Deception
We live in an hour of great deception within the Church. Do not be deceived: sin has massive consequences. It breaks our fellowship with God. There is no salvation without repentance. Love tells the truth of sin, because agreement with sin steals the possibility of freedom.
To be free of sin requires admitting it is present, and then exposing it for what it is, and breaking my agreement with it.
Jesus is more than able to destroy the power of sin in my life, but He refuses to force me into His leadership. Love requires I choose His leadership. Love requires I speak truth to myself, and others, about His leadership, and about the areas of my heart that are in rebellion to that leadership, and repent. Repent simply means "agree with God."
JOHN 1.5-10.nkjv This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us.
Truth is under attack right now. False teachers are trying to put the body of Christ in chains called "love" to not expose the truth of sin. These deceivers have gone out from within the Church and they take advantage of the empathy in the body in order to box it in with fallen logic. They reveal their own heart, for the mouth speaks what the heart is full of. If they try to bring comfort to darkness and hide the strong light of truth, they expose their own heart, which loves darkness more than light:
JOHN 1.1-9.nkjv In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it. There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. This man came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all through him might believe. He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light. That was the true Light which gives light to every man coming into the world.
Darkness is unwilling to comprehend Jesus... it doesn’t want to gaze upon and conform to the brightness of His purity and holiness. Yes, it wants "salvation" like all of creation, but darkness wants salvation on its own terms... It wants salvation without eradicating darkness. This is not possible.
A religious man named Nicodemus who wanted salvation came to Jesus in the night. He wanted salvation, but He didn't want the new identity that must come with salvation... He wanted all the benefit of the light without giving up the darkness of his rebellion. He wanted secret relationship with Jesus. Jesus shone light on Nicodemus' dark desire. In the famous John 3:16 passage, Jesus explains that true love.... The love God has for the world... is unconditional in its invitation to salvation, but it actually is very conditional upon accepting of the invitation. To accept the love God has for you requires you step out of the darkness and into the light:
JOHN 3.16-21.nkjv For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. “He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God.”
False teachers have been around a long time. Their tricks are not hard to expose if you take your stand in the light. If you try to stand in the dark with them, they are harder to see. False teachers often do a sleight of hand with love. They use man-centered love as a starting point to redefine love as acceptance of darkness. That isn’t love. God is love, but love isn’t God. Many false teachers redefine "love" in their own terms to guilt people into rebelling against Jesus... They say God loves darkness. God hates darkness because it kills people.
Jesus loves people and tells them the truth so they might live if they want to. Truth sets people free... Not lies about acceptance being love. The truth of the Bible is the seed of freedom. You plant those seeds with your words to yourself and others.
JOHN 8.31-34.nkjv Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, “If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” They answered Him, “We are Abraham’s descendants, and have never been in bondage to anyone. How can You say, ‘You will be made free’ ?” Jesus answered them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave of sin.
Being a Jewish person is meaningless if you don't leave the leadership of your flesh and the devil. Being a Christian means nothing if you aren't willing to leave the leadership of your own flesh and the devil. If sin wasn't so deadly, Jesus wouldn't have went to the cross to give people a choice to overcome it. Jesus didn't die to accept sin. He overcame sin so we could, too... But you can't hang on to sin and defeat it at the same time. You have to choose to actually follow Jesus. Jesus didn't accept anyone who was unwilling to conform to His leadership:
MARK 10.21.nkjv Then Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him, “One thing you lack: Go your way, sell whatever you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, take up the cross, and follow Me.”
THIS is love. Many are lying right now about love. The response rooted in true love is one thing: obeying Jesus...
JOHN 15.12-14.nkjv This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends. You are My friends if you do whatever I command you.
Jesus loved people by telling them the truth about sin in love... Not to win an argument, not to show off His Bible knowledge.... But to set people free so they could live forever.
If your heart is full of Jesus, your mouth should be full of His same words. If you are part of Jesus' body, then you should sound like Him. Jesus never held back in exposing sin in love, because He came to set people free.
Preaching another gospel.... And many are doing it right now... Is deception, not love. It is the theft of God’s beloved. Woe to those who sit in the congregations of those preaching theft and don't say a word because they are afraid of the people around them. That makes you a partner with the thief.
PROVERBS 29.24-25.nkjv Whoever is a partner with a thief hates his own life; He swears to tell the truth, but reveals nothing. The fear of man brings a snare, But whoever trusts in the Lord shall be safe.
What is happening in the earth right now is absolutely indicating the soon return of Jesus. False shepherds lie and say it has nothing to do with the return of Jesus. If you don't take a stand now against the lies, what you will be left with is fear:
JOHN 10.1-13.nkjv “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door, but climbs up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber. But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep.
“I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep. But a hireling, he who is not the shepherd, one who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees; and the wolf catches the sheep and scatters them. The hireling flees because he is a hireling and does not care about the sheep.
If you follow the hired hands, you will be left without a shepherd as the intensity increases. The wolf is on the horizon. Listen to Jesus. He will never leave you if you don't leave Him.
(almost all of the passages I quoted today we're from John... The disciple Jesus loved. John understood love. What many call love simply isn't love the way the Bible defines it)
To be free of sin requires admitting it is present, and then exposing it for what it is, and breaking my agreement with it.
Jesus is more than able to destroy the power of sin in my life, but He refuses to force me into His leadership. Love requires I choose His leadership. Love requires I speak truth to myself, and others, about His leadership, and about the areas of my heart that are in rebellion to that leadership, and repent. Repent simply means "agree with God."
JOHN 1.5-10.nkjv This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us.
Truth is under attack right now. False teachers are trying to put the body of Christ in chains called "love" to not expose the truth of sin. These deceivers have gone out from within the Church and they take advantage of the empathy in the body in order to box it in with fallen logic. They reveal their own heart, for the mouth speaks what the heart is full of. If they try to bring comfort to darkness and hide the strong light of truth, they expose their own heart, which loves darkness more than light:
JOHN 1.1-9.nkjv In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it. There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. This man came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all through him might believe. He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light. That was the true Light which gives light to every man coming into the world.
Darkness is unwilling to comprehend Jesus... it doesn’t want to gaze upon and conform to the brightness of His purity and holiness. Yes, it wants "salvation" like all of creation, but darkness wants salvation on its own terms... It wants salvation without eradicating darkness. This is not possible.
A religious man named Nicodemus who wanted salvation came to Jesus in the night. He wanted salvation, but He didn't want the new identity that must come with salvation... He wanted all the benefit of the light without giving up the darkness of his rebellion. He wanted secret relationship with Jesus. Jesus shone light on Nicodemus' dark desire. In the famous John 3:16 passage, Jesus explains that true love.... The love God has for the world... is unconditional in its invitation to salvation, but it actually is very conditional upon accepting of the invitation. To accept the love God has for you requires you step out of the darkness and into the light:
JOHN 3.16-21.nkjv For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. “He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God.”
False teachers have been around a long time. Their tricks are not hard to expose if you take your stand in the light. If you try to stand in the dark with them, they are harder to see. False teachers often do a sleight of hand with love. They use man-centered love as a starting point to redefine love as acceptance of darkness. That isn’t love. God is love, but love isn’t God. Many false teachers redefine "love" in their own terms to guilt people into rebelling against Jesus... They say God loves darkness. God hates darkness because it kills people.
Jesus loves people and tells them the truth so they might live if they want to. Truth sets people free... Not lies about acceptance being love. The truth of the Bible is the seed of freedom. You plant those seeds with your words to yourself and others.
JOHN 8.31-34.nkjv Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, “If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” They answered Him, “We are Abraham’s descendants, and have never been in bondage to anyone. How can You say, ‘You will be made free’ ?” Jesus answered them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave of sin.
Being a Jewish person is meaningless if you don't leave the leadership of your flesh and the devil. Being a Christian means nothing if you aren't willing to leave the leadership of your own flesh and the devil. If sin wasn't so deadly, Jesus wouldn't have went to the cross to give people a choice to overcome it. Jesus didn't die to accept sin. He overcame sin so we could, too... But you can't hang on to sin and defeat it at the same time. You have to choose to actually follow Jesus. Jesus didn't accept anyone who was unwilling to conform to His leadership:
MARK 10.21.nkjv Then Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him, “One thing you lack: Go your way, sell whatever you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, take up the cross, and follow Me.”
THIS is love. Many are lying right now about love. The response rooted in true love is one thing: obeying Jesus...
JOHN 15.12-14.nkjv This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends. You are My friends if you do whatever I command you.
Jesus loved people by telling them the truth about sin in love... Not to win an argument, not to show off His Bible knowledge.... But to set people free so they could live forever.
If your heart is full of Jesus, your mouth should be full of His same words. If you are part of Jesus' body, then you should sound like Him. Jesus never held back in exposing sin in love, because He came to set people free.
Preaching another gospel.... And many are doing it right now... Is deception, not love. It is the theft of God’s beloved. Woe to those who sit in the congregations of those preaching theft and don't say a word because they are afraid of the people around them. That makes you a partner with the thief.
PROVERBS 29.24-25.nkjv Whoever is a partner with a thief hates his own life; He swears to tell the truth, but reveals nothing. The fear of man brings a snare, But whoever trusts in the Lord shall be safe.
What is happening in the earth right now is absolutely indicating the soon return of Jesus. False shepherds lie and say it has nothing to do with the return of Jesus. If you don't take a stand now against the lies, what you will be left with is fear:
JOHN 10.1-13.nkjv “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door, but climbs up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber. But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep.
“I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep. But a hireling, he who is not the shepherd, one who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees; and the wolf catches the sheep and scatters them. The hireling flees because he is a hireling and does not care about the sheep.
If you follow the hired hands, you will be left without a shepherd as the intensity increases. The wolf is on the horizon. Listen to Jesus. He will never leave you if you don't leave Him.
(almost all of the passages I quoted today we're from John... The disciple Jesus loved. John understood love. What many call love simply isn't love the way the Bible defines it)
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