Preaching the Gospel in the Church for the Pretenders

For those who say it doesn't matter if you do things God's way as long as things work out according to your own minds:

Genesis 3:1-5

The Fall of Mankind

3 Now the serpent was more cunning than any animal of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, “Has God really said, ‘You shall not eat from any tree of the garden’?”

2 The woman said to the serpent, “From the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat;

3 but from the fruit of the tree which is in the middle of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat from it or touch it, or you will die.’” 4 The serpent said to the woman, “You certainly will not die!

5 For God knows that on the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will [a]become like God, knowing good and evil.”

What does the Bible say about doing things God's way?

Isaiah 55:8-9 – “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways,” says the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts."

James 4:10 "humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift us up."

If someone is using worldly ways to entice people to church gatherings then they are dishonoring God in an attempt to do good work. They are working according to their own lusts without regard to what God thinks.

Mark 7:13 "13 Thus you nullify the word of God by the tradition you have handed down. And you do so in many such matters.”

This does not honor God, it is causing the unsaved to think that Christ is just like the world. If they are enticed by worldly things to come to the gathering then they are becoming false converts under the false pretenses of the church. They learn the things to say and do but they do not love Christ.

Inviting the community to church to watch the Super Bowl is ungodly manipulation as well as a terrible influence to make ball games more important than God. God never told us to entice ungodly people to come to our worship gatherings, just the opposite, He told us to go into the world and share the gospel, when someone becomes born again then they are welcome to come and worship with the other believers.

Mark 16:15-16 "15 And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. 16 The one who has believed and has been baptized will be saved, but the one who has not believed will be condemned."

It is against God's word for an unbeliever, the unconverted to come to church week after week for many years without becoming born again. I have known people all my life who did this and were no more godly or interested in the things of God than they were when they began.

At some point in their "church experience" a nonbeliever does not become saved it needs to be addressed and challenged to help them turn to Christ to see if they are saved.

So many people come to church when they are going through a difficult life experience or married to someone who is a believer wanting to be with them but they have no interest in Christ.

Matthew 23:15 "… 15 Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You traverse land and sea to win a single convert, and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a son of hell as you are."

We are living in times when most people who would say they were Christians if asked, but will not offer it up without prompting are embarrassed at the name of Christ or mention of the Bible.

2 Timothy 3:1-5

God says in verse 5 of 2 Timothy 3 to avoid such people. But how do we do that when they are in the church and the others in the church coddle them. It is more likely these days that the rest of the people in the church would be angry at the one who challenges the pretender to go to prayer and ask God if he/she were saved. Perhaps most people in modern churches today have never been born again. After all, we have been inviting non-believers to the gatherings for 150 years now, perhaps the culture of the church is based on the culture in the world instead of the Bible?

They have a form of religion but deny Christ in their lifestyle. They even avoid any believer who loves to speak of the things of God. Perhaps we should give the gospel every week until the church is tired of it and the slothful ones will leave.

We need to no longer say things like; "but what if they get saved by staying?" And begin to address the false converts, challenging them to make sure they have been born again.

God is the Judge

I do not judge others, I merely repeat God's judgment, I am only the messenger. If anyone has a problem with this they need to go to God.

If anyone accuses you of judging simply return a Scripture that addresses the matter and encourage them to ask God.

God is the judge, and the born-agains are the messengers.

Galatians 4:16

"16 So have I become your enemy by telling you the truth?"

Philippians 1:21

"21 For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain."

1 Corinthians 2:1-5

"As for me, brothers, when I came to you, I did not come with superior speech or wisdom in order to proclaim to you the testimony of God.

2 For I had no intention of knowing anything among you except Jesus Christ, and him crucified.

3 I came to you in weakness, in fear, and with much trembling.

4 My message and my preaching were not marked by persuasive words of human wisdom, but by a demonstration of the Spirit and of power,

5 so that your faith would not rest on human wisdom, but on God’s power."

Half-Truths are All-Lies

Did you know that "half-truths" are "all lies?"

Here's how we know that partial truth mixed with opinions are lies, it's because when someone mixes their own opinions or what they wish to be true with what really happened they are attempting to deceive the hearer.

Any time someone is embellishing a story to direct someone to a particular conclusion they are attempting to convince someone of something that is not true.

I knew of a woman who was accused of hanging out at a bar at 10 am Saturday morning. The family member told others that she knew she was at the bar because her car was in the parking lot of the bar.

The woman who thought she was telling on this family member in front of others was so convinced of what she saw she felt confident she was going to embarrass the person who was the target of her hatred.

The real story was this; the bar was closed and the woman's car was the only one in the parking lot. What the tattler didn't know was that the family member parked her car there because the flea markets parking lot across the street was full so she went across the street to park in a lot that had plenty of parking.

It doesn't matter how innocent we are in what we are doing if a narcissist wants to smear the reputation of someone they will find a way. They did it with Christ and they are doing it now to believers.

Here is something to consider; what if the tattler was a kind person and didn't want to spread rumors but was still concerned about the family member? Rather than announcing a half-truth in front of family, this tattler would have privately asked the woman about her car in the parking lot. Before anyone else knew the whole matter would have been cleared up, no gossip would take place and no hurt or anger on anyone's part.

It's amazing how much easier life is if people would just lovingly and kindly ask others about what they see. It is my considered opinion that if we care about someone we will be quick to ask questions assuming the best and we would have no need to pass the information on to others that does not pertain to them.

I believe this is what God meant when He said;

1 Corinthians 13: "… 6 Love takes no pleasure in evil, but rejoices in the truth. 7 It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. 8 Love never fails."

Let me be clear too that those who listen to the gossip and begin treating the target of the gossip with contempt because of what they heard, these too are people to be avoided. After all, how much love is involved when someone likes to believe horrid things about someone?

I am convinced too that those who hear the gossip, believe the gossip, and act upon it don't want to find out the real story, they like the lie better.

Romans 1:29

"29 They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice."

2 Corinthians 12:20

"20 For I am afraid that perhaps when I come I may find you to be not what I wish, and may be found by you to be not what you wish; that perhaps there will be strife, jealousy, angry tempers, selfishness, slanders, gossip, arrogance, disturbances;"

Perhaps most of the arguments and strife that come between people are because of misunderstandings. Troubles could be resolved if both parties tell their side and those at fault admit it while the offended party forgives.

God's way is always best no matter what the trial. Even if it is initially uncomfortable, the end result is a clear conscience and maybe even a restored relationship.

The lesson here is to seek God in all things, searching His Word for His best and many problems would be mended.

8 Signs God is Showing You Someone is a Narcissist + LIVE Q&A

You Will be Mocked and Disrespected

Have you noticed those "laughing smiley faces? Now they are being used to mock Christians when we speak the truth.

Just so you know, don't be embarrassed by a narcissist when they use a laughing smiley face to mock you when you speak wisdom from God's Word.

I am the first one to want to discuss things with a person who cares about discovering the truth, but I have little patience with those who only wish to appear superior without a desire to come to a knowledge of the truth.

Proverbs 29:8-10 "…8 Mockers inflame a city, but the wise turn away anger. 9 If a wise man goes to court with a fool, there will be raving and laughing with no resolution. 10 Men of bloodshed hate a blameless man, but the upright care for his life."

Mockers are haters, God said if we so much as hate our brother we are a murderer.

1 John 3:14-15 "…14 We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love our brothers. The one who does not love remains in death. 15 Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that eternal life does not reside in a murderer."

Narcissists don't know that mocking and ridicule does not make them right. They count themselves as winning because they think they have embarrassed the one they mock. They think they have embarrassed the one they mock because they would be embarrassed and devastated if someone mocked them.

Remember Christ was mocked, and all the apostles.

Matthew 9:24

"He said, “Leave; for the girl has not died, but is asleep.” And they began laughing at Him."

Mark 5:40

"They began laughing at Him. But putting them all out, He *took along the child’s father and mother and His own companions, and *entered the room where the child was."

Mark 15:31

"In the same way the chief priests also, along with the scribes, were mocking Him among themselves and saying, “He saved others; He cannot save Himself."

Notice that it was the scribes, chief priests and elders who were mocking Christ, the educated religious leaders of that day. We see this same thing today in the churches, those who are educated by men think they are above others in the church and will not listen to correction from anyone.

Sadly once someone has been convinced of something that is wrong it is nearly impossible for them to consider the truth.

Notice too that when someone leaves the subject of the conversation and begins the mocking they have lost the argument because they do not have a rational answer so they just mock.

If we answer their mocking we have taken the bate. If we remain on topic in spite of their mocking we will not become like them. If we use mocking back to them, then they have control over us through continual foolish back and forth nonsense.

Proverbs 26:4-5 "…4 Do not answer a fool according to his folly, or you yourself will be like him. 5Answer a fool according to his folly, lest he becomes wise in his own eyes. 6 Like cutting off one’s own feet or drinking violence is the sending of a message by the hand of a fool.…"

We can stay on the topic, remain calm, and tell the truth and when we find out someone is acting foolishly we can exit the conversation. No good will come out of arguing with a fool who uses tactics to control the conversation.

A good conversation can go on for a long time between two people who want to listen and speak rationally. But nothing good comes from a conversation with a fool.

In a conversation a few years ago I mentioned that we must trust the Holy Spirit for our guidance. The "Christian" I was talking with laughed uproariously as though I had said something stupid. It extinguished the conversation, and from that point on I knew there would be no reasoning with a Christian who didn't know what it was to trust Christ.

These encounters with modern-day Christians are common in our day. We are living in the last days when Christ said that He would have to end it all because there would hardly be any faith left upon the earth. It's sometimes hard to believe we are at the point in history when Christ will take out His church and the world will soon be under tribulation like it has never seen before. God said we would see the signs and they are everywhere all the time now.

Luke 18:7-14 "7 now, will God not bring about justice for His elect who cry out to Him day and night, and will He delay long for them? 8 I tell you that He will bring about justice for them quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on the earth?”

The Pharisee and the Tax Collector

"9 Now He also told this parable to some people who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and viewed others with contempt:

10 “Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector.

11 The Pharisee stood and began praying this in regard to himself: ‘God, I thank You that I am not like other people: swindlers, crooked, adulterers, or even like this tax collector.

12 I fast twice a week; I pay tithes of all that I get.’

13 But the tax collector, standing some distance away, was even unwilling to raise his eyes toward heaven, but was beating his chest, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, the sinner!’

14 I tell you, this man went to his house justified rather than the other one; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”

Most Christians in our generation care very little about obeying the Word of God. It is because most were never born-again in the first place. They were cultural Christians basing their morality to some degree on the bible but negating more of it than they obeyed.

When we speak with cultural Christians today who negate the Bible we perhaps should give them the gospel once again and explain that Jesus Christ is the Word, the very essence of His Own Word, everything in the Bible is true and we should strive to obey it.