Searching for the Truth in the King James Bible;
Finding it, and passing it on to you.
EDITOR:
Steve
Van Nattan
|
|
Beware
of False Prophets!
|
ILLUSTRATIONS OF MEN WHO DOMINATE THE MINDS OF THEIR FOLLOWERS: Benny
Hinn, with great affect in one of his rallies, predicting that the revelation
would be too hard for some of his Do YOU stupidly watch Hinn and other famous Amoses on TBN and weep with joy at their tricks? Shame on you. What
is the hand sign in the photo of Benny Hinn? Answer: The sign of Baphomet, that
is, of Lucifer. What does this have to do with Jesus Christ? In fact, if you had
been in that meeting, you would very likely have gone home possessed with devils.
Jack Van Impe offers a video of his wife Roxella and him exalting Pope John Paul II. Roxella reads, over and over, the sayings of JP II, and Jack explains how these Papal sayings are biblical. Finally, with much emotion, Roxella reads where the Pope said that, "we are being redeemed by Jesus Christ, etc etc. "Being
redeemed" should have been a red light-- that means we were not finally and
totally redeemed by the work of Christ on the cross, rather; redemption is an
onging process. Jack, with equally deep emotion, said, "That is very Fundamental,
very Fundamental." Van Impe's groupies continue to believe every word of
his manure mouth. Jack Hyles, speaking at a pastor's conference where I was present and heard him, said that whenever he went out of his office to the platform to preach at Hammond, he would pass under a large photo of his mother. He said he would pray to his mother and ask her to ask Jesus to give him power to preach. Here is his further blasphemy: Hyles claimed to go once a week to the mausoleum where his mother's remains are interred and there he prayed to her. In his prayer meeting talk on 12/3/87, he noted that his mother is not dead, just moved beyond his senses: "Hence, I go to the cemetery and visit with her and speak to her. She can hear me, but I cannot hear her." This
Baptist version of Mother Mary the Mediatrix has never been questioned by Jack's
myopic groupies. To question Jack Hyles is considered grounds for being "churched"
in any of his followers. Now,
it gets nasty here-- Thousands of Baptist, Pentecostal, and Fundamental pastors
preach regularly that tithing is requited of the New Testament saints. They absolutely
cannot produce one verse of proof texting to back this teaching up. There is none
in the New Testament. They play a game of proving that certain Old Testament laws
must be brought forward into the Age of Grace. They are never confronted about
this. Or, I should correct that-- If anyone asks these men to prove their claims,
the questioner is accused of being a rebel and questioning, "the man of God."
If these boys are going to go back to the law, then do it all, you sissies-- and
start by carrying a feces paddle please. Moses required that. These are just several examples of the many false teachings foisted on the saints today. The worst thing about it is not that the heretics are out there. The most frightening aspect is that they have thousands of followers who don't even think of asking questions. The point in this section is the domination of the minds of the followers. Is there a teacher or pastor who can teach anything, and you will take his word for it without question? I know pastors who see through Jack Hyles and consider him a heretic, but these pastors stupidly will allow an evangelist into their pulpit who promotes the Hyles cult. This shows that these pastors hate the Word of God and are unsaved. They may be demon possessed. It is up to YOU to get clear of the Laodicean vomit of this earth. "Come out of her my people...." |
The
Watchtower Organization (Jehovah's Witnesses) have a mound of paperwork that would
make the government jealous. They keep strict tabs on all of their people,
requiring them to fill out a constant array of forms for their weeks' activities.
The
Hare Krishna and other cults keep their people busy from morning until night,
working for their organization. When they are finally finished serving the
religion at the end of the day, they fall into bed, exhausted.
In
Evangelicalism, the Church Growth phenomena began pushing "busyness" on
people back in the 1970's. One Assembly of God church had a huge paper tree
on a wall in its auditorium. Every time someone brought a friend to church,
the bringer could get a leaf up on the paper tree with his name on it. The
person with the most leaves on the tree won a bicycle.
Many churches say that "you don't have to attend all of our services; these are only opportunities to worship and fellowship." But they show their true colors as they withhold fellowship and encouragement from those who don't attend the various meetings. Those who desire to minister in such churches must be there "whenever the church doors are open" or they are considered "unreliable" and "uncommitted."
We have experienced cultic churches that have gone so far as to lock the back door of the sanctuary during the gathering of offerings and tithes. Testimonies were given of "repentant" members who "came back to the fold" when they "realized the danger of God's judgment for leaving."
This
is intimidation and coercion rather than voluntary involvement in church activities
that the members feel individually called to. Our actions within the church
must be that of faith and faithfulness to the Spirit of God who calls us individually
to do the will of our Father.
These
churches violate the scriptures which clearly teach that the church is a spiritual
entity, not a physical kingdom, especially kingdoms of man's own making.
Rick
Warren boasts that in his Purpose Driven Church, everyone must be plugged into
various groups and places of commitment. The emphasis of the Purpose Driven
life and church is involvement in the programs of the church. Anyone who
doesn't want to be in the programs can go elsewhere; because they are clogging
up the works of a Purpose Driven church.
The
"keep 'em busy and happy" mentality has gotten so ridiculous that one Episcopal
church actually had circus week! The priest dressed up as a clown (appropriately),
and many of the members donned red clown noses during the "service."
False prophets want to keep people so busy they don't have time to think, pray and read the Scriptures. Sleep deprivation (as practiced by many cults and false religions) is a form of mind control.
The
brain cannot think clearly when it is extremely tired; and false teachers know
this. It is difficult to witness to someone in such a "busy" cult, for they
have little time to think things through; less time yet to sit down and read a
forbidden Bible passage, or book which explains the Biblical truth.
Is this the way Christ runs His Kingdom? Jesus said, "The Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He seeth the Father do; for what things soever He doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise." (John 5:19)
Jesus didn't try to keep up with the Pharisees. He could care less about the agenda of the Sanhedrin.
His
consuming drive was to do what the Father told Him. Nothing more; nothing
less. Then Jesus told His disciples: "Peace be unto
you: as My Father hath sent Me, even so send I you." (John 20:21) Jesus
assured the Apostles that His agenda had not changed. He would direct them
to do only what the Father had in mind. They needn't worry about impressing
people. They didn't have a quota to fill each month. They need only
do as the Father directed them, by the Son, through the Holy Spirit.
The
true pastor, the true church, and the true child of God seeks God daily as to
His priorities for the day. Some are obvious and set in stone: prayer, reading
and meditating on the Scriptures, ministering to one's family. But sometimes
the Lord has us put other normal things "on hold" in order to do an aspect of
His work that is special for that day: invite a homeless person in for dinner,
take time to witness to someone at the store, go visit a person at the hospital.
People
with lives locked into programs don't have time for such ministry. They miss doing
what the Father would have them to do! Family time is put to a minimum for
the sake of the "larger purpose," and the responsibility of parents to teach and
admonish their own children is delegated to the cult.
"Diotrephes,
who loveth to have the preeminence among them, receiveth us not. Wherefore,
if I come, I will remember his deeds which he doeth, prating against us with malicious
words: and not content therewith neither doth he himself receive the brethren,
and forbiddeth them that would, and casteth them out of the church." (3 John 1:9-10)
False prophets demand absolute conformity to their dictates. This is very different from those who teach the Scriptures and command believers to adhere to the Word of God. False prophets make a list of things to believe, do, wear, speak and be that oppose the commands of Christ. Their demands often differ from other false prophets. Some demand obvious evils: like shared marital relations amongst the group (ie: the Jesus people, Sun Myong Moon, and David Koresh). Others are rigidly moral.
Anyone
breaking the code of the false prophet is chastised; often publicly.
Thought
control is demanded of those within the Purpose Driven churches. Anyone
who is a "resister", someone who does not agree with the plan of the Purpose Driven
Church is castigated as a cancer. Warren wrote in his book, "When a human
body is out of balance we call that disease...Likewise when the body of Christ
becomes unbalanced, disease occurs...The task of church leadership is to discover
and remove growth-restricting diseases and barriers so that natural, normal growth
can occur." (Purpose Driven Church, pg 16)
Those
who call attention to the inconsistency of teaching of false prophets are vilified.
Their words are turned against them, and they are accused of being divisive,
and slandered by the leaders to the congregation. Like Diotrephes, they
prate against preachers of truth with terrible maliciousness, and insist on taking
the preeminence among the people.
A good example of this is an Orthodox Presbyterian pastor in Utah. A member there realized that infant baptism is unbiblical, and addressed this and other unbiblical teachings of the denomination with the pastor. Enraged, the pastor published a scathing letter to his congregation, and posted it on their church website. The pastor claims no one has tried to deny his letter thus far; but the truth of the matter is that he will listen to no one, and claims that an attack on him and his doctrine is an attack on the church of Jesus Christ. He harasses former members who left, threatening them with God's wrath if they do not repent and return to that church and receive church discipline.
Another
Orthodox Presbyterian pastor in California constantly verbally beats his congregation
with the Law. It has been reported that he considers no one in his congregation
saved, saying it is not "safe" for him to do so. He teaches that no one
can truly know that salvation has occurred until the time of their death, when
they face Christ. Only then, he insists, will the merits of grace be known;
and the person's faith be judged. This flies in the face of Romans 8:15,
when Paul declares that "ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry
Abba, Father." How can we cry "Abba, Father" if we don't know Him?
These
"pastors" seems to agree with Rick Warren's "Rules for Growth", which states,
"Never criticize what God is blessing, even though it may be a style of ministry
that makes you feel uncomfortable." (Purpose Driven Church, page 62)
In
the Charismatic Movement for anyone to denounce a teaching or teacher as being
in heresy is "unloving" and "judgmental." The Charismatics also equate worldly
success (growth in numbers, popularity, and increase of wealth) as a sign of God's
blessing. They insist that those who look for doctrinal purity are "heresy
hunters"; trouble makers who are "tares" among the "wheat." "Touch not Mine
anointed" they misquote when believers challenge the Biblical validity of a teacher.
What
they don't want to see is that much of Christ and the Apostles' teaching dealt
with pointing out the difference between truth and error. They were not
quiet about rejecting error; and did not worry about the Jewish leaders calling
them ‘divisive' heresy hunters! Rather, they diligently sought to
support the truth of God's Word, and keep a soundness of teaching within the body
of Christ (See 1 Cor 11:19).
"Take
heed therefore unto yourselves and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost
hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which He hath purchased with
His own blood. For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves
enter in among you, not sparing the flock. Also of your own selves shall
men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them." (Acts
20:28-30)
False
teachers resist all confrontation as attacking "the anointed of God" (referring
to themselves).
Most
churches preach that believers are to give a tithe (10%) of their income to the
church. While this is widely accepted,
it is not a New Testament teaching (For NT teaching on giving, see 2 Cor 9). False
prophets use it as a means of getting rich.
The
Mormon church sends out a "bill" for their peoples' tithe. Tithe-teaching
churches regularly preach on tithing to pressure their members; saying they aren't
even giving to Christ until they give more than 10%!
Oral Roberts' "seed faith" teaching has been used by dozens of false teachers. They insist that if you send a portion of your income to them—a generous portion—coupled with faith, that you will receive back 100-fold what you sent to them. Marilyn Hickey preach that God intends for Christians to be rich. Hickey said "What do you need? Start creating it...Speak to your billfold. Say, 'You big, thick billfold full of money.' Speak to your checkbook. Say, "You big checkbook, you. You've never been so prosperous since I owned you. You're just jammed full of money." (Marilyn Hickey, "Claim Your Miracles," audio tape #186.) Creflo Dollar insists that the wicked are getting rich just so that we can have their money.
Using this opportunity for his own wallet, Dollar says, "According to the Word of God, the wicked are accumulating wealth to hand over to the righteous! Increase your expectation by sowing diligently and confessing God's Word over your finances." (Creflo Dollar's Daily Devotion, October 2) Fred Price says he drives a Rolls Royce because he's following in Jesus' steps! (Fred Price, "Ever Increasing Faith," TBN, December 19, 1990).
TBN telethons are some of the phoniest things outside of Las Vegas. Paul and Jan Crouch make millions of dollars from this "non profit ministry" each year, and live opulent lifestyles. Yet, according to them, each year TBN could experience the lights going out, and the gospel won't go around the world anymore! They badger people with unbelievable hubris, saying things like "'Well I'm on the little fixed income. I can't afford— "You can't afford not to do something, to plant something. If you're going to obey the command of Jesus Christ and go into all the world and preach the gospel, the only way many can do that is to send someone else...to give so that others can go." (Spring Praise-A-Thon, April 1991)
False
teachers want your money! Don't give it to them!
The Pope claims to be the representative of Christ on earth. Sun Myong Moon claims to be the new Messiah, who was able to complete the work that Jesus "failed" to do. Word of Faith teachers, Rick Warren and others claim to be "the anointed of God", above criticism and scrutiny by the body of Christ.
Robert
Schuller claims to have brought in the New Reformation, shunning any criticism
of his gospel of self-esteem. Calvin, Luther, Sproul, and others claim the
"clear" writings of the Patristic fathers over the truly clear teachings of the
Savior Himself.
One
of the tools of their trade is to discount truly biblical discernment as attacks
upon God's truth and His anointing. Yet when the clear teaching of Scripture
is brought to the fore′, anger and ungodliness spew out like poisonous venom.
The
Lord Jesus warned that "there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and
shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall
deceive the very elect." (Matt 24:24)
There
is only one Lord, one Faith, and one Baptism (Eph 4:5). Jesus is the only
Lord of the Church and has given us His Word to follow. He has given us
His Holy Spirit to reside within us to cleanse us with the truth of His Word.
This is our only hope. It is not in the traditions and writings of
men who often contradict each other and pervert the words of Truth.
Those
who teach damnable heresies, trying to deceive the Elect of God will reap the
fruit of their own corruption. The Apostle Peter said, "But
these, as natural brute beasts, made to be taken and destroyed, speak evil of
the things that they understand not; and shall utterly perish in their own corruption;
and shall receive the reward of unrighteousness, as they that count it pleasure
to riot in the day time. Spots they are and blemishes, sporting themselves with
their own deceiving while they feast with you; having eyes full of adultery, and
that cannot cease from sin; beguiling unstable souls: an heart they have exercised
with covetous practices…" (2 Pet 2:12-14)
Do
not give in to the ranting of these false teachers. Instead, immerse yourself
in the Bible, prayer and truly Christian fellowship. This will protect you
from these ravenous wolves that prey upon foolish minds and tickling ears. The
soundness of biblical teaching uncovers their evil hearts. Cling safely
to Jesus' arms and the comfort of His Spirit.
If
any of this sounds familiar:
"But
there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false
teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying
the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction. And many
shall follow their pernicious ways; by reason of whom the way of truth shall be
evil spoken of." (2 Pet 2:1-2)
If
any of the things that we've stated thus far sound familiar to you, be encouraged;
the Apostle Peter tells us, "the Lord knows how to deliver
the godly out of temptation, and to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment
to be punished." (2 Pet 2:9)
If
you have been caught in a web of deceit, there is hope for you! First, repent
for aligning yourself with teaching that opposes the truth of Jesus Christ. Recognize
that you've gone the wrong way, and that God is not pleased with your holding
to a false religion. Accept that God's judgment is right; that you were
under chastisement as long as you served the lie.
Realize
that the truth lies fully in God's Word: the Bible. Repent by rejecting
any teaching that does not line up with it. Throw out all the books and
tapes (CD's, DVD's) that promote false prophets! To "repent" is to leave
your sins, grieving that you disobeyed the Lord. Then go in God's direction
(obedience to His Word): Study carefully: Leviticus 26:40-46; Isaiah 1:10-20;
Acts 3:19-26; 1 John 1:6-10.
Don't
be quick to run out to another church, nor bury yourself in another group's writings.
Get to know Jesus Christ and His Word, so you aren't easily deceived again! Study
diligently, prayerfully, daily; beginning with the New Testament. Commit
yourself to following after Christ, regardless of the scorn you may receive from
the group you just left. Stop your ears to their lies, and look to Jesus,
the Author and Finisher of your faith (Heb 12:1-2)! Christ is faithful,
and will guide you as you seek Him according to His Word.
Study
these Bible passages:
Deuteronomy
13:1-5; Matthew 7:15-27; 24:24; Acts 20:26-35; 1 Timothy 6; 2 Peter 2
The
book of Galatians; 1 John 3-4; The epistle of Jude
MORE STUDIES BY DAVID AND TAMRA LEE
BACK TO ENTRY PAGE OF THE JOURNAL
ge
1.
They equate their leaders' words with Scripture.
groupies,
proclaimed that he had a revelation from the Holy Ghost that there are nine members
of the Godhead. No one got up and walked out. Rather, the whole crowd was in awe
of this blasphemy of the Word of God.