How to tell if you are in cult #7 is another post on where repentance should dominate in the person of the pastor and in the environment of the local church.

 T. When public confession of sin and open repentance (so others can verify if you were sincere or not) is exchanged for organizational cover-ups, where lowly members are publicly exhibited and shamed, and administration, leadership, and their favorites have their sins hidden by the group.

Continue reading How to tell if you are in cult #7 →

Cults: What is salvation? How does it change you? is a short article on how true salvation changes the person.

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Continue reading Cults: What is salvation? How does it change you? →

Unshackled from God’s Will

Summary: In this post we examine how false prophets are unshackled from God’s will, doing their own plans, inventions, and will.

Matt 7:21 Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Matt 7:22 Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? Matt 7:23 And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.

One of the clearest teachings on false prophets is Jesus telling us that they will be a part of our lives in the future in Matthew 7. The key focus of this passage is simply that nobody will even enter heaven (much less be a minister and servant of God that enters heaven and is blessed and praised by God for their ministry) IF THEY ARE NOT DOING GOD’S WILL!

Here we need to digress some. God’s will is very clear in the Bible. Jesus focused on God’s will of being holy, but first and foremost is the salvation of the soul. That salvation transforms the life from the sinful human nature of  BEFORE to the holiness of a man or woman of God AFTER.

The moral pattern by which we check the will of God is that which Jesus left us. Did Jesus have a jet plane for his own use? No. Did he even have a horse of a good breed? No. He borrowed a burro and came riding into Jerusalem in preparation of the great contradiction of glory one moment and then the Jews killing him the next. Did Jesus even have a place to lay his head? No. I see believers owning their own houses throughout the Bible, but if you want to get technical about it, God’s ministers were not rich, nor did they focus their ministries on getting rich.

Notice how Satan’s men, the false prophets, change and justify their own ministries and lifestyle. They claimed that they had the blessing of God on their ministry because they did wonderful works (miracles, and great things for God), and that they had power over the spirit world of demons and such, and that they even prophised (which could be preaching to receiving new revelations from God). None of this did Jesus contend with them over it. Simply put Jesus’ accusation is that they had a low regard or no regard for God’s will in their ministry. Disobedience is not justified by what miracles or great things a person seemingly does for God.

God’s will is an iron cast standard for discerning whether a person is a false prophet or not. Nothing a minister or Christian does is good if it is outside of God’s will.

1Cor 14:37 If any man think himself to be a prophet, or spiritual, let him acknowledge that the things that I write unto you are the commandments of the Lord.

There is a tactic acknowledgement and submission to the commandments of God as being the authority in one’s life. Some want to make homosexuals and other sexual perversions acceptable. God has commanded that these fornications be not named once among God’s people. You can start a homosexual church and have a million people in it, all witnessing for God, giving out the gospel every day, and have a million of them praying daily for hours to God, and it is all wrong and all of them will go to hell, because at the bottom most level, it is not God’s will. Repentance of sin, and abandonment of worldly lifestyles is a prerequisite for pleasing God.

1Cor 3:10 According to the grace of God which is given unto me, as a wise masterbuilder, I have laid the foundation, and another buildeth thereon. But let every man take heed how he buildeth thereupon.

We must be wise builders, doing what God says, and nothing else. What is typical of man, and especially typical among false prophets is that they ignore what God has actually said, and go about to fabricate some substitute. All of this is condemned in God’s eyes. It will never come to anything good until the people involved repent of their rebellion from God, and go back to the Bible and find God’s will, and begin with doing that.

Churches use modern programs to get people to attend their churches. But without the beginning element of evangelism, these new people bring heathen ways and thoughts into the church, and either there is turmoil and conflict or the church will give up their biblical ways and doctrines to keep these people saved. This never ends good for anybody involved.

Rick Warren of Saddleback Church in Lake Forest California.

This is an epitome of a false prophet. Instead of looking at what the Bible commands, Warren looked at what people in his neighbor wanted. First of all that is just wrong. It is a false prophet. Secondly, he didn’t even look at what good, godly Christians wanted, but what unregenerated people wanted.

See ch41 The marks of a bad minister

Attacks for those who Obey God – the Elijah complex

1Kgs 19:13 And it was so, when Elijah heard it, that he wrapped his face in his mantle, and went out, and stood in the entering in of the cave. And, behold, there came a voice unto him, and said, What doest thou here, Elijah? 1Kgs 19:14 And he said, I have been very jealous for the LORD God of hosts: because the children of Israel have forsaken thy covenant, thrown down thine altars, and slain thy prophets with the sword; and I, even I only, am left; and they seek my life, to take it away. 1Kgs 19:15 And the LORD said unto him, Go, return on thy way to the wilderness of Damascus: and when thou comest, anoint Hazael to be king over Syria: 1Kgs 19:16 And Jehu the son of Nimshi shalt thou anoint to be king over Israel: and Elisha the son of Shaphat of Abelmeholah shalt thou anoint to be prophet in thy room. 1Kgs 19:17 And it shall come to pass, that him that escapeth the sword of Hazael shall Jehu slay: and him that escapeth from the sword of Jehu shall Elisha slay. 1Kgs 19:18 Yet I have left me seven thousand in Israel, all the knees which have not bowed unto Baal, and every mouth which hath not kissed him.

Many of God’s servants feel that they are alone in the world, and they alone are serving God correctly. Even so they get discouraged and want to give in to the pressures of the world to conform to the world’s standards and be “politically correct” with the corrupt world system. This passage was an encouragement to Elijah, and without doubt it is also an encouragement to us that God will not let everybody go the way of the world except us. We will always be part of the remnant, and there will always be others.

God has different groups, and there is not just one single “right one”

Mark 9:38 And John answered him, saying, Master, we saw one casting out devils in thy name, and he followeth not us: and we forbad him, because he followeth not us. Mark 9:39 But Jesus said, Forbid him not: for there is no man which shall do a miracle in my name, that can lightly speak evil of me. Mark 9:40 For he that is not against us is on our part.

This passage of Scripture is very important. At the time Jesus walked the earth, there were other believers that were not exactly a part of Christ’s band of followers, and yet they were not wrong either. Christ explains that the group or being a part of the group is not what makes a person right, but what they believe, and what they do (along with what they are morally). This does not open up an alternative way of salvation, but it does establish that some people that are right in God’s eyes may not be in your group.

Note: For the Baptist Briders and Landmark Baptist people, this is very difficult. If there was only one church, and everybody HAD TO HAVE COME THROUGH THEM AND THAT ORGANIZATION, then how did Christ let this other minister/group go on without specifically joining to the band of the 12 apostles?

John 8:43 Why do ye not understand my speech? even because ye cannot hear my word.

John 7:17 If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of myself.

See my Tracts

ch38 Recognizing a Good Pastor
ch26 “Don’t touch the anointed of God”

One of the requirements for discernment and understanding God’s will is a biblical disposition towards God’s will, and a history of seeking and complying with God’s will. I often see churches where the pastor has had his own way in imposition his own will, and that has become a false god that those at that church worship. This is sad.

In other churches, I wonder as they claim to be good churches of biblical doctrine, but I see the early Christians literally burning their lives for Christ in order to get the gospel out, yet I see these modern churches have no burden for the gospel, and their efforts in getting the gospel out can basically be boiled down to a sign with their church name on it in the front lawn.

No church is going to please God if it is not weekly sending out workers to witness the gospel to the unsaved, sending and funding missionaries, explaining and offering the gospel regularly in their services, and praying for the salvation of the lost.

False prophets “USE” this biblial activity for their own benefit, and in reality, being a false prophet, they don’t want these people they drag into their fellowships to really be saved (because they will first cause trouble and then leave). So what they do is to “water down” the gospel so as to make it ineffectual. Jack Hyles guys will preach a salvation that has no real reference to remorse, repentance, and abandonment of sin. An unsaved person can just repeat the words after their soul-winner, and they are part of the group. When you do that, you can “win” thousands every year to the Lord. When you press for true repentance before receiving Christ, those thousands dwindle to dozens. The issue is that simply a person must give up his own will before he is truly saved, and without dealing with this (sin is an expression of one’s own will), the person has no chance of truly getting saved.

See my tract: salv31 Easy-Believism

Many churches exchange out the Bible gospel for social work. This too is just wrong, and not God’s will. If you want to know if you minister or church is squarely in God’s will, look to see if in the church services and in their evangelism time, they focus on the plan of salvation, communicating that to the unsaved.

See my tract: ch43 Time to leave your church?
See my tract: ch42 Destitution of Pastor

Doing God’s Will is key and paramount in Salvation

False prophets want to be Unshackled from God’s Will and this causes them to be very easily identified. Although they constantly proclaim that their own understandings is God’s will, we just don’t see their views and practices in the New Testament. This is the key to discerning what they are. To read the NT we see and emphasis and focus on salvation and holiness, and these prophets of their own selves push their own benefits, ministry, and person for worship and sacrifice to them.

A biblical pastor has a clear view of what he is supposed to do, and the biblical bases for that set of commandments.

See my tract: ch49 The Biblical Pastor: The Biblical Duty

As a saved person you too must have a clear view of God’s will for your life, understand it, and also understand where in the Bible it comes from.

See my tract: salv02 Now that you have Believed
See my tract: ch19 Marks of a False Prophet
See my tract: pc07 Fasting: Fixing your Life with God