“For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.”
With each passing day, the church continues to face challenges in defending its true identity in Christ. On the Main Street of my city, there is a church at almost every turn. This may or may not be a good idea depending on certain reasons. I for one prefer a small church, because if it operates like the days of the apostles, it creates an atmosphere of true fellowship with each other.
Christianity has been tainted with falsehood and more so believers do not want to do their own work. They’d rather go see a so called “prophet”, who just came to town, and can see well in the spirit. Many, therefore go about as dependent church people at the mercy of wolves in sheep clothing.
Mathew 7:15 “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves.
The practice of wickedness and witchcraft has grown. It’s unfortunate that leaders of such places are so glued to their evil, that they care less about spiritual consequences.
According to our main Bible text above- 2 Timothy 4:3-4, it says a time will come…… that time is here. It is very visible all around, and each day it gets worse. We must guard ourselves if we want to maintain purity in Christ. We must be very vigilant because some of these wolves are ingrown, according to 2 Peter 2:1 “But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing upon themselves swift destruction.” The problem is that most people like someone to give them a word of prophesy- “Man of God, what is God saying about me”. Because of desperation, nobody cares if or not it is indeed a ‘man of God’ or a ‘man of the devil’.
There is a price for sound doctrine, but many prefer sugar coated messages, that will tell them it’s ok to commit adultery, and still sing in the worship team because God understands.
If Jesus states that he is a good shepherd , why would someone desire a wolf? He says he knows his sheep and his sheep know him. Is this true for us? What about his voice?
John 10:14-16, 27 “I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me just as the Father knows me and I know the Father—and I lay down my life for the sheep. I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them also. They too will listen to my voice, and there shall be one flock and one shepherd.” My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.”
It is very clear that many have preferred to follow wolves because they are not true sheep of the flock or they do not want to put in any effort to remain under of the control of the good shepherd. In other words, not listening to the voice of the Master.
If we must stay in the sheep pen of the good shepherd, where we are protected against falsehood, we must be ready to do some work, which for the sake of time we will highlight some here. I called these the 4-D’s of Protection.
1. Desire to know the good shepherd. Look at Apostle Paul in these 4 verses below.
Philippians 3:10 “ I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death.”
1 Corinthians 2:2 “For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.”
Galatians 6:14 “But as for me, may I never boast, except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.”
Philippians 3:8 “More than that, I count all things as loss compared to the surpassing excellence of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ”
Psalm 63:1 “You, God, are my God, earnestly I seek you; I thirst for you, my whole being longs for you, in a dry and parched land where there is no water.”
One can only truly know something or someone by investing. It cannot come from a dream. Apostle Paul was a great sheep. One can see that all his investments into knowing Christ the shepherd from his first encounter on the Damascus road really paid off. You know the Lord by studying the word of God and walking in that word. There must be earnest desire in our hearts for God, like nothing else matters. When you seek God and dwell in his presence all the time, it would be very difficult for you not to identify another spirit, strange voice, or falsehood.
2. Desire to walk in obedience and fear of God.
Philippians 2:8 “And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.”
1 Samuel 15:22 “And Samuel said, “Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to listen than the fat of rams.”
Luke 11:28 “But he said, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and keep it!”
Obedience is what goes before anything in our relationship and service to God. Jesus Christ set an example of obedience by leaving his heavenly glory and coming to suffer and die on the cross for people who deserved their own death. We must choose to obey. No matter what. God can care less about our offerings or sacrifices if obedience did not precede it. Hearing the word and keeping it, means, you hear it and do what it says. Proverbs 1:7 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction.” When we reference God- in awe of his power, authority, majesty, beauty and his greatness etc. This means we have come to know who God really is and we bow in adoration, humility, and worship him. Without these, we cannot gain wisdom. Walking in obedience is like a security guard around one’s spiritual life.
3. Desire to know and surrender to the Holy Spirit
John 14:26 “But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.”
John 16:13 “When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come.”
Acts 2:8 “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”
1 John 4:1 “Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world.”
The Holy Spirit is crucial in the life of a believer. He is the direction of every mission. Without the Holy Spirit, it’s difficult to function. When we get born again the spirit of Christ comes to live within us, but as we walk in obedience with the Lord. We are expected to be filled with power to do extraordinary things that one could never do on their own. After the Apostles were baptized on the day of Pentecost, they were empowered to walk in power and transform nations. If you don’t have the Holy Spirit, you will never be able to identify another spirit that is not of God. Walking with the Holy Spirit opens our eyes into the spirit realms, and assist us identify false spirits.
4. Desire to walk a righteous and Holy life.
Leviticus 20:26 “You shall be holy to me, for I the Lord am holy and have separated you from the peoples, that you should be mine.”
Romans 12:1 “I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.”
Isaiah 57:15 “For thus says the One who is high and lifted up, who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: “I dwell in the high and holy place, and also with him who is of a contrite and lowly spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly, and to revive the heart of the contrite.”
1 Corinthians 3:16-17 “16 Do you not know that you are God's temple and that God's Spirit dwells in you? 17 If anyone destroys God's temple, God will destroy him. For God's temple is holy, and you are that temple.”
The dwelling place of the Spirit of God has to be holy. It’s a temple where God operates from. He is holy and therefore, He cannot operate on unholy ground. There is no two ways about this. We must be holy because he is holy and can dwell only in holy places. There is no compromise with this. A righteous and holy life will never attract contaminants thus, in the atmosphere of unclean spirits, the Spirit of God within you will arise.
Prayer Points
1. Repent of any known sins, ask God for forgiveness and mercy. Ask God to help you put away any falsehood, any thing that contaminates the temple; lies, gossip, fornication, adultery, idolatry, cheating etc.
Ephesians 4:25 “ Therefore, having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another.”
2. Pray for a desire to draw close to him because in his presence we are cleansed and washed by the blood and his word.
Hebrew 10:22 “Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.
3. Pray for the grace to continue walking only in the light, so that we are continually being washed and made whole by the blood of the lamb.
1 John 1:17 “But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.”
4. Pray for the grace to walk in newness in every aspect of your life. Old things must be put away. Old ways of doing business with old prayer styles that did not work, bible studies, unholiness etc.
2 Corinthians 5:17 “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.”
5. Pray for the grace to live in and practice the things we have just discussed about
2 Peter 1:10 “Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to confirm your calling and election, for if you practice these qualities you will never fall.”
6. Ask God for the grace to live a crucified life daily.
Galatians 2:20 “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”
7. Pray for a daily determination to resist by the power of the word of God every desire of the flesh.
Galatians 5:17 “For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do.”
Romans 8:4 “In order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.”
8. Pray for fresh baptism, fresh fire for the things of God, fresh desires to know God, walk in the power of the Holy Spirit, fresh desires for prayer and the word of God. Fire comes in the place of seeking him alone. It is time to present our bodies to him so we can burn for his glory.
Leviticus 6:12 “The fire on the altar shall be kept burning on it; it shall not go out. The priest shall burn wood on it every morning, and he shall arrange the burnt offering on it and shall burn on it the fat of the peace offerings.”
Romans 12:1 “ I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.”
9. It is time to ask, seek and knock like the disciples did in the upper room. Those disciples must have been asking God, where is the promise, proof yourself oh God else we are doom. With their whole hearts they were knocking. With everything within them.
Luke 11:9-10 “So I tell you: Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened to you. 10 For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.”
Deuteronomy 4:29 “But if from there you will seek the LORD your God, you will find Him if you seek Him with all your heart and with all your soul.”
10. Pray that the zeal of the Lord will consume you in every aspect to act right and cooperate with God in what he is doing on the earth.
Romans 10:2 “For I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge.”
Number 25:11 “Phinehas the son of Eleazar, son of Aaron the priest, has turned back my wrath from the people of Israel, in that he was jealous with my jealousy among them, so that I did not consume the people of Israel in my jealousy.”