Bad! Bad! Bad!

Ok so I just got this email and it seems to be one of the circulars. But while it is apparently written in English it is entirely incomprehensible. I mean, I know those words, I use many of them but in this statement they seem to fog over with a different meanings. However the first problem I see with it is that it is titled: “Prophetic prayer for this day” and in the introductory paragraph goes on about the content being prophetic declaration. I will tear this extremely bad piece of literature when I have understood it. Its all bad. I submit it for your consideration, if you understand  it, please let me know

 

 

 

Please pass on this prophetic declaration to anyone you know that are in need of a life-changing breakthrough from God. This is the season where things are shifting and moving to bring in what has been called out in previous seasons.  Read the full prophetic word on the mentioned website. Be blessed. Zelda-Lyn Haggard (Grace For All Nations MInistries)

I CALL FORTH A MASSIVE BREAKTHROUGH IN JESUS NAME FOR  US. A SUDDEN MOVE OF GOD THAT WILL SHAKE EVERY FOE AND EVERY ADVERSITY TO COME TO NOTHING, BECAUSE THE WORD OF GOD IS YE AND AMEN. HE IS THE GUARENTEE OF HIS WORD RELEASED, AND THE SANCTUARY OF SAFETY FOR HIS CHILDREN. LET HIS MIGHTY RIGHT ARM MOVE AND CONQUER ON OUR BEHALF. I CALL FORTH A NEW ANOINTING TO OVERTAKE US  and RELEASE NEW TERRITORY AND NEW VICTORIES TO US. WE LIVE TO CONQUER AND WIN. AMEN.!!!!

BE BLESSED WITH ALL MANNER OF HIS GRACE MANIFESTATION IN YOUR LIFE.

huh????

Blaspheming the glorious ones

I mentioned a few posts ago that one of the characteristics of a false teacher is that, according to 2 Peter 2:10 and Jude 8 they blaspheme glorious ones. This is a rather strange phrase and confusing, because who are the glorious ones, and how exactly are they blasphemed?

Well lets take this step at a time. First the glorious ones? who are they. The Greek word here is δόξα pronounced doxa which, in biblical Greek literally means glory. Most scholars agree that the phrase ‘glorious ones’ refers to spiritual beings, the angels and possibly demons. This is further re-enforced by Jude 9 which talks about the arch-angel Michael, contending with Satan. This is also consistent with the Old Testament which uses the ‘sons of God’ to refer to angels and possibly demons.

Job 2:1  Again there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan also came among them to present himself before the LORD.

Job 38:7  when the morning stars sang together and all the sons of God shouted for joy?

First, from Job 38, we see that the sons of God, the angels sung for joy when God laid the foundations of the earth (vs 4). This obviously refers to a time when the angels, none seemingly had yet fallen.

So sons of God definitely refer to angels. In Job 2 the phrase ‘being among them’ could imply that there are demons among the angels. I’m inclined to think, taking all verses into consideration, that the phrase ‘sons of God’ refers to those spiritual beings who now are both angels and demons. The same applies to the phrase ‘glorious ones’, it refers to both angels and demons.

That being said, that means that a characteristic of a false teacher is that they will blaspheme angels and demons. Quite a scary thought, and something worth our consideration.

But how do they do it? The word blasphemy means to defame or to vilify, to drag the name and reputation of an object or person down. We usually use the word in regards to God, indeed the 3rd commandment is “you shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain” or to put it another way “do not blaspheme God”. However we can also use the word in different contexts. For example, if someone is spreading malicious rumours about you, you could say that they are blaspheming you. The word works in this context.

But how do false teachers blaspheme angels and demons? Jude 9 tells us what this means:

Jude 1:9  But when the archangel Michael, contending with the devil, was disputing about the body of Moses, he did not presume to pronounce a blasphemous judgment, but said, "The Lord rebuke you."

In this verse, the archangel, who we would have said, next to God, is probably the most powerful being in the universe, does not take it upon himself or his own authority to rebuke Satan. If he had, that would have been a ‘blasphemous judgement as the verse says. Instead, Michael says ‘The Lord (the Greek word translated Lord literally means the Authority) rebuke you.

We could take this a number of ways, all equally valid. For example, a false teacher is someone who blasphemes the glorious ones by rebuking Satan or a demon on his own authority, or judging the demon. Or we could take it that these people are those who miss teach about angels and demons, giving people false ideas about who they are, and how they function.

This plays out in a number of ways, which I will outline in a later post. I will cite one example, of how this could happen. I have heard many false teachers use a phrase like “I bind Satan and the power he had over you.” There are so many things wrong with this statement, not least of which it is a person taking authority over Satan or a demon to somehow suppress their ability or movement.

Thus to sum up. One aspect of a false teacher is that they regularly mislead people about angels and demons, often with a large focus on casting demons out, and having authority over them.

Characteristics Of A False Teacher

In studying this text, I have made a focused study on a number of texts, including 2 Peter 2 and 2 Timothy 4. I have made some interesting discoveries observations. I will be telling you of some of them now and some later, my focus today will be on “what is a false teacher like?”

The list below (which is not exhaustive) is primarily on the texts of 2 Peter 2, and when I reference a verse it will be from that chapter, unless otherwise stated.

1. False teachers teach destructive heresy (vs 1)
2. They deny Jesus Christ even as they claim to follow Him, usually from within the church (vs 1)
3. They are usually are involved in unrepentant and ongoing sin, usually of a sexual or a covetous (i.e greed) nature. (vs 2; 10; 14 et. al)
4. They lie and deceive for gain, or to put it another way, they deceive people into giving them money (vs 3)
5. They despise authority. This applies primarily in the Church context, where there is no elders to keep them accountable – they do what they like (vs 10)
6. They are arrogant and reckless with demons* (vs 10; Jude 8-9)
7. They blaspheme and cause others, both believers and unbelievers to do the same (vs 2, 11)
8. They go on instinct rather that on scripture (vs 11, 12)

Ultimately, what a wolf will do to the flock is to tear a sheep away from the shepherd and devour it. This is the objective of a false teacher, sometime unwittingly. He or she will lead a person away from the real Jesus, often preventing a person from coming to genuine faith in Christ, their latter end becomes worse than their first and it would have been better if they had never heard. (2 Peter 2: 20 – 22)

Every false teacher has one other thing in common: God will squash them. (vs 1,3,4-8,17 et al) In these passages and others, God makes absolutely no bones about this. But can’t a false teacher repent? I hear you cry, short answer “yes.” I’ll be looking at that issue in a later post.

Soli Dei Gloria

 

 

 

 

*will go into much more depth with this one later

Introduction: A look at False Teaching & Heresy

False teachers have been a plague on the church. They have been around since the days of the apostles, indeed, the writers of the New Testament mentions at least one by name. In 3 John verse 9, John writes: I have written something to the church, but Diotrephes, who likes to put himself first, does not acknowledge our authority. Verse 10 goes on to describe how this false teacher slanders the apostles, and excommunicates anyone who disagrees with him. This description of a false teacher, is only one of many thousands who would come up against the church. In this post, and in further posts, I hope to show some common false teachings and heresies as well as draw up profiles of some historical as well as current false teachers and heretics. I will be naming some names which will not appeal to everyone, but considering what scripture has to say on the subject, I consider this very necessary.

But before we go on any further, there is a few things that need to be said. The first is that: naming names gives me no pleasure and my desire in doing so is twofold – 1. to warn people who may be deceived by false teachers, and 2. to, if possible, call these men and women to repentance, we love them and don’t want them harming the church any more, and in some cases, going to hell themselves.

The second thing that needs to be said is that in order to prevent myself from sinning or being snarky at such people, I will limit my descriptions of them to three terms, two biblical and one theological.

These terms are:

Mat 7:15 "Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves.

1. False teacher/ prophet – this phrase is used a large number of times in the bible, including by Jesus

2. Wolf. Bit of a strange term in today’s thinking but as any shepherd from most generations in the past will tell you (if you could talk to one) that wolves were not the “semi-friendly practically-a-dog” that we think of them as today. They were the sheep’s primary enemy, and thus the shepherd’s primary enemy. The wolf hunted the sheep to kill and consume it. This, is what Jesus is saying about the false prophets in our verse (Mat 7:15), as well as several others. Jesus would often use the analogy of Christians being sheep, and the wolves were out to get the sheep. Paul also makes use of this phrase in Acts 20:29.

Those are the two biblical terms, and I need to separate them from the theological term because the former is not the same as the latter.

3. Heretic. Heresy is a doctrine that, if believed, will demonstrate that you are not a believer in the true Christ, and thus can’t be saved, until the heresy is repented of. Heresy is different to false teaching in that (some) false teachers are still true believers, brothers and sisters in Christ, whereas no formal heretic is. I will illustrate the difference in the next post

That’s enough for now, in the next few posts I will expand on the concepts, bring in more scripture then begin building profiles on some false teachers and heretics.

God bless

If Only They Had Read The Verse

In light of the recently come-and-gone apocalypse and rapture that failed to happen on May 21st (yesterday) it is relevant for me to address the issue with a post and with a clear verse in scripture.

Matthew 24:36 But concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only.

Let me put this into . Jesus was asked by his disciples when will His (Jesus’) prophecies be fulfilled and when will be the sign of His return and the closing of the age (vs 3). Jesus then begins telling them about events that will happen during the build up to His return, the ‘signs of the end of the age.’ It is interesting that He begins by warning His disciples (and us):

“See that no one leads you astray” (vs 4)

He then goes on to describe a number of events that will happen during this time, leading up to Jesus’ return. This includes the statement:

Then if anyone says to you, 'Look, here is the Christ!' or 'There he is!' do not believe it. For false christs and false prophets will arise and perform great signs and wonders, so as to lead astray, if possible, even the elect. See, I have told you beforehand. So, if they say to you, 'Look, he is in the wilderness,' do not go out. If they say, 'Look, he is in the inner rooms,' do not believe it. (23-26).

Jesus specifically warns us that in the last days, people will present false christs, and false apocalypses. This goes even further than Mr Camping does, saying Christ HAS ACTUALLY RETURNED. we are warned beforehand, these things will (and even already have happened)

However, Jesus then goes on to describe how He will actually return which brings us up to the verse in question (vs 36) where Jesus states that no one know when He will return. That no one includes us ordinary human beings, angels of heaven, demons & Satan, and even the Son, Jesus Himself, has laid aside in omniscience as a man such that He does not know the day or the hour. Only the Father knows, and that His return will be like a thief who comes in the night, and is obviously, totally unexpected (1Thes 5:2).

If only the followers of Harold Camping had read and understood this very clear verse in scripture, we wouldn’t had the anti-climax of so many deceived people being disappointed. I pray God grants them an understanding of this scripture and that they would repent.

There is a few applications and further observations I would like to point out:
Firstly, for the Christian: be ready for Christ’s return, it could happen at any moment, the least expected moment. And don’t follow after the next deceived individual who decides on the next date of Jesus return. Also be ready to defend the true faith. Harold Camping positions himself (and is seen be the whole world to be) and evangelical Christian. This event has caused unbelievers to mock genuine Christians to scorn, one more time. We need to be able to distance ourselves from false prophets.

To the unbeliever: Just because some false prophet, claiming to be evangelical, is proved to be false, and that Jesus did not return as he said, this does not mean that Jesus Christ will not be returning. He (Jesus) has promised that He will, but that it will be unexpected. I beg you to repent and believe the gospel, to be ready for the day when the time is fulfilled and Christ returns. Also understand, we, the Christians, distance ourselves from Mr Camping and other false prophets who claim to know the hour of His return, we are not deceived by his prophecy and are not the same as them.

Finally to the Camping follower, Let Matthew 24:4 ring in your ears: “Do not be deceived”. I have sympathy for you, you are very disappointed. Many of you were very genuine in your desire to see Jesus. Nevertheless, you were deceived. Now I beg you, repent and return to the true Gospel, the only one that offers hope for eternal life. Also be weary, many of todays most popular and mainstream cults are formed out of groups of people who, in the past, believed in some other false prophet who said the world would end at such-in-such a time, on such-in-such a day. You are now in the position of being sucked into a new cult. I pray that this does not happen, and I beg you to flee from this.

 

In hopeful anticipation of Christ’s return…