This Earthen Vessel

One aspect of my job as a Men’s Minister is to be able to address the lies of a fallen culture, exposing the deeds of darkness ( Eph 5:11-13), proclaiming the truth, (Col 1:28) and also, at times, addressing the reality of what has happened in the life of those who have retreated back into old identities and sins dressed up as enlightened, benevolent truthsayers. I do this by my own relationship with Jesus Christ, through the leading of the Holy Spirit and then, of course, through the word of God. I filter everything through the word of God, because it is, according to Hebrews 4:12 ” Living and Active, and sharper than any two edged sword even penetrating as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.”

Did you catch that at the end? Able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart. Yikes!! That means my thoughts and my hearts intentions CAN and SHOULD be held up consistently to the word of God to see if it measures up. If we are genuinely seeking Him with our whole heart this will come naturally. But there’s a warning, if we are NOT genuinely seeking Him, then we are like the man in mirror who looks at himself and then once he turns away from it, forget who he is. ( James 1:23-24) And the admonition pertains to those who are hearers of the word, not the doers of the word.

Do you know how a sword becomes dull? If you take a sword and beat it against a hard object repeatedly it becomes dull and stops being useful for the purpose it was sharpened for. Now, apply that to people who refuse to stop sinning, who’s hearts have hardened towards scripture, towards holy living, and we begin to see why the word of God in all its power and wisdom seems unable to affect them.

This year I have been led repeatedly to the Book of John, and I was particularly taken with chapters 4-7. I love the entire book really, but as I pondered on chapters 4-7 I began to see something I had never seen before.

Knowing that Jesus always deflected away from Himself to put the emphasis on the Father, I was taken by surprise when I read in Chapter 5, verse 31 ” If I alone testify about Myself, My testimony is not true”. This is astounding to me, but what follows has really helped in shaping my walk with God. He says in verse 32 ” There is another who testifies of Me, and I know that the testimony which He gives ABOUT ME is true.” Did you catch that?

There are a certain number of former ex-gay leaders, who at one time declared that Jesus sets people free from all forms of sexual and relational brokenness. Today they reject that truth to declare that not only did God create them to be all these different forms of sexuality, but that God smiles approvingly upon it all. Some of them post pictures on Facebook of themselves, or they post pictures of men that objectify them by the very nature of the image, and they gush with joy how God highly encourages all men and women to embrace lust, exude lust, even to suggest that God blesses and affirms all forms of lust. I kid you not, their reasoning is actually THIS flawed and broken. Their thoughts, opinions, and ideas revolve completely around themselves and they’re obsessed with what they think and feel. These fallen away ones who once declared the word of God as truth, and rightly spoke the truth, have now replaced God’s word with their feelings and opinions as their testimony and their witness. This “woke” mentality permeates every aspect of their lives, glorifying the flesh and Idolatry.

It’s also begun to affect the church in general as the ill equipped Body of Christ fail to be able to address the spirit of Idolatry within their walls and begin to fall for the “advice” they now listen to.

Others I know, who, at one time, stood firm upon the word of God, sadly, now declare that they fundamentally see the world different. This speaks volumes to me. Because true wisdom comes from God it doesn’t take much for me to figure things out when I see tell-tale signs of a shift in one’s theology, by the things they now ring the bell of righteous indignation over. The truth that what the word of God exemplifies should be the thing that drives ALL of our passions. However, with these ones the word of God has been thrown out with the baby and the bathwater for a woke type of mentality. This mentality sits as high judge, peering down the nose at those who insist that the word of God clearly mandates a holy, pure life.

I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again, when someone chooses to completely reject ALL of the word of God to come alongside rebellion in the form of worldly wisdom, they have chosen to bow down the Idols of those they now celebrate. The church is guilty of this as well. They will be taken over, slowly by the demonic strongholds attached to that Idolatry, which is really scary to me that someone who once walked with God and stood boldly for the word of God, now appear to have been given over.

Let me remind you, the reader, of what Romans 1 warns us.

⁸ For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of people who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, ¹⁹ because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them. ²⁰ For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, that is, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, being understood by what has been made, so that they are without excuse. ²¹ For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their reasonings, and their senseless hearts were darkened. ²² Claiming to be wise, they became fools, ²³ and they exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible mankind, of birds, four-footed animals, and crawling creatures.

This is a frightening picture to me, and it inspires the fear of the Lord, (which bears fruit if we allow it to have full sway in ALL that we say and do). In vs 23 of Romans 1 we see that they have exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man. Do you see what Paul is talking about here? They’ve changed the image of God into themselves, elevating flawed, broken human reasoning and dressed it up in the form of God and, VOILA! Now God blesses every sexual proclivity, and according to the LGBTQ “Christian” God also lovingly approves of a man’s seed (meant to procreate) being released into the bowels (where waste comes from) of another man. And this is just one of many unbiblical things they believe. Can you, the reader not understand that this new theology, this new wokeness, comes from the pit of hell? I sure can.

So, to get back to what I was mentioning about the Gospel of John and Jesus. Jesus himself states that if He testifies of Himself, His witness isn’t true. But wait, isn’t He God in the flesh? Absolutely! How can He say this? HUMILITY! Lets look at the 40 days of fasting Jesus did and what immediately followed, which was the temptation from the devil. One in particular was the temptation to self-adulation and glorification IF He bowed down the the devil.( Luke 4:5-6)

Jesus declared that His testimony, if only about Himself, isn’t true because our witness, our testimony can only come from the exact 3 sources Jesus cited, which is the works the Father had given him to do (vs 36), the testimony of the Father, and the scriptures testify about Him. I love that is shadows the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

Jesus ALWAYS pointed to the Father.

Carnal, unregenerate man points to himself/herself as the way, the truth and the life, and their way, their truth, and their life is full of death and destruction.

Jesus said “For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.” Matt 16:25

There is no fear of the Lord with these people that glorify their opinions, thoughts and feelings. They only fear man’s disapproval.

Recently I ran across a 13 min video which contained great truth and the word of God, and it is wise to share something from it here. I will post a link because it was so powerful.

(19) An AMAZING Discovery in Israel (R$E) – YouTube

In Isaiah 30:8-11 we read:

Now go, write it on a tablet in their presence
And inscribe it on a scroll,
That it may serve in the time to come
As a witness forever.
⁹ For this is a rebellious people, false sons,
Sons who refuse to listen
To the instruction of the Lord;
¹⁰ Who say to the seers, “You must not see visions”;
And to the prophets, “You must not prophesy the truth to us.
Speak to us pleasant words,
Prophesy illusions.
¹¹ Get out of the way, turn aside from the path,
Stop speaking before us about the Holy One of Israel!”

When I heard the word of the Lord from Isaiah, I was struck by how precisely it describes what I’m seeing happen. Do you pick up on the fact that He calls them FALSE SONS?! This is incredible to me, I know so many who insist that a willfully defiant, arrogant and rebellious child has an inheritance in the Kingdom of Heaven because they prayed a prayer!!! I don’t understand it all, and God has mercy upon whom He chooses to have mercy upon. Romans 9:16.

A mass deception is taking place and those who are willing to be deceived, are.

I was just struck by the reality of what I’m seeing happen with people that have rejected truth, to embrace a lie, and what comes from them is hostility toward anyone that would speak out against it. They say they love you, or they portray themselves as being loving………as long as you believe the way they do. The moment you hold up the word of Truth there’s a hostility that comes from them that betrays who they serve.

One thing is blatantly clear, God will NEVER lead anyone contrary to His word and from His created intent for mankind which has been from the very beginning. These ones WILL be judged by the word of God, as will all of us. Either judged to be faithful and true, or immoral and false. There’s ten virgins but only 5 made it to the marriage supper of the Lamb. Matthew 25:2-10

Be sure your witness is true, and that the works you do which the Father has given you, the Father and the word, ALL bear witness that you are His and that your testimony is true. Unless those things testify of the Father’s work in you, then they testify against you. If it was true for Jesus, how can it not be true for us? Food for thought.

Lastly, I don’t want anyone to get the impression that I am uncaring for the prodigal, or even for those who have fallen away into embracing doctrines of demons, or deception. Actually, part of what we are called to as ministers of the Gospel is to present every man ( and woman) complete in Christ. ( Colossians 1:28) I DO war on behalf of those who are prodigals, I DO war for the lives of those I once walked with. I only want to point out the truth around the characteristics of what I am seeing in those who have fallen away and preach a MUCH different Gospel. I want to to see them set free.