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Equipping the Body of Christ

FIRE WITHOUT, FIRE WITHIN – THE PASTOR WHO WOULD CHALLENGE THE SPIRIT OF GRACE 3
Feb

It is time for Christians everywhere to take inventory of what is transpiring within the Body of Christ. You ignore current realities to your peril. The church today is in a state that could be compared to what we see and read about in I Samuel where we see the words “And the word of the Lord was rare in those days; there was no widespread revelation”.

What is of note about this time period is that Eli and his sons were individuals who were in positions of spiritual leadership but, there was no leading of the Holy Spirit. In other words, these individuals held their positions but functioned and operated in these positions in “name only”. They had the titles, but they had no real power. This describes much of the church today as we see many who have titles and name recognition, but no real spiritual power. They are like the army of Israel going out to fight against the Philistines while thinking that victory would be theirs just like in times past. However, this day would be different. God was going to judge Israel because of the dereliction of duty of the spiritual leadership.

The Ark of The Covenant was brought out into the battle as in times past; however, on this day there was no presence of the Holy Spirit to assist Israel in the battle. The battle was lost that day, many soldiers died and the Ark of The Covenant was captured. Also, during this battle, the two sons of Eli were killed. Upon hearing the news of all this, Eli falls backwards and breaks his neck and dies “for he was old and heavy”.

I believe this describes the state of the church today, “old (not spiritually current), and heavy (lazy and indifferent) to the things of God”. We read that the Lord was very angry with the sons of Eli. In the Bible we see the word of the Lord concerning Hophni and Phinehas and we read where the Bible says “Nevertheless they did not heed the voice of their father, because the Lord desired to kill them”.

I believe that there are those in ministry within the church today who, just like Eli and his sons, have grieved the Holy Spirit with their continued and unrelenting sinful behavior, to the point that the Lord is going to remove them. It will be the Lord and no man can stop Him. It will be judgment from above.

God has a standard. God has communicated His standard to us through His word. It is clear that ministers of the gospel are held to a high standard. God will not be mocked. The requirement that ministers live a life of holiness before the Lord cannot be negotiated away or relegated as unimportant by any man. And, if any man teaches doctrine that misleads the flock, then God will judge that man.

Lately, we have witnessed an almost “carnival type atmosphere” surrounding some so-called ministers of the gospel. These phonies go to no length to smear, trivialize and demean the Holy Name of God. They believe it is their responsibility to make God “common”. They communicate the gospel message with such crass vulgarity it is stunning. These preachers are even comparing the precious anointing of the Holy Spirit to the type of experience that is usually associated with what a demon-possessed drug user experiences when shooting up heroin. It is an abomination. God is not pleased at this sort of “cuteness” and He will judge these ministers. Wait and see.

Also, from the same group of ministers described above, we are witnessing a mocking of the experience of speaking in tongues. These phony ministers make vulgar, immature, rude, weird and ugly type sounds as they mimic the real and genuine act of speaking in tongues. They do this because they are not called to preach the gospel. These men are hirelings. They care nothing about the sheep. They care nothing about proper instruction or appropriate behavior. They are in rebellion. They are offending the spirit of grace and they are kindling the wrath of God against themselves. He will judge these mockers of the gospel. Wait and see.

These same imposters believe they have the authority to compromise the truth of the gospel to somehow make it relevant for today. In their attempt to “modernize” the gospel they handle the word of God violently. These men neither have the guts or character to preach the Bible as it is. They have to play act and make up silly stunts in their attempt to preach. They are underdeveloped spiritually. They are not led by the Holy Spirit but rather, they are led by the base attributes of their flesh nature. These men are what the Bible describes as “white-washed sepulchers”. And, their throats are open graves. Hell is opening wide to receive these men. God will judge them for misleading the people astray.

Next, we have ministers who have gone into the sin of homosexuality. They are practicing a lifestyle that is sinful and contrary to the word of God. They are leading people astray into a vast wasteland of failure and misery. These ministers are leading the people headlong into the flames of Hell. God will judge these ministers most severely of all.

If you examine the history of how God has dealt with the sin of homosexuality in the past, it is clear that He is getting ready to intervene in the goings on of the present day church. How can He not?

Over the past few years we have witnessed several prominent Christian leaders admit to homosexual behavior. I believe we are getting ready to witness two or three more top Christian leaders be exposed for their homosexual lifestyles. I believe homosexuality has made far greater inroads into the Christian community than we realize.

One may ask how did all this happen? I am now convinced, after studying the Bible, that the Jezebel spirit and the homosexual spirit work together. I believe that we have seen the Body of Christ hammered with a blizzard of false prophecy and false prophetic teaching over the last several years. It has had the same effect that a long and protracted artillery barrage has on an enemy target. In military terms it “softens” the target for the ground troops that will follow. So, Satan has launched a withering barrage of false prophecy and false teaching against the church and now, the homosexual spirits are moving in.

When reading the stories in the Old Testament about idol worship, false prophecy and false prophetic systems, it is clear to see and understand that “temple sex” was a significant component of the false prophetic system. The “temple sex” part of it was no doubt a significant motivator for people to get involved in the false prophetic system. So, it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to understand how the homosexual spirit could move in when you had a large group of false prophets and their followers all having sex at the temple. According to scripture, that is how these spirits worked together in the past. And, I am convinced that they continue to work together today. We are seeing it before our very eyes. There is no other way to explain what we are witnessing in the Body of Christ.

I see the day approaching when Bible believing Christians are going to become a very exclusive minority. The pressure is growing to give in to those who say there is nothing wrong with being homosexual. Those Christians who maintain a belief in holiness and Godly living are going to be portrayed more and more as unenlightened, unintelligent, uncultured, and unsophisticated. The homosexuals have won the battle for public opinion. But, none of this changes God. None of this changes the requirements of a Holy God. None of this changes the Word of God. God is still God and He does not change. The holiness of God is not seasonal, it is not negotiable, and it does not change because the latest fashions have changed. God and His word were around in the beginning, and God and His word will be around in the End.

 

Publish Date: February 03, 2009



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