18/12/2013
THE CHURCH HEADING FOR DESTRUCTION (PART 1):
THE FOOLS OF THE KINGDOM
In our world today, we all must have heard of the “Church of Satan”. And this is what the scripture calls “Synagogue of Satan” Rev 2:9; 3:9. But that term seems to be specific. In a general sense, that term connotes churches where the spirit of antichrist rules and reigns king, where God is not the object of their worship. They engage themselves more in the form, not in the substance, thus never experiencing the true power of God and the glory of God.
They carnally and deceitfully worship God, certainly only with lying lips and corrupt and sinful hearts. They think they get God deceived and mocked by doing that but they are the ones who really are. They have departed from the faith and their practice of godliness is false and fake.
So we need to know what category the church we attend, or around us, or we hear about, falls into. The Bible says by their fruit you shall know them Matt 7:16, 20. This is what Jesus Christ was addressing to the seven churches in Asia Minor in the Book of Revelation. The purpose of Jesus revealing the truth about whom or what these churches are is because He is coming for a perfect Bride, the wise virgin.
Such vineyards are full of spiritual weaknesses and engage in spiritual wickedness. They are neither here or there, cold nor hot, evil or good. They seek for prosperity outside Christ but deceitfully make you believe that their preaching is in the name of the Lord. They equate outward prosperity with your spiritual growth and maturity in Christ. That is, they have made outward show of prosperity a mark of the true church. They serve Teraphim: an image, idol or god who is commonly known as the giver of prosperity.
Apostasy is the ruin of any church or nation. This apostasy is evidence that a church is heading for hell and destruction, and a great provocation to God. Their security lies in their worldly possession. This is what the gospel of prosperity preaches and assures its hearers. They don’t see the need why a Christian should suffer for the cause of the word of God and the witness of Jesus. They brainwash their followers into believing that Christ died for your poverty and abolish your poverty on the cross. What poverty are they saying?
One of the reasons for spiritual slothfulness which has made the church neither godly nor worldly is the wrong doctrine of prosperity that has crept into the church unaware. Today’s church has become more worldly than godly, has blended itself into the system of the world. Now we see worldly churches with inward corruption of the soul and faith. They display outward godliness which the scripture calls ‘form of godliness’.
Their object of worship is not God; their object of study is not the word of God. They only do so in outward demonstration. Presently, there is no difference between a club and a church. They are the false sheep of God and thus they have hardened their heart to hear the voice of Christ. They refuse to hear because they do not know or have true intimate relationship with God.
Just like Judas Iscariot who was with Jesus physically but totally disconnected from Him spiritually. He serves Jesus with the lip, a sign of outwardness, but never with the heart recognizing Jesus as his Lord. That is while scripture calls him ‘the devil’ or ‘the son of perdition’.
Such people are not known by Christ neither do they know Him in their thought but they profess they do in works or in duty. They only make a part of the word of God their rule of speech and conduct because that part speaks of blessings and benefits; their rights and privileges.
They claim to be faithful servants in the kingdom of God but in that said kingdom they are not known. They are neither citizens there nor sons of eternal life. Day by day and year after year, we only know that they are church goers but they are never striving to be more of Christ in thoughts, communication and actions, even in character and doctrine-in works and words.
You never see them operate godly principles and the practice of kingdom love which should be the true identity every Disciples of Christ. They are faithful adherence to denominationalism or what they called the pillars of the commission.
Their preachers are persuasive speakers. They minister and share the testimony of God with excellence of speech or of man’s wisdom 1 Cor. 2:1. What they call the testimony of God is their own experience. They make their experience to interpret the word of God instead of subjecting their experience to the word of God.
This church is more concerned about the charisma than the character of Christ. They institutionalized things that were never met to be in the church and thus producing a counterfeit of heaven’s plan. They don’t care where they belong in the scheme of God presently. For they are in the black book of God, the Book of Damnation, Death and Hell, thus are set for destruction, damnation.
Brotherly love is alien to them but what prevails with them is the manipulation of the hearts of people to advance personal ambition. This ambition is the corruption of eternal plan and purpose. For example, you here the preacher say the church wants to start a university and they call it kingdom project.
And you see people giving for the successful completion of the project. After completion this university becomes the personal property of the founder with his name engrave in all the documents. This they continue in subsequent projects and thus acquiring more property to their possession and self aggrandizement.
They focus more on sacrifice than more weighty matters of the kingdom of God. Obedience to the word of God and the ex*****on of judgment and justice are more than sacrifice 1 Sam 15:22; Prov. 21:3.
They favour more the Old Testament doctrine thus preferring, in a sense, the old covenant and never coming to New Covenant terms. Francis Bacon says “the blessing of the old testament is prosperity while the blessing of the new is adversity”.
This adversity is vividly portrayed by the early apostles and the early church. Suffering is the pathway of obtaining the glory and crown 1 Peter 5:10. These followers of Christ in the Acts of Apostles did not seek the comfort of prosperity gospel. They were committed to the word of God, the work of God and the witness of Jesus.
Prosperity gospel is another gospel. What this simply means, whether you agree or not, there is a famine of the hearing of the true gospel. And the hearing of the word of redemption is referred to as doctrine. So the church where there is famine of faith, the true word of faith such is a candidate of hell, a church heading for the wrath of God, and thus the sentence of heaven is set before her and against her. Just as Saul lost his kingdom that is how this church will loses its relevance very soon and their light is gross darkness.
They don’t speak the language of God without subtracting from the word of God. In their discourse and conducts, arrogance and pride underlies it.
They center more on miracles but not the word of God. Deception is their hallmark, not truth; corruption of souls, not grace. Just like you will find, they blaspheme, in another way, the name of God. They say they are the people of God whereas in real sense they are the people of Satan. Satan is their father, the father of liars. Money is the motif of their ministry. They run ministry by tactics and gimmicks and thus go astray in the process of doing this, go astray collecting or getting this money from their congregation.
They die for lack of instruction and this they have become- fools who have gone astray from the path of righteousness Prov. 5:23. They have turned their back unto folly because folly is their way, the way unto their own destruction. For the way that seems right unto their own eyes that they follow Prov. 14:12. They take pride in the fame of their church’s name or founder’s name which automatically makes doom their fate.
THE FOOLISH BRIDE is the church heading for her fate of doom. THE PRIDE OF FOOLS is their own folly or foolishness. And also THE FOOL’S PRIDE is SATAN AND HELL-whether he or she is aware of this truth or not.
Worship with Us today @ High Apostle Assembly International, GRACE VINE, Odigie Street, PZ Road, Off Sapele Road, Benin City. +234-7035756475; 08138028322
