We cannot choose worldly ungodly friends and expect to move forward toward holiness or Spiritual thinking.
Ungodly friends will distract us from righteous mindsets because they will not understand the mind of Christ as well as they will attempt to convince us to think the way they think.
Everyone wants to be in groups that think their way. If we want to think with the mind of Christ we must cleanse our lives from people who want to think the world's way.
We can discern this worldly mindset by their responses or lack of response to Scripture and the name of Christ when we bring these things up. Do they get excited about the Word of God, or do they act embarrassed, and in some cases even angry?
Matthew 10:32-34 "32 Therefore everyone who confesses Me before men, I will also confess him before My Father in heaven. 33 But whoever denies Me before men, I will also deny him before My Father in heaven. 34 Do not assume that I have come to bring peace to the earth; I have not come to bring peace, but a sword."
If control over you is more important than the Word of God, control to make you submit to their thinking, then we know we have met an apostate.
No one who is born again by the Holy Spirit of God is hostile toward His Word. Even if they are not obeying Him, they will not become enraged when we confront them with Scripture. It is the devil who rages at the truth of God's Word, he is the one who controls the thinking of the angry man.
God told us in His Word that the very end of days, the last years of the dispensation of grace would be marked with total rebellion against God even in the churches that claim to know Him.
2 Timothy 3:1-5
Difficult (ragingly insane) Times Will Come
"3 But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come.
2 For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, slanderers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy,
3 unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good,
4 treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God,
5 holding to a form of godliness although they have denied its power; avoid such people as these."
This is the description of the last day's church, having a form of religion but denying God in their life practices and their speech.
Matthew 15:7-9 "…7 You hypocrites! Isaiah prophesied correctly about you: 8 ‘These people honor Me with their lips, but their hearts are far from Me. 9 They worship Me in vain; they teach as doctrine the precepts of men.’ "
Notice the terrible devastating attitude described in 2 Timothy, this is a description of those who have a form of godliness but are controlled by devils.
Isaiah 29:13
"Therefore the Lord said: "These people draw near to Me with their mouths and honor Me with their lips, but their hearts are far from Me. Their worship of Me is but rules taught by men."
Many false ideas are being taught in church gatherings today, negating God's meaning by adding man's wisdom to the Bible in an attempt to make the Bible say what they want it to say. They are dishonest with God's Word as well as intimidating and brutal with anyone who does not think their way.
Isaiah 29:13
"Wherefore the Lord said, Forasmuch as this people draw near me with their mouth, and with their lips do honour me, but have removed their heart far from me, and their fear toward me is taught by the precept of men:"
Ezekiel 33:31
"And they come unto thee as the people cometh, and they sit before thee as my people, and they hear thy words, but they will not do them: for with their mouth they show much love, but their heart goeth after their covetousness."
We are watching prophesy play out but sometimes we question ourselves because we are accustomed to this culture, thinking we must be making too much of this because in our culture selfishness and rudeness is seen as a strength. Confronting the rudeness is seen as rude. Bad is called good and good is called bad.
Brothers and sisters, never allow these facts about the end times to discourage you, they are actually a blessing. We have been told what to look for, how not to be sucked into the ways of these times and that we are going home soon after watching these things occur.
Luke 21:27-29 "…27 At that time they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. 28 When these things begin to happen, stand up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.” 29 Then Jesus told them a parable: “Look at the fig tree and all the trees.…"
By the way: the fig tree is Israel having fulfilled prophesy in 1948 when the Jews came back into the land. How can anyone not be excited about this fact as we watched prophesy unfold then and even more now as so many more prophesies are coming to pass before our very eyes?
Hallelujah!!!
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