As I have been thinking about the confidence of Peter, I continue to think about how dangerous it is to be overconfident in your desire to follow Jesus without a firm foundation and belief in God’s word. Many people have great confidence in their belief, but their confident belief is not based on the true gospel but based on other gospels as taught by very confident and influential false teachers. Peter was actually taught the true gospel by Jesus, yet even Peter’s commitment to Jesus was not as strong as he thought it was. Jesus had said come to Him, so that meant Peter could come to him and yes, walk on water, yet Peter looked away and Peter’s overconfidence was revealed to him. Peter had said Matthew 14:28 “Lord, if it’s you,” Peter replied, “tell me to come to you on the water.” 29 “Come,” he said. Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. 30 But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, “Lord, save me!” 31 Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. “You of little faith,” he said, “why did you doubt?” Peter doubted the word of God and sank. Peter’s confidence in his commitment to Jesus would be tested. Luke 22:31 “Simon, Simon, satan has asked to sift all of you as wheat. 32 But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers.” Peter overconfidently responds, Mathew 26:33 “Even if all fall away on account of you, I never will.” 34 “Truly I tell you,” Jesus answered, “this very night, before the rooster crows, you will disown me three times.” 35 But Peter declared, “Even if I have to die with you, I will never disown you.” And all the other disciples said the same.” Peter then disowned Jesus, as did the other disciples.
This overconfidence where someone says they will never turn away or disown Jesus is deadly because many have already unknowingly disowned and turned away because they placed their confidence in doctrines and theology taught by false teachers instead of God’s word and they have been deceived. There are many false teachers just teaching what other false teachers have taught them. Most are confident in their denominational distinctives, the doctrines and theology they have been taught to believe and teach others to believe, and do not realize those distinctives are the words of man and doctrines of demons and not God’s word. Jeremiah 17:5 “This is what the Lord says: “Cursed is the one who trusts in man, who draws strength from mere flesh and whose heart turns away from the Lord. 6 That person will be like a bush in the wastelands; they will not see prosperity when it comes. They will dwell in the parched places of the desert, in a salt land where no one lives. 7 “But blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in him.” Today most cannot tell the difference between being confident in the word of man and confident in the word of God as the spirits are not tested. 1 John 4:1 “Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.” They think, this is a minister / teacher and they talk about Jesus and the bible so it must be God’s word and truth that they are hearing.
In preparation for today’s blog, I listened to a teacher, that I believe to be false. I had never heard of this person before and I was intrigued by the topic of discussion. As always, I then looked into what this person believed. On the surface, at least by this topic (the American church in captivity) they were discussing it seemed interesting but with just a few minutes of searching it was easy to tell this was a false teacher and was teaching other gospels. We live in an amazing time when it comes to research. Not only do we have lightning-fast ability to research someone’s belief, but we can actually hear and see them teach firsthand. Having said that, discernment is still needed. Discernment is needed because you can have two teachers saying the other is wrong when in fact both are wrong and both are teaching other gospels. Most times you can quickly find out a person’s beliefs, but sometimes you have to dig deeper. Not long ago, men and women would be teaching and preaching all around the world, and you would have no idea what was being taught unless you heard their message firsthand, or it was relayed by word of mouth or letter and then eventually their teaching may come out in a book. Yes, there are times when it is difficult to discern, but today it is usually easy to spot false teaching and other gospels. satan is arrogant and will tell you one way or the other that he is present. The key is not just the lightning speed of the internet, but to make sure everything is in line with scripture. False teaching has the appearance of truth, but scripture will reveal its falseness. Many teachers, preachers spend a lot of time in the white between the verses. They also add to and take scripture away so that scripture lines up with their distinct doctrines and satisfies the appetites of those listening. Revelation 22:18 “I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this scroll: If anyone adds anything to them, God will add to that person the plagues described in this scroll. 19 And if anyone takes words away from this scroll of prophecy, God will take away from that person any share in the tree of life and in the Holy City, which are described in this scroll.” Every denomination / independent does this by having their distinct beliefs written down in a manual or guidebook. Many have placed their reason, tradition and experience equal to or above scripture. Mark 7:6 “Jesus replied, “Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you hypocrites; as it is written: “‘These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. 7 They worship me in vain; their teachings are merely human rules.’ 8 You have let go of the commands of God and are holding on to human traditions.”
False teaching is not new in the church as it has been happening since the time of Paul. He gives us warning when he said, Acts 20:29 “I know that after I leave, savage wolves will come in among you and will not spare the flock. 30 Even from your own number men will arise and distort the truth in order to draw away disciples after them. 31 So be on your guard! Remember that for three years I never stopped warning each of you night and day with tears.” Paul also reveals the source from where false teaching is coming from. 1 Timothy 4:1 “The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons. 2 Such teachings come through hypocritical liars, whose consciences have been seared as with a hot iron.” Later times are already here. Jesus warned the church not to be deceived, but many have fallen for doctrines of demons thinking they are truth from scripture. The false teachers who teach them are very convincing, yet powerless. As Paul said, not only will these false teachers and doctrines come in later times, but they were also already present during the life of Paul and looking for the right time to destroy. This happened very quickly in the church and to this day savage wolves (Jesus also said, Matthew 7:15 “Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves.”), the false teachers and the other gospels they teach, are everywhere in the church and continue to distort the word of God which draws disciples after them and away from God. This makes it clear that savage wolves are not just among the congregations but are also behind the pulpits leading sheep astray. Wolves can decimate a flock of sheep. One article I read talked about talked about just a few wolves that slaughtered a whole flock.
But this deception is not new, as false prophets were already leading God’s people astray throughout the Old Testament. Just within these few passages we see the devastation caused by the savage wolves among the sheep. Jeremiah said, Jeremiah 23:1 “Woe to the shepherds who are destroying and scattering the sheep of my pasture!” declares the Lord.” Jeremiah 12:10 “Many shepherds will ruin my vineyard and trample down my field; they will turn my pleasant field into a desolate wasteland.” Jeremiah 10:21 “The shepherds are senseless and do not inquire of the Lord; so they do not prosper and all their flock is scattered.” Jeremiah 50:6 “My people have been lost sheep; their shepherds have led them astray and caused them to roam on the mountains. They wandered over mountain and hill and forgot their own resting place. 7 Whoever found them devoured them; their enemies said, ‘We are not guilty, for they sinned against the Lord, their verdant pasture, the Lord, the hope of their ancestors. “ Jeremiah 29:8 “Do not let the prophets and diviners among you deceive you. Do not listen to the dreams you encourage them to have. 9 They are prophesying lies to you in my name. I have not sent them,” declares the Lord.” Lamentation 2:14 “The visions of your prophets were false and worthless; they did not expose your sin to ward off your captivity. The prophecies they gave you were false and misleading.” Paul also describes what these shepherds / false teachers do. 2 Corinthians 11:3 “But I am afraid that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent’s cunning, your minds may somehow be led astray from your sincere and pure devotion to Christ. 4 For if someone comes to you and preaches a jesus other than the Jesus we preached, or if you receive a different spirit from the Spirit you received, or a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it easily enough.” Galatians 1:6 “I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you to live in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel— 7 which is really no gospel at all. Evidently some people are throwing you into confusion and are trying to pervert the gospel of Christ.” And Peter said, 2 Peter 2:1 “there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the sovereign Lord who bought them—bringing swift destruction on themselves. 2 Many will follow their depraved conduct and will bring the way of truth into disrepute. 3 In their greed these teachers will exploit you with fabricated stories. Their condemnation has long been hanging over them, and their destruction has not been sleeping.”
Obviously, false teachers downplay the presence of savage wolves unless they are talking about another group in the church that has different beliefs. They also teach that these are future events, meanwhile they are destroying the flock while those who listen to them praise God during the slaughter. Instead of victory over our enemies, the church is losing the war the church was supposed to win because the church refuses to listen to God’s word, but instead lifts the gospels of the false teachers and continues to bow before a different jesus. This defeat is by the abomination that causes desolation (false teachers say this is a future event) but the church has already been decimated. Just read scripture and compare it to what is happening in the church or I should say what is not happening. This defeat was described in Daniel. Daniel 7:21 “As I watched, this horn was waging war against the holy people and defeating them, 22 until the Ancient of Days came and pronounced judgment in favor of the holy people of the Most High, and the time came when they possessed the kingdom.” Daniel 9:27 “And at the temple he will set up an abomination that causes desolation, until the end that is decreed is poured out on him.” The abomination that causes desolation is already here and millions have been deceived by the savage wolves and doctrines of demons and will not see eternal life as they have been taught they would receive by giving their lives to the doctrines they were indoctrinated by.
Even though these verses talk about destruction, they also give us hope because God promised David (Jeremiah 33:19 “The word of the Lord came to Jeremiah: 20 “This is what the Lord says: ‘If you can break my covenant with the day and my covenant with the night, so that day and night no longer come at their appointed time, 21 then my covenant with David my servant—and my covenant with the Levites who are priests ministering before me—can be broken and David will no longer have a descendant to reign on his throne.”) that there would always be a remnant. After talking about the abomination that causes desolation Jesus said, Matthew 24:22 “If those days had not been cut short, no one would survive, but for the sake of the elect those days will be shortened. 23 At that time if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Messiah!’ or, ‘There he is!’ do not believe it. 24 For false messiahs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect. 25 See, I have told you ahead of time.” This attack is far worse than Babylon and Assyria’s attack on Israel and Judah and now the church is barely holding on and lies in desolation. Picture a war-torn country that has been under relentless bombing and that is what the church looks like today. Even though the church was warned, the church has refused to listen.
Not only does satan deceive, but as this next passage makes clear because of rebellion (Daniel 8:12 “Because of rebellion, the Lord’s people and the daily sacrifice were given over to it. It prospered in everything it did, and truth was thrown to the ground.), God has brought delusion on the church. This combination of deception and delusion has decimated the church. Delusion explains why there are so many gullible people following powerless gurus. So not only do we have the deception of these teachers and their followers, but we also have the delusion of these teachers and their followers, thus they are senseless and 1 Timothy 1:6 “Some have departed from these and have turned to meaningless talk. 7 They want to be teachers of the law, but they do not know what they are talking about or what they so confidently affirm.” This is difficult because many teachers are very confident in their beliefs and give the appearance of knowledge, but they are lacking power. Hosea 4:6 “My people are destroyed from lack of knowledge.” I have included this whole passage as it summarizes the destruction that has been happening to the church and the desolation it remains in. Here Paul warned the people about the deception that would come by word of mouth and letter and is talking about the false teaching that the Lord Jesus had already come, but this also applies to any other false teaching. 2 Thessalonians 2:1 “Concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered to him, we ask you, brothers and sisters, 2 not to become easily unsettled or alarmed by the teaching allegedly from us—whether by a prophecy or by word of mouth or by letter—asserting that the day of the Lord has already come. 3 Don’t let anyone deceive you in any way, for that day will not come until the rebellion occurs and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the man doomed to destruction. 4 He will oppose and will exalt himself over everything that is called God or is worshiped, so that he sets himself up in God’s temple, proclaiming himself to be God. (This is what Daniel was talking about) 5 Don’t you remember that when I was with you I used to tell you these things? 6 And now you know what is holding him back, so that he may be revealed at the proper time. 7 For the secret power of lawlessness is already at work; but the one who now holds it back will continue to do so till he is taken out of the way. 8 And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will overthrow with the breath of his mouth and destroy by the splendor of his coming. 9 The coming of the lawless one will be in accordance with how satan works. He will use all sorts of displays of power through signs and wonders that serve the lie, 10 and all the ways that wickedness deceives those who are perishing. They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. 11 For this reason God sends them a powerful delusion so that they will believe the lie 12 and so that all will be condemned who have not believed the truth but have delighted in wickedness. 13 But we ought always to thank God for you, brothers and sisters loved by the Lord, because God chose you as firstfruits to be saved through the sanctifying work of the Spirit and through belief in the truth. 14 He called you to this through our gospel, that you might share in the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. 15 So then, brothers and sisters, stand firm and hold fast to the teachings we passed on to you, whether by word of mouth or by letter. 16 May our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and by his grace gave us eternal encouragement and good hope, 17 encourage your hearts and strengthen you in every good deed and word.”
Even in the days of Paul, there was deception coming from the false prophets / teachers. This is why we are told to stand firm on God’s word. We are told that false teachers would be among us, which means among everyone who has read these passages will have savage wolves in their midst and with every generation that comes and goes it gets worse. The plan for the church was this. Ephesians 4:11 “So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, 12 to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up 13 until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. 14 Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming. 15 Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ. 16 From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.” satan is the master of taking God’s work and distorting it, so, from the time of Paul to this day, there have been false apostles, prophets, preachers, teachers, and evangelists distorting the word of God, leading people to a different jesus, teaching other gospels / doctrines of demons and as Peter said, 2 Peter 2:2 “Many will follow their depraved conduct and will bring the way of truth into disrepute.” Scripture makes it clear these men and women have not been sent by God. Jeremiah 23:20 “In days to come you will understand it clearly. 21 I did not send these prophets, yet they have run with their message; I did not speak to them, yet they have prophesied. 22 But if they had stood in my council, they would have proclaimed my words to my people and would have turned them from their evil ways and from their evil deeds.” Ezekiel 22:28 “Her prophets whitewash these deeds for them by false visions and lying divinations. They say, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says’—when the Lord has not spoken.” The church is filled with men and women saying their visions, dreams, plans, the books they write and the messages preached have been given to them by God, yet their messages distort scripture, look nothing like the church Jesus started, nor is their power and authority to defeat enemies, yet people give their lives to the doctrines and messages that they teach. The eternal life they have been promised will not happen but instead they will spend their eternity in the eternal fire.
One of the greatest deceptions in the church is being told that God is love. Before you click delete, let me explain. You may be saying, wait a minute, scripture makes it clear that God is a God of love and you would be correct. David said, Psalm 144:2 “He is my loving God and my fortress, my stronghold and my deliverer, my shield, in whom I take refuge.” Psalm 36:5 “Your love, Lord, reaches to the heavens. 7 How priceless is your unfailing love, O God!” Deuteronomy 7:9 “Know therefore that the Lord your God is God; he is the faithful God, keeping his covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love him and keep his commandments.” 1 Kings 8:23 “Lord, the God of Israel, there is no God like you in heaven above or on earth below—you who keep your covenant of love with your servants who continue wholeheartedly in your way.” Romans 8:35 “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? 36 As it is written: “For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.” 37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” 1 Corinthians 2:9 “As it is written: “What no eye has seen, what no ear has heard, and what no human mind has conceived”— the things God has prepared for those who love him.” Ephesians 2:4 “But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, 5 made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved.” 1 John 3:1 “See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God!” John 3:16 “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.” And that is just a few verses talking about the love of God.
There is no question that God is a God of love. The problem is that God’s love has been distorted to say that no matter what, you are loved by God. This has been done by not including God’s command to have no other gods before them and the wrath that follows if those commands are not obeyed. The God of wrath is set aside. Deuteronomy 28:14 “Do not turn aside from any of the commands I give you today, to the right or to the left, following other gods and serving them. 15 However, if you do not obey the Lord your God and do not carefully follow all his commands and decrees I am giving you today, all these curses will come on you and overtake you. 45 All these curses will come on you. They will pursue you and overtake you until you are destroyed, because you did not obey the Lord your God and observe the commands and decrees he gave you. 46 They will be a sign and a wonder to you and your descendants forever. 47 Because you did not serve the Lord your God joyfully and gladly in the time of prosperity, 48 therefore in hunger and thirst, in nakedness and dire poverty, you will serve the enemies the Lord sends against you. He will put an iron yoke on your neck until he has destroyed you.” (Take the time to read them) The part about God being a jealous God is left out as is the need to fear Him. Deuteronomy 6:13 “Fear the Lord your God, serve him only and take your oaths in his name. 14 Do not follow other gods, the gods of the peoples around you; 15 for the Lord your God, who is among you, is a jealous God and his anger will burn against you, and he will destroy you from the face of the land. 16 Do not put the Lord your God to the test as you did at Massah. 17 Be sure to keep the commands of the Lord your God and the stipulations and decrees he has given you. 18 Do what is right and good in the Lord’s sight, so that it may go well with you and you may go in and take over the good land the Lord promised on oath to your ancestors, 19 thrusting out all your enemies before you, as the Lord said.” Deuteronomy 8: Be careful to follow every command I am giving you today, so that you may live and increase and may enter and possess the land the Lord promised on oath to your ancestors. 10 When you have eaten and are satisfied, praise the Lord your God for the good land he has given you. 11 Be careful that you do not forget the Lord your God, failing to observe his commands, his laws and his decrees that I am giving you this day. 19 If you ever forget the Lord your God and follow other gods and worship and bow down to them, I testify against you today that you will surely be destroyed. 20 Like the nations the Lord destroyed before you, so you will be destroyed for not obeying the Lord your God.
When the love of God is distorted, people are taught that no matter how they live, you will not be held accountable as God doesn’t seem to mind. They teach that no matter how far you turn away from God it will be all right because God loves you and would never allow anything bad to happen to you. This comes from a promise God gave David. When God gave His amazing and everlasting promise to David. God said, 2 Samuel 7:11 “The Lord declares to you that the Lord himself will establish a house for you: 12 When your days are over and you rest with your ancestors, I will raise up your offspring to succeed you, your own flesh and blood, and I will establish his kingdom. 13 He is the one who will build a house for my Name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. 14 I will be his father, and he will be my son. When he does wrong, I will punish him with a rod wielded by men, with floggings inflicted by human hands. 15 But my love will never be taken away from him, as I took it away from Saul, whom I removed from before you. 16 Your house and your kingdom will endure forever before me; your throne will be established forever.’” The problem is people read this and think they are safe and secure no matter what. What they miss is immediately after David, Solomon turned away from God and lost most of his father’s kingdom. Israel and Judah were annihilated and only a remnant survived. God kept His promise to David but most would perish. Jeremiah talks about the promise that there would always be a remnant of survivors. Jeremiah 33:17 “For this is what the Lord says: ‘David will never fail to have a man to sit on the throne of Israel, 18 nor will the Levitical priests ever fail to have a man to stand before me continually to offer burnt offerings, to burn grain offerings and to present sacrifices.’” 19 The word of the Lord came to Jeremiah: 20 “This is what the Lord says: ‘If you can break my covenant with the day and my covenant with the night, so that day and night no longer come at their appointed time, 21 then my covenant with David my servant—and my covenant with the Levites who are priests ministering before me—can be broken and David will no longer have a descendant to reign on his throne. 22 I will make the descendants of David my servant and the Levites who minister before me as countless as the stars in the sky and as measureless as the sand on the seashore.’”
That is the love God was talking about. It did not mean His people could live and do whatever they wanted. The worshipped other gods and paid a severe price for it and most were destroyed. Today millions are worshipping other gospels and will also be destroyed. Jesus described the destruction caused by the abomination that causes desolation that we talked about above when he said, Matthew 24:15 “So when you see standing in the holy place ‘the abomination that causes desolation,’ spoken of through the prophet Daniel—let the reader understand— 16 then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. 17 Let no one on the housetop go down to take anything out of the house. 18 Let no one in the field go back to get their cloak. 19 How dreadful it will be in those days for pregnant women and nursing mothers! 20 Pray that your flight will not take place in winter or on the Sabbath. 21 For then there will be great distress, unequaled from the beginning of the world until now—and never to be equaled again. 22 “If those days had not been cut short, no one would survive, but for the sake of the elect those days will be shortened.” The destruction to the church caused by the abomination has been severe and there is only a remnant of survivors left. Yet God has not taken His love away and will not break His promise to David, but there will be destruction because His people rebelled against His word.
This distorted version of God’s love teaches that God will not let the enemy be victorious over you because of the cross. Scripture shows us that Israel and Judah were defeated by the Assyrians and the Babylonians and only a few survived. 2 Chronicles 36:15 “The Lord, the God of their ancestors, sent word to them through his messengers again and again, because he had pity on his people and on his dwelling place. 16 But they mocked God’s messengers, despised his words and scoffed at his prophets until the wrath of the Lord was aroused against his people and there was no remedy. 17 He brought up against them the king of the Babylonians, who killed their young men with the sword in the sanctuary, and did not spare young men or young women, the elderly or the infirm. God gave them all into the hands of Nebuchadnezzar. 18 He carried to Babylon all the articles from the temple of God, both large and small, and the treasures of the Lord’s temple and the treasures of the king and his officials. 19 They set fire to God’s temple and broke down the wall of Jerusalem; they burned all the palaces and destroyed everything of value there. 20 He carried into exile to Babylon the remnant, who escaped from the sword, and they became servants to him and his successors until the kingdom of Persia came to power.”
Also, people have been misled to think that satan could never be in the church. As we saw above, the enemy is standing behind pulpits and lecterns and leading people astray. There are gurus in the church that have led millions of people astray and continue to do so. I will talk about this in a moment but many like the person I listened to teach that a loving God would not allow you to spend eternity in hell. The reason this is false teaching is because obedience to God’s word and His word alone is not taught. Most teach that their doctrinal distinctives are the way truth and life which is false. There is no such thing as a Baptist, Catholic, Reformed, Pentecostal, to name a few Christian, as each group teaches other gospels and a different jesus. God’s word has been replaced with the words of men and women and doctrines of demons which are other gospels. Rebelling and following other gods / gospels changes everything and because of the rebellion, God allows our enemies to defeat us. Because God is a jealous God, power will be removed, enemies will overtake, and His wrath will come upon those who have rebelled and disobeyed and they will be destroyed. For many that wrath will be eternal. This is why the abomination that causes desolation has been allowed to decimate the church. If the church had been obedient and had not rebelled, then the enemy would have no power over the church. The church has rebelled and has absolutely no fear of God and is completely powerless against our enemies.
I mentioned above that I listened to a preacher / writer (Brian Zahnd) talking about how America was in exile (Babylon) and the effects of christian nationalism. Obviously, I was intrigued as I believe the church has been decimated by the abomination that causes desolation but that was not what he was talking about. I didn’t listen to all of it but as I always do, I did a background check to see what he taught and what he believed. In the small portion I listened to, the person he was talking with brought up the subject of hell and they said they would discuss this in part two. I sensed something was amiss and sure enough after just a brief search found out he was a false teacher and taught other gospels especially with this topic of hell as it related to God’s love. This person is not the only person in the church with a twisted version (unbiblical) of hell. Years ago, there was another guru, Rob bell, that many followed until he wrote a book called “Love Wins.” One writer summed his book up by saying “he challenged the traditional evangelical belief in eternal, conscious torment. He questioned the idea of a loving God who permanently condemns people, suggesting instead that God's grace is relentless and that hell might be a temporary, restorative process.” His rejection of hell as eternal torment is a rejection of God’s word. You do not have to look very deep into Rob Bell’s beliefs to see that he is a false teacher. The church never seems to learn not to follow men and women.
The person I was talking about above holds many of the same views but basically is saying how can a good person end up in hell? The answer is simple; a good person ends up in hell because they rejected Jesus. Hell is void of God. They say war is hell, but God is still present. Millions have listened to ACDC sing Highway to Hell, and other songs about hell as if it is a party place they can’t wait to get to. But a place void of God is no place you want to be. Basically, what this writer has done is taken away the severity of hell because he could not comprehend a God who means what He says. As he said, “He doesn’t understand the point of that”, yet he makes himself God by rejected what God clearly states and rewriting God’s word to his own liking. This is the danger of the teaching that God is only a God of love. Rob Bell said love wins, this writer wrote a book called “Sinners in the Hands of a Loving God” based off a sermon called “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God.” He said, “What I can say about hell is that we do not need to (and must not!) hold to a perverse doctrine that all non-Christians are subjected by God to eternal conscious torment. The gospel is not a perverse theological system in which good people are tortured by God for eternity. Christians must stop suggesting anything like that! I am sympathetic with the atheist who cannot believe in a god who is so petty and cruel that he defends his so-called honor by torturing billions of souls for eternity. I don’t believe in that god either.” This writer talks a lot about the Jews but doesn’t talk about their rejection of Jesus as their Messiah. He also talked about a good Muslim but doesn’t talk about their rejection of Jesus as the only way, truth and life.
From the beginning of scripture to the end, we see that God commands obedience and from the beginning we see that God means what He says. A person who disagrees with God, is a person influenced by satan just as we saw in the Garden of Eden when Adam and Eve rejected God’s word for satan’s words and those in the land of promise who rejected God were also removed. The writer above has a problem with good people going to hell, but a good person who rejects Jesus will not see eternal life no matter how he feels about it. Basically, this person has a problem with God and decided his own words were better suited for the church. A person who follows other gospels and a different jesus will also not see eternal life. This false teaching around a loving God is deadly because it completely negates the urgency of submitting wholeheartedly to Jesus and making sure you are obedient and following the true gospel. These false teachers line up more with the Jehovah’s witness than they do scripture, thus they line up with a cult instead of the word of God. The JW.org website states, “Is hell a place of eternal suffering? No. The original words translated as “hell” in some older Bible translations (Hebrew, “Sheol”; Greek, “Hades”) basically refer to “the Grave,” that is, the common grave of mankind. The Bible shows that people in “the Grave” are in a state of nonexistence. The dead are unconscious and so cannot feel pain. God has set death, not torment in a fiery hell, as the penalty for sin. The idea of eternal torment is repugnant to God.” So ACDC is on a highway to non-existence so it really doesn’t matter how you live.
The word of God clearly states, Jude 1:3 “Dear friends, although I was very eager to write to you about the salvation we share, I felt compelled to write and urge you to contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to God’s holy people. 4 For certain individuals whose condemnation was written about long ago have secretly slipped in among you. They are ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into a license for immorality and deny Jesus Christ our only Sovereign and Lord. 5 Though you already know all this, I want to remind you that the Lord at one time delivered his people out of Egypt, but later destroyed those who did not believe. 6 And the angels who did not keep their positions of authority but abandoned their proper dwelling—these he has kept in darkness, bound with everlasting chains for judgment on the great Day. 7 In a similar way, Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding towns gave themselves up to sexual immorality and perversion. They serve as an example of those who suffer the punishment of eternal fire.12 These people are blemishes at your love feasts, eating with you without the slightest qualm—shepherds who feed only themselves. They are clouds without rain, blown along by the wind; autumn trees, without fruit and uprooted—twice dead.13 They are wild waves of the sea, foaming up their shame; wandering stars, for whom blackest darkness has been reserved forever. 17 But, dear friends, remember what the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ foretold. 18 They said to you, “In the last times there will be scoffers who will follow their own ungodly desires.” 19 These are the people who divide you, who follow mere natural instincts and do not have the Spirit.” This false teaching, and yes, they use / distort scripture, even the JW’s, definitely takes the pressure off when you die and cease to exist instead of being judged by God. We are not animals.
Honestly, I think most have a skewed version of hell because most do not like God’s view on hell as it brings a level of discomfort that most prefer not to have. It also means they have to take God’s word more seriously and submit their lives to Him wholeheartedly but that would interfere with their life. Sadly, there will be millions of people who thought they were secure and on their way to heaven but instead that will spend eternity in the eternal fire because they refused to take God at His word and listened to the false teachers instead. Jesus said these words that no one should want to hear. Matthew 25:41 “‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 46 “Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.” Or the parable of the rich man and Lazurus. Luke 16:27 “He answered, ‘Then I beg you, father, send Lazarus to my family, 28 for I have five brothers. Let him warn them, so that they will not also come to this place of torment.’ 29 “Abraham replied, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them listen to them.’ 30 “‘No, father Abraham,’ he said, ‘but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.’ 31 “He said to him, ‘If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.’” How many people are there wanting to warn others, but it is too late. How many false teachers are there wishing they could say I was wrong. If you just took these two verses seriously, it would change how you view the word of God but most have been taught God is love so it really isn’t that big of a deal. I say most have a skewed view of hell because it is easy to think about the rapist, criminal, the crook ending up in hell, but a good person who has done nothing wrong is another story and they would be easily swayed by someone like Bell or Zahnd. The problem is being good is not the requirement God has set forth to stay out of hell. Why would a person repent or turn from other gospels when the end result is just vanishing. But since scripture makes it clear that hell is real, I myself don’t like to think about the millions who have rejected Jesus and I don’t like to think about the millions who have called themselves Christians who will hear depart from me because they have been told that the lies that they were told was the truth of God’s word. This is why talking about the deception and desolation of the church is so important. Once you die it is too late and eternity begins, and your eternal destination cannot be changed. John 3:36 “Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on them.” Matthew 25:46 “Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”
God means what He says. Are you really going to listen to the words of a man or women who teaches contrary to the word of God? The church is filled with those who have. Teaching that God is love and you don’t have to worry about His judgement is false teaching. Those who listen to false teachers will only find out that they had been deceived and deluded by the very confident men and women and doctrines of demons they had put their faith in when it is too late unless there are opened. Luke 13:22 “Then Jesus went through the towns and villages, teaching as he made his way to Jerusalem. 23 Someone asked him, “Lord, are only a few people going to be saved?” He said to them, 24 “Make every effort to enter through the narrow door, because many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able to. 25 Once the owner of the house gets up and closes the door, you will stand outside knocking and pleading, ‘Sir, open the door for us.’ “But he will answer, ‘I don’t know you or where you come from.’ 26 “Then you will say, ‘We ate and drank with you, and you taught in our streets.’ 27 “But he will reply, ‘I don’t know you or where you come from. Away from me, all you evildoers!’ 28 “There will be weeping there, and gnashing of teeth, when you see Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, but you yourselves thrown out. 29 People will come from east and west and north and south, and will take their places at the feast in the kingdom of God. 30 Indeed there are those who are last who will be first, and first who will be last.” It doesn’t have to be that way. Ezekiel 18:30 “Therefore, you Israelites, I will judge each of you according to your own ways, declares the Sovereign Lord. Repent! Turn away from all your offenses; then sin will not be your downfall. 31 Rid yourselves of all the offenses you have committed, and get a new heart and a new spirit. Why will you die, people of Israel? 32 For I take no pleasure in the death of anyone, declares the Sovereign Lord. Repent and live!” Mark 1:14 “Jesus went into Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God. 15 “The time has come,” he said. “The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!”
Another area when talking about God’s love that many have been deceived by is homosexuality and all the letters that go with it LGBTQIA+, and they keep getting longer. Basically, many have come to believe that God loves and accepts everyone and yes that is true, but you are not supposed to stay the same. The church was supposed to have the power for that to happen. Many churches have come to believe that God does not think homosexuality is an abomination and other churches are struggling with it. Yes, God loves everyone, but homosexuality is still an abomination before God. Leviticus 18:22 “Do not have sexual relations with a man as one does with a woman; that is detestable / abomination.” Leviticus 20:13 “‘If a man has sexual relations with a man as one does with a woman, both of them have done what is detestable / abomination.” Romans 1:18 “The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of people, who suppress the truth by their wickedness, 19 since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. 20 For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse. 21 For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22 Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools 23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like a mortal human being and birds and animals and reptiles. 24 Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. 25 They exchanged the truth about God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator—who is forever praised. Amen. 26 Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural sexual relations for unnatural ones. 27 In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed shameful acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their error. 28 Furthermore, just as they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, so God gave them over to a depraved mind, so that they do what ought not to be done.” Galatians 5:19 “The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; 20 idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions 21 and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.” Revelation 21:6 “He said to me: “It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To the thirsty I will give water without cost from the spring of the water of life. 7 Those who are victorious will inherit all this, and I will be their God and they will be my children. 8 But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars—they will be consigned to the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death.”
Teaching that God loves everyone is true and because of His great love and compassion, mankind has been given a chance to repent and have God dwell among us and then spend eternity with Him. Teaching that God accepts into His kingdom homosexuals and all the letters - LGBTQIA+, is a lie. Yes, the world can do as it pleases, but the church cannot and must obey God’s word. But most churches have rejected God’s word and put their reasoning, experience and tradition over scripture. There are obscure verses in the bible, but this topic is not one of them as it is clear that this is an abomination before God. Churches who teach that homosexuality is not an abomination before God will not only bring upon their listeners the wrath of God but also on those who teach. Where the church has failed is many have taught that homosexuality is an abomination but provided no way out, they just condemned the person. Instead of freeing people with power from on High, they came up with ineffective programs like conversion therapy which is now prohibited in Canada.
Saying that homosexuality is an abomination before God is not hateful when it comes from those trying to snatch people from the fire. Jude 1:22 “Be merciful to those who doubt; 23 save others by snatching them from the fire; to others show mercy, mixed with fear—hating even the clothing stained by corrupted flesh. 24 To him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy— 25 to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen.” On a side note, it is not just those who are homosexual that need to be snatched from the fire. Many churches speaking out against homosexuality are filled with gossipers. Paul went on to say Romans 1:29 “They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, 30 slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; 31 they have no understanding, no fidelity, no love, no mercy. 32 Although they know God’s righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them.”
Speaking against this abomination without power is a serious problem for the church. But when there is power from on a High, that is a different story. The problem for the church is that power is missing. When the church does have power as we saw in the early church, people’s lives will be completely changed. Paul said 1 Corinthians 6:9 “Or do you not know that wrongdoers will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor men who have sex with men 10 nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. 11 And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.” That is what the love of God truly means. God’s love means we are set free from sin not free to continue in it. John 8:31 “To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. 32 Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” Isaiah 61:1 “The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, 2 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn, 3 and provide for those who grieve in Zion— to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the Lord for the display of his splendor.”
False teaching causes people not to fear God or repent as they think they do not have to turn from their wicked ways because the words of the false teachers say their ways are not wicked, or don’t worry hell is not real or God would never allow our enemies to defeat us or God loves you just the way you are. These false teachers are still doing as they did in Jeremiah’s day. Jeremiah 8:4 “Say to them, ‘This is what the Lord says: “‘When people fall down, do they not get up? When someone turns away, do they not return? 5 Why then have these people turned away? Why does Jerusalem always turn away? They cling to deceit; they refuse to return. 6 I have listened attentively, but they do not say what is right. None of them repent of their wickedness, saying, “What have I done?” Each pursues their own course like a horse charging into battle. 7 Even the stork in the sky knows her appointed seasons, and the dove, the swift and the thrush observe the time of their migration. But my people do not know the requirements of the Lord. 8 “‘How can you say, “We are wise, for we have the law of the Lord,” when actually the lying pen of the scribes has handled it falsely? 9 The wise will be put to shame; they will be dismayed and trapped. Since they have rejected the word of the Lord, what kind of wisdom do they have? 10 Therefore I will give their wives to other men and their fields to new owners. From the least to the greatest, all are greedy for gain; prophets and priests alike, all practice deceit. 11 They dress the wound of my people as though it were not serious. “Peace, peace,” they say, when there is no peace. 12 Are they ashamed of their detestable conduct? No, they have no shame at all; they do not even know how to blush. So they will fall among the fallen; they will be brought down when they are punished, says the Lord.”
The good news is that there is still hope for those who turn away from false teachers and their gospels and return to the word of God. Because of God’s promise to David, there will be survivors as Jesus said, Matthew 24:22 “If those days had not been cut short, no one would survive, but for the sake of the elect those days will be shortened.” Think about the severity of that destruction for a moment. The rebellion was so bad that God has allowed the abomination that causes desolation to destroy the church just as God allowed Assyrian and Babylon to destroy Israel and Judah, but this destruction is far worse. Jesus wasn’t just talking about the temple when He said, Matthew 24:2 “Truly I tell you, not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down.” If it wasn’t for the compassion of God, the church would be no more. This means no matter how confident you are, if it wasn’t for God’s love, no one would survive. God sent His son Jesus and still His people rejected Him. The church was established and like Israel, Judah and the Jews the church has rejected Jesus and followed their own ways. It is hard to comprehend that God would still love those who have rejected Him since the beginning of time, but He does. But don’t ever think that God is not a jealous God and will not release His wrath upon us for rebelling against Him. Jeremiah 5:11 “The people of Israel and the people of Judah have been utterly unfaithful to me,” declares the Lord. 12 They have lied about the Lord; they said, “He will do nothing! No harm will come to us; we will never see sword or famine. 13 The prophets are but wind and the word is not in them; so let what they say be done to them.”
We are told 2 Chronicles 7:13 “When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or command locusts to devour the land or send a plague among my people, 14 if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land. 15 Now my eyes will be open and my ears attentive to the prayers offered in this place. 16 I have chosen and consecrated this temple so that my Name may be there forever. My eyes and my heart will always be there.” So there is still hope for the living. Joel 2:12 “Even now,” declares the Lord, “return to me with all your heart, with fasting and weeping and mourning.” 13 Rend your heart and not your garments. Return to the Lord your God, for he is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love, and he relents from sending calamity. 14 Who knows? He may turn and relent and leave behind a blessing— grain offerings and drink offerings for the Lord your God. 15 Blow the trumpet in Zion, declare a holy fast, call a sacred assembly. 16 Gather the people, consecrate the assembly; bring together the elders, gather the children, those nursing at the breast. Let the bridegroom leave his room and the bride her chamber. 17 Let the priests, who minister before the Lord, weep between the portico and the altar. Let them say, “Spare your people, Lord. Do not make your inheritance an object of scorn, a byword among the nations. Why should they say among the peoples, ‘Where is their God?’”
