Scripture: John 10 v 20 - 21: "And many of them said, He hath a devil, and is mad; why hear ye him?
21 Others said, These are not the words of him that hath a devil. Can a devil open the eyes of the blind?"
The question being asked by so many these days is....Do we go to church because we really enjoy the entertainment and the Pastor does not talk about sin or demons, he just says things we like to hear because he is spiritually blind? True pastors are persecuted, being labelled mad or devilish. People are warned not to listen to them.
(If you are on X you can scroll down the almost 2700 blogs on @propheticfire01 and you will see many with red warnings of dangerous content! People are even scared to like or repost any blog of mine. Few there be that go down the narrow way that leads to life.)
I was inspired to write this blog today because I discovered that the strange fire of the mix of Christianity and the Babylonian religion happened at the Council of Laodicea in 336, which became known as the Roman Catholic Church. The Caesers were called Pontifex Maximus, the builders of bridges, which the Popes are now called. Bridges into all religions leading to God, the one world church. Laodicea the blind leading the blind.
This is the Millennium that has brought us the season of instant gratification. Can you imagine going back to "snail mail" instead of e-mail and Whatsapp, Instagram and Facebook? Those old cameras with spools full of photographs that would have to be developed and pasted into an album? How exciting it was when the new "1 Hour Lab" could develop those photos much quicker!
People get bored having to wait for things to happen. Not all prayers are answered instantaneously! Some may be but its not in our power to decide which ones. Patience is one of the fruits of the Holy Spirit most needed these days. Wait on the Lord.
The pastors know that if they don't pander to the whims of the congregation that most will move on to the Church down the hill that will give them the soulish buzz they crave. They don't realise that God only meets with you when your spirit is in line with His.
John 4 v 23 - 24: "But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him.
24 God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth." Words of Jesus.
Soulish entertainment and a watered down gospel is just what the Devil has on his agenda to keep God's Word being productive.....
My people perish through lack of knowledge!
Satan loves it when God's people perish because then he has their souls in the invisible cages under his evil control. He can manipulate the family through suicide of a teen being horribly undermined and harassed on Facebook. Or get an affair going with a good husband's secretary resulting in a messy scandal and divorce. Much pain, bitterness, and brokenness to open doors to alcohol and drugs. Destruction of the personality on the way to Hell.
Let us see what a Chinese pastor has to say:
CHINESE Leader SPEAKS OUT
-Brother Yun.
Before I travelled to the West I had absolutely no idea that so many churches were spiritually asleep. I presumed the Western church was strong and vibrant because it had brought the gospel to my country with such incredible faith and tenacity. Many missionaries had shown a powerful example to us by laying down
their lives for the sake of Jesus.
On some occasions I've struggled while speaking in Western churches. There seems to be something missing that leaves me feeling terrible inside. Many meetings are cold and and lack the fire and presence of God that we have in China.
In the West many Christians have an abundance of material possessions, yet they live in a backslidden state. They have silver and gold, but they don't rise up and walk in Jesus' name. In China, we have no possessions to hold us down, so there's nothing preventing us from moving out for the Lord. The Chinese church is like Peter at the Beautiful Gate. When he saw the crippled beggar he said, "Silver or gold I do not have, but what I have I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk!"
In a similar way, I pray that God might use the Chinese church to help the Western church rise up and walk in the power of the Holy Spirit. It's almost impossible for the church in China to go to sleep in its present situation. There's always something to
keep us on the run, and it's very difficult to sleep while you're running. If persecution stops, I fear we'll become complacent and
fall asleep.
In THE WEST...
Multitudes of church members are satisfied with giving their minimum to God, not their maximum. I've watched men and women during offering time in church. They open their fat wallets and search for the smallest amount they can give. This type of attitude will never do! Jesus gave his whole life for us, and we
give as little of our lives, time, and money as we can give back to God. What a disgrace! Repent!
This may sound strange, but I even miss the offerings we used to give in China. On numerous occasions, the leader of a meeting would announce, "We have a new worker who is leaving tomorrow to serve the Lord." Immediately every single person would completely empty their pockets of everything they had. With that
money, the worker would buy a train or bus ticket and leave the next day.
Often this money was not just everything we had in our pockets at that time, but everything we owned in the whole world.
Just because you have a church building doesn't necessarily mean Jesus is with you. He is not welcome in many churches today. In Revelation 3:20 Jesus said, "Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and dine with him, and he with me."
Often this verse is used as an invitation for salvation, but actually the context Jesus was speaking in was very different. He was
standing outside the door of the church of Laodicea, knocking to get in!
~ From Yun's book 'THE HEAVENLY MAN', pg 295-298.
Revelation 3 v 16 - 19: "So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth.
17 Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked:
18 I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see.
19 As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent."
This is the seventh letter that Jesus wrote to the ruling angels over individual churches in chapters 2 and 3 of Revelations. This church in Asia Minor was called Laodicea, famous for its ointments or eye salves.
Jesus says to these Christians, If your faith and commitment is neither hot nor cold but lukewarm, He will spit you out of His mouth. This is a very serious problem in today's Church. We have come full circle to the last letter, and we have not gained much ground.
The Devil has pulled the wool over many eyes. Christians feel no urgency because of complacency. Many who are willing the Rapture to come are going to be devastated when they are left behind. The Word of God is our guide into all truth, with plenty of warnings of what needs to be done to be counted worthy of Heaven. James says faith without works is dead.
This does not mean that by doing good works we earn the privilege of salvation and Heaven. It means that when you are born again, if Jesus is real and you have a relationship with Him you will do anything, give everything, be willing to die for Him if that will complete His plan for your life. This kind of Faith produces works, even some greater works than Jesus did, that produces great fruit upon the vine of God. If we bear no fruit we lose out.
John 15 v 1 - 6: "I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman.
2 Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit.
3 Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you.
4 Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me.
5 I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.
6 If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned."
It is all about abiding, meaning staying constantly in touch with Jesus in order to drop every worldly thing if He needs you to do something urgent for Him. These miracles prevent us ever having to say "If only....! Those are among the two saddest words in our vocabulary. "If only I had gone to visit my Mom when I felt in my heart Jesus saying she needed me, but waiting till the weekend meant I never had a chance to say goodbye."
When we ignore the prompting of the Holy Spirit enough times He stops bothering us. We are not abiding in Jesus Christ, we are doing our own thing believing He will understand. The scriptures say what we do unto others will be done to us. By God. If we neglect the full Word of God so we can enjoy life to the full, don't be surprised when you pitch up at the Pearly Gates and hear....You have already had your reward.
Matthew 6 v 1 - 2: "Take heed that ye do not your alms before men, to be seen of them: otherwise ye have no reward of your Father which is in heaven.
2 Therefore when thou doest thine alms, do not sound a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward."
Don't brag on your generosity has the same result. We need to get our heads round what the Lord wants us to do to fulfil the Great Commission regardless of how that might affect our plans for personal entertainment, holidays, or anything else. If we are in churches like Pastor Yun described confront the Pastor and if he is happy to be complacent, leave and find a church worthy of the name.
Prayer: Heavenly Father we know Jesus is coming soon but so many are going astray because their shepherds are hirelings with no love for You. Love is an action not an emotion. Love surrenders all for our precious Saviour who gave His life to bring us Home. Father we can do no less for Him than to be the Body of Christ in power and glory. In Jesus' name. Amen.
This is the Millennium that has brought us the season of instant gratification. Can you imagine going back to "snail mail" instead of e-mail and Whatsapp, Instagram and Facebook? Those old cameras with spools full of photographs that would have to be developed and pasted into an album? How exciting it was when the new "1 Hour Lab" could develop those photos much quicker!
People get bored having to wait for things to happen. Not all prayers are answered instantaneously! Some may be but its not in our power to decide which ones. Patience is one of the fruits of the Holy Spirit most needed these days. Wait on the Lord.
The pastors know that if they don't pander to the whims of the congregation that most will move on to the Church down the hill that will give them the soulish buzz they crave. They don't realise that God only meets with you when your spirit is in line with His.
John 4 v 23 - 24: "But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him.
24 God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth." Words of Jesus.
Soulish entertainment and a watered down gospel is just what the Devil has on his agenda to keep God's Word being productive.....
My people perish through lack of knowledge!
Satan loves it when God's people perish because then he has their souls in the invisible cages under his evil control. He can manipulate the family through suicide of a teen being horribly undermined and harassed on Facebook. Or get an affair going with a good husband's secretary resulting in a messy scandal and divorce. Much pain, bitterness, and brokenness to open doors to alcohol and drugs. Destruction of the personality on the way to Hell.
Let us see what a Chinese pastor has to say:
CHINESE Leader SPEAKS OUT
-Brother Yun.
Before I travelled to the West I had absolutely no idea that so many churches were spiritually asleep. I presumed the Western church was strong and vibrant because it had brought the gospel to my country with such incredible faith and tenacity. Many missionaries had shown a powerful example to us by laying down
their lives for the sake of Jesus.
On some occasions I've struggled while speaking in Western churches. There seems to be something missing that leaves me feeling terrible inside. Many meetings are cold and and lack the fire and presence of God that we have in China.
In the West many Christians have an abundance of material possessions, yet they live in a backslidden state. They have silver and gold, but they don't rise up and walk in Jesus' name. In China, we have no possessions to hold us down, so there's nothing preventing us from moving out for the Lord. The Chinese church is like Peter at the Beautiful Gate. When he saw the crippled beggar he said, "Silver or gold I do not have, but what I have I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk!"
In a similar way, I pray that God might use the Chinese church to help the Western church rise up and walk in the power of the Holy Spirit. It's almost impossible for the church in China to go to sleep in its present situation. There's always something to
keep us on the run, and it's very difficult to sleep while you're running. If persecution stops, I fear we'll become complacent and
fall asleep.
In THE WEST...
Multitudes of church members are satisfied with giving their minimum to God, not their maximum. I've watched men and women during offering time in church. They open their fat wallets and search for the smallest amount they can give. This type of attitude will never do! Jesus gave his whole life for us, and we
give as little of our lives, time, and money as we can give back to God. What a disgrace! Repent!
This may sound strange, but I even miss the offerings we used to give in China. On numerous occasions, the leader of a meeting would announce, "We have a new worker who is leaving tomorrow to serve the Lord." Immediately every single person would completely empty their pockets of everything they had. With that
money, the worker would buy a train or bus ticket and leave the next day.
Often this money was not just everything we had in our pockets at that time, but everything we owned in the whole world.
Just because you have a church building doesn't necessarily mean Jesus is with you. He is not welcome in many churches today. In Revelation 3:20 Jesus said, "Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and dine with him, and he with me."
Often this verse is used as an invitation for salvation, but actually the context Jesus was speaking in was very different. He was
standing outside the door of the church of Laodicea, knocking to get in!
~ From Yun's book 'THE HEAVENLY MAN', pg 295-298.
Revelation 3 v 16 - 19: "So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth.
17 Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked:
18 I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see.
19 As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent."
This is the seventh letter that Jesus wrote to the ruling angels over individual churches in chapters 2 and 3 of Revelations. This church in Asia Minor was called Laodicea, famous for its ointments or eye salves.
Jesus says to these Christians, If your faith and commitment is neither hot nor cold but lukewarm, He will spit you out of His mouth. This is a very serious problem in today's Church. We have come full circle to the last letter, and we have not gained much ground.
The Devil has pulled the wool over many eyes. Christians feel no urgency because of complacency. Many who are willing the Rapture to come are going to be devastated when they are left behind. The Word of God is our guide into all truth, with plenty of warnings of what needs to be done to be counted worthy of Heaven. James says faith without works is dead.
This does not mean that by doing good works we earn the privilege of salvation and Heaven. It means that when you are born again, if Jesus is real and you have a relationship with Him you will do anything, give everything, be willing to die for Him if that will complete His plan for your life. This kind of Faith produces works, even some greater works than Jesus did, that produces great fruit upon the vine of God. If we bear no fruit we lose out.
John 15 v 1 - 6: "I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman.
2 Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit.
3 Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you.
4 Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me.
5 I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.
6 If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned."
It is all about abiding, meaning staying constantly in touch with Jesus in order to drop every worldly thing if He needs you to do something urgent for Him. These miracles prevent us ever having to say "If only....! Those are among the two saddest words in our vocabulary. "If only I had gone to visit my Mom when I felt in my heart Jesus saying she needed me, but waiting till the weekend meant I never had a chance to say goodbye."
When we ignore the prompting of the Holy Spirit enough times He stops bothering us. We are not abiding in Jesus Christ, we are doing our own thing believing He will understand. The scriptures say what we do unto others will be done to us. By God. If we neglect the full Word of God so we can enjoy life to the full, don't be surprised when you pitch up at the Pearly Gates and hear....You have already had your reward.
Matthew 6 v 1 - 2: "Take heed that ye do not your alms before men, to be seen of them: otherwise ye have no reward of your Father which is in heaven.
2 Therefore when thou doest thine alms, do not sound a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward."
Don't brag on your generosity has the same result. We need to get our heads round what the Lord wants us to do to fulfil the Great Commission regardless of how that might affect our plans for personal entertainment, holidays, or anything else. If we are in churches like Pastor Yun described confront the Pastor and if he is happy to be complacent, leave and find a church worthy of the name.
Prayer: Heavenly Father we know Jesus is coming soon but so many are going astray because their shepherds are hirelings with no love for You. Love is an action not an emotion. Love surrenders all for our precious Saviour who gave His life to bring us Home. Father we can do no less for Him than to be the Body of Christ in power and glory. In Jesus' name. Amen.