View source for A Different Captivity

'''[[Pass the Test!]]'''
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'''Back to [[The Work of God]]'''
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Paul wrote about how some who, when shown the truth of their actions, will not repent. This takes them into &ldquo;the snare of the devil,&rdquo; meaning they have been &ldquo;taken ''captive'' by him [to do] his will&rdquo; (II Tim. 2:26). (This is the passage just ''before'' the opening chapter 3 warning that &ldquo;in ''the last days'' perilous times shall come.&rdquo; Recall that 2 Timothy 3:1 sets the stage and introduces the worsening &ldquo;evil men and seducers&rdquo; of 2 Timothy 3:13.)<br>

Understand. At some point in their course, various senior ministers simply gave over to the unbridled pursuit of power over God&rsquo;s people, a power not assigned to them by God. In their lust for the preeminence of high office and influence over as many brethren as they could garner for themselves, they ignored all the &ldquo;caution signals&rdquo; and ran every &ldquo;stop sign&rdquo; and &ldquo;red light&rdquo; in the road before them.<br>

Captured, they now do Satan&rsquo;s will—while continuing to ''appear'' as &ldquo;angels of light&rdquo; (II Cor. 11:13-15)!<br>

Remember—and never permit yourself to forget!—that the devil is also doing a &ldquo;work.&rdquo; Paul recorded that his spirit &ldquo;''works'' in the children of disobedience&rdquo; (Eph. 2:2). See this! In one sense, Satan is no different from God. His &ldquo;work&rdquo; also involves a ''master plan'': Thwart ''God&rsquo;s'' Master Plan by having every true Christian fail the test!<br>

The PLAIN PICTURE here is that certain leaders today have literally been taken captive by Satan the devil. (Of course, so have many of their followers.) These are not my words, but rather what your Bible tells you—if you are listening. In turn, this means that God&rsquo;s people are then, in effect, captives of those who are themselves''Satan&rsquo;s captives''—the splinter leaders and other ministers!<br>

Grasp what I am saying—understand precisely how this applies, because these are not difficult dots to connect. God&rsquo;s people in the splinters are in SLAVERY TO LIES! This involves deception about God&rsquo;s doctrines—of course, some doctrines involve ''behavior''—as well as about Christ&rsquo;s Church, Work and Government. Do not diminish the incredible importance of what is happening, and that this form of enslavement also includes its own false god—&ldquo;another Jesus.&rdquo; You have seen that this different Jesus also has a different &ldquo;father&rdquo; (John 8:44), with other doctrines and priorities!<br>

But the captivity of God&rsquo;s people is different—it is not ''forced'', as with Israel—it has been enslavement BY CHOICE!<br>

===Carefully Prepared in Advance===
Let&rsquo;s return to what is seen to be the SECOND WAVE of &ldquo;worse and worse&rdquo; false leaders—again, God&rsquo;s words, not mine. I repeat: These provide much of the FINAL GREAT TEST upon God&rsquo;s now scattered people. Let&rsquo;s learn still more.<br>

Some of the men leading the splinters have been carefully prepared for their role in God&rsquo;s test over a long period. As with Pharaoh, to aid His purpose, God Himself may have played a role in hardening some of the hearts of ''Satan&rsquo;s agents'' at work today. Judas, the Beast and the False Prophet, among others, are examples of where God has chosen a person for evil within His great overall purpose. However, in the end, whether some leaders today were sown into the field by Satan early on (Matt. 13:25) or prepared by God for their current role is irrelevant. Whether these men were once faithful, or ministerial tares from the beginning, the net effect is the same. They are &ldquo;grievous wolves&rdquo; having arisen &ldquo;speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them&rdquo; (Acts 20:29-30).<br>

But how did these men get to the positions of authority that they hold? It is no accident. Under close examination, these leaders are seen to carry an unusual ability, one that the average leader or minister simply does not have.<br>

===How They Get Away With It===
Paul&rsquo;s foretelling of &ldquo;evil men&rdquo; at work among God&rsquo;s people in the last days carries a second crucial element of warning not yet addressed. Do not miss what is really ''additional instruction'' to those who are paying close attention! Modern false leaders are also described as &ldquo;seducers.&rdquo; This means their techniques are clever, cunning, hypnotic—''seductive''! God&rsquo;s Church is described as a woman (Revelation 12 ALL), and these men fulfill the slippery &ldquo;way of a man with a maid&rdquo; (Prov. 30:19) with their persuasive power. The arguments and human reasoning they present when changing doctrine or dismissing plain teachings of Mr. Armstrong are usually—at least ''on the surface—''plausible and reasonable. Their &ldquo;theology&rdquo; and occasional references to their view of the &ldquo;history&rdquo; of any specific doctrine under review, particularly when describing what Mr. Armstrong thought or believed, often &ldquo;seem right&rdquo; (Prov. 14:12; 16:25) to the casual reader who is unwilling to &ldquo;prosecute&rdquo; their thinking.<br>

The meaning of the Greek word translated as &ldquo;seducers&rdquo; primarily references ''imposters'', and the New King James Version uses this. But this word also carries the much stronger, explicit and more sinister connotation of a &ldquo;wizard&rdquo; able to &ldquo;cast a spell&rdquo; on listeners. Obviously, God has chosen another very powerful word! He expects His servants to take note that He has.<br>

Everyone is familiar with the growing number of popular televangelists and religious personalities of today. The ones with the highest profile within &ldquo;Christianity&rdquo; are invariably those who are the smoothest in style, tone, emphasis, body language and word choice. These men come off as sincere and believable. The result is that vast thousands often sit in stadiums mesmerized by these religious &ldquo;actors.&rdquo; In fact, some of these men could win an Academy Award if they ''were'' actors. Yet, and this is no overstatement, many of them could not begin to compete with, or &ldquo;carry the water&rdquo; of, the even better actors at work with audiences in the splinters.<br>

I ask: With all the warnings in God&rsquo;s Word about false leaders, why do so many among God&rsquo;s people seem perfectly content to accept without question what they are hearing? Yes, why?<br>

Do not miscalculate regarding what is occurring around you! These men are extremely good at what they do, having had years, even ''decades'', to hone their lethal craft. Many of them ''are'' virtually &ldquo;wizards with words&rdquo; who seemingly ''can'' &ldquo;cast a spell&rdquo; on their unthinking members. In fact, the incredible deceit of some of these men almost defies description. I have heard their sermons and read their articles, and found myself thinking that Diotrephes himself could learn from some of them (III John 9-10).<br>

===Upping the Ante===
Another problem enters here. Certain ones of these leaders so hate parts of God&rsquo;s truth and Work, and the light that I am shining on their false teachings and leadership, they are now willing to openly predict that God will put me to death, but only after great &ldquo;sorrow, bitterness and suffering,&rdquo; as at least three separate leaders have declared. This is because of the principles and facts covered in books such as these. They fear the wrong kind of exposure.<br>

Satan&rsquo;s purpose is to frighten people away from God&rsquo;s Work!<br>

These declarations represent a shocking development, something not seen before in the splinters and slivers. But they are a trend I foresaw in early 2000 that had to come. With the above kind of awful prediction, confusion and deception has descended to a new and different level. When some can compare my actions in''upholding'' the truth to those of Mr. Armstrong&rsquo;s apostate successor—and this ''is'' occurring—a new threshold has been reached! To declare me to be like this man, asserting &ldquo;both appointed themselves apostles,&rdquo; is to miss a towering difference: I seek to ''return'' God&rsquo;s people TO the truth, the other man and his cohorts sought to ''take''them FROM the truth!<br>

Most remarkable is that the great majority of the thousands hearing such men seem to believe them. So many have become completely incapable of discerning even the most basic &ldquo;good and evil&rdquo; (Heb. 5:13-14).<br>
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'''[[Pass the Test!]]'''
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'''Back to [[The Work of God]]'''