BE WATCHFUL

*Saturday, March 29, 2014*

''Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage —with great patience and careful instruction. For the time will come when men 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. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.'' 2 Timothy 4:2-4 2

God revealed to the apostles that some people will infiltrate Christendom 'with the mantra of being ''God-sent'' but in actually sense ''being sent by their belly.'' Such people would come up with doctrines, traditions and teachings that would appear to be biblical, but a careful scrutiny under the guidance of the Spirit of Truth, would expose it as scam. And because many Christians would also have itching ears to hear these belly-sent preachers, both groups (i.e. Christians with itching ears & belly-sent preachers) would multiply.

Consider these TWO cases:

1. Christmas & Easter: If these two holidays were so important in Christendom; if they were so vital for our salvation, WHY DIDN'T JESUS COMMAND THE DISCIPLES/APOSTLES & THE EARLY CHURCH TO CELEBRATE IT? So U may do well to ask WHEN DID THESE TWO HOLIDAYS CREEP INTO CHRISTENDOM? The Answer is: IT WAS NOT IN THE APOSTLES' TIME; IT WAS WHEN THEY HAD GONE & EVERYTHING THAT GOD WANTED IN THE BIBLE HAD BEEN COMPLETELY WRITTEN. THE APOSTLE DIDN'T KNOW & NEVER CELEBRATED ANYTHING LIKE CHRISTMAS OR EASTER. But Some centuries after them, these two holidays were forced on Christians and since then, more than 80% Christians observe these holidays. If The Messiah of the Bible was not born on 25th December, and if He didn't Command the Apostles to observe or write to Christians to observe His birthday, why should 'Christians' who have come after the Apostles decide to do the contrary? DO they know better than Christ & the apostles? Why have they decided that, AT ALL COST, they would celebrate Christ's birth as Christmas? Again, if Christ Himself Instituted the Lord's Supper (Luke 22:19), which the Apostles also observed as a memorial for Christ's death (1 Corinthians 11:23-26), WHY SHOULD 'Christians' who have come after the Apostles decide to GO AHEAD AND INSTITUTE ANOTHER PARALLEL tradition/ (Easter) to remember the Death of Christ? Of course, U can say U are doin' it to the Lord. But the question is: DID THE LORD ASK U TO Celebrate Christmas & Easter unto Him? Why Don' U observe what He Has asked Us to Observe (The Lord's Supper) Unto Him? Why should U add Christmas & Easter? Are U telling God that the Lord's Supper is not enough? Well, in the wilderness, when Moses was on the Mountain and Aaron was taking care of the people, they cried out to Aaron and  he collected their earrings and other ornaments and made a golden calf for them. He told them; O Israel, this (golden calf) is the one who has brought U out of Egypt. So they offered burnt and peace offerings and they sat down to eat and to drink, and rose up to play. EVEN WHEN THEY OFFERED BURNT & PEACE OFFERINGS TO & IN THE NAME OF GOD, WAS GOD PLEASED WITH THEM? The answer is a resounding NO.  (Read Exodus 32:-32). This tells us that U can say U are doin' something unto God; But if He hasn't asked U to do such a thing, PLEASE DON' DO IT. Uzzah also wanted to hold the Ark of God so that it would not fall when the horse carrying it tripped. He had a good intention. But God struck and killed him because He warned that no one should touch it (2 Samuel 6:7; 1 Chronicles 13:10).  

2. Prosperity Message: Is it bad to be rich or prosper? No. Abraham, Isaac and many Children of God were rich. So there is nothing wrong if a Child of God is rich. 3 John 1:2 talks about Christians' prosperity. But many preachers have misconstrued and misapplied that scripture. We must prosper physical (health & wealth) BUT MORE IMPORTANTLY, WE MUST PROSPER SPIRITUALLY (BEING SAVED & LIVING IN OBEDIENCE TO GOD DAILY). As stated some days ago, a person can go to heaven if he is physically challenged but saved; BUT A PERSON Cannot go to Heaven even if he is Physically healthy & wealthy but is not saved. SO CLEARLY, TRUE PROSPERITY AS CHRIST AND THE BIBLE TALK ABOUT, STARTS FROM WITHIN (FROM THE SOUL). IF U ARE SAVED AND DAILY LIVING FOR GOD, THAT IS TRUE PROSPERITY; THAT IS PRIMARY PROSPERITY. IF U AFTERWARDS GET PHYSICAL BLESSINGS LIKE CARS, HOUSES, CHILDREN, ETC, THAT IS SECONDARY. The horse (spiritual prosperity; being saved) comes before the Cart (physical prosperity; cars, houses, etc). But what do we see/hear pastors preach? They have placed the Cart before the horse. Sin is glorified in our days, under the pretext of ''For all have sinned and fallen short of the Glory of God.'' Romans 3:23. Yes, we're all sinners and by our own works, we CAN NEVER MEET THE RIGHTEOUS STANDARD OF GOD. That's why Christ came to save us through grace. And after salvation, shall we continue to sin because we're under grace (Romans 6:1)? Don' U know God says ''Be Holy for I am Holy''? (1 Peter 1:16) The grace of God is to strengthen us by the power of the Holy Spirit TO SAVE US & TO HELP US TO LIVE FOR CHRIST. THE GRACE OF GOD HAS NEVER BEEN, AND WILL NEVER BE, A LICENSE FOR US TO SIN.

THIS IS THE LITMUS TEST FOR EVERY TEACHINGS, HOLIDAYS, DOCTRINES, VISIONS, DREAMS, REVELATIONS OR PREACHING/SERMON THAT U WILL HEAR OR PREACH.......THE BIBLE. IF ANY OF THESE CONTRADICTS WITH THE WORD OF GOD/THE BIBLE, PLEASE THROW IT AWAY -- EVEN IF IT IS FROM AN ANGEL. TEST EVERYTHING; DON' SWALLOW IT DOWN BECAUSE IT IS COMING FROM ''Most Rt. Rev. Dr. Father etc.'' GOD'S WORD IS ABOVE EVERYTHING; EVEN ABOVE HIS NAME (Ps 138:2).