Insider Attacks Against The Truth

Act 17:10 And the brethren immediately sent away Paul and Silas by night unto Berea: who coming thither went into the synagogue of the Jews.

Act 17:11 These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so.

The passage in Acts 17:10-11 introduces us to the Bereans, and, as the embedded 1998 and 2001 Deception In The Church Newsletters show, we need to take note of the efforts from many pulpits, to shoot the Bereans. Since Christianity is being turned upside-down, the primary role given the Holy Spirit in John 14:26 that “the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you” is being replaced by the teaching that the pastor now is the one that teach and remind us all things. It therefore becomes an offense, if anyone asks the preacher to justify the basis of his sermons. This is now seen as arising either from ignorance, as the questioner is not supposed to know or ask such questions, “Since he did not attend a seminary!”, or pride.

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So when preachers mount the pulpit and regale us of their exploits as a result of their ‘baptism of the Holy Ghost with the evidence of speaking in tongues’ we are only supposed to accept their teachings as given. We must not ask any question as to how, or if, what they are saying aligns with the New Testament. Some of them go to the extent of pronouncing curses on those who ask for biblical justification of their teachings. Some warn on the dangers of blaspheming the Holy Spirit!

And, about the 1 John 4:1-2 teaching on testing of spirits? That is something Christians are not now permitted to do, at least not when they are being taught by high-powered Bishops, Apostles and Senior Evangelists of our day.

Bible-believing Christians should be prepared for acts of intimidation from all quarters. We should be prepared for hostile frowns, if not outright ejection, in our attempts to unearth sources of taught ideas, particularly in the ‘church’. The devil may make use of our best friend to attempt to browbeat us on our reliance on the word of God. The Bible is the sole objective basis of all true knowledge of God and we cannot rely on anyone’s experience, no matter how holy it sounds. All experiences must be confirmed with the words of God written in the Bible. The only One we can give unfettered rein in our hearts is the one mediator between God and men, the Man, Christ Jesus: 1 Timothy 2:5 “For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus”.

Because He (Jesus) is not physically present here now, the way we confirm He is the One talking to our spirit is if the thing whispered to us is in complete agreement with the Bible. True Christians do not give in to any spirit purporting to speak in the name of God or Jesus without checking out what the spirit is saying with the Bible. Any preacher that says we must not check what he preaches or that says we cannot even do that because we have not been to a seminary is preaching another gospel, he is preaching heresy.

“But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him” 1 John 2:27 cannot have said it any clearer.

The pastors and preachers are good, but only to the extent they understand they are only supporting casts as far as teaching us about the true God is concerned. The Primary Teacher of true godliness is God, the Holy Spirit. That assignment has not been sub-contracted to any human being or institution.

The same spirit operating in the Catholic church is the one in power in Word of Faith, Pentecostal and Charismatic churches. It created the Pope, the so-called vicar, or substitute christ, in one, and is creating the all-knowing and infallible ‘man of God’ in the other churches. In both instances, the collegiate, open, mutually-accountable structure decreed in Matthew 23:8-10 is substituted with vertical, unitary command systems which the devil easily hijack and control. The hostile, unchristian, tyrannical nature of such organizations is very obvious to anyone with a little sense of self-worth.

We may therefore be opening ourselves up to serious satanic deception if we approach any teaching by anyone with an unquestioning spirit. We are not even supposed to transfer our confidence in anyone from one time to another! We are to check and check again so we may be sure what we are hearing or reading agrees with the Bible – Peter no sooner proclaimed Jesus as the Christ, the Son of the Living God, than the same Lord exclaimed, “Get thee behind me, Satan!” Matthew 16:23.

The Holy Spirit is the One that guides God’s children to the right way. He is also the One that gives them the love for the truth and the urge to please God. “For it is God which works in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure“. Php 2:13.

“For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people. And they shall not teach every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for all shall know me, from the least to the greatest” Heb 8:10-11.

The notion that we should suspend judgment on a pastor, or simply accept all we hear from him, because what he preached last year was all biblical is not supported by the Bible. We must test all words and statements made by anyone in the name of the Lord at all times in the light of God’s words written in the Bible. To the natural man, this may be impossible. But to people who are led by God’s Spirit, it is not that difficult. In any case, if a true child of God is unsure of which is which, he can cry to the Lord Jesus Christ for guidance.

So, if a sermon includes intimidation or persuasion or warning against checking it up with the Bible, either implied or expressed, we can safely throw it in the trash bin. If the preaching is only on the experiences of the preacher, something we can neither confirm nor disprove by two or more clear passages of the Bible in context, we can safely throw it away. If a sermon is a list of the spiritual achievements of a pastor, we can very well do away with it. The only One whose achievements must excite us is the Lord Jesus Christ.

Our churches are being overrun with strange ideas sourced from the occult in the names of Pentecostal, Full Gospel and Charismatic teachings. The last things the bearers of these ideas tolerate are questions on the Biblical basis of their teachings.

May each be blessed as we read, digest and pray on these 1998 and 2001 Newsletters.