> General Discussions

Righteous Indignation!!

(1/4) > >>

sonofone:
Today I awakened listening to the Televangelist. There is one in particular I listen to almost for mental sport,Just to hear her speak error after error to keep my mind and spirit sharp. This morning I felt something that I don't recall ever having felt before. Righteous Indignation. I am sick of the ministers of hell and death hijacking Jesus Church. They keep sincere minded believers from realizing the truth. I feel like praying that God will begin to expose them for what they are and raise up his people to show forth his true nature. I think we all can admit that the physical Church both has and has had some value,why can't we take it back. It started off with the righteous, The Apostles. Overtime it was hijacked. Constantine and dare I say the Catholic Church. I feel like praying that God would have the lights of the world to come out from  under the bushel and be as the city upon a hill that cannot be hid.

hillsbororiver:
Hi sonophone,

I can certainly appreciate your indignation, frustration and being sick of how our Lord and the Father are portrayed by the churches and how the leadership attempts (and often succeeds) in getting their hands deep into their flock's pockets, but this is His plan and it started even while the Apostles were still living!

PAUL SAW THE HANDWRITING ON THE WALL

Only a few years into Paul’s ministry, he told the Corinthian Congregation of the corruption already in the Church:

"For we are not as many, which corrupt the word of God: but as of sincerity, but as of God, in the sight of God speak we in Christ" (II Cor. 2:17).

Now I hope you all know that I love the King James, and it is true as stated in this verse that they "corrupted" the word of God, but this verse tells us much more than the King James translators present in this verse. Let’s read a few other translations of this same verse:

"For we are not, as THE MANY, driving a PETTY TRADE with the word of God…" (A New Translation, By J. B. Rotherham).

"For we are not as the MAJORITY, who are PEDDLING the word of God…" (Concordant Literal New Testament).

"For I seek not PROFIT [LIKE MOST] by setting the word of God TO SALE…" (The Epistles of Paul, By Conybeare).

"Unlike MANY PEOPLE, we are not in the habit of MAKING PROFIT out of God’s Message" (The Twentieth Century New Testament).

"For I am no PEDDLER of God’s message LIKE MOST MEN" (An American Translation, By Goodspeed).

"For I am not like MOST, TRAFFICKING in the word of God" ( The New Testament in Modern English, By Montgomery).

"For we are not like THE GREAT NUMBER who make use of the Word of God for PROFIT" (The New Testament in Basic English).

"For we do not, like SO MANY, PEDDLE [for profit] an adulterated message of God" (The Berkeley Version of the New Testament, By Gerrit Verkuyl).

ADULTERATING HUCKSTERS OF GOD’S WORD

Does anyone have any doubts now, as to what this verse is saying? I hope not. But there is still more in this verse that does not meet the eye of understanding unless we check the Greek. The word from which "corrupt," "profit," "peddling," and "trafficking" was taken, is the Greek word kapeleou, and it means much more than simply selling for a profit: Strong’s Greek Dictionary of The New Testament: #2585. kpeleuo (a huckster); to retail, i.e. (by impl.) to adulterate. This word means to be a retailer, to peddle, to hucksterize; hence, intentionally to get base gain by dealing in anything, to do anything for sordid personal advantage." (P. 128). WOW! But wait … here’s one more definition:

From Greek-English Keyword Concordance, "peddle [kapeleu’o], sell at retail, with the insinuation of improper profit, either by overcharging or adulterating"(P. 220).

Can you even begin to understand and believe what you are reading? Paul said that it was the MAJORITY that were retailing, selling, peddling, huckstering, an adulterated version of God’s word by overcharging improper profits far beyond rational living expenses for their own base gain and sordid personal advantage! Not only was this practice CORRUPT, but, it was being done by "THE MANY," "THE MAJORITY!" Tell me that you can’t see this being done in the church today?

THE CHURCH AFTER PAUL’S DEPARTURE

While in Miletus, before going to Caesarea and then up to Jerusalem, Paul gave us a profound prophetic statement regarding the direction the church would take immediately after his departure:

"For I have not shunned to declare unto you ALL THE COUNSEL OF GOD. Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to ALL THE FLOCK [the entire Church of God, and remember that ALL of Paul’s epistles were read and distributed by Peter as well to the Jewish saints, II Pet. 3:16-17], over the which the Holy Ghost has made you overseers, to feed THE CHURCH OF GOD, which He has purchased with His own blood. FOR I KNOW THIS, that after my departing shall GRIEVOUS WOLVES enter in among you, NOT SPARING THE FLOCK. Also of your OWN SELVES shall men arise, speaking PERVERSE THINGS, to DRAW AWAY DISCIPLES AFTER THEM. Therefore watch, and remember, that by the space of three years I ceased not to warn every one night and day WITH TEARS [Paul knew and could see how horribly deceived the Church of God was to become]. And now, brethren, I commend you to God, and to the word of His grace, which is able to build you up, and to give you an inheritance among all them which are sanctified" (Acts 20:27-32).

WOW … Not a pretty picture, is it? It gets worse.

Paul knew that just as he had to come out of religious Babylon, those under his evangelism would also have to one day come out of the New Testament Church of God’s Babylonian practices. In our next installment we will see just what these practices and doctrines of the Seven Churches are, that we must "Come out of…"

Peter witnessed and prophesied of the same conditions in the Church. Listen to Peter’s powerful words of admonition in his last epistle for us:

"But there were false prophets [teachers] also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers AMONG YOU, who privately shall bring in DAMNABLE HERESIES, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction. And MANY shall follow their pernicious [lascivious, licentious, wanton] ways; by reason of whom the way of the truth shall be EVIL spoken of. And through covetousness shall they with feigned words MAKE MERCHANDISE OF YOU…" (II Pet. 2:1-3).

Paul again parrots Peter’s warning in his last words to Timothy in the very last epistle he wrote for us:

"But evil men and seducers [in the church] shall wax WORSE AND WORSE, DECEIVING, AND BEING DECEIVED" (II Tim. 3:13).

So Paul didn’t say that the horrible things already in the Church would get better and better, did he? No, he said they would get "worse AND WORSE!" Corrupt spiritual leaders produce even MORE corrupt leaders as well as followers. Didn’t our Lord Prophecy of this very thing:

"Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte [convert], and when he is made, ye make him twofold MORE the child of hell [Gk: ‘Geenna’ the realm of the ‘dead,’ which Jesus here uses to represent the ‘spiritually dead’] than yourselves" (Matt. 23:15).

We shall now see that Jesus, Peter, and Paul certainly did tell the truth that things in the church would get WORSE AND MORE WORSE, or as some translations have it, "from bad to worse." Peter says there would be false teachers that would bring in DAMNABLE HERESIES. ARE THERE DAMNABLE HERESIES IN THE CHURCH OF GOD? Or did Peter LIE? Paul tells us that evil men and seducers (Gk: wicked men and swindlers) would go from BAD TO WORSE! Did Paul LIE? Notice how bad Jesus Christ said things would become:

"For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, [a prophet is also a teacher and prophesying is teaching], and shall show great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive THE VERY ELECT" (Matt. 24:24).

Read it all here;

http://bible-truths.com/lake8.html

His Peace and Wisdom to you,

Joe

sonofone:
Joe why do I feel like I should fight back? Not literally of course, but I feel compelled to act or to move.

iris:
Joe,

Good Post!
Thanks for sharing.


Peace and Love
Iris

hillsbororiver:
Hi sonophone,

It is very normal to have that feeling, I believe once we get a deeper and clearer knowledge of God and His glorious plan for His creation we really begin to despise the teachings of the church in regard to hell or annihilation, tithing and all the other things that have no Scriptural authority.

We must remember (and it can be very difficult) that this "strong delusion" is also part of God's plan and it may very well be that this is one of the ways the Lord develops patience and longsuffering in His chosen people. We must wait on Him to open hearts, eyes and ears.

The Lord may very well use us at some point as the vessel which proclaims by word and deed what His Truth about His plan and purpose for mankind really is, remember Peter admonishes;

1Pe 3:15  But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear:

This verse gets quoted often here but it really is central to how we should conduct ourselves patiently waiting for the Lord to do the leading and for us to do the helping when the opportunity presents itself.

His Peace and Wisdom to you,

Joe 
 

Navigation

[0] Message Index

[#] Next page