. Anything we receive with thanksgiving to God is acceptable to us. We are indeed free to live in Christ Jesus.
Galatians 5:13-14 For you, brethren, have been called to liberty; only do not use liberty as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. 14 For all the law is fulfilled in ONE WORD, even in this: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”
Do you see it? The gospel and obeying the law comes down to ONE SINGLE WORD. LOVE! Go look, search the Scriptures and you will see this everywhere. Don’t let Satan control you, don’t be a puppet. Repent of yourself and believe this glorious gospel.
Yet the Scriptures tell us we must deny ourselves and take up our cross. Denying ourselves is really as simple as loving God and loving your neighbor. Religion has made it real complicated at times with a whole bunch of do’s and dont’s that people will argue about till the cows come home. God’s LOVE and the love He requires us to give is the opposite of SELFishness. When SELF is denied we will live to serve others and we are in God’s will. It is the pride of life that keeps a self righteous spirit in our hearts where we seek to save ourselves and make ourselves holy and righteous. Sanctification is a work of the Lord that He performs in our hearts, if we let Him by getting SELF out of the way. Denying yourself is far too often linked only to forsaking of external worldliness and indulgence in external ungodly behaviors. While it is most certainly inclusive of these things, there is a much higher standard of what Jesus meant.
A true Christian will be desirous and striving to live a godly life in Christ Jesus. But there is more to it than just cleaning the outside of our cups. Some would have you believe one just has to stop smoking, drinking, chewing and cussing and everything is going to be all right with God. But this is error my friends. We must look INWARDLY to the heart as that is what Jesus wants more than anything. A jealous God that is Spirit wants all of our hearts, HE wants them to be purified and sanctified of ALL THINGS that defile. A pure heart produces love without any partiality. He created us for the purposes to love. That is how we worship Him in truth and in spirit.
When we walk in this covenant of love, loving God and our neighbor, we will bear the fruit unto righteousness and accomplish the will of the Father. There are many kinds of apostasy and one of the most harmful is the self righteous Pharisee types that look and talk a good game of holiness but do not bear the fruit which proves it. The highest attainment of holiness is pure love. Both the old and modern-day Pharisees are full of dead men’s bones as what defiles a man is in his heart and what he speaks forth from his mouth. There is a lot of pride (selfish ambition), heresy, contentions and hatred in many hearts today. Since my log was removed from my eyes, I now have discernment to see this in many other people. Self righteous people hate this gospel of love just as I used to hate it. Their flesh is offended because it cannot boast when the light of this gospel shines on it. Jesus is mighty to save, we do not save ourselves but prideful flesh doesn’t like that fact.
Let’s remind ourselves what the works of the flesh are by looking in Galatians 5.
Galatians 5 - Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, 20 idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, 21 envy, murders, 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.
The works of the flesh named above certainly should give us all something to examine within ourselves. We cannot be doing any of these things and be in the will of God. We will be disobedient which means practicing lawlessness and things that break God’s laws. You can’t really love your God and your neighbor as yourself if you are practicing any of these things. My encouragement to all is to look beyond the external wrapper and the participation in worldly activities and lusts. Those are pretty obvious areas of ungodliness in our lives. The more sinister works of the flesh are buried and hidden deep in our hearts. We must come to understand that we will not have true peace until our hearts are made pure. That is the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit, we don’t do it.
The Lord has shown me that many of our brothers and sisters in Christ have roots of bitterness, jealousy, pride, greed, strife, contentions and the like still in their hearts. My friends these things are the nature of Satan and we must put off all things that defile. These must be cleared off the land to bear the fruit of love. Jesus will do it for you, if you surrender to Him and trust Him and not your own self righteous works to do it. We walk in the light Jesus gives and then He will give us even more. But if we do not, even what light we do have will be taken away and we will become blind to the true way of salvation. This applies to common folk and as well as religious big shots.
Luke 11:26 For I say to you, that to everyone who has will be given; and from him who does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him.
If we remain “in the flesh” by practicing these works above, we will be without understanding. Those in the flesh cannot please God and will ever learning but never able to come to knowledge of the true gospel and the true Jesus. Let us gently correct those in error and pray without ceasing for those that do not yet understand.
The thief comes to kill, steal and destroy. The devil does this by stealing the truth, the good seed of the Word of God out of our hearts. The enemy corrupts the good seed and perverts the truth of the gospel and as Hosea 4:8 says, God’s people are destroyed from a lack of knowledge. The scheme of Satan is to control us through prideful manipulation of our flesh and keep us in bondage to our sinful nature. Jesus came to set us totally free from this but we must come to understand the works of the flesh that lurk deep in our hearts and motives. These as well as the external ungodliness must be put to death. Only then will we be totally free and our motives pure and the love of God will pour forth from our hearts and mouths.
Matthew 12:33 Either make the tree good, and his fruit good; or else make the tree corrupt, and his fruit corrupt: for the tree is known by his fruit
Those who have passed from death unto life will love the brethren. We no longer live for ourselves, we have been crucified with Christ. Grab hold of the promises God has given us and live them in your heart and not just your head; so you will be a partaker of the divine nature and escape the corruption that is in this world through the works of the flesh. The fruit of love will be the manifestation and proof we have cleansed the sinful works of the flesh from our hearts.
This was shared in the spirit of LOVE. I want to shout it from the roof tops. I am free.
May God Bless You Richly!
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Walking in the Gospel of Love
I wanted to share a recent YouTube video I made that speaks to walking in love. Love is the reason we were created by the creator. As a man that has battled pride and judgmental thoughts we must be careful and guard our heart from the leaven of the Pharisees which is hypocrisy. One of the snares of the devil that blinds us to the true gospel is the veil of self righteousness. This was made primarily to speak to some folks on YouTube that have fallen away into self righteous “holy roller” apostasy. Apostasy come in many varieties. I share the Apostle’s prayer as many are repeating the exact same mistake and missing the truth.
Romans 10:1-4 Brethren, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for Israel is, that they might be saved. 2For I bear them record that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge. 3For they being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God. 4For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth.
The Harlot Church Thru History
The Harlot Church Thru History by Andy Zoppelt
To view in MS WORD, click the above file link
I have often wondered about the Harlot mentioned in the book of Revelation. But one day while reading Revelation 17:6-7, something caught my attention and something that was put into scripture to get our attention. “I saw the woman [the harlot], drunk with the blood of the saints and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus. And when I saw her, I marveled with great amazement. But the angel said to me, “Why did you marvel? [Did you notice that even the angel picked up on John’s amazement] I will tell you the mystery of the woman and of the beast that carries her.”
What did John see that could account for such an extreme response from him in seeing this Harlot, even the angel picked up on it. In seeing the Harlot John saw something that related to Jesus but had gotten far beyond his imagination, something far beyond the falling away of his time and something far beyond what he saw in Jesus’ response to the seven assemblies in chapters 2 and 3. I can almost hear the words of John as he gazed at this Harlot, “What is this, they are using the name of Jesus? They are scattering His kingdom everywhere and each going by different names. What has happened to God’s kingdom, the power and the Glory? What is this that speaks of Jesus and yet is so full of corruption? They are using the name of Jesus and they are not doing any of the things we told the assemblies to do. What has happened? This is a totally different life than what Jesus gave to us, yet they are using the name of Jesus and acting like they are a part of us.”
When we say the Harlot church, we are saying Harlot twice. The harlot that John saw eventually became known as the “church”, an identity of defining Jesus’ body that is totally foreign to scripture and the purposes for which it was established. The word church was the product of men that had fallen from truth. It was a word based on a structure that was completely against God’s eternal purposes. It was a word sown into our bibles to create and allow for a system of Christianity under the influence of a false anointing that drove it completely outside of the foundation of Jesus and those He sent. We need only to compare the early body of Christ to the “church” to see the vast differences between the two. What is strange is that we, who claim the infallibility of the word of God, have accepted the insertion of a word that in essence is totally against the word of God. There is no actual word “church” in our scriptures originating in the Greek; it is in our translation, but it is not a translation of the words of Jesus and His disciples. It is a word not inspired by the Holy Spirit. But it is a word that we are building on.
The word church came about as a sequence of events that began with the falling away of the true assembly and the rising of a clergy within the body. The establishment of a separate Clergy system within the body needed a word that would justify its existence in order to justify its purposes. This did not happen over night. John describes these seeds of deception in his first letter when he talked about the “false anointing” coming into their midst and finally departing from the instructions of Christ…the anointed one. What we actually call antichrist is the Greek word brought into the English. The word antichrist represents a false anointing, an anointing against and an anointing that replaces the true anointing of Christ. This “false anointing” began to disguise itself within the first century to lead many away from the truth and the true anointing. John originally saw this false anointing in his time, yet he never believed it would go as far as we see it today or in the image of the Harlot.
Here is John’s words in its early stages, “Little children, it is the last hour; and as you have heard that the Antichrist [false anointed one] is coming, even now many antichrists [many false anointed ones] have come, by which we know that it is the last hour. [How do we know them John?] They went out from us [Jesus, His disciples and the commands given by Jesus], but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us [doing and walking in the same anointing]; but they went out that they might be made manifest, that none of them were of us.” 1 John 2:18-19, NKJV
In Jesus parable of the ten virgins they are separated by five wise virgins having oil or the anointing and five foolish virgins having lost their oil and now having no oil and thus not having His anointing. Both at the beginning were anointed. By virtue of the foolishness of the five virgins, they moved away from the source of the anointing and acted foolishly. Could any serious reader of scripture visualize thousands of churches scattered throughout our cities, being the representation on earth as it is in heaven? Would that not define an extreme heresy and a departure from the faith and as John put it “went out from us” under a false anointing?
The definition of the Harlot is that she derives her life from a false anointing assumed to be true. The Harlot develops a false purpose and then fulfills it. The Harlot incorporates just enough truth not to be exposed by the foolish and in time she solidifies herself in a widespread recognition among the masses of people. This false anointing needed a new and different word placed into our scriptures to perpetuate itself and give itself an authentic appearance of Christianity in order to exist. There is nothing of the Harlot (the word church) that is true or found in scripture that weds itself to Christ and His body, therefore, the word “church”, on its face is against Christ and His bride. That one word has corrupted the way we practice our faith and it can be traced back to the disagreements, the infightings and divisions found within the first century… She, the Harlot, has established herself with a name that she is alive but in fact she spreads death everywhere she goes…she carries the seeds of a false anointing and builds disciples around men, buildings and names given to them.
“For I know this, that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock. Also from among yourselves men will rise up, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after themselves.” Acts 20:29, NKJV (Each man having his own church…)
After Christ death, His resurrection and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit John saw the beginning of Jesus’ called out assembly. He saw the first love within the kingdom of God, their unity and the glory under the anointing of the Holy Spirit; he later saw the beginnings of its falling away. Jesus pointed out to John all the works of each assembly in Revelations 2 and 3 as they began to fall away, John heard the threatenings and the warnings and the call to repentance for them to come back to their beginnings…or else He would remove them as His faithful followers. But regardless there was still hope if they would repent. If we look at the false works of each assembly mentioned, we would see the beginnings of the Harlot that we see today… organized under the word church and using different names to be identified separately. Yet John did not marvel with great amazement at this early stage of the falling away; but John was shock when He saw the works of the Harlot in the fullness of time riding the beast (the world system).
As God’s assembly began to spread throughout the pagan world, the carnal side of man, within the body of Christ, began to manifest itself: the use of pagan temples and churches began to influence the local assemblies to build temples and churches. Many of the pagan’s ways and teaching began to find its way into the assembly. Even the Jews tried to move the assembly under the influence of the old covenant. As sin began to abound within the assemblies, the love of many began to grow cold and differences turned into conflict with one another. Men began to betray one another. Division began to take hold within the assemblies and everyone began to do what was right in their own eyes…there was no king and no established kingdom. The people felt secure being under leaders and they began to align themselves under these men as Israel did in their desire for a king to rule over them.
At the close of the first century with all the heresies pouring into God’s assemblies in each city, there seemed to be a need for great men to defend the faith against these heresies. Thus men began to assume positions of authority and gave themselves titles. Bishop became a title early on and the bishops assumed authority over large geographical areas setting the stage for the eventual church as we see it. Still there was no church, no buildings, no names and no sinner’s prayer.
In 313 AD, Constantine declared the edict of Milan declaring religious freedom for the Christians. He embraced Christianity and officially joined it to the state (the beast). The assembly needed a new name that would redefine itself with new a standard of living. It didn’t take long before the called out assembly was given a new name under a different authority having a different purpose. It was called “church”, establishing the building as its center of activity…thus the identity and practices of the Harlot were established as the norm. In all the churches, regardless of their thousands of names, they maintained the same structure.
Its focus turned to buildings as God’s house and to a paid clergy that brought in the damnable heresies of division and competition. These were men that both Jesus and Paul called wolves, men who did not follow the teachings of Jesus and His followers. They set up the traditions of men that we see in practice today. Unlike the seven assemblies in the opening of Revelation, there was no offer of repentance to the Harlot made by Jesus, it could not be restored. The church has destroyed the unity of the body, the dumbing down of the body to an audience, separating people from knowing one another and they created an atmosphere that hinders Godly love. The church was geographical, confined within walls, demanding money to continue…everything about it spelled the harlot and antichrist. This new structure removed Jesus as a unifying head and set up many heads and many churches in each city. In its beginning it was the church that was responsible for the death of many believers and the name church still hold those deaths within its roots. What was once a unified, functioning body now became a passive audience meeting once a week to learn from these “pastors”.
In time Christianity and the church became synonymous. The physical structure of the church itself dictates its limited abilities; it is locked into the practices of the beast and with roots deeply planted into the world. When the church wants to grow, it looks to Madison Avenue, entertainment, easy grace and programs to fill the needs of the masses to fill its pews… “How many is in your church?” “Where do you go to church? “We are taking up a collection for our church.” “The pastor of my church is…” Could anyone envision such statements in our bibles? This is a complete and total heresy; it is anathema to the name of Jesus.
The church structure is uniquely designed to fulfill its demands built out of the activities of men. The building itself cannot be the object of restoration because of what it represent and its purpose found in history. Do you know of any pastor who is willing to give up “his” church, repent and follow Jesus and build the kingdom of God within each city? That would take repentance, love and obedience and a following of Jesus’ commands.
The church speaks of walls of division from other churches. Its raised podium, its pulpit, its auditorium with all its seats facing the pulpit dictates what we are to expect in the gatherings. No one can speak; the body is silenced and considered unimportant during the meeting. The pew sitters have two main functions: to fill the seats and pay for the entertainment. .
The harlot grew through entertaining the saints and the marketing ideas of Madison Avenue and dramatically changing the demands of salvation into the sinner’s prayer making it easier to be “saved”. Their promises of salvation and the walk as a Christian became a wider gate for all to enter with no fear of losing anything.
Has anyone stopped to ask, “Is church from God or Satan?” Is it gathering or scattering? Is it building itself up in love and putting the things of the kingdom first? Does it matter to God that we are not doing any of the things He commanded in reference to the building of His kingdom and establishing His rule to where the world sees our love for one another? Today the word “church” and what it represents is so well accepted, no one stops long enough to realize that Jesus would never have used that word if He spoke English. How do I know this, because there is no Greek word to back up the word church in the Greek. Jesus would never had said, “Upon this rock I will build my church”, because of the implication of the word. He spoke in terms of a called out assembly with no hint of a building with a pastor with a passive audience not intimately supportive and connecting to one another. The early assembly was identified as a people who came out of the world, who saw and entered into the kingdom through a meaningful born again experience in God and a gathering together in Him as one new man.
Here is Paul’s thankfulness to the early assembly collectively gathered together in Ephesus: “Therefore I also, after I heard of your faith [as one body] in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints, do not cease to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers: that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you [collectively] the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the [full] knowledge of Him, the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in [all] the saints, and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power.” NKJV
The structure of the church is actually preventing this from happening and that is why I say that the structure of the church is synonymous with Harlot and is in fact the harlot. The Harlot’s use of the word church has given its right to exist and to replace Jesus’ right to rule. Today we find many who know that something is wrong, like myself when I first came to the Lord, I could not see the church in the bible context and I was always an ardent reader of scripture accepting what it said. What I did see was a kingdom, a compacted people tightly built together ministering to one another, loving one another and supporting one another. When I challenged pastors about these differences they quickly told me that times had changed…meaning even they knew we were different. I was a pastor for about 30 years and know something about what I am saying.
In my search I could not find in the scriptures buildings, pastors, pulpits, and names on buildings, divisions accepted as common, indifference, lethargy and infighting. Many justified the church’s existence because it has a name that sounds alive…it has been with us so long, who would be suspicious that its system embodies the Harlot. Certainly church is a name that is alive; because once we are saved we go to church. Not!
John would not have been greatly amazed with the temples, churches and building of the pagans and the worship of their gods, but he was amazed when he saw people using Jesus’ name claiming to represent His eternal purposes without following His commands. What he saw was a woman riding on the beast…the world.
“And I heard another voice from heaven saying, ‘Come out of HER, my people [what were they doing in there in the first place?], lest you share in her sins, and lest you receive of her plagues. For her sins have reached to heaven [they got as far and as long as God is going to permit], and God has remembered her iniquities [from the beginning]. Render to her just as she rendered to you, and repay her double according to her works; in the cup which she has mixed, mix double for her [millions are going to hell because of her and her watered down message. It is a man-centered and a man-centered gospel]. In the measure that she glorified herself [can you hear a tingle of Babylon mixed in here?] and lived luxuriously [anointed through money], in the same measure give her torment and sorrow; for she says in her heart, ‘I sit as queen, and am no widow, and will not see sorrow.’ Therefore her plagues will come in one day [the foolish virgins were not prepared for this… they saw some good in their religion and were convinced they had the right anointing] — death and mourning and famine. And she will be utterly burned with fire, for strong is the Lord God who judges her. NKJV
Many people go and work for church and don’t understand what they are doing; they are supporting the work of the harlot. It is like eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil…preventing them from Life.
God never brings His final judgment until iniquity is full. It isn’t till the enemy comes in like a flood that the Spirit of the Lord raises up a standard against him (Isaiah 59:19).
The church is unbiblical and it is in perfect agreement with the structure of the Harlot, which purpose is opposed from that of the bride. The five foolish virgins without the oil are the Harlot by definition. Can we see why the early called out assembly met in homes, exhorted one another, supported one another and functioned as one assembly in each city? These first-love, holy saints, who repented and forsook all of self and sin made up the kingdom of God to His praise and glory on earth as it is in heaven.
If you want to see this progression in time, I challenge you to read the first four chapters of Ephesians with an open mind comparing them to ourselves. Then read the letter to the Ephesians in Revelation chapter two. Then you will understand John’s amazement when he saw the harlot in Revelations 17:6-7. There is no call to repentance for the Harlot. No hope for her. It is “come out of her my people!!!”
“The light of a lamp shall not shine in you [the harlot] anymore, and the voice of bridegroom and bride shall not be heard in you anymore.”
The true saints, the five wise and anointed virgins will have all left the deception and false anointing of the Harlot… they paid the price for the true anointing outside the camp. The church sees such people as extreme and will fight them trying to protect themselves when in reality they are the extreme.
Even in the house churches they have lost the purposes of the kingdom…they too have their little networks (denominations) and go by numbers in search of a better “way or program” to do house church. Its conventions exalt the successful, those demonstrating numbers and good programs…even the network have names and their specific leaders with “their” groups scattered around the world. It is because we don’t have the anointing to build under God’s full purposes…another subject all together.
Pick up Ephesians and pray to God to direct you back to Him and His kingdom. Look for people who are willing to forsake all and follow Him…a holy loving people. This will take repentance on our part and a prayer to come together as one assembly in each city as a testimony to Jesus. “Lord restore all that makes up Your kingdom” … with nothing left out as most movements do. What are we to do? First repent, establish the reality of the cross in our daily lives… dead to self and alive to all that He is. Establish our life on things above where we are seated with Him in heavenly places; obey His commands… all of this by faith. Look for those who want to come together and seek the kingdom first… very, very few exist in this country.
Send your remarks to azoppelt@hotmail.com
Andy
Andy’s website can be found at the link below.
http://www.therealchurch.com/
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God Will Destroy The Wicked
JOB 20:5-6 that the triumphing of the wicked is short, and the joy of the godless momentary?
Our life here is just a vapor of time. Here today and gone tommorrow so we best make use of the life we have here and fulfill the purposes for which God created us. Jesus and the Apostles warned us 2,000 years ago that false teaching would secretly come inside the professing church. Jesus went even further to tell us that false teaching and doctrines would be the key sign we are near the end of the age. He called them wolves in sheep’s clothing. There are very many damnable heresies (as Peter called them) which are leading people astray and keeping them in bondage to their sin and away from knowledge of the Lord and the true gospel. The leaven is always hidden in the measure of the meal so it is not easily discernible. The way this is done is men pick and choose through the Scriptures and build doctrines based on half-truths to the exclusion of the whole council of God. The seduction is to entice and literally counsel rebellion to the God all the while telling the hearer they can stay in the flesh and be in the will of God.
The widely perverted “God is only love” message becomes a half truth when the parts that offend flesh are removed from our gospel. Such is the predominant teaching and way of ministering in the apostasy of our times from my observations. As we move further into what is clearly the end times, this image of a God that only loves and is a virtual Santa Claus in the sky has become the common view of God. But is that what the Scriptures teach? NO!! When the message of the gospel is reduced to God loves you and the attributes of a Holy, Righteous, Jealous, Vengeful and Just God are ignored; people get a false understanding of God and His plan of salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.
God’s People Are in Covenant
Matthew 26:28 – Then He took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you. For this is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.
God will indeed save His people. But God’s people are clearly distinguished in the Scriptures and do not represent ALL PEOPLE. The dichotomy of the righteous and the wicked is seen throughout the Scriptures. The Lord gave us a parable in Matthew 13 about the wheat and the tares to drive home the point of who the “few” would be that Jesus said would actually enter into the narrow gate to eternal life.
The whole concept and partaking of covenant has been forgotten and cut out of the modern-day false gospels. God is a God of covenant and the New Covenant must be entered into just as the covenant of faith with Abram was entered into. Real faith in Jesus is how that covenant is entered. There is no other way, but make no mistake, we have to do something to enter into the covenant and become ONE with Jesus and the Father. To be in covenant, we must drink His blood and eat His flesh, spiritually speaking. Sadly, many walked away then and still walk away today. They have been deceived.
John 6:54-55 Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day. For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him.
Many are unwilling to pay the cost. It will cost you everything to save your life. You must be willing to lose it for Christ and trust in Him. Very few will find it.
John 6:66 From that time many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him
The gospel is a whosoever will gospel. The true children of God, represent His bride, they have been separated from the world and are considered aliens and strangers here on this earth. We must choose eternal life and make our citizenship in heaven right here and right now. We must decide in our hearts that we want it and meet the conditions the giver of this most precious gift has set forth to receive it. We must enter into this covenant. That is the only way to receive the finished works of Calvary and the gift of eternal life that comes with being in covenant. This defines who are the people of God. The redeemed are those who have turned from sin in their hearts (ISA 59:20).
God’s children are kept on this narrow path by being led by the Spirit of God. The church of Jesus Christ is persecuted and the world hates them; but rejoice my friends if you are with us because the world hated Jesus first.
Revelation 12:17 – And the dragon was enraged with the woman, and he went to make WAR with the rest of her offspring, who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ
The Scriptures Are for God’s People
Very few are holding to the testimony of Jesus Christ. They have been sold a perverted gospel and stay deceived in their sins. God Himself says He will send them a delusion, He is the originator of the deception (2 Thess 2:11, ISA 29, etc). Those who make covenant with God will “get it” and will be given more as they are led by the Spirit of God. Those who don’t continue in covenant will have what they do have (understanding) taken away from them.
Matthew 13:12 For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance: but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that he hath
The Scriptures are written for and to the people of God and the context of who is God’s Israel remains at the center of most of modern-day apostasy. When people pull Scriptures out and apply them to all men, they err not understanding covenant. People outside of covenant are called dogs in New Testament Scripture.
Philippians 3:2-3 Beware of dogs, beware of evil workers, beware of the concision. For we are the circumcision, which worship God in the spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh
The eternal sign of God’s people was always the covenant of circumcision. Of course this is of the heart, accomplished by the Spirit of God to all who walk by faith (Rom 2:28-29). You can see this clearly in the story of Abraham in Genesis 15 from whom ALL the children of God have come forth as descendants.
Joshua told the people, choose today whom you shall serve. These choices have consequences here and now and in the life to come. Many wolves now claim this covenant automatically applies to every man every born into this world. No my friends, we must drink the blood of Jesus and eat His flesh or else He has no part in us. Jesus is coming back for His Bride, His chosen ones, which have answered the call and drink from His cup. If we don’t drink from His cup, there is another cup that will be drunk and it is the cup of wrath.
Revelation 22:17 And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely
We must warn those that led astray who have not life in the SON. While God does show great compassion and mercy to all men, He will come again to judge both the living and the dead. The only way to salvation is via the cross. One must follow Jesus, the sons of God being led by His Spirit (Rom 8:14). Otherwise the wrath of God will come upon the sons of disobedience. Men will attempt hide and seek to escape the wrath of the lamb, but there shall be no escape.
Revelation 6:15-16 And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains; 16And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb
Behold you scoffers and mockers about the judgment and wrath of God as the things spoken of thru the prophets shall come upon you as it is indeed written (ACTS 13:40). Humble yourself of your arrogance and repent.
Isaiah 13:9-11 Behold, the day of the LORD cometh, cruel both with wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate: and he shall destroy the sinners thereof out of it. ……… And I will punish the world for their evil, and the wicked for their iniquity; and I will cause the arrogancy of the proud to cease, and will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible
God Hates Sin and Unrepentant Sinners
Praise God that while we were yet sinners He died for us. But He did not come to die so we could continue a life of sin. He came to set us free from that bondage. Sinful flesh loves to hear the lie the serpent said to Eve and continues today with just new variations. The place of all rebels to God’s Holy covenant will be eternal destruction and punishment in the lake of fire. A doctrine of a demon is that God hates sin but loves the sinner.
Psalm 5:4-6 For thou art not a God that hath pleasure in wickedness: neither shall evil dwell with thee. The foolish shall not stand in thy sight: thou hatest all workers of iniquity. Thou shalt destroy them that speak leasing: the LORD will abhor the bloody and deceitful man
Psalm 7;11-13 God judgeth the righteous, and God is angry with the wicked every day. If he turn not, he will whet his sword; he hath bent his bow, and made it ready. He hath also prepared for him the instruments of death; he ordaineth his arrows against the persecutors.
Psalm 11:5 The LORD trieth the righteous: but the wicked and him that loveth violence his soul hateth
Proverbs 6:16-19 These six things doth the LORD hate: yea, seven are an abomination unto him: A proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood ……..A false witness that speaketh lies, and he that soweth discord among brethren.
Proverbs 15:9 The way of the wicked is an abomination unto the LORD: but he loveth him that followeth after righteousness
Men telling you God loves everyone and that all will be saved are speaking a false witness. They are making the littles one stumble in sin. WOE UNTO THEM. Their testimony is false and God hates these liars who are denying the power of Jesus Christ.
Hosea 9:15-17 All their wickedness is in Gilgal: for there I hated them: for the wickedness of their doings I will drive them out of mine house, I will love them no more: all their princes are revolters.
God hates the wicked who insult the spirit of grace and trample under foot the shed blood of Jesus Christ. This does not take away from the mercy of God which is abundant and enduring. But mercy ends at some point when God’s patience runs out for the unrepentant who harden their hearts such that the WORD can no longer wash them. This is the sin unto death.
While I do not believe in a literal eternal fire, the point of this post is not to debate that as I don’t really care. We do not want to go there whatever it may be, even if it simply the perishing of our soul and return of our spirit to the Lord. But the claim that everyone is already saved and has eternal life in heaven is a doctrine of a demon that must be rebuked and withstood. Where is the fear of God gone in today’s church? Who told us to cut that out of the eternal gospel?
Beware the FALSE Doctrine of Universal Salvation
There is a new age teaching that has gained steam in the last 100 years that claims the atonement of Jesus was for all men and that all men are already saved and we will all be in heaven together someday. This gospel says eat, drink and be merry, you can live just as the world does and pay no cost, give nothing up, suffer no persecution and claims even faith is a work based salvation. As has been stated, this is just a new age variation of the original lie given to Eve in the garden of Eden.
Genesis 3:4 And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die
Don’t believe this for one second. It is so contrary to the full weight of Scripture and the deceivers are waxing worse and worse and will use the wisdom of men (Hermeneutics, Exegesis) to create controversial questions and disputes about the clear meaning of words. Those that cling to this doctrine and have taken it to heart have become enemies of the cross and are without real understanding.
Jesus did NOT come to die so we can continue to live in sin. He came to destroy the works of the devil in our body of flesh. We either go to the cross or else we will be deceived by our love for sin and will pay the just penalty for our rebellion when He comes to judge the living and the dead. I pray those with deceived hearts, who have drunk this wine that taste sweet but later turns bitter, will wake up to their apostasy and repent while there is still an opportunity.
Philippians 3:17-19 Brethren, be followers together of me, and mark them which walk so as ye have us for an ensample. For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ: Whose end is destruction, whose God is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who mind earthly things.
God does love His children in covenant. He forgives us our sins when we bring them to Him. Nothing can snatch us out of His hands and He will never cast us out, but we can choose in the deceitfulness of our hearts to walk away from Him. If you have left your Father in heaven, return to Him now.
Romans 8:38-39 For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord
We must receive the finished works of Calvary. We actually have to do something to be saved. The giver of the gift set conditions on how to receive it. Only human logic will call this earning it. This is like telling the lottery winner that the requirement to go to the state capital to claim his prize is earning the prize. Oh the foolishness of men who have darkened their hearts with love for sin. Receiving this gift is pretty simple. It as accessed only by faith in Jesus. That is how the enabling power of God’s grace can come into our life and lead us to overcome sin and the world.
Romans 5:17 – For if by one man’s offence death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ.
1 John 5:3 For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous. For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith. Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God?
Adolf Hitler is not going to be in heaven as the growing apostasy of Universal Salvation continues to proclaim. Adolf did not overcome. Adolf was not led by the Spirit of God. Adolf did not obey nor did he believe the eternal gospel. There was no fear of God before his eyes. Adolf Hitler did not love the Lord and shall have no inheritance into the kingdom, not in this life or the life to come. Hitler was never Born of God, and was not a partaker in the New Covenant. He missed the good news. The gospel is called eternal as it is never changing and unending. God changes not.
Revelation 14:6-7 And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the EVERLASTING GOSPEL to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people, Saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come
It is kind of silly to even have this extreme of an example to contrast the children of God and the dogs that remain outside of covenant. But the very ones promoting the Universal Salvation heresy love to use this as their example, so be it. Sadly those that teach these things do not even know the Lord. We must get in on what Jesus has done or else we will die in our sins.
John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life
Go Preach the Good News
Jesus said those that lose their life will save their life. This was a metaphor or similitude of entering into covenant with Him. What great news is this? We die to Him so we can be freed from the power of sin in our lives. Hallelujah!!
Romans 6:7 For he that is dead is freed from sin
We are told to go into the world and preach how to “get in on” what Jesus has already done. All Scripture is useful for this purpose and will help us reprove, rebuke and train men and women on accessing the grace of God thru faith in Jesus Christ. This is the good news, that Christ died for us and has given us a means to be reconciled back to Him. All we must do is believe on the Lord and He will do the rest. We no longer have to carry around a 623 long list of laws and commands. We must simply submit to Him and be led by His Holy Spirit. That’s it and this is very good news for those who understand it. The children of covenant, the people of God have forgiveness of their sins from the shed blood of Jesus. He has redeemed “us”, the covenant people from the curse of the law.
ACTS 10:42-43 And he commanded us to preach unto the people, and to testify that it is he which was ordained of God to be the Judge of quick and dead. To him give all the prophets witness, that through his name whosoever believeth in him shall receive remission of sins.
John 14:21 He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him
God is not going to manifest in our lives if we do not pursue peace and the sanctification and holiness that only comes thru the guiding influence and power of the Spirit of God. The true gospel is sadly veiled by those under the power of the evil one that has kept them in their sin through the lying tongues of false teachers and false prophets. Do you see the conditions set forth by God to be loved by Jesus and the Father and for God to manifest to us?
John 15:10 IF ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father’s commandments, and abide in his love
If the Spirit of God is not in you, you do not belong to Jesus Christ. The Spirit of God is only given to those who obey Jesus (Hebrews 5:9) — by walking in covenant. Judgment comes to all unbelievers and to those who do not obey this eternal gospel. Man either walks in this good news, the gospel of love or God is going to destroy those who do not. They will remain outside of covenant as an enemy of God.
2 Thess 1:7-9 Seeing it is a righteous thing with God to recompense tribulation to them that trouble you; And to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ: Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord
We need to judge ourselves and constantly examine our hearts. The deceivers have come and many are being deceived, even those we love and cherish. But we, the children of God cannot follow them, we must stand on the truth and put our love for Jesus at the top as we no longer live to please people. We should make every effort to correct those in opposition to the truth in all gentleness remembering from where we ourselves have come.
We all were dead in our sins until the Lord by grace came to claim us as His own. But we are not dead in our sins anymore Praise God. The children of God have been saved by grace if we have received it and walk in it and do not neglect such a great salvation. His grace is sufficient for us to overcome sin and the world.
Romans 5:18-19 Therefore as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life. For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous.
Thank you Jesus. It is by your work that many will be made righteous. Our prayer is that all men will come to repentance and enter into your covenant by faith. This is the only way to salvation, it is by the sacrifice and resulting grace that has appeared to all men. We must choose to walk in it.
1 Cor 15:22 For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive
Jesus has done it. He has made the way of reconciliation and lived it by example. We either overcome or else we will be overcome and God will destroy us in the end. I urge you my friends to be reconciled to God. Surrender your life to Him so He can raise you up with great power and glory. His judgments do not slumber and the destruction of the wicked does not sleep.
Romans 2:2-3,11-12 But we are sure that the judgment of God is according to truth against them which commit such things. 3And thinkest thou this, O man, that judgest them which do such things, and doest the same, that thou shalt escape the judgment of God? …. For there is no respect of persons with God. For as many as have sinned without law shall also perish without law: and as many as have sinned in the law shall be judged by the law
Our Judge is Coming! The Words He spoke will condemn us on the last day. We must be ready and be standing on the truth. God will judge the wicked and the place of the unrepentant will be eternal separation from God. Their bodies and souls will perish never to rise again to be in the presence of God Almighty. This is the second death from whence there is no return unless one had been Born Again.
Revelation 21:7-8 He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son. But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.
Don’t go there my friends. Believe and obey the gospel of Jesus Christ. I know many will take offense by what has been stated above and the Scriptures will offend them. I believe in all my heart, this is a proper rendering. Forgive me for my imperfection in communicating these truths. I am excited to know the Lord and see the things He is doing in my life and the life of others. We must testify to the truth. I do this not to win the favor of men as indeed the true gospel will never please flesh and anyone who loves sin. But I am not your enemy. I am a friend of Jesus and I want to be your friend too.
Galatians 4:16 Am I therefore become your enemy, because I tell you the truth?
May God Bless You Richly!
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Reaction to Hearing the Gospel
Isaiah 55:11 So will My word be which goes forth from My mouth; It will not return to Me empty, Without accomplishing what I desire, And without succeeding in the matter for which I sent it.
When we hear the WORD of God spoken into our hearts we have two primary responses. One is that our hearts will condemn us for the sin that resides inside of it. The law of God still stands and brings judgment for sin. The other response is we can get angry at the message and the messenger or just change the channel. Sin is utterly deceitful (Heb 3:13) and our wicked unrepentant hearts will look for any defense it can to stay alive in sin. We will rationalize it, analyze and speculate on the Scriptures to define a grey area, or pervert grace and call obedience to the will of God “Works”. Remember it is not the hearers of God’s word that will be justified before Him, but the doers (Rom 2:12-13).
We are called to examine ourselves. Know that the WORD will not return to Jesus void, it will bring repentance to those that hear or it will bring judgment.
Hebrews 4:12 For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart
Far too often we put so much emphasis on the external forms of godliness and what we eat and drink as a measure of holiness. Yet Paul said walk by the Spirit and you WILL NOT fulfill the lusts of the flesh and goes on to list them in Galatians 5:19-20 (shown below). Many that claim holiness have defiled hearts that are not fully surrendered (repentant) to the Lord. They say peace but there is no peace. But make no mistake, the wrath of God rightly abides upon the sons of disobedience. We either walk in love or we will hear from the Lord. This is what a loving God does to turn the hearts of His people back to Him 100%.
Romans 8:6-8 for to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. 7 Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be. 8 So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God.
When you hear holiness being preached, what is your reaction? Does it bring humility to your mind and repentant thoughts or do you think evil of the message and the messenger? Most Christians get upset when they hear the truth as their flesh is hostile to the true WORD. If this is happening it should be warning signal that something is amiss. Self must die at the cross. Unless we are baptized into the death of Jesus we cannot be raised anew in power of the Spirit. We need to repent. Getting mad and perverting grace into a false security is not salvation, it is deception.
2 Thess 2:11-12 And for this reason God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie, 12 that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.
The Simplicity of the Gospel: WALK IN LOVE
2 Cor 11:3 But I am afraid that, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, your minds will be led astray from the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ
Paul feared for many of the early “believers” that had strayed from the truth and would be deceived into a false security with the wrong gospel and follow another jesus. I share that fear yet praise God for His mercy and grace that woke me and many others up to our deception and the great falling away that has taken place. Nobody boasts in this as the ears to hear and eyes to see are all given to us by God who is the source of all revelation. None of us found Him or the truth on our own initiative and intelligence.
I have come to see two major sides of the false gospels. One perverts grace into a license to sin. The other establishes a way of self-righteousness as the way to salvation. Both camps are in danger of hell fire as they miss the gospel. I came out of the perverted grace camp and was slowly sucked into the self-righteousness camp after I truly came to a saving faith. When in the perverted grace camp, I did not even know the Lord despite being highly esteemed by men for my good works and tithes. This is the war that all Christians are in whether they know it or not. We are in a war of words to the very end and need to discern which river is the origin of the words. God has a river of words as does Satan.
Revelation 12:15 So the serpent spewed water out of his mouth like a flood after the woman, that he might cause her to be carried away by the flood
These are some immutable truths that distill the gospel into ready made litmus tests that we can use to examine ourselves to see if we are really in the faith.
- Self Must Die - There is NO other way. Adding Jesus to a live driven by self love, self worship and self-aggrandizement may be a religious life, but it is a life separated from the living God. God does not cooperate very much with flesh and as we saw above, we become an enemy of God when we are not willing to surrender it all to Him.
Luke 16:13 No one can serve two masters
Galatians 2:20 I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me
2. Any SELFishness in our hearts will hinder true love. If self is alive, even 10% it remains an idol competing with Jesus. SELF must be put to death before new life can sprout and a jealous God demands ALL of our hearts.
John 12:24 Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit
Romans 6:5-6 For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection, 6 knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin
Our flesh is in agreement with the Powers of Darkness and the sinful nature that breaks God’s law as soon as it wakes up in the morning. This is what must be put to death daily. This is our cross to carry but it does get easier as I can testify but it will cost us things the way the world defines it. It will cost us our ego, our pride, our reputation, our strength, cockiness, competitiveness, our money and many other things that are highly esteemed by the world. When we focus on “Me, Myself and I” we are living carnally and have not put on the divine nature and put off the flesh. Christians can never please Him unless this nature of Satan is put to death in our mortal bodies and we put on the mind of Christ.
The good news is this gospel of love. We walk in love and we are in God’s protection holding to a perfect peace. When we don’t love others and continue to live for ourselves instead, it is impossible to fulfill the foremost commandment and what is called the Royal Law of loving your neighbor as yourself. Fleshly compassion is frequently confused with a God kind of love. Love does no harm to a neighbor and never seeks its own. Many speak love but inwardly are trying to gain an advantage, speaking both blessings and curses from the same mouth. God is not fooled by any of this.
Jeremiah 9:8-9 Their tongue is an arrow shot out; It speaks deceit; One speaks peaceably to his neighbor with his mouth, But in his heart he lies in wait. 9 Shall I not punish them for these things?” says the LORD.
We see pride show up all the time in boastful and arrogant ways; often in the name of the Lord. This is the error of a Pharisee that throws out accusations, condemnation and the like using Scripture not being aware they themselves have been led astray by the deceitfulness of sin (pride) in their heart.
Galatians 6:1 Brethren, if a man is overtaken in any trespass, you who are spiritual restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness, considering yourself lest you also be tempted
We can be sure that we are not in the will of God if gentleness is not coming out of our mouths.
If we are truly following Jesus, we will enter into and possess the land (Hebrews 3 and 4). This means we will have purified our heart and cleansed the land of all idols and defilements. If our hope is in Jesus and not our intellect or the strength of our flesh, this is what we will do — IT IS NOT AN OPTION. The Lord has made it abundantly clear that unless and until we turn our hearts towards Him in repentance we will be without understanding. The gospel and the way of salvation is veiled to all who walk in the stubbornness of their pride according to the prince of the power of the air. Until we truly turn (i.e. repent); the true gospel will make no sense and will go in one ear and out the other. This is why when you witness to people some just don’t seem to get it. They can’t get it unless the Lord grants them repentance and the resulting ears to hear.
Matthew 13:14-15 And in them the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled, which says:
Hearing you will hear and shall not understand,
And seeing you will see and not perceive;
For the hearts of this people have grown dull.
Their ears are hard of hearing,
And their eyes they have closed,
Lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears,
Lest they should understand with their hearts and turn,
So that I should heal them.
If we refuse to lay down the deeds of the flesh in full surrender, we are telling Jesus we love our sin more than we love Him. This is idolatry which is rebellion. Jesus said if we love Him we will obey Him. Refusing to repent of sin shows God who really is Lord and who we really love.
Luke 6:46 But why do you call Me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do the things which I say?
We are living in the last days. The great falling away has already come. All have been sleeping and if you are awake it is only by the grace of our God. It is shocking to see both the ear tickling that goes on in the vast majority of Christian platforms– be it on TV, church pulpits, books, YouTube and the blogosphere. What is more telling to me than this perversion of grace gospel is the vitriol and hate thrown back at those telling the hard truth. Praise God for the few preachers that teach the whole council of God, both the blessing and the curses. We must learn the fear of God and in particular I applaud those taking their message to the streets. There is no earthly glory in preaching the truth and making a stand for Christ. Our reward will be in heaven not here from the approval of men.
The deeds of the flesh break the God’s law and bring wrath. These deeds cannot peacefully coexist with anyone claiming to walk in the gospel which says to love God and love your neighbor.
Galatians 5:19-21Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are: immorality, impurity, sensuality, 20 idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions, 21 envying, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these, of which I forewarn you, just as I have forewarned you, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.
When we get another root in our heart, it does not produce the fruit of righteousness. So many Christians today have put on forms of godliness yet hold these deeds of the flesh in secret as the true lord of their lives.
Romans 8:12-15 Therefore, brethren, we are debtors—not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. 13 For if you live according to the flesh you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. 14 For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God
Where is your heart my friends? Is it totally sold out to Jesus? Is the WORD properly divided bringing conviction to your heart? I pray you are not one that is getting angry and hostile in response to the true gospel. A lot of us have work to do but we are striving. The greater concern is those that reject Christ and His grace and the call to holiness and purity. Choose eternal life today and every day.
Joel 3:14 Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision! For the day of the Lord is near in the valley of decision
God has brought me a long way thru a number of trials and tribulations these past several months. He has disciplined me as a Father will and I praise His Holy name for the mercy and patience He has shown me and will show to all. I want to thank the brothers and sisters that have encouraged me over the past several months, who speak the WORD OF GOD unashamedly and are fulfilling the Royal Law of Love. Thank you.
Philippians 1:6 HE who has begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ
May God Bless You Richly!
Like this:
50 Characteristics of a Pharisee
This is teaching given by Zac Poonen in 2004. Many of us need to listen or watch this teaching. We have many Pharisees in the land that show not the love of Christ of which I was an active participant. The outline was pulled from sermonindex and at the end I have links to the audio or video versions of this three part series. Many of us need to repent as we have let a spirit of condemnation and judgment lead us astray. Without love we are just clanging gongs and of no use to the kingdom of God.
CHARACTERISTICS of PHARISEE’S” – Zac Poonen.
We are going to be thinking of the same theme through these 3 days, led by the spirit and not by the law. Jesus was in conflict with the Pharisees most of the time. Pharisee-ism is one of the leavens Jesus warned about Mark 8 Matthew 16. The Pharisee had all their doctrine correct and talked of holiness. The Herodians were the opposite they were worldly like modern “worldly Christian’s”. They can listen to sermons and go home and watch smut on TV. The third group was the Sadducees. They don’t believe in the miraculous. They didn’t believe in angels or the super-natural and spiritual. These are 3 groups of Christians. It is interesting to see he was always falling out with the Pharisee’s. They were the ones who crucified Jesus. Which group do you fall into. The Pharisee’s are the worst type of Christian on the earth. We need to understand the characteristics of the Pharisees. It must be that God wants us to know. I am personally in more danger of becoming a Pharisee than the others. We need God to open our eyes. I am going to go through the gospels. The spirit of the Pharisee is against the Holy Spirit. I have sought over the last few years to find the Pharisee in me. God gives you light on yourself. If you are not getting insight into the light in your life God is not blessing you. God wants to clean you.
Matthew 3:9
1. A Pharisee glorifies in his connections with Godly men. There are many who connect with someone as a form of Godliness. “We have so and so as our spiritual father.” They may have no holiness themselves. So think they are holy because they go to a good church or listen to the right preachers. I tell some of my church they will go to hell.
Matthew5:20
2. Glories in external righteousness. You must exceed the righteousness of the Pharisee’s. If you get angry and do not overcome it you will go to hell.
Matthew 9:11
3. A Pharisee does not mingle with unconverted people. That is not holiness. Jesus was a friend of sinners – not a condemner of them but a savior. Jesus would have gone to an unconverted relative’s wedding reception. He did not avoid sinners, His righteousness was inside. How will you win sinners if you do not seek to be friendly with them. How many converted people in your church have been brought by you? Probably zero after 20 years. You are a Pharisee.
Matthew 9:14
4. The Pharisee are ascetics. They boasted of their fasting. External self control. Jesus made so much wine. He was not afraid to eat with people. Jesus started His ministry by making wine. He did it to demolish religion. Many think they are holy but they are hypocrites.
Matthew12:2
5. The Pharisees are very critical of others in small matters. Why do you break the Sabbath. The church becomes like the elder brother. If the elder brother is legalistic the whole church will be. Do not follow a legalistic person. Matthew 15:1
Matthew 12:9-16
6. The Pharisees live by rules. In our church you can’t do that. “What does your rule book say. “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath.” They live by accusation. Don’t follow such elders, you will destroy yourself and others.
Matthew 12:14
7. The Pharisees are motivated by jealousy, hatred, murder. It is a progression. You may take only take step one. But it leads to others. It is Cain’s religion.
Matthew 12:24
8. Pharisee are suspicious and assume the worst of others. When you see someone doing something and you assume the worst you are a Pharisee. Pharisees are extremely suspicious always looking for the wrong.
Matthew 12:24
9. Pharisee are very careless in their speech. They said it about Jesus casting out demons. If you carelessly speak about God’s prophets you have the mark of a Pharisee.
Matthew 15:1-9
10. A Pharisee is one who neglects his family responsibilities in the name of religion. Giving money to God when your family suffers. 1 Timothy 5:8
Matthew15:12-14
11. A Pharisee is one who is easily offended.I decided years ago that I would not get offended.
Matthew15:14
12. Pharisees are spiritually blind. They don’t know where they are going. Here it talks of elders. Don’t follow a blind man. Look for a man who’s vision is clear.
Matthew16:6-12
13. A Pharisee is a hypocrite. Jesus said about them Matthew16:6-12.Hypocrite means an actor. We have actors in the church now. Sunday morning is only an act. After it is over they are back to their same old life. Pharisees are actors.
Matthew 19:3
14. A Pharisee are those who seek to catch people in their words. They did that to Jesus. Luke 11:53-54 If you always listen and take half sentences and repeat it you are a Pharisee. They make no allowances – their way is the only way.
Matthew 15:8
15. A Pharisee is hard hearted. Hearts are far from God. When you are hard with people you are miles from God. A soft heart judges himself and leave others alone. There are lots and lots in churches.
Matthew 21:15
16. Pharisees are people who cannot appreciate true worship in music and praise and worship. They do not appreciate noise in music. Heaven is about worship.
Matthew 23:3
17. Pharisee say things but don’t do them. Sit in the chair of Moses. They have knowledge without obedience. Study Matthew 23 to now all about being a Pharisee A lot of Christians stink when they have maximum knowledge and no obedience. I have seen people in churches who act worse than those outside.
Matthew 23:3-4
18. Pharisees preach things without living it first. Are teachers in God’s law but don’t live it. Babylon is built by preachers who do this. Jesus preached what he had already practiced. A good sermon takes 30 years to prepare. If you preach it without living it that is just for honor. You have to live it. Then it is yours. I have never preached to send missionaries to North India because I have never done it. It would lack authority. Don’t speak on something you have not done. The number of people in the church who are experts at telling people things they have never done. Speak on what you know and have lived! You don’t appoint an English teacher to teach Chemistry. That is how you become a Pharisee.
Matthew 23:4
19. Pharisees put heavy burdens on people. “Tithe your time like money” a speaker said. I asked him if he did he said no. Many preach tithing and they don’t do it. They are building Babylon and not the work of God. Message says “Load you down like donkeys.” Many are sick and tired of coming to churches. They don’t lift a finger to help others.
Matthew 23:5
20. Pharisees seek honor to be noticed by men. You do not preach to get honor. Many are boring to the day they die. You must work on your own sermon. Seeking honor is one of the things that is not spoken of in the church. You can never build Jerusalem, you will only build Babylon.
Matthew 23:5
21. Pharisees think holiness is in the dress. Lengthened their garments. Pharisee behavior oozes out of us. We have seen it and grown up in it. We don’t meditate on scripture. I have no time for these things. I have finished with it. Holiness is not in a dress.
Matthew 23:6-7
22. Pharisees love position and places of honor. You don’t want to call yourself pastor so you call yourself brother with a capital B and condemn those who call themselves pastor. They love to sit at the head table. Preening in the radiance of public honor. I was offered an honorary doctorate for writing a book – I threw it in the bin. Many like to control others. We all have a teacher and we are all classmates. Don’t let people manuver you. I tell people to throw my advice in the bin and listen to God.
Matthew 23:13-15
23. Pharisees corrupt others. The great tragedy in Christendom. Young people come in and see them with lights on their platform and think I will get that one day. They have been corrupted. They are lead astray.
Matthew 23:14
24. Pharisees take advantage of poor people. They exploit widows. They come on TV and used psychological moves to get money. They have their own private jets. It is absolutely evil. I have seen brothers go for advancement to another church for self-centeredness.
Matthew 23:14
25. Pharisees are people who pray long prayers in public. I have found over many years they don’t pray at home. I have seen less than 5% of people who keep to time when you tell them to speak for 5 minutes. I have told many people they do not have the content to speak for longer than 15 minutes. They don’t listen to me. I leave them alone.
Matthew 23:15
26. Pharisee make people feel they are born again when they are not. They make them double people of hell. They have gone through a mantra and think they are going to heaven. I will tell them they are going to hell. We must speak repentance. Sometimes we think our church is a godly church. Babylon in a different color. I want God fearing people.
Matthew 23:16-22
27. Pharisees interpret scripture without revelation from God. They add their modifications. They do not see the inconsistency of it.
Matthew 23:23
28. Pharisees are sticklers for the letter of the law. They neglect mercy, grace and faithfulness. They major on minor issues. Concentrate on the major things.
Matthew 23:23
29. Pharisees have no justice, mercy, faithfulness. It is what is happening in lots of our churches.
Matthew 23:24
30. A Pharisee strains our mosquito’s and screens out camels. Small things they pick out when there are other things. We are producing Pharisees. We need to judge ourselves more. Love is the key. Judging others tops the list.
Matthew 23:26
31. Pharisees cleanse the outside life. Inside is greed. Do you want more and more and more. They don’t bless others.
Matthew 23:30
32. A Pharisee says “I would never have done that.” They don’t know the corruption of their own flesh. Squeeze out all the puss.
Matthew 23:34-36
33. Pharisees persecute God’s prophets. They get offended when they hear a prophet. If you get offend with prophets you are a Pharisee. We should judge ourselves before looking at other people.
Matthew 21:26,46
34. Pharisee fears about the opinions of people. They care about what people think about them. Remember God gives us His word to give us light on ourselves. They are not free from the opinions of others. If you can see the Pharisee in yourself remove them. You must grow in liberty. Many of us lose our children because we care about the opinions of others. Die to their opinion. Galatians 6:14 People are often in fear of their own group. Don’t let someone else run your life. They don’t follow those rules when it comes to their own children and criticize others children.
Luke 16:14
35. Pharisees love money. You cannot serve God and wealth. We have preached as much about loving money as we have other things. God gave us things to use and people to love. The world loves money and uses people. Some of the biggest legalists in our churches love money like anything. They stack up money but have silly little rules for others. Don’t swallow everything your elder said. I have found many are legalists.
Luke 18:9-11
36. A Pharisee thanks God that he is better than others. He prayed this to himself. “Lord I thank you I am not like my wife.” She may be a million miles better than you. Spiritual pride is like an onion. There is another layer underneath. There are 2 sins I will never be free of till Jesus comes, pride and selfishness. If you are working on it there is help.
Luke 18:9
37. Puts his trust in his own works. Righteousness that God gives you are thankful for. If you are proud of some good quality about yourself it is self-righetousness. We can’t produce our own righteousness. Your own righteousness stinks in God’s eyes. If you are proud of it, it proves you produced it.
Luke 18:9
38. A Pharisee looks down on other people. They view other people with contempt. I made a rule that my children must never show their report to anyone. I know what pride can do. It destroys. Many of us have ruined our children. They make fun of other people. Heaven loves humility. God hates Pharisees.
Luke 18:9
39. A Pharisee exults himself. Don’t talk about things on front of other that may hurt. Like marriage being glorious in front of an older single person.
Luke 18:12
40. A Pharisee boasts about his achievements. To boast about achievements is the mark is a Pharisee.
John 8:1-11
41. Pharisee accuses other people. The woman was supposed to be stoned to death. Jesus was in touch with the father. When you listen to the Holy Spirit one sentence may be enough. This shows that legalism is worse than adultery. If we can see that in this story we will be set free. If you want to make progress stop judging others. Judge yourself. And then some more and some more! Why did the Pharisees all go away? They should have repented.
John 8:41,44
42. Pharisee imagines God is their father, when his father is the devil. It is the nature of Satan. The height of blindness it to judge and accuse And think you are with God. There is hypocrisy everywhere
John 8:44
43. Pharisee is a liar and murderer. They wanted to murder the woman with stoning. The devil tells about your sins. If you daughter fell into sins would you tell people. Why don’t you do that when other people’s daughter does that? I believe God is sick and tired of this and so am I. When people start to backslide they start to lie. You are also a murderer when you start that. When you lie your tongue is of the devil
John 9:34
44. Pharisee persecute those who wont listen to them. They have a great desire to put people out of the church. Your goal must always be to win him. Not wait for an opportunity to put them out.
John 11:47
45. Pharisee is Jealous of those who can do miracle that he can’t do. There are miracles happening everywhere but you want see them on television. Don’t talk about it. Keep it quiet. Even pilot knew that Jesus did miracles.
John 8:41,44 John 9:16
46. A Pharisee judges even Godly people by not keeping a ritual. Don’t test a man’s godliness on this. People who have done nothing for God often criticize.
Matthew 12:38-42
47. Pharisee can’t live by simple faith.
John7:49
48. Pharisee has no concern for lost sinners.
Mark 7:1-13
49. Pharisee values tradition more than God’s word.
Luke 16:15
50. A Pharisee justifies himself.
Sometimes you have to take the blame. These are the people that miss paradise.
YOUTUBE and SERMONINDEX LINKS
Here are Links to the actual series, audio and video. They are about 50 minutes to an hour each. Well worth it.
AUDIO MP3
#1 http://media.sermonindex.net/8/SID8253.mp3
#2 http://media.sermonindex.net/8/SID8419.mp3
#3 http://media.sermonindex.net/8/SID8421.mp3
VIDEO
#1 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZQMWOL9KsFM
#2 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NozCNOqYv8g
#3 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UeKGo8ZSb9g&feature=relmfu
