DARK LIGHT SERIES TWO THE FALSE PROPHETS -- PATHWAYS TO HELL In our study of false salvation, we have seen that Christ bluntly says the vast majority of Christians are not going to enter heaven, but will end up rejected. We have also seen a common denominator as to why this is so: they fail to lay hold of AGAPE LOVE, THEY FAIL TO BECOME REGENERATED. We have proven that sincerity is not the issue, but rather deception, a deception laid down by Satan himself, a deception so subtle that only the FEW find it and go on to find eternal life. It must be understood that those under deception ARE NOT AWARE OF IT. Coming out from under religious deception requires time and requires that a soul DESIRE TRUTH MORE THAN ANYTHING ELSE IN LIFE. If this desire is not present, deception lies at the door, and this will be verified from the remarks of Jesus, who had much to say about it. Disobedience to the commands of God to SEEK THE
ULTIMATE TRUTH (CHRIST), WITH ALL OF OUR HEART, MIND, SOUL AND STRENGTH
leads to the acceptance of false doctrines that appear totally correct to the
unwary believer, who embraces them as true. Due to human nature (of which pride
is a major part), once a false gospel is embraced as truth, it is very
difficult to dislodge, and in many cases cannot be. It requires one to admit
one is wrong. Pride goeth before the fall. It should be stated right now that when the term FALSE PROPHETS or FALSE TEACHERS is used, no attempt is being made to differentiate between one who deliberately intends to mislead because of hatred towards Christ, or the one who is sincere but under a deception. The net result is the same: eternal ruin to the one who embraces incorrect salvation doctrine. “ENTER YE IN at the STRAIT GATE: for WIDE IS THE GATE, and BROAD IS THE WAY, that LEADETH TO DESTRUCTION, AND MANY THERE BE WHICH GO IN THEREAT: BECAUSE STRAIT IS THE GATE, AND NARROW IS THE WAY, WHICH LEADETH UNTO LIFE, AND FEW THERE BE THAT FIND IT. (Matthew 7:13-14) We are going to break this down more as we explore the method that Jesus gave us to enter the New Covenant. Remember there are two gates, two ways, and that they diametrically oppose each other: WIDE VS. STRAIT BROAD VS. NARROW RUIN VS. LIFE The word “wide” is ‘platus’, and it means SPREAD OUT, FLAT, BROAD; by implication it means NO OBSTACLES, EASY, NO TROUBLES, BECAUSE WE CAN EASILY TRAVEL OVER BROAD, FLAT AND OPEN HIGHWAYS. The root of the word is ‘plasso’, and it means TO MOLD, TO SHAPE OR TO FABRICATE. It implies something that is a fabrication, something shaped or molded to look like the real thing, but it is a counterfeit, a ‘look alike’. The meaning of Jesus then is clear: the wide gate and the broad way is a fabrication of Satan, molded and shaped to look authentic to the unwary. It is a masterpiece of theology, a clone with a genetic flaw embedded deep within, not detected by surface appearance. Satan knows that if a human soul discovers there is a strait gate and narrow way, and elects to travel upon it, that CHRIST WILL GAIN ANOTHER VICTORY. Thus all of Satan’s efforts will be to keep a soul from coming to this knowledge. Obstacle one of the parable of the sower WAS DEMONIC DECEPTION and it is a major obstacle one must overcome. The word “broad” is ‘euruchorus’, and it means WIDE, SPACIOUS, LOTS OF ROOM, LARGE AREA. By implication therefore, it means that THERE IS ROOM FOR THE VAST MAJORITY TO TRAVEL UPON IT, AND A MULTITUDE OF FALSE SALVATION DOCTRINES TO EMBRACE. The root of the word is ‘eurus’ and ‘chora’, which means EMPTY EXPANSE, SPACE, TERRITORY. The broad way is a vast empty expanse, with a multitude of Christians traveling upon it, with a vast number of denominational theologies all proclaiming “HEAVEN THIS WAY!” They each manufacture their own theological methods for entering into the New Heart Covenant. Their theologies, although radically different, have one thing in common: THEY ARE EASY TO ACCEPT, EASY TO EMBRACE, APPEALING TO MAN AND HIS CARNAL NATURE, TO HIS PLEASURES, HIS COMFORTS, AND PLACE IN SOCIETY. This ‘way’ leads to great comfort of the soul, for it convinces the soul that all is well. He grabs hold of the New Covenant with great ease, proclaiming a new heart and union with Christ that is non-existent. The whole thing is a fabrication of Satan from start to finish. Opposed to this wide gate and broad way is what Christ termed the STRAIT GATE AND NARROW WAY. Just as they are opposed in description, they are opposed in destination. The word for “strait” is ‘stenos’, which means FULL OF OBSTACLES, NARROW, COMPRESSED, VERY NARROW, AND SO NARROW ONE MUST STRIVE TO ENTER IN BY IT. Have you ever tried to get into a door that you could only open a small amount? It conveys that meaning: “STRIVE TO ENTER IN AT THE STRAIT GATE: FOR MANY, I SAY UNTO YOU, WILL SEEK TO ENTER IN, AND SHALL NOT BE ABLE.” (Luke 13:24) The word “strive” is ‘agonizomai’ and it means TO STRUGGLE, TO CONTEND WITH AN ADVERSARY, TO FIGHT, TO LABOR FERVENTLY. Jesus also used the term “overcomer” to describe those that had entered into union with Him. The word “overcometh” is ‘nikao’ and it means to HAVE PREVAILED IN BATTLE, TO HAVE FOUGHT AND WON, TO CONQUER, TO GET THE VICTORY. By using this term, Jesus confirms the word “strive”. We also run into the word ‘many’ again. We now have the following references to the ‘many’: MANY ON THE BROAD ROAD
MANY WHO STAND BEFORE CHRIST REJECTED
MANY WHO FOLLOW AFTER THE
FALSE TEACHERS MANY WHO SEEK TO ENTER IN BUT ARE NOT ABLE. In contrast we find Jesus using the word FEW. FEW THAT FIND LIFE FEW THAT FIND THE STRAIT GATE
The connotation to all of this is that the STRAIT GATE IS IN FACT HIDDEN FROM VIEW. It will not ever be detected by the many, which answers why they are in such shock at being rejected. They “KNOWEST NOT”, which is of course DECEPTION. When you bring it together, when Jesus uses the word “strive”, He is giving you a direct opposite from EASY: THUS: STRIVE/HARD VS. EASY FLAT/BROAD The word “narrow” is ‘thlibo’, and it means TO CROWD, TO PRESS, TO APPLY GREAT PRESSURE, TO AFFLICT, TO SUFFER TRIBULATION, TROUBLE, GREAT AGONY OF SOUL. Put together, the strait and narrow means exactly what Jesus said it means: A TERRIBLE JOURNEY OF SOME SORT IN WHICH THE SOUL IS GOING TO UNDERGO TREMENDOUS PRESSURE, AGONY AND ULTIMATE DEFEAT AS GOD BRINGS THE SOUL DOWN IN UTTER HUMILIATION. If it is refused, NO LIFE IS GRANTED, HEAVEN’S GATE IS SHUT. Jesus is therefore contrasting two diametrically opposed concepts. The wide gate and broad way will be traveled by the VAST MAJORITY OF CHRISTIANS, and only THE FEW AUTHENTIC CHRISTIANS will undergo the mental pain and suffering that God inflicts upon the human soul as the Holy Spirit convicts of SIN, RIGHTEOUSNESS AND JUDGMENT. The “many” seek to enter the New Covenant via the wide gate and broad way, but only the few find the strait gate, and STRIVE to enter it once they have found it. The many claim
they are regenerated Christians, authentic Sons of God, born from above, in
union with Christ. Their claim to fame is via theology and doctrine, which they
embrace with great faith, and they are saved because THEY THINK
the Bible TELLS THEM they are saved. Their salvation is FAITH ALONE, and they IGNORE
THE LIVING CHRIST, WHO PATIENTLY WAITS AT THE END OF THE NARROW WAY. His
waiting was in vain; they never showed up. They chose another way into the
Kingdom, a “way” that allowed them to claim the inheritance, the promises,
union and eternal life. Only at the end do they find out they were in fact BASTARD
SONS AND DAUGHTERS, DESTINED FOR ETERNAL RUIN. After contrasting the two ways His followers and disciples will seek to enter heaven, and warning openly that one of them is patently false, Jesus gives a stern warning: “BEWARE OF FALSE PROPHETS, which come to you in SHEEP’S CLOTHING, but INWARDLY they are ravening wolves.” (Matthew 7:15)
Within this short verse lies many a souls eternal destiny. Why would Christ forewarn you about FALSE PROPHETS RIGHT AFTER He told you there is ONLY ONE WAY THAT LEADS TO LIFE? OBVIOUSLY TO WARN YOU ABOUT FALSE CHRISTIAN LEADERS WHO WOULD INVENT A THEOLOGY AND DOCTRINE THAT WOULD CIRCUMVENT IN ANY WAY POSSIBLE HIS CLEAR COMMANDS! To accomplish this, they MUST REDEFINE FAITH, GRACE, WORKS, CONVERSION, REGENERATION AND REPENTANCE. They must manufacture a theology that is a MIRROR IMAGE OF WHAT CHRIST SAID, BUT IT WILL BE A DECEPTION. It will look right, sound right, feel right, and be supported by Scripture, for Satan knows his Bible better than anyone on earth. HIS DOCTRINES, AND HIS THEOLOGY WILL BE A MASTER COUNTERFEIT, SO CLOSE TO THE REAL THING THAT ONLY BY VERY CLOSE EXAMINATION WILL IT BE REVEALED FOR WHAT IT IS: A TOTAL SHAM! This is exactly why the “many” end up before Christ rejected! They bought hook, line and sinker the theology of the false prophets, who were themselves deceived and deceiving others. Notice that Christ says these false prophets come in SHEEP’S CLOTHING. They look like sheep, they walk like sheep, they bleat like sheep, they smell like sheep, and they do what sheep are supposed to do, BUT SURPRISE, SURPRISE! THEY ARE NOT SHEEP. They are part of the SHEEPFOLD, WHO CAME IN “SOME OTHER WAY”. Remember what Christ said: “But
he that ENTERETH IN BY THE DOOR IS THE SHEPHERD OF
THE SHEEP.” (John
10:2) Obviously then, those that enter in ‘some other way’ and not by the door, are FALSE SHEPHERDS OF THE SHEEP, OR WOLVES IN SHEEP’S CLOTHING, WHO COME TO STEAL AND DESTROY. Christ commands us to BEWARE. That word comes from ‘prosecho’ and it means TO BE CAUTIOUS OF, TO PASS JUDGMENT UPON, TO LOOK AT AND INSPECT CLOSELY. If you are disobedient to these commands to check out ANYONE AND EVERY ONE’S DOCTRINE AGAINST THE SCRIPTURES, AND THROW OUT ANYTHING THAT CONTRADICTS IT, then with 100% assurance you will go under DECEPTION. The Bible is full of warnings to STUDY THE WORD. YOU CANNOT GAIN KNOWLEDGE EXCEPT YOU PICK UP THE BIBLE AND BEGIN TO STUDY VERY INTENTLY WHAT IT SAYS, SO THAT YOU ARE ABLE TO JUDGE CORRECTLY, AND NOT BE BLOWN ABOUT BY EVERY WIND OF DOCTRINE. All false doctrine comes from the father of lies, Satan himself: “Put
on the WHOLE
ARMOUR OF GOD, that
ye may be able to stand against THE WILES OF THE DEVIL.” (Ephesians
6:11) We are commanded to put on the WHOLE ARMOR OF GOD. It has but one reason: TO WITHSTAND THE WILES OF SATAN. The word “wiles” is ‘methodeia’, which means TRICKERY, DECEPTION, TRAVESTIES. In other words, FALSE DOCTRINES and FALSE THEOLOGIES are a part of the “wiles” of Satan that swept the vast majority of Christians into eternal ruin. The false prophets are Satan’s finest con men in deception. They appear in every instance the perfect Christian. Peter tells us they run very popular Christian ministries that the vast majority flock after and support. Here is one part of the ARMOR OF God: “AND
take the helmet of salvation, and the SWORD OF THE SPIRIT, WHICH
IS THE WORD OF GOD:” (Ephesians
6:17) Apostasy comes from leaving the WORD OF GOD, and RELYING UPON OTHERS TO TELL YOU WHAT IT SAYS. WHY WOULD YOU WANT THE PURE WORD OF GOD FILTERED THROUGH SOMEONE ELSE’S UNREGENERATE MIND TO TELL YOU WHAT IT MEANS? Why not go to the Holy Spirit for your information? The Holy Spirit is NOT CONFUSED, and He knows whereof He speaks! The refusal to take to oneself these commands to read, study, meditate and pray over the Word lead to religious confusion and apostasy away from the true faith. Many of the false prophets today who are very popular claim it is wrong to judge others. It must be pointed out there are two types of judgment, and one is wrong, the other you are commanded to do. You are not to judge another’s PERSON. That is, you do not pass judgment upon that SOUL. We do not know the heart of a person, we do not know their trials, and we have not walked in their shoes. Because we do not know or understand the real truth of any situation, WE ARE COMMANDED NOT TO JUDGE OR TO PASS JUDGMENTS. It is not an option with the Lord; it is a COMMAND. This type of judgment is connected to forgiveness, and no one can truly forgive another until AGAPE LOVE comes into the human soul. One of the attributes of agape love is its complete ability to forgive and utterly forget. No human soul with natural love can truly forgive or forget, in spite of protests to the contrary. The type of judgment that Christ DOES COMMAND IS A JUDGMENT MADE ON DOCTRINAL STATEMENTS FROM ANY PASTOR, TEACHER, OR EVANGELIST OR ANYONE ELSE FOR THAT MATTER. You are to take what they say, and apply it to THE WORD OF GOD. If it matches what God has to say, they are speaking truth. If it does not match, they are speaking error. Many false prophets will, in their attempts NOT TO BE DISCOVERED, SCREAM YOU HAVE NO RIGHT TO JUDGE THEM. Anyone who tells you that you have no right to judge their biblical teachings, or who claims they got a “direct revelation” from GOD and therefore CANNOT BE JUDGED, IS A LIAR, A FRAUD, AND A FALSE PROPHET. I am not suggesting that GOD does not give direct revelation, I am saying that ANY REVELATION THAT IS FROM GOD WILL AGREE 100% WITH SCRIPTURE, FOR GOD DOES NOT CHANGE OR ALTER HIS OPINIONS OF HIS PLAN. The ONLY method God has to keep you safe from harm and deception IS HIS WORD. You must get into it, and study it, and remain in it, and judge everything you hear or read or see BY THE WORD. The type of judgment that Christ CONDEMNS IS ‘krino’ and it means TO BRING TO TRIAL, TO ADJUDGE GUILTY, TO CONDEMN. We cannot do this for only God can read the heart, and only GOD knows the real truth behind each one of us. The type of judgment that CHRIS COMMANDS is ‘anakrino’, and it means TO INVESTIGATE, TO INTERROGATE, TO CHECK OUT BY CLOSE INSPECTION, TO SCRUTINIZE, TO QUESTION, TO SEARCH OUT, TO EXAMINE. You were commanded by Jesus Christ to USE THIS TYPE OF JUDGMENT. If what a popular evangelist says DOES NOT CHECK OUT WITH THE BIBLE, WE HAVE EVERY RIGHT TO LABEL THEIR DOCTRINE AS FALSE DOCTRINE, WHICH MAKES THEM FALSE PROPHETS. A real man of God will invite you to CHECK OUT WHAT HE SAYS AGAINST THE BIBLE. He will more than invite it; he will DEMAND YOU DO SO. IT IS NOT ONLY FOR YOUR PROTECTION, BUT FOR HIS OWN! There is no room for pride here, and as Paul said, who is sufficient to TEACH THESE THINGS? The answer is NO ONE. When Jesus was confronted by Satan in the wilderness, did He rely upon Himself? NO! He went directly to the WORD OF GOD. He judged Satan with an ‘anakrino’ judgment, and He passed a stinging rebuke upon Satan with this type of judgment. He said “IT IS WRITTEN”. He passed a complete judgment upon Satan’s Scriptural discourse with Scripture itself. As all false prophets, be they teachers, preachers or evangelists, are dupes of Satan, then we MUST pass this type of judgment upon them. A false prophet will scream loud and long when this is done and he is proven a false prophet. He will scream condemnation and hellfire down upon those that point out grave Scriptural contradiction. He will say that the true love of GOD does not allow for judgment. He will FAIL TO TELL YOU OF THE TWO TYPES OF JUDGMENT AS AN ALL ENCOMPASSING TERM. He must, because otherwise he will be found out for what he is!!! The word for “false prophets” is ‘pseudoprophetes’ and it means RELIGOIUS IMPOSTOR, A PROPAGATOR OF FALSE DOCTRINE, OR FALSE TEACHERS, PREACHERS AND EVANGELISTS. It is surprising, but no mention of MOTIVE is given. It simply means anyone who teaches the word of GOD in error. You will recall Paul fought it out with Peter in open assembly. At that point, Peter himself was a false teacher. Peter was totally sincere, and Paul did not JUDGE PETER IN THAT MANNER. HE JUDGED HIM BY SCRIPTURE. As soon as the error was detected, Peter bowed his knee to the TRUTH. That is also the mark of a true Son of God, for that soul, when the error is proven out by Scripture, will acknowledge the mistake and ask God for forgiveness. The root word of false prophets covers the main officers of the church: apostles, pastors, teachers and evangelists. Jesus says they come in SHEEP’S CLOTHING. Who are the sheep? Are not all Christians called sheep? Are they not part of the sheepfold? Is not Christ the TRUE SHEPHERD? John 10:1-28 makes it very clear that the SHEEPFOLD IS THE ENTIRE BODY OF CHRIST UPON EARTH. The false prophets are PSEUDO CHRISTIANS, posing as the real thing, posing as authentic, born again Christians who are UPHOLDING Jesus Christ. They look like, speak like and act like AUTHENTIC CHRISTIANS. You cannot detect they are false except by very close examination of what they teach compared to Scripture. It should also be pointed out that the VAST MAJORITY OF FALSE TEACHERS ARE NOT AWARE THEY ARE FALSE TEACHERS. The many who stood before Christ rejected WERE NOT AWARE THEY WERE IN FACT FALSE TEACHERS. To themselves and others they were sincere, dedicated men of God. They were in fact DUPES OF SATAN, BUT NEVER REALIZED IT. That is the nature of deception. They had a doctrine that was 99% accurate, but the 1% they left out damned them forever. This is not to say that there are not deliberate false teachers, such as Luciferian plants who have come into the Church to destroy it. Do not make the mistake of thinking that false prophets are easily identified, for they are not. False doctrine blends right into correct doctrine. These false doctrines ARE EMBRACED BY THE ENTIRE CHURCH as correct doctrine. In other words, the vast majority of Christendom will embrace and accept the lies of Satan and will REFUTE THE TRUTH ITSELF AS BEING FALSE. That is why Christ said that a little leaven leavens the entire Body of Christ. Christ said the vast majority of Christians will be rejected. They claimed they entered the New Covenant, but never did, for they come into the “sheepfold” via “some other way”, which is the WIDE GATE AND BROAD WAY, A SATANIC CREATION, A FABRICATION, A DELUSION. Only the few will find the real truth. Christ said the many would travel the broad way because the true way was hard, difficult and not easy at all. There would be anguish of soul, great pressure, and it would be anything but pleasant. The false prophets would label THE TRUE WAY a form of “works” or “legalism” of some type, the opposite of GRACE and FAITH. The broad way by contrast is easy, and it appeals to the carnal nature of man. It would be fabricated in such a way as to appear totally correct scripturally. It would use all the right words, but the words would mean something different than what Christ intended. That is exactly what Christ is telling us with the word “BECAUSE”. The word “because” is ‘hoti’ and it means BECAUSE OF THAT, FOR THAT REASON OR WHY. The vast majority will reject the true way that leads to “life” because it is a route of hardship, WHICH HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH WORKS OR ANY FORM OF LEGALISM WHATSOEVER. One of the primary methods Satan uses to keep people from walking the narrow way is by branding it A FORM OF WORKS, which of course it is not. By redefining faith and grace, along with repentance and works, Satan keeps the many from entering in, BECAUSE THE DEFINITIONS OF THOSE WORDS ARE CHANGED BY FALSE THEOLOGY TO MAKE SURE THE NARROW WAY IS EXCLUDED AS A PROPER WAY TO SALVATION. IT IS THE PERFECT DECEPTION, THE WORK OF A SUPERNATURAL MIND. We have then a clear-cut division set before us by the Lord Jesus Christ: WIDE GATE STRAIT
GATE BROAD WAY NARROW
WAY EASY, FLAT, NO OBSTACLE VS. HARD,
STEEP, DIFFICULT NO TROUBLE, NO PROBLEMS FULL OF ANGUISH, PRESSURE THE MANY THE
FEW SOME OTHER WAY THE DOOR These ways are then clearly delineated by Christ and NO ONE could mistake what Christ said. We could ignore what He said, we can claim He did not mean what He said, we can claim by theology that it was all meant for Israel and does not apply to us, but WE CANNOT SAY THAT HE DID NOT SAY IT. The final judge is not our theology or denominational bias, but is instead going to be the WORD OF GOD, AS INTERPRETED BY GOD, NOT THE CHURCH, NOT ANY DENOMINATION, NOR YOU OR I. You already know that the word “many” means vast majority, but what does the word “few” mean? The word “few” comes from ‘oligos’ and it means PUNY, TINY, SMALL. It is the perfect contrast to the word “many” and verifies that the vast majority of Christians end up in ruin. “for
MANY
ARE CALLED, but FEW ARE CHOSEN.” (Matthew 22:14) “Fear
not LITTLE
FLOCK, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the
kingdom.” (Luke 12:32) The word “little” is ‘mikros’ and it means LEAST, SMALL, TINY OR EXTREMELY TINY. That is where we get our word MICRON, which means ONE THOUSANDTH OF A MILLIMETER. We could say ONE IN A THOUSAND. That is a very small number indeed! We should find a verification in the OLD TESTAMENT that indeed there are only a very small number of people who actually become part of the TRUE FLOCK OF GOD, and who KNOW AND UNDERSTAND THE MYSTERY OF GOD: “I
know it is so of a truth: but how should man be JUST with God? If
he (God) will contend with him, HE CANNOT ANSWER HIM ONE OF
A THOUSAND.” (Job 9:2-3) This is a very telling verse of Scripture and it goes right to the heart of the matter: HOW IS A MAN MADE JUST OR JUSTIFIED BEFORE THE LORD? WHAT IS THE REAL MYSTERY OF BEING JUSTIFIED BEFORE GOD? HOW IS IT DONE? If God were to come down upon earth and CONTEND WITH THOSE PROFESSING TO KNOW, ONLY ONE IN A THOUSAND COULD ANSWER GOD CORRECTLY. One in a thousand is a very small number: .001. The vast majority of Christians do not know the answer; they only think they know the answer. Speaking of man going to the grave, it says: “IF
THERE BE A MESSENGER WITH HIM, AN
INTERPRETER, ONE AMONG A THOUSAND, TO
SHEW UNTO MAN HIS UPRIGHTNESS; Then
he (God) is GRACIOUS TO HIM, AND SAITH, DELIVER HIM FROM GOING DOWN
TO THE PIT: I HAVE FOUND A RANSOM.” (Job
33:23-24) This verse is equally telling and verifies that when Jesus used the term LITTLE, that He was borrowing from the Old Testament, ONE IN A THOUSAND. The messenger, the interpreter, is AGAPE LOVE SPIRIT OF GOD, AND IS THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF THAT SAINT. If that soul is clothed in the AGAPE LOVE ROBES OF JESUS CHRIST, then God is merciful, and will deliver him from the pits of hell. That soul FOUND A RANSOM. JESUS SAID SEEK UNTIL YOU FIND, KNOCK UNTIL THE DOOR IS OPENED. THE RANSOM WAS Jesus Christ. That SOUL IS THEN COVERED BY THE BLOOD; WHICH WAS THE RANSOM PRICE PAID. That soul ALSO FOUND THE LIVING JESUS CHRIST, THE MYSTERY OF God, THE MYSTERY OF AGAPE LOVE. All others go to the pit. “BEHOLD,
THIS HAVE I FOUND, SAITH
THE PREACHER, COUNTING ONE BY ONE, TO FIND OUT THE ACCOUNT: Which
yet my
soul seeketh, BUT I FIND NOT: ONE MAN AMONG A THOUSAND
HAVE I FOUND;” (Ecclesiastes
7:27-28) Here we find yet another verification of this difficult saying. ONE MAN IN A THOUSAND CAN ANSWER CORRECTLY. That which the soul seeketh after, that which is so desperately wanted within the human soul is AGAPE LOVE. Without it the soul dies, is eternally separated from its Creator and goes to the pit. With AGAPE LOVE AS THE INTERPRETER, one finds the mercy of God. If this be the case, then HOW MUCH MORE SHOULD WE BE CONCERNED THAT WE FIND THE TRUTH AND UNLOCK THE MYSTERY OF GOD? It is a hard thing to understand, but God calls many out of the world into the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Many are called INTO THE BODY OF CHRIST, THE SHEEPFOLD. Out of the many, God chooses THE FEW, CALLED OVERCOMERS. IT IS A SELECTION PROCESS, AND THIS PROCESS IS BASED UPON ONE THING: OBEDIENCE TO THE COMMANDS OF CHRIST. It is not God’s will that ANY perish; yet He knows ALL UNBELIEVERS WILL, AS WELL AS THE VAST MAJORITY OF CHRISTIANS. What is the dividing line? What causes God to select one and not another? We must at all cost find the Scriptural answer. “For
ye see YOUR CALLING, BRETHREN, how
that NOT
MANY wise men after the flesh, NOT MANY MIGHTY, NOT MANY
NOBLE, ARE CALLED.” (1
Corinthians 1:26) If not many are called, then how many? ONLY A FEW, ONE IN A THOUSAND. The call of the Gospel is no joke; it is the most serious of all callings. If you neglect the call, then you are in serious trouble for eternity. DO NOT NEGLECT THE CALL OF GOD, GIVE ALL DILIGENCE TO IT. The vast majority of Christians are going to eternal ruin. It is interesting to note that even the apocrypha says the same thing: “Because ONLY A FEW WILL BE SAVED,
God created TWO WORLDS, instead of only one. As you say, ONLY A FEW PEOPLE ARE RIGHTEOUS, But there are LARGE NUMBERS of wicked people…” (2 Esdras 7:50-51) It’s the same with the judgment I have
promised: I WILL BE PLEASED WITH THE FEW WHO WILL BE SAVED, because they are the ones who now praise and
honour me and make my name known. I WILL NOT BE SAD ABOUT THE LARGE NUMBER OF PEOPLE WHO WILL BE LOST…”
(2 Esdras 7:60-61) PLEASE READ THAT AND LET THE IMPACT OF THAT STATEMENT SEEP INTO YOUR BRAIN. ONLY A FEW PEOPLE WILL BE SAVED, ONLY A FEW PEOPLE EVER FIND THE AGAPE LOVE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF GOD. AMONG HIS OWN PEOPLE, ONLY A FEW WILL ESCAPE. THE OTHERS, WHO WERE DISOBEDIENT, DID NOT MAKE IT. That is strange indeed, for I never met a Christian that was not going to heaven, and I never went into a church that was not preaching the truth. SOMEONE IS IN RANK DECEPTION. Mankind does not respond to such negative news. In order to package Jesus Christ and sell Him to the masses, the false prophets must make Him palatable to the vast majority, so the NEGATIVE COMMANDS, AND THE NEGATIVE CONFIRMATIONS GIVEN IN SCRIPTURE WILL BE ELIMINATED OR CONCEALED. The ESSENTIAL ELEMENTS (ALL NEGATIVE) that lead to authentic regeneration and union with Christ are done away with VIA THEOLOGY AND DOCTRINE. In order for the false prophets to claim that one does NOT NEED TO DO ANYTHING HARD, OR THAT IT IS FULL OF OBSTACLES AND FULL OF MENTAL AGONY AND PRESSURE UPON THE SOUL, they must come up with a THEOLOGY with underlying doctrines that TOTALLY CONTRADICT THE SAYINGS OF JESUS. If Jesus says something is hard, they will explain it away and it becomes easy. If Jesus says salvation is a long process, they will claim it is done INSTANTLY. What ever Jesus says, THEY WILL CONTRADICT IT, BUT THAT CONTRADICTION WILL NOT BE EASY TO FIND. It is embedded deep within their doctrine and theology, a master counterfeit from Satan. If you think this concerns only Christian cults, think again. These false doctrines will embed themselves into every denomination of the Body of Christ, from the fundamentalists all the way to the rankest of rank liberals. With one accord, a FALSE GOSPEL OF WHAT CONSTITUTES SALVATION WILL BE BROUGHT INTO BEING AND GO UNDETECTED BY THE VAST MAJORITY OF CHRISTIANS. The warnings in Scripture do include obvious cult groups, but their doctrinal errors are EASILY DETECTED, AND HAVE BEEN DETECTED BY THE CHURCH AT LARGE. Thus we have many books on the market EXPOSING CULT GROUPS. But Christ, Paul and Peter warned of ANOTHER DOCTRINE, A DOCTRINE THAT HAS TO DO WITH SALVATION ITSELF, WOULD INFILTRATE THE MAINSTREAM CHURCH, AND BE ACCEPTED BY THE CHURCH AS TRUTH, AND SEEP MANY MILLIONS INTO ETERNAL RUIN. This false Gospel of how one gets saved would look, sound, and feel totally correct, and would be backed up by masses of Scripture. It would rest upon REINTERPRETATION OF WHAT THE WORDS MEAN. Incredible though it may sound, the false prophets, to prove their theology, WILL USE THE VERY DEFINITIONS OF THE WORDS THEMSELVES TO PROVE THEY WERE RIGHT! In other words, if you went to a lexicon, or expository dictionary, WHAT THEY CLAIMED IT MEANT WOULD BE CORRECT! Yet it would be rank error. How is this possible? It becomes possible by OMMISSION OF ALL QUALIFIERS Jesus Christ GAVE US. What they do is DISREGARD ANY AND ALL QUALIFICATIONS CHRIST GAVE US TO PROVE WHAT HE MEANT BY A GIVEN WORD. They would throw out all of the “IFS, ANDS OR BUTS”, OR ANY CONDITIONAL PHRASES CHRIST GAVE US TO SHOW US THE TRUE MEANINGS. An example of this would be if you told a friend the following: “I am coming over to your house today, IF I get all of my work done.” Your friend ONLY HEARS WHAT he/she wants to hear: “I AM COMING OVER TO YOUR HOUSE TODAY.” The qualifier, the IF is disregarded. It is not EVEN HEARD AT ALL. THE MIND FILTERS IT OUT. You do not get your work done, and so you do not go over to your friend’s house. About 8 pm your friend calls you very irate and upset at you for not showing up. “I waited around all day for you to come and you never showed up! How dare you!” You can explain until you are blue in the face that you QUALIFIED THAT STATEMENT BY THE WORD ‘IF’. The QUALIFIER DETERMINES THE MEANING OF YOUR STATEMENT!! JESUS QUALIFIED ALL
STATEMENTS CONCERNING SALVATION. He qualified what He meant by the
words FAITH, GRACE, WORKS, CONVERSION, REGENERATION, BELIEVE, etc. If
you OMIT THE QUALIFIER you MISS THE MEANINGS. The false prophets will OMIT THE
QUALIFIERS TOTALLY. They will use the same words, they will speak of grace,
faith, belief, works, legalism, conversion, regeneration, and all the others,
BUT WILL OMIT ALL KEY QUALIFIERS from their definitions,
and by doing so, WILL DEVELOP AN ENTIRE NEW GOSPEL OF SALVATION. That Gospel
will look totally authentic in all respects. It will sound right, look right,
feel right, and even check out in Scripture! ONLY WHEN YOU FIND OUT HOW CHRIST
QUALIFIED HIS MEANINGS DO YOU DETECT THEIR ERROR, AND WHEN YOU DETECT IT, IT
WILL BECOME OBVIOUS TO YOU. It is a method Satan uses to KEEP PEOPLE FROM
COMING TO CHRIST IN TRUTH. Peter gave us a warning we need to look at very closely concerning these false prophets that look like, sound like and act like real authentic Christian preachers, teachers and evangelists. Their theology and doctrines will be a master counterfeit! “But
there were false prophets also among the people (of Israel), EVEN AS THERE SHALL BE FALSE TEACHERS AMONG YOU
(THE CHURCH), who
PRIVILY shall
bring in DAMNABLE HERESIES EVEN DENYING THE LORD THAT
BOUGHT THEM, and
bring upon themselves swift destruction. And MANY (THE VAST MAJORITY OF
CHRISTIANS) SHALL
FOLLOW THEIR PERNICIOUS WAYS; by reason of whom THE WAY OF TRUTH shall be EVIL SPOKEN OF.” (2 Peter 2:1-2) We are going to break this down to a phrase by phrase study because of the importance of what Peter is warning us about. This short verse is an elaboration of what Jesus referred to when He spoke of the wolves in sheep’s clothing, the pseudo-Christians, and THE WAY OF THE TRUTH. 1. “EVEN AS THERE SHALL BE FALSE TEACHERS AMONG YOU”.This is precisely what Christ told us all to be aware of. These are the wolves that come into the sheepfold. Notice it does not say THEY MIGHT COME OR COULD COME. THEY SHALL COME. It is an imperative prophecy. The Church will be infiltrated by FALSE CHRISTIAN LEADERS WITH A FALSE SALVATION DOCTRINE. THEY WILL BE WITHIN THE CHURCH. BECAUSE THE VAST MAJORITY WILL FOLLOW AFTER THESE FALSE SALVATION DOCTRINES, THEY WILL BE POPULAR LEADERS, WELL ACCEPTED AND WELL ENTRENCHED IN THE Christian COMMUNITY. They will be wolves, but they will look for all the world to be authentic and powerhouse Christian leaders. They are in the Church, among the Christians, Satan’s agents of destruction. The majority of them will not be aware they are Satan’s agents, but will be sincere and dedicated Christians who have embraced a false theology themselves as truth, and who will then propagate it to others. If you went up to any of them and accused them of being false Christians, they would be deeply offended and hurt by that accusation. A person in deception is not aware of it. These “Christians” that Peter mentions are LEADERS WITHIN THEIR DENOMINATIONS, BECAUSE THEY ARE THE TEACHERS. That word means teacher, preacher, evangelist. The word for “false teachers” is ‘pseudodidaskalos’ and it means ANYONE WHO PROPAGATES FALSE DOCTRINE, DOCTRINE WITH ERROR IN IT, OR ERRONEOUS DOCTRINE, A FALSE TEACHER. Their motives are not of concern, only that they teach error. The word “among” is ‘en’ and it means WITHIN THE GROUP, WITHIN THE BODY OF CHRIST. This is not an outside attack upon the Church; this is an insidious attack by Satan from WITHIN THE CHURCH ITSELF. Because we are speaking of the Church, then these false teachers will RISE UP WITHIN THEIR DENOMINATIONS TO LEVELS OF LEADERSHIP AND THEIR TEACHINGS WILL BE ACCEPTED BY THE VAST MAJORITY OF PEOPLE. Their teachings will be a counterfeit, but not easily detected. Ask an FBI OR TREASURY agent about the detection of COUNTERFEIT MONEY. In one recent case overseas, counterfeit American money was found that was almost impossible TO DETECT. It took Treasury agents in labs to detect the difference. In most cases the difference can only be detected BY VERY CAREFUL EXAMINATION AGAINST A STANDARD KNOWN TO BE TRUE. In currency, the counterfeit is held up against THE KNOWN TRUE BILL, AND THE DIFFERENCES CAN THEN BE DETECTED. You compare WITH A KNOWN AUTHENTIC ITEM TO DETECT THE FALSE. A gemologist studies a perfect diamond in order to compare other stones to it for grading purposes. THERE HAS TO BE A PERFECT STANDARD FROM WHICH TO JUDGE FROM. As the Church age progressed, LESS AND LESS PEOPLE WOULD IN REALITY BE REGENERATED, and therefore less and less people WOULD HAVE THE STANDARD OF TRUE AGAPE LOVE BY WHICH TO MEASURE THE TRUTH BY. THE TRUTH THEN BEGINS TO BE CROWDED OUT BY LIES AND DECEPTION, WHICH IS EMBRACED BY THE VAST MAJORITY FOR THEY DO NOT UNDERSTAND OR KNOW WHAT THE REAL TRUTH IS. The real truth is then branded as a lie. Apostasy works in that manner. THERE IS A STANDARD, AND THAT STANDARD IS AGAPE LOVE. Nor are we speaking of money here, but of human souls. We are not speaking of expert criminals but of the most diabolical intelligence ever created from the hands of God. This creature that fell from the grace of heaven now walks to and fro over the whole earth. He hates every single human soul with a passion we cannot begin to comprehend; yet he poses as an angel of light, as though he loves man and only wants the best for him. We are going to take this vastly intelligent creature called Satan and pit him AGAINST each one of us. Keep in mind he is eternal, and has had thousands of years to figure out and then fool the human mind and soul. He understands all of our weaknesses, all of our nature. He knows how to bait and switch. He knows how to snare us in a multitude of traps. We now pit this super intelligent Christ hater, this human hater, who has supernatural powers, against us. Question: DO YOU THINK HE IS CAPABLE OF COMING UP WITH A COUNTERFEIT GOSPEL OF SALVATION THAT IS SO CLOSE TO THE ORIGINAL IT WOULD NOT BE DETECTED BY THE VAST MAJORITY OF SOULS SEEKING HEAVEN? Your answer had best be YES. Satan can and has produced a multitude of false religions, and within the Church of Jesus Christ a multitude of false theologies, which can be called BROAD ROAD THEOLOGIES. These theologies all use the correct terminology, the correct phrases and words, even the correct meanings many times to those words. The name of Christ is freely used and upheld, and even the words of Christ are used freely and with great vigor. There are ONLY TWO WAYS TO SPOT THE ERROR: 1. Either all or some of the QUALIFIERS ARE OMITTED,
or 2. The teachings will CONTRADICT what Jesus clearly
said or BOTH WILL BE TRUE. Satan is the master deceiver of the whole world. He loves religion for he invented it, for he knows that man has a “spiritual” nature. True Christianity is not a religion; it is a changed heart. Religion is a vast system created by Satan to dupe the world into many different roads or pathways THAT APPEAR TO BE leading to heaven, therefore EXCLUDING the ONLY NAME UNDER HEAVEN BY WHICH WE MUST BE SAVED. For those who know Jesus Christ is the ONLY way to heaven, Satan must come up with theologies and doctrines that SOMEHOW BYPASS THE STRAIT GATE AND NARROW WAY, because that is the ONLY way into the New Covenant. Satan will then muster up all the cunning he has within to fabricate a Gospel that looks 100% correct to trap all Christians. God evidently allows such a thing as a screening process to obtain the FEW OR LITTLE FLOCK. In order to bypass the strait gate and narrow way, Satan will have to develop a theology that would either tell people they were on the correct way when they were not, or as an alternative, he could develop a theology that would totally bypass it altogether. The various remarks of Christ, Paul and Peter imply that the biggest thrust of Satan will be to BYPASS THE STRAIT GATE AND NARROW WAY TOTALLY, IF POSSIBLE, AND IF HE CANNOT, TO REDEFINE WHAT IT MEANS SO THAT A SEEKING SOUL WOULD THINK HE/SHE WAS ON THE NARROW WAY WHEN THEY WERE NOT. He will do so by altering the definition of FAITH, and with this new definition he will be able to declare the strait gate and narrow way as a form of WORKS OR LEGALISM, AND THAT IT IS IN OPPOSITION TO GRACE AND FAITH. He will redefine the definition of works and EXPAND IT TO COVER THAT WHICH IT DOES NOT COVER, and at the same time redefine faith to make it EXPAND TO AREAS IT DOES NOT COVER. He will do it via the false teachers, who will infiltrate the Church. Over a long period of time, they will work their leaven and leaven the entire Body of Christ. Both Jesus and Peter were most blunt: THE VAST MAJORITY OF CHRISTIANS GO FOR THE NEW THEOLOGY. These people infiltrate into the Body of Christ, into each denomination, and work their way into positions of power and trust. Peter is blunt: THEY ARE TEACHERS (LEADERS) and THEY ARE AMONG THE BELIEVERS. These leaders have come into the sheepfold SOME OTHER WAY, and they are the false shepherds, that have come to steal and destroy, for Christ was very blunt: THE TRUE SHEPHERDS HAVE COME IN VIA THE DOOR. They have come in by obedience to the commands of Christ, they have entered the strait gate, and walked the narrow way to find the living Jesus Christ. 2. “WHO PRIVILY SHALL BRING IN DAMNABLE HERESIES” Notice that it says they PRIVILY bring in damnable heresies. A heresy that is damnable is any heresy that if EMBRACED AND BELIEVED TRUE, IT WILL LEAD TO YOUR UTTER RUIN. The word for “damnable” is ‘apolenia’ and it means UTTER RUIN OR LOSS, OR ETERNAL DAMNATION, PERDITION. The root of the word is ‘appollumi’ and it means TO DESTROY FULLY, TO PERISH. Peter is also very direct about where in church doctrine the false teachers will strike: SALVATION DOCTRINE. That is why these heresies are damnable if embraced! They are ERROR FILLED DOCTRINES ON SALVATION, THAT IF BELIEVED, LEAD YOU INTO ETERNAL RUIN. We are talking of the eternal destiny of millions of human souls! It stands to reason that Satan is going to oppose Christ on the ONE WAY CHRIST GAVE US TO ENTER IN TO UNION WITH HIM. THE ENTIRE ATTACK WILL COME AGAINST THE NARROW WAY! These teachers who APPEAR to be AUTHENTIC CHRISTIAN LEADERS IN ALL RESPECTS, will bring in A GROUP OF HERESIES THAT SWEEP THEMSELVES AND MILLIONS OF THEIR FOLLOWERS INTO ETERNAL LOSS FROM WHICH THEY CAN NEVER EXTRICATE THEMSELVES. These teachers will slowly introduce a whole new doctrinal concept of salvation and how one obtains it. To alter these doctrines will take time and the use of slow but sure REDEFINITION OF TERMS. The definitions of faith, grace, works, legalism, repentance, conversion and regeneration will one by one be changed over a period of time. The changes will be small, argued over, debated and finally become the ACCEPTED TRUE DEFINITION. These are the issues of salvation. If these issues are not properly understood, you are in serious trouble, for Christ demanded ALL ENTER IN THE SAME WAY, WITH NO EXCEPTIONS LISTED WHATEVER. It cannot be over stressed that Satan needs only a comparatively small number of false teachers to turn the majority of Christian leadership into propagators of false doctrine. All he needs to accomplish is to manufacture a gospel so close to the original that the pastors, teachers and evangelists who attend seminary embrace what is being taught there! This is why SINCERITY has nothing to do with whether a person comes to salvation or not. It is not that the vast majority of false teachers are not sincere; it is that they are under DECEPTION. Thus their ethics, their morality, their standings in the community may be impeccable; yet are they still blind leaders leading the blind, and they all fall into the ditch. The word for “privily bring in” is vital to understand in our search for the real truth. The word is ‘pareisago’ and it means to INTRODUCE SECRETLY, WITHOUT DETECTION. TO INTRODUCE SURREPTITIOUSLY, TO BRING IN ALONG SIDE. Do you understand the ramifications of this? IT MEANS THAT THESE DAMNABLE HERESIES ARE BROUGHT IN TO THE SHEEPFOLD, THE BODY OF CHRIST, THE WHOLE CHURCH, ALL DENOMINATIONS WITHOUT ANY OF THEM DETECTING IT! It is NOT DETECTED WHATSOEVER by the Church at large. Peter said these false teachers would come in via great STEALTH AND CUNNING. Because they are under a deception, these teachers sincerely believe in their own minds that what they are teaching is the TRUTH, and they will use Scripture to back it up! As Christ said there was only one way to heaven, then we know for a fact that all of these false doctrines MUST AND WILL ZERO IN ON THE STRAIT GATE AND NARROW WAY. Over the years, the entire Church will redefine all the central key doctrines of salvation BUT THEY WILL NOT EVEN BE AWARE THEY HAVE DONE IT! Whole new definitions, whole new concepts will be developed to tell us what it means to be a Christian, how one obtains salvation, what regeneration means, etc. This activity paves the way for the final grand delusion, which sweeps the Church into the arms of the antichrist system. The Church will embrace the antichrist, just as the Church embraced Hitler when he came to power in Germany. We know that the many stand before Christ rejected because they never had a true union with Him, even though they were positive in their own minds they did have a union. At that time, and not before, do they realize they were fooled, dupes of a satanic deception so clever that only a supernatural mind of vast intelligence could mastermind it. The word “heresies” comes from the word ‘hairesis” and it means CHOICE, TO CHOOSE, TO MAKE A CHOICE (FROM SELF). That is a SELF WILLED OPINION. The false teachers read the Word of God, and in their CARNALITY, THEIR FLESH, THEIR OWN EARTHLY WISDOM AND EARTHLY KNOWLEDGE DECIDE WHAT THIS OR THAT VERSE OF SCRIPTURE MEANS. They interpret the Word of God totally apart from the Holy Spirit, but they claim their interpretations ARE SPIRIT LED. Their theology is an INTELLECTUAL THEOLOGY, A CARNAL THEOLOGY, A RATIONALIZED THEOLOGY, A THEOLOGY OF THE SENSE MAN, THE SOUL MAN, OF THE LOWER MAN. Their theology will appear correct to the carnal mind, to the sense mind. It will have a form of godliness, but it will not have the power of the Holy Spirit behind it. It will be an EARTHLY GOSPEL. It is also important to realize that this theology will be developed over a long period of time. These self-willed opinions would then be promulgated via biblical commentaries, research papers, tapes, videos and books that would spread throughout the entire Body of Christ. Introduced first in the seminaries, they rapidly become accepted by the vast majority of people. Because these false teachers are leaders and “learned men” of the cloth, which are upheld as ‘great theologians’, everyone rushes to embrace these ‘new illuminations’. Soon they become established traditions, and traditions become TRUTH. Many people thought the world was flat, and embraced it as a TRUTH, even though the evidence was contrary to that position. All of these theologies would be a product of the human mind, very rational, factually very accurate, but wholly devoid of SPIRITUAL TRUTH. At its very foundation it would be a work of Satan and his demons, a work that is a hideous plot against all those souls who are attempting to find out the truth behind life itself. “For ye are yet CARNAL: for whereas there is
among you ENVYING, AND STRIFE, AND DIVISIONS, ARE YE NOT CARNAL, AND WALK AS
MEN?” (1 Corinthians 3:3) “But
if ye have BITTER ENVYING AND STRIFE IN YOUR HEARTS, GLORY NOT, AND LIE NOT
AGAINST THE TRUTH. THIS
WISDOM DESCENDETH NOT
FROM ABOVE, BUT IS EARTHLY, SENSUAL,
DEVILISH.” (James
3:14-15) Is this not now the position of denominational Christianity? They openly war upon each other, even in their own denominations. They war upon each other within each church. They have splits, divisions and factions. Each denomination claims that it is holding forth THE TRUTH, THE WAY, THE LIGHT. The vast majority of these so-called “truths” totally opposes and contradicts each other. Has the Holy Spirit gone insane? Is the Holy Spirit divided against Himself? Is God a schizophrenic? Has the Godhead left the Church or has the Church left the Godhead? Do these multitudes of opposing truths come from the God of harmony or from the GOD OF CONFUSION? The Scripture is very blunt, very plain. A ten year old can interpret Scripture correctly by just reading what it says and accepting it for what it says. THIS WISDOM IS NOT FROM GOD ABOVE, BUT IS EARTHLY, SENSUAL, DEVILISH. It is carnal, of the flesh, of the sense and soul man. It is DEVOID OF THE HOLY SPIRIT, FOR IT IS A MAZE OF CONFUSION, CONTRADICTION, WARFARE, AND FACTIONS ALL OF WHICH PORTRAY UTTER REBELLION AGAINST GOD. Each human mind interprets as “it will”, and so each Church body becomes filled with heresies and strifes. These men then draw off others after them and form denominations within denominations, factions within factions, and it starts all over again. The word “earthly” is ‘epigios’ and it means OF THE EARTH, OF THE WORLD, WORLDLY, OF THE FLESH, CARNAL, OF THE MIND, OF THE INTELLECT. The word for “sensual” is ‘psuchikos’ and it means THE FIVE SENSES. It is wisdom of man, of the intelligence of mankind. It refers to the soul man, the lower man, the unregenerate man, a soul destitute of agape love. It does not have the illumination of the Holy Spirit, it does not know or recognize the spirit of agape love, the spirit of Christ. The word for “devilish” is ‘daimomiodes’, and it means DEVIL LIKE, FROM DEMONS. The human mind is under the dominion of Satan, and that is what Peter is referring to when he speaks of these heresies. They are from the self, which is dominated by Satan. James put the finger right on the source. The Holy Spirit cannot oppose Himself, and thus there cannot be opposing doctrine IN TRUTH. God the Father, Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit have unity, and their unity springs from their essence of agape love, and from this inner light flows their unity in truth and in doctrine. We will examine this issue much later in this series. 3. “EVEN DENYING THE LORD THAT BOUGHT THEM” The word “denying” is ‘arneomai’ and it means TO CONTRADICT, TO REFUSE OR TO DISAVOW. It is important to understand that one can UPHOLD JESUS CHRIST AND AT THE SAME TIME CONTRADICT WHAT HE SAYS. One can uphold Jesus Christ and still refuse His commands or sayings. One can uphold Jesus Christ and still disavow His clear cut commands. These false teachers are WITHIN THE MAINSTREAM DENOMINATIONS. In order to remain there, they cannot OPENLY DISAVOW JESUS CHRIST HIMSELF. To do so would bring immediate expulsion from the Church, because even with today’s rank apostasy the main beliefs in Christ as Messiah still remain. If one of these false teachers were to stand in front of a large audience and UTTERLY DISAVOW JESUS CHRIST AS MESSIAH, AS CHRIST, HE WOULD BE TOSSED OUT AT ONCE. This is not the only type of disavowing Peter is speaking of here, although it does include it. He is speaking of leaders who UPHOLD JESUS CHRIST TO THE MAXIMUM, but who CONTRADICT, REFUSE, OR DISAVOW WHAT HE CLEARLY SAYS ONE MUST DO TO BE SAVED! REMEMBER, THIS IS SPEAKING OF “DAMNABLE HERESIES.” We have absolute confirmation that this is true, because Peter says the VAST MAJORITY WITHIN THE ENTIRE CHURCH OF CHRIST ARE SWEPT INTO THIS NEW SALVATION DOCTRINE. They will not detect this heresy, to the contrary, they WILL EMBRACE IT, AND PROCLAIM THAT THIS FALSE SALVATION MESSAGE IS THE TRUTH, AND THAT ANYONE WHO SAYS OTHERWISE IS A LIAR! The delusion here is powerful, and God allows it to fall upon every human heart that is not obedient to the commands of Jesus Christ. This is what “privily” means. IT IS TOTALLY UNDETECTED. This is not a warning about cult groups, or other ‘fringe’ groups in Christianity. This is a direct warning that the CENTRAL CORE DOCTRINES OF SALVATION WILL BE PERVERTED AND TWISTED, AND THE CHURCH WILL EMBRACE THOSE PERVERSIONS AND TWISTINGS AS TRUTH. Christian cult groups are easily detected by anyone with a passing understanding of true doctrine, proven by the fact that there are a large number of books on the market warning of Christian and also non-Christian cult groups. Peter is warning of something FAR MORE SERIOUS, FAR MORE SUBTLE. It will be devastating to the entire Church, which is WHY THE VAST MAJORITY OF CHRISTIANS STAND BEFORE CHRIST REJECTED. The root for the word “privily bring in” is ‘para’ and it means FROM BESIDE, IN THE VICINITY OF, CLOSE TO, ALONG SIDE. It means that they LOOK ALIKE AND SOUND ALIKE, BUT THEY ARE NOT ALIKE. THEY WILL BE CLOSE, SO CLOSE AS TO BE ‘ALONG SIDE’. They are in fact master counterfeits, a fabrication, fables dressed up to look for all the world LIKE THE TRUTH. Their theologies and their doctrines all contain a deadly error, an error that only the FEW who do as Christ commanded will detect. One of the English words to describe “privily” was “surreptitiously”. It is defined by Random House as “obtained; done or made, etc. BY STEALTH, SECRET OR UNAUTHORIZED; CLANDESTINE. 3. obtained by SUBREPTION. The word “subreption” is most
interesting: “…common law. A CONCEALMENT OF THE PERTINENT FACTS IN A
PETITION, AS FOR THE DISPENSATION OF FAVOR, THAT IN CERTAIN CASES NULLIFIES THE GRANT.” This is exactly what Peter is saying the false teachers do. THEY BRING IN A TOTAL “LOOK ALIKE” SALVATION MESSAGE THAT CONCEALS CERTAIN FACTS THE BELIEVERS MUST KNOW FOR THEM TO BE GRANTED THE FAVOR OF SALVATION. The concealment of these facts NULLIFIES the NEW COVENANT UNDER THESE CONDITIONS. God cannot grant the favor of REGENERATION. He cannot grant MERCY. He cannot grant CLEMENCY. He cannot grant HEAVEN. The reason He cannot is that the FALSE PROPHETS CONCEAL THE STRAIT GATE AND NARROW WAY. Their theology and their doctrine CONCEAL THE ONLY WAY TO HEAVEN THERE IS, WHICH NULLIFIES THE GRANTING OF ETERNAL LIFE. The soul that is seeking God must find the strait gate, and then MUST ENTER IT AND WALK THE NARROW WAY. Satan is well aware of this ONLY entrance to heaven. He is also aware that the vast majority of people are FOLLOWERS AND NOT LEADERS. He is all too aware that the majority of people DO NOT, AND WILL NOT THINK FOR THEMSELVES. They will allow OTHERS to think for them. Who then is Satan going to go after? THE LEADERS! If he can get the leaders duped into believing this false theology, and they are the leaders of their respective denominations, then Satan knows the general lay people will simply “go along” with whatever THEIR WELL RESPECTED LEADERS HAND OUT AS TRUTH. It is part of human nature. What good is it going to do you when you stand before Jesus Christ REJECTED? You can say, “I was obedient to my pastor (teacher, preacher, evangelist), I BELIEVED WHAT HE TOLD ME WAS THE TRUTH!” Do you realize what you are telling Jesus Christ by that remark? You are telling Him that you did not care enough about your own soul to seek the truth out FOR YOURSELF, AND YOU COULD NOT BE BOTHERED TO FIND IT ON YOUR OWN. The Bible is very blunt about leaning upon man for your understanding. The Holy Spirit is to guide you into the WHOLE TRUTH. A teacher is only a GUIDE, to help you along YOUR OWN PERSONAL WALK. HE IS NOT YOUR TRUTH. The truth that “sets you free” is a truth only YOU can discover for yourself! If you simply accept and embrace what others hand you, you are destined for eternal loss! The “many” stand before Christ in utter shock and disbelief that they are going to be sent away for ever, with no hope, no mercy and no recourse. The false teachers concealed the FACTS OF THE STRAIT GATE AND NARROW WAY FROM THEM, facts that they HAD TO KNOW AND COMPLY WITH. There is a saying that goes “ignorance of the law is no excuse.” Likewise IGNORANCE OF THE FACTS IS NO EXCUSE FOR ANY HUMAN SOUL. God gave you a Bible, He told you to read it, to study it and to understand enough to comply with the requirements for salvation. If you do not think your own soul worthy of salvation, THEN DISOBEY THOSE COMMANDS AND GOD WILL GRANT YOU YOUR WISH FOR ETERNAL RUIN. This is not funny, this is not a joke, this business is more serious than ANYTHING YOU HAVE EVER UNDERGONE IN YOUR ENTIRE LIFE. As the new covenant is a legally binding contract that God gave to man through the work of Christ, it has legal standing. All those who wish to enter in must do so via the requirements (parameters) laid down by Jesus Christ. The false prophets will then seek to conceal certain facts from the soul that is seeking entrance to heaven through Christ. Satan and his false teachers MUST COME UP WITH A THEOLOGY AND DOCTRINE THAT IN REALITY DENIES ENTRANCE INTO THE NEW COVENANT, BUT WHICH TELLS EVERYONE THEY HAVE ENTERED IN. Read that again if you do not understand it. A look alike gospel has but one purpose: TO FOOL YOU INTO THINKING YOU HAVE ENTERED IN WHEN IN FACT YOU HAVE NOT. IT BECOMES A SUBSTITUTE FOR THE REAL THING. Peter is very blunt: these false teachers have a gospel of salvation that is so close to the truth that it IS NOT DETECTED by the vast numbers of denominational Christians as being false. This false salvation message will SWEEP THE ENTIRE CHURCH, FROM THE FUNDAMENTALISTS TO THE LIBERALS. Their doctrines WILL BLATANTLY CONTRADICT JESUS CHRIST AND HIS COMMANDS, BUT IT WILL APPEAR AS THOUGH THEY UPHOLD HIM AND HIS COMMANDS TOTALLY! Their fabrication is a SURFACE THEOLOGY, A MIRROR IMAGE, BUT WHEN INSPECTED THE LIE WILL BE UNCOVERED. Their theology will “explain away” the necessity for any strait gate or narrow way. It will be done through GRACE AND FAITH. “But
evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived.” (2
Timothy 3:13) Notice that these evil men ARE THEMSELVES UNDER A DECEPTION. Grasp it please: THEY ARE NOT AWARE THAT THEY ARE IN DECEPTION. They do not consider themselves “evil” men. The word for evil here is ‘ponerous’ and it means HURTFUL IN EFFECT. In other words, hurtful in influence. It is not a reference to their character or their ethics or moral behavior. It is a reference to THEOLOGY AND DOCTRINE, WHICH INFLUENCES MILLIONS OF SOULS AND SWEEPS THEM AWAY INTO RUIN. These people appear to be in all instances wonderful spirit filled Christian men, in positions of great leadership and influence. They are totally sincere, and totally dedicated. Their motives are not being questioned here, because only God can read their INNER HEART. They are under a deception, and they labor for the Lord UNDER DECEPTION. To them and the church, their motives are pure and sincere. They are in love with the Lord and they think they are operating under the Lord’s authority and are being obedient. Jesus used the same word for evil in this verse: “If
ye then, BEING EVIL, know
how to give good gifts unto your children…” (Matthew
7:11) It is imperative to understand that Jesus is not referring to their ethical or moral character. He is not calling them thieves, robbers, murderers, etc. They are not criminals in the common sense of the word. They are moral, upright, decent people with families that love their children. Jesus calls them EVIL. What He is referring to here is about HUMAN LOVE. We will explore this in great depth in this series, but human love IS HURTFUL. It is branded EVIL by God. Mankind is “evil” because their love does not match the divine love. The standard God uses to judge the human race is AGAPE LOVE. The false teachers then embrace a false doctrine as truth, and they in turn propagate this doctrine via seminary training and then through the pulpits across the spectrum of Christianity. To us, as lay people, we would not view these men as “evil” at all, but instead as sincere and dedicated leaders. They are HONEST, SINCERE MEN WHO HAVE OBTAINED POSITIONS OF GREAT INFLUENCE AND POWER. On a human scale of human decency from 1-10 we would rate them 8-10! They are dedicated servants of the Lord, fulfilling the GREAT COMMISSION. They are positive their theologies and doctrines on salvation are 100% correct, or they could never do what they do. These people are not stupid souls; they are intelligent men, some of them brilliant, but THEY ARE UNDER A DECEPTION. They refute Christ, they contradict Christ, they disavow WHAT HE COMMANDED, WHAT HE SAID. They develop a theology that “gets around” what Christ said. Their theology, and doctrinal statements, when carefully examined, WILL ALWAYS REFUTE THE STRAIT GATE AND NARROW WAY. They do so via REINTERPRETATION OF WHAT CHRIST SAID. This interpretation will at the root level ALWAYS STAND IN EXACT OPPOSITION TO WHAT JESUS CHRIST SAID. For example, if Jesus said that the process of being saved is a journey, a process, a progression one makes that leads to regeneration; the false teachers will tell you that you obtain regeneration right away, and you make the journey, if any, IN UNION WITH CHRIST FROM THAT POINT ONWARD. If Jesus says the way to true regeneration is hard, full of pressure and agony of the soul; the false teachers will say that does not mean what it says, that the way is easy, simple, and has none of these things, all we need to do is make a sincere decision for Jesus, invite Him into our hearts, and we are saved, which is easy. If Jesus said that only a small group of people will be saved; they will say that the vast majority, if not everyone will be saved. If Jesus said you must die to obtain life; they will say that was just a symbolism, and Jesus did not really mean what He said, for He died for us, and we need not do so. If Jesus said pick up your cross and follow Him, they will say we need not do that, because Christ did it all for us. If Jesus said you must walk the narrow way, they will say that Jesus did it for us; we need not do it. If they admit to the fact of picking up the cross, or to the narrow way, they will claim we APPROPRIATE IT BY AN ACT OF FAITH, BY A SIMPLE ACT OF BELIEF, OR THEY WILL REDEFINE WHAT IT REALLY MEANS. In other words, THEY CONTRADICT JESUS CHRIST IN ALL THE KEY AREAS OF SALVATION. Whatever Christ stated as a truth, they will have a counter theology to prove Christ did not mean it. They will tell you that Christ did not mean that, and then espouse their demonic doctrines to prove it. If Christ said the true definition of FAITH is that faith which is a deep, abiding faith that allows you to walk the narrow way and have it tested by fire, they will say faith is a simple decision, a belief. Their entire theology is a counterfeit look alike that IN THE ROOT always opposes the PLAIN, SIMPLE, BLUNT, AND MULTIPLE STATEMENTS OF JESUS CHRIST. What Jesus Christ said, Jesus Christ meant. He also said YOU WOULD BE JUDGED BY THE VERY WORDS HE SPOKE IF YOU DID NOT OBEY WHAT HE SAID. The many bought into a theology of the false prophets that DENIED THE LORD THAT BOUGHT THEM. Christ paid a terrible price to redeem the human race. He must have therefore felt the eternal destiny of your soul was very important. If the human soul is of such value to Jesus Christ, then do you not think HE WOULD MAKE THE WAY OF SALVATION ABSOLUTELY CLEAR, SO CLEAR IT COULD NOT BE A MATTER OF INTERPRETATION, BUT WOULD BE SO OBVIOUS ANYONE COULD INTERPRET IT? So then the false prophets must find a way to REINTERPRET THAT SO IT LOOKS TOTALLY AUTHENTIC TO THE UNWARY BELIEVER. Their theology on the surface DOES NOT APPEAR AS A CONTRADICTION. It appears as absolutely correct UNTIL ONE STUDIES THEIR DOCTRINES. It ‘mirrors’ and ‘mimics’ what Christ commanded, yet it IS DIAMETRICALLY OPPOSED TO WHAT HE COMMANDED. That takes a supernatural and very diabolical mind to come up with such a master counterfeit. A contradiction is a contradiction. Here a little and there a little. The leaven gets mixed into the truth, and finally the whole loaf is fully leavened, ripe for the fiery harvest of Christ. The false teachers advance with total secrecy a doctrine so subtle, so insidious that it sweeps millions into eternal ruin. These sincere and dedicated men of the cloth become the unwitting dupes of Satan and then proceed to fabricate one error after another. What starts as a small error grows into a major heresy. It is important to remember that these false teachers uphold Jesus Christ. They acknowledge He is the Messiah. They uphold many cardinal doctrines of the faith. Satan uses this to throw the unwary off guard. The one area that Satan must destroy with false teachings is the strait gate and the narrow way. It is in this area that He sweeps in for a full frontal attack. It is the upholding of Christ and many key doctrines that ALLOWS these false teachers to appear as ANGELS OF LIGHT, SINCERE CHRISTIANS, A PART OF THE SHEEPFOLD! When they then come out with their own interpretations as to “what the Scripture means” the vast majority of the Church accept it without question. This is exactly as Satan intends.
4. “AND MANY SHALL FOLLOW THEIR PERNICIOUS WAYS” The word “many” here is ‘polus’ and it means MUCH, LARGELY, ABUNDANT, GREAT MANY, PLENTEOUS, MOSTLY ALL, VAST NUMBERS OR VAST MAJORITY. I repeat that for EMPHASIS. It means exactly what it says! The vast majority of the Body of Christ, the sheepfold, is going to follow after these damnable heresies of the false prophets. Allow that to sink in for full impact. These false doctrines are going to be embraced BY ALMOST THE ENTIRE BODY OF CHRIST AS TRUE SALVATION DOCTRINES. It also means far more. Since the vast majority embrace these false salvation doctrines, that means THE FALSE TEACHERS ARE VERY POPULAR, AND HAVE VAST MINISTRIES. THESE PSEUDO-CHRISTIANS AND THEIR FALSE DOCTRINES BECOME THE “IN THING”. These false leaders, by their very popularity and huge followings would then sweep millions into eternal ruin. They would be popular and well accepted, even demanded as speakers and lecturers on the Christian circuits. Because we now know that Christianity uses movies, videos, tapes, books, newspapers, crusades and entertainment to get the message out, then these “popular” teachers, preachers and evangelists would b |