As I was reading this week, two verses jumped out at me. One showed the wrath of God due to rebellion against His word and the other showed His great compassion and His promise to David that there would always be a remnant of survivors when God’s wrath is unleashed against His people for their rebellion. It really is amazing that God allows any of us to live. The church and the world are in complete chaos, but God promised to not destroy the earth until the end, of which is according to His timing, and no one knows when that will be. Jesus warned us not to be deceived but most have not listened. We are called to be ready and prepared for His coming to take us into eternity. After destroying everything on the earth except for a few survivors, after the flood God said Genesis 9:7 “As for you, be fruitful and increase in number; multiply on the earth and increase upon it.” 8 Then God said to Noah and to his sons with him: 9 “I now establish my covenant with you and with your descendants after you 10 and with every living creature that was with you—the birds, the livestock and all the wild animals, all those that came out of the ark with you—every living creature on earth. 11 I establish my covenant with you: Never again will all life be destroyed by the waters of a flood; never again will there be a flood to destroy the earth. 12 And God said, “This is the sign of the covenant I am making between me and you and every living creature with you, a covenant for all generations to come: 13 I have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth. 14 Whenever I bring clouds over the earth and the rainbow appears in the clouds, 15 I will remember my covenant between me and you and all living creatures of every kind. Never again will the waters become a flood to destroy all life. 16 Whenever the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and all living creatures of every kind on the earth.” 17 So God said to Noah, “This is the sign of the covenant I have established between me and all life on the earth.”
That promise did not mean God would not punish His people who rebelled against His word. As the God’s people rebelled they would feel His wrath. 2 Kings 17:6 “In the ninth year of Hoshea, the king of Assyria captured Samaria and deported the Israelites to Assyria. He settled them in Halah, in Gozan on the Habor River and in the towns of the Medes. 7 All this took place because the Israelites had sinned against the Lord their God, who had brought them up out of Egypt from under the power of Pharaoh king of Egypt. They worshiped other gods 8 and followed the practices of the nations the Lord had driven out before them, as well as the practices that the kings of Israel had introduced. 13 The Lord warned Israel and Judah through all his prophets and seers: “Turn from your evil ways. Observe my commands and decrees, in accordance with the entire Law that I commanded your ancestors to obey and that I delivered to you through my servants the prophets.” 14 But they would not listen and were as stiff-necked as their ancestors, who did not trust in the Lord their God. 15 They rejected his decrees and the covenant he had made with their ancestors and the statutes he had warned them to keep. They followed worthless idols and themselves became worthless. They imitated the nations around them although the Lord had ordered them, “Do not do as they do.” 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. 21 The land enjoyed its sabbath rests; all the time of its desolation it rested, until the seventy years were completed in fulfillment of the word of the Lord spoken by Jeremiah.” They would then see the compassion of God.
There is a day coming when God will destroy the earth and everything in it and eternity will begin. 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.” The problem due to deception and delusion is that the church today does not fear God. The church does not fear God Daniel 5:23 “who holds in his hand your life and all your ways.” We are told, Matthew 10:28 “Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell.” Jeremiah 4:22 “My people are fools; they do not know me. They are senseless children; they have no understanding. They are skilled in doing evil; they know not how to do good.” Jeremiah 5:20 “Announce this to the descendants of Jacob and proclaim it in Judah: 21 Hear this, you foolish and senseless people, who have eyes but do not see, who have ears but do not hear: 22 Should you not fear me?” declares the Lord. “Should you not tremble in my presence? I made the sand a boundary for the sea, an everlasting barrier it cannot cross. The waves may roll, but they cannot prevail; they may roar, but they cannot cross it. 23 But these people have stubborn and rebellious hearts; they have turned aside and gone away. 24 They do not say to themselves, Let us fear the Lord our God, who gives autumn and spring rains in season, who assures us of the regular weeks of harvest.’ 25 Your wrongdoings have kept these away; your sins have deprived you of good. “A horrible and shocking thing has happened in the land: 31 The prophets prophesy lies, the priests rule by their own authority, and my people love it this way. But what will you do in the end?” Jeremiah 2:11 “Has a nation ever changed its gods? (Yet they are not gods at all.) But my people have exchanged their glorious God for worthless idols. 12 Be appalled at this, you heavens, and shudder with great horror,” declares the Lord. 13 “My people have committed two sins: They have forsaken me, the spring of living water, and have dug their own cisterns, broken cisterns that cannot hold water. Have you not brought this on yourselves by forsaking the Lord your God when he led you in the way? 18 Now why go to Egypt to drink water from the Nile? And why go to Assyria to drink water from the Euphrates? 19 Your wickedness will punish you; your backsliding will rebuke you. Consider then and realize how evil and bitter it is for you when you forsake the Lord your God and have no awe of me,” declares the Lord, the Lord Almighty.”
This lack of fear combined with rebellion against God’s word, as spoken by His servants the prophets, brought the wrath of God against Israel and Judah. Ezekiel 21:1 “The word of the Lord came to me: 2 “Son of man, set your face against Jerusalem and preach against the sanctuary. Prophesy against the land of Israel 3 and say to her: ‘This is what the Lord says: I am against you. I will draw my sword from its sheath and cut off from you both the righteous and the wicked. 4 Because I am going to cut off the righteous and the wicked, my sword will be unsheathed against everyone from south to north. 5 Then all people will know that I the Lord have drawn my sword from its sheath; it will not return again.’ 6 “Therefore groan, son of man! Groan before them with broken heart and bitter grief. 7 And when they ask you, ‘Why are you groaning?’ you shall say, ‘Because of the news that is coming. Every heart will melt with fear and every hand go limp; every spirit will become faint and every leg will be wet with urine.’ It is coming! It will surely take place, declares the Sovereign Lord.” 8 The word of the Lord came to me: 9 “Son of man, prophesy and say, ‘This is what the Lord says: “‘A sword, a sword, sharpened and polished— 10 sharpened for the slaughter, polished to flash like lightning!” Jeremiah said Jeremiah 25:3 “For twenty-three years—from the thirteenth year of Josiah son of Amon king of Judah until this very day—the word of the Lord has come to me and I have spoken to you again and again, but you have not listened. 4 And though the Lord has sent all his servants the prophets to you again and again, you have not listened or paid any attention. 5 They said, “Turn now, each of you, from your evil ways and your evil practices, and you can stay in the land the Lord gave to you and your ancestors for ever and ever. 6 Do not follow other gods to serve and worship them; do not arouse my anger with what your hands have made. Then I will not harm you.” 7 “But you did not listen to me,” declares the Lord, “and you have aroused my anger with what your hands have made, and you have brought harm to yourselves.” 8 Therefore the Lord Almighty says this: “Because you have not listened to my words, 9 I will summon all the peoples of the north and my servant Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon,” declares the Lord, “and I will bring them against this land and its inhabitants and against all the surrounding nations. I will completely destroy them and make them an object of horror and scorn, and an everlasting ruin. 10 I will banish from them the sounds of joy and gladness, the voices of bride and bridegroom, the sound of millstones and the light of the lamp. 11 This whole country will become a desolate wasteland, and these nations will serve the king of Babylon seventy years.”
This is God’s wrath against His people. God used His servant, the king of Babylon to destroy them and make them an object of horror. God said to Solomon, 2 Chronicles 7:19 “But if you turn away and forsake the decrees and commands I have given you and go off to serve other gods and worship them, 20 then I will uproot Israel from my land, which I have given them, and will reject this temple I have consecrated for my Name. I will make it a byword and an object of ridicule among all peoples. 21 This temple will become a heap of rubble. All who pass by will be appalled and say, ‘Why has the Lord done such a thing to this land and to this temple?’ 22 People will answer, ‘Because they have forsaken the Lord, the God of their ancestors, who brought them out of Egypt, and have embraced other gods, worshiping and serving them—that is why he brought all this disaster on them.’” Jeremiah 50:17 “Israel is a scattered flock that lions have chased away. The first to devour them was the king of Assyria; the last to crush their bones was Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon.”
The first verse of the two I talked about at the beginning is, Jeremiah 18:11 “Now therefore say to the people of Judah and those living in Jerusalem, ‘This is what the Lord says: Look! I am preparing a disaster for you and devising a plan against you. So turn from your evil ways, each one of you, and reform your ways and your actions.’ 12 But they will reply, ‘It’s no use. We will continue with our own plans; we will all follow the stubbornness of our evil hearts.’” The first talks about the wrath of God. I have included all the following verses as you may not be aware how horrible the attacks were on Israel and Judah. (You can also read about the severity in 2 Kings 6, 7) Jeremiah 19:1 “This is what the Lord says: “Go and buy a clay jar from a potter. Take along some of the elders of the people and of the priests 2 and go out to the Valley of Ben Hinnom, near the entrance of the Potsherd Gate. There proclaim the words I tell you, 3 and say, ‘Hear the word of the Lord, you kings of Judah and people of Jerusalem. This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: Listen! I am going to bring a disaster on this place that will make the ears of everyone who hears of it tingle. 4 For they have forsaken me and made this a place of foreign gods (in a moment I will talk about this with Christian nationalism); they have burned incense in it to gods that neither they nor their ancestors nor the kings of Judah ever knew, and they have filled this place with the blood of the innocent. 5 They have built the high places of Baal to burn their children in the fire as offerings to Baal—something I did not command or mention, nor did it enter my mind. 6 So beware, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when people will no longer call this place Topheth or the Valley of Ben Hinnom, but the Valley of Slaughter. 7 “‘In this place I will ruin the plans of Judah and Jerusalem. I will make them fall by the sword before their enemies, at the hands of those who want to kill them, and I will give their carcasses as food to the birds and the wild animals. 8 I will devastate this city and make it an object of horror and scorn; all who pass by will be appalled and will scoff because of all its wounds. 9 I will make them eat the flesh of their sons and daughters, and they will eat one another’s flesh because their enemies will press the siege so hard against them to destroy them.’ 10 “Then break the jar while those who go with you are watching, 11 and say to them, ‘This is what the Lord Almighty says: I will smash this nation and this city just as this potter’s jar is smashed and cannot be repaired. They will bury the dead in Topheth until there is no more room. 12 This is what I will do to this place and to those who live here, declares the Lord. I will make this city like Topheth. 13 The houses in Jerusalem and those of the kings of Judah will be defiled like this place, Topheth—all the houses where they burned incense on the roofs to all the starry hosts and poured out drink offerings to other gods.’” 14 Jeremiah then returned from Topheth, where the Lord had sent him to prophesy, and stood in the court of the Lord’s temple and said to all the people, 15 “This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: ‘Listen! I am going to bring on this city and all the villages around it every disaster I pronounced against them, because they were stiff-necked and would not listen to my words.’” The attack the church has been facing by the abomination that causes desolation is worse and more people have died because of it.
Reading these verses should cause you to fear God and turn from your wicked ways but false teaching, deception and delusion has caused people to continue in their false ways, even until their death because they believe them to be truth. We have talked about false teaching, other gospels and serving a different Jesus many times. I was riding my bike through the park the other day and I was surprised at the number of Jehovah’s witnesses there were standing with their propaganda hoping to witness to those who stop. The JWs and Mormons are cults and serve a different jesus and follow other gospels, but this is not what I am talking about. I am talking about the church who has turned from God’s word to follow their own ways. The frightening part is this rebellion looks very similar to the cults like the JWs and Mormons. Every denomination or group have their own book of beliefs which are drastically different from the other, except they all say they believe in Jesus. The reality is the church has rejected the word of God to go their own way and follow a different Jesus and other gospels.
I felt it important today to talk about a major news event that happened this week, the assassination of Charlie Kirk. I want to be clear that I am not focusing on His death as a result of his vile rhetoric. This is also not about speaking ill of the dead but an attempt to enlighten. Some are saying he got what he deserved but no one deserves to be killed for their beliefs and have their family torn apart. Bernie Sanders said it well. “I want to say a few words regarding the terrible murder yesterday of Charlie Kirk. Someone who I strongly disagreed with on almost every issue, but who was clearly a very smart and effective communicator and organizer and someone unafraid to get out into the world and engage the public.” He then went on to talk about the freedom to speak. What I want to speak about is the danger of Kirk’s rhetoric from Christianity’s point of view, although his rhetoric, like Trump’s is dangerous enough on its own. Kirk made it clear he was a follower of Jesus Christ and talked about his religion, but this is problematic. We have talked for years about other gospels and a different Jesus, and this is a very sad example of someone who has been deceived and deluded into believing with everything they had that they are speaking truth. There are millions of others who have also been deceived in this same way and continue to be. Oddly from what I read, Kirk changed course and became more and more caught up in conspiracy theories and also became closely tied to Trump and echoing his lies. It is strange that a person who professes to be a Christian supports a pathological liar, but this is part of the delusion and deception of the false gospel they / he has come to believe in as there are many who have fallen for these lies. Remember Jesus said, John 8:44 “You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.” Charlie Kirk began to believe Trump was God’s choice to make America great again. One person said, “Trump is on a mission from God to restore Christian righteousness in America.” Yes, God put Trump in power as Daniel said Daniel 3:19 “During the night the mystery was revealed to Daniel in a vision. Then Daniel praised the God of heaven 20 and said: Praise be to the name of God for ever and ever; wisdom and power are his. 21 He changes times and seasons; he deposes kings and raises up others.” But Trump being in power is not to restore something that was never there. It appears the United States is on the brink of disaster.
The news is now plastered with the name of Jesus, Christianity, faith etc. but it is not the true Jesus, true Christianity or true faith that is being talked about, it is Christian Nationalism and since it is not Christianity, it is just nationalism. It also appears not to be about making America great again but making it white again. Even today, racism is rampant. The United States has never been a Christian nation as religion as not Christianity. The United States constitution reads “First Amendment - Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.” Similarly, the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms states “Everyone in Canada is free to practice any religion or no religion at all. We are also free to express religious beliefs through prayer or by wearing religious clothing for example. However, the Charter also ensures that others also have the right to express their religious beliefs in public.” If it was Christianity, it would have said so and not religion. Christianity is not a religion but the way, truth and life. One time I remember hearing was a Gideon who was upset that the hotel / schools was no longer allowing them to place bibles. The reality is why should the Gideons only be allowed and why not others like the Quran as stated in the charter and constitution. Just because the USA has “In God we trust” on their money, does not mean the God of the bible is who they are trusting. The god they trust is actually money and their own power.
What you are seeing on the rise and very rapidly is Christian Nationalism and many are being deceived by it, especially in the US. “Christian nationalism is an ideology that is based around the idea that this is a Christian nation, that this was founded as a Christian nation, and, therefore, it should be a Christian nation today and should be so in the future.” That is not true. There is also something called “The Seven Mountains Mandate that calls on Christians to gain influence, or ‘take dominion,’ over seven key areas of culture: religion, family, education, government, media, business and the arts.” As you may have heard this is a full on spiritual battle; the republicans against the evil democrats. The reality is neither are pleasing in the sight of God. Charlie Kirk bought into this, but it appears he didn’t always, as at one time he believed in a separation of church and state. He even supported Bernie Sanders. But that all changed, and he started to believe in the conspiracy theories toted by Donald Trump and the lies like the stolen election and Covid. Not only did he believe in them, he gathered the youth of America to believe in them too. He was a gifted debater and would debate people on college campuses and elsewhere. As you may have seen on the news he had written “prove me wrong” where he was debating. Not only was he confident, he was arrogant and vile. The deception is the church is to be our focus, not the government. The church is where change is supposed to come from but men like Kirk and many others believe that patriotism is a form of Christianity and the government is how to change the country.
I am sure Kirk was proven wrong many times but was too stubborn to admit it. He believed that the mask mandate during covid was government overreach. “During the Covid pandemic, he denounced mask mandates and afterword. He referred to vaccine requirements as “medical apartheid.” He got his start in 2012, at the age of 18, he launched Turning Point USA (TPUSA), with businessman Bill Montgomery.” Then this happened. “The co-founder of conservative student group Turning Point USA, Bill Montgomery, has died from complications of the coronavirus, according to two friends of his. Montgomery, who started it in 2012 with young conservative star Charlie Kirk, died at the age of 80 on Tuesday from Covid-19. Over the course of the pandemic, Turning Point USA representatives have downplayed the impact of the coronavirus on public life. Kirk said: “Do not force me to wear a mask, it’s that simple. I’m not gonna to do it, I’m not.” Right before his eyes he was proven wrong, but refused to listen.
Kirk was also a gun advocate, and his death came while debating about guns. I watched a video of the young man who was debating Kirk when he was shot and could easily denounce what Kirk was saying about the conspiracy of guns and trans people but that debate was cut short when the shot killed Kirk. Kirk had even said, “At a Turning Point event in Salt Lake City in April 2023, he said, “It’s worth it to have a cost of, unfortunately, some gun deaths every single year so that we can have the Second Amendment.” I don’t think he was thinking his own life would be one of them. Once again, he was proven wrong, but this time did not have a chance to turn from His ways as his death came quickly. As I said this is not about Charlie Kirk deserving to die because he was so vile, but this is about his dying while believing a false gospel and a different Jesus and the millions he has influenced. The tragedy more so than his own death is the fact that there are millions who have bought into the same lies and delusions as he did. If you heard him talk, though very good at what he did, he was vile and had extreme and divisive views about religion, race, LGBTQ, abortion, DEI (“diversity, equity, and inclusion”) women and immigrants. One time he said he wouldn’t feel comfortable with a black pilot because he felt they would not be trained enough because of DEI. It was racism plain and simple. I saw a little while back a white pilot who was drunk and arrested before a flight. He should have been more concerned with a white pilot with DUI. He also has made nasty comments of the gays even quoting Leviticus (their deaths) in a debate with a woman. Here is the problem and the difference. Yes, homosexuality is an abomination before God but not how Kirk did it as he was filled with hatred. He also did not understand that God has the power to change anyone including himself. His message was one of hate, not change. 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.”
The so-called Christianity you are seeing around this case is not true Christianity. “By the 2024 presidential election, Charlie Kirk had become one of Trump’s most high-profile campaigners, headlining rallies and megachurch events across the country. He repeatedly cast the contest in stark spiritual terms, claiming Democrats “stand for everything God hates” and describing the election as “a spiritual battle.” Speaking in West Palm Beach in July 2024, Kirk declared: “I realized that there is a desire for revival in this country, that there is a yearning for a different type of Christianity. It is about preaching a hot gospel and bringing a nation to repentance, which will then lead to revival.” He talked about people being lied to, but he was the one lying. Not only do you hear Kirk talking about it, there are many constantly in the news like Speaker of the house Mike Johnson, Margorie Taylor Green and even Pete Hegseth just to name a few who call themselves Christians. Each of these people lie through their teeth for Donald Trump and their political party. Mike Johnson as the speaker of the house is “second in the United States presidential line of succession, after the vice president.” In scripture we saw Joseph, Mordecai, Esther, Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah who all had very high positions in governance but none of them would lie even at the cost of their lives. These Christian Nationalists lie all the time to keep Trump and themselves and party in power. That tells you who their father is and it is not God.
Jesus also did not come to take over the government, even though the Jews thought and expected that He would. Even His disciples said just before Jesus talked about the power of the church and ascended, Acts 1:4 “On one occasion, while he was eating with them, he gave them this command: “Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. 5 For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.” 6 Then they gathered around him and asked him, “Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?” 7 He said to them: “It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. 8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” Jesus responded when Matthew 26:50 “the men stepped forward, seized Jesus and arrested him. 51 With that, one of Jesus’ companions reached for his sword, drew it out and struck the servant of the high priest, cutting off his ear. 52 “Put your sword back in its place,” Jesus said to him, “for all who draw the sword will die by the sword. 53 Do you think I cannot call on my Father, and he will at once put at my disposal more than twelve legions of angels?” Jesus answered Pilate when he said, John 19:10 “Don’t you realize I have power either to free you or to crucify you?” 11 Jesus answered, “You would have no power over me if it were not given to you from above. Therefore the one who handed me over to you is guilty of a greater sin.” The plan of the Christian Nationalist is not the plan of Jesus Christ, therefore not of God but satan.
Charlie Kirk was part of this Christian Nationalism. He was also not afraid to talk about the God of his understanding. His wife spoke the other day and on the front of the podium were the words “May Charlie be received into the merciful arms of Jesus.” “Just a few months before he was assassinated on Sept. 10, Turning Point USA Founder Charlie Kirk — a conservative campus activist and an outspoken evangelical Christian — said that upon his death, he would want to be remembered for his Christian faith.” “I want to be remembered for courage for my faith,” Kirk answered. “That would be the most important thing. The most important thing is my faith.” Scripture makes it clear that following other gospels and different Jesus is like following other gods. satan’s goal is to take as many of God’s people with him. Jesus said Matthew 25:41 “Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.” Peter said 2 Peter 2:1 “But 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.” Charlie Kirk along with many others brought the truth into disrepute. When someone sees the news and hears all this talk about Jesus, Christianity and faith, it is very confusing when you hear the lies, hatred and vile words coming out of their mouths. Nothing they do represents Jesus other than mentioning His name. What happens when truth is brought into disrepute is that many will be led astray and Kirk was a big part of that.
Paul said 2 Corinthians 11:1 “I hope you will put up with me in a little foolishness. Yes, please put up with me! 2 I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy. I promised you to one husband, to Christ, so that I might present you as a pure virgin to him. 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.” He also said 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. 8 But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let them be under God’s curse! 9 As we have already said, so now I say again: If anybody is preaching to you a gospel other than what you accepted, let them be under God’s curse!” Having faith in a different Jesus is not faith. Following other gospels is like following other gods. Deuteronomy 8:19 “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.” Deuteronomy 11:26 “See, I am setting before you today a blessing and a curse— 27 the blessing if you obey the commands of the Lord your God that I am giving you today; 28 the curse if you disobey the commands of the Lord your God and turn from the way that I command you today by following other gods, which you have not known.” Jeremiah 1:16 “I will pronounce my judgments on my people because of their wickedness in forsaking me, in burning incense to other gods and in worshiping what their hands have made.” The church followed other gospels, and God allowed the abomination that causes desolation to decimate the church.
Charlie Kirk was zealous for his beliefs and many listened to his provocation but he was wrong and because he was so deceived and deluded in those beliefs, he never had a chance to turn from those ways. He did not wake up that day and know today would be his last but like many others confidently went into eternity deceived and deluded. There are millions of others who have been deceived and deluded who will also not know when their final day will be. Charlie Kirk arrogantly challenged people to prove him wrong but now is not the time to be proven wrong after you have died. I am not talking about the gunmen murdering him and leaving his family without a husband and father, but being wrong about your eternal destination. Basing your confidence on other gospels is not what you want to do. This is why the spirits must be 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.” Kirk had associated with the wrong so-called Christian leaders and became a false teacher himself. All you have to do is listen to him talk and it is easy to see the deception, delusion and hatred. One day he will stand before the real Jesus thinking all was well with his soul, only to find out that he had been deceived and deluded and will learn that he was wrong. But it is too late, as his eternity has begun with no chance now to repent.
Christian Nationalism is just one area and there are many others where the truth of God’s word has been brought into disrepute, changed by addition and subtraction and completely ignored. As scripture warned us, there would be much deception because the church turned away from God’s word which began to take place even while the apostle Paul was still alive. Today there is only a remnant of survivors because of the abomination that causes desolation. God allowed this desolation and destruction of the church because the church rebelled against His word and followed their own ways. 2 Thessalonians 2:9 “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.” We are told Hosea 4:6 “My people are destroyed from lack of knowledge.” The fact that millions of people are perishing is hard to fathom and even talk about it, but that I why it needs to be talked about. People are dying thinking they are followers of Jesus only to find out when it is too late that the Jesus they were following was not Jesus Christ, the Messiah, Son of the living God. Luke 13:23 “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!’”
The good news is there is still hope for the church. Jesus said Mark 1:15 “The time has come,” he said. “The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!” 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!” Jeremiah 3:14 “Return, faithless people,” declares the Lord, “for I am your husband. I will choose you—one from a town and two from a clan—and bring you to Zion. 15 Then I will give you shepherds after my own heart, who will lead you with knowledge and understanding.” The second verse talks of God’s amazing grace and though the punishment is severe, there will be a remnant of survivors. 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.” We were warned this desolation of the church would happen, but the church rebelled anyways and so like Israel even the remnant has been punished. When Jeremiah warned the people over and over again, Jeremiah gave them this word from the Lord. Jeremiah 25:12 “But when the seventy years are fulfilled, I will punish the king of Babylon and his nation, the land of the Babylonians, for their guilt,” declares the Lord, “and will make it desolate forever. 13 I will bring on that land all the things I have spoken against it, all that are written in this book and prophesied by Jeremiah against all the nations. 14 They themselves will be enslaved by many nations and great kings; I will repay them according to their deeds and the work of their hands.”
The first verse was Jeremiah 18:11 “Now therefore say to the people of Judah and those living in Jerusalem, ‘This is what the Lord says: Look! I am preparing a disaster for you and devising a plan against you. So turn from your evil ways, each one of you, and reform your ways and your actions.’ 12 But they will reply, ‘It’s no use. We will continue with our own plans; we will all follow the stubbornness of our evil hearts.’” The second verse is the opposite. Jeremiah 29:10 “This is what the Lord says: “When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will come to you and fulfill my good promise to bring you back to this place. 11 For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. 12 Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. 13 You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. 14 I will be found by you,” declares the Lord, “and will bring you back from captivity. I will gather you from all the nations and places where I have banished you,” declares the Lord, “and will bring you back to the place from which I carried you into exile.” Right now in the church there is a famine of hearing the word of the Lord and truth as been thrown down as Daniel said. Now instead of the disaster the church has already seen, there is hope just as there was hope for the enslaved remnant. God will end this time of desolation in His perfect timing. Isaiah 8:17 “I will wait for the Lord, who is hiding his face from the descendants of Jacob. I will put my trust in him.” Isaiah 30:18 “The Lord longs to be gracious to you; therefore he will rise up to show you compassion. For the Lord is a God of justice. Blessed are all who wait for him! 19 People of Zion, who live in Jerusalem, you will weep no more. How gracious he will be when you cry for help! As soon as he hears, he will answer you. 20 Although the Lord gives you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, your teachers will be hidden no more; with your own eyes you will see them. 21 Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, “This is the way; walk in it.” 22 Then you will desecrate your idols overlaid with silver and your images covered with gold; you will throw them away like a menstrual cloth and say to them, “Away with you!” Even though false prophets and teachers and their gospels are everywhere in the church, God’s true servants will rise up and preach the true gospel in the same power and authority the church was given at Pentecost. Matthew 24:14 “And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.”
Today the church you see is not the true church that Jesus said He would build. Jesus showed us what it was supposed to look like and the power and authority it would have over our enemy satan. Our enemies are not political opponents as we are seeing. They are not flesh and blood but Ephesians 6:12 “against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. 13 Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground.” Paul said Romans 13:12 “The night is nearly over; the day is almost here. So let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light.” The problem is that satan masquerades as an angel of light. 2 Corinthians 11:13 “For such people are false apostles, deceitful workers, masquerading as apostles of Christ. 14 And no wonder, for satan himself masquerades as an angel of light. 15 It is not surprising, then, if his servants also masquerade as servants of righteousness. Their end will be what their actions deserve.” People think they are protected by God, but they have been deceived by the wrong light. Jesus said John 8:12 “When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” Most people in the church today are following the wrong light. They never checked to see if the light they were following was taking them in the right direction. Some are just flat out rejecting the light just as the Jews did. John 1:9 “The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world. 10 He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. 11 He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him.”
Jesus told this story about a rich man and a beggar named Lazarus. Luke 16:22 “The time came when the beggar died and the angels carried him to Abraham’s side. The rich man also died and was buried. 23 In Hades, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side. 24 So he called to him, ‘Father Abraham, have pity on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in agony in this fire.’ 25 “But Abraham replied, ‘Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, while Lazarus received bad things, but now he is comforted here and you are in agony. 26 And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been set in place, so that those who want to go from here to you cannot, nor can anyone cross over from there to us.’ 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.’”
Here are two different stories. One man rejected God and the other said he served him, but both will hear depart from me. Stephen Hawking rejected God but now he is the rich man who wants to tell everyone, I found The Theory of Everything, but he won’t be able to. The same will be for Charlie Kirk. While alive he said prove me wrong and now he is proven wrong but he cannot tell anyone he was wrong. He can shout I was wrong, I was wrong, please tell my family and all those college students but his shouts will go unanswered. At this point in time most will continue to reject the truth and follow the ways of men and women like these and continue to be led astray but that doesn’t have to be the end. God said, Zechariah 1:3 “Therefore tell the people: This is what the Lord Almighty says: ‘Return to me,’ declares the Lord Almighty, ‘and I will return to you,’ says the Lord Almighty.”
Moses said Deuteronomy 30:11 “Now what I am commanding you today is not too difficult for you or beyond your reach. 12 It is not up in heaven, so that you have to ask, “Who will ascend into heaven to get it and proclaim it to us so we may obey it?” 13 Nor is it beyond the sea, so that you have to ask, “Who will cross the sea to get it and proclaim it to us so we may obey it?” 14 No, the word is very near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart so you may obey it. 15 See, I set before you today life and prosperity, death and destruction. 16 For I command you today to love the Lord your God, to walk in obedience to him, and to keep his commands, decrees and laws; then you will live and increase, and the Lord your God will bless you in the land you are entering to possess. 17 But if your heart turns away and you are not obedient, and if you are drawn away to bow down to other gods and worship them, 18 I declare to you this day that you will certainly be destroyed. You will not live long in the land you are crossing the Jordan to enter and possess. 19 This day I call the heavens and the earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live 20 and that you may love the Lord your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him. For the Lord is your life, and he will give you many years in the land he swore to give to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.” Joshua said Joshua 24:15 “But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.”
Matthew 25:3 “As Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately. “Tell us,” they said, “when will this happen, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?” 4 Jesus answered: “Watch out that no one deceives you. 5 For many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am the Messiah,’ and will deceive many. 10 At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, 11 and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. 12 Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, 13 but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved.” Don’t be deceived by what sounds like the gospel. Make sure of your salvation as your eternal life depends on it.
