I am dismayed at how easily brethren get deceived by false teachers, false prophets (Matthew 24:24), and false apostles (2 Corinthians 11:2-15). Few seem to use the discerning of spirits, “Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world,” (1 John 4:1), and many fall for winds of doctrine, “Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching (doctrine) and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming..” (Ephesians 4:14). The reason people get decieved is they do not memorize the New Testament and test what is said by prophets, “Let two or three prophets speak, and let the rest judge and measure what is said” (1 Corinthians 14:29). Instead the deceived consume doctrines of men as if they were oracles of God, “Jesus replied, You have let go of the commands of God and are holding on to human traditions.”
And he continued, “You have a fine way of setting aside the commands of God in order to observe your own traditions!” (Mark 7:8-9).
I want to say, The Old Testament is quite dangerous. It is useful for proving Christ Jesus our Lord is the promised Savior, for moral teaching, and it helps connect the dots from the time of the Fall to Grace, but doctrine, practices, teaching, and beliefs must be formed only from the New Testament, the New Covenant which is greater than the old covenant (Hebrews 8:6). Also prophecies of the end times should be predominately taken from the New Testament, for example Revelation, Matthew 24, Luke 17, 1 Thessalonians 4:15-17, 2 Timothy 4, and etc. Daniel’s prophecies are not meant to fill in gaps of New Testament prophecy, or be a primary source of eschatology! rather what Jesus and His Apostles say in the New Testament is absolute, trustworthy, and should occupy our sole focus in our study of the End Times. I am so weary of hearing Darby’s misconceptions about 72 Weeks which were fulfilled during Christ’s first coming, which were believed to be totally fulfilled in 33 A.D. by Christians for thousands of years until Darby took the last week and placed it in the last days. Also, beware of dispensationalism which at a glance seems to nicely label God’s Plan from Creation to His Return under titles like Dispensation of the Promise (Abraham), Dispensation of the Law and Dispensation of Grace, and Dispensation of The Spirit (Church Age). Dispensationalists believe all dispensations are active, when Scripture says otherwise (Hebrews 8, 9 and 10), and they tend to believe Duo-Covenant theology: that Jews can be saved by the Law and Christians by grace, when Scripture says the only way for Jews and Gentiles to be saved is through faith in Jesus Christ!:
“We are made right with God by placing our faith in Jesus Christ. And this is true for everyone who believes, no matter who we are.” (Romans 3:22)
“Here there is no Greek or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, or free, but Christ is all and is in all.” (Colossians 3:11)
“He redeemed us in order that the blessing promised to Abraham would come to the Gentiles in Christ Jesus, so that by faith we might receive the promise of the Spirit.” (Galatians 3:14)
“There is no longer Jew or Gentile, slave or free, male and female. For you are all one in Christ Jesus. And now that you belong to Christ, you are the true children of Abraham. You are his heirs, and God’s promise to Abraham belongs to you.” (Galatians 3:28-29)
“It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery. Mark my words! I, Paul, tell you that if you let yourselves be circumcised [to be saved, see Acts 15:1-9], Christ will be of no value to you at all. Again I declare to every man who lets himself be circumcised that he is obligated to obey the whole law. You who are trying to be justified by the law have been alienated (cut off) from Christ; you have fallen away from grace. For through the Spirit we eagerly await by faith the righteousness for which we hope. For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value. The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love.” (Galatians 5:1-6)
“For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek,” (Romans 1:6)
“For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free, and we were all made to drink of one Spirit,” (1 Corinthians 12:13)
“This became known to all, both Jews and Greeks, who lived in Ephesus; and fear fell upon them all and the name of the Lord Jesus was being magnified.” (Acts 19:17)
“But some men came down from Judea and were teaching the brothers, “Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.” And after Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and debate with them, Paul and Barnabas and some of the others were appointed to go up to Jerusalem to the apostles and the elders about this question. So, being sent on their way by the church, they passed through both Phoenicia and Samaria, describing in detail the conversion of the Gentiles, and brought great joy to all the brothers. When they came to Jerusalem, they were welcomed by the church and the apostles and the elders, and they declared all that God had done with them. But some believers who belonged to the party of the Pharisees rose up and said, “It is necessary to circumcise them and to order them to keep the law of Moses.”
The apostles and the elders were gathered together to consider this matter. And after there had been much debate, Peter stood up and said to them, “Brothers, you know that in the early days God made a choice among you, that by my mouth the Gentiles should hear the word of the gospel and believe. And God, who knows the heart, bore witness to them, by giving them the Holy Spirit just as he did to us, and he made no distinction between us and them, having cleansed their hearts by faith. Now, therefore, why are you putting God to the test by placing a yoke on the neck of the disciples that neither our fathers nor we have been able to bear? But we believe that we will be saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, just as they will.” (Acts 15:1-11)
“but we preach Christ crucified, to Jews a stumbling block and to Gentiles foolishness, but to those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men. For consider your calling, brethren, that there were not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble; but God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the things which are strong, and the base things of the world and the despised God has chosen, the things that are not, so that He may nullify the things that are, so that no [man may boast before God. But by His doing you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption,” (1 Corinthians 1:23-30)
“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son” (John 3:16-18)
“For it is My Father’s will that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in Him shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.”” (John 6:40)
“Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6)
“If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved.” (Romans 10:9-10)
“But whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith.” (Philippians 4:7-9)
“For what the law was powerless to do because it was weakened by the flesh, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.,” (Romans 8:3-4)
“The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” (1 Corinthians 15:56-57)
“How much more severely do you think someone deserves to be punished who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, who has treated as an unholy thing the blood of the covenant that sanctified them, and who has insulted the Spirit of grace?.” (Hebrews 10:29)
The second most dangerous lie dispensationalists sell after their duo-theology is the idea God will rapture His church prior to the Great Tribulation with a trumpet blast and prior to Jesus coming on the clouds, when Christ says the opposite order happens, “Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And He will send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.” (Matthew 24:29-31). Jesus says first a tribulation, then He appears on the clouds, then He has us caught up and gathered by angels! Paul concurs that there is no pre-Christ returning on the clouds rapture, “According to the Lord’s word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever.” (1 Thessalonians 4:16-17). Further evidence we go through the Great Tribulation and are not raptured before Christ’s Return is littered in Scripture:
“At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved.” (Matthew 24:10-13)
“And the beast was allowed to wage war against God’s holy people and to conquer them. And he was given authority to rule over every tribe and people and language and nation.” (Revelation 13:7)
“This means that God’s holy people must endure persecution patiently, obeying his commands and maintaining their faith in Jesus.” (Revelation 14:12)
“I said to him, “Sir, you know.” And he said to me, “These are the ones coming out of the great tribulation. They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.” (Revelation 7:14)
Why would Jesus emphasize enduring to the end or elders declare the saints (God’s holy people) must endure persecution if we are to be raptured pre-Christ’s return? I know Pre-Trib Rapturists say this verse to support their claim, “Two men will be in the field: one will be taken and the other left. Two women will be grinding at the mill: one will be taken and the other left.” (Mathew 24:40-41), but prophecy is rarely linear and God often details things in an order different than chronological, I believe this is a simple statement that when Jesus returns in the sky, those who believe will be taken up after the tribulation as detsiled in the same chapter, “Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And He will send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.” (Matthew 24:29-31). Besides the Scriptures I give outnumber the Pre Trib Rapturist view two to one; ergo there is more evidence in Scripture that we go through The Great Tribulation and Wrath of the Beast (Antichrist, Man of Lawlesssness).
Another erroneous teaching is what esoterics call “Slain in the Spirit”. This phenomenon has a preacher place his hand on your head or shoulder and you fall back and are paralyzed briefly because of the supposed weight of God’s glory (Shikinah). Now physiologically this can be done by hitting nerve clusters and pressure points. Scripture has only a handful of incidents that are similiar to Slain in the Spirit, but all of them are done by God not preachers, and are punishment or correction, not a reward like slain in spirit preachers would have you believe you should seek out:
“As Jesus said “ I Am he,” they (temple guard) all drew back and fell to the ground!” (John 18:6)
“Peter said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good for us to be here. If you wish, I will put up three shelters—one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah.”
5 While he was still speaking, a bright cloud covered them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. Listen to him!”
6 When the disciples heard this, they fell facedown to the ground, terrified. 7 But Jesus came and touched them. “Get up,” he said. “Don’t be afraid.” 8 When they looked up, they saw no one except Jesus.” (Matthew 17:4-6)
“As he journeyed he came near Damascus, and suddenly a light shone around him from heaven. 4 Then he fell to the ground, and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?”
5 And he said, “Who are You, Lord?”
Then the Lord said, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. It is hard for you to kick against the goads.” (Acts 9:3-5)
“When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. Then he placed his right hand on me and said: “Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last. 18 I am the Living One; I was dead, and now look, I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades.” (Revelation 1:17-18)
Take note in all these cases God initiates it, not a mere preacher, and in ninety precent of them it was disciplinary, as in the case of Saul at Damascus. There is no record of the apostles teaching you should be slain in the spirit if you are already a Christian. Also notice in all cases except for the army that came to take Jesus in Gethsemane, the persons fall forward, not backward like slain in spirit preachers do.
There are other phenomenon of questionable origin such as “Rings or hoops of fire” which people jump through spiritually and makes their feet feel a warm tingling sensation. There is “Birthing a Miracle” where the person grunts like they are giving birth, and uncontrollable holy laughter where the person cannot stop laughing which violates the Holy Spirit’s Fruit of Self Control (Galatians 5:23). All of these and many odder rituals have no basis in Scripture and yet people seek them. We must be wary of anything not in Scripture, and remember there are false teachers and prophets who could deceive even the Elect in these last days, “For false Christs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and wonders that would deceive even the elect, if that were possible” (Matthew 24:24). I want to say that I have witnessed firsthand and had preachers try to preform slain in the spirit, holy laughter, circles of fire, and etc on me at esoteric meetings. In each case I resisted and they were unable to do them to me, and as I witnessed people be slain spiritually and laugh uncontrollably I did not discern the Holy Spirit and saw what I believe violates Scripture. For the record I am Continuationalist, which means I believe The Holy Spirit gifts of Tongues, Interpretation of Tongues, Prophecy, Words of Knowledge, Miracles, Healing, Discerning of Spirits, and Wisdom of 1 Corinthians 12:4-11 are for today and useful for the church. However, we must test the spirits, “Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world,” (1 John 4:1) and judge if a prophecy is accurate or erroneous, “But if there are Prophets, let two or three speak and let the rest judge” (1 Corinthians 14:29). We judge prophecy and other gifts and how they are used by Scripture, if it magnifies Jesus (1 John 4:2-3), and the Holy Spirit discernment. The reason false esoteric teachings like Slain in the Spirit thrive is few test the spirits with Scripture and the Holy Spirit; instead gullible people become ensnared by esoteric teachers who want money and attention; in fact s tell-tale sign of a false teacher is they draw attention to their powers and self, not Jesus Christ.
We must be ever vigilant, for the apostle Paul tells us many will leave sound doctrine in the end of days, “Now the Spirit expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons. For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear,” (2 Timothy 4:1, 3) and Christ our Lord says many will be deceived by false prophets, even the Elect are vulnerable, “For there shall arise false Christs and false prophets and shall show great signs and wonders in such a manner that they shall deceive, if possible, the very elect.” (Matthew 24:24). Our resolve to walk in Christ who is the Truth must outweigh the insecurities that these peddling preachers with their counterfeit powers and message (see Galatians 1:4-8). It is incumbant upon each saint to memorize the New Testament, and to test whatever is said (1 Corinthians 14:29, 1 John 4:1). If we are to survive the end times, we must all be apologists, and doctors of theology or else be ensnared by false teachers. Amen.
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