Misleading Teaching as opposed to Truth
It is true to say that many “Churches” and their teachers, do not teach the hard facts of Scripture! Some do teach and preach Christ Crucified for the Sin of the world’s peoples, but in the Western world this has decreased to a very small percentage, especially in the last 50 - 100 years.
There are many reasons for this fact, war has left many disillusioned and sceptical, especially when it is realised that both sides prayed for God to be on their side for victory! The 1st World War, was the accelerator in the collective awareness, that “the Leaders” were “not to be trusted”, as they so lightly sent thousands of men to certain death for the gain of a few yards of ground, or nothing! If the soldiers did not obey the command to go “over the top”, they were shot any way by their own Officers!
The writer was reminded of this fact recently (2014) when watching on the U.K. T.V. an interview of a very great man in human terms. His sort was/are the very antithesis of the Adolf Hitler’s of this world.
He is of Jewish parents, who escaped Nazi Germany just prior to the outbreak of WW2. His parents were Christian of an established Protestant Church, and he was Baptised a “Christian”.
This very great man; in his young life, helped thousands of German Jewish children escape the ravages of Nazi Germany and the death camps; with no regard for his own safety!
In the interview, he was asked if his religious faith was the motivation of his selfless actions. He replied; “I went to Church when in Germany in the Nazi occupation, and realised that prayers were being said for God to give Germany the victory, and that I had heard the same prayer in my English Church”! “That decided me that THAT THERE IS NOTHING THERE”.
Many people in the world reach this point in their lives, and many if not most give up at that stage. It is however the critical point not to relinquish into despair; but to prayerfully press on, and Almighty God will give answers!
He continued his work for as long as possible, but the great man had rejected the Christian Religion; as it stands in the world!
The hidebound teachings had been seen by this intelligent man, as just that; religious mumbo-jumbo; with no relevance to real life as he perceived it.
He clearly did not know or understand the Bible or its Truth; but was reliant on the teachings and pronouncements of “the men of the Cloth”; the Priests and Leaders of Christendom, from the Roman Church, and all those that emerged after Martin Luther, with very few exceptions. That great man’s pronouncement re. the loss of his faith; in fact is a loss of faith in the human religious system, which is in many instances, infiltrated and run by the “god of the World”; see: Mystery Babylon:
At this point, an important point needs to be made. Eve approached Adam after she was sufficiently beguiled by Satan as to the “Tree of Knowledge of good and evil”; which was against the Word of God! Satan has been acting in this manner ever since (see: Father of Lies, John 8:44); and in 1John 4:1-3, John shows how “spirits” should be tested. As well as 1John 4:2; any person who hates or dislikes Biblical prophecy, and refuses to accept it or teach it, are also in real danger of rejection by Almighty God, as they are in effect denying God Himself! This is said, as many Bible teachers of Sunday Schools, are in this category, and they are often women from the congregation dealing with the minds of young children; and children have a special bond with women, and give them close attention! The importance of prophecy is emphasised by Jesus in Matt. 24!
This unfortunately is now the majority case in much of the Western Culture; and although “lip service” is paid to the Bible and Church authorities; it is just that, “lip service”, a cynical ceremonial for State, Government, and the Legal Procedures of the Legal System.
The Truth of Scripture (The Bible) is however the opposite of human cynicism; and those that sincerely seek, and trust it know its Truth and effect in their trust in it; and in Christ Jesus. (See: Bible Dispensations).
The 2nd World War, so soon after the carnage of the 1st, only served to accelerate and heighten the almost total distrust by civilians against ALL Authority figures, and that in particular applies to the established Churches!
The Roman Church (and many others) have continued in their dogmatic and corrupt way, and has by virtue of its teachings (not of Scripture) held its adherents, and its Parishioner numbers are growing steadily. This is largely due to what they teach, especially that of "Purgatory", and their implied protection and management from cradle to grave of whole families, which in itself increases their numbers. Also, due to the long history of the Roman Church since Constantine, its Pomp and Circumstance, its worldwide spread together with the implied and stated Authority as "God's representative on Earth", many people and organisations look to the Roman Catholic Church as the "The Church"; which has 'God's', stamp of approval, when in fact it is underpinned by "the god of this world"!
The fact that they are aberrant, and not holding their teaching to Scripture does not seem to affect their authority and control. Only individual Roman Catholic people who "dare" to read Scripture (The Bible) for themselves without the guiding control of a Priest, have any chance of arriving at the Truth of Christ Jesus, as has been shown recently by the book, "Far from Rome, near to God"; which is a record of 50 RC Priests, who converted to Christ after reading the Bible, and listening to the "still small voice" within them!
The greatest loss of numbers has probably been by the Church of England, whose Churches are very empty compared with the past, and as their teaching was/is not so fear filled as the RCC; the hold on their adherents has waned, see: Why the Teaching of the Roman Catholic Church is not of God Almighty:
Also recently, they have approved gay relationships and even marriage; together with female priests and bishops!
It is also notable that many new Sects have started, with a varied mix of teaching, some to Scripture but many not Scriptural and even denying the Deity of the Lord Christ Jesus, and particularly denying the importance of Israel throughout the whole of Scripture, and particularly in the probably near future.
Some groups even state erroneously that Israel is no longer important in the affairs of God, and have substituted the many prophecies regarding Israel as applying to the Church! See:
The Position of the Jews in Scripture, Old and New Testaments.
Another reason for the growth of scepticism in the Western population, is the greater education of the general public, which has produced more “free thinking”, and in turn has produced “different conclusions”, which in turn has produced “greater freedom of thought and expression”.
What you may say is wrong with that? Nothing! The greater the freedom to study, correlate, evaluate and conclude, the better are the decisions for the individual and society. What does happen however is that the decisions become more complex, as the individual has responsibility for the decision regarding Creation, and one's place in it, instead of one of the “Leaders”!
The great dilemmas, and the study material giving the answers, are only available in the Bible!
The big decisions of the lifetime of the individual have not changed, but they are now more personal than collective, at least in the Western Culture; whereas in many other religions, the state and the family are one, in thought, teaching, and in many cases actions.
One of those “big questions/decisions” is that of the origin of the individual and of all things!
The education system has since the Second World War, become more biased to the teaching of “Evolution”, than to a “Creator God”, and the Western System propagates that teaching as fact. The recent Decision by a Judge in the USA, has even made the simultaneous teaching of Evolution and Religion an outlawed activity! See:
http://www.discovery.org/csc/http
Amongst many other factors is that of affluence. At present the wealth available to individuals due to greater education and innovation has increased the available wealth for many people, which has also increased “freedom” for many activities. These compete with, and shield and delay “decisions” being made by people, as to their position on many important issues of life. Amongst those is the individual decision about whether a person evolved, or was “Created”; and many people never conclude on this subject.
This is an important issue, as if evolved is the decision, then a person will have to accept that at death they are obliterated; and as mentioned earlier; “there is nothing”! Many people find this thought attractive, as they think they are not accountable for their life’s actions; this ignores Rev. 20:12!
If the decision is for Creation then “who is the Creator”? Also, as a created being, what are one’s obligations and rites of passage through life?
This is where on the latter decision, information is needed, which can be trusted! It is also the most vulnerable and exposed time of the person. The major factor is that the individual’s “heart” is “stayed on Him”. (Him meaning Almighty God/ Christ Jesus), and meaning that the person’s heart and mind are open to seek and learn of the One True God, Zeph. 2:3; Dan. 10:12; Heb. 11:6; Acts 17:27; 1Kings 10:14 & Isa. 6:3. This means that the person is SINCERE in their mission of gaining true information. To avoid repetition the following links give more on that very important point. See;
Gathering Together of Like Minded People (Christians and Others)
Prophets, Prophetesses, Shepherds and Teachers
The very fact of a better educated populous, and the development in the last 30 years in particular of communication systems which allow almost instantaneous communication and information extraction, means that there is a very well informed public; almost to the chagrin of Governments worldwide!
This means that News is instantaneously transmitted worldwide, and only a few peoples are not informed of all major events. This is a condition which has not prevailed in the world before, and is leading up to a crescendo of world shaking happenings which will affect everybody! Interestingly this was forecast in the Book of Daniel approx. BC 425, Chp. 12:4!
This leads us to the point of this paper. The Writers have been seeking Truth continually for many years, and have been appalled at the blindness, the bigoted attitude, the deliberate misleading, the aggressive defensiveness, the open lying, the deliberate corruption, and the lack of Truth in many teachers and leaders in Churches, Sects, Groups and Colleges! This is particularly so when they are challenged to examine all against Scripture.
At the stage of challenge, these people in authority (as they see it), refuse to accept the intelligence and freedom of mind of the people questioning, and tend to resort to their training or Dogma, usually stating “you are not trained to understand, as we are”.
That attitude today will eliminate all but the most sycophantic, and rightly so! The mind is the most precious of the gifts that we as humans have, and should never be given over to an organisation or person!
There is reassurance in Scripture, that the “mind that is focused on Almighty God”, together with the promise of the help of the Holy Spirit, “the Spirit of Truth” which came to Earth when Christ Ascended to the Father, will lead a person into “all Truth”! It is important to remember those promises during the years of life when the search continues; and not to be discouraged when dead ends seem to loom!
This leads us to consider what should be preached from the pulpits of the world, so that people are aware what is going to happen, from Scripture’s correct understanding!
Regarding the Bible itself, see above link.
“Men of the Cloth”, have a particular responsibility, regarding events that may soon be. Most of them do not even broach it with their congregations! There is soon to appear a personage whom the Bible calls “the man of sin”. He will have spectacular powers of persuasion, and be a highly charismatic personality. He will be positioned and underpinned by the power of Satan! He will be accepted and welcomed by the major Church groupings, (the developing Ecumenical Church) with probably the Roman Church leading! He will “negotiate” a peace settlement for Israel, which they will trust. He will eventually become the “Anti-Christ” of prophecy; he is known in Scripture as “the Assyrian”!
It is the responsibility of present Church leaders to apprise the congregations of these facts, and to warn about the events which will follow his rise to power! This is not done, and many teachers do not even know of him, and don’t want to know!
With the now educated populace, the leaders will not be allowed to continue to pull the wool over their eyes, and the Truth will out, when the Anti-Christ reveals himself in truth! However, in the meantime, many Priests, Vicars, Pastors etc. will continue to concentrate on the “garden party, the new pews, the repairs needed to the Church building, and to getting as much into the Collection Plate as possible”. To this end they regularly skew their “sermons” to berate their congregations, and leave them feeling guilty by the time the “Service” is over.
They also have the objective of “Ecumenicalism” with the RCC leading, which means negation of Acts 4:12! See:
http://www.revelationsmessage.co.uk/chapter12.html#V.4
http://www.revelationsmessage.co.uk/chapter12.html#V.9
http://www.revelationsmessage.co.uk/chapter13.html#V.8
We are firmly of the opinion that many maybe most Teachers and Preachers to some extent are in error, but that if they concentrated on the following, they would be close to the Will of Christ Jesus/Almighty God:
1) Preach Christ Jesus Crucified for the Sin, and sins of the world’s peoples. See: Veracity of the Bible:
2) Christ Risen, and sitting at the “right hand of the Father” awaiting the time that His enemies are made His footstool.
3) Christ returning to Earth in the future, to collect “His Body”, (The Rapture). See: THE RAPTURE of Christians and Overcomers
4) Christ saving His “remnant” of Israel, who are close to annihilation. See: Rev Chapter 8 & Christ's return for His remnant: (Israel):
5) Christ personally defeating the enemies of Israel at the “last battle”, (Armageddon). See: http://www.revelationsmessage.co.uk/chapter11.html V.2
6) Christ setting up the “Millennial Reign”, on the renewed Earth, (not the “New Heaven and Earth of end Millennial). See: Rev Chapter 4.
7) The “sheep and goat judgement”, when the only criterion will be “how did you treat my brother”, the Jews! See: Sheep and Goat Judgement.
8) The collection by Christ of all the surviving Jewish people from all over the world, to the Land of Israel, with its new borders, those promised to Abraham and the Patriarchs by Jehovah God. See:
Rev Chapter 12 & Rev Chapter 10
9) The Millennial Reign of Christ on Earth. See: http://www.revelationsmessage.co.uk/chapter15.html#V.4 http://www.revelationsmessage.co.uk/chapter12.html#V.5
10) The “New Heaven and Earth”. See: http://www.revelationsmessage.co.uk/chapter21.html#V.1
11) The “Bride” and the “Bridegroom” united! This failed in OT, due to Israel’s unfaithfulness! See:
The Jew, the Gentile, and Christ
The Body of Christ and the Bride of Christ: http://www.revelationsmessage.co.uk/chapter21.html#V.14 http://www.revelationsmessage.co.uk/chapter19.html#V.7
12) The “Eternal State”.
To give the future of Israel, the coming “man of sin”, and the Millennial Reign such a low position, or non-existent position in the preaching priority, also understates the Love and purpose of Almighty God, which is to be seen in the working out of God’s plan for the world’s people: See:
http://www.revelationsmessage.co.uk/chapter15.html#V.4
The Age of the Earth Controversy:
Note, Nov. 2014
Since this paper was written approx. 5 years ago, the “Arab Spring” has started in the Middle East. Most of the nations listed in Scripture regarding “the end times” are involved; and the most notable event this year has been the emergence in Iraq and Syria of ISIS (or ISIL); which is the area of Old “Babylonia”; and which is in the “prophetic area” of Old and New Testament Scripture!
Note 2019: 2018 was the 70th year of Israel’s new establishment, and the USA has moved its Embassy to Jerusalem from Tel Aviv! (See: Biblical 7 and 70 Significance).
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