The Scourge Of Racism
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The Lord has previously led me to write about the foretold apostasy in progress within professing Christianity.1 As well, He also had me write to instruct the faithful about the distinguishing mark of a true Christian and His call to stand firm for the faith as it is written in the pages of the Bible.2 In light of these unfolding, foretold times of pervasive falsehood, the Lord would have me briefly add to those important former instructions His warning about the critical need to avoid being led into error by those professing to be Christians that are outright false as impostors or true, but deceitful in disobedience who have no compunction about corrupting Scripture to further their own ends.
How easily many professed Christians, self-styled apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, teachers, secular political, social, cultural, educational and even non-Judeo-Christian religious figures quote the Bible to support their own ideas today. In so doing, by association with His Word, God is being portrayed as endorsing all manner of evil from fornication, abortion, shacking, divorce and same sex marriage to women taking authority over men in His house and religious ecumenicalism. I often wonder, are we all reading the same Bible? And of course, that question is complicated by the fact many are boldly creating corrupt Bible translations that support their theological bents.
Persons outside of a Judeo-Christian framework are following millennia of falsehood and deceit through biblical corruption by those within it that have justified and even blessed evil calling it good (Isaiah 5:20)! Their part in this matter is understandable given their complete alienation from God. But many come ostensibly into the faith as professed Christians and deceivers as they have since the first century to this hour and getting worse as foretold (2 Timothy 3:13). They willfully generate falsehood and false doctrines by corrupting not hard to understand Bible passages, but those that are plain as false brethren (2 Corinthians 11:12-26; Galatians 1:6-7, 2:1-5)!
It is entirely as foretold in these latter days by the Lord and His apostles (Matthew 24:1-5, 11; 2 Peter 2:1-3)! The leadership of typical professed Christian churches believes they can spot and have circled their wagons against the obvious onslaught of false messiahs, prophets and teachers with their falsehood. In fact, some are so closed up as I can attest, not even those that are biblically solid may address their flocks unless they walk in exact denominational and/or personal lock step with these leaders on every single point of doctrine they hold true. Which leads to an important question: who protects us from them when they become corrupters of God’s Word and deceivers as a result?
Sadly, too many superstar pastors with their adoring, supporting cast of church elders and/or deacons are elevating their personal convictions to the level of Scripture as the final authority that cannot be challenged lest one be considered divisive. Never mind apostolic instructions about the divisive person had to do with those that were in clear sin being disobedient to authoritative apostolic revelation and teaching as well as Scripture, not the personal convictions of pastors and elders themselves guilty of the same (Romans 16:17-20; Titus 3:9-11). These are men (and today, women) who as foretold seek to draw away disciples from Christ to make them their own (Acts 20:28-30).
Some of these pastors that cannot be challenged on their personal convictions are outright rebels, impostors or willful and de facto apostates as has been reported in secular and Christian media.3 Many are religionist keepers of the manmade church status quo; unwilling themselves and not allowing anyone else to challenge creeds, covenants, traditions and practices they know are not biblical to supposedly preserve unity and peace, but in actuality, their “jobs.” Others--especially of the larger churches--are puffed up in pride and arrogance believing that they stand above correction because of their education, position or success as though success alone confirms God’s approval (reality check: false messiahs, prophets, teachers, religions and cults have great success too!).
Starting with erroneous ideas and suppositions outside of Scripture, the personal convictions of pastors and elders as final authority that conflict with and disobey it span the behavioral and doctrinal spectrum in their churches. Or, for example, how can one sit in a mixed gender congregation with a Bible open to learn its authoritative instruction under a woman pastor, speaker or teacher and ignore what it plainly teaches forbidding her to do this (1 Corinthians 14:34-40; 1 Timothy 2:11-15)? Is it not because for whatever all of the reasons in deceit to include Christianity as a unique, American cultural form of religion, the pastor’s unchallengeable personal conviction on the matter has taken preeminent authority over what the Word of God says?4
1 Read my March 20, 2016 blog, Willful And De Facto Apostates under the category, The Faith followed by those referenced in its introduction.
2 Read the March 1-29, 2015 blogs under the category Instruction that further discuss what a real Christian and the true faith is.
3 Google “Apostate Christian Ministers” to find reputable articles like this one I found by Dr. Albert Mohler in 2010.
4 See the September 4, 2016 post, Christianity The Religion American Style, under the category, Call To Repent.
A major deceitful doctrine in many churches today and held by their pastors as personal conviction is conveniently that God will not judge His people (or anyone else) for their sins because “He loves us,” when, in fact, His Word consistently declares otherwise (Jeremiah 5:10-13; 11:1-17; Acts 5:1-11; Hebrews 10:26-31). I was impressed recently to read 29-year old Rap star, Kendrick Lamar, charge that pastors fearful of losing church members refuse to preach the balanced truth that the holy God of love also judges sin not forgiven by whomever and as a perfect Father, disciplines His children! He has attempted to address this by telling the balanced truth about God in his music.5
Mr. Lamar is right about the motive of such pastors, of course, since the goal many have in selfish ambition is to build big churches, not biblically astute disciples as is the Kingdom priority in Scripture (Luke 24:25-45; Acts 18:24-28; 2 Timothy 3:14-17; 1 Peter 1:22-2:3). A deceitfully constructed, one-sided view of God that has Him in love only looking out to put us into our next season of blessing is patently false; the teaching, a narcissistically crafted and peddled personal conviction inspired by that ancient, false “angel of light” who sends his messengers to obstruct the true light of God’s Word brought by those faithful to Christ (2 Corinthians 2:17, 4:1-6, 11:13-15, NKJV)!
Having been a pastor, I want to assure those faithful to Christ and His Word that I am not seeking to foment rebellion against your biblically sanctioned authority as teachers and leaders in His house (John 21:15-17; Ephesians 4:7-16; Hebrews 13:7-17). However, I remind us that have such authority and would please God to consider that we have the right to be heard authoritatively only as we stand in the Word as in water, not outside of it in our own opinions, convictions and disobedience. We can and should be righteously challenged (lest you lead a cult) once we are seen to be in conflict with or disobedient to God’s Word as the apostle Paul challenged the Judaizers and fellow apostle, Peter, in sinful hypocrisy and was not labeled divisive (Acts 15:1-5, 22-29; Galatians 2:1-5, 11-21)!
Think about it; under today’s standard of what constitutes divisiveness--righteously challenging the personally held convictions of a church pastor from the Word of God--the Lord Jesus Christ and the apostle Paul would be considered divisive! And since the carnal standard of divisiveness today is actually the same as it has always been, the Lord and Paul both suffered persecution at the hands of religious men (Luke 11:27-54; Acts 18:1-17). By the way, this is another reason virile, godly men are few in churches filled largely with females and males that are passive conformists: threatened pastors and elders that cannot be challenged from God’s Word label and bar or run them off as divisive!
After warning, “Let no one deceive you by any means,” the apostle Paul explicitly foretells by the Holy Spirit that preceding the Second Coming of our Lord and even the rise of the Antichrist, “the falling away comes first,” (2 Thessalonians 2:1-3, NKJV). Should we really expect Christian apostasy in its steady growth toward full, global flower to look any different than it does now? Though I am not surprised to see the reality of it having ebbed and flowed for centuries until exploding in the early 20th as I previously wrote, I am amazed as any faithful Christian at the swiftness, expanding breadth and multiple dimensions of Christian apostasy with its natural corollary rebellion in my lifetime.
Indeed, everyone (and particularly leaders in their sin) are typically pleased to have the negative aspects of God’s prophetic Word fulfilled in some far off future away from their present experience and plans (Isaiah 39; 56:9-12; Ezekiel 12:26-28; Amos 6:1-7). However, the reality of our times is inescapable; professed Christians as false and deceitful brethren from the pulpits to the pews proliferate among us as seen by their sinful lifestyles and corruption of God’s Word. No greater Authority than our Lord Jesus warns about and teaches us how to identify them (Matthew 7:15-20, 28:18). It is high time faithful Christians sober up and stop denying this reality. Such persons will be of our fiercest persecutors in days ahead as I have already tasted (Matthew 10:16-39, 24:9-10)!
Nevertheless, God uses the persecution of false and deceitful brethren to expose and eternally destroy them, while certifying His faithful--even every aspiring strong man and great woman of God in the image of Christ--as worthy of our glorious reward! For standing faithful to God in these latter days of worldly and professed Christian rebellion from apostasy involves what it always has: standing faithful to His Word to the end (Isaiah 8:11-22; Daniel 3; Mark 14:53-65, 15:1-39; John 15:18-25; Acts 6:8-15; 7:51-60; 2 Thessalonians 2:9-17; Revelation 2:8-11, 12:11)! This means now, no longer trusting solely what your pastor, elders or any other teachers say about the Word or do as their personal convictions (Mark 7:1-13), but becoming diligent Bible students to know for yourself.6
Kendrick Lamar grew up under teaching that by the personal conviction of leadership taught only that God was love; purposeful Bible reading as an adult showed him otherwise (Acts 17:10-12; 2 Timothy 2:11-22). Also, let every faithful pastor be humble enough like Peter to be corrected from the Word when Paul confronted him; standing firm in the same, but gentle, correcting any in opposition to it as an example of servant-leadership before proceeding with more severe biblical measures (2 Timothy 2:23-26; 1 Peter 5:1-4). Let guilty corrupters of God’s Word repent; woe to all that will not (Deuteronomy 4:1-2; Galatians 1:8-10; 2 Peter 3:14-17; Revelation 22:18-21)! The risen, living Christ continues His cry among American churches, “Who is on the Lord's side?”
5 See Faithwire.com 5/5/2017.
6 Read the May 31, 2015 blog, What Does God’s Word Say? under the category, Instruction, then download the free Bible Interpretation Document offer that is made. Do this especially if your pastor or elders will (or can) not equip you to properly interpret and apply God’s Word. You must take the initiative to learn how to do even this for yourself since God will hold all accountable for the right handling of His Word. And do not feel obligated to stay in any church where the word of leadership as personal conviction corruptly takes precedence and is forcefully demanded to be accepted over the rightly interpreted and applied Word of God (Colossians 2:1-10)!
Joe Biden was sworn in this past Wednesday, January 20th as the forty-sixth President of the United States. This reality happened despite weeks of disputing the election results and widely declared pre- and post-election prophetic assurances supposedly from the Lord through professed Christian prophets, prophetesses and well known evangelical personalities that Donald Trump would remain in office. The voices making these prophetic declarations obviously all got it wrong. Clearly too, they all uttered their prophecies at cross-purposes with God. So, how did they get it wrong and what should the biblical response of the Body of Christ be to these false prophets?
As it turns out, this is a final post in a series the Lord has led me to write concerning especially professed Christian conservatives praying and teaching at cross-purposes with Him.1 This situation hits home and hard for me. This is because of the struggle I have had since surrendering to Christ in February 1979 first with ignorance as a babe about serving Him in the prophetic ministry He began to quicken in me with the foundational burden for His Church (Ezekiel 8; Revelation 1:9-3:22).2 After that, it was trying to understand the burden, gifting and ministry in the context of Baptist churches that did not recognize the biblical calling and a seminary education that falsely rendered it obsolete.
I have written several posts over the years chronicling my mostly negative experiences among the churches and giving biblical instruction on the gift of prophecy along with the prophetic ministry Heaven will not retire until the Lord Jesus returns!3 I know well the temptation to speak what God has not spoken to me. My saving grace to date has been a healthy fear of God and being wrong with a number of close calls (fulfillment is not always immediate) since according to the standard He gave for those He uses in the prophetic ministry, proof the words they speak have come from Him is their consistent accuracy (Deuteronomy 18:9-22; Matthew 26:31-35, 47-56, 69-75; Acts 11:27-30).
The temptation to prophesy what is not from the Lord arises from two related desires: to please people in telling them what they want to hear and self to the same end. The Lord led me to write about our desires as the core means Satan uses to tempt and deceive any gullible or unguarded Christian into sin no matter how far along in the faith.4 False prophets telling the people what they wanted to hear and out of their own hearts as a living in ancient Israel was condemned by God through His faithful prophets (Jeremiah 14:10-16, 23:9-15). While the false prophets cried “peace,” God’s faithful warned of judgment and charged the people to repent (Jeremiah 23:16-22, NKJV)!
Being on the king’s payroll gave financial incentive to tell him only what the false prophets knew he wanted to hear. It took faith in God, a genuine calling complete with divine encounter, courage and fortitude in suffering to stand often alone 450 to 1 to speak God’s prophetic Word as did Elijah (1 Kings 17:1-7, 18:1-46) and Micaiah who was outnumbered 400 to 1(1 Kings 22:1-18).5 The false prophets prophesied lies out of their own hearts to please the king. Indeed, as Micaiah revealed in his situation, God had even permitted “a lying spirit” to come to and help the false prophets along in their utterance; bringing about the downfall of the king as God willed (1 King 22:19-40, NKJV).
This latter thing has happened before our very eyes within professing Christianity here in America during the just passed Presidential election and interim transition to the next President. Men and women among the ranks of professed Christians that are politically conservative and purportedly operate in the prophetic and word of knowledge gifting were so intent on a Trump second term, they were captured on video in various settings prophesying to and over him supposedly from God with that aim. Aware of the biblical lying spirit incident, one of the prophets is quoted acknowledging this as the only way they could be wrong.6 Pleasing like-minded donors and absorbed with them in the idolatrous delusion of American perpetuity and rabid patriotism seems to have been the major drivers.
Searching out their own motives and publicly confessing the sin with contrition and repentance is what I pray each saved one who uttered false prophesy on now, former President Trump’s behalf will do, since you have given the Lord’s enemies cause to mock, misled His flock and brought shame on the prophetic ministry. The faithful should restore such ones with mercy though having come short of the Lord’s standard, never again receive a prophecy from them!7 For the rest who have made a career out of trafficking in false prophecy and refuse to repent, the Lord calls you ‘“foolish’” and declares, ‘“I am indeed against you.’” You will suffer His judgment on earth and eternally for prophesying falsehood at cross-purposes with God (Ezekiel 13; 2 Peter 2:1-17; Jude 10-13, NKJV).
Seeing then, that false prophets are and will remain among us until the end as forewarned by our Lord Jesus Christ and His apostles, the faithful must be vigilant in discernment to recognize and deal with them (Matthew 7:15-23, 24:11, 23-28; 1 Thessalonians 5:20-22; 1 John 4:1-6; Revelation 13:11-18, 16:13, 19:19-21). Finally also, as a wrap up to this series receive the Word the Lord gave me back on September 6, 2020 for our times. In reply to and firm rebuke of my prayer offered in frustration from a long wait on His guidance for my life circumstances, the Lord sent me to hear Him from Jeremiah 45. I was humbled, repentant and good! The next day the globally heard about fierce winds and firestorms descended upon our Northwest region that brought choking smoke for weeks.8
1 Read the January 10, 2021 post, Praying At Cross-Purposes With God, under the category, Bible Prophecy and the one following on January 17th entitled, Teaching At
Cross-Purposes With God, under the category, Instruction.
2 See the October 2, 2016 post, Gifted With A Prophet’s Heart, under the category, Call To Repent.
3 Read the October 30, 2016 post, No One Speaks For God?, under the category, Instruction. Also, the three-part repost beginning November 13, 2016, Without Honor
In The Churches, under the category, Glory To God!
4 Read the November 8, 2020 post, Why So Easily Deceived?, under the category, Instruction.
5 This is beyond incredible in this land of majority rule! For this cause all of the Lord’s faithful prophets and prophetesses in the Bible fulfill the definition of the aspiring
strong man and great woman of God I write about respectively in my book, The Strong Man Of God: Back To Basics published by Open Door Communication Minis-
tries, Inc. It is available in print or digital formats at major internet booksellers. You can also purchase a print copy in the Strong Man Store.
6 View the Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN) produced Christian World News story, Prophets Say They Did Not Get It Wrong: ‘It’s Not Over’ that aired the day after
the election, November 5, 2020 and includes the supposed word from the Lord to CBN founder, Pat Robertson, Trump would win re-election. They were all deceived!
To the credit and integrity of CBN News, though it puts their founder in a bad light, they have left the story intact and available to view.
7 1 Corinthians 14:29-32. It is situations like this that the Lord shows His amazing grace and another of His tough standards: love (2 Corinthians 2:1-11). For here He
has me calling for the faithful to show mercy to largely guilty whites that repent from sin (imperfection does not give Christians a pass from sin guilt that must be con-
fessed and repented of to be forgiven by God) knowing that if it were me as a black man, it would not be as readily forthcoming. As a matter of fact, though the Lord
has caused me to accurately declare His written prophetic Word as well as that which has been extemporaneous, I have been treated as if I have been a guilty false
prophet especially by many whites that consider me inferior because of my black skin, but not to exclude the many who share my skin color out of pride and the psy-
chological legacy of self-hate (removable in Christ) from our American experience to date that will not allow us to easily regard one another.
8 It turns out the multi-year wait for the Lord’s guidance from Jeremiah 45 had been before me all along. I was just not willing to receive it. What about you?
As the Director of Strong Man Ministries and lead instructor in our Strong Man Institute in-person and virtual course offerings, I am excited to announce the roll out yesterday of our Fruitful Bible Study Self-Paced Video Course on our Strong Man Virtual Institute YouTube Channel!1 With the Lord’s leading, this video course addresses the great need in His Body for knowledge of the Word through the spiritual discipline of Bible study in these latter days. For He and His apostles warned us great deception would exist in the times before His return as it does and lacking knowledge of the Word, many are being deceived and fall away as also foretold (Mark 13:3-6, 22-23; 1 Timothy 4:1-5).
Though there are many false and deceitful doctrines of demons within professing Christianity at this hour, one of the most insidious is in fact “a different gospel;” the likes of which the apostle Paul puts the purveyor under a curse of destruction and that strikes at the very heart of the Christian faith “once for all delivered to the saints,” (Galatians 1:6-10; Jude 3-4, NKJV). It asserts that God does not judge what people do in sin anymore since Christ completely atoned for human sins past, present and future on the cross. Those who know the truth from their regular, Holy Spirit led and helped study of the Bible recognize the foregoing assertion is preposterous and thoroughly false!
Truly, as Scripture teaches the Lord’s death on the cross most certainly did make a full and eternal atonement for human sin before God (Isaiah 53:10-12; John 1:29, 19:30; Hebrews 1:1-4, 2:17, 9:11-15). However, it is only the one who repents of his sins, places faith in the Gospel and is indwelt by the Holy Spirit that will be saved which Scripture also teaches (Acts 2:36-39; Romans 1:16-17, 3:21-26; 1 Corinthians 15:1-4). As it is written and cited in Romans 1:17, ‘“The just shall live by faith,’” (NKJV). There is no work or deed a sinner can do to earn salvation wrought through Christ’s sacrifice God has made available to all mankind by grace (Romans 3:27-4:25; Ephesians 2:1-10).2
I will declare it again. Although He died for all mankind, only those individuals who genuinely repent of their sins, believe the Gospel and receive new birth by the indwelling Holy Spirit, obtain salvation! Those who refuse to repent and believe the Gospel remain in their sins, will die in and face Christ’s “judgment seat” to answer for them (John 8:21-24; 2 Corinthians 5:9-11, NKJV).3 For of first importance salvation is “remission (by God’s forgiveness) of sins” upon repentance and faith in Christ (Luke 24:46-47, NKJV). Anyone who preaches anything contrary to this core, historic and biblical truth for salvation, puts themselves justly under the apostle Paul’s curse since it is a different gospel!
Now, even though no work or deed we do of ourselves prior to salvation can earn it, works and deeds afterward matter as evidence of its authenticity, fruitfulness and enduring faith in Christ which is not a one and done thing (James 2:14-26). We enter salvation through faith in the Gospel of Jesus Christ and continue living by faith in Him moment by moment going forward. Purposely practicing biblically defined sin without repentance is not proof of faith, but of possible insincere or false profession, rank disobedience which is rebellion or apostasy which can never please God who despite another false doctrine, ‘“will judge His people,’” (Hebrews 10:26-39, 11:6, NKJV)!4
Thus, even though Christ’s work to pay for human sin was finished on the cross, our responsibility before God for personal sin does not end there! For this reason, the Lord Jesus explains one must “believe in Him” whom God in love sent into the world to die for our sins in order to “not perish” and instead, “have everlasting life.” Otherwise, apart from appropriating His saving work to themselves by faith, the unsaved are “condemned already” with no other hope; their deeds certifying God’s righteousness to condemn them (John 3:16-21, NKJV).5 Also, what professed Christians do reveals whether they know Christ and bear good fruit (Matthew 7:15-23,13:1-9, 18-23).6
Indeed, the whole Word of God teaches what one does whether in sin or not during this mortal life matters to God! Consequently, every human being that has ever lived will face judgment by Jesus Christ to be rewarded accordingly--those with the fruitful deeds of faith in Him having nothing to fear (Job 34:10-15; Psalm 62:12; Proverbs 24:12; Jeremiah 17:9-10; Romans 1:28-2:11, 14:10-12, 23b; Revelation 22:12). Ours is not a made to order salvation of human construction. It has sprung from the heart and mind of the living God from eternity (1 Peter 1:13-21)! Christians must get and stay in God’s Word to recognize and avoid the many false doctrines today; careful not to even pass along sound good posts on social media from maybe well meaning sources, but that are not biblical.
1 The very first Short-Term Study from the Strong Man Virtual Institute can be viewed on its dedicated YouTube Channel. A course overview with description is provided in Session One of the six session study. While it is not required, a Study Guide is available as a free download in the Strong Man Store to help interested learners as they engage with the video course at their own pace.
2 Read the March 21, 2021 post, Good Works Cannot Save You, under the category, The Cause.
3 See the April 24, 2022 post, Messiah Comes Second For Salvation, under the category, The Faith.
4 What has death been to mankind but judgment from God who lovingly, graciously warned Adam of it as the consequence in the day of his disobedience (Genesis 2:15- 17, 3:6-11, 17-19)? And as it concerns Christians, the falsehood God does not judge what we do becomes crystal clear from faithfully reading and studying the New Testament where God is seen intentionally instilling fear of offending His holiness through willful sin after He put to death Ananias and his wife, Sapphira, on the same day for lying to Him--something many professed Christians in our times foolishly consider no big deal (Acts 5:1-11). For further reflection on God as the Judge of His people in the New Testament, read the two-part post that begins August 23, 2020, The Churches Under Judgment, under the category, Instruction.
5 There are those in Christian media and not a few pastors that refute the Bible they claim to uphold teaching God does not condemn. Some even boast that you will not hear them talk about such a thing, though the whole narrative of salvation in the Bible from Genesis to Revelation is about God saving willing mankind from our sins in light of His certain coming wrath and condemnation to Hell! Being unwilling to declare “the whole counsel of God” especially for the sake of gaining money from people who want to hear nothing but positive statements about Him for them, followers or to fill auditorium seats is fraud (Acts 20:26-31; 2 Corinthians 2:17, 4:1-2, NKJV)! It is also false teaching to deny or purposely omit the fact unrepentant sinners stand condemned before a holy God--woe to the false teachers who bring the Lord’s judgment upon themselves (2 Peter 2:1-3)! Who really cares for your soul: the one that tells you only the parts of God’s Word you like and want to hear or the one who gives you God’s whole Word (1 Thessalonians 2:1-12)?
6 Though he may struggle, the saved one is done with sin and is helped by the Holy Spirit to live a holy and righteous life in the image of Christ through his purposeful, persevering faith (Romans 6-8). As the Lord leads, I present this truth in some detail to the aspiring strong man and great woman of God in my book, The Strong Man Of God: Back To Basics and its companion Strong Man Of God Men’s Group Study as well as Great Woman Of God Women’s Group Study. These are all available in the Strong Man Store, at your favorite internet bookseller or brick and mortar bookstore.
Of the Persons that are the triune God (Father, Son and Holy Spirit), none perhaps, has been more widely misconstrued and corruptly misused by sinful mortal flesh since the first century A.D. than the Holy Spirit. His promised arrival for His special mission among believers in Jesus Christ came exactly fifty days after the Lord’s death, burial, resurrection and ascension on the Jewish “Day of Pentecost” in 33 A.D. (Luke 24:46-49; John 20:19-23; Acts 1:4-11, 2:1-4, NKJV). In spite of ample biblical instruction about who He is and what He does, many professed Christians down through the centuries have created countless made to order falsehoods about the Holy Spirit’s Person and work.1
One of the major falsehoods is the erroneous teaching that the Holy Spirit is only a New Testament phenomenon; on earth since the first century exclusively for the indwelling and benefit of Christians. This falsehood has led directly to another which asserts that the Holy Spirit removed from the earth, also necessitates the removal of Christians He indwells. Others well intended and correctly over the centuries have written in detail on the Person and work of the Holy Spirit drawing as we all should, straight from the Scriptures. I write the following brief introduction of the Holy Spirit who like the Father and Son cannot be made to order, to expose the falsehoods I address in this post.
The Holy Spirit is the third Person of the three Persons that are the “one,” “true God,” (Deuteronomy 6:4; John 17:3, NKJV)! He is first identified in the Bible as “the Spirit of God” at work in the creation of the physical universe, the earth and all its creatures as well as the plurality of “Us” at the creation of man (Genesis 1:1-26, NKJV). As marvelously seen first at creation, the Spirit of God waited on the Word of God to speak what were their purposed unified plans with the Father to bring it into existence through the exertion of divine power! He is therefore, the actualizing Agent of the will of the triune God who always moves in harmony. He is holy because God in nature is (Daniel 4:1-9)!2
For this reason He is identified as the “Holy” Spirit to also distinguish His divine, eternal Person from the spirits of men and angels He has created (Genesis 2:7; Numbers 16:20-22; Psalm 104:4). Beyond creation, the Holy Spirit is the source of every mighty miracle not performed by angels at His direction including for example, the judgment of the flood, confusion of human languages, plagues on Egypt and Red Sea parting in the Old Testament (Genesis 7:11-24, 11:1-9; Exodus 8:16-19, 14:10-31). He was also the source of wisdom and abilities among those used in and inspiration of the men who wrote it (Genesis 41:1-16, 37-40; Exodus 31:1-11, 35:30-35; Daniel 2:1-23; 2 Peter 1:16-21).
The same Holy Spirit was in the earth overseeing God’s activity leading up to and enabling the foretold miraculous incarnation of the eternal “Son” and “Word” of God in the womb of a Jewish virgin (Isaiah 7:10-14; Matthew 1:18-25; John 1:1-5, 14-18, NKJV); initiating the New Testament of the Bible again, written by men carried along by Him (Luke 1:1-4; 2 Peter 1:12-15, 3:1-2, 14-16; 1 John 1:1-4)! He came from Heaven on Pentecost not as if for the first time, but in a special, dramatic way to fulfill the words of the prophets and Christ who taught new birth by the Holy Spirit was required to “see” and “enter the Kingdom of God,” (Joel 2:28-32; Matthew 3; John 3:1-8; Acts 2:5-39, NKJV).3
While the eternal life of believers and His manifold ministry in and through us hangs on Him, the Holy Spirit is also busy in the world with other divine assignments (John 7:37-39, 14:15-26, 15:26-16:15; 1 Corinthians 2:6-16, 12:1-13; 2 Corinthians 1:20-22). His work includes restraining lawlessness until God’s perfect time to allow the rise of the Antichrist, greater evil and deception before the return of Christ (2 Thessalonians 2:1-12).4 He does not leave the planet. He simply steps out of the way of restraining.5 This work of the Spirit is independent of Christians though, He certainly uses us in the war with Satan to be salt and light as well as preach the Gospel, make, baptize and teach disciples in all the earth as Christ has commanded (Matthew 5:13-16, 28:19-20; Jude 20-23).
Given the level of sophistication attending to much of the false teaching going on within professing Christianity in these latter days coming from what are supposed to be trusted “Christian” sources in the media and many church pulpits, it is imperative that you and I know God’s Word for ourselves. This is accomplished through purposely studying the Bible which every Christian ought to be doing as a matter of daily spiritual discipline. The Lord by the Holy Spirit leads me to challenge men that would be strong men of God in Christ’s image to do this very thing in my book, The Strong Man Of God Back To Basics.6 I now, challenge all Christians to adopt this discipline and teach how to make Bible study more profitable in our new Strong Man Virtual Institute video course.7
1 The greatest of all falsehoods (and insult) is to describe the Holy Spirit as an “it” which this first paragraph plainly counters by speaking properly from the Bible of His “Person and work.”
2 Hence, it is also accurate to say “Holy Son” and ‘“Holy Father’” to the glory of God (Luke 1:35; John 17:11, NKJV)! Too, in eternal nature and character as God the Holy Spirit is “love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control, righteousness, and truth” among other divine attributes (Gala- tians 5:22; Ephesians 5:9, NKJV).
3 That the Holy Spirit had filled and come upon mortal flesh among those used in the Old Testament for God’s causes has already been established in this post (see also Numbers 24:2 and 1 Samuel 10:9-13). A few men were even indwelt by Him lifelong (Numbers 27:15-18; Deuteronomy 34:5-12; Joshua 1:5, 24:14-31; 1 Samuel 16: 11-13; Psalm 51:11). However, the new birth the Lord Jesus speaks of and requires is for all the redeemed beginning among the Jews as took place in the first century with a still later fulfillment to come and is what the prophet Ezekiel also spoke of as “a new heart” in connection with God’s New Covenant; the indwelling presence and working of the Holy Spirit intended to be with His beneficiaries forever (Jeremiah 31:31-34, 32:36-41; Ezekiel 11:16-21, 36:24-28; John 14:16, NKJV)!
4 While some would like to believe the mortal Church on earth is powerful enough to restrain lawlessness in the world originating from Satan (1 John 2:18), the lawless- ness that has been displayed among our guilty, unrepentant members and local assemblies throughout history to this very hour fully discloses this haughty belief as false (1 John 3:4-24). As such, we just like ancient Israel have brought grief to the Holy Spirit (Isaiah 63:7-10; Acts 7:51-53; Ephesians 4:25-32; 2 Timothy 3:1-9). No, only the Holy Spirit eternally greater and mightier than Satan can and has restrained his lawless plans and works until now!
5 The mistaken teaching the Holy Spirit leaves the earth moving out of the way of lawlessness arises from among those who also teach His departure is tied to the rap- ture of Christians before any have to suffer tribulation resulting from the increase in evil. This being so, how does anybody get saved (which those who teach this doc- trine assert people will while previously unprepared, backslidden Christians also return to Christ) since the Holy Spirit convicts of sin and brings to new birth or after, get the help Jesus promises from Him if He is gone from the world with the Church? As I write this, lawlessness continues its uptick as the Holy Spirit gradually relaxes His restraint and we are still here on earth with Him. How glad I am about that since without His companionship, comforting, helping and strengthening presence in me, I would not be faring very well as I am sure our persecuted brethren suffering all over the world concur (Romans 8:26-28)!
6 The book is available with the companion Strong Man Of God Men’s Group Study and Great Woman Of God Women’s Group Study in the Strong Man Store, at your favorite internet bookseller or brick and mortar bookstore.
7 View the first session of the Fruitful Bible Study Self-Paced Video Course to get an overview on the Virtual Institute’s YouTube Channel. The video course replaces and expands on the one sheet free download, Seven Principles Of Bible Interpretation, the Ministry previously offered. An optional Study Guide for the video course is now, available for free download in the Strong Man Store.
There is nothing more delusional than for anyone to read exactly what God’s Word in straight forward declaration says and not accept it on its face. Instead, they read into or spin it to say what they want to support their own ideas confident God approves. Why would any professed Christian that truly knows and loves God purposely delude themselves and if a pastor, elder, teacher, preacher, prophet, evangelist or apostle (missionary) other people too, in this way? Fortunately for those of us that care, God in His Word objectively read, interpreted and applied with the leading of the Holy Spirit provides some answers and warnings about persons that deliberately disobey and corrupt it.
Before going further, I must disclose the divine burden on my heart that has led to this post. It is directly tied to the uniquely American professed Christian conservative delusional narrative that has caused many to pray and act at cross-purposes with God in the times we are in that I wrote about last week.1 I have read through the Bible many times since my surrender to Christ in 1979,2 but have not come across any promise of perpetuity for any nation but Israel! Also, it is certain not the American flag or any other nation’s flies in Heaven since Christ is and “will set up a banner for the nations” as He “assembles the outcasts of Israel...” in His Kingdom coming to earth (Isaiah 11:10-12; NKJV).
Having written the foregoing, you would be very mistaken to accuse me of not caring about my nation and its welfare! Because I deeply care about America, I have been faithfully obedient to the Lord at great cost to keep crying out against the wickedness bringing it down and proclaiming His way of salvation in the Gospel to fellow citizens of every hue--that He died on the cross for our sins, was buried and rose again to save sinners who will repent and believe! And realizing my natural allies on earth in helping our nation besides the Holy Spirit are ostensibly fellow believers He fills, empowers and leads in their churches that in the many are not, I have cried out with His grief for repentance.3
Alas though, in their largely compromised, corrupt, self-absorbed and divided state, the many guilty professed Christians and their churches in America also resist God's call to repentance and count me an enemy as the spiritually deluded and dead religionists have done from time immemorial (Genesis 4:1-8; Jeremiah 26:1-9; Matthew 23:27-39; John 8:37-47; Galatians 4:16).4 And so, once again the hard truth: how can any serious Christian really believe our nation will long endure without repentance by all the guilty from sin plainly defined and described in God’s Word? To think this is possible is to be completely deluded which apparently is acceptable among professed Christians.
Indeed, the American right and freedom to think, believe or say whatever one wants has led to the prevalence of false teaching from among many professed Christian liberals (progressives) and conservatives!5 Amazingly, many of these false teachers use Scripture as they deceptively assert it is written to undergird their particular philosophical narratives, related doctrines and opinions voluminously disseminated from pulpits and in Christian media. And because it is a permitted Americanism, the deluded, loyal followers of these false teachers will defend their right to teach falsehood to the death! But what men approve is not necessarily so with God (Luke 16:13-18)!
Everyone wants to believe and act on the Word of God as they see it rather than as it is. Scripture is clear, this was never God’s will nor is it now (2 Peter 1:16-21)! The average American in the pew does it deceiving him or herself to believe God is fully supportive of the American way of individualism, freedom and tolerance. The willfully deceitful false teachers do it puffing themselves up in pride to believe they are great teachers and their spin is right; competing with others to gain the largest possible following and income that in America’s free marketplace of ideas is acceptable. Such wicked motives, however, are not acceptable to God (Acts 20:25-31; 2 Corinthians 2:12-17, 4:1-6)!
We are supposed to come humbly to God and His written Word as eager learners ready to be taught His knowledge in Christ by the Holy Spirit (John 16:12-15; 1 Corinthians 2:6-16). If this were more widely the case now, there would not be as it is thousands of interpretations, false narratives, doctrines and opinions lest someone would even arrogantly believe God is the One confused about His own Word and the cause of confusion in His house (1 Corinthians 14:33)! But now, for those still mystified about what possible reasons the Lord might be put out enough with the current state of American Christianity and its churches to bring judgment, know that disobedience and corrupting of His Word causing “one of these little ones...to stumble” remains among them (Mark 9:42-48, NKJV).
1 See the January 10, 2021 post, Praying At Cross-Purposes With God, under the category, Bible Prophecy. Purely prophetically speaking, some generation had to roll up
on being close to the last before Christ’s coming. What does that say about the depth (not to mention authenticity) of relationship one has with Christ to selfishly want
Him to delay His coming because it interferes with your world narrative and plans? Seriously? The Lord instructs that we take the signs of His coming to heart and while
we keep living for Him and serving His causes, watch expectantly until He comes (Mark 13:28-36)! This is the heart of every aspiring strong man and great woman of
God in the image of Christ I write about in my book, The Strong Man Of God: Back To Basics published by Open Door Communication Ministries, Inc. and available in
print or digital formats at major internet booksellers. You can also purchase a print copy in the Strong Man Store
2 Read my February 17, 2019 testimony in part, Surrendering All To Jesus, under the category, Glory To God!
3 Survey my posts in the categories Call To Repent and The Cause to see the consistency of the Lord’s message and heart through me to His Church in America.
4 “Well, maybe it would be different if you were not so harshly direct,” some have told me over the years. Without getting into the religious subterfuge behind such state-
ments, I cry out what God puts in my mouth with the same spiritual urgency all of the prophets of the Bible before me did and one that cares in the moment a person
about to be run over in the street needs to be warned to get out of the way! More poignantly, what is going on with the folk that have to be harshly spoken to (Ezekiel 33:
1-11; Matthew 3:1-12, 23:33; Galatians 5:7-12; James 4:1-10)?
5 As examples, consider the following. On this Sanctity Of Life Sunday created righteously by conservative President, Ronald Reagan’s 1984 proclamation to uphold un-
born life in the womb as sacred from God and to protect this life from murder by the parents (Genesis 9:5-7; Job 10:8-12), professed Christian liberals reject the occa-
sion falsely teaching a woman’s right to murder nowhere to be found in Scripture supersedes the unborn right to live. Tomorrow, many professed Christian liberals and
their atheist allies from many hues will celebrate Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. on the holiday in his honor (quite apart from the God he honored) as one who fulfilled Scrip-
ture’s mandate of concern for the less fortunate, while many political and religious conservatives will falsely teach in denial the numerous historically documented acts of
oppression visited upon blacks and other American minorities by them and their forefathers has any application to them as “the oppressor” named in Scripture (Isaiah 1:
17, NKJV).
This is the conclusion of an edited three-part 2013 blog repost that exhorts professing Christians and churches that are guilty to stop resisting and persecuting God’s gifted, called and sent prophets so that our ministries for good might be fulfilled among them. Even so, how glad I am that while sinful men may not honor His prophets, the Lord Jesus does now inwardly and will in days to come, provide sweet vindication to us before the entire world near and at His glorious return to earth!
Originally Posted November 24, 2013
As foretold by His eye witness apostles and confirmed by the Lord, many of the leaders of the churches planted in the first century corrupted themselves and launched a trend that has never been reversed, but only enlarged to this hour (Acts 20:28-31; 2 Timothy 3:13; 2 Peter 2:1-3; Revelation 2:12-29). Indeed, as l have already written about many times, after the passing of the Lord’s eye witness apostles, corrupt shepherds along with false prophets and teachers introduced many heresies and brought forth manmade Christianity the religion which has a form of biblical Christianity (1 Corinthians 4:18-20; 2 Corinthians 3:1-6), but is powerlessly far from it (2 Timothy 3:1-5).
It is in the satanically fostered context of human ordained religiosity in churches and related organized ecclesiastical bodies that faithful saints and prophets have been martyred for the faith as by divine unction they cried out against the corruptions they saw standing faithful and true to the Word and causes of Christ--a truth recorded in many reliable sources including Foxe’s Book of Martyrs. These are churches and ecclesiastical entities that have called, sanctioned and sent out their own workers to spread their corrupt, religious doctrines while they willfully murdered those standing in their way falsely claiming divine approval (John 16:1-4).
With that history, what is it today--hundreds of years after the Protestant Reformation that also spawned its own round of violent persecution and martyrdom of godly opposition--if the churches of manmade Christianity the religion purposely persecute perceived opponents and prophets with oppression, mistreatment, ostracism, loveless abandonment to hardship and murder by words? This is done without hesitation by men controlled by the sinful flesh while outwardly decked out in deceitful religious piety as I can testify (Matthew 5:21-22, 27:46-49; Galatians 5:13-15; James 2:14-26; 1 John 3:16-17).
As if to plug up their ears to God’s outcry against their sins by His prophets, some of the scholarly especially have gone so far as to assert prophesying and preaching are synonymous so that to preach is to prophesy and all preachers are prophets. Others of that group in attempting to expose false prophets declare that prophecy and prophets ceased after the first century and surely by the completion of the entire Bible in the 4th century. Both of these views are corrupt since one does not have to necessarily preach to prophesy (2 Samuel 12:1-15; Luke 2:25-35) and may be used by God to prophesy to an individual or many through preaching (Luke 1:67-80, 3:1-20)!
While the completed Bible is our written, living foundation and landmark (Hebrews 4:11-13), it does not mean the living God has muted Himself with no further communication to be made to us at all (John 14:15-26; Acts 22:17-21, 23:10-11, 27:21-26). There has not been a time since the passing of the eye witness apostles to this hour when the Body has been without contemporary need for the eyes, ears and messages of her prophets sent from Christ the risen, living Head even with many false prophets who have existed simultaneously from ancient times (Jeremiah 23:9-32, 27:12-18, 29:1-9; Matthew 28:20b). The Lord’s foretelling of false prophets did not mean there would not be any that were true (Matthew 24:11).
On the contrary, it certifies their existence since Satan raises up the false to subvert the words of the true. The Lord’s prophets are faithful to His Word as it is written; they do not rely on or cite for final authority the opinions of sinful, mortal flesh--no matter how credentialed. And who better suited to accurately interpret God’s already written prophetic Word when He is ready (Daniel 8:15-27; 1 Corinthians 13:2a)? As the evangelist burns to win lost souls, so the prophets of Christ burn for the purity, holiness, righteousness, obedience, fidelity and fruitfulness of His bride (2 Corinthians 11:1-4)!
The Church in its infancy may not have had need for many messages of rebuke and warning--although, what is the apostle Paul with the gift of prophecy doing in most of his New Testament letters to churches? Beyond question, however, the Lord Himself continued that aspect of the work of New Testament prophets with His Revelation to the apostle John given and written down for all professing believers and their churches near the end of the apostolic period (Revelation 1:9-3:22). He has also continued to gift, call and send His prophets to faithfully fulfill every aspect of their ministries in the churches including crying out against sin and warning of divine retribution upon the unrepentant.
As the Lord foretold, His prophets have been so much without honor they are singled out among the martyred faithful saints as recipients of God’s vindication (Revelation 11:15-18, 16:1-7, 17:1-6, 18:1-8, 20, 24-19:3). This is because of their suffering to the end at the hands of unbelievers and those professing to be Christians they were sent to serve especially in the churches of manmade Christianity the religion whose leaders in the West today generally and America in particular through their proud, independent spirit, resent being told they are in sin and resist rebuke as well as warning preferring instead, to cut off the messengers to their own hurt (Jeremiah 2:29-30, 5:1-3, 7:28; Amos 7:10-17; Matthew 23:33-24:2).
Therefore, in this month of praying for persecuted believers, among them I pray for and honor my brethren, the Lord’s prophets without honor in the churches who are held in contempt and persecuted in various ways by those claiming to be Christians. As for me, I do not seek or require the honor of mortal flesh though I desire for their sakes that God’s people would give proper heed to the words of warning He has put in my mouth in perfect alignment with what is plainly written in His Word (Ezekiel 33:1-9)--woe to the teachers of falsehood who teach believers in Christ face no eternal peril for sinning in willful disobedience without repentance (Jeremiah 28; Galatians 5:19-21, 6:7-8; Hebrews 3:7-19, 10:26-31, 35-39; Jude 1-11)!
I repeat in part what I wrote in my April 17, 2016 blog repost, Disembodied, Pt. 2 under the category, The Faith: “I am deeply honored in the Lord and pleased to the highest degree to serve you as a watchman/prophet and teacher in the footsteps of those faithful servants of Christ from the first century until now...” Glory to His Name!
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