If the building that you enter into each weekend teaches as doctrine that no one can rest assured that when he dies he will enter immediately into the presence of Christ, that this would be considered a “Sin of presumption,” then why would you continue to darken its doors if you know the words of John 3:36 to be true, “He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.” If words are spoken from the one behind the pulpit that speak as doctrinal authority that there is an in-between place, a location between earth and heaven where souls must go to be further proved and cleansed, yet the Word of God is clear, that “It is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment,” (Heb. 9:27) why would you continue to return to that assembly each weekend.
If any preach any other gospel than that which we have received, (Gal. 1:8) if prayers are offered to anyone but Jesus Christ to be brought to the Father “For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.” (1 Tim.2:5) If works are placed alongside grace and esteemed as critical for favor in the eyes of God, why would anyone continue to be present at such a place if they truly desire to serve Christ as Lord, knowing full well that they are in direct disobedience to the commandments He has given us in His Holy Word.
Deception is tool number one in the attempts of Satan to thwart the plans of God, and religion is one of his greatest assets. There are large groups of people who believe that when they die they will become the god of their own planet, others follow suit to this but add with it a certain number of virgins who will accompany them on their walk into eternity. Others will try to get you to accept that only a very limited number of souls will enter into the kingdom of God, you must be part of the 144,000 or you will be set at a lower location in eternity. Perhaps they will return as a cricket or cow, a lower being, poorer or wealthier, go to the land of the gods and be with them, as them, become one with the universe, know all, see all. Books are written by men, sometimes influenced by Satanic forces that surround us daily, sometimes not, books with the word “Holy” on them, and they are counted as such by those whom God has allowed their minds to be darkened, (Eph. 4:18) to receive as truth fables, (Titus 1:14) those to whom he has released over to a reprobate mind, (Romans 1:28) worshipping the creature more than the Creator. (Romans 1:25)
“They will never believe that.” “You underestimate their extreme naivety, my old companion.” “They are easily led astray, I know, but that is perhaps even too foolish for them.” “Go and do what I have said, create a rabbit to be followed on the Easter Holiday, don’t forget the eggs, make the one you will call Santa Claus rotund and jolly, promise rewards for the good, grievances and rejection for the bad, you will see how naïve they are, how easily they are led from the truth.”
Deception is the key, the lie must be made to be more believable than the truth, God must be seen as vengeful, hateful, as standing in anticipation to punish, then, if that will not suffice, a completely new religious order must be established, where works are the realization of salvation, one where God is passed by altogether, one that requires nothing but emotions, or another that makes the mother of Christ a co-redemptor, also born without sin. “And one of them, named Caiaphas, being the high priest that same year, said unto them, Ye know nothing at all, Nor consider that it is expedient for us, that one man should die for the people, and that the whole nation perish not.” (John 11:49-50)
Man desires to be God, not like God, but God Himself, it was one of the first thoughts that was placed into Adam and Eve, (Gen. 3:5) it was a thought Satan first placed upon and within himself, (Isaiah 14:14) and it has continued to this very day. We have a desire to follow a god of our own imaginations, making ourselves therefore as the god we have conceived, for the masses, one will be designed for them, one they can fear and love at the same time, one who may punish if he is not followed explicitly, one who withholds good things to those who do not appease him. Fear, intimidation, greed, gain, love, acceptance, build an alter and they will come, make promises to the faithful, and they will follow, teach the young and the order will be maintained, do not allow them to read or study anything that might disagree with those precepts they have written and preached, learn to believe the lie, and they will follow and also believe.
The fear of eternal punishment is greater than nearly every other fear, for it strikes at the heart of the unknown, it delivers arrows of forever. Not one religious organization can prove one single fact that it gives a foundation to, an unshakeable, undeniable proof that what they teach is truth. Pharaoh’s magicians were able to reproduce the first three miracles that Moses and Aaron showed to them, (Exo. 7-8) and then Almighty God began to speak with a little louder voice, the miracles of Jesus Christ were nearly all temporal, the sick healed, demons cast out, the dead raised to life so their flesh could die again. We as born-again believers many times seem to be able to go no further in our faith than to point to an empty tomb and expecting people to believe, to tell them of what we once were like, and to, rightly, give all the glory to God, but that rarely brings others to Christ. There are many so-called empty tombs, there are those who have pulled themselves up by their own bootstraps, as it were. “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” (Heb. 11:1)
Every one of these individuals, every person ever born wants to believe in something greater than themselves, a powerful entity that many times can be used for their advantage, and every single person who is not serving Jesus Christ as Lord, and Him alone, is not only deceived now, but will be easily deceived when the man of perdition arrives, (Luke 21:8) for the whole world will follow after him. The plan of Satan from the moment he was cast out of heaven has never changed, has not been altered one bit, either be worshipped or keep them from worshipping God. Every false religious organization belongs to Satan, hundreds of millions have been deceived through the ages and are still being deceived to this very day. People want proof, they do not want your platitudes, they don’t want stories of how some invisible sky daddy made your life better, they want solid proof in their own life.
My friends, this is why it is called a personal relationship with Christ, He has made Himself known to each of His children in a personal way. You can recite to them all the Scripture verses that you want, and you should, you can show them Christ by your examples, and you should, you can tell them of who you used to be before Christ and how He is conforming you into the image of His Son, but until they see within themselves the truth, until they know Him for who He is, they will not come to believe in Him. When I was first saved it did not bother me one bit to ask God to prove to me that He really existed, no man will follow anyone that he does not have complete confidence in. I have said the same to those I have spent time witnessing to, those who just continue to ride the fence, always questioning but never really desiring to face Him themselves, I tell them to ask God to prove Himself to them, and I assure them that if they do, He will answer. Ask Him to do something that they have considered impossible, not something ridiculous like make the sky green or give them wings, but something deeply personal, something that they themselves only know about.
I have seen men come to a strong, personal relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ the next day, and I have experienced men who will avoid me the like plague from that day forward. Some people see the truth and are drawn to it, in fact will run towards it every day for the rest of their lives, but others run from it, run from Christ, and hide from Him in the safety of the confines of their religious beliefs, the lies are more easily consumed.
There is no safety in this world for the born-again believer, we are in enemy territory, many have given their lives to Christ, many have died for Him, and many more will be asked to do so in the future. Every religious order will collapse, they will all fall in line with the one world religion that is coming, the faithful will be destroyed, those who serve Christ are asked by Him only one thing, everything, anyone who gives less must look into their heart and see who it is they truly serve.
