We Can Know!

There are so many "Christians" who have not been born again, we know them by their fruit.

Matthew 7:15-20

You Will Know Them by Their Fruits

15 “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. 16 You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles? 17 Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. 18 A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. 19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20 Therefore by their fruits you will know them."

The Fruit of the Holy Spirit of God:

Galatians 5:22-23 "22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23gentleness, and self-control. Against such things there is no law.…"

Those who walk in the Spirit, are led by the Spirit and indwelt by the Spirit, they live a lifestyle of the fruit of the Spirit. They do not have to try to be these things, it is a part of their very nature, it comes as naturally as breathing. If a believer falls for a moment against their fruitful nature they hate it, agonize over it, and remain tormented until they make it right through confession.

1 John 3:9-10 "8 The one who practices sin is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the very start. This is why the Son of God was revealed, to destroy the works of the devil. 9 Anyone born of God refuses to practice sin, because God’s seed abides in him; he cannot go on sinning, because he has been born of God. 10 By this the children of God are distinguished from the children of the devil: Anyone who does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is anyone who does not love his brother."

1 John 1:8-10 "…8 If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we say we have not sinned, we make Him out to be a liar, and His word is not in us."

Those who cannot admit their failings, even defending them to save face, cannot have the Spirit of Christ. This is the evidence that they are pretenders.

When we confess our sin to God He will cleanse us of that sin and we will no longer live in bondage to that sin.

Those who remain in bondage to their sin of pride are not born again. As long as they have self on the throne, maintaining their perceived dignity of pretending to be sin free, will not grow emotionally but will regress as they age.

The only authentic believer walks in the Spirit, confesses to be cleansed and move forward in holiness.

There has been a lie moving through the Christian community that says only god knows the heart and we cannot judge whether someone is saved or not. We know this is a lie because God said clearly; "you shall know them by their fruit." The Holy Spirit lives in born-again believers and they can know who is their brother and sister and who belongs to God.

While it is only God who knows a persons heart we know that He lives in us and imparts to us what He knows. This is why there are so many warnings in the Word of God that we should avoid certain kinds of people as well as discerning the heart of another person through the knowledge of His Word.

1 Corinthians 2:13-15 "…13 And this is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom, but in words taught by the Spirit, expressing spiritual truths in spiritual words. 14 The natural man does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God. For they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned. 15 The spiritual man judges all things, but he himself is not subject to anyone’s judgment."

Those who say "don't judge" the loudest are those who judge the most. They use this mantra of "not judging" to control people silencing them from speaking the truth.

John 14:17

"the Spirit of truth. The world cannot receive Him, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him. But you do know Him, for He abides with you and will be in you."

God said this also very clearly;

John 16:13-14 "13 However, when the Spirit of truth comes, He will guide you into all truth. For He will not speak on His own, but He will speak what He hears, and He will declare to you what is to come. 14 He will glorify Me by taking from what is Mine and disclosing it to you.…"

We cannot rightly judge others without Christ, but with Christ, we can see what He sees and know what He knows because He lives in us, He is our guide.

Isaiah 11:2

"The Spirit of the LORD will rest on Him--the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and strength, the Spirit of knowledge and fear of the LORD."

John 14:17

"the Spirit of truth. The world cannot receive Him, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him. But you do know Him, for He abides with you and will be in you."

John 14:26

"But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have told you."

Those who walk in the Spirit of God will have discernment that others cannot understand. They will notice things, evaluate them according to the Bible and be able to understand what they see.

🔴The Power of Evil Spirits Hidden Behind the Narcissist❗ Narcissism | NPD

Larry Jones: Imaginary "Pastor"

Larry Jones

  · 

An imaginary sermon by an imaginary repentant pastor to an imaginary congregation....

“I WANT YOU TO SEE what you don't see, that which has always been quite visible. I will try to lift the veil that hides the real me in my role as leader....

“It was not the Lord Jesus Christ who authorized me to be the pastor of this assembly; it was flesh-and-blood that appointed me. If you find that hard to absorb, try to find me in the Bible. The New Testament teaches 'one another' ministry, not a salaried one-man overseer. (To verify, simply type in 'one another' in a searchable online Bible, i.e. Bible Gateway). No christian should have the degree of influence over you that I had. You assimilated my untruths, which were many, as well as truth. I want you to see that, as leader, I had a vile leverage over you. For example....

“If you did not call me pastor you would have paid a hefty price. I have learned over the years to efficiently deal with dissention. I have subtly intimated from this very powerful pulpit that the only way you can publicly serve God is through this assembly, or one similar, and you correctly sensed that to do so my approval is paramount. Also, you know your friends within this congregation will withdraw much of their warmth if they sense any dissention between me and you. Harmony is everyone's friend; tension is everyone's enemy. And so everybody was careful not to cross me. Not only is that the reason you called me pastor but it's why you submit to many other 'commandments of men' that I have imposed.”

An Imaginary Sermon by Larry Jones

Larry Jones

snSopoedrtal2c4f:r8ftt9m0A e 1f1a4e9e8 i3a7tMgaaiDl3c4bm1 m6  · 

An imaginary sermon by an imaginary repentant pastor to an imaginary congregation....

“I REMIND YOU THAT the Bible, not contemporary christianity, is God's standard. 2 Timothy 3:16: “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness.” I repeat that Scripture is God's standard. And I repeat that contemporary christianity is not God's standard.

“Under my oversight, and that of other evangelical controllers, you have adopted many practices that have gained you acceptance with me and each other, but are contrary to God's Bible. One example of many....

“Why did you call me pastor? Can you find one precedent in the Bible of one christian calling another christian pastor? The Bible declares “the husband is head of the wife, as also Christ is the head of the church” and yet many wives consider me, not their husbands, their pastor. Does anyone think Lord Jesus wants you to call someone other than Himself pastor? When you called me pastor you were implying that I was your spiritual shepherd (pastor means shepherd); isn't Jesus alone your Shepherd, your Pastor? Don't you think it's an insult to Jesus, “that great shepherd of the sheep”, to call a brother by that title?”

Adding to or Detracting From Scripture is Sin

Ephesians 4:2-3

"2 with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, 3 being diligent to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace."

Unity in the Spirit can only happen when believers are more interested in learning the truth of God's Word than they are in their version of Christianity.

Adding to and detracting from Scripture to form one's own idea of God's principles is a sin as well as influencing others to follow a set of principles that are mixed with human desires and God's truth making the whole matter unBiblical.

Ecclesiastes 7:8

"The end of a matter is better than the beginning, and a patient spirit is better than a proud one."

We can only defer to Scripture when we are humble enough to admit we don't know everything and desire God's truth more than our own thinking or the thinking of the culture.

Colossians 1:11

"being strengthened with all power according to His glorious might so that you may have full endurance and patience, and joyfully"

Colossians 3:12

"Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, clothe yourselves with hearts of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience."

Where there is pride there is a lack of humility and kindness. Those who possess arrogance do not defer to others, rather they attempt to dominate and control.

There is only unity in the Spirit when there is a desire to please God more than we care about being seen as right or superior.

Proverbs 18:2

"A fool takes no pleasure in understanding, but only in expressing his opinion."

Proverbs 1:7

"The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction."

Proverbs 29:9

"If a wise man has an argument with a fool, the fool only rages and laughs, and there is no quiet."

When we see that we cannot have a rational conversation with someone in honesty and authentic concern for one another then is time to walk away and avoid these people.

Proverbs 10:23

"Doing wrong is like a joke to a fool, but wisdom is pleasure to a man of understanding."

Narcissists Don't Understand Love God's Way

Narcissists don't understand love, when they say; " I love you", they are saying; "*I love how you make me feel when I am around you." There can be no genuine love from someone who does not have the Holy Spirit.

The love of the world is not love at all, it is based on self and even when it appears sacrificial it is still based on how giving makes them personally feel, not on the person they are helping.

They honor someone with their lips but they don't love the person the same way pretenders treat God.

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.’ ”

They give gifts to get a good feeling for doing it, it's not about pleasing others. Gifts are also often given to impress others more than to provide something the other person would enjoy.

When gift-giving is "expected" and done out of ritual, love hardly ever is involved.

What is love God's way?

1 Corinthians 13:3-5 "…3 If I give all I possess to the poor and exult in the surrender of my body, but have not love, I gain nothing. 4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no account of wrongs.…"

We live in a world full of false love, false religion, false gods and false personas. It has become rare to encounter a person who is genuinely authentic with pure motives and a desire to love God and others.

Proverbs 17:9

"Whoever conceals an offense promotes love, but he who brings it up separates friends."

1 Corinthians 4:6

"Brothers, I have applied these things to myself and Apollos for your benefit, so that you may learn from us not to go beyond what is written. Then you will not take pride in one man over another."

Galatians 5:22

"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,"

Ephesians 4:32

"Be kind and tenderhearted to one another, forgiving each other just as in Christ God forgave you."

Colossians 3:12

"Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, clothe yourselves with hearts of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience."

As you can see, "Love" has nothing to do with self and everything to do with God and others.

The Uptick in the Narcissistic Mentality Continues

Even the seculars are admitting that there has been an uptick in narcissistic behavior and the impossible relationships in which rage replaces reasonable dialogue. The following Bible passage tells us what it would be like in the very last days before the church is taken out, we are there now.

2 Timothy 3:1-5

Difficult 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."

If you think you do not see this just challenge in the mildest form someone's need for repentance and to become born again. Then you will see the real them emerge.

Anyone can be kind and friendly when we elevate them as though they are special. Try explaining to them that they are not only not special but they are so bad Christ had to die to pay for their sin. They have no ability to be good enough to save themselves and all their fleshly good deeds were as filthy rags.

When we obey God and tell the truth we will be hated by almost everyone who comes in contact with us.

Matthew 10:21-23 "…21 Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child; children will rise against their parents and have them put to death. 22 You will be hated by everyone because of My name, but the one who perseveres to the end will be saved. 23 When they persecute you in one town, flee to the next. Truly I tell you, you will not reach all the towns of Israel before the Son of Man comes.…"

Many of us our treated contemptuously without respect for our stand for Christian principles and this is often with those who say they are Christians and attend a church gathering every week.

Do not allow this fact to cause sadness or discouragement. God said it would happen and our response to it ought to keep obeying Christ, telling the truth and refusing to suck into our soul the angst of those who are pretending. As one man put it; "observe but do not absorb."

When we walk with Christ and He is our strength we do not have to feel sad at what happens to us by those who are rebellious and disrespectful. We can remain focused on Christ and His principles and He will be everything we need. And, once in a while, we will meet others like ourselves who love the Lord as much as we do, what a joy when this happens.

Proverbs 29:27

"An unjust man is detestable to the righteous, and one whose way is upright is detestable to the wicked."

James 1:2-4

"My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing."