Discerning of spirits is a gift of God, but you have to make
sure it is His gift you are using and not just your opinion that is guiding
you. In my traveling salesman days, back
in the 1980’s, I would get a chilled eerie feeling whenever I got close to New Bern , NC New Bern
We are instructed to judge all things in relationship to
the Word of God. We are also told to
test the spirits[1]. We are instructed to make sure we are in
God’s will before we take action. We are
warned about false prophets, false teachers, and those claiming to be Christ.
Remember an old Jewish statement – “An all loving and all
powerful God will do whatever an all loving and all powerful God wants to
do”. This all loving and all powerful
God, knowing that we were not capable of living perfect lives, provided His all
loving and all powerful Son to pay the price for our shortcomings. All we have to do is accept His all powerful
gift.[2]
What has happened to Christianity? Man, from his deep need for spiritual
fulfillment, has not only withdrawn from the conventional denominations of
Christianity but has, since the beginning of time, invented cults of different
kinds to fulfill his longings, Why,
since the beginning of time has this happened?
It is because man, in his finite wisdom, has inevitably judged this
finite wisdom to be superior to even the infinite wisdom of God. Man in his own mind is right![3] Is this because God is hard to locate? Absolutely not! The Bible tells us God will reveal Himself to
whoever seeks Him. In the Old Testament
the Lord was available to people like Abraham and Moses, although initially they
didn’t know who He was. The difference
between people like Abraham and Moses as opposed to the average guys of that
time, is the openness factor. If you
truly open your heart, God is faithful to fill the void within you.
In today’s world, and several past centuries, we have had
the Bible to guide our way. The
denominational churches we have today were all founded in strict Bible teaching
and true love for the Lord. What has
happened is, as usually happens when man tries to think for himself instead of
listening to the Lord, man blunders. The
message in a lot of denominations has become watered down and politically
correct. The preferred message today, in
many of these churches, is a feel good, fluff message that minimizes the real
message of the Bible. The truth is that
sin is real, hell is real and punishment is the result of unforgiven sin. In the same way, God is real, His message is
real, the Bible is real, Gods love is real and the salvation He provides is
real.
If you attend church on a regular basis, how close does the
preacher’s message match the Bible? Cults
are abundant today and many of them claim to be “Christian”. Purposeful misinterpretation of scripture is
the basis of many of these cults and some of the denominational churches have
fallen into these false teachings. God
never promised to make us filthy rich in this world. He never promised to keep us in perfect
health in this world. The Hold Spirit
never intended for His gifts to be used as toys. His true promise is that He will be with us
in our trials and provide our daily needs.
The gifts of the Spirit are to be used for the edification of the
church. Since many of us are like sheep
and tend to follow the leader, we are led astray by those leaders who are
either misled themselves or are purposely misleading their followers. This is the spirit of deception. We are instructed to study the Bible for
ourselves in order to show ourselves approved.[4] Could this be because God knew these things
would happen?
Below are the tenants of
Biblical Christianity –
1. There is one true and living God. He has three parts – Father, Son and Holy
Spirit.
2. God is all knowing, all seeing, all powerful
and always present.
3. Jesus was born of a virgin.
4. Jesus was all man and all God.
5. He taught what He wanted
us to know, and saw to it that these things were recorded in the New Testament
(new testimony of witnesses to what was taught and what took place).
6. Jesus is the Messiah, sent from the Father to
be tortured and die on the cross, so that we could have an undeserved personal
relationship with Him.
7. The Holy Spirit is the personage of God that
is with us at all times whether we are Christians or not. He dwells within us if we are Christians.
8. The devil is real and his desire is to
destroy you. (We have all seen the cartoon with the devil on one shoulder and
Jesus on the other. That is close to the
truth. The Holy Spirit never leaves you, and the devil is constantly trying to
lead you in the wrong direction.)
9. Eternal salvation is available to anyone who repents
of their sin and accepts Jesus as their Lord and Savior.
10. You absolutely must be Born Again, in order
to enter the kingdom
of God
11. The Bible is the inspired Word of God. Anything, that differs from the Bible,
whether in print or in attitude, is blasphemy.
12. Jesus is going to return in Glory.
STRICT TEACHING, YES. JUST TEACHING, ABSOLUTELY.
When considering if something is to be judged as a cult or
God’s truth, we should keep in mind the words of Gamaliel – “If this work is of
men, it will come to naught, but if it be God, we cannot overthrow it.”[5] Jesus said “Anyone who
isn't with me opposes me, and anyone who isn't working with me is actually
working against me.”[6]
Jesus said: “Watch out for
false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are
ferocious wolves. By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes
from thorn bushes, or figs from thistles? Likewise every good tree bears good
fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a
bad tree cannot bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is
cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus, by their fruit you will recognize
them. Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of
heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will
say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in
your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them
plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!”[7]
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