Knowledge and Traditions Have Deceived the Church

In our culture the unsaved community thinks knowledge is power so they set out to learn as much as they can but little to nothing about the matters of God. Gnosticism is the elevation of knowledge above all else even wisdom. Some people think knowledge is wisdom but it is clearly not, we can have much knowledge but not know how to use it according to the principles of God.

Many church leaders think more education makes them wiser. the truth is too much education diminishes wisdom because it is all based on knowledge for its own sake without reflection on the Spiritual matters of God.

Too much human-knowledge will create arrogance and resistance to correction in God's Word.

When God told us to hide His Word away in our hearts he was not telling us to memorize the English version of the Bible. He was telling us to know His heart so intimately that we will never forget His principles. When we do this we may forget the passage in the English language where the principle is found, but we will never forget the principle. The principles of God hidden in our hearts will come up exactly when it is needed in life.

When we think with the mind of Christ every situation that arises will be interpreted in terms of God's heart, not our own ideas or the thinking of the culture.

We live in a largely manipulated Christian culture based on superficial feelings more than the truth of God's Word.

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.”

Mark 7:9

"And he said unto them, Full well you reject the commandment of God, that you may keep your own tradition."

Isaiah 8:20

"To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them."

1 Corinthians 2:15-16 "…15 The spiritual man judges all things, but he himself is not subject to anyone’s judgment. 16 “For who has known the mind of the Lord, so as to instruct Him?” But we have the mind of Christ."

Those who are led by the Holy Spirit have a job to do and all other believers should be working in tandem according to their gifts to bring about the will of God. No one is greater than another, nor is anyone special. Everyone who is led by the Holy Spirit must give all the credit to Him for their calling and His work in them.

1 Corinthians 12:8

"To one there is given through the Spirit the message of wisdom, to another the message of knowledge by the same Spirit,"

1 Corinthians 12:12-27

One Body with Many Members

"12 For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ.

13 For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit.

14 For the body does not consist of one member but of many.

15 If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body.

16 And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body.

17 If the whole body were an eye, where would be the sense of hearing? If the whole body were an ear, where would be the sense of smell?

18 But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose.

19 If all were a single member, where would the body be?

20 As it is, there are many parts, yet one body.

21 The eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you,” nor again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.”

22 On the contrary, the parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable,

23 and on those parts of the body that we think less honorable we bestow the greater honor, and our unpresentable parts are treated with greater modesty,

24 which our more presentable parts do not require. But God has so composed the body, giving greater honor to the part that lacked it,

25 that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another.

26 If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together.

27 Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it."

The one-man-paid-pastor system elevates one man above others. This fosters a sort of adulation toward this educated one who appears above others. The people "worship" this person through feeling intimidated to correct or instruct them, making them the mediator between God and man.

1 Timothy 2:5

"5 For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus;"

My challenge to everyone is to take a look at everything that is done in the church gatherings and pray as well as read the Bible to see if what is being done agrees with the Bible. You will be amazed at how much the modern church does that is not Biblical and even antithetical to Christ.

When we pray and receive wisdom about God we will find ourselves rejected, mocked and demeaned by most Christians around us. The human traditions that drive the church gatherings today are so entrenched and loved most will not see it, they will defend what God never intended.

Mark 7:7-9 "…7 They worship Me in vain; they teach as doctrine the precepts of men.’ 8 You have disregarded the commandment of God to keep the tradition of men.” 9 He went on to say, “You neatly set aside the command of God to maintain your own tradition.…"

Colossians 2:8

"See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ."

Matthew 15:9

"In vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’”

The joy of the Lord never leaves me but many times I grieve at all the lies Christians have accepted and defended while unwilling to listen to the Biblical truth.

2 Timothy 4:2-4 "…2Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and encourage with every form of patient instruction. 3For the time will come when men will not tolerate sound doctrine, but with itching ears they will gather around themselves teachers to suit their own desires. 4So they will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths."

If you will pray and ask the Holy Spirit it will astound you His answer to this problem of the apostate church in our age.

Supporting One Another

Did you know competitiveness is a sin? We have been trained by the culture to believe competitiveness with others is not only acceptable but even preferred.

In God's family we are not told to compete with one another but to support one another. If there is competition then it is to make someone above another while diminishing the other.

Competitiveness creates idols in the minds of those who are enamored with them. Idolatry is a sin too.

No one is better or more special than anyone else, everyone had to confess their rottenness to God before He changed them into a new creation. All sense of superiority was removed the day we realized how lost and unworthy we were of God's grace. When we realize this we are joyful and happy to be a member of God's family, we have no need to be above anyone else.

Once competitiveness is fostered in one area of life it then slops into every other area. To compete is to hope to be superior. God calls us to humble ourselves and without this humility, there can be no spiritual or emotional growth that loves to be of help to others.

Through worship of ball teams and other forms of competitive sports we were indoctrinated to believe competitiveness toward others was a badge of honor. What it created was a mentality that caused the culture to desire adulation and praise from others. It is like an addiction, raising dopamine in our minds, a feeling of euphoria over the possibility of being seen as great and special in the minds of others.

Then the culture began demanding that everyone get a trophy so everyone felt good about themselves, this was creating a fantasy that everyone has equal abilities. If everyone would just do their work the best they can they would not need a trophy, they would be pleased that God saw it and would be content with that.

This is the same competition the devil had with God when he was thrown out of heaven. It is not possible to possess humility while at the same time attempting to put someone else lower to make ourselves higher.

Whatever mentality we have toward one another will be how we think about God.

James 4:6–10

"But He gives more grace. Therefore it says, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Be wretched and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you."

Philippians 2:3–8

"Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross."

Matthew 23:2–12

“The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses' seat, so do and observe whatever they tell you, but not the works they do. For they preach, but do not practice. They tie up heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on people's shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to move them with their finger. They do all their deeds to be seen by others. For they make their phylacteries broad and their fringes long, and they love the place of honor at feasts and the best seats in the synagogues and greetings in the marketplaces and being called rabbi by others. But you are not to be called rabbi, for you have one teacher, and you are all brothers. And call no man your father on earth, for you have one Father, who is in heaven. Neither be called instructors, for you have one instructor, the Christ. The greatest among you shall be your servant. Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.”

When we compete with others to be noticed above others we are exalting ourselves, even worshiping ourselves. The world hates this message because it means diminishing ourselves to live for Christ.

The world has made competitiveness a badge of honor when it should be a shame.

Rather than competing with others through boasting we might want to compete with ourselves to follow Christ more fully, to hear from Him more often, to take everything to Him to be led and controlled by the Holy Spirit. This is the joy of the born-again believer, that Christ lives in us and sees our hearts as no one else could see it.

We can fool others with smooth talk and some good deeds but we can never fool God.

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Adrian Rogers: How to Live in the Last Days

Religiosity Does Not Save Anyone

2 Corinthians 6:16
"16 Or what agreement does the temple of God have with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; just as God said,"

“I will dwell among them and walk among them;
And I will be their God, and they shall be My people."

Believers are not those who just attend churches to have a religion they can rely on to make them feel good about themselves.

 
Believers are those who have confessed their sinfulness and desire to be changed by Christ. They hate the false ways and the sinful attractions. They love the things of God and want to learn to walk in them more and more as they grow in holiness.
If there is no desire to grow in holiness then there has been no born-again experience. Anyone trying to appear good on the outside without a change in the WAY they think was never born again.

 
John 13:8
"Never shall You wash my feet!" Peter told Him. Jesus answered, "Unless I wash you, you have no part with Me."

The washing of feet is symbolic of Christ cleansing those who have trusted in Him. Unless He cleanses us there can be no cleansing.

 
1 Corinthians 1:30
"It is because of Him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God: our righteousness, holiness, and redemption."

Do not think for one minute we can save ourselves or change our hearts. We can only temporarily change our ways on the outside but we cannot change our own hearts, Christ must do that.

 
Matthew 23:27-28
27 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which on the outside appear beautiful, but inside they are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness.
28 So you too, outwardly appear righteous to people, but inwardly you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness."

Next time we see a Christian raging at us over our assertion that they have violated Scripture, remember what God said about the religious leaders. This applies to anyone who claims to be religious but has never been born again.

Springs Without Water

2 Peter 2:17-22

"17 These are springs without water and mists driven by a storm, for whom the black darkness has been reserved.

18 For, while speaking out arrogant words of no value they entice by fleshly desires, by indecent behavior, those who barely escape from the ones who live in error,

19 promising them freedom while they themselves are slaves of corruption; for by what anyone is overcome, by this he is enslaved. 20 For if, after they have escaped the defilements of the world by the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and are overcome, the last state has become worse for them than the first.

21 For it would be better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than having known it, to turn away from the holy commandment handed on to them.

22 It has happened to them according to the true proverb, “A dog returns to its own vomit,” and, “A sow, after washing, returns to wallowing in the mire.”

No one backslides, one cannot fall backward they simply reveal their heart that was always present. They were pretending to be something on the outside that was never on the inside.

Lazy Careless Christians will not be able to Stand

2 Thessalonians 3:14

"If anyone does not obey our instruction in this letter, take note of that person and do not associate with him, so that will be put to shame."

The church has been seriously diluted with false doctrine. When it is not a false doctrine it will be a distraction of many things, politics, pleasure, desire for fun and many things that work against the Spirit of God.

We are living in the last days of apostasy in which it will be very difficult to connect with others who love the Lord with all their heart because there are so few.

2 Thessalonians 3:1-4

Request for Prayer

3 Finally, brothers and sisters, pray for us that the word of the Lord will spread rapidly and be glorified, just as it was also with you;

2 and that we will be rescued from troublesome and evil people; for not all have the faith.

3 But the Lord is faithful, and He will strengthen and protect you from the evil one.

4 We have confidence in the Lord concerning you, that you are doing, and will do, what we command."

The devil wants the worship of believers, he doesn't care if you mess up your relationship with Christ, he cares that you ignore God and refuse to listen to the Holy Spirit. A false religion of self is far more desirable to the devil than total open hatred toward God. He wants us to appear spiritual while denying Christ through our lifestyle.

False Cultural Christianity

So many things are wrong in this culture of modern Christianity that some of us are considered fanatics for calling it out so often.

But then again, it is what happened to Noah and Jeremiah and Isaiah, Elijah and Elisha, they did it and were disdained and disrespected too.

If we are going to be men and women of God in these last days we will receive hate mail, and we will be gossiped about, lied to and disrespected continually by those around us, even those who say they are Christians.

As we navigate through this end times world of total depravity we will find ourselves alone a lot hated by most people. They will think there is something wrong with us because so many people have contempt for us.

There is a saying; "you are known by how many friends you have." This is exactly the opposite of what God says in His Word.

Proverbs 18:24 "A man of too many friends comes to ruin, But there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother."

Another way of saying this is "Those with too many friends have none." I don't remember who says it but the principle is that anyone who has lots of friends is probably standing for nothing. It is only through compromise and self-exaltation that a person becomes popular.