Come again O Lord Jesus

Come again O Lord Jesus,
And from the Evil One seize us.
The world has become more evil,
And is in constant upheaval.

Your saints and friends need your grace,
Show once again your redeeming face.
As the winter gets longer,
O Lord make us stronger.

O God send your Son Jesus again,
Let Him take away our pain.
Against sinners give us redemption,
To you we give our solemn attention.

You creation still suffers and groans,
Do put back on it the flesh to the bones.
Come again O Jesus the Son of God,
Yet again on Jerusalem’s paths to trod.

Prayers leading to Christmas – 23

O Lord Jesus, help me to keep waiting for your return with expectation and purity. The prophets and saints of old, waited for your first coming and were not disappointed, for they are comforted in your presence in heaven. Give me hope and joy, as I ponder on your second coming. Keep the faith in me ever glowing, for glory of God our Father. By your Holy Spirit counsel me that I remember your Gospel each and everyday of my life. Give me the grace to be unblemished by the cares, pleasures and allure of this world, so that I’m truly ready to receive you. I ask this in your Holy Name. Amen.

The Second Coming Of Jesus: Is It A Metaphor? (Video)

Note:  This Youtube video is courtesy of Steven Bancarz

 

 

Beware of Spiritual Delusions

There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way to death (Proverbs 14:12)

 

Of the many delusions a person faces in life, spiritual delusions are the worst. As these delusions whether they cause physical harm or not, they always lead towards spiritual darkness and damnation. Let me make is clear that spiritual delusions and mental delusions or hallucinations are completely different things. The latter needs professional medical and psychiatric treatment.

The Greeks and Russians have another term for spiritual delusions or spiritual deceptions known as Prelest. ( I made a mention of them as they have a belief that only they teach about dangers of Prelest while people from other nations especially the West avoid this. I take that with a pinch of salt). Various churches and preachers in a good number of countries do speak about the dangers of spiritual delusions though they don’t use the word ‘Prelest’. Here basically Prelest pertains to unawareness of one’s own sinfulness and/or also corruption through falsehood which apparently seems sweet and legit to begin with.

Let me give you a simple example to be aware of what it means to be spiritually deluded. A man who is married, goes regularly to church with his wife. Due to various reasons, they are not happy with their marriage. Then one fine day, he meets another woman to whom he takes fancy to over a period of time. Now up to this point, this would sound like nothing religious, just one man being unfaithful to his wife and obviously heading for divorce. Here’s where the difference, the man ‘prays’ about his marriage and feels he got a ‘revelation’ to divorce his current wife. Because he ‘feels’ led by the ‘Lord’ to marry this new ‘devout’ woman who will help him to be happy. He makes a mention of this to his preacher but somehow the preacher cannot convince him to relent of this stupidity. Then he goes on to commit adultery, gets caught and the marriage is over. Besides, the local church and the preacher where he used to go, are now stuck in a web of shame and controversy over what happened. So in short, he felt something spiritual that seemed nice till hell boiled over.

In the above case, that man didn’t bother about what the wisdom of God says marriage, reconciliation and divorce. All he bothered for was himself and not God’s will. He didn’t bother about purity for himself nor anyone else. So a spirit of deception came to him pretending to be a godly experience of ‘peace’ during his prayers. There’s a Bible verse that comes to mind; And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. So it is no surprise if his servants, also, disguise themselves as servants of righteousness. Their end will correspond to their deeds.(2 Corinthians 11:14-15)

Now it would be unwise to think that spiritual delusions happen only in cases of relationships while other areas are quite delusion free. In fact spiritual delusions can happen potentially anywhere and to anyone. It’s possible that spiritual delusions affect more than one person at the same time.

Lets also consider the following verses about a large scale spiritual delusion in which people will make mockery of the Second coming of our Lord Jesus Christ:

¹ This is now the second letter that I am writing to you, beloved. In both of them I am stirring up your sincere mind by way of reminder, ² that you should remember the predictions of the holy prophets and the commandment of the Lord and Savior through your apostles, ³ knowing this first of all, that scoffers will come in the last days with scoffing,following their own sinful desires. ⁴ They will say, “Where is the promise of his coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all things are continuing as they were from the beginning of creation.” ⁵ For they deliberately overlook this fact, that the heavens existed long ago, and the earth was formed out of water and through water by the word of God, ⁶ and that by means of these the world that then existed was deluged with water and perished. ⁷ But by the same word the heavens and earth that now exist are stored up for fire, being kept until the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly. (2 Peter 3:1-7)

Another situation where a person could be under spiritual deception is about prosperity. Nothing wrong in getting rich by righteous means. However, one must also choose to have the right attitude towards God when working to be prosperous. The Parable of the Rich Fool mentioned below makes it clear to us:

And he told them a parable, saying, “The land of a rich man produced plentifully, and he thought to himself, ‘What shall I do, for I have nowhere to store my crops?’ And he said, ‘I will do this: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.”’ But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’ So is the one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God.” (Luke 12:16-20)

A person who in soul revels in vain desires is one most prone to spiritual delusions. Desires usually considered a bait for deception are usually those of greed and pride.

For the wicked boasts of the desires of his soul, and the one greedy for gain curses and renounces the Lord. In the pride of his face the wicked does not seek him; all his thoughts are, “There is no God.” (Psalms 10:3-4)

Another thing that leads to spiritual delusion, is taking pleasure in unrighteousness. Yes, despite various admonishments and clear examples of the downfall of the wicked due to their sins, there are lots of people who still take pleasure in sin. So of these sins include vulgar songs and jokes, racism, financial crimes, sexual perversions, murder etc. Though time and again people have seen the evil consequences of witchcraft, they will still take delight in its so called benefits. In short, there are people who still don’t want to believe the truth of the Gospel. This brings to mind the following verses:

⁷ For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work. Only he who now restrains it will do so until he is out of the way. ⁸ And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will kill with the breath of his mouth and bring to nothing by the appearance of his coming. ⁹ The coming of the lawless one is by the activity of Satan with all power and false signs and wonders,¹⁰ and with all wicked deception for those who are perishing, because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. ¹¹ Therefore God sends them a strong delusion, so that they may believe what is false, ¹² in order that all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness. (2 Thessalonians 2: 7-12)

So now to summarize you can avoid spiritual delusions by all the following methods:

• Never ignore the counsel of the wisdom of God.
• If it goes against the Bible, you might as well avoid it.
• Pray with the right intentions.
• Do not mistake good feelings for divine approval.
• Do not be greedy for anything.
• Do not have pride in your heart.
• Believe in the truth, believe in the Gospel.
• Never take pleasure in unrighteousness.

One more thing before I can conclude this is that you must always depend on the Holy Spirit to keep your heart and mind in the will of God.

Christ be with you!

Related articles

• Strong Delusion: The Lucis Trust And The United Nations Pt. II (VIDEO)
• The Bible as Source of Knowledge for the Wise
• Satan’s Strategies to Make You Doubt God and The Gospel of Jesus Christ

Beware of false prophets and false christs!

When Jesus Christ warns you about something, you better make notice. He knew well in advance that the Devil would do everything that he can to stop the spreading of the Gospel to the ends of the earth. But sometimes instead of stopping the preaching of Gospel, the Devil he will simply try to corrupt it or make sure a corrupted gospel is preached. And for this he will send false gospels to counter the true Gospel. Many false teachers and cults have done Satan’s work to that effect. But nothing beats his use of false christs and false prophets to advance deception in the world.

If you read the following Gospel verses which were all spoken by Jesus himself he clearly warned us about false christs and false prophets you will understand the serious warning he gave us. Here we go:

And he said, Take heed that you be not deceived: for many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and the time draws near: go not therefore after them. (Luke 21:8)

And then if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’ or ‘Look, there he is!’ do not believe it. For false christs and false prophets will arise and perform signs and wonders, to lead astray, if possible, the elect. But be on guard; I have told you all things beforehand. (Mark 13:21-23)

Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. (Matthew 7:15)

As he sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately, saying, “Tell us, when will these things be, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?”  And Jesus answered them, “See that no one leads you astray. For many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and they will lead many astray.…. And many false prophets will arise and lead many astray.  (Matthew 24: 3-5, 11)

Christians getting deceived

Someone might wonder, that how it possible for the Christians who are the elect mentioned in Mark 13:21-23 to get deceived even after Jesus has warned us about it? This can be answered by saying that some Christians try to confirm the truth by emotions, signs and wonders instead of the written Word of God. They act like skeptics who will only believe when a miracle is given on demand. Skepticism is not the same as genuine biblical discernment.

So the Evil One tries to give them a false miracle at the hands of his workers on earth. This means that if prosperity, healing or some special favor is granted to a person, that person blindly accepts that it’s of Godly origin instead of checking if all this is consistent with the teachings of the Bible. These workers of iniquity usually use half-truths to deceive people. They may even use Bible verses to make their false claims. Some Christians have got deceived in to wrong doing just because they were given some Bible verses which were interpreted in the wrong way. A lot of people want to influence their preachers into preaching what they want to hear and if that doesn’t work then they leave the preacher. In fact a prophecy in 2 Timothy 4:3 says that; For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions.

Are false prophets and false christs working for the Devil?

It’s rare for a false christ or false prophet to say that they are working for the Devil. They will usually claim they are divinely inspired instead. These are highly deceived hypocrites who feel that they speak the truth even though their actions project falsehood. They do not care about the truth as their focus is on getting admiration from their followers. They may have had spiritual experiences which they assumed are from God but in reality it was only evil spirits promising them fame or riches or both in exchange for promoting demonic doctrines. It Satan who controls them though they may not be aware of that.

Is there a difference between false christs and false prophets?

False christs are and false prophets are not the same thing. Though rarely a false prophet will deceitfully project himself as the Messiah too. You need to be able to understand the difference between false prophets and false christs.

False christs will desire worship and adoration from everyone they come in contact with. They claim to be incarnations of Jesus Christ but might also add the claim that they are gods of other religions. Some won’t call themselves as Jesus but rather call themselves as The Messiah or the savior of the world. It doesn’t matter what type of lies they speak as their main purpose remains their own worship. I’ve found a list of people who claimed to be Jesus, which is listed on Wikipedia. I’ll make a mention of some of them here:

1. Mirza Ghulam Ahmad of India was a Mohammedan who believed himself to be a likeness of Jesus and formed the Ahmadiyya sect of Islam. His claims to be the Messiah and prophet sent by God were so outrageous that even mainstream Islamic people consider him a heretic and persecute his followers. (People who claim to be Jesus may even turn up from other religions)
2. Jim Jones claimed to be Jesus Christ and gained followers to eventually form his own cult. His last vile dead was to commit suicide after leading some of his followers in to a mass murder suicide at Jonestown, Guyana on November 18, 1978. (False christs may lead their followers to suicide!)
3. Marshall Applewhite was another who claimed to be Jesus. He founded the infamous Heaven’s Gate cult and led his followers to commit mass suicide and he too died along with them. (I was really shocked when this came in the news way back in 1997)

Now false prophets themselves do not desire worship but they try to mislead people from obedience and/or worship of the true Lord God. Sometimes they do not say to worship a false god but simply teach disobedience to God in subtle ways. They may use religious words to deceive gullible people. They will promise riches, protection etc if you follow their teachings but in the end it’s just a convenient trip to damnation. They will speak positivity instead of repentance to people who are not in line with the teachings of the Gospel, so those people remain in their sins. Don’t be surprised if they use miracles to make their point. You have been warned! Here’s a few Bible verses about them:

But there were also lying Prophets among the people, as there shall be lying teachers also among you, those who bring destructive heresies and deny the Lord who bought them, while bringing upon themselves speedy destruction. (2 Peter 2:1)

“If a prophet or a dreamer of dreams arises among you and gives you a sign or a wonder, and the sign or wonder that he tells you comes to pass, and if he says, ‘Let us go after other gods,’ which you have not known, ‘and let us serve them,’ you shall not listen to the words of that prophet or that dreamer of dreams. For the Lord your God is testing you, to know whether you love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul. You shall walk after the Lord your God and fear him and keep his commandments and obey his voice, and you shall serve him and hold fast to him. (Deuteronomy 13:1-4)

What should be our response to false prophets and false christs?

Going by the above verses against false prophets and false christs, here’s what you can do:

1. You need to say a NO to them.
2. You don’t need to follow them or go after them.
3. You need to reject their teachings.

There are more Bible verses on what should be our response to such people, though these verse may even have a wider application. Here we go:

1. Do not judge by appearances, but judge with right judgment (John 7:24)
2. Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them. (Ephesians 5:11) (Please do the exposing part very carefully as cults are dangerous)
3. See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ. (Colossians 2:8)
4. But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed. As we have said before, so now I say again: If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be accursed. (Galatians 1:8-9)
5. As for those who persist in sin, rebuke them in the presence of all, so that the rest may stand in fear. (1 Timothy 5:20)
6. Having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people.(2 Timothy 3:5)
7. If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not receive him into your house or give him any greeting (2 John 1:10) (teaching here means the Gospel)

A few videos exposing false christs:

The Illuminati Plan to Fake the Return of Jesus

Australian Man claims to Be Jesus Christ The Messiah living in Australia

Siberia – Cult Leader Thinks He’s Jesus (Documentary Exclusive)

Related articles

• Termination of Terrorism
• Tests of a True Prophet
• How Can I Recognize a False Teacher?
• The falling away of many believers prophesied
• Deceivers Can Be Deceptive
• The false Christ, will you know him?

Christ will return – hope for the righteous

The return of Christ will be a terror to those who hate him as mentioned in my earlier post:

Christ will return – Warning to all (click here to know more)

However, for those who are righteous in Jesus there is much hope and comfort in his coming back. Because Jesus will glorify those who are faithful to him. There are a lot of verses in the Bible that point this out very clearly.

Mark 13:26-27 At that time men will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory. And he will send his angels and gather his elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of the heavens.

John 14:1-4  “Do not let your hearts be troubled.  Trust in God; trust also in me.  In my Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you.  I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. You know the way to the place where I am going.”

Philippians 3:20 But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body.

Colossians 3:4 When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.

The Bible encourages us to be holy and faithful to the Lord Jesus in the hope of his return. It also tells us to honor and remember his second coming. We are to honor him in the partaking of the Lords supper. We are to be pure and away from the ungodliness of this age.

1 Peter 1:3-5 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ!  In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade – kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time.

1 Corinthians 11:26 For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.

1 Peter 5:4 And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that will never fade away.

1 John 3:2 Dear friends, we are already God’s children, but he has not yet shown us what we will be like when Christ appears. But we do know that we will be like him, for we will see him as he really is.

Philippians 1:10 so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ – to the glory and praise of God.

Titus 2:12 It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, while we wait for the blessed hope – the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good.

It is God’s will to reward all those who trust in Christ when he returns. Jesus himself attests to this in the book of Revelation.

Revelation 22:12 “Behold, I am coming soon! My reward is with me, and I will give to everyone according to what he has done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End”

Revelation 3:11 “I am coming soon. Hold on to what you have, so that no one will take your crown.  Him who overcomes I will make a pillar in the temple of my God.  Never again will he leave it”

Therefore, those who trust in the Lord Jesus must continue in the faith. This is the most important thing that you could be doing on earth. Never lose your identity in the Lord Jesus and exchange for the things of the world.

1 John 2:28 And now, dear children, continue in him, so that when he appears we may be confident and unashamed before him at his coming.

Jude 1:21 Keep yourselves in God’s love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life.

Related articles

• The Day of the Lord
• You are a New Creation in Christ
• Christ will return – Warning to all