By Elizabeth Prata
“The early church was married to poverty, prisons and persecutions. Today, the church is married to prosperity, personality, and popularity.” Leonard Ravenhill.
We are living in a plague now. It is a plague of false teachers. False teachers bring a different Gospel, or meld the true Gospel with a false one, and they try to make the people forget the True and Living God. Jeremiah had complained to God about the false prophets and their message.
“But I said, “Alas, Sovereign LORD! The prophets keep telling them, ‘You will not see the sword or suffer famine. Indeed, I will give you lasting peace in this place.'” (Jeremiah 14:13)
Jeremiah was concerned that the falsely positive messages would dampen their fervor and alertness of the people. Any message that a person accepts that is not from God is inherently damaging in some way, and ultimately damaging in every way. Paul referred to this process as gangrene. (2 Timothy 1:7). False teaching spreads and it kills as it goes.
This is why we must insist on proper interpretation of biblical messages from our pulpits, read books that have proper representations of the Gospel and God, it is why we must study for ourselves so when a TRUE message of peace does come, we can rely on it.
Later God answered Jeremiah,
“They think the dreams they tell one another will make my people forget my name, just as their ancestors forgot my name through Baal worship.” (Jeremiah 23:27).
Has the United States forgotten God’s name? From my vantage point and in my opinion, yes.
Jeremiah was broken by the false prophets’ falsehoods and treachery upon the people and against our Holy God. Do we have that same attitude today? Do we simply say, “Meh” when learning this one or that one is a false teacher, or say “Well, let’s be loving and not say anything negative about it”? Let it not be so! Were Jeremiah’s tears in vain?
Matthew Henry’s explanation of Jeremiah’s concern:
“Because of the prophets and their sin, the false doctrine they preached, the wicked lives they lived; especially it filled him with horror to hear them making use of God’s name and pretending to have their instruction from him. Never was the Lord so abused, and the words of his holiness, as by these men. Note, The dishonour done to God’s name, and the profanation of his holy word, are the greatest grief imaginable to a gracious soul.”
There will come a day when Jesus will take care of the false teachers. We will shout hallelujah! Until then, do not forget the Lord’s name. Do not seek after false messages brought in another’s name. Do not ignore messages that the false ones bring, but reject them!
Matthew Henry continues:
“He charges it all upon the prophets and priests, especially the prophets. They are both profane (v. 11); the priests profane the ordinances of God they pretend to administer; the prophets profane the word of God they pretend to deliver;” … “God threatens to punish these prophets for their wickedness. They promised the people peace; and to show them the folly of that God tells them that they should have no peace themselves. They were very unfit to warrant the people, and pass their word to them that no evil shall come upon them, when all evil is coming upon themselves and they are not aware of it,”
Honor God’s name by studying His word. Encourage your pastor and teachers. Speak highly of Jesus and lift up fellow Christians, encouraging each other. Reject even the smallest amount of leaven, for it is dishonoring to His mighty name. Most importantly, do not let false messages creep in, for their design is to make you forget the name of God, and so instead, say,
“I will proclaim Thy name to My brethren, In the midst of the congregation I will sing Thy praise.” (Hebrews 2:12).
Some day the visible Bride will be spotless.
the-end-time.org 
Reblogged this on Truth2Freedom's Blog.
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I appreciate your fervour here.
Revelations says, “16 So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth.” You show fervour.
However, it is difficult for people to know the way in a world where so many Christians believe their way is the only way and they become passionate about that and begin to hate those who approach Christianity from a different perspective.
To me the truth is LOVE. God is LOVE.
Matthew 22:36-40 King James Version (KJV)
36 Master, which is the great commandment in the law?
37 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.
38 This is the first and great commandment.
39 And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
40 On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.
Fervent in believe, we may be, but we must remember never to hate.
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Hi englepip,
I’d like to know more of what you mean by “begin to hate those who approach Christianity from a different perspective.”
Specifically, can you share some instances of the ‘hate’ you’re speaking of?
What does it mean to approach Christianity from ‘a different perspective’? Can you share some examples of that, as well?
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Hi So glad you responded. We all pray the Lord’s Prayer and of course “Your kingdom come, on earth, as it is in heaven.” This is key. However, different Christians interpret this differently – from a different viewpoint or perspective. There are those from other churches who today would say they are just plain wrong to do that. The way churches are organised is also very varied, from Roman Catholic to Evangelical etc. Historically, members of these churches have stood up against one another and died for their faith and become martyrs either for Catholicism or Protestantism. Hatred was spread in the Elizabethan period and after, in British history and there was torture and hunting down of people who did not believe what was perceived as right by whichever church was in power at that time. In recent times in Northern Ireland, Catholic has murdered Protestant and vice versa. This hatred is still evident there among some people.
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Thank you for your reply. I agree there has been much done wrong in the name of religion.
However, if you’re talking about hatred between Catholic and Protestant, there is a reason for the excesses. The Roman Catholic church is not a church nor is it remotely related to the church Jesus came to found. The RCC is a satanic organization whose head is satan and is at war with Jesus, hence the vitriol, because satan hates Jesus. People who follow Catholic dogma are not believers.
Among true believers, the reason for the different interpretations is that there are many who believe false doctrine, or are not mature yet, or use an errant hermeneutic that yields a false result, etc. If the person interpreting the particular doctrine is a true believer, the Spirit will most likely grow him out of it. I have found this essay to be helpful-
https://www.gotquestions.org/interpretations-Christian.html
Not everyone who believes differently on secondary doctrines “hates.” Hate is a strong word and I’d remind one and all to use it sparingly. In fact, we are called to love those who stumble, are immature, or believe differently on the non-essentials. “Accept the one whose faith is weak, without quarreling over disputable matters”. Romans 14:1
The hatred and bad acts do not usually characterize a true believer. It is the love for one another, even enemies, that does.
“By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” John 13:35
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You’ve hit the right balance, Elizabeth! True discernment always begins with knowing God’s Word.
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Thank you so much! I always want to start and end with the word. If I start to let that slide, let me know, dear friend! 🙂
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Reblogged this on BibleProphecyWatch.
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