seekeroftruth
Well-Known Member
1 John 4:1 Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. 2 This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, 3 but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming and even now is already in the world.
4 You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world. 5 They are from the world and therefore speak from the viewpoint of the world, and the world listens to them. 6 We are from God, and whoever knows God listens to us; but whoever is not from God does not listen to us. This is how we recognize the Spirit[a] of truth and the spirit of falsehood.
a. 1 John 4:6 Or spirit
Now wait... the babies in the room aren't old enough to have made that decision to follow Jesus rather than __. We may call our babies little devils when they write on the wall or throw toys down the toilet and back it up.... but they can't be judged by Verse 6..... [or can they?].
I've heard something like this before.... it's from bible-studys.org.
The “they” spoken of here, are those who follow after the flesh. They are caught up in the world. They have no hope, because they base everything they believe on what they can see with their eyes. They have eyes to see, and they do not see, and ears to hear, and they hear not. They place their faith in this world and its trappings.
When I heard this verse.... it might have been from a pamphlet I saw "how to avoid a bad church".
The church on earth is run by humans. It would be really easy to destroy the church from within.
Let's suppose Satan wants to get into a church. If he were to show up in a nice suit with a worn thumper under his arm and a beautiful woman on his arm, and he got out of fine vehicle and strode up to the church steps with confidence.... he would be invited in.... shown to the smoothest and shiniest pew.... and invited to after service coffee at the local diner by the preacher and elders.
Now.... let's suppose Satan chose a more familiar vessel to use to attend a local church. Suppose Satan wanted to get into a church.... and he showed up in a crumpled flannel shirt, a pair of work worn jeans and dirty boots. Suppose he got out of an old dirty and dented Reliant and walked with a hungover stance..... would he be invited in? I doubt it.
Suppose Satan wanted to get into a church in Southern Maryland..... would he choose to go dressed in a brocade dress with a wide brimmed, flower laden, hat and a beard? Nope.... the preacher and the elders would run him off before he got to the front steps.... they would let him know in no uncertain terms that he is not welcome. So I would suppose that the drag queen shouldn't even bother getting out of the car.
Somehow people just completely forget that Jesus said the rich have a problem. They are drawn to shiny baubles... they are lured by money. While some people are unable to pay their rent or mortgage, unable to buy food, unable to afford their medications, unable to even enjoy a walk in the park without fear of being infected by a passerby with a deadly disease..... the rich are wheeling a larger than life gold statue onto a stage and worshipping the man who sat for the statue.
Jesus never vetted the crowd. He taught everyone about love. The rich, on the other hand, will only be happy in a vetted crowd that makes them look better. in other words... when the rich are in church... only those who look, smell, and talk correctly are allowed in the church. People who have a huge black mole on the tip of their nose would not be worthy of being in that church with the rich guy.... and the rich guy would tell the preacher all about it... while putting a nice fat check in the offering plate to seal the deal.
Now... we are supposed to avoid being like the rich. How in the world downs a good man making a good wage keep from getting too rich? He keeps only the wages he needs to live... and gives the rest to those who aren't so fortunate. Having millions in the bank won't mean a hill of beans when he faces judgement. Jesus doesn't have a use for coins..... He's not going to say "but he's rich, Dad.... he deserves a place because he's rich"... that isn't going to happen.
One way to test a well dressed but loving church.... is how they use their Bible. Is it a trophy to be held just so or is it something they actually read. One way to check.... find out what the know about the people who attended the First Church in Corinth. That church met in a brothel... it was the temple of a goddess... it was a whore house. The first members would have been male and female prostitutes employed by the temple to service the worshipers of the goddess and the first participants would have worn fancy garments and some would have sported a beard because sometimes boys go to brothels to find boys. Yep the first church in Corinth was a real distraction..... and the rich were there..... but the bawdy made up the majority of the membership... it was their house.... and they were indeed Christians.... according to Paul.
If your preacher is in the Word.... not just the New Testament or the feel good verses.... but the whole Word.... then your preacher won't mind the truth. When the first church in Corinth was opened.... Christians were afraid for their lives.... they needed a place to meet and the only safe place in town was the local brothel. Those understanding people would accept them.... and I don't think they were "holier than thou" around those wonderful Corinthians. The preacher could go on to brag about how those people of the church in Corinth... in the brothel.... earned to ton of money to send back to the Christians in Jerusalem who were in hiding and in fear for their lives.....
These are the same people we won't let in our local churches today..... because we believe the preachers to tell us the truth. John says... test them... test anyone who claims to be teaching the Gospel..... test them.
Chances are.... if they are wheeling a bigger than life golden statue of a human onto a stage so they can all worship it.... well they are just in denial.... move along..... nothing to see there.... it's all false prophet and worldly stuff.... move along....dust your sandals..... try another church because..... those "Christians" are in denial......
