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It is so frustrating when you see the Word of God is used for personal gain in one way or the other by so called gospel preachers who are in essence nothing more than public entertainers, or at best motivational speakers who abuse the Word of God to emotionally move people to look up to them, model them, and pay them Not for the advancement of God’s Kingdom, but for the advancement of their own kingdoms.
Galatians 6:7-8 World English Bible (WEB)
“Don’t be deceived. God is not mocked, for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. For he who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption. But he who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life.”
These people are not concerned about you, your Spiritual wellbeing, or salvation of the unsaved, but about their own wealth, they are wolves in sheep’s clothing as Jesus Himself warned us of;
Matthew 7:15-23 World English Bible (WEB)
“Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravening wolves. By their fruits you will know them. Do you gather grapes from thorns, or figs from thistles? Even so, every good tree produces good fruit; but the corrupt tree produces evil fruit. A good tree can’t produce evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree produce good fruit. Every tree that doesn’t grow good fruit is cut down, and thrown into the fire. Therefore by their fruits you will know them. Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter into the Kingdom of Heaven; but he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will tell me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, didn’t we prophesy in your name, in your name cast out demons, and in your name do many mighty works?’ Then I will tell them, ‘I never knew you. Depart from me, you who work iniquity.’ ”
Indeed, we need to look at their deeds, and their fruits to be able to separate the sheep from the goats or in majority of these cases from the wolves.
False gospel preachers do have an appearance of godliness, but their teaching is not in line with the teaching of the Word of God, most importantly, their message is not about the essence of the gospel, which is salvation through Christ, but is more carnally focused, and appeals to the flesh.
Their focus is shifted from “seeking the Kingdom of God”, which Jesus preached to seeking worldly possessions, which Jesus said would be consumed by moth, rust and stolen by thieves. (Matthew 6: 19-21)
Now, by No means, Jesus was against wealth or worldly possessions, but priorities should be right. As you will see that Jesus continued:
Matthew 6:33 World English Bible (WEB)
“But seek first God’s Kingdom, and his righteousness; and all these things will be given to you as well.”
Yes, all these things shall be added unto you if and only if you first seek His kingdom, and that needs to be with a pure heart and pure motive and not for gain as God sees heart’s intentions.
We’re told to have love for one another, and that is explained in detail that our love for one another should be that of God’s, so that you would want everyone saved from the wrath of God, His condemnation, and hell, therefore you would give them the gospel of Christ, not any other gospel, and show them the way of salvation, which is only through Jesus Christ and His ultimate sacrifice on the Calvary for the atonement of man’s sins.
In the following scriptures, we’ll see how John was also frustrated with false prophets as he has referred to them several times, and has made clear distinctions between the children of God and of the devil.
1 John 3:9-11 World English Bible (WEB)
“Whoever is born of God doesn’t commit sin, because his seed remains in him; and he can’t sin, because he is born of God. In this the children of God are revealed, and the children of the devil. Whoever doesn’t do righteousness is not of God, neither is he who doesn’t love his brother. For this is the message which you heard from the beginning, that we should love one another;”
Love is the acid test you can have to distinguish between the false prophets / false gospel preachers and the true prophets and real gospel preachers for Satan can almost counterfeit anything God does but he cannot counterfeit love. (God’s love is extensively explored in a different message, which you can find here.)
As born again Christians, we ought to pray and receive the Holy Spirit, and with that the gift of discerning the spirits.
1 John 4 World English Bible (WEB)
“Beloved, don’t believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit who confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God, and every spirit who doesn’t confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God, and this is the spirit of the Antichrist, of whom you have heard that it comes. Now it is in the world already. 4 You are of God, little children, and have overcome them; because greater is he who is in you than he who is in the world. 5 They are of the world. Therefore they speak of the world, and the world hears them. 6 We are of God. He who knows God listens to us. He who is not of God doesn’t listen to us. By this we know the spirit of truth, and the spirit of error.
They do speak of the world to appeal to the world, they subtly twist the scriptures so that it has a nice ring to new converts or Christians who are still spiritually on milk.
This message is by no means an attack on any individual named in the video clips as Jesus Christ’s response to John’s observation was:
Mark 9:38-41 World English Bible (WEB)
“John said to him, “Teacher, we saw someone who doesn’t follow us casting out demons in your name; and we forbade him, because he doesn’t follow us.” But Jesus said, “Don’t forbid him, for there is no one who will do a mighty work in my name, and be able quickly to speak evil of me. For whoever is not against us is on our side. For whoever will give you a cup of water to drink in my name, because you are Christ’s, most certainly I tell you, he will in no way lose his reward.”
However, this is a serious warning to both the preachers and their bewitched audience as Jesus’ warning to those types of teachers who cause people to go astray is terrifying as He says:
Matthew 18:6 World English Bible (WEB)
“but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to stumble, it would be better for him that a huge millstone should be hung around his neck, and that he should be sunk in the depths of the sea.”
Referring to the scribes and the Pharisees, Jesus said to His disciples:
Matthew 23:2-4 World English Bible (WEB)
“Saying, “The scribes and the Pharisees sat on Moses’ seat. All things therefore whatever they tell you to observe, observe and do, but don’t do their works; for they say, and don’t do. For they bind will not lift a finger to help them.”
Yes, my dear brothers and sisters in Christ, beware, pray earnestly for the Holy Spirit to guide you, and give you the discernment of the spirits. Watch for the preachers’ fruits, and see to it that they are acting in love, that the love of God is in them, and that what they say or do is not for gain as Jesus said:
Matthew 10:7-10 World English Bible (WEB)
“As you go, preach, saying, ‘The Kingdom of Heaven is at hand!’ Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers,[a] and cast out demons. Freely you received, so freely give. Don’t take any gold, silver, or brass in your money belts. Take no bag for your journey, neither two coats, nor shoes, nor staff: for the laborer is worthy of his food.”
Be extra cautious when dealing with people who don’t even profess to follow Christ, but have taken the practical principles of the Bible and teach you as their own, as these types of false gospel preachers are even cursed.
Their teaching although might come in various shapes and forms under different names, you’ll find that they are usually in one way or the other under the umbrella of “New Age” religion, for a “happy”, “successful”, and “prosperous” life.
But reading the following scripture, we learn that this is by no means a “New” phenomena, but an old one as we were warned of those types of false gospels and those people who are indeed cursed a long time ago..
Galatians 1:8 World English Bible (WEB)
“But even though we, or an angel from heaven, should preach to you any “good news” other than that which we preached to you, let him be cursed.”