Author: Steve Phillips

Humility flourishes in the dust. It is from whence we arose, it is what we are, and what awaits this mortal flesh. “You are dust and to dust you shall return” –Genesis 3:19. In the dust, the mighty and lowly alike embrace. There beneath the sod, worms do their work without respect of persons. No pomp abides below. We are but gloryless dust: unnoticed, trodden down, and lifeless apart from the breath of God.

Dust: It is from here that we see ourselves as we are in fact. And Damascan dust is a most fertile field for the budding of this comely grace of humility. Pompous Paul the Pharisee discovered it to be so. In a brilliant flash through now blinded eyes, he saw clearly for the first time in his life. In the dust, his God of ancestral tradition was abandoned and the Lord of glory was apprehended.  It was there that he had to admit that he did not know the very God he presumed to serve. “Lord, who are You?” -Acts 9:5.

His mission, entourage, and fanaticism were forgotten in one instant. The curried favors obtained and invested authority of Jerusalem’s high priest ceased to inflate his conceits [Acts 9:1-9]. Swelling thoughts of self no longer inflamed his breast. Stripped of all its pretensions, his heart now had only one occupation: knowing and serving the Lord Jesus. Self was deserted for the excellence of knowing Christ Jesus the Lord. This is what humility is made of. When we see ourselves as we truly are mirrored in the Word of God, pride is exposed for the folly that it is.

We are as grand as grasshoppers [Isaiah 40:22] and permanent as the morning mist [James 4:14]. The sum of our achievements is less than nothing and void of value [Isaiah 40:15,17]. This is man: insignificant [Job 40:4] as a writhing worm [Job 25:6] whose glory fades and vanishes like the wilting grass [Isaiah 40:6,7].

Boasting is sinful. It demotes and ignores the God of glory while promoting and advertising the baseness of man. We have nothing to boast in except Christ’s cross alone. God forbid that we should boast in anything but. Through it “the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world” –Galatians 6:14.

Crucified, now there is something to boast in.  God has put to death by a final violent act all that I am. Self, the arch enemy to myself, to God, and to man has been executed. This is cause for rejoicing. This flesh, which profits nothing [John 6:63] and in which dwells no good thing [Romans 7:18], is condemned. Nothing else could justly be done. All the refined, learned, and sanctimonious among men recoil in revulsion at such a notion. That is, until they be struck down in the dust.

While reclining on velveteen sofas, mounting rostrums, or parading in the sanctuary, the infection of self-esteem thrives. The dust approaching Damascus quickly quenches this fever. Few wish to taste it. To prostrate there with all pomp and pretension stripped does not flatter the flesh. Neither does the cross. But neither is there any other remedy for what we are.

If we must boast, let it be in what pertains to our weakness [2 Corinthians 11:30]. This is what Paul exulted in and promoted to commend his credentials. Here is the highest he could conceive of about himself. “In Damascus the governor had the city guarded in order to arrest me. But I was lowered in a basket from a window in the wall and slipped through his hands” -2 Corinthians 11:32,33.

Dust, a basket, and the cross were all that Paul could truly glory in. Outside Damascus he was accosted by the risen Christ and cast to the dust. Inside, he also found cause to boast in a Damascan basket. Vilified, scorned, and hunted as a loathsome beast was his lot. Death’s sentence hung over his head as he withdrew, cornered and defenseless, from these relentless assailants.

Powerless, Paul awaited his fate holding on to but one glimmer of hope. Help may yet come from above. And it did, and that in the form of a basket. From above, he was lowered to freedom and safety. Looking up he saw the source of his salvation from certain doom. All he could do was abide in the means of his deliverance as so much pitiful cargo. The strength to save was not of himself. The means were none of his own devising. Humbled, humiliated, and helpless aptly describe the basket’s occupant.

“For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly” –Romans 5:6.

A cross, at the right time, for the helpless and ungodly. A basket, at the right time, for the powerless and condemned. Dust, at the right time, for the proud and self-willed. Pride & Dust: one cancels the other.

 

 

 

The world we live in is flat. Clergy and laity is an evil distinction. Vertical communication and control from the top down is passé. The tsunami of social media and Internet access is threatening to sweep away the church as we know it in its deafening torrent of relevant collaboration, free expression, and deep data mining. In its wake will remain the scattered splinters of unyielding resistance strewn along the banks of its historical wreckage. Mr. Pastor Man, you’d better listen up because this isn’t going away.

Can you research commentaries? So can we. You can quote Greek words and their definitions? So can we.  Everything you can do, we can do: faster and more comprehensively; and we are able to know any and everything about you and publish it to our world. You collect our money to maintain your shrine’s empire and prepare your boring monologues. We know and share for free on our Smartphones.

The era when you are the mouth and we are the ears is over. Technology is forcing you to return to a biblical relevancy of interactive relational mentoring: dialogue. By dialogue, appeal is made to truth as the basis of belief, bringing about a change of mind by influence of reason and moral considerations.

Dialogue, not monologue, is the pattern. “Reasoning and persuading them about the kingdom of God” –Acts 19:8. “And according to Paul’s custom, he reasoned/dialogued with them from the Scriptures, explaining and giving evidence that the Christ had to suffer and rise again from the dead” -Acts 17:2-4.

“Paul began to discourse/dialogue/converse/reason with them and prolonged his word until midnight” –Acts 20:7. The Lord Jesus’ pattern of teaching took place by interactive spontaneous dialogue. His longest uninterrupted message was in Matthew 5-7, taking only 18 minutes to speak.

Your monologues and doctrines, first produce sterility and then eventuate in revolt. By those means, people considered as inferior by the church professionals, are not expected to reason and conclude for themselves. They are to simply repeat what came to them as an authoritative but foreign idea. They may submit, but they are not convinced. Thus, when the program is over, they revert back to former ways.

Reason, engage, and solicit the reflections of men. Set before them the ideal of Christ and ever urge progress towards that by fixing our eyes upon Him. Christ will never leave them and will continue to engage them long after you, the messenger, have departed.

But this won’t happen unless you trash your sermons and engage in dialogue from the Word of God. But you “Pastors” will never do this. You are too proud and you fear exposure from the light of the Scriptures. The alternative? We abandon your unbiblical and empty church-shrine and leave you to man the helm alone till it runs aground on the rocks of biblical irrelevancy. Oh, did we say biblical relevancy?

Yeah, we did. Check out the dynamics of “church” in Acts 15; and we quote:

“Certain men taught…dissension and dispute…describing…reporting…some rose up, saying…much dispute…rose and said…listened…declaring…became silent…answered…listen…then it pleased the apostles and elders, with the whole church…teaching and preaching…with many others also…strengthening the churches.” They dialogued because truth fears no error; error always fears truth.

Sound like your typical Sunday morning routine? We don’t think so. We’re tired of your man-made programs where you are the head and we are the tail. Better throw your the sermons into the dust bin.

Better begin true discipleship and real participatory fellowship where every spiritual priest has something to contribute. Better welcome and return to the Bible’s pattern: “What should you do then, brethren? When you gather together, each one has a song, has a lesson/teaching, has a revelation; let all these things be done for the strengthening and building up of the church” -1 Corinthians 14:26. “Two or three prophets should speak and the others should judge/evaluate what is said. For you can all prophesy one after another, so all can learn and be encouraged and exhorted” -1 Corinthians 14:29,31.

Otherwise, you will be blowing your sermons into thin air, echoing hollowly to now abandoned benches. We will abandon your shrines and then your sermons will be where they belong: in the dust bin.

 

 

 

 

Lot is the high priest of a Christianity gone mad. Lot’s motivation of life surged from Self. His name means “a wrapper:” a moral chameleon who took on the proportions of whatever he was around. Three times we are told that “Lot went with Abram” -Genesis12:4; 13:1,5. He was with him but wasn’t like him. Abraham walked with God; Lot walked with Abraham. An immense difference existed between the two.

The God of Glory appeared to Abraham [Acts 7:2].  No such revelation attended Lot except that of angels whom he contradicted and resisted [Genesis 19:18]. Righteous Lot [2 Peter 2:7,8] did not walk with God; he at first walked with Abraham, then by himself. In the end he walked with Sodomites.

Lot was willing to fight his brother [Genesis 13:7,8], but was powerless against the enemy [Genesis 14:12]. Flocks and herds were counted a greater prize than the love of the brethren. The governing impulse of his life was covetousness [Genesis 13:10]. And like Lot, worldly-minded fools who have no altar also roam on endless quests for greener pastures of self-gain [Genesis 13:10,11].

Worldliness begins in the heart. Its tap root is Self: Self-gain, self-satisfaction, self-advancement, self-esteem, self-improvement, self-sufficiency, self-congratulation, self-enrichment. Lot’s desire to secure the “best” for Self [Genesis 13:10,11] led to moving towards corrupt companions [Genesis 13:12].

Though the victory which overcomes the world is our faith [1 John 5:4], Lot is a sobering testimony to the converse; Worldliness overcomes our faith. “If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him” -1 John 2:15; and this is what Lot loved. Even after being rescued, Lot returned to Sodom’s pigsty.

Lot loved being a man of influence and prominence in Sodom: to sit in the gate as her judge [Genesis 19:1]. But he was not godly. His conscience was defiled; it tormented him day after day [2 Peter 2:7,8]. Sodom was in Lot long before Lot was in Sodom. He longed after affluence and the leisure it affords [Genesis 13:10]. The love of self, the love of money, and pleasure was what Sodom was made of. It is also what characterizes Lot and the Christianity gone mad of which he is the head [2 Timothy 3:1-5].

We have no testimony to the world when the principles and motives of our hearts are no different than those of the world itself. Lot had no testimony; he was despised as a hypocrite by its residents [Genesis 19:9]. His announcement of Sodom’s doom was received as an amusing charade by his own family [Genesis 19:14]. He had no testimony of obedience to the angels who had to compel him to flee the condemned jewel of his heart [Genesis 19:16]. And the testimony that he left for the people of God was one of enmity against the Lord: Moab and Ammon [Genesis 19:36-38]. Worldliness is no small thing.

The verse which capsulated his life proceeded from his own lips: “Oh, no, my lords!” –Genesis 19:18. Hesitating, he substituted his own perspective for what was clearly commanded, and appealed to grace as the basis to do so [Genesis 19:16,19,20]. We can imagine what his epitaph read: “Lot of Zoar.”

Zoar means small [Genesis 19:22]. It is what he had chosen all through his life. His faith was small, as was his consecration. He had little testimony to the world and little influence for good on his own family. Small was Lot’s wisdom and minute was his reward. He had little power against the enemy and scarcely any blessing to God’s people. Even less did he know the evil sway Sodom had upon his heart.

The Lord says that true religion is “to keep oneself unspotted from the world” –James 1:27. Yet in a Christianity gone mad, the stain of the world has colored the very fabric of our soul though we don external robes of righteousness to hide our uncleanness. Our happily superficial religion testifies to our Worldliness. We nod our heads in concern over the heinous crimes of our day while never judging their root causes in our own hearts. We are like Lot; setting one’s mind upon earthly things is the essence of Worldliness. His own alternative to scriptural obedience was considered acceptable by him. Worldliness is not defined by a catalog of do’s and don’ts; it is a matter of the inner sanctum of the heart, an orientation.

“For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world” -1 John 2:16. Worldliness is being conformed to its ideals and viewpoint rather than being “transformed by the renewing of your mind” –Romans 12:2. To befriend the world renders one an enemy of God [James 4:4]. Flee Worldliness before the fire falls.

 

 

 

I hate “Christianity.” I love Jesus, the Christ, my living Lord. I love His church, all those joined in a living union with Him. But I hate “Christianity” because both God and Christ hate it.

“Hear the Word of the Lord, you rulers of Sodom: ‘What are your multiplied sacrifices to Me?’ says the Lord. ‘I have had enough of offerings and I take no pleasure when you come to appear before Me. Who requires of you this trampling of My courts? Bring your worthless offerings no more, they are an abomination to Me, the calling of assemblies; I cannot endure iniquity and the solemn assembly. MY SOUL HATES your appointed feasts, they are a trouble to Me’ [emphasis added] –Isaiah 1:10-15. God hates “Christianity.” So does Christ.

“You have loved righteousness and HATED lawlessness” [emphasis added] –Hebrews 1:9. Yes, Jesus hates lawlessness. He hates false prophets spewing forth rubbish in His Name. He hates fake miracle workers who blaspheme His Name by their lying wonders. He hates imposter deliverance ministers using His Name as a charm. Why does He hate them? Because they are lawless.

Jesus hates lawlessness. Don’t believe me? Read Matthew 7:21-23. Jesus never knew these workers of lawlessness and so they are hated. “Esau I HATED” [emphasis added] –Romans 9:13. Jesus hates ungodly men whose god is their belly; who are willing to sell every spiritual reality to satisfy flesh cravings:

“That there be no immoral or godless person like Esau who sold his birthright for a single meal” -Hebrews 12:16.  Esau’s Prosperity disciples have swelled the ranks of “Christianity” and have made it hateful: “enemies of the cross of Christ, whose end is destruction, whose god is the belly, whose glory is in their shame, who set their minds on earthly things” –Philippians 3:18,19.

Jesus says: “You HATE the deeds of the Nicolaitans which I also HATE” [emphasis added] –Revelation 2:6. Nicolaitan is a combination of two words: Nikao – I conquer: Laos – the common people. What does Jesus hate? Conquering, ruling over, dominating, exercising authority over, and oppressing common people by so-called “ministers.” Jesus hates what religious men are doing by lawless, ungodly, dominating deeds all in His Name throughout “Christianity.”

Christ hates it. God hates it. Ephesus hated it. I hate it. What of you? Do you love what He loves and hate what He hates? “All their evil is at Gilgal; Indeed, I came to HATE THEM there! Because of the wickedness of their deeds I will drive them out of My house! I will love them no more” [emphasis added] –Hosea 9:15.

“An appalling and horrible thing has happened in the land; the prophets prophesy lies falsely and the priests rule with an iron hand on their own authority, and worse yet, My people offer no objections and LOVE IT so. But what will you do at the end of it?” [emphasis added] –Jeremiah 5:30,31. Hate like God.

 

 

We need deliverance from deliverance. “God delivered us from the power of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of the Son of His love” –Colossians 1:13. This, no deliverance minister can do. God is the great Deliverer; deliverance is an already accomplished fact for every true Christian.

But we continue to patronize Deliverance Deceivers as if they can effect what God has not. We seek them like patients seek a surgeon. We believe surgeons have the skill to remedy threatening ailments. So, passive, ignorant, and helpless, we entrust our lives to mysterious procedures, pay the demanded fee, and hope all will be well. When recovered from the anesthesia, we expectantly ask, “How did it go?”

But deliverance ministers are not spiritual doctors. They are charlatans and 419 quacks. The only similarity is that they charge fees for their services; and their only credentials are false self-reports.

Jesus has warned us about Deliverance Deceivers: “Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your Name, and in Your Name cast out demons, and in Your Name perform many miracles?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness’” –Matthew 7:22,23. “Did we not cast out demons?” No, I never knew you lawless imposters.

Fakes and frauds, acrobats and extortioners: such are the Deliverance Deceivers. “Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are extortioner wolves” –Matthew 7:15. “We are not like many, who peddle the Word of God for profit” -2 Corinthians 2:17. “There will also be false teachers among you. Many will follow their shameless evil conduct and because of them the way of the truth will be evil spoken of. And in their greed they will exploit you with false words” -2 Peter 2:1-3.

Do you have a deliverance ministry? Fine: Go hawk your deliverance wares at the roundabout where the truly demonized can benefit: not in the church. In the church, week after week, the same woman comes out for deliverance; she loves the drama and you love the Naira. What is the problem? Simple:

“When the unclean spirit goes out, it says: ‘I will return to my house.’ And when it comes it finds it unoccupied, swept, and put in order. Then it goes and takes along with it 7 other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there; and the last state becomes worse than the first” –Matthew 12:43-45. And why does it find it unoccupied? Because Deliverance Deceivers do not preach the gospel.

“The gospel is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes” –Romans 1:16. If Christ is not presented in reality and truth, if repentance from known wickedness does not take place, Christ is not resident in that heart. It is empty, and defenseless, and has never been transferred from Satan to Christ.

What are these self-proclaimed fools going to do that God has not already done? “God has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love” –Colossians 1:13. What are they going to deliver believers from that Christ has not already accomplished?

“You were not redeemed/set free with corruptible things like silver and gold from your worthless empty way of life handed down by tradition from your ancestors/forefathers, but by the precious costly sacrifice of Christ’s blood” -1 Peter 1:18,19. There is no generational curse or ancestral sin for Christians.

“He summoned Balaam to curse you. But I was not willing to listen to Balaam. So he had to bless you; and I delivered you from his hand” –Joshua 24:9,10. “The Lord your God was not willing to listen to Balaam, but the Lord your God turned the curse into a blessing for you because the Lord your God loves you” –Deuteronomy 23:5. Even Balaam himself admitted: “There is no sorcery against Jacob, nor is there any magic, witchcraft, divination against Israel” –Numbers 23:23. “The person who sins will die. The son will not bear the punishment for the father’s iniquity” –Ezekiel 18:20.

No true Christian is possessed of a demon. “If the Son shall make you free, you will be free indeed” –John 8:36. “What harmony does Christ have with the Devil, or what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God” -2 Corinthians 6:15,16.

God delivers from darkness. Christ delivers from the Devil. The Holy Spirit delivers from the power of sin. And the united Godhead has delivered us from Deliverance Deceivers.

 

 

 

Shadows preach a simple consistent message: “I am not the reality.” Christ is the reality; the Law is the shadow. That’s the summary. We interviewed a shadow and he said: “I owe my whole existence to the light shining upon the real. Apart from that, I’m finished! Focus on the true, not me.” Good advice.

“Those are a shadow of what is to come; but the substance/body/reality belongs to Christ” –Colossians 2:17. “The Law possesses a shadow of the good things to come but not the reality itself, and is therefore completely unable to perfect those who come to worship” –Hebrews 10:1.

“Christ is the end of the Law for righteousness to everyone who believes” –Romans 10:4. The Law only dimly outlines His reality. Why are we then dragging Old Testament ceremonies, garments, hierarchy, holy days, restrictions, tithing, and procedures into the church? They are worse than useless.

Shadow Preachers are two-dimensional: dim, colorless, vague outlines. They only exist because there is light shining upon the reality of which they but partially attest to. The Law is just that: a partial and incomplete representation of Christ and His fullness of salvation.

If the light is shining upon a cup of cold water, the resulting shadow cannot quench your thirst. You cannot grasp a shadow; even if you could, it contains nothing to sustain life because it has no independent existence apart from the real. Shadows preach: “Reach for the Reality!” And the Law is not that reality.

“The Law made nothing perfect” –Hebrews 7:19. Why do we wish to annex the impartial, imperfect, and ineffective into the fullness of Christ’s perfect reality? Jesus is the “Mediator of a better Covenant which was established on better promises” –Hebrews 8:6. The Law was simply an inferior temporary measure to lead us to Christ, the fulfillment and reality of all of God’s dealings with man.

“Why the Law then? It was added because of transgressions, until the Seed would come to Whom the promise had been made. Therefore the Law was our tutor to lead us to Christ. But now that the faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor” –Galatians 3:19,24,25. The Law has served its purpose.

“He does away with the first in order to establish the second” –Hebrews 10:9. “When He said, ‘A New covenant,’ He has made the first obsolete. Now whatever is becoming useless/worn out/obsolete is ready to disappear” –Hebrews 8:13. And it has done what God intended it to do: Law points to Christ.

Law cannot save, but it directs every person to Him who can. Law cannot impart righteousness, but it leads to Christ alone who can. Law cannot improve our sinful constitution one bit, but it preaches of Christ Jesus who can transform by His resurrection life within. Hear the Shadow Preachers shouting:

“Do not handle, taste, touch! Keep holy days! Bring tithes! Ordain priests! Gather in sanctuaries! Proclaim fasts!” These are all things destined to perish. They cannot save. They cannot sanctify. They are not Christ. “These things indeed have an appearance of wisdom in self-made religion, false humility, and harsh treatment of the body, but are of no value against the indulgence of the flesh” –Colossians 2:23.

“If a Law had been given that was able to impart life, then righteousness would certainly have come by the Law” –Galatians 3:21. But there is none. “If righteousness comes through the Law, then Christ died in vain” –Galatians 2:21. But He has not. Do you really wish to rely on Law? Think soberly on this.

“All who rely on doing the works of the Law are under a curse; for it is written, ‘Cursed is everyone who does not keep on doing all things written in the book of the Law to perform them’” –Galatians 3:10. Cursed is what you are if you think Tithing will improve your spiritual state, if you ordain a special caste of priests and don holy priestly vestments, or perform sacrifices on your man-made altars in sanctuaries.

All the while you pour your old wine into the new wineskin of Christ’s New Covenant of liberty and life, the Shadow Preachers are screaming: “No! No! No! We are not the reality! You will spoil everything! Stop! Set us aside. Take up Christ alone! Our task is done! We have brought you to Christ! Everything needful for life and godliness is in Him!” Do you hear them? They are preaching to you.

“How is it that you are turning back to those weak and miserable rudimentary principles to which you desire to be enslaved all over again?” –Galatians 4:9. Can’t you hear the Shadow Preachers’ plea?

 

 

 

Suffering is a gift from God. “For it has been granted to you for Christ’s sake, not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for His sake” –Philippians 1:29. Suffering is a privilege sent by God, even via the hands of evil men for our benefit and His glory. Rejoice.

“Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward in heaven is great” –Matthew 5:10-12.

“They flogged them and ordered them not to speak in the Name of Jesus. So they went on their way rejoicing that they had been considered worthy to suffer shame for His Name. And every day, they never stopped teaching and preaching Jesus” –Acts 5:40-42. Bearing sorrows patiently for Christ brings joy.

“When you do what is right and suffer for it and so endure it, this finds favor with God. For you have been called for this purpose” -1 Peter 2:20,21. “Who is there to harm you if you prove zealous for what is good? But even if you should suffer for the sake of righteousness, you are blessed” -1 Peter 3:13,14. We have been chosen and called to suffer for what is right; God is glorified and we are blessed.

Even Christ Himself “learned obedience through the things that He suffered” –Hebrews 5:8. Through the contradiction of sinners against Himself, He learned by experience the joyous blessing of doing the will of His Father. Though most of those who received His miracles rejected Him and did not repent, He rejoiced. “At that very hour, He rejoiced greatly in the Holy Spirit and said, ‘I praise You, O Father, Lord of heaven and eartACh, that You have hidden these things from the wise and intelligent and have revealed them to little children” –Luke 10:21. Yes, suffering is our blessed heritage leading to joy.

Embrace it as from the hand of a loving Father and you will be blessed. Shun it as from God and you will still suffer. Suffering is the inescapable portion of every soul. In a world of sin it cannot be avoided. You will suffer in this life. Either we suffer for the sake of righteousness, or for doing evil.

Better to welcome its lash for Christ than to endure affliction for wickedness. Either way you will suffer in this life. But those who suffer for iniquity here, will continue to suffer unendingly after death.

Listen to Paul the apostle; rather, imitate him: “I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I do my share on behalf of His body, which is the church, in filling up what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions” –Colossians 1:24. The Lord Jesus yet has many more things to suffer in His body, the church.

There are sorrows to endure, burdens to bear, and tears to be shed with those who weep. Reviling and cursing, insults and accusations will assail. “Afflictions, hardships, distresses, beatings, imprisonments, tumults, troubles, sleeplessness, and hunger” await faithful servants -2 Corinthians 6:4,5.

Yes, “by glory and dishonor, by slander and good report, regarded as deceivers and yet true” -2 Corinthians 6:8: all fill up what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions through those joined to Him. Dangers abound in following Christ: “dangers from robbers, countrymen, the nations, and from false brethren” -2 Corinthians 11:26. Flee these out of cowardly fear of suffering for righteousness, and you will still suffer.

Set your heart to this: “All who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution” -2 Timothy 3:12. It is our portion if we would be like Christ. “If they have called the head of the house the prince of demons, how much more the members?” –Matthew 10:25. “If the world hates you, know that it has hated Me before it hated you. If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you” –John 15:18,20. To be like Christ in character and message, is to be treated like Him. It is fellowship with Christ.

Paul prayed that he might “know Christ and the fellowship of His sufferings” –Philippians 3:10. Yes, suffering with Christ is a blessed privilege of fellowship. Embrace it. “Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely because of Me. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven” –Matthew 5:11,12.

Thou shalt suffer. Thank you, Lord, for considering me worthy to share in this privileged joy.

 

 

 

 

Balaam “loved the wages of unrighteousness” –2 Pet.2:15, and subsequently has been ordained Bishop Balaam over vast hoards crowding into his business centers masquerading as churches. He is the General Overseer of all junior pastors who “won’t prophesy unless you are paid” –Micah 3:11. “For from the least of them even to the greatest of them, their lives are ruled by greed, everyone is given to covetousness for gain, and from the prophet even to the priest, they are all frauds” –Jeremiah 6:13.

Though Balaam knew that God opposed his desperate lust for riches, he continued to seek gain for Self. He wanted by all means to find a way to get Balak’s promised reward by “using” God to obtain it. Thus he was for hire and prophesied for a price: Money was his master and prophesying his vocation.

The Lord Jesus sternly warns one and all of Balaam’s delusion. “No servant can serve 2 masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and Mammon/Wealth/Riches” –Luke 16:13.

Note it well: If you love Money, you hate God. If you are devoted to Money you despise God. There is no middle ground, no blending of the two. You cannot serve both. But Bishop Balaam would disagree.

The Scriptures speak about Balaam’s Way [2 Peter 2:15], his Error [Jude 11], and his Doctrine [Revelation 2:14]. These give us sober warnings about following in his footsteps.

The Way of Balaam is that of motivating greed for self-enrichment. Love of money filled his heart. He cared nothing for the Lord or the Israel of God. That God would judge fornicating Moabite women and Balak himself did not disturb him at all. Money was his one concern and he must have it by all means.

The Error of Balaam was imagining that God can be manipulated by repeated religious activities. He thought that if God did not approve of his prophetic ravings today, He may yet be persuaded tomorrow. “Noise and religious acrobatics ought to eventually gain my own desires,” was the warped error of his thinking. Balaam believed that God could be convinced to adjust His Word to grant his own. And thus he moved from one mountain to another high-place, repeatedly raving the same nonsense. It is error indeed.

He taught Balak and all men thereafter the doctrine which bears his name. The Doctrine of Balaam is that truth can be compromised to get what I want. His message is that the end justifies the means. “As long as my purpose is achieved, it does not matter how it is accomplished,” was his deluded teaching. Truly, a doctrine of demons according to what is written:  “And why not say, ‘Let us do evil that good may come’? Those who say such things deserve to be condemned” –Romans 3:8.

Bishop Balaam has millions of disciples faithfully following in his way. Of this modern church it truthfully must be said that “they have run greedily in the Error of Balaam. Like Balaam, they deceive people for money” –Jude 11. This is his lustful use of religion to gain for Self: “hawkers who preach for personal profit” –2 Corinthians 2:17: making the house of God into “a den of thieves” –Luke 19:46.

The Lord Jesus Christ is against all Balaamites: “Stop making My Father’s house a place of business! How dare you turn My Father’s house into a market!” –John 2:16. He has not forgotten how to make a whip of cords and drive all of you out who love Balaam’s evil Way, Error, and Doctrine.

“‘Behold, days are coming,’ says the Lord God, ‘when I will send a famine on the land, not a famine for bread or a thirst for water, but rather a famine of hearing the Words of the Lord’” –Amos 8:11. Those days are upon us. The Word of the Lord is drowned out in the chaotic uproar of Bishop Balaam’s prophetic ravings. The people of God are starved, their pockets emptied, while his prophets lounge in luxury.

“But he received a rebuke for his own transgressions, for a dumb donkey, speaking with a voice of a man, restrained the madness of the prophet” – 2 Peter 2:16. And now, here and there in the land, God is raising up His dumb donkeys to rebuke this madness. I am one. Bishop Balaam, your days are numbered.

 

 

 

Self is the supreme stumbling block in the spiritual life. Self, arch traitor to yourself, is your deadliest foe. Self, that wanton whore lying in the bosom of every man, seduces that true self within. Self, the household idol enshrined within every heart, has incense burned before it daily by 7 billion souls.

Satan, tempter though he be and lion-like roaring loud, is tame by comparison. For a genuine Christian, though not for the fake, he is chained as he prowls about seeking someone to devour. It was so with Job: “Then the Lord said to Satan, ‘Behold, all he has in your power, only do not lay a hand upon his person’” –Job 1:12. Raging, ransacking, yes, but chained. His leash was short for Peter as well.

“Simon, behold, Satan has demanded permission to sift you all like wheat; but I have prayed for you, that your faith may not fail” –Luke 22:31,32. No, this tempting adversary has his limits under the Almighty’s jurisdiction. And not Peter alone. “No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, so that you will be able to endure it” -1 Corinthians 10:13.

No, Satan is not our greatest threat. “He who was Begotten of God keeps him, and the evil one does not touch him” -1 John 5:18. Our first mother, Eve, stretched out an accusing finger at Slayer Serpent: “The serpent deceived me and I did eat!” –Genesis 3:13. But the Sovereign Lord, not deceived, stretched out His own at Slayer Self, saying, “What is this that you have done?” –Genesis 3:13. Self is our dire and desperate enemy, not Satan. To see your strongest foe, your inalienable combatant, gaze into the mirror.

There Self will match your steely stare unflinchingly. Self is the arena of your fiercest battle. Your most intense combat is waged here in the realm of “speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God” – 2 Corinthians 10:5. These must be “destroyed and every thought taken captive to the obedience of Christ” – 2 Corinthians 10:5. Do you see it? Speculations, imaginations, false arguments, lofty arrogant presumption, wayward corrupt thoughts: these all proceed from within, not from without. Self is the source and they must be torn down, excised, demolished, and slain.

“Those that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and lusts” –Galatians 5:24. This is warfare; this is mortal combat. Every godly soul must take up sides with God against this usurping tyrant Self. “Put to death, therefore, the members of your earthly body: sexual immorality, impurity, shameful passion, evil desire, and greed which is idolatry” –Colossians 3:5. Spare not in this conflict. “Put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh to arouse its desires” –Romans 13:14.

The mystery of godliness is contained in this: We live to die and die to live. “Whoever desires to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it” – Matthew 16:25. Slayer Self must be slain. You alone can do that. In the sovereign citadel of this thing called your heart, will be discovered either Slayer Self enshrined or the Saving Christ of God. You hold the key; you must choose.

You are neither the victim of Satan’s assaults, nor will the Lord Jesus batter down that door. It is one of the most fearful of realities that Self can resist and refuse even the Almighty. Stop and ponder that.

“If you are living according to the flesh, you are certainly going to die; but if by the Spirit you are putting to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live” –Romans 8:13. Life springs forth from death. “Unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit” –John 12:24.

From death sprouts life. From life flows fruit. From Self comes flesh. From flesh is death. From death to life or life to death: either way we must die. Better to die to Self than for Self to slay you.

Paul said: “To me to live is Christ and to die is gain” –Philippians 1:21. But dying is only gain if living is only Christ. Slayer Self must be slain or Slayer Self will slay you. Which will it be? You choose.

 

 “Christians” themselves are the greatest Stumbling Block to Muslims receiving Christ. What would motivate a Muslim to risk his life to become identified with “Christians” in our disobedience to God?

It is a rebuke to us that most Muslims who are converted are due to direct supernatural encounters with Christ via dreams, visions, or angelic visitation. Christ Himself has set aside our testimony because we are carnal. The Lord Jesus has circumvented the testimony of the “church” to testify directly.

A Muslim submits to his god. Foolish “Christians” command their God through the demonic deception of Positive Confession. What kind of God is that who bows to the decrees and commands of a man? To him, Islam is one. Yet “Christians” are scattered into countless denominational divisions. We are carnal [1 Corinthians 3:3].

A Muslim prays intelligibly five times daily: “Show us the straight way.” The “church” in chaotic uproar babbles unintelligibly in “tongues,” never once asking God to show them the straight way. “If the whole church assembles together and all speak in tongues, will unbelievers not say that you are mad?” -1 Corinthians 14:23. Of course, they will. Our carnality is a Stumbling Block.

The Muslim asks: What kind of useless religion is it that has women as its teachers? We are carnal, for the Bible forbids for “a woman to teach or exercise authority over a man” -1 Timothy 2:11,12.

Ask yourself, what would motivate a Muslim risk his neck to join our mad pursuit of Prosperity, when the Word of God says that those who imagine that godliness is a means of financial gain are “depraved of mind and deprived of the truth” -1 Timothy 6:5? We are carnal.

Why would he wish to join fierce violent men cursing enemies by “hot prayers” when his religion already would encourage him to practice that? And especially why would he join such a “church” when Jesus commands that we “love your enemies, and bless them that curse you” –Matthew 5:44?

The Muslim is concerned about the modest dressing and covering of his women. The casual immodesty of dress and refusal of church women to cover their heads according to the Scriptures is a Stumbling Block to him [1 Peter 3:1-5; 1 Corinthians 11:1-16]. We are carnal.

The Muslim is determined that his children will know their Qur’an, and they are required to spend hours reading, writing, and memorizing their holy book each week. What would motivate him to leave that devotion to join “Christians” who hold the Word of God in such low esteem that they have not even read their entire Bible even once, much less diligently train their children to do so?

If we are attempting to reach the Muslim world, we cannot impart what we do not practice. The “One Another” passages in the New Testament testify against us that we are carnal. Our gatherings do not allow, much less encourage and promote, the participatory mutual exchange of building one another up in love. In a very practical sense, we have cancelled the priesthood of all believers with man-made systems of “leaders,” “moderators,” and “pastors.” But the “church” is not actually practicing what the Word of God commands.  “One Another” is not what we do. Our church “worship” services have set aside the Word of the Lord for the sake of our traditions.

Thus we remain carnal, and because of this, the name of God is blasphemed among the nations, and Christ Himself encounters the Muslim world directly apart from our “testimony.”

To the Muslim, his religion encompasses all of life; it dictates his associations, behavior, family affairs, vocational ethics, and personal interactions. A Muslim is intertwined in a community of like-minded believers, and life outside of that tightknit culture is unthinkable.

What would motivate him to abandon his customs, culture, religion, social acceptance, and security to join the “church”? Why would he risk his neck to abandon all to be ushered into an impersonal religious system that offers little in the way of actual acceptance, fellowship, support, biblical answers, and encouragement? Why? In our present state, there are no compelling reasons for him to do so.

The disobedience of Christians to actually practice the “One Another” passages of the NT is the chief Stumbling Block to the Muslim coming to know Christ. Rather than a refuge of loving acceptance, fellowship, community, zeal for truth, devotion to Christ, and answers to life’s questions, he is Stumbled.