The Power Of Confession
For day and night Your hand was heavy upon me my vitality was turned into the drought of summer.Psalm 32:4
California is a dry state that needs water to be transported over many miles to population and agricultural centers. Snowfall in the winter and melting snow in the spring are critical factors in replenishing shrinking reservoirs. In periods of modern droughts, aerial photographs document the receding water levels in reservoirs around the stateshorelines growing wider and drier as water levels fall.
Such is the picture David paints with his words in Psalm 32a drought of spiritual vitality brought on by his own sin. When he failed to confess his sin to God, his bones grew old and he groaned all the day long . It was like his soul was being evaporated by the heat of his own guilt and shame. But then the rains of grace came and David confessed his sin and God forgave him . And he encouraged his readers not to make the same mistake he had made .
Confession and repentance reveal the access to restoration. Hiding sin does not remove it from Gods sight but when we seek Gods forgiveness, the refreshing living water from the Father is poured out on us and we are restoredthat is the power of confession.
The way to cover our sin is to uncover it by confession.Richard Sibbes
I rejoice at Your Word as one who finds great treasure.Psalm 119:162
Temptation Is Not Sin Yielding To Temptation Is
With that background, Paul exhorted believers not to make the same choices the Israelites madenot to provoke God’s discipline by willfully sinning. None of us is above God’s discipline if we engage in sin. We must look for and take “the way of escape” God provides in every situation where temptation is found . To think our temptation is unique is to believe a lie. “No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man” . There are no “new” temptations in life.
The apostle James argued that if temptation becomes serious, it is because we have allowed it to do so. Our own “desires” entice us away from God and desire “gives birth to sin” . God doesn’t tempt us, but He may allow temptation to enter our lives in order to give us opportunities to make obedient and mature choices.
Jesus was tempted by Satan in the wilderness, and He took the same means of escape that is available to usobedience to God’s Word . Temptation is not sin yielding to temptation is. There is always a righteous choice to be made if we are willing to seek it.
Seven Characteristics Of False Teachers
- Reformation
- Seven Characteristics of False Teachers
That Satan labours might and main, by false teachers, which are his messengers and ambassadors, to deceive, delude, and for ever undo the precious souls of men : ‘I have seen folly in the prophets of Samaria they prophesied in Baal, and caused my people Israel to err.’ . ‘The prophets make my people to err.’ . They seduce them, and carry them out of the right way into by-paths and blind thickets of error, blasphemy, and wickedness, where they are lost forever. ‘Beware of false prophets, for they come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves’. . These lick and suck the blood of souls: ‘Beware of dogs, beware of evil workers, beware of the concision.’ . These kiss and kill these cry, Peace, peace, till souls fall into everlasting flames, & c., Proverbs 7.
Now, the best way to deliver poor souls from being deluded and destroyed by these messengers of Satan is, to discover them in their colors, that so, being known, poor souls may shun them, and fly from them as from hell itself.
Now you may know them by these characters following:
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Look At The Fruits: Do They Taste Sweet Or Bitter Is There Love Does Someone Speak The Truth Are They Testing Their Own Theology To The Bible Is The Focus Completely On Jesus Christ
Are we contributing to Gods victory in a country? Or are we fighting against everybody who brings Gods victory in our country? Which spirit is leading us? The critical spirit of religion that wants to oppose the healing and liberation so people will stay sick and bound by the powers of darkness? Or are we driven by the holy Spirit of God, who heals sickness and frees people from demonic bondage so life, freedom, joy and blessing can flow?
Testing is of course very important because there are indeed false prophets today and there is definitely false doctrine. But the way in which people test and the reason why, is not always as pure as people ant you to believe.
The Difference Between A Prophet And A False Prophet
While a prophet is one who receives and then offers the Word of God, a false prophet is one who receives a word by other means, such as divination, fortune-telling, or sorcery, whether a word from their own minds or from other, false gods. These corrupt, dishonest messages are not of God and therefore cannot be trusted.
Sometimes, people posed as true prophets to mislead, such as in Nehemiah 6:10-15, when a false prophet attempted to convince Nehemiah to hide in the temple, but Nehemiah realized it was a trap. Other times, false prophets offered signs and wonders as a way to entice people to follow other gods instead of the Lord .
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False Prophets Or False Accusation
Of course its no problem, when people have little experience with the gifts of the Spirit and the power of Jesus Christ that brings healing and deliverance. Everybody is still growing in their walk with Jesus Christ. It is however a problem when they declare in public that dedicated servants of Jesus Christ are false prophets, simply because the power of God is working in their ministry. That is nothing less than demonic gossip and false accusation, which is the ultimate hallmark of satan, who is called the accuser of the brethren . Therefor these christian websites who call themselves experts in discernment, are in fact joining sides with the accuser, in his war against Jesus Christ, who sent His servants to bring salvation on earth.
The one who listens to you listens to Me, and the one who rejects you rejects Me.
False Teachers Strive To Win People To Their Opinions By Winning Debates
False teachers strive more to win over men to their opinions, than to better them in their conversations. ‘Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he is made, ye make him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves’ . They busy themselves most about men’s heads. Their work is not to better men’s hearts, and mend their lives and in this they are very much like their father the devil, who will spare no pains to gain proselytes.
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Everything Jesus Foretold About Upcoming Events Happened Exactly As He Foretold It
21 From that time Jesus began to show His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised up on the third day .
31 Simon, Simon, behold, Satan has demanded permission to sift you like wheat 32 but I have prayed for you, that your faith may not fail and you, when once you have turned again, strengthen your brothers. 33 But he said to Him, Lord, with You I am ready to go both to prison and to death! 34 And He said, I say to you, Peter, the rooster will not crow today until you have denied three times that you know Me .
14 “If I then, the Lord and the Teacher, washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. 15 “For I gave you an example that you also should do as I did to you. 16 “Truly, truly, I say to you, a slave is not greater than his master, noris one who is sent greater than the one who sent him. 17 “If you know these things, you are blessed if you do them. 18 “I do not speak of all of you. I know the ones I have chosen butit is that the Scripture may be fulfilled, ‘HE WHO EATSMY BREAD HAS LIFTED UP HIS HEEL AGAINSTME.’ 19 “From now on I am telling you beforeit comes to pass, so that when it does occur, you may believe that I amHe .
The False Prophet Will Be Allied With The Antichrist And Satan
Once the Antichrist and the False Prophet emerge on the world stage, Satan will establish an unholy trinity. Just as the Holy Spirit leads people toward Jesus Christ, the False Prophet will point people to worship the Antichrist. And mimicking the relationship between God the Father and Jesus Christ, the Antichrist will receive his power and authority from Satan. This blasphemous trio will control every aspect of society and seek to steal Gods glory.
Revelation pairs the Antichrist and the False Prophet significantly: The formers focus will be politics while the latters emphasis will be religion. In the Churchs absence, the unholy trinity will establish false doctrines to solidify the Antichrists political power. Satan has used this strategy throughout history. Whenever there is a spiritual vacuum, political power marries itself to false religion to give itself a mark of acceptability. Even secular belief systems like communism, atheism, and materialism cannot get away from religion. Their religion is anti-god, but it is a faith system nonetheless. During the Great Tribulation, Satan will use religion to unite the world under the leadership of the Antichrist.
David JeremiahEscape the Coming Night
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Any Prophet Whose Prophecies Fail To Come To Pass Is A False Prophet:
21 “You may say in your heart, How will we know the word which the LORD has not spoken? 22 “When a prophet speaks in the name of the LORD, if the thing does not come about or come true, that is the thing which the LORD has not spoken. The prophet has spoken it presumptuously you shall not be afraid of him .
But false prophets may produce signs and wonders which appear to be miraculous. In this case there must be other means by which they are discerned to be false prophets, and not to be believed or followed:
Use Outside Of Religions
The term false prophet is sometimes applied outside religious usage, to describe promoters of scientific, medical, or political theories which the author of the phrase thinks are false. Paul Offit‘s 2008 book Autism’s False Prophets applied the phrase to promoters of unproven theories and therapies such as the unsupported relationship between thiomersal and vaccines and chelation therapy.Ronald Bailey‘s 1993 book Ecoscam: The False Prophets of Ecological Apocalypse applied the phrase to promoters of the global warming hypothesis however, by 2005 Bailey had changed his mind, writing “Anyone still holding onto the idea that there is no global warming ought to hang it up.”
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Beware Of False Teachers
- Brief re-cap of last weeks message.
Matthew 7:15- Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheeps clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.
- False prophets are nothing new. Scripture mentions false prophets many times.
1st John 4:1- Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.
- We are reminded in Matthew 24 that the closer we get to end times, the more false prophets there will be.
Matthew 24:3-5 24- And as he sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world? 4 And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you. 5 For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ and shall deceive many. 24 For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect.
- The reason there are so many false prophets is because people do not want to hear the truth. Our culture is rejecting absolute moral truth.
The False Prophet’s Number Is 666
One of the most perplexing aspects of the Beast and his mark is the infamous number 666 . People have made all kinds of speculations about this number. For instance, it first appears in the Bible in verse 18, which is 6+6+6. Goliath was six cubits tall, his spears head weighed six shekels, and he had six pieces of armor. Nebuchadnezzars statue in Daniel was 60 cubits tall, six cubits wide, and six musical instruments summoned the worshipers. These and similar interpretations are just observations. They tell us nothing about the meaning of the number of the Beast. No one knows what 666 means.
We know that numbers in the Bible do have significance. While the number seven denotes the perfection of Gods acts, Scripture associates the number six with manhe was created on the sixth day, he must work for six out of seven days, etc. Tripling that number could indicate the Beasts incredible human ingenuity he will be the epitome of man apart from God. Just as six will always fall short of seven, man will always, even at his best, fall short of Gods perfection. Whatever the number 666 means, the mark of the Beast will represent mans attempt to glorify, even deify himself, as a final act of rebellion against God. Mans kingdom, instead of Gods kingdom, will dominate the Great Tribulation.
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They Lead People Away From Christ
If a prophet, or one who foretells by dreams, appears among you and announces to you a sign or wonder, and if the sign or wonder spoken of takes place, and the prophet says, Let us follow other gods and let us worship them, you must not listen to the words of that prophet or dreamer. The Lord your God is testing you to find out whether you love him with all your heart and with all your soul. It is the Lord your God you must follow, and him you must revere. Keep his commands and obey him serve him and hold fast to him .
What I find fascinating in this verse is that the false prophet announced a sign and wonder and it actually happened. This might be lead you to believe this false prophet is true. However, the real motive eventually comes out. This prophet would then turn and encourage people to follow other gods and worship them.
This is why time and patience are wonderful gifts when you are dealing with anyone who declares themselves a prophet. Time is necessary because it will eventually reveal the motives of the heart. Patience is required to see if what they say comes true.
False Teachers Are Men
False teachers are men-pleasers . They preach more to please the ear than to profit the heart: ‘Which say to the seers, See not and to the prophets, Prophecy no unto us right things: speak to us smooth things prophecy deceits” . ‘A wonderful and horrible thing is committed in the land: the prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests bear rule by their means, and my people love to have it so. And what will you do in the end thereof?’ . They handle holy things rather with wit and dalliance then with fear and reverence. False teachers are soul-undoers. They are like evil chirurgeons, that skin over the wound, but never heal it. Flattery undid Ahab and Herod, Nero and Alexander. False teachers are hell’s greatest enrichers. Non acerba, sed blanda, Not bitter, but flattering words do all the mischief, said Valerian, the Roman emperor. Such smooth teachers are sweet soul-poisoners .
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What Does The Bible Say
In Deuteronomy 18:9-20, God warns His people not to engage in divination, cast spells, or consult mediums, nor listen to anyone who speaks in the name of other gods. These false prophets should be put to death, He says.
God expresses His displeasure even more fiercely in Jeremiah both about the false prophets and those who listen to them.
Therefore this is what the Lord says about the prophets who are prophesying in My name: I did not send them, yet they are saying, No sword or famine will touch this land. Those same prophets will perish by sword and famine. And the people they are prophesying to will be thrown out into the streets of Jerusalem because of the famine and sword. There will be no one to bury them, their wives, their sons and their daughters. I will pour out on them the calamity they deserve .
God notes in Jeremiah 23:30-32 that He is against false prophets, and in Zechariah 13:3 says they must be stabbed to death by their own parents.
The Scribe Saul Did Everything In His Power To Kill The Followers Of Jesus Christ And Thought He Was Serving God Through That
Saul was convinced that the first Christians were following a false prophet and that the Christian faith was a false doctrine. But he himself was severely deceived. People who have a spiritual blindness will always accuse the ones who walk in truth that they are misled. And every false prophet will accuse true prophets to be false. Stating that someone is a false prophet thus does not mean anything. It is therefore very foolish to uncritically believe what the many warning christian site tell you. In many cases it can cause a lot of damage.
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