Such deception is not uncommon.
Such deception is not uncommon.
Those who are prompted to do weird things, such as set fire to their house, or kill a child they believe is possessed by a demon, may not be church-going Christians. I would not know what to suggest about that sort of delusion, except to advise such people to ask Christ if the impression really is from God.
But as for Christians, if they will accept the fact that this world is not Heaven and not try to make it so by doing something sinful, they may avoid deception. Satan works in the area of deception and he is extraordinarily skillful in deceiving Christians. The only antidote is the personal cross of the believer. If the believer bears his cross patiently after Christ, being strictly obedient to what Jesus tells him, he has a good chance of avoiding being deceived.
Learning to follow the voice of the Lord is an art. The student must not become too upset if he makes a mistake. Confess that you have been tricked. Make restitution if Jesus leads you to do so. Then put it behind you and press forward in Christ. You have learned a valuable lesson.
We are not perfect, and that is why we need a Redeemer. God takes into account that we are nothing more than intelligent dust. God has no problem with our making mistakes, unless we harden our heart and refuse correction. Then we are in spiritual trouble.
In our day the Spirit of God is urging us forward toward our Canaan, our land of promise. The New Testament does not speak so much of our being saved in the past, but of our enduring to the end so we may inherit the salvation that is to come in the future.
Part of the future salvation is Jesus' personal coming to His fervent disciples to prepare them for His worldwide appearing.
Here are some of the verses that refer to the salvation that has begun in our day and is leading toward the worldwide appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ:
Who through faith are shielded by God's power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. (I Peter 1:5)
So Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many people; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him. (Hebrews 9:28)
And do this, understanding the present time. The hour has come for you to wake up from your slumber, because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed. (Romans 13:11)
And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. (Ephesians 4:30)
We want each of you to show this same diligence to the very end, in order to make your hope sure. We do not want you to become lazy, but to imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised. (Hebrews 6:11,12)
All men will hate you because of me, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved. (Matthew 10:22)
I have listed all these passages to show that our goal as Christians is not to go to Heaven to live forever but to hold fast in Christ until He is ready to redeem us fully and completely. This is true whether we are on the earth or in the spirit world, waiting for the completion of our salvation.
We will be completely redeemed when there is no sin or self-will in us; when Christ has come to maturity in us; when the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are dwelling in us in perfect rest; when our body has been conformed to the image of Christ; when we are on the Throne of Glory with Christ; when we have been assigned our role as a member of the Royal Priesthood.
We can see from the above that the current "Say you accept Christ and you never can be lost; you will go to Heaven to live forever in a mansion" does not even resemble the teaching of the New Testament. It is preposterous, when compared with the actual Gospel of the Kingdom.
I would venture that we are about half way through the struggle of good against evil. I believe the final battle has begun.
This means that titanic spiritual battles are in the offing. Antichrist shall face Jesus Christ; the Spirit of God shall face the False Prophet; God shall confront Satan. These wars will continue in the spirit world until evil has been driven completely from the heavens.
Only when the great war has been won will there be righteousness, love, peace, and joy on the earth; for God's will must be done in the heavens before it can be done on the earth.
As I have written so many times, if we are to survive these colossal events and stand in triumph before the Son of Man, we will have to learn to live by the Life of Jesus. Our thinking, speaking, and acting will have to be in line with the thinking, speaking, and acting of the Lord Jesus.
Every work that has not been wrought in Christ shall be shaken and removed from God's Presence.
And he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, to be put into effect when the times will have reached their fulfillment—to bring all things in heaven and on earth together under one head, even Christ. (Ephesians 1:9,10)
Since we have insisted on trying to be Daddy's helper, the Christian work is in confusion today. One of the more destructive aspects of the confusion is the notion that once a person "accepts Christ" there is no further step in the program of redemption.
Today the statement is made that Christ has "done it all" on the cross; that our judgment was completed on the cross. Yet Peter tells us that judgment begins with the household of God.
It appears as though there is a wilful ignorance of the Bible. But I know this is not the case. Devout scholars spend their lives interpreting and teaching the Bible. Honorable people, men and women alike, repeat the unscriptural traditions in good faith.
The only sense I can get out of the prevailing confusion is that God has intervened in our day and is pointing out to us that what is being taught in the name of Christ is not according to the Apostles of the New Testament.
God has intervened, in time past, hasn't He, as the various apostolic doctrines have been restored: righteousness by faith in Christ rather than by punishing ourselves; water baptism by immersion; the priesthood of the believer; the reality of the born-again experience; personal holiness; the baptism with the Holy Spirit including the manifestations of the Holy Spirit.
Well, God obviously is intervening once again, because we can see clearly that the lawless-grace message is completely contrary to God's desire that we practice righteousness; love mercy; and walk humbly with God.
A tradition that is hoary with age has persisted from the earliest times. It is that God is saving us to go to Heaven to live forever. In spite of the fact that John the Baptist, the Lord Jesus, and the Apostles, preached the coming of the Kingdom of God to the earth, we continue to the present hour pointing men and women, boys and girls, toward Heaven rather than toward the Kingdom of God.
In my opinion, the Presence of God symbolized by the Ark of the Covenant has not been present in most of the Christian churches throughout the Christian Era. Thus we continue with our worship and praise, but something is missing.
There was a time in Israel when the Ark was in a tent in a suburb of Jerusalem, while all the rest of the Tabernacle of the Congregation was located at the High Place of Gibeon, an area that previously had been the scene of worship that was not of the Lord.
The Ark was missing from the remainder of the Tabernacle, that was at Gibeon. This meant the Day of Atonement could not be celebrated. The Day of Atonement speaks of the forgiveness of our sins accompanied by the removal of the presence and power of sin from us.
I think this is why for two thousand years the Christian salvation has been limited to the forgiveness of guilt. When we read that the Lamb of God takes away the sin of the world, in our mind we insert the words "takes away the guilt of the sin of the world."
We have been accustomed to regard the Christian salvation as being only the forgiveness of sin, not the removal of sin. It is no wonder we then created permanent residence in Heaven as being the goal of salvation. "God gave His Son that whoever believes in Him shall escape Hell and go to Heaven."
To put it simply, we do not believe the Lamb of God can remove our sin, only the guilt of our sin.
But forgiveness apart from the removal of the presence and power of sin is worthless in the Kingdom of God. Man is not made in the image of God by being forgiven. God cannot find a place of rest in an individual in whom the presence and power of sin is active.
To speak in a figure, the Ark is coming down the road. This is an occasion for singing and dancing joyously. Now we can have the spiritual fulfillment of the Day of Atonement, meaning we not only are forgiven but the very presence and power of sin can be removed from us. Such is the Day of Redemption.
And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. (Ephesians 4:30)
We are moving now from the fulfillment of the Jewish feast of Pentecost to the Day of Redemption, the time of the removal of sin. We must be exceedingly careful to follow the Holy Spirit diligently and not attempt to organize and name what God is doing. The result of organizing and naming has resulted in the death of the denominations that are active in our day.
"The Glory has departed" because hands were laid on the Ark, so to speak!
The New Testament is opening up to us today. What a century ago was a great mystery is now as plain and simple as can be. God is preparing a wonderful Kingdom that soon is to come to the earth. His will shall be done here as soon as the heavens get straightened out.
The coming of the Kingdom, for which Christians have been praying from time immemorial, is a far, far better vision than that of going to Heaven to live forever. Man was made in the earth. When people picture Heaven, they picture a glorified earth—something like the garden in Eden.
Hallelujah! As always, Christ has kept the good wine until now.
But make no mistake—we are in days of greatest opportunity and also of greatest danger. Satan is coming to the earth with his angels, and it is going to require walking very close to the Lord Jesus if we are not to be deceived.
As Christ reveals Himself increasingly, to prepare us for His worldwide appearing, we may be tempted to try to steady the Ark. It is coming down the road, you know. When it gets to the threshing floor, the place of judgment, it may appear that God needs help. Don't try to help! Let God build His Church the way He wants it. No human creativity is permitted. It will only bring spiritual death, as it has in the past.
Don't touch the Ark. Pray and obey. Pray and obey. Pray and obey. Then you will be fruitful and happy in Jesus. There is no other way.
"Your kingdom come. Your will be done on the earth as it is in Heaven."
Amen!
"As the weeds are pulled up and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of the age. The Son of Man will send out his angels, and they will weed out of his kingdom everything that causes sin and all who do evil. They will throw them into the blazing furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Whoever has ears, let them hear." (Matthew 13:40-43)