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Beware of long term deception
What if I told you that no matter how much information you share with your friends about the corrupt Babylonian world system and its reach in school, college, work and church, over 90% of them won’t care until it’s too late & only then will they wonder how we allowed this to happen?
A little bit of deviation from the good, can get you more towards evil. A little tolerance of immoral behavior, can cause a region to have rampant adultery and fornication, in a few decades if unchecked. A little leniency towards lies, can cause the entire community to be untrustworthy.
What’s the ‘little’ in your life and that of your friends and family that must not be given to evil, is not just your choice but your undeniable responsibility?
A few Bible verses to consider about the little things or little leaven of life:
- And again Jesus said, “To what shall I compare the kingdom of God? “It is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three pecks of flour until it was all leavened.” (Luke 13:20-21)
- When the disciples reached the other side, they had forgotten to bring any bread. Jesus said to them, “Watch and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees.” And they began discussing it among themselves, saying, “We brought no bread.” But Jesus, aware of this, said, “O you of little faith, why are you discussing among yourselves the fact that you have no bread? Do you not yet perceive? Do you not remember the five loaves for the five thousand, and how many baskets you gathered? Or the seven loaves for the four thousand, and how many baskets you gathered? How is it that you fail to understand that I did not speak about bread? Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees.” Then they understood that he did not tell them to beware of the leaven of bread, but of the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees. (Matthew 16:5-12)
- Your boasting is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump of dough? Clean out the old leaven so that you may be a new lump, just as you are in fact unleavened. For Christ our Passover also has been sacrificed. Therefore let us celebrate the feast, not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. (1 Corinthians 5:6-8)
Observe how Jesus warned his disciples about the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees but comparing how a little leaven can end up leavening the entire measure of flour its mixed up with. And yes, the disciples actually understood what Jesus said. Does everyone who profess to be a follower of Jesus take that much care to understand what the Lord has said? Not everyone but there are a few who actually do so and put his words into practice. We can confirm this by the following verses:
“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’ (Matthew 7:21-23)
One of the key points of the above verses is to do the will of God who is in heaven. The Bible which is the Word of God also teaches us to observe and interpret the times and seasons because it’s finally about the coming back of the Son of Man on earth. A few verses in this light:
- He also said to the crowds, “When you see a cloud rising in the west, you say at once, ‘A shower is coming.’ And so it happens. And when you see the south wind blowing, you say, ‘There will be scorching heat,’ and it happens. You hypocrites! You know how to interpret the appearance of earth and sky, but why do you not know how to interpret the present time? (Luke 12:54-56)
- “And there will be signs in sun and moon and stars, and on the earth distress of nations in perplexity because of the roaring of the sea and the waves, people fainting with fear and with foreboding of what is coming on the world. For the powers of the heavens will be shaken. And then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. Now when these things begin to take place, straighten up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.” (Luke 21:25-28)
Mark of the Beast?
But one may ask why are they to observe the time and seasons, if all they need to do is to be faithful to Jesus Christ? Now to answer to that is already given by Jesus himself in the following verses:
“But watch yourselves lest your hearts be weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and cares of this life, and that day come upon you suddenly like a trap. For it will come upon all who dwell on the face of the whole earth. But stay awake at all times, praying that you may have strength to escape all these things that are going to take place, and to stand before the Son of Man.” (Luke 21:34-36)
O people of God do not be deceived! The works of darkness are showing themselves more blatantly than ever before. Kids are being exposed to sensuality much earlier than those of the previous generations. As a result there are teenagers who get pregnant when they are not emotionally nor fully physically ready for childbirth and child rearing. The entertainment is becoming more and more occult oriented than ever before but people are only pretending that they should not be bothered. And what to say of the preachers who don’t want to preach against sin?
This is the long term deception I’m talking about; that people get warned years in advance in the Bible about sin and deception and yet do not give heed to the warnings. Then one fine day when they are in either suffering in Hell or are alive in a world of darkness they wonder what did they miss that could have not landed them in such a bad state. Don’t wait to fall in that time but rather be wise enough to read the Word of God and act on it and keep yourself pure and help others to be pure for the Lord Jesus.
Christ be with you!
Being teachable or remaining ignorant?
The Bible encourages us to be teachable unto to things of God. A wise son hears his father’s instruction, but a scoffer does not listen to rebuke. (Proverbs 13:1). Do you listen to God our father’s instructions as given in the Bible? Perhaps a reminder of the meaning of the word ‘teachable’ would be beneficial.
Teach·able: 1 a : capable of being taught b : apt and willing to learn 2 : favorable to teaching (reference: Merriam-webster dictionary)Let me first give you an example of what it means to be unteachable. Here we go with a conversation about a guy Adam inviting to his friend Jacob to a teaching on prophecy:
Adam: “Jacob, there’s a teaching on prophecy about the end times by so and so preachers in church next weekend. They are teaching about how to avoid the various deceptions and also they’re giving a warning of bloodshed during the great tribulation.”
Jacob: “Adam, please don’t talk negative things. I don’t want to know evil.”
Adam: “No it’s not. I just want you to benefit from what is mentioned in the Bible. That’s all I want my friend.”
Jacob: “I hate bloodshed and deception. I don’t want anything to do with it”
Adam: “This teaching doesn’t teach you sin by lying or killing. Now to kindly explain; it could help you keep your faith by…”
Jacob: “Hey wait! I always keep my faith. Are you accusing me of losing my faith?”
Adam: “No please. That’s not what I meant…”
Jacob: “Get away from me. Why did you talk about deception and bloodshed?”
Adam: “With all due respect I want to tell you the importance of such teachings but you are not letting me finish what I want to say.”
Jacob: “Whatever.”
Adam: “Ok then, leave it. If you don’t want to hear me then I can’t expect you to listen to that preacher either.”
Jacob: “You are judging me.”
Adam: “Excuse me, you were first to judge when you said that I’m talking negative.”
Jacob: “Just stop talking negative!”
Adam: “Fine, keep to your ignorance and good luck with that!”
Now I don’t want to focus on how polite Adam should have been. Nowadays there is too much emphasis on being polite rather than being right. There’s a place for empathy but you should realize some people are too engrossed in themselves. So, I’m talking about how Jacob deliberately was avoiding going to the teaching on prophecy. He was only bothered about himself and kept interrupting whenever an explanation was offered. That is a fine example of being unteachable.
Don’t get me wrong but the scope of this post is not limited to only learning prophecy. I stand for all the topics and teachings of the Bible which we are to learn.
There are some people in the church who are quite cosy in their ignorance of the word of God. They are aware of certain Bible verses and they do try to understand these verses. However due to their own reasons, they avoid getting taught on every Bible topic.
For them peace, love and miracles are the only things to hear. Now try teaching them about repentance, avoiding false prophets, exposing pedophiles etc and they will first get uneasy and later angry. Most will try to exit the place where such topics are spoken but some will be so outraged that they will be very vocal in their dissent. They may say, ‘You have said this but as per my experience we shouldn’t be talking about it’ or may say ‘I don’t know about this topic and I don’t want to know’.
So you ask them where in the Bible it says we shouldn’t get this topics taught and they get cornered. As they don’t read the Bible that well, they will not know even if there was a Bible verse prohibiting so and so teaching. Such is the depth of their ‘experience’. There are verses in the Bible that in fact tell us what things not to learn. Here’s one of them; But I have this against you, that you tolerate that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess and is teaching and seducing my servants to practice sexual immorality and to eat food sacrificed to idols. (Revelation 2:20 ESV). I will also mention another one; But I also have a message for the rest of you in Thyatira who have not followed this false teaching (‘deeper truths,’ as they call them–depths of Satan, actually). I will ask nothing more of you (Revelation 2:24 NLT).
For such people their experiences are greater teachers than anyone else. They will try to avoid any teaching that is not sugar-coated or doesn’t fit their religious theology. Obsession with sugar-coated teachings reminds me of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder though the former is more about deliberate choices rather than the latter’s medical leanings.
To make this clear let’s go through another example; you see a bridge on the verge of collapsing any second and everyone is avoiding that bridge. Now a person is trying to cross it. You say, ‘Hey, the bridge is about to collapse any moment so don’t cross it’. And that person replies ‘Why should I listen? You didn’t say ‘please’ nor ‘kindly’. How dare you address me as ‘Hey’?’ You realize that empathy will help in such a case and so you then say, ‘Excuse me but since I don’t know your name I used the word ‘Hey’ and as it’s a matter of life and death I had decided to cut down on the pleasantries. So now will you kindly please avoid this bridge as its way to dangerous’. Then the person replies saying ‘O good. I shall surely not cross this bridge. Thanks for telling me in a way I am accustomed to understand.’ This may seem absurd in the world but in Church there are some Christians who behave just the same as the person trying to cross the dangerous bridge. Give them all warnings with related verses but they won’t even consider unless it’s in terms of their liking.
You see how people are more concerned about the sugar-coating rather than the actual topic of the words spoken. Such people are prone to deception unless they start checking facts before politeness. Because these people have an obsession that until and unless the words are not sugared to their liking they won’t even consider. The Evil One knows this too well. He therefore will make the temptation to sin look very pleasant as per that persons notions of politeness who only partly depends on God’s word to know what is true from false. As long as his inducement to sin seems pleasant to the eye (or mind) the gullible person will consume the product with great relish.
Not just the Devil, even selfish marketing people use the same trick of fake empathy. They speak lies so kindly and politely even if they don’t mean it. And thus sell products like insurance, weird oils, weight loss powders etc to people who don’t even need them. (Food for thought)
It’s time to start being teachable in the truest sense. It’s not about accepting any teaching for the sake of accepting. Rather we learn things because they are right in the eyes of God and help us and our brothers and sisters in Christ to admonish them of dangers, also to love, respect and bless one another for the glory of God.
Here a few Bible verses about being teachable:
- And when he sits on the throne of his kingdom, he shall write for himself in a book a copy of this law, approved by the Levitical priests. And it shall be with him, and he shall read in it all the days of his life, that he may learn to fear the Lord his God by keeping all the words of this law and these statutes, and doing them, that his heart may not be lifted up above his brothers, and that he may not turn aside from the commandment, either to the right hand or to the left, so that he may continue long in his kingdom, he and his children, in Israel. (Deuteronomy 17:18-20)
- And Samuel said to Saul, “The Lord sent me to anoint you king over his people Israel; now therefore listen to the words of the Lord. (1 Samuel 15:1)
- Give instruction to a wise man, and he will be still wiser; teach a righteous man, and he will increase in learning. (Proverbs 9:9)
- Poverty and disgrace come to him who ignores instruction, but whoever heeds reproof is honored. (Proverbs 13:18)
- And we impart this in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those who are spiritual. The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned. (1 Corinthians 2:13-14)
Related articles
- Spoon feeding people everything (disciplesofhope.wordpress.com)
- Ignorance is NOT bliss (disciplesofhope.wordpress.com)
- Why We Neglect Our Bibles (spykministry.wordpress.com)
- Empathy vs Apathy (cynthiabaileyrug.wordpress.com)
Ignorance is NOT bliss
‘Ignorance is bliss’ is an often used proverb in the world. However, ignorance in reality is NOT bliss.
Ignorance of natural things can be hazardous at times. Like if you don’t know the effects of chloroform, you wouldn’t be alert and end up sniffing it and may lose consciousness therefore. Again its like thinking a large brown bear is as fun and nice as those that come in cartoons, while in reality such bears can be really aggressive if provoked the wrong away.
Ignorance in relationships with others is not good either. For instance not knowing about what the neighbors dislike and then you end up getting the police at your doorstep for playing your favorite music on the highest volume, thanks to the neighbors complaints. Or not knowing that certain words that you casually use in one culture is considered racially or politically offensive in another, this can get you in trouble with people of other cultures.
Ignorance of spiritual things is the worst type of ignorance. This ignorance especially is strong when there is ignorance of scriptures. I mean we know that the Bible is the inspired Word of God but what matters then is do we really know what its speaks about? To know what it speaks about, firstly you need to read it for yourself. Secondly, you need to pray and reflect on the scriptures, so that you can get the right understanding of the scriptures. Finally, you need to put the scriptures to practice in your walk with the Lord Jesus. I’ve read the Bible completely from the beginning to the end and when I connected the dots, I realized that it speaks of Christ all the way.
Jesus said to the Jews, “You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me…For if you believed Moses, you would believe me; for he wrote of me” (John 5:39 and 46)
Ignorance of scripture is ignorance of Christ (St. Jerome)
Your salvation is at stake when you don’t know the scriptures. You might feel that you are doing alright when in fact spiritually you are in deception.
If you trust yourself to walk in the light of your own conscience, uninstructed or little instructed by the Word of God, you will end up doing things that you are deeply and sincerely convinced are right. But they may be terribly hurtful and destructive within the Church. (Ray C. Stedman)
The Bible is one of the most widely read and published book in the world but many people are still ignorant. This is because they don’t really get what it means and there is a reason to this. The reason is mentioned in 2 Corinthians 4:4 In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.
You might wonder why there are some people who were once God-loving Christians, no longer believe in Christ. Some of them now believe that he doesn’t exist. Some other ex-Christians have departed from the faith and instead follow some other religion. I too had questions as to why people back away from Christianity all of a sudden, though later I realized that it’s not really all that sudden.
I got my answer in the following scriptures.
1 Timothy 4:1 Now the Spirit expressly says that in later times some will depart from the faith by devoting themselves to deceitful spirits and teachings of demons
Matthew 24:5 For many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and they will lead many astray.
Matthew 24:11-13 “Many false prophets will arise and will mislead many. “Because lawlessness is increased, most people’s love will grow cold. “But the one who endures to the end, he will be saved.
The above scriptures show one thing, that the workers of deception will even lead astray some of those who have faith in Christ. So one thing that is necessary to avoid such deception is to be well versed with what the Bible says not just about such deceivers but also about the saving nature of Jesus. If you know how to live in true wisdom it will be very hard for anyone to deceive you.
Here are a few scriptures you can reflect on:
2 Timothy 2:15 Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.
2 Timothy 3:15-17 And how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work.
Romans 1:20 For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.
Romans 15:4 For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.
Ephesians 3:3-5 How the mystery was made known to me by revelation, as I have written briefly. When you read this, you can perceive my insight into the mystery of Christ, which was not made known to the sons of men in other generations as it has now been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit.
1 Corinthians 1:18 For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.
John 20:31 But these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.
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