THE FALSE PROPHETS -- PATHWAYS TO HELL

DARK LIGHT SERIES TWO THE FALSE PROPHETS -- PATHWAYS TO HELL       In our study of false salvation, we have seen that Christ bluntly says the vast majority of Christians are not going to enter heaven, but will end up rejected. We have also seen a common denominator as to why this is so: they fail to lay hold of AGAPE LOVE, THEY FAIL TO BECOME REGENERATED. We have proven that sincerity is not the issue, but rather deception, a deception laid down by Satan himself, a deception so subtle that only the FEW find it and go on to find eternal life. It must be understood that those under deception ARE NOT AWARE OF IT. Coming out from under religious deception requires time and requires that a soul DESIRE TRUTH MORE THAN ANYTHING ELSE IN LIFE. If this desire is not present, deception lies at the door, and this will be verified from the remarks of Jesus, who had much to say about it.   Disobedience to the commands of God to SEEK THE ULTIMATE TRUTH (CHRIST), WITH ALL OF OUR HEART, MIND, SOUL AND STRENGTH leads to the acceptance of false doctrines that appear totally correct to the unwary believer, who embraces them as true. Due to human nature (of which pride is a major part), once a false gospel is embraced as truth, it is very difficult to dislodge, and in many cases cannot be. It requires one to admit one is wrong. Pride goeth before the fall.   It should be stated right now that when the term FALSE PROPHETS or FALSE TEACHERS is used, no attempt is being made to differentiate between one who deliberately intends to mislead because of hatred towards Christ, or the one who is sincere but under a deception. The net result is the same: eternal ruin to the one who embraces incorrect salvation doctrine.     “ENTER YE IN at the STRAIT GATE: for WIDE IS THE GATE, and BROAD IS THE WAY, that LEADETH TO DESTRUCTION, AND MANY THERE BE WHICH GO IN THEREAT: BECAUSE   STRAIT IS THE GATE, AND NARROW IS THE WAY,   WHICH LEADETH UNTO LIFE,   AND FEW THERE BE THAT FIND IT. (Matthew 7:13-14)     We are going to break this down more as we explore the method that Jesus gave us to enter the New Covenant. Remember there are two gates, two ways, and that they diametrically oppose each other: WIDE VS. STRAIT BROAD VS. NARROW RUIN VS. LIFE   The word “wide” is ‘platus’, and it means SPREAD OUT, FLAT, BROAD; by implication it means NO OBSTACLES, EASY, NO TROUBLES, BECAUSE WE CAN EASILY TRAVEL OVER BROAD, FLAT AND OPEN HIGHWAYS. The root of the word is ‘plasso’, and it means TO MOLD, TO SHAPE OR TO FABRICATE. It implies something that is a fabrication, something shaped or molded to look like the real thing, but it is a counterfeit, a ‘look alike’. The meaning of Jesus then is clear: the wide gate and the broad way is a fabrication of Satan, molded and shaped to look authentic to the unwary. It is a masterpiece of theology, a clone with a genetic flaw embedded deep within, not detected by surface appearance. Satan knows that if a human soul discovers there is a strait gate and narrow way, and elects to travel upon it, that CHRIST WILL GAIN ANOTHER VICTORY. Thus all of Satan’s efforts will be to keep a soul from coming to this knowledge. Obstacle one of the parable of the sower WAS DEMONIC DECEPTION and it is a major obstacle one must overcome.   The word “broad” is ‘euruchorus’, and it means WIDE, SPACIOUS, LOTS OF ROOM, LARGE AREA. By implication therefore, it means that THERE IS ROOM FOR THE VAST MAJORITY TO TRAVEL UPON IT, AND A MULTITUDE OF FALSE SALVATION DOCTRINES TO EMBRACE. The root of the word is ‘eurus’ and ‘chora’, which means EMPTY EXPANSE, SPACE, TERRITORY. The broad way is a vast empty expanse, with a multitude of Christians traveling upon it, with a vast number of denominational theologies all proclaiming “HEAVEN THIS WAY!” They each manufacture their own theological methods for entering into the New Heart Covenant. Their theologies, although radically different, have one thing in common: THEY ARE EASY TO ACCEPT, EASY TO EMBRACE, APPEALING TO MAN AND HIS CARNAL NATURE, TO HIS PLEASURES, HIS COMFORTS, AND PLACE IN SOCIETY. This ‘way’ leads to great comfort of the soul, for it convinces the soul that all is well. He grabs hold of the New Covenant with great ease, proclaiming a new heart and union with Christ that is non-existent. The whole thing is a fabrication of Satan from start to finish.   Opposed to this wide gate and broad way is what Christ termed the STRAIT GATE AND NARROW WAY. Just as they are opposed in description, they are opposed in destination. The word for “strait” is ‘stenos’, which means FULL OF OBSTACLES, NARROW, COMPRESSED, VERY NARROW,  AND SO NARROW ONE MUST STRIVE TO ENTER IN BY IT. Have you ever tried to get into a door that you could only open a small amount? It conveys that meaning:     “STRIVE TO ENTER IN AT THE STRAIT GATE: FOR MANY, I SAY UNTO YOU,   WILL SEEK TO ENTER IN, AND SHALL NOT BE ABLE.” (Luke 13:24)   The word “strive” is ‘agonizomai’ and it means TO STRUGGLE, TO CONTEND WITH AN ADVERSARY, TO FIGHT, TO LABOR FERVENTLY. Jesus also used the term “overcomer” to describe those that had entered into union with Him. The word “overcometh” is ‘nikao’ and it means to HAVE PREVAILED IN BATTLE, TO HAVE FOUGHT AND WON, TO CONQUER, TO GET THE VICTORY. By using this term, Jesus confirms the word “strive”. We also run into the word ‘many’ again. We now have the following references to the ‘many’: MANY ON THE BROAD ROAD MANY WHO STAND BEFORE CHRIST REJECTED MANY WHO FOLLOW AFTER THE FALSE TEACHERS MANY WHO SEEK TO ENTER IN BUT ARE NOT ABLE.   In contrast we find Jesus using the word FEW.   FEW THAT FIND LIFE FEW THAT FIND THE STRAIT GATE                                                                                                             The connotation to all of this is that the STRAIT GATE IS IN FACT HIDDEN FROM VIEW. It will not ever be detected by the many, which answers why they are in such shock at being rejected. They “KNOWEST NOT”, which is of course DECEPTION. When you bring it together, when Jesus uses the word “strive”, He is giving you a direct opposite from EASY: THUS:   STRIVE/HARD VS. EASY FLAT/BROAD   The word “narrow” is ‘thlibo’, and it means TO CROWD, TO PRESS, TO APPLY GREAT PRESSURE, TO AFFLICT, TO SUFFER TRIBULATION, TROUBLE, GREAT AGONY OF SOUL. Put together, the strait and narrow means exactly what Jesus said it means: A TERRIBLE JOURNEY OF SOME SORT IN WHICH THE SOUL IS GOING TO UNDERGO TREMENDOUS PRESSURE, AGONY AND ULTIMATE DEFEAT AS GOD BRINGS THE SOUL DOWN IN UTTER HUMILIATION. If it is refused, NO LIFE IS GRANTED, HEAVEN’S GATE IS SHUT.   Jesus is therefore contrasting two diametrically opposed concepts. The wide gate and broad way will be traveled by the VAST MAJORITY OF CHRISTIANS, and only THE FEW AUTHENTIC CHRISTIANS will undergo the mental pain and suffering that God inflicts upon the human soul as the Holy Spirit convicts of SIN, RIGHTEOUSNESS AND JUDGMENT. The “many” seek to enter the New Covenant via the wide gate and broad way, but only the few find the strait gate, and STRIVE to enter it once they have found it.   The many claim they are regenerated Christians, authentic Sons of God, born from above, in union with Christ. Their claim to fame is via theology and doctrine, which they embrace with great faith, and they are saved because THEY THINK the Bible TELLS THEM they are saved. Their salvation is FAITH ALONE, and they IGNORE THE LIVING CHRIST, WHO PATIENTLY WAITS AT THE END OF THE NARROW WAY. His waiting was in vain; they never showed up. They chose another way into the Kingdom, a “way” that allowed them to claim the inheritance, the promises, union and eternal life. Only at the end do they find out they were in fact BASTARD SONS AND DAUGHTERS, DESTINED FOR ETERNAL RUIN. After contrasting the two ways His followers and disciples will seek to enter heaven, and warning openly that one of them is patently false, Jesus gives a stern warning:     “BEWARE   OF FALSE PROPHETS,   which come to you in SHEEP’S CLOTHING, but INWARDLY they are ravening wolves.” (Matthew 7:15)      Within this short verse lies many a souls eternal destiny. Why would Christ forewarn you about FALSE PROPHETS RIGHT AFTER He told you there is ONLY ONE WAY THAT LEADS TO LIFE?   OBVIOUSLY TO WARN YOU ABOUT FALSE CHRISTIAN LEADERS WHO WOULD INVENT A THEOLOGY AND DOCTRINE THAT WOULD CIRCUMVENT IN ANY WAY POSSIBLE HIS CLEAR COMMANDS!   To accomplish this, they MUST REDEFINE FAITH, GRACE, WORKS, CONVERSION, REGENERATION AND REPENTANCE. They must manufacture a theology that is a MIRROR IMAGE OF WHAT CHRIST SAID, BUT IT WILL BE A DECEPTION. It will look right, sound right, feel right, and be supported by Scripture, for Satan knows his Bible better than anyone on earth. HIS DOCTRINES, AND HIS THEOLOGY WILL BE A MASTER COUNTERFEIT, SO CLOSE TO THE REAL THING THAT ONLY BY VERY CLOSE EXAMINATION WILL IT BE REVEALED FOR WHAT IT IS: A TOTAL SHAM!   This is exactly why the “many” end up before Christ rejected! They bought hook, line and sinker the theology of the false prophets, who were themselves deceived and deceiving others.  Notice that Christ says these false prophets come in SHEEP’S CLOTHING. They look like sheep, they walk like sheep, they bleat like sheep, they smell like sheep, and they do what sheep are supposed to do, BUT SURPRISE, SURPRISE! THEY ARE NOT SHEEP. They are part of the SHEEPFOLD, WHO CAME IN “SOME OTHER WAY”. Remember what Christ said:     “But he that  ENTERETH IN BY THE DOOR IS THE SHEPHERD OF THE SHEEP.” (John 10:2)     Obviously then, those that enter in ‘some other way’ and not by the door, are FALSE SHEPHERDS OF THE SHEEP, OR WOLVES IN SHEEP’S CLOTHING, WHO COME TO STEAL AND DESTROY. Christ commands us to BEWARE. That word comes from ‘prosecho’ and it means TO BE CAUTIOUS OF, TO PASS JUDGMENT UPON, TO LOOK AT AND INSPECT CLOSELY. If you are disobedient to these commands to check out ANYONE AND EVERY ONE’S DOCTRINE AGAINST THE SCRIPTURES, AND THROW OUT ANYTHING THAT CONTRADICTS IT, then with 100% assurance you will go under DECEPTION. The Bible is full of warnings to STUDY THE WORD. YOU CANNOT GAIN KNOWLEDGE EXCEPT YOU PICK UP THE BIBLE AND BEGIN TO STUDY VERY INTENTLY WHAT IT SAYS, SO THAT YOU ARE ABLE TO JUDGE CORRECTLY, AND NOT BE BLOWN ABOUT BY EVERY WIND OF DOCTRINE.   All false doctrine comes from the father of lies, Satan himself:     “Put on the WHOLE ARMOUR OF GOD, that ye may be able to stand against THE WILES OF THE DEVIL.” (Ephesians 6:11)     We are commanded to put on the WHOLE ARMOR OF GOD. It has but one reason: TO WITHSTAND THE WILES OF SATAN. The word “wiles” is ‘methodeia’, which means TRICKERY, DECEPTION, TRAVESTIES. In other words, FALSE DOCTRINES and FALSE THEOLOGIES are a part of the “wiles” of Satan that swept the vast majority of Christians into eternal ruin. The false prophets are Satan’s finest con men in deception. They appear in every instance the perfect Christian. Peter tells us they run very popular Christian ministries that the vast majority flock after and support. Here is one part of the ARMOR OF God:     “AND take the helmet of salvation, and the SWORD OF THE SPIRIT, WHICH IS THE WORD OF GOD:” (Ephesians 6:17)     Apostasy comes from leaving the WORD OF GOD, and RELYING UPON OTHERS TO TELL YOU WHAT IT SAYS. WHY WOULD YOU WANT THE PURE WORD OF GOD FILTERED THROUGH SOMEONE ELSE’S UNREGENERATE MIND TO TELL YOU WHAT IT MEANS? Why not go to the Holy Spirit for your information? The Holy Spirit is NOT CONFUSED, and He knows whereof He speaks! The refusal to take to oneself these commands to read, study, meditate and pray over the Word lead to religious confusion and apostasy away from the true faith.   Many of the false prophets today who are very popular claim it is wrong to judge others. It must be pointed out there are two types of judgment, and one is wrong, the other you are commanded to do. You are not to judge another’s PERSON. That is, you do not pass judgment upon that SOUL. We do not know the heart of a person, we do not know their trials, and we have not walked in their shoes. Because we do not know or understand the real truth of any situation, WE ARE COMMANDED NOT TO JUDGE OR TO PASS JUDGMENTS. It is not an option with the Lord; it is a COMMAND. This type of judgment is connected to forgiveness, and no one can truly forgive another until AGAPE LOVE comes into the human soul. One of the attributes of agape love is its complete ability to forgive and utterly forget. No human soul with natural love can truly forgive or forget, in spite of protests to the contrary.   The type of judgment that Christ DOES COMMAND IS A JUDGMENT MADE ON DOCTRINAL STATEMENTS FROM ANY PASTOR, TEACHER, OR EVANGELIST OR ANYONE ELSE FOR THAT MATTER. You are to take what they say, and apply it to THE WORD OF GOD. If it matches what God has to say, they are speaking truth. If it does not match, they are speaking error. Many false prophets will, in their attempts NOT TO BE DISCOVERED, SCREAM YOU HAVE NO RIGHT TO JUDGE THEM. Anyone who tells you that you have no right to judge their biblical teachings, or who claims they got a “direct revelation” from GOD and therefore CANNOT BE JUDGED, IS A LIAR, A FRAUD, AND A FALSE PROPHET. I am not suggesting that GOD does not give direct revelation, I am saying that ANY REVELATION THAT IS FROM GOD WILL AGREE 100% WITH SCRIPTURE, FOR GOD DOES NOT CHANGE OR ALTER HIS OPINIONS OF HIS PLAN. The ONLY method God has to keep you safe from harm and deception IS HIS WORD. You must get into it, and study it, and remain in it, and judge everything you hear or read or see BY THE WORD.   The type of judgment that Christ CONDEMNS IS ‘krino’ and it means TO BRING TO TRIAL, TO ADJUDGE GUILTY, TO CONDEMN. We cannot do this for only God can read the heart, and only GOD knows the real truth behind each one of us. The type of judgment that CHRIS COMMANDS is ‘anakrino’, and it means TO INVESTIGATE, TO INTERROGATE, TO CHECK OUT BY CLOSE INSPECTION, TO SCRUTINIZE, TO QUESTION, TO SEARCH OUT, TO EXAMINE. You were commanded by Jesus Christ to USE THIS TYPE OF JUDGMENT. If what a popular evangelist says DOES NOT CHECK OUT WITH THE BIBLE, WE HAVE EVERY RIGHT TO LABEL THEIR DOCTRINE AS FALSE DOCTRINE, WHICH MAKES THEM FALSE PROPHETS.   A real man of God will invite you to CHECK OUT WHAT HE SAYS AGAINST THE BIBLE. He will more than invite it; he will DEMAND YOU DO SO. IT IS NOT ONLY FOR YOUR PROTECTION, BUT FOR HIS OWN! There is no room for pride here, and as Paul said, who is sufficient to TEACH THESE THINGS? The answer is NO ONE. When Jesus was confronted by Satan in the wilderness, did He rely upon Himself? NO! He went directly to the WORD OF GOD. He judged Satan with an ‘anakrino’ judgment, and He passed a stinging rebuke upon Satan with this type of judgment. He said “IT IS WRITTEN”. He passed a complete judgment upon Satan’s Scriptural discourse with Scripture itself. As all false prophets, be they teachers, preachers or evangelists, are dupes of Satan, then we MUST pass this type of judgment upon them. A false prophet will scream loud and long when this is done and he is proven a false prophet. He will scream condemnation and hellfire down upon those that point out grave Scriptural contradiction. He will say that the true love of GOD does not allow for judgment. He will FAIL TO TELL YOU OF THE TWO TYPES OF JUDGMENT AS AN ALL ENCOMPASSING TERM. He must, because otherwise he will be found out for what he is!!!   The word for “false prophets” is ‘pseudoprophetes’ and it means RELIGOIUS IMPOSTOR, A PROPAGATOR OF FALSE DOCTRINE, OR FALSE TEACHERS, PREACHERS AND EVANGELISTS. It is surprising, but no mention of MOTIVE is given. It simply means anyone who teaches the word of GOD in error. You will recall Paul fought it out with Peter in open assembly. At that point, Peter himself was a false teacher. Peter was totally sincere, and Paul did not JUDGE PETER IN THAT MANNER. HE JUDGED HIM BY SCRIPTURE. As soon as the error was detected, Peter bowed his knee to the TRUTH. That is also the mark of a true Son of God, for that soul, when the error is proven out by Scripture, will acknowledge the mistake and ask God for forgiveness.   The root word of false prophets covers the main officers of the church: apostles, pastors, teachers and evangelists. Jesus says they come in SHEEP’S CLOTHING. Who are the sheep? Are not all Christians called sheep? Are they not part of the sheepfold? Is not Christ the TRUE SHEPHERD? John 10:1-28 makes it very clear that the SHEEPFOLD IS THE ENTIRE BODY OF CHRIST UPON EARTH. The false prophets are PSEUDO CHRISTIANS, posing as the real thing, posing as authentic, born again Christians who are UPHOLDING Jesus Christ. They look like, speak like and act like AUTHENTIC CHRISTIANS. You cannot detect they are false except by very close examination of what they teach compared to Scripture. It should also be pointed out that the VAST MAJORITY OF FALSE TEACHERS ARE NOT AWARE THEY ARE FALSE TEACHERS. The many who stood before Christ rejected WERE NOT AWARE THEY WERE IN FACT FALSE TEACHERS. To themselves and others they were sincere, dedicated men of God. They were in fact DUPES OF SATAN, BUT NEVER REALIZED IT. That is the nature of deception. They had a doctrine that was 99% accurate, but the 1% they left out damned them forever. This is not to say that there are not deliberate false teachers, such as Luciferian plants who have come into the Church to destroy it.   Do not make the mistake of thinking that false prophets are easily identified, for they are not. False doctrine blends right into correct doctrine. These false doctrines ARE EMBRACED BY THE ENTIRE CHURCH as correct doctrine. In other words, the vast majority of Christendom will embrace and accept the lies of Satan and will REFUTE THE TRUTH ITSELF AS BEING FALSE. That is why Christ said that a little leaven leavens the entire Body of Christ.   Christ said the vast majority of Christians will be rejected. They claimed they entered the New Covenant, but never did, for they come into the “sheepfold” via “some other way”, which is the WIDE GATE AND BROAD WAY, A SATANIC CREATION, A FABRICATION, A DELUSION. Only the few will find the real truth. Christ said the many would travel the broad way because the true way was hard, difficult and not easy at all. There would be anguish of soul, great pressure, and it would be anything but pleasant. The false prophets would label THE TRUE WAY a form of “works” or “legalism” of some type, the opposite of GRACE and FAITH. The broad way by contrast is easy, and it appeals to the carnal nature of man. It would be fabricated in such a way as to appear totally correct scripturally. It would use all the right words, but the words would mean something different than what Christ intended.   That is exactly what Christ is telling us with the word “BECAUSE”. The word “because” is ‘hoti’ and it means BECAUSE OF THAT, FOR THAT REASON OR WHY. The vast majority will reject the true way that leads to “life” because it is a route of hardship, WHICH HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH WORKS OR ANY FORM OF LEGALISM WHATSOEVER. One of the primary methods Satan uses to keep people from walking the narrow way is by branding it A FORM OF WORKS, which of course it is not. By redefining faith and grace, along with repentance and works, Satan keeps the many from entering in, BECAUSE THE DEFINITIONS OF THOSE WORDS ARE CHANGED BY FALSE THEOLOGY TO MAKE SURE THE NARROW WAY IS EXCLUDED AS A PROPER WAY TO SALVATION. IT IS THE PERFECT DECEPTION, THE WORK OF A SUPERNATURAL MIND.  We have then a clear-cut division set before us by the Lord Jesus Christ:   WIDE GATE                                                                                          STRAIT GATE BROAD WAY                                                                                      NARROW WAY EASY, FLAT, NO OBSTACLE                  VS.              HARD, STEEP, DIFFICULT NO TROUBLE, NO PROBLEMS                         FULL OF ANGUISH, PRESSURE THE MANY                                                                                                   THE FEW SOME OTHER WAY                                                                                 THE DOOR     These ways are then clearly delineated by Christ and NO ONE could mistake what Christ said. We could ignore what He said, we can claim He did not mean what He said, we can claim by theology that it was all meant for Israel and does not apply to us, but WE CANNOT SAY THAT HE DID NOT SAY IT. The final judge is not our theology or denominational bias, but is instead going to be the WORD OF GOD, AS INTERPRETED BY GOD, NOT THE CHURCH, NOT ANY DENOMINATION, NOR YOU OR I.   You already know that the word “many” means vast majority, but what does the word “few” mean? The word “few” comes from ‘oligos’ and it means PUNY, TINY, SMALL. It is the perfect contrast to the word “many” and verifies that the vast majority of Christians end up in ruin.     “for MANY ARE CALLED, but FEW ARE CHOSEN.” (Matthew 22:14) “Fear not LITTLE FLOCK, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.” (Luke 12:32)   The word “little” is ‘mikros’ and it means LEAST, SMALL, TINY OR EXTREMELY TINY. That is where we get our word MICRON, which means ONE THOUSANDTH OF A MILLIMETER. We could say ONE IN A THOUSAND. That is a very small number indeed! We should find a verification in the OLD TESTAMENT that indeed there are only a very small number of people who actually become part of the TRUE FLOCK OF GOD, and who KNOW AND UNDERSTAND THE MYSTERY OF GOD:     “I know it is so of a truth: but how should man be JUST with God? If he (God) will contend with him, HE CANNOT ANSWER HIM ONE OF A THOUSAND.” (Job 9:2-3)     This is a very telling verse of Scripture and it goes right to the heart of the matter: HOW IS A MAN MADE JUST OR JUSTIFIED BEFORE THE LORD? WHAT IS THE REAL MYSTERY OF BEING JUSTIFIED BEFORE GOD? HOW IS IT DONE? If God were to come down upon earth and CONTEND WITH THOSE PROFESSING TO KNOW, ONLY ONE IN A THOUSAND COULD ANSWER GOD CORRECTLY. One in a thousand is a very small number: .001. The vast majority of Christians do not know the answer; they only think they know the answer. Speaking of man going to the grave, it says:     “IF THERE BE A MESSENGER WITH HIM, AN INTERPRETER, ONE AMONG A THOUSAND, TO SHEW UNTO MAN HIS UPRIGHTNESS;   Then he (God) is GRACIOUS TO HIM, AND SAITH, DELIVER HIM FROM GOING DOWN TO THE PIT: I HAVE FOUND A RANSOM.” (Job 33:23-24)     This verse is equally telling and verifies that when Jesus used the term LITTLE, that He was borrowing from the Old Testament, ONE IN A THOUSAND. The messenger, the interpreter, is AGAPE LOVE SPIRIT OF GOD, AND IS THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF THAT SAINT. If that soul is clothed in the AGAPE LOVE ROBES OF JESUS CHRIST, then God is merciful, and will deliver him from the pits of hell. That soul FOUND A RANSOM. JESUS SAID SEEK UNTIL YOU FIND, KNOCK UNTIL THE DOOR IS OPENED. THE RANSOM WAS Jesus Christ. That SOUL IS THEN COVERED BY THE BLOOD; WHICH WAS THE RANSOM PRICE PAID. That soul ALSO FOUND THE LIVING JESUS CHRIST, THE MYSTERY OF God, THE MYSTERY OF AGAPE LOVE. All others go to the pit.     “BEHOLD, THIS HAVE I FOUND, SAITH THE PREACHER, COUNTING  ONE BY ONE, TO FIND OUT THE ACCOUNT:   Which yet my soul seeketh, BUT I FIND NOT:   ONE MAN AMONG A THOUSAND HAVE I FOUND;” (Ecclesiastes 7:27-28)     Here we find yet another verification of this difficult saying. ONE MAN IN A THOUSAND CAN ANSWER CORRECTLY. That which the soul seeketh after, that which is so desperately wanted within the human soul is AGAPE LOVE. Without it the soul dies, is eternally separated from its Creator and goes to the pit. With AGAPE LOVE AS THE INTERPRETER, one finds the mercy of God. If this be the case, then HOW MUCH MORE SHOULD WE BE CONCERNED THAT WE FIND THE TRUTH AND UNLOCK THE MYSTERY OF GOD?   It is a hard thing to understand, but God calls many out of the world into the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Many are called INTO THE BODY OF CHRIST, THE SHEEPFOLD. Out of the many, God chooses THE FEW, CALLED OVERCOMERS. IT IS A SELECTION PROCESS, AND THIS PROCESS IS BASED UPON ONE THING: OBEDIENCE TO THE COMMANDS OF CHRIST. It is not God’s will that ANY perish; yet He knows ALL UNBELIEVERS WILL, AS WELL AS THE VAST MAJORITY OF CHRISTIANS. What is the dividing line? What causes God to select one and not another? We must at all cost find the Scriptural answer.     “For ye see YOUR CALLING, BRETHREN, how that NOT MANY wise men after the flesh, NOT MANY MIGHTY, NOT MANY NOBLE, ARE CALLED.” (1 Corinthians 1:26)     If not many are called, then how many? ONLY A FEW, ONE IN A THOUSAND. The call of the Gospel is no joke; it is the most serious of all callings. If you neglect the call, then you are in serious trouble for eternity. DO NOT NEGLECT THE CALL OF GOD, GIVE ALL DILIGENCE TO IT. The vast majority of Christians are going to eternal ruin. It is interesting to note that even the apocrypha says the same thing:     “Because ONLY A FEW WILL BE SAVED, God created TWO WORLDS, instead of only one. As you say, ONLY A FEW PEOPLE ARE RIGHTEOUS, But there are LARGE NUMBERS of wicked people…” (2 Esdras 7:50-51)   It’s the same with the judgment I have promised: I WILL BE PLEASED WITH THE FEW WHO WILL BE SAVED, because they are the ones who now praise and honour me and make my name known. I WILL NOT BE SAD ABOUT THE LARGE NUMBER OF PEOPLE  WHO WILL BE LOST…” (2 Esdras 7:60-61)     PLEASE READ THAT AND LET THE IMPACT OF THAT STATEMENT SEEP INTO YOUR BRAIN. ONLY A FEW PEOPLE WILL BE SAVED, ONLY A FEW PEOPLE EVER FIND THE AGAPE LOVE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF GOD. AMONG HIS OWN PEOPLE, ONLY A FEW WILL ESCAPE. THE OTHERS, WHO WERE DISOBEDIENT, DID NOT MAKE IT. That is strange indeed, for I never met a Christian that was not going to heaven, and I never went into a church that was not preaching the truth. SOMEONE IS IN RANK DECEPTION. Mankind  does not respond to such negative news. In order to package Jesus Christ and sell Him to the masses, the false prophets must make Him palatable to the vast majority, so the NEGATIVE COMMANDS, AND THE NEGATIVE CONFIRMATIONS GIVEN IN SCRIPTURE WILL BE ELIMINATED OR CONCEALED. The ESSENTIAL ELEMENTS (ALL NEGATIVE) that lead to authentic regeneration and union with Christ are done away with VIA THEOLOGY AND DOCTRINE.   In order for the false prophets to claim that one does NOT NEED TO DO ANYTHING HARD, OR THAT IT IS FULL OF OBSTACLES AND FULL OF MENTAL AGONY AND PRESSURE UPON THE SOUL, they must come up with a THEOLOGY with underlying doctrines that TOTALLY CONTRADICT THE SAYINGS OF JESUS. If Jesus says something is hard, they will explain it away and it becomes easy. If Jesus says salvation is a long process, they will claim it is done INSTANTLY. What ever Jesus says, THEY WILL CONTRADICT IT, BUT THAT CONTRADICTION WILL NOT BE EASY TO FIND. It is embedded deep within their doctrine and theology, a master counterfeit from Satan.   If you think this concerns only Christian cults, think again. These false doctrines will embed themselves into every denomination of the Body of Christ, from the fundamentalists all the way to the rankest of rank liberals. With one accord, a FALSE GOSPEL OF WHAT CONSTITUTES SALVATION WILL BE BROUGHT INTO BEING AND GO UNDETECTED BY THE VAST MAJORITY OF CHRISTIANS. The warnings in Scripture do include obvious cult groups, but their doctrinal errors are EASILY DETECTED, AND HAVE BEEN DETECTED BY THE CHURCH AT LARGE. Thus we have many books on the market EXPOSING CULT GROUPS. But Christ, Paul and Peter warned of ANOTHER DOCTRINE, A DOCTRINE THAT HAS TO DO WITH SALVATION ITSELF, WOULD INFILTRATE THE MAINSTREAM CHURCH, AND BE ACCEPTED BY THE CHURCH AS TRUTH, AND SEEP MANY MILLIONS INTO ETERNAL RUIN.   This false Gospel of how one gets saved would look, sound, and feel totally correct, and would be backed up by masses of Scripture. It would rest upon REINTERPRETATION OF WHAT THE WORDS MEAN. Incredible though it may sound, the false prophets, to prove their theology, WILL USE THE VERY DEFINITIONS OF THE WORDS THEMSELVES TO PROVE THEY WERE RIGHT! In other words, if you went to a lexicon, or expository dictionary, WHAT THEY CLAIMED IT MEANT WOULD BE CORRECT! Yet it would be rank error. How is this possible? It becomes possible by OMMISSION OF ALL QUALIFIERS Jesus Christ GAVE US. What they do is DISREGARD ANY AND ALL QUALIFICATIONS CHRIST GAVE US TO PROVE WHAT HE MEANT BY A GIVEN WORD. They would throw out all of the “IFS, ANDS OR BUTS”, OR ANY CONDITIONAL PHRASES CHRIST GAVE US TO SHOW US THE TRUE MEANINGS.   An example of this would be if you told a friend the following: “I am coming over to your house today, IF I get all of my work done.” Your friend ONLY HEARS WHAT he/she wants to hear: “I AM COMING OVER TO YOUR HOUSE TODAY.” The qualifier, the IF is disregarded. It is not EVEN HEARD AT ALL. THE MIND FILTERS IT OUT. You do not get your work done, and so you do not go over to your friend’s house. About 8 pm your friend calls you very irate and upset at you for not showing up. “I waited around all day for you to come and you never showed up! How dare you!” You can explain until you are blue in the face that you QUALIFIED THAT STATEMENT BY THE WORD ‘IF’. The QUALIFIER DETERMINES THE MEANING OF YOUR STATEMENT!!     JESUS QUALIFIED ALL STATEMENTS CONCERNING SALVATION.     He qualified what He meant by the words FAITH, GRACE, WORKS, CONVERSION, REGENERATION, BELIEVE, etc. If you OMIT THE QUALIFIER you MISS THE MEANINGS. The false prophets will OMIT THE QUALIFIERS TOTALLY. They will use the same words, they will speak of grace, faith, belief, works, legalism, conversion, regeneration, and all the others, BUT WILL OMIT ALL KEY QUALIFIERS from their definitions, and by doing so, WILL DEVELOP AN ENTIRE NEW GOSPEL OF SALVATION. That Gospel will look totally authentic in all respects. It will sound right, look right, feel right, and even check out in Scripture! ONLY WHEN YOU FIND OUT HOW CHRIST QUALIFIED HIS MEANINGS DO YOU DETECT THEIR ERROR, AND WHEN YOU DETECT IT, IT WILL BECOME OBVIOUS TO YOU. It is a method Satan uses to KEEP PEOPLE FROM COMING TO CHRIST    IN TRUTH.   Peter gave us a warning we need to look at very closely concerning these false prophets that look like, sound like and act like real authentic Christian preachers, teachers and evangelists. Their theology and doctrines will be a master counterfeit!     “But there were false prophets also among the people (of Israel), EVEN AS THERE SHALL BE FALSE TEACHERS AMONG YOU (THE CHURCH), who PRIVILY shall bring in DAMNABLE HERESIES EVEN DENYING THE LORD THAT BOUGHT THEM, and bring upon themselves swift destruction. And MANY (THE VAST MAJORITY OF CHRISTIANS) SHALL FOLLOW THEIR PERNICIOUS WAYS;   by reason of whom   THE WAY OF TRUTH   shall be EVIL SPOKEN OF.” (2 Peter 2:1-2)     We are going to break this down to a phrase by phrase study because of the importance of what Peter is warning us about. This short verse is an elaboration of what Jesus referred to when He spoke of the wolves in sheep’s clothing, the pseudo-Christians, and THE WAY OF THE TRUTH.   1. “EVEN AS THERE SHALL BE FALSE TEACHERS AMONG YOU”.   This is precisely what Christ told us all to be aware of. These are the wolves that come into the sheepfold. Notice it does not say THEY MIGHT COME OR COULD COME. THEY SHALL COME. It is an imperative prophecy. The Church will be infiltrated by FALSE CHRISTIAN LEADERS WITH A FALSE SALVATION DOCTRINE. THEY WILL BE WITHIN THE CHURCH. BECAUSE THE VAST MAJORITY WILL FOLLOW AFTER THESE FALSE SALVATION DOCTRINES, THEY WILL BE POPULAR LEADERS, WELL ACCEPTED AND WELL ENTRENCHED IN THE Christian COMMUNITY. They will be wolves, but they will look for all the world to be authentic and powerhouse Christian leaders.   They are in the Church, among the Christians, Satan’s agents of destruction. The majority of them will not be aware they are Satan’s agents, but will be sincere and dedicated Christians who have embraced a false theology themselves as truth, and who will then propagate it to others. If you went up to any of them and accused them of being false Christians, they would be deeply offended and hurt by that accusation. A person in deception is not aware of it. These “Christians” that Peter mentions are LEADERS WITHIN THEIR DENOMINATIONS, BECAUSE THEY ARE THE TEACHERS. That word means teacher, preacher, evangelist. The word for “false teachers” is ‘pseudodidaskalos’ and it means ANYONE WHO PROPAGATES FALSE DOCTRINE, DOCTRINE WITH ERROR IN IT, OR ERRONEOUS DOCTRINE, A FALSE TEACHER. Their motives are not of concern, only that they teach error.   The word “among” is ‘en’ and it means WITHIN THE GROUP, WITHIN THE BODY OF CHRIST. This is not an outside attack upon the Church; this is an insidious attack by Satan from WITHIN THE CHURCH ITSELF. Because we are speaking of the Church, then these false teachers will RISE UP WITHIN THEIR DENOMINATIONS TO LEVELS OF LEADERSHIP AND THEIR TEACHINGS WILL BE ACCEPTED BY THE VAST MAJORITY OF PEOPLE. Their teachings will be a counterfeit, but not easily detected.   Ask an FBI OR TREASURY agent about the detection of COUNTERFEIT MONEY. In one recent case overseas, counterfeit American money was found that was almost impossible TO DETECT. It took Treasury agents in labs to detect the difference. In most cases the difference can only be detected BY VERY CAREFUL EXAMINATION AGAINST A STANDARD KNOWN TO BE TRUE. In currency, the counterfeit is held up against THE KNOWN TRUE BILL, AND THE DIFFERENCES CAN THEN BE DETECTED. You compare WITH A KNOWN AUTHENTIC ITEM TO DETECT THE FALSE. A gemologist studies a perfect diamond in order to compare other stones to it for grading purposes. THERE HAS TO BE A PERFECT STANDARD FROM WHICH TO JUDGE FROM.   As the Church age progressed, LESS AND LESS PEOPLE WOULD IN REALITY BE REGENERATED, and therefore less and less people WOULD HAVE THE STANDARD OF TRUE AGAPE LOVE BY WHICH TO MEASURE THE TRUTH BY. THE TRUTH THEN BEGINS TO BE CROWDED OUT BY LIES AND DECEPTION, WHICH IS EMBRACED BY THE VAST MAJORITY FOR THEY DO NOT UNDERSTAND OR KNOW WHAT THE REAL TRUTH IS. The real truth is then branded as a lie. Apostasy works in that manner.   THERE IS A STANDARD, AND THAT STANDARD IS AGAPE LOVE. Nor are we speaking of money here, but of human souls. We are not speaking of expert criminals but of the most diabolical intelligence ever created from the hands of God. This creature that fell from the grace of heaven now walks to and fro over the whole earth. He hates every single human soul with a passion we cannot begin to comprehend; yet he poses as an angel of light, as though he loves man and only wants the best for him. We are going to take this vastly intelligent creature called Satan and pit him AGAINST each one of us. Keep in mind he is eternal, and has had thousands of years to figure out and then fool the human mind and soul. He understands all of our weaknesses, all of our nature. He knows how to bait and switch. He knows how to snare us in a multitude of traps. We now pit this super intelligent Christ hater, this human hater, who has supernatural powers, against us. Question:   DO YOU THINK HE IS CAPABLE OF COMING UP WITH A COUNTERFEIT GOSPEL OF SALVATION THAT IS SO CLOSE TO THE ORIGINAL IT WOULD NOT BE DETECTED BY THE VAST MAJORITY OF SOULS SEEKING HEAVEN?   Your answer had best be YES. Satan can and has produced a multitude of false religions, and within the Church of Jesus Christ a multitude of false theologies, which can be called BROAD ROAD THEOLOGIES. These theologies all use the correct terminology, the correct phrases and words, even the correct meanings many times to those words. The name of Christ is freely used and upheld, and even the words of Christ are used freely and with great vigor. There are ONLY TWO WAYS TO SPOT THE ERROR:   1. Either all or some of the QUALIFIERS ARE OMITTED, or 2. The teachings will CONTRADICT what Jesus clearly said or BOTH WILL BE TRUE.   Satan is the master deceiver of the whole world. He loves religion for he invented it, for he knows that man has a “spiritual” nature. True Christianity is not a religion; it is a changed heart. Religion is a vast system created by Satan to dupe the world into many different roads or pathways THAT APPEAR TO BE leading to heaven, therefore EXCLUDING the ONLY NAME UNDER  HEAVEN BY WHICH WE MUST BE SAVED. For those who know Jesus Christ is the ONLY way to heaven, Satan must come up with theologies and doctrines that SOMEHOW BYPASS THE STRAIT GATE AND NARROW WAY, because that is the ONLY way into the New Covenant. Satan will then muster up all the cunning he has within to fabricate a Gospel that looks 100% correct to trap all Christians. God evidently allows such a thing as a screening process to obtain the FEW OR LITTLE FLOCK.   In order to bypass the strait gate and narrow way, Satan will have to develop a theology that would either tell people they were on the correct way when they were not, or as an alternative, he could develop a theology that would totally bypass it altogether. The various remarks of Christ, Paul and Peter imply that the biggest thrust of Satan will be to BYPASS THE STRAIT GATE AND NARROW WAY TOTALLY, IF POSSIBLE, AND IF HE CANNOT, TO REDEFINE WHAT IT MEANS SO THAT A SEEKING SOUL WOULD THINK HE/SHE WAS ON THE NARROW WAY WHEN THEY WERE NOT. He will do so by altering the definition of FAITH, and with this new definition he will be able to declare the strait gate and narrow way as a form of WORKS OR LEGALISM, AND THAT IT IS IN OPPOSITION TO GRACE AND FAITH. He will redefine the definition of works and EXPAND IT TO COVER THAT WHICH IT DOES NOT COVER, and at the same time redefine faith to make it EXPAND TO AREAS IT DOES NOT COVER.   He will do it via the false teachers, who will infiltrate the Church. Over a long period of time, they will work their leaven and leaven the entire Body of Christ. Both Jesus and Peter were most blunt: THE VAST MAJORITY OF CHRISTIANS GO FOR THE NEW THEOLOGY. These people infiltrate into the Body of Christ, into each denomination, and work their way into positions of power and trust. Peter is blunt: THEY ARE TEACHERS (LEADERS) and THEY ARE AMONG THE BELIEVERS. These leaders have come into the sheepfold SOME OTHER WAY, and they are the false shepherds, that have come to steal and destroy, for Christ was very blunt: THE TRUE SHEPHERDS HAVE COME IN VIA THE DOOR. They have come in by obedience to the commands of Christ, they have entered the strait gate, and walked the narrow way to find the living Jesus Christ.   2. “WHO PRIVILY SHALL BRING IN DAMNABLE HERESIES”   Notice that it says they PRIVILY bring in damnable heresies. A heresy that is damnable is any heresy that if EMBRACED AND BELIEVED TRUE, IT WILL LEAD TO YOUR UTTER RUIN. The word for “damnable” is ‘apolenia’ and it means UTTER RUIN OR LOSS, OR ETERNAL DAMNATION, PERDITION. The root of the word is ‘appollumi’ and it means TO DESTROY FULLY, TO PERISH. Peter is also very direct about where in church doctrine the false teachers will strike: SALVATION DOCTRINE. That is why these heresies are damnable if embraced! They are ERROR FILLED DOCTRINES ON SALVATION, THAT IF BELIEVED, LEAD YOU INTO ETERNAL RUIN. We are talking of the eternal destiny of millions of human souls! It stands to reason that Satan is going to oppose Christ on the ONE WAY CHRIST GAVE US TO ENTER IN TO UNION WITH HIM.   THE ENTIRE ATTACK WILL COME AGAINST THE NARROW WAY!   These teachers who APPEAR to be AUTHENTIC CHRISTIAN LEADERS IN ALL RESPECTS, will bring in A GROUP OF HERESIES THAT SWEEP THEMSELVES AND MILLIONS OF THEIR FOLLOWERS INTO ETERNAL LOSS FROM WHICH THEY CAN NEVER EXTRICATE THEMSELVES. These teachers will slowly introduce a whole new doctrinal concept of salvation and how one obtains it. To alter these doctrines will take time and the use of slow but sure REDEFINITION OF TERMS. The definitions of faith, grace, works, legalism, repentance, conversion and regeneration will one by one be changed over a period of time. The changes will be small, argued over, debated and finally become the ACCEPTED TRUE DEFINITION. These are the issues of salvation. If these issues are not properly understood, you are in serious trouble, for Christ demanded ALL ENTER IN THE SAME WAY, WITH NO EXCEPTIONS LISTED WHATEVER.   It cannot be over stressed that Satan needs only a comparatively small number of false teachers to turn the majority of Christian leadership into propagators of false doctrine. All he needs to accomplish is to manufacture a gospel so close to the original that the pastors, teachers and evangelists who attend seminary embrace what is being taught there! This is why SINCERITY has nothing to do with whether a person comes to salvation or not. It is not that the vast majority of false teachers are not sincere; it is that they are under DECEPTION. Thus their ethics, their  morality, their standings in the community may be impeccable; yet are they still blind leaders leading the blind, and they all fall into the ditch.   The word for “privily bring in” is vital to understand in our search for the real truth. The word is ‘pareisago’ and it means to INTRODUCE SECRETLY, WITHOUT DETECTION. TO INTRODUCE SURREPTITIOUSLY, TO BRING IN ALONG SIDE. Do you understand the ramifications of this? IT MEANS THAT THESE DAMNABLE HERESIES ARE BROUGHT IN TO THE SHEEPFOLD, THE BODY OF CHRIST, THE WHOLE CHURCH, ALL DENOMINATIONS WITHOUT ANY OF THEM DETECTING IT! It is NOT DETECTED WHATSOEVER by the Church at large. Peter said these false teachers would come in via great STEALTH AND CUNNING. Because they are under a deception, these teachers sincerely believe in their own minds that what they are  teaching is the TRUTH, and they will use Scripture to back it up! As Christ said there was only one way to heaven, then we know for a fact that all of these false doctrines MUST AND WILL ZERO IN ON THE STRAIT GATE AND NARROW WAY. Over the years, the entire Church will redefine all the central key doctrines of salvation BUT THEY WILL NOT EVEN BE AWARE THEY HAVE DONE IT! Whole new definitions, whole new concepts will be developed to tell us what it means to be a Christian, how one obtains salvation, what regeneration means, etc. This activity paves the way for the final grand delusion, which sweeps the Church into the arms of the antichrist system. The Church will embrace the antichrist, just as the Church embraced Hitler when he came to power in Germany.   We know that the many stand before Christ rejected because they never had a true union with Him, even though they were positive in their own minds they did have a union. At that time, and not before, do they realize they were fooled, dupes of a satanic deception so clever that only a supernatural mind of vast intelligence could mastermind it.   The word “heresies” comes from the word ‘hairesis” and it means CHOICE, TO CHOOSE, TO MAKE A CHOICE (FROM SELF). That is a SELF WILLED OPINION. The false teachers read the Word of God, and in their CARNALITY, THEIR FLESH, THEIR OWN EARTHLY WISDOM AND EARTHLY KNOWLEDGE DECIDE WHAT THIS OR THAT VERSE OF SCRIPTURE MEANS. They interpret the Word of God totally apart from the Holy Spirit, but they claim their interpretations ARE SPIRIT LED. Their theology is an INTELLECTUAL THEOLOGY, A CARNAL THEOLOGY, A RATIONALIZED THEOLOGY, A THEOLOGY OF THE SENSE MAN, THE SOUL MAN, OF THE LOWER MAN. Their theology will appear correct to the carnal mind, to the sense mind. It will have a form of godliness, but it will not have the power of the Holy Spirit behind it. It will be an EARTHLY GOSPEL.   It is also important to realize that this theology will be developed over a long period of time. These self-willed opinions would then be promulgated via biblical commentaries, research papers, tapes, videos and books that would spread throughout the entire Body of Christ. Introduced first in the seminaries, they rapidly become accepted by the vast majority of people. Because these false teachers are leaders and “learned men” of the cloth, which are upheld as ‘great theologians’, everyone rushes to embrace these ‘new illuminations’. Soon they become established traditions, and traditions become TRUTH. Many people thought the world was flat, and embraced it as a TRUTH, even though the evidence was contrary to that position. All of these theologies would be a product of the human mind, very rational, factually very accurate, but wholly devoid of SPIRITUAL TRUTH. At its very foundation it would be a work of Satan and his demons, a work that is a hideous plot against all those souls who are attempting to find out the truth behind life itself.     “For ye are yet CARNAL: for whereas there is among you ENVYING, AND STRIFE, AND DIVISIONS, ARE YE NOT CARNAL, AND WALK AS MEN?” (1 Corinthians 3:3)   “But if ye have BITTER ENVYING AND STRIFE IN YOUR HEARTS, GLORY NOT, AND LIE NOT AGAINST THE TRUTH.   THIS WISDOM DESCENDETH   NOT FROM ABOVE,   BUT IS EARTHLY, SENSUAL, DEVILISH.” (James 3:14-15)     Is this not now the position of denominational Christianity? They openly war upon each other, even in their own denominations. They war upon each other within each church. They have splits, divisions and factions. Each denomination claims that it is holding forth THE TRUTH, THE WAY, THE LIGHT. The vast majority of these so-called “truths” totally opposes and contradicts each other. Has the Holy Spirit gone insane? Is the Holy Spirit divided against Himself? Is God a schizophrenic? Has the Godhead left the Church or has the Church left the Godhead? Do these multitudes of opposing truths come from the God of harmony or from the GOD OF CONFUSION?   The Scripture is very blunt, very plain. A ten year old can interpret Scripture correctly by just reading what it says and accepting it for what it says. THIS WISDOM IS NOT FROM GOD ABOVE, BUT IS EARTHLY, SENSUAL, DEVILISH. It is carnal, of the flesh, of the sense and soul man. It is DEVOID OF THE HOLY SPIRIT, FOR IT IS A MAZE OF CONFUSION, CONTRADICTION, WARFARE, AND FACTIONS ALL OF WHICH PORTRAY UTTER REBELLION AGAINST GOD. Each human mind interprets as “it will”, and so each Church body becomes filled with heresies and strifes. These men then draw off others after them and form denominations within denominations, factions within factions, and it starts all over again.   The word “earthly” is ‘epigios’ and it means OF THE EARTH, OF THE WORLD, WORLDLY, OF THE FLESH, CARNAL, OF THE MIND, OF THE INTELLECT. The word for “sensual” is ‘psuchikos’ and it means THE FIVE SENSES. It is wisdom of man, of the intelligence of mankind. It refers to the soul man, the lower man, the unregenerate man, a soul destitute of agape love. It does not have the illumination of the Holy Spirit, it does not know or recognize the spirit of agape love, the spirit of Christ. The word for “devilish” is ‘daimomiodes’, and it means DEVIL LIKE, FROM DEMONS. The human mind is under the dominion of Satan, and that is what Peter is referring to when he speaks of these heresies. They are from the self, which is dominated by Satan. James put the finger right on the source.   The Holy Spirit cannot oppose Himself, and thus there cannot be opposing doctrine IN TRUTH. God the Father, Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit have unity, and their unity springs from their essence of agape love, and from this inner light flows their unity in truth and in doctrine. We will examine this issue much later in this series.   3. “EVEN DENYING THE LORD THAT BOUGHT THEM”   The word “denying” is ‘arneomai’ and it means TO CONTRADICT, TO REFUSE OR TO DISAVOW. It is important to understand that one can UPHOLD JESUS CHRIST AND AT THE SAME TIME CONTRADICT WHAT HE SAYS. One can uphold Jesus Christ and still refuse His commands or sayings. One can uphold Jesus Christ and still disavow His clear cut commands. These false teachers are WITHIN THE MAINSTREAM DENOMINATIONS. In order to remain there, they cannot OPENLY DISAVOW JESUS CHRIST HIMSELF. To do so would bring immediate expulsion from the Church, because even with today’s rank apostasy the main beliefs in Christ as Messiah still remain. If one of these false teachers were to stand in front of a large audience and UTTERLY DISAVOW JESUS CHRIST AS MESSIAH, AS CHRIST, HE WOULD BE TOSSED OUT AT ONCE. This is not the only type of disavowing Peter is speaking of here, although it does include it. He is speaking of leaders who UPHOLD JESUS CHRIST TO THE MAXIMUM, but who CONTRADICT, REFUSE, OR DISAVOW WHAT HE CLEARLY SAYS ONE MUST DO TO BE SAVED! REMEMBER, THIS IS SPEAKING OF “DAMNABLE HERESIES.”   We have absolute confirmation that this is true, because Peter says the VAST MAJORITY WITHIN THE ENTIRE CHURCH OF CHRIST ARE SWEPT INTO THIS NEW SALVATION DOCTRINE. They will not detect this heresy, to the contrary, they WILL EMBRACE IT, AND PROCLAIM THAT THIS FALSE SALVATION MESSAGE IS THE TRUTH, AND THAT ANYONE WHO SAYS OTHERWISE IS A LIAR! The delusion here is powerful, and God allows it to fall upon every human heart that is not obedient to the commands of Jesus Christ. This is what “privily” means. IT IS TOTALLY UNDETECTED. This is not a warning about cult groups, or other ‘fringe’ groups in Christianity. This is a direct warning that the CENTRAL CORE DOCTRINES OF SALVATION WILL BE PERVERTED AND TWISTED, AND THE CHURCH WILL EMBRACE THOSE PERVERSIONS AND TWISTINGS AS TRUTH.   Christian cult groups are easily detected by anyone with a passing understanding of true doctrine, proven by the fact that there are a large number of books on the market warning of Christian and also non-Christian cult groups. Peter is warning of something FAR MORE SERIOUS, FAR MORE SUBTLE. It will be devastating to the entire Church, which is WHY THE VAST MAJORITY OF CHRISTIANS STAND BEFORE CHRIST REJECTED.   The root for the word “privily bring in” is ‘para’ and it means FROM BESIDE, IN THE VICINITY OF, CLOSE TO, ALONG SIDE. It means that they LOOK ALIKE AND SOUND ALIKE, BUT THEY ARE NOT ALIKE. THEY WILL BE CLOSE, SO CLOSE AS TO BE ‘ALONG SIDE’. They are in fact master counterfeits, a fabrication, fables dressed up to look for all the world LIKE THE TRUTH. Their theologies and their doctrines all contain a deadly error, an error that only the FEW who do as Christ commanded will detect. One of the English words to describe “privily” was “surreptitiously”. It is defined by Random House as “obtained; done or made, etc. BY STEALTH, SECRET OR UNAUTHORIZED; CLANDESTINE. 3. obtained by SUBREPTION.   The word “subreption” is most interesting: “…common law. A CONCEALMENT OF THE PERTINENT FACTS IN A PETITION, AS FOR THE DISPENSATION OF FAVOR, THAT IN CERTAIN CASES NULLIFIES THE GRANT.”     This is exactly what Peter is saying the false teachers do. THEY BRING IN A TOTAL “LOOK ALIKE” SALVATION MESSAGE THAT CONCEALS CERTAIN FACTS THE BELIEVERS MUST KNOW FOR THEM TO BE GRANTED THE FAVOR OF SALVATION. The concealment of these facts NULLIFIES the NEW COVENANT UNDER THESE CONDITIONS. God cannot grant the favor of REGENERATION. He cannot grant MERCY. He cannot grant CLEMENCY. He cannot grant HEAVEN. The reason He cannot is that the FALSE PROPHETS CONCEAL THE STRAIT GATE AND NARROW WAY. Their theology and their doctrine CONCEAL THE ONLY WAY TO HEAVEN THERE IS, WHICH NULLIFIES THE GRANTING OF ETERNAL LIFE.    The soul that is seeking God must find the strait gate, and then MUST ENTER IT AND WALK THE NARROW WAY. Satan is well aware of this ONLY entrance to heaven. He is also aware that the vast majority of people are FOLLOWERS AND NOT LEADERS. He is all too aware that the majority of people DO NOT, AND WILL NOT THINK FOR THEMSELVES. They will allow OTHERS to think for them. Who then is Satan going to go after? THE LEADERS! If he can get the leaders duped into believing this false theology, and they are the leaders of their respective denominations, then Satan knows the general lay people will simply “go along” with whatever THEIR WELL RESPECTED LEADERS HAND OUT AS TRUTH. It is part of human nature.   What good is it going to do you when you stand before Jesus Christ REJECTED? You can say, “I was obedient to my pastor (teacher, preacher, evangelist), I BELIEVED WHAT HE TOLD ME WAS THE TRUTH!” Do you realize what you are telling Jesus Christ by that remark? You are telling Him that you did not care enough about your own soul to seek the truth out FOR YOURSELF, AND YOU COULD NOT BE BOTHERED TO FIND IT ON YOUR OWN. The Bible is very blunt about leaning upon man for your understanding. The Holy Spirit is to guide you into the WHOLE TRUTH. A teacher is only a GUIDE, to help you along YOUR OWN PERSONAL WALK. HE IS NOT YOUR TRUTH. The truth that “sets you free” is a truth only YOU can discover for yourself! If you simply accept and embrace what others hand you, you are destined for eternal loss!   The “many” stand before Christ in utter shock and disbelief that they are going to be sent away for ever, with no hope, no mercy and no recourse. The false teachers concealed the FACTS OF THE STRAIT GATE AND NARROW WAY FROM THEM, facts that they HAD TO KNOW AND COMPLY WITH. There is a saying that goes “ignorance of the law is no excuse.” Likewise IGNORANCE OF THE FACTS IS NO EXCUSE FOR ANY HUMAN SOUL. God gave you a Bible, He told you to read it, to study it and to understand enough to comply with the requirements for salvation. If you do not think your own soul worthy of salvation, THEN DISOBEY THOSE COMMANDS AND GOD WILL GRANT YOU YOUR WISH FOR ETERNAL RUIN. This is not funny, this is not a joke, this business is more serious than ANYTHING YOU HAVE EVER UNDERGONE IN YOUR ENTIRE LIFE.   As the new covenant is a legally binding contract that God gave to man through the work of Christ, it has legal standing. All those who wish to enter in must do so via the requirements (parameters) laid down by Jesus Christ. The false prophets will then seek to conceal certain facts from the soul that is seeking entrance to heaven through Christ. Satan and his false teachers MUST COME UP WITH A THEOLOGY AND DOCTRINE THAT IN REALITY DENIES ENTRANCE INTO THE NEW COVENANT, BUT WHICH TELLS EVERYONE THEY HAVE ENTERED IN. Read that again if you do not understand it. A look alike gospel has but one purpose: TO FOOL YOU INTO THINKING YOU HAVE ENTERED IN WHEN IN FACT YOU HAVE NOT. IT BECOMES A SUBSTITUTE FOR THE REAL THING.   Peter is very blunt: these false teachers have a gospel of salvation that is so close to the truth that it IS NOT DETECTED by the vast numbers of denominational Christians as being false. This false salvation message will SWEEP THE ENTIRE CHURCH, FROM THE FUNDAMENTALISTS TO THE LIBERALS. Their doctrines WILL BLATANTLY CONTRADICT JESUS CHRIST AND HIS COMMANDS, BUT IT WILL APPEAR AS THOUGH THEY UPHOLD HIM AND HIS COMMANDS TOTALLY! Their fabrication is a SURFACE THEOLOGY, A MIRROR IMAGE, BUT WHEN INSPECTED THE LIE WILL BE UNCOVERED. Their theology will “explain away” the necessity for any strait gate or narrow way. It will be done through GRACE AND FAITH.     “But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived.” (2 Timothy 3:13)     Notice that these evil men ARE THEMSELVES UNDER A DECEPTION. Grasp it please: THEY ARE NOT AWARE THAT THEY ARE IN DECEPTION. They do not consider themselves “evil” men. The word for evil here is ‘ponerous’ and it means HURTFUL IN EFFECT. In other words, hurtful in influence. It is not a reference to their character or their ethics or moral behavior. It is a reference to THEOLOGY AND DOCTRINE, WHICH INFLUENCES MILLIONS OF SOULS AND SWEEPS THEM AWAY INTO RUIN. These people appear to be in all instances wonderful spirit filled Christian men, in positions of great leadership and influence. They are totally sincere, and totally dedicated. Their motives are not being questioned here, because only God can read their INNER HEART. They are under a deception, and they labor for the Lord UNDER DECEPTION.   To them and the church, their motives are pure and sincere. They are in love with the Lord and they think they are operating under the Lord’s authority and are being obedient. Jesus used the same word for evil in this verse:     “If ye then, BEING EVIL, know how to give good gifts unto your children…” (Matthew 7:11)     It is imperative to understand that Jesus is not referring to their ethical or moral character. He is not calling them thieves, robbers, murderers, etc. They are not criminals in the common sense of the word. They are moral, upright, decent people with families that love their children. Jesus calls them EVIL. What He is referring to here is about HUMAN LOVE. We will explore this in great depth in this series, but human love IS HURTFUL. It is branded EVIL by God. Mankind is “evil” because their love does not match the divine love. The standard God uses to judge the human race is AGAPE LOVE.   The false teachers then embrace a false doctrine as truth, and they in turn propagate this doctrine via seminary training and then through the pulpits across the spectrum of Christianity. To us, as lay people, we would not view these men as “evil” at all, but instead as sincere and dedicated leaders. They are HONEST, SINCERE MEN WHO HAVE OBTAINED POSITIONS OF GREAT INFLUENCE AND POWER. On a human scale of human decency from 1-10 we would rate them 8-10! They are dedicated servants of the Lord, fulfilling the GREAT COMMISSION. They are positive their theologies and doctrines on salvation are 100% correct, or they could never do what they do. These people are not stupid souls; they are intelligent men, some of them brilliant, but THEY ARE UNDER A DECEPTION.     They refute Christ, they contradict Christ, they disavow WHAT HE COMMANDED, WHAT HE SAID. They develop a theology that “gets around” what Christ said. Their theology, and doctrinal statements, when carefully examined, WILL ALWAYS REFUTE THE STRAIT GATE AND NARROW WAY. They do so via REINTERPRETATION OF WHAT CHRIST SAID. This interpretation will at the root level ALWAYS STAND IN EXACT OPPOSITION TO WHAT JESUS CHRIST SAID. For example, if Jesus said that the process of being saved is a journey, a process, a progression one makes that leads to regeneration; the false teachers will tell you that you obtain regeneration right away, and you make the journey, if any, IN UNION WITH CHRIST FROM THAT POINT ONWARD. If Jesus says the way to true regeneration is hard, full of pressure and agony of the soul; the false teachers will say that does not mean what it says, that the way is easy, simple, and has none of these things, all we need to do is make a sincere decision for Jesus, invite Him into our hearts, and we are saved, which is easy. If Jesus said that only a small group of people will be saved; they will say that the vast majority, if not everyone will be saved. If Jesus said you must die to obtain life; they will say that was just a symbolism, and Jesus did not really mean what He said, for He died for us, and we need not do so. If Jesus said pick up your cross and follow Him, they will say we need not do that, because Christ did it all for us. If Jesus said you must walk the narrow way, they will say that Jesus did it for us; we need not do it. If they admit to the fact of picking up the cross, or to the narrow way, they will claim we APPROPRIATE IT BY AN ACT OF FAITH, BY A SIMPLE ACT OF BELIEF, OR THEY WILL REDEFINE WHAT IT REALLY MEANS.   In other words, THEY CONTRADICT JESUS CHRIST IN ALL THE KEY AREAS OF SALVATION. Whatever Christ stated as a truth, they will have a counter theology to prove Christ did not mean it. They will tell you that Christ did not mean that, and then espouse their demonic doctrines to prove it. If Christ said the true definition of FAITH is that faith which is a deep, abiding faith that allows you to walk the narrow way and have it tested by fire, they will say faith is a simple decision, a belief. Their entire theology is a counterfeit look alike that IN THE ROOT always opposes the PLAIN, SIMPLE, BLUNT, AND MULTIPLE STATEMENTS OF JESUS CHRIST. What Jesus Christ said, Jesus Christ meant. He also said YOU WOULD BE JUDGED BY THE VERY WORDS HE SPOKE IF YOU DID NOT OBEY WHAT HE SAID. The many bought into a theology of the false prophets that DENIED THE LORD THAT BOUGHT THEM.   Christ paid a terrible price to redeem the human race. He must have therefore felt the eternal destiny of your soul was very important. If the human soul is of such value to Jesus Christ, then do you not think HE WOULD MAKE THE WAY OF SALVATION ABSOLUTELY CLEAR, SO CLEAR IT COULD NOT BE A MATTER OF INTERPRETATION, BUT WOULD BE SO OBVIOUS ANYONE COULD INTERPRET IT? So then the false prophets must find a way to REINTERPRET THAT SO IT LOOKS TOTALLY AUTHENTIC TO THE UNWARY BELIEVER. Their theology on the surface DOES NOT APPEAR AS A CONTRADICTION. It appears as absolutely correct UNTIL ONE STUDIES THEIR DOCTRINES. It ‘mirrors’ and ‘mimics’ what Christ commanded, yet it IS DIAMETRICALLY OPPOSED TO WHAT HE COMMANDED. That takes a supernatural and very diabolical mind to come up with such a master counterfeit.   A contradiction is a contradiction. Here a little and there a little. The leaven gets mixed into the truth, and finally the whole loaf is fully leavened, ripe for the fiery harvest of Christ. The false teachers advance with total secrecy a doctrine so subtle, so insidious that it sweeps millions into eternal ruin. These sincere and dedicated men of the cloth become the unwitting dupes of Satan and then proceed to fabricate one error after another. What starts as a small error grows into a major heresy. It is important to remember that these false teachers uphold Jesus Christ. They acknowledge He is the Messiah. They uphold many cardinal doctrines of the faith. Satan uses this to throw the unwary off guard. The one area that Satan must destroy with false teachings is the strait gate and the narrow way. It is in this area that He sweeps in for a full frontal attack.   It is the upholding of Christ and many key doctrines that ALLOWS these false teachers to appear as ANGELS OF LIGHT, SINCERE CHRISTIANS, A PART OF THE SHEEPFOLD! When they then come out with their own interpretations as to “what the Scripture means” the vast majority of the Church accept it without question. This is exactly as Satan intends.   4. “AND MANY SHALL FOLLOW THEIR PERNICIOUS WAYS”   The word “many” here is ‘polus’ and it means MUCH, LARGELY, ABUNDANT, GREAT MANY, PLENTEOUS, MOSTLY ALL, VAST NUMBERS OR VAST MAJORITY. I repeat that for EMPHASIS. It means exactly what it says! The vast majority of the Body of Christ, the sheepfold, is going to follow after these damnable heresies of the false prophets. Allow that to sink in for full impact. These false doctrines are going to be embraced BY ALMOST THE ENTIRE BODY OF CHRIST AS TRUE SALVATION DOCTRINES. It also means far more.   Since the vast majority embrace these false salvation doctrines, that means THE FALSE TEACHERS ARE VERY POPULAR, AND HAVE VAST MINISTRIES. THESE PSEUDO-CHRISTIANS AND THEIR FALSE DOCTRINES BECOME THE “IN THING”. These false leaders, by their very popularity and huge followings would then sweep millions into eternal ruin. They would be popular and well accepted, even demanded as speakers and lecturers on the Christian circuits. Because we now know that Christianity uses movies, videos, tapes, books, newspapers, crusades and entertainment to get the message out, then these “popular” teachers, preachers and evangelists would be supported and upheld by the Body of Christ! They will have huge radio and television ministries, and a huge outreach. We know this is true because Peter is blunt: THE VAST MAJORITY FOLLOW THEM, AND THESE MINISTRIES MUST THEN HAVE HUGE FOLLOWINGS, FOR WE HAVE NO OTHER OPTIONS. If the largest number of Christians follow them, then we must say they are “popular”, in fact, THEN THEY MUST BE THE PRIME MOVERS AND SHAKERS OF ALL MODERN CHRISTIAN OUTREACH. THIS IS A LATTER DAY PROPHECY, FOR THE CLOSING ERA OF THE CHURCH.   THE VERY POPULARITY OF THESE FALSE PROPHETS PUTS THEM INTO POSITION OF GREAT POWER AND INFLUENCE OVER THE BODY OF CHRIST. This is why they are referred to as “evil”. Their influence is so vast and their Gospel is “hurtful” to the flock. These are the false shepherds, who came into the sheepfold “some other way” but nevertheless are IN THE SHEEPFOLD. Their interpretations of the Scripture would be accepted as the “Gospel truth”. Anyone who suggested they were wrong would be immediately branded a troublemaker and a heretic, for after all, WE CAN’T ALL BE WRONG, AND THERE IS SAFETY IN NUMBERS. The popularity of these false men of God is the primary tip off that something is radically wrong with their message of salvation. These false prophets are not only popular in the Church, they are popular and well respected IN THE WORLD AT LARGE, which is where they grab more “sheep” to bring in to the fold. They will be well respected men in the secular world, and even sought after by world leaders for their spiritual advice. Jesus had this blunt remark about BEING POPULAR:     “If the WORLD HATE YOU, ye KNOW THAT IT HATED ME BEFORE IT HATED YOU.   If ye were OF THE WORLD,   THE WORLD WOULD LOVE HIS OWN:   but because YE ARE NOT OF THIS WORLD, but I have chosen you out the world, therefore the world hateth you. Remember the word that I said unto you,   THE SERVANT IS NOT GREATER THAN HIS LORD. If they have PERSECUTED ME, THEY WILL ALSO PERSECUTE YOU; IF THEY HAVE KEPT MY SAYING, THEY WILL KEEP YOUR’S ALSO. BUT ALL THESE THINGS WILL THEY DO UNTO YOU FOR MY NAME’S SAKE, BECAUSE THEY KNOW NOT HIM THAT SENT ME. (John 15:18-21)     Jesus Christ says here quite bluntly that THE WORLD AT LARGE, AND THAT INCLUDES APOSTATE CHRISTIANITY WILL HATE THE PREACHER WHO PREACHES THE TRUTH, THEY WILL HATE HIM AND WILL PERSECUTE HIM, REVILE HIM, AND THEY WILL THROW HIM OUT OF THEIR CHURCHES, THEY WILL SHUN HIM AND ATTEMPT BY ANY MEANS TO SILENCE HIM. This is the nature of the UNREGENERATE MIND, WHICH IS HOSTILE TOWARDS GOD. To be hated and to be persecuted is the very OPPOSITE of being POPULAR. Thus we find a direct contradiction:   POPULAR AND LOVED                 VS                   HATED AND PERSECUTED BY THE WORLD                                                      BY THE WORLD   Jesus was most blunt that the WORLD LOVES ITS OWN. It is then obvious that the false prophets MUST AND DO BRING IN A WORDLY GOSPEL, A GOSPEL THE WORLD LOVES TO HEAR. They thus ensure their popularity before men and ARE NOT PREACHING OR TEACHING THE TRUTH WHATEVER. If they were telling the truth, their popularity would fade rapidly, their coffers would dry up, and they would find themselves OUT OF A BUSINESS PROFESSION, WHICH IS WHAT IT IS. These false prophets are BUSINESS MEN, WHO MAKE MERCHANDISE OF CHRIST AND HIS FOLLOWERS.     “Blessed are they   WHICH ARE PERSECUTED FOR RIGHTEOUSNESS’ SAKE:   For their’s is the Kingdom of heaven. Blessed are ye, when men   SHALL REVILE YOU, AND PERSECUTE YOU,   AND SHALL SAY ALL MANNER OF EVIL AGAINST YOU FALSELY,   FOR MY SAKE.   Rejoice, and be EXCEEDING GLAD:   For GREAT IS YOUR REWARD IN HEAVEN: FOR SO PERSECUTED THEY THE PROPHETS WHICH WERE BEFORE YOU.” (Matthew 5:10-12)     Do you think Jesus Christ was KIDDING? Do you think He does not know of what He speaks? THE TRUE PROPHET OF GOD IS A HATED, REVILED MAN, HE IS PERSECUTED BY HIS OWN CHURCH, FOR THEY WILL NOT ENDURE SOUND DOCTRINE, THEY WILL NOT ALLOW TRUTH TO BE PRESENTED, AND THEY MUST THEN THROW OUT ALL TRUTH TELLERS. They will manufacture VICIOUS LIES against the true prophet of God, they will ATTACK THE PERSON, BECAUSE THEY CANNOT ATTACK THE TRUTH. He will be accused of all manner of falsehoods, such as BEING A DEMONIC, BEING A FALSE PROPHET, BEING A LIAR AND WORSE. Whatever the filthy minds can dredge up to hurl upon the true minister of God, IT WILL BE DREDGED UP AND LAID UPON HIM. Glory be to God!    This hardly sounds LIKE A POPULAR PREACHER! This does not sound like someone the leaders of the world WOULD SEEK AFTER, or someone who would be the MOST ADMIRED MAN OF THE WORLD. It sounds like the very opposite. If your ministry is POPULAR WITH MOST PEOPLE, YOU BETTER EXAMINE YOUR MESSAGE!   The word “follow” is ‘exakoloutheo’, which means TO FOLLOW OUT, TO IMITATE, OBEY, YIELD TO. The vast majority of Christians yield to these heresies, and they follow after them and the false teachers who espouse them. The word “pernicious” is ‘apoleia’, the same word used for damnable, which means ETERNAL RUIN OR LOSS. Notice that Peter is not speaking of following after the behavior patterns, morals or ethics of these men, which by implication are above reproach. What the many do is follow after the heresies, which bring in a multitude of “ways” to salvation. If the followers of these false teachers end up in eternal ruin, what do you suppose God will do with the teachers themselves? There is little excuse for a lack of knowledge, and there is no excuse for apostasy. IT IS JUDGED BY GOD AND CONDEMNED BY GOD.   SECOND Peter 2:2 does not say MIGHT FOLLOW OR COULD FOLLOW. It says bluntly that the many WILL FOLLOW THE FALSE TEACHERS TO ETERNAL RUIN. IT IS AN IMPERATIVE CONDITION: IT WILL HAPPEN. We have many on the broad way, and we have many Christians following after false prophets, and many rejected by Christ. Therefore by deduction we can conclude and confirm what Peter and Christ warned: IT IS A FALSE DOCTRINE, THAT IF EMBRACED AND BELIEVED, REMOVES THE POSSIBILITY OF EVER COMING INTO UNION WITH JESUS CHRIST. Is all of this sheer coincidence?    5. “BY REASON OF WHOM THE WAY OF TRUTH SHALL BE EVIL SPOKEN OF.”   This is a key verse for finding out just where it is the false prophets strike. Here is where they will contradict, disavow and refuse what Christ clearly stated. Remember that right after He spoke of the strait gate and narrow way that He warned us of the false prophets. It was not coincidental, for Christ was clearly telling us the false prophets will zero in on the ONLY WAY TO ENTER HEAVEN, AND ATTACK IT WITH A MASTERPIECE COUNTERFEIT. Look at what Peter says:   THE WAY OF THE TRUTH   SHALL BE EVIL SPOKEN OF.     The false prophets bring in a group of heresies that cause THE WAY of the truth to be evil spoken of. NOTICE that THE TRUTH is not evil spoken of, but only THE WAY. It is THE WAY of the truth that is evil spoken of, and NOT THE TRUTH ITSELF. It is clear then that Peter is warning us that there will come false doctrines that will UPHOLD JESUS CHRIST, UPHOLD THE TRUTH, UPHOLD DIVINE AGAPE LOVE, UPHOLD ALL THE MAJOR TENETS. They will only cause THE WAY to be evil spoken of. Remember the false prophets cannot speak evil of Jesus Christ, nor will they! They uphold Jesus Christ to the world. IT IS ONLY “THE WAY” that they cause problems with.   Jesus said that we must WALK THE NARROW “WAY”. Jesus said that you could not come to life, or know the truth unless you walked THE NARROW WAY, for IT LEADETH unto LIFE. The WAY OF THE TRUTH IS STRAIT AND NARROW. Because there is only one valid WAY of the truth, then obviously THE FALSE PROPHETS WILL DEVELOP THEOLOGIES AND DOCTRINES THAT CAUSE PEOPLE TO SPEAK EVIL OF THE REAL WAY, WHICH IS STRAIT AND NARROW. The word for “way” here is ‘hodos’, and it means HIGHWAY, ROAD, PATHWAY, PROGRESS, JOURNEY. It is the mode by which one enters in to the New Covenant. Peter then is most blunt, and it is beyond misinterpretation:   THE HIGHWAY, PATHWAY, JOURNEY, PROGRESS   OF THE TRUTH   SHALL BE EVIL SPOKEN OF.   The heresies of these Christian leaders will zero in ON THE WAY, AND ONCE EMBRACED, THEY CAUSE THE PEOPLE TO SPEAK EVIL OF THE REAL WAY. What could be more obvious? Peter is saying that THOSE ON THE BROAD WAY WILL EMBRACE THE THEOLOGY OF THE FALSE PROPHETS, AND THOSE ON THE NARROW WAY WILL COME UNDER ATTACK:   “STRAIT IS THE GATE AND NARROW IS THE WAY…                                                   THE WAY OF THE TRUTH SHALL BE EVIL SPOKEN OF.”   Now we know why these heresies ARE DAMNABLE. They come against THE ONLY WAY TO HEAVEN THERE IS, THE NARROW WAY. Their theology refutes it, denies it, contradicts it. We will study this ‘way’ of Jesus Christ in full detail, and this way is mentioned in ACTS 16:17; 18:25; 1 CORINTHIANS 12:31; HEBREWS 10:20 and 2 PETER 2:15. All of these words are ‘hodos’ and refer to the journey of the Christian that leads unto life, which will be proved, is REGENERATION. The wise Christian will not spiritualize away the meaning of the word “way” and will also become obedient to it.   Therefore it is the STRAIT GATE AND NARROW WAY THAT THE FALSE TEACHERS COME AGAINST, AND THEIR DOCTRINES ARE ACCEPTED CHURCH WIDE AS TRUTH. The word “truth” in this passage by Peter is ‘aletheia’ and it means THAT WHICH IS TRUTH. The root is ‘alethes’ and it means THE WHOLE TRUTH, AS NOT CONCEALING, AS NOTHING HIDDEN, NOTHING CONCEALED, BOTH POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE ASPECTS, ALL OF IT. Remember the word “privily”? That it meant something done by SUBREPTION? SUBREPTION MEANS TO HIDE OR CONCEAL CERTAIN FACTS, THE FACT THAT IT IS CONCEALED IS THIS: IT IS   ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY FOR EVERYONE TO WALK THE NARROW WAY OR THEY CANNOT ENTER HEAVEN!   That aspect will be concealed, altered, twisted and destroyed by an entire new satanic theology. By hiding the necessary facts concerning what true salvation actually entails, THEY NULLIFY THE NEW COVENANT, NULLIFY THE GRANT OF PETITION FOR MERCY, AND DESTROY THE MILLIONS WHO EMBRACE IT FOR EVER AND EVER.     PRELIMINARY INVESTIGATION OF THE ‘WAY’.     We are going to prove out that when Jesus Christ said there was a ‘way’ that LEADETH UNTO LIFE, that He was not fooling even one bit. This was the most serious of all doctrines, which is why Christ spent time explaining it, and then warning that a new theology would emerge that would attempt to do away with it. As you know the word way is ‘hodos’ and it means A JOURNEY, PROGRESS, HIGHWAY, PATHWAY. It is therefore the MEANS, THE MODE, A PROCESS USED. It is the obvious that we often overlook and stumble upon, so it is necessary to review some things here that SHOULD BE OBVIOUS TO EVERYONE.   First Jesus said there was a literal “way”. Second, He said this WAY leadeth unto LIFE. The word “leadeth” is very important, for it proves the meaning of the word “way”. It is ‘apago’ and it means TO CARRY AWAY, TO LEAD OFF, TO PUT TO DEATH, TO TAKE AWAY. It implies DISTANCE BETWEEN THE STARTING POINT AND THE DESTINATION. The point between START and FINISH IS THE ‘WAY’. The starting point is the STRAIT GATE. The finish is “LIFE”. The distance in between is THE NARROW WAY.     1. If there is a highway, a journey, a progress, you must ENTER this journey at some point, i.e. you must GET ON THE ROAD AT SOME POINT. If there is a journey, you must START THE JOURNEY AT A SPECIFIC LOCATION. If there is a progress, you must BEGIN somewhere. So then we have AN ENTRANCE, A GATE, A STARTING POINT. Jesus called it the ‘STRAIT GATE’, AND HE SAID WE ARE TO “STRIVE” TO ENTER IN. It is therefore DIFFICULT TO EVEN ENTER THE STRAIT GATE, AND MOST PEOPLE ARE NOT ABLE.     2. If there is a highway, then obviously the HIGHWAY, PROGRESS OR JOURNEY COVERS A GIVEN DISTANCE, THE DISTANCE BETWEEN THE START AND FINISH POINTS. That is why Jesus used the word “leadeth”. If there is a distance to travel to reach your destination, then obviously YOU MUST TRAVEL THE ENTIRE DISTANCE TO REACH THE DESTINATION. If there is a progress to be made, you must reach the destination to be successful! If you stop short of your intended destination, then you do not ever reach it. You cannot claim you are at the destination at the beginning, or at the middle, but ONLY WHEN YOU ACTUALLY REACH THE SPECIFIED DESTINATION. In this case, the specified destination is called “life”. It will be proven that “life” is AUTHENTIC REGENERATION. The way you obtain this “life” is to travel the “NARROW IS THE WAY” SAID JESUS.     3. If there is a highway, progress, journey, and you start at the specified starting point, and travel the entire distance to reach the destination, then IT MUST TAKE TIME TO ACCOMPLISH. If there is a journey to be made, IT MUST TAKE TIME TO ACCOMPLISH. If there is a progress to be made, and you must start at the beginning and travel the entire route to the destination, then it must TAKE TIME TO ACCOMPLISH.        The Lord of our Universe gave us a very specific starting point, THE STRAIT GATE. There is NO OTHER METHOD OF ENTRANCE OTHER THAN THE STRAIT GATE. He gave us a very specific pathway or way we must follow, THE NARROW WAY. There is no other WAY OR METHOD TO ENTER THE NEW COVENANT. EITHER YOU JOURNEY ALONG IT, OR YOU DO NOT AVAIL YOURSELF OF THE NEW HEART.   IT IS AN EXCLUSIVE.     He gave us a very specific destination, which He called LIFE, WHICH SCRIPTURE CATEGORICALLY PROVES IS REGENERATION, OR AGAPE LOVE LIFE.   The false prophets will then CONTRADICT, REFUTE AND DISAVOW WHAT THEIR LORD SAID.     1. Jesus said the gate was STRAIT. That means full of obstacles, narrow, very difficult to enter through, verified by Christ in Luke when He said we MUST STRIVE TO ENTER IN. If the false prophets are true to form, they will then CONTRADICT CHRIST AND CLAIM IT IS EASY, THERE ARE NO OBSTACLES, AND THE GATE IS WIDE. They have accomplished it by the INSTANT FAITH, INSTANT SALVATION DOCTRINE OF MODERN CHRISTIANITY. A complete reversal by theological doctrine, accomplished by the redefinition of two words: FAITH AND GRACE.   2. Jesus said the way was NARROW. The word “narrow” means full of pressure, agony and tribulation of the soul. The false prophets will then say THERE IS NO PRESSURE, NO AGONY, NO TRIBULATION OF SOUL: IT WILL BE EASY, PLEASANT AND ENJOYABLE. YOU CAN EMBRACE THEIR GOSPEL WITH GREAT “JOY”. Simply make a decision for Jesus, accept Him into your heart by a choice of the will, and PRESTO! INSTANT JOY FILLED CHRISTIAN! THEN CLAIM ALL OF THE SALVATION PROMISES IN SCRIPTURE BY FAITH, AND YOUR NAME IS WRITTEN IN THE LAMB’S BOOK OF LIFE FOREVER, AND YOU ARE ETERNALLY SECURE. WHO WOULD NOT JUMP FOR JOY? THEY WILL EXCLAIM LOUDLY that anything contrary to this doctrine is a perversion of FAITH AND GRACE, a form of “works” or “legalism”. On the surface it would appear they were right. The problem is they WERE WRONG, DEAD WRONG. IT COST THEM ETERNITY.   3. Jesus said that the way LEADETH unto a destination. He implies it takes a long period of time, and therefore one must CONTINUE, ABIDE, REMAIN AND BE STEADFAST OR DILIGENT. It requires patience.  The false prophets will then contradict Jesus Christ and say THAT NO TIME AT ALL IS REQUIRED, IT CAN BE DONE INSTANTLY, IMMEDIATELY AND BY A SIMPLE ACT OF FAITH AND UNBELIEF.   4. Jesus said that the destination was ‘LIFE’. Scripture will absolutely prove this word means REGENERATION. The false prophets will claim via redefinition that ‘life’ actually means heaven, which is only the future abode of those who have “life” in agape love. Because “life” really means heaven to the false teachers; then they will teach that they reach the DESTINATION AT THE END OF THEIR LIVES, and that the “narrow way” is traveled IN UNION WITH CHRIST, BECAUSE REGENERATION OCCURS INSTANTLY AT CONVERSION. THEREFORE THERE IS NO TIME OR DELAY IN THE PROCESS OF REGENERATION, IF THEY WILL ADMIT TO A NARROW WAY.   That position is a precise fulfillment of the prophecy of Peter. By either OUTRIGHT REMOVAL OF THE WAY, or by CHANGING THE MEANING OF LIFE INTO HEAVEN, they TOTALLY NEGATE ANY CHANCE FOR SALVATION. The two concepts actually hinge upon each other. Modern Christian theology claims that CONVERSION AND REGENERATION ARE THE SAME THING. THEY ARE NOT. They are in fact a strait gate and a narrow way apart, which is why the vast majority of Christians ARE REJECTED. They were CONVERTED; they had undergone CONVERSIONS. You cannot enter the Body of Christ without a CONVERSION. None of them, however, was REGENERATED. They were not regenerated because their theology TOLD THEM THEY WERE, WHEN THEY WERE NOT. In other words, BECAUSE THEY INSIST THAT CONVERSION AND REGENERATION ARE IDENTICAL, THEY PROCLAIM THEMSELVES SAVED AND HEAVEN BOUND. This negates the strait gate; this negates the narrow way. They remove it, it is non-existent in their theology.      In the conservative camps of the fundamentalists, we find an identical position. A person is converted and regenerated at sincere repentance and the asking of Christ for forgiveness of sin, and by asking Jesus into their hearts. This is done in all primary fundamentalists denominations, such as the Nazarenes or Baptists. Their theology then tells them that THEY ARE BORN AGAIN. They are to accept this REBIRTH BY FAITH ALONE. In other words, THEY ‘LAY HOLD OF’ INSTANT REGENERATION AT CONVERSION.  They are BORN AGAIN because their interpretation of Scripture TELLS THEM THEY ARE BORN AGAIN. They have no evidence of it, it is taught as totally non-experiential, and that they are just to LAY HOLD OF IT BY FAITH. They DO IT BY FAITH, THEY LAY HOLD OF IT BY FAITH, AND IT HAS HAPPENED BECAUSE THEY CLAIM GOD’S WORD SAYS IT HAPPENED.   In other words, they INSTANTLY LAY CLAIM TO THE PROMISES OF SALVATION WITH THE VERSES OF ‘BELIEVE’ AND ‘FAITH’. In their concept, this means MENTAL BELIEF, MENTAL FAITH. THEY MERELY ARE TO ACCEPT IT ALL AS TRUE, BECAUSE THE BIBLE SAYS BELIEVE, AND YOU ARE SAVED. Therefore they are obedient, and THEY BELIEVE IT. It never dawns upon them that Jesus QUALIFIED THE WORDS BELIEF AND FAITH. Their definition and the definition Christ gives ARE DIAMETRIC OPPOSITES. This is exactly why the ‘MANY’ CHRISTIANS ARE REJECTED. THIS IS WHY THEY STAND IN STUNNED SHOCK WHEN CHRIST TELLS THEM HE NEVER KNEW THEM.   Because they now proclaim themselves SAVED, AND REGENERATED, the fundamentalists then BEGIN THEIR NARROW WAY WALK ALREADY SAVED. Their narrow way walk is a walk OF HOLINESS, OF SEPARATION FROM THE WORLD, OF RIGHT THINKING, RIGHT DOING, RIGHT WORSHIP, RIGHT WORKS. The destination of the narrow way, according to their theology, IS HEAVEN ITSELF. The narrow way becomes a WALK OF HOLINESS BEFORE THE LORD. In truth, the narrow way is not a walk of holiness at all, it has nothing to do with holiness. It is instead a way of exposing the human soul to ITS OWN DEPRAVITY AND DEATH. This aspect of the narrow way is the way of the CROSS; OF DYING. We will explore this in depth later in this series.   What the false prophets MUST DO in order to prevent you or I from entering in to the New Covenant is to REMOVE THE NARROW WAY, AND BY REMOVING IT, THEY CAN THEN BRING THE STARTING POINT AND FINISH POINT TOGETHER. In point of actual fact, they negate by their theology the entire structure of true salvation. They remove the STRAIT GATE, THE NARROW WAY, and they SEIZE THE PRIZE OF REGENERATION INSTANTLY, EXACTLY IN ACCORDANCE TO THE PARABLE OF THE SOWER AND THE ‘ANON WITH GREAT JOY’ CROWD THAT JESUS CHRIST CONDEMNED!   It is imperative that this be understood. For the sake of example, if you went from Minneapolis, Minnesota to Chicago, Illinois, you would take the INTERSTATE HIGHWAY SYSTEM I-94 and I-90. In this example, there IS NO OTHER WAY TO GET THERE. The interstate is YOUR ONLY HIGHWAY, OR YOUR NARROW WAY. Now then you must ENTER the interstate at Minneapolis. That is your STRAIT GATE.  You must then STAY ON THE HIGHWAY ALL THE WAY TO YOUR DESTINATION. To accomplish that, you must CONTINUE, ABIDE UPON, REMAIN ON THE HIGHWAY FOR THE ENTIRE LENGTH OF TIME REQUIRED FOR YOU TO REACH CHICAGO. It is the interstate that ‘leadeth’ to Chicago.   1. If you refuse to enter the DESIGNATED GATE, can you get on the highway?   2. If you refuse TO CONTINUE, AND ABIDE on the interstate for the length of THE JOURNEY/WAY, will you reach Chicago?   3. If you travel the distance, did it take a PERIOD OF TIME OR WAS IT INSTANT OR IMMEDIATE?   4. In your traveling down the highway, DID YOU PROGRESS FROM TOWN TO TOWN, WAS THERE AN OBSERVABLE PROGRESSION?   Now you might say all of this is obvious, but the enemy uses the obvious to trip us up. Some things are SO OBVIOUS they are TOTALLY OVERLOOKED. The false teachers REFUSE TO ENTER THE GATE, CLAIM THEY TRAVEL FROM MINNEAPOLIS TO CHICAGO INSTANTLY, AND BY THEOLOGY CLAIM THAT MINNEAPOLIS IS CHICAGO! By theology they REMOVE THE HIGHWAY TOTALLY, AND BRING CHICAGO AND MINNEAPOLIS TOGETHER!   From the above example, we begin to understand what the false teachers do to the WAY OF JESUS CHRIST; THE WAY OF THE TRUTH. THEY REFUTE AND DENY THE STRAIT GATE, THE NARROW WAY, THEY CLAIM LIFE AND REGENERATION AT THE VERY BEGINNING, AND IF THEY ACKNOWLEDGE A NARROW WAY, CLAIM UNION WITH CHRIST FROM THE BEGINNING AND WALK THE WAY “WITH HIM”.   In other words they again contradict Jesus Christ. Christ was very emphatic about where LIFE was. It was at then END of the narrow way. Thus the false prophets have no choice but to claim LIFE is at THE BEGINNING OF THE JOURNEY. Their union with Christ is immediate, instant and they walk in union with Christ from this point on. Because they claim they already ARE IN UNION, THEN THEIR THEOLOGY MUST BE TELLING THEM THEY ARE REGENERATED IMMEDIATELY AT THE BEGINNING OF THEIR WALK.   The vast majority of Christians buy into this theology hook, line and sinker. Because they are told they are “born again” immediately and instantly upon bending the knee and saying the sinner’s prayer, they NEVER WILL IN TRUTH FIND THE STRAIT GATE OR WALK THE NARROW WAY. Why should they? They have it all now! That is why they stand in such utter shock before Christ when He sends them away! THERE NEVER WAS ANY UNION, HE NEVER DID ENTER INTO THEIR HEARTS, HE DID NOT KNOW WHO THEY WERE, AND THUS THEY NEVER DID ENTER THE NEW COVENANT. THEY WERE ALL BASTARD SONS AND DAUGHTERS, WHO LAID HOLD OF REGENERATION AND THE PROMISES OF THE KINGDOM BY A FALSE THEOLOGY RADICALLY DIFFERENT THAN THE THEOLOGY OF JESUS CHRIST!   Their doctrines and theology tell them they are born again; they are regenerated. The biblical EVIDENCES GIVEN TO PROVE AUTHENTIC REGENERATION ARE DISCARDED OUT OF HAND. Not only are they discarded, THE ACTUAL EVIDENCES ARE BRANDED AS SATANIC. What a delusion, what a deception! Because the “many” are UTTERLY CONVINCED that they are saved and heaven bound, they SPEAK EVIL OF THE WAY OF REAL AND AUTHENTIC SALVATION. They speak ‘evil’ of it. The word “evil” is ‘blasphemeo’ and it means TO SPEAK IMPIOUSLY, TO DEFAME, TO RAIL AGAINST. In other words, the MANY WILL RAIL AGAINST AND DEFAME THE STRAIT GATE AND NARROW WAY.   They will claim the TRUE STRAIT GATE AND NARROW WAY A FORM OF “WORKS” OR LEGALISM. They will say it is a PERVERSION OF FAITH AND GRACE, A HERESY, A FALSE GOSPEL, ANOTHER CHRIST, AND THEY WILL BRAND ANYONE WHO PRESENTS IT AS “ACCURSED”. Thus do they RAIL AGAINST IT, DEFAME IT, AND BLASPHEME IT. In reality, they are guilty of BLASPHEMY OF THE HOLY SPIRIT, FOR IT IS THE HOLY SPIRIT’S JOB TO CONVICT OF TRUE SIN (WHICH IS THE LACK OF AGAPE LOVE WITHIN); OF RIGHTEOUSNESS (AGAPE LOVE COMPARED TO PHILEO LOVE); AND JUDGMENT (DEATH AND ETERNAL SEPARATION FROM A HOLY GOD). All these things the Holy Spirit is to do, and they are DEEP, AND THEY ARE FULLY EXPERIENTIAL, AND THEY ARE HORRIBLE TO UNDERGO, JUST AS JESUS SAID THEY WERE. Because this JUDGMENT IS REFUSED, AND BRANDED AS SATANIC ATTACKS, THESE POOR SOULS ACTUALLY END UP COMMITTING THE ONE SIN THAT CAN NEVER BE FORGIVEN: BLASPHEMY OF THE HOLY SPIRIT.   If you refuse the CONVICTION AND THE REPROOF OF CHRIST from the DEEPEST INNER HEART, then how can Christ SAVE YOU? He cannot, for THE ONE METHOD HE GAVE US TO ACCOMPLISH IT IS REFUSED, AND ANOTHER GOSPEL IS BROUGHT IN, WHICH IS SIMPLE, EASY, AND SOUNDS WONDERFUL. Thus the vast majority of Christians ARE ETERNALLY LOST, FOR THEY REFUSED AND BLASPHEMED THE HOLY SPIRIT. They will NOT ENDURE SOUND DOCTRINE. The WHOLE truth of salvation they will NOT ACCEPT. The strait gate and narrow way will be branded a FORM OF WORKS, A FORM OF LEGALISM. ALL THE NEGATIVE ASPECTS OF THE SALVATION DOCTRINE ARE DONE AWAY WITH.   This would have to be true because instant salvation can only be achieved by altering the scriptural definitions of faith and grace, which also expands to alter the definition of works and what is meant by works. Thus with great anger the “many” will reject the narrow way and go into eternal damnation. What a price to pay because they simply would not go into the Word on their own to find the truth. They never had life, but they claimed they did. They never see heaven, but put all of their faith in the fact that they would spend eternity there. This is a tragic ending for holding a theology so much in contradiction that they could have easily spotted it had they really wanted to seek the truth. Thus the vast majority within the Body of Christ embrace a false gospel of salvation, and only THE FEW will escape this snare of Satan.   6. “AND THROUGH COVETOUSNESS, SHALL THEY WITH FEIGNED WORDS MAKE MERCHANDISE OF YOU.”   The word for “covetousness” is ‘pleonexia’ and it means BY FRAUD, BY EXTORTION, FOR GREED. The word “extort” according to Webster’s is: “to obtain from a person by force, or illegal power of INGENUITY.” The word “extortion” means “the art or practice of extorting money or property.” According to Peter, these false prophets will attract the vast majority of unwary Christians, and they will then RISE TO EXTREMELY HIGH POSITIONS OF POWER AND AUTHORITY, BECAUSE OF THEIR VERY POPULARITY; AND BY THEIR INGENIOUS SCHEMES AND FALSE GOSPEL WILL EXTORT MILLIONS UPON MILLIONS OF DOLLARS FROM THEIR FOLLOWERS, ALL IN THE NAME OF JESUS CHRIST. It is every bit extortion. It is every bit deception. Lifting the Gospel totally out of its context, these men of Satan who appear as angels of light will ply upon the fears, guilt and loneliness of their flocks, and sheer them of their wealth. Their greed will be manifested in lifestyles the EXACT OPPOSITE OF JESUS CHRIST. They will live in luxury, demanding the finest for God’s servant. Their followers will agree with their demands.   The word “feigned” is ‘plastos’, and it means ARTIFICIAL, MOLDED, FALSE BUT WITH THE APPEARANCE OF BEING TRUE OR REAL. Remember these people bring in their false theology in UTTER SECRECY, UNDETECTED BY THE VAST MAJORITY OF CHRISTIANS.  A few would notice and raise warnings, but they would go unheeded. Here we have a total confirmation of what Peter said before: THEY TRANSFORM THE REAL GOSPEL OF JESUS CHRIST INTO SOMETHING THAT IT IS NOT, BUT IT LOOKS CORRECT AND RIGHT. It is a master counterfeit, designed and packaged in such a way so that the unwary WILL FLOCK TO IT AS BEES TO HONEY. THEY OMIT AND CONCEAL WHAT EVERY BELIEVER MUST KNOW TO COME TO TRUE AND AUTHENTIC SALVATION. There is something missing, and that which is missing   IS THE STRAIT GATE AND THE NARROW WAY THAT LEADETH UNTO LIFE;   IS THE SUPERNATURAL BESTOWMENT OF AGAPE LOVE;   IS THE UNION WITH JESUS CHRIST!   If you remove the strait gate and narrow way by theology, then in reality you HAVE REMOVED ALL CHANCE FOR UNION WITH JESUS CHRIST, ALL CHANCE FOR REGENERATION, ALL CHANCE FOR EVER GOING TO HEAVEN. YOU HAVE DAMNED YOUR SOUL FOR EVER. You can claim all you want by your theology, your denomination bias, your preconceived ideas, that you are saved; but TRUTH WILL PREVAIL. A claim made is only valid IF THE AUTHORITY BEHIND THE CLAIM AGREES WITH YOU. In this case the authority is Jesus Christ, and He clearly did not agree with the VAST MAJORITY OF CHRISTIANS WHO CLAIMED THEY WERE REGENERATED AND HAD A RIGHT TO ENTER HEAVEN! IF JESUS CHRIST does NOT AGREE with you, your claims are WORTHLESS, AND YOUR CASE IS CLOSED FOR EVER WITH NO RECOURSE, NO HOPE, NO MERCY, NO CLEMENCY WHATSOEVER.   There is a reason for this harshness on the part of Jesus Christ. YOU HAVE NO EXCUSE FOR NOT KNOWING THESE WERE FALSE PROPHETS! Christ clearly shows us the CORRECT WAY TO ENTER HEAVEN. He did not ask us for permission to set it up that way. He did not come down here and ask for a world committee to determine how one should enter heaven. He did not solicit you or anyone else’s opinions whatever. This is an issue of THE SOVEREIGNTY OF GOD. Not only did God tell you what you must do in a multitude of places, He also gave us WARNINGS IN COMPLETE DETAIL OF HOW THIS MESSAGE WAS GOING TO BE PERVERTED AND TWISTED. He gave His life on a cross to seal the deal for you and I. Who do we think we are? By what arrogance of heart do we dare question what He said? What more can Christ do for us? He gave us the WAY, He gave us EXPLICIT WARNINGS, and He sealed it in His own blood. CASE CLOSED. YOU EITHER OBEY, OR YOU BURN; THAT SIMPLE; THAT BLUNT.   Christians cry for revival. We hear the prayers for revival all the time; from pastors to laymen. Heaven it seems has become brass, because no revival comes. Do you know why it never comes? RANK DISOBEDIENCE TO JESUS CHRIST. Do you want a revival? Then you must become convinced in your conscious heart THAT GOD IS SOVEREIGN, HE MEANS WHAT HE SAYS, HE WILL BURN YOU IN ETERNAL HELLFIRE IF YOU REFUSE TO OBEY HIM. THEN YOU GET OFF YOUR DEAD CENTER AND YOU PUT YOUR FAITH IN TO ACTION, and YOU DO, AND NOT TALK ABOUT DOING! When a human heart becomes aware that he/she is NOT WHERE THEY SHOULD BE BEFORE THE LORD, AND IS FULLY CONVINCED SOMETHING IS WRONG, SOMETHING IS MISSING, REVIVAL COMES TO THAT HEART. How is any revival going to come from FALSE PROPHETS AND THEIR MANUFACTURED JESUS CHRIST? The revivals and the signs and wonders that come from the false prophets ARE PREPARING THE WORLD FOR THE GRAND DELUSION, AND THEY ARE NOT TRUE REVIVALS, BUT COUNTERFEIT REVIVALS TO FOOL THE “MANY” AND THE WORLD INTO ETERNAL RUIN.   The word for “merchandise” is ‘eporeuomai’ and it means TO PEDDLE, TO TRADE, TO PROFIT IN, TO PEDDLE MERCHANDISE. In other words, the false teachers within the Body of Christ will rise to positions of leadership, and with their fabricated gospel of their instant way to salvation, they WILL MERCHANDISE JESUS CHRIST just the same way you sell an automobile. Their gospel will be designed to appeal to the carnal mind, to the natural heart and soul of worldly people. Their gospel will sound almost too good to be true, and IT WILL BE. They will be business retailers of a false gospel, FABRICATED TO FIT THE WORLD. Their gospel will be one of ease and simplicity that promises all who come heaven and eternal life. It will attract MILLIONS INTO THE SHEEPFOLD. IT WILL BECOME THE MOST POPULAR SALVATION MESSAGE THE WORLD HAS EVER HEARD. From these newly found sheep they will glean millions of dollars via pleas to spread their FALSE GOSPEL throughout the world, in fulfillment of the GREAT COMMISSION. IT WILL ALL BE DONE IN THE NAME OF JESUS CHRIST.   According to Peter, their ministries will be huge, with millions of followers, grossing millions of dollars a year. We know that because by the time of the end, the SHEEPFOLD WILL BE FILLED WITH MILLIONS OF CHRISTIANS. They will grow to worldwide proportions, with a vast radio and television mission field, all done under the guise of “serving Jesus” and “fulfilling the great commission”. It will be true that they are fulfilling the great commission. They will think they are “serving Jesus”. They WILL NOT SPEAK EVIL OF JESUS, FOR THEY UPHOLD JESUS CHRIST. These are real BIBLE THUMPERS. They lift up Jesus Christ as the King of Kings and the Glory of all Glories. They will have huge crusades and will attract a multitude of followers. They will be very popular and well known, not only to the Church, but to the whole world at large. MANY OF THEM WILL BE GREATLY ADMIRED MEN, WORKING THEIR WAY RIGHT INTO THE CONFIDENCE OF THE LEADERS OF THE SECULAR WORLD.   Peter is blunt: The many, the vast majority of Christians will elevate these false teachers to be the leaders of what the world sees as “Christianity”. These huge ministries will be operating from within the Body of Christ, therefore they will be spread throughout the various denominations or will be “non-denominational”. Then we have no choice and no options: THE LATTER DAY CHRISTIAN CHURCH WILL BE A FALSE CHURCH, FOR BY THEN THE LEAVEN OF THE FALSE TEACHERS WILL HAVE LEAVENED THE ENTIRE BODY OF CHRIST. The modern Christians will flock to these ministries of DEATH. They will be spreading their FALSE GOSPEL OF SALVATION VIA ALL MODERN MEANS; RADIO, TELEVISION, MOVIES, TAPES, MUSIC, ENTERTAINMENT, BOOKS AND ANY METHOD THEY CAN DREAM UP. They will thus package and sell a false Christ, a false gospel and make MERCHANDISE OUT OF THE CHRISTIANS THAT FOLLOW THEM. They will in effect BE TRAFFICKING IN THE SOULS OF MEN AND WOMEN FOR PROFIT AND GAIN. They will extort huge fortunes in the NAME OF JESUS CHRIST.   Jesus Christ and His work upon the cross will be held up to the masses as the ONLY name under heaven by which we may be saved, but by their false theology of salvation, they will MOCK EVERYTHING HE COMMANDS AND DID. These ministries will be the “darlings” of the Church, which we know from previous inspection, is doomed to eternal ruin. Their gospel of ease and simplicity, of instant salvation with no strait gate and narrow way, will have great appeal to the masses of fallen mankind. Their Christ is the Christ of the broad way.   The slogans and advertising of these false teachers will be no different than any other major business corporation. They will be slick and rely upon every known weakness of the human condition. Much of their advertising and appeals for funds will be made by secular advertising agencies or advisors. Their appeals will be very emotional, and are designed to induce guilt and sorrow at whatever cause is chosen for the moment. The elderly, the shut-ins, the widows who are alone and gullible will be moved to take what LITTLE THEY HAVE and give it to these satanic MONSTERS. Not content with just getting into the pocketbooks of their sheep, they move with boldness to actually get the ESTATES of their sheep. They will then extort homes, properties and large sums of the money RIGHTFULLY BELONGING TO FAMILY, and make off with untold millions of dollars ALL IN THE MIGHTY NAME OF JESUS. The fires of hell await them. They will exclaim with tears and crying, “THAT TO JESUS GOES THE GLORY, HALLELUJAH, HALLELUJAH, HALLELUJAH, PRAISE THE LORD, PRAISE YOU, JESUS!” These slick con men out of the pits of hell will fleece the flock of their money, their homes, their property. If that is not enough, they fleece them OF HEAVEN AND UNION WITH CHRIST! How do you think Jesus is going to dispose of these monster counterfeits?   In order to accomplish their objective, they REPACKAGE JESUS CHRIST. They FABRICATE ANOTHER ONE. They do it with “feigned” words. Their gospel is the gospel of the BROAD WAY. They turn Jesus over to Madison Avenue and they in turn come up with slick promotional appeals designed for one thing: THE EXTORTION OF MONEY FROM THEIR FOLLOWERS. The Christ they offer to a dying world offers instant salvation, instant regeneration, eternal security, healing, the promise of wealth and prosperity, forgiveness of all their sins, their every indulgence, their every desire, and all they need to do is “BELIEVE”. Their definition of faith and belief is utterly foreign to Jesus Christ, who throws them into eternal fire with a wave of a hand.   Their Jesus is all positive and there is no such thing as anything negative about their Christ. Anything negative whatever is branded as satanic and out of the pits of hell. All the positive aspects of the Scripture are promoted with great vigor! Great and wonderful signs and wonders follow after these false prophets. They can prophesy, heal, speak in tongues and slay hundreds “in the spirit” at the wave of a hand. They offer a “Jesus Cookie” along with a “Jesus Pop” to wash it down with. This cookie and pop gospel slides down the throats of the many with great ease, and they smile and demand MORE! Little do they know their real destination. Little do they know that their worm dieth not, and the fire burn eternally with them in the middle of it. All the distasteful elements of the commands of Jesus are removed. All the negative aspects of salvation ARE CONCEALED, AND THEY ARE GLOSSED OVER AS THOUGH NOT EVEN THERE.   This is done so that Jesus appeals to the masses. People do not respond to negative news. They will not “buy into” anything that requires of them REAL EFFORT, REAL PAIN, REAL SUFFERING. That is offensive to people. Negative news, like eternal hellfire, is not welcome with these folks. The recent election proves it. Ross Perot was the ONLY candidate that told Americans the truth. Time after time the networks interviewed people who said they believe Perot. But they would not vote for him. Why? Because his gospel to the nation WAS A NEGATIVE GOSPEL. PEOPLE WILL NOT ACCEPT A NEGATIVE GOSPEL. They die in their sins, and then they ARE FORCED TO ACCEPT IT. The false prophets know about this aspect of the human condition.           Their Jesus MUST NOT, AND DOES NOT OFFEND ANYONE. Their Jesus will not be saying anything negative. Their Jesus would never ever suggest anything as negative as entering a strait gate and walking a narrow way. Their Jesus would never suggest to them that their faith was going to be tried in a fire they could barely stand up to. He would certainly not suggest to them that they DIE TO FIND LIFE. All of the “hard sayings” of Jesus, all of the offensive sayings of Jesus are simply eradicated. ANYONE IN THE WHOLE WORLD CAN LOVE THEIR JESUS. It is by this very method that they attract the unwary souls! Remember that Peter says these false teachers EXTORT THEIR MONEY AND PROPERTY WITH FEIGNED WORDS. It is via an utterly false gospel that it is done!    These are the wolves in sheep’s clothing. Their easy gospel is a gospel of damnation and eternal ruin. Their idea of Christ cannot save anyone, but instead damns you forever. Their theological Christ is a FRAUD, A LIAR. Also remember that all of this is done VIA THEOLOGICAL MEANS, VIA FALSE DOCTRINES THAT LOOK TOTALLY CORRECT. They will defend themselves with great vehemence against anyone who dared suggest they were false prophets. Their primary method of operation is via redefinition of the key words used in salvation.   It is via their redefinition of faith that allows them to bypass the strait gate and narrow way. The grace of God is thrown in to boot for good measure. It also allows them to deny THE EVIDENCE YOU MUST HAVE OF YOUR SALVATION. Along with a total perversion of what FAITH really means, they will alter GRACE, REPENTANCE, CONVERSION, REGENERATION, AND WORKS. They have no choice, because all of these concepts and definitions hinge upon each other. THE LIE MUST BE BUILT UPON ITSELF. To the unwary, their house of theology appears sound, built upon the ROCK. The foundation APPEARS to be solid, firm, absolute. But is in reality built upon the sand, and when the storm of judgment comes, GREAT WILL BE THE FALL OF IT.     MORE WARNINGS OF FALSE PROPHETS     There are MANY, MANY WARNINGS ABOUT THESE FALSE PROPHETS, and we will explore the other warnings given in Scripture for our instruction. Paul had the same problem in his day that we have in ours:   “For we are NOT as MANY, WHICH CORRUPT THE WORD OF GOD: but as of sincerity, but as of God, IN THE SIGHT OF GOD WE SPEAK IN CHRIST.” (2 Corinthians 2:17)     Paul is blunt, concise: “We are not AS MANY.” Once again we run into the MANY. To consolidate this:   1. Many travel the broad way 2. Many stand before Jesus Christ rejected 3. Many are called, but FEW are chosen 4. Many follow after the false prophets 5. Many corrupt the Word of God.   Once again, the word many means the VAST MAJORITY. Paul is telling us something: the merchandising of Jesus Christ for money began almost as soon as the Church began, and it is always the VAST MAJORITY INVOLVED. The word “corrupt” is ‘kapeleuo’ and it has its roots in ‘kapelos’ and they mean TO BE A HUCKSTER, TO RETAIL OR TO SELL, TO MERCHANDISE. Paul himself found that he was up against a great many false teachers who twisted and perverted the Word of God and made a LIVING FROM IT. It did not take long for the corrupt human mind to figure out that here was a gold mine of opportunity. (A gold mine for money, power, prestige and be able to have large followings).   In order to sell the gospel, you must fabricate it in such a way as to make it appealing to the masses. It becomes so attractive that it cannot be resisted for it is easy, simple, and it offers great joy and eternal life. It appears to hold the answer to life’s problems. Remember that the root of the word “wide” means to MOLD OR TO FABRICATE. You then mold or fabricate a theology and doctrine that repackage Jesus Christ for the broad way. It will at its root, always CONTRADICT AND OPPOSE JESUS CHRIST. It will always appeal to the carnal nature of man. So then you would play up the positive things like SUPERNATURAL, SPIRITUAL POWER, ETERNAL LIFE, THE ABSOLUTE PROMISE OF HEAVEN, THE PROMISE OF POWER, AUTHORITY, WEALTH AND HEALING. You hide all that is unpleasant so you can hook your victim, and then proceed to fleece them of their money and property, ALL IN THE NAME OF JESUS CHRIST.    Paul was contrasting himself and his ministry to the ministry of the many. He claimed he did his out of true sincerity, IN THE SIGHT OF GOD. We will find out that when Paul uses that term he is speaking about the fact that HE DOES IT IN TRUE AGAPE LOVE, WHICH IS THE SIGHT OF GOD. When God looks at the world, He looks through His eyes of pure 100% agape love! In his second epistle to the Corinthians, Paul mentions a group of people who were speaking the gospel for THEIR OWN GLORY AND SELF GAIN. He claimed that they DESIRED “OCCASION”. The word for “occasion” is ‘aphorme’ and it means OPPORTUNITY, A STARTING POINT TO, BY WHICH THEY MIGHT DRAW OFF LARGE NUMBERS OF FOLLOWERS FOR THEIR OWN GLORY. Paul says he does what he does out of pure agape love for Christ, because Christ has entered into a known and experiential union with him. He then contrasts his labor of pure agape love with those who seek their own glory and opportunity.     “As THE TRUTH OF CHRIST IS IN ME, no man shall stop me OF THIS BOASTING in the regions of Achaia.   Wherefore? because I (AGAPE) LOVE YOU NOT? God KNOWETH.” (2 Corinthians 11:10-11)     Notice again this little word with a very big meaning: AGAPE LOVE. Paul is relating AGAPE LOVE TO CHRIST BEING IN HIM. It will be clearly shown later that one can be in the Body of Christ and still NOT have Christ within. However, one cannot have Christ within and not have agape love, for Christ is agape love! What Paul is doing is contrasting those that have no agape love within them, but who profess to be teachers, with those who do have agape love, the real shepherds of the flock. It is the agape love of Christ within that allows one to teach the word from a pure motive! If it is not there, the motive may appear pure, but it is not, it is for gain, for personal recognition, for power, for greed. IT IS A DECEPTION OF THE INNER HEART, A DECEPTION THEY WOULD HAVE KNOWN AND FOUND HAD THEY WALKED THE NARROW WAY, FOR IT IS THE ‘WAY’ OF REVELATION OF THE TRUTH OF OUR INNERMOST HEART.     “But what I do, that I will do, THAT I MAY CUT OFF OCCASION FROM THEM WHICH DESIRE OCCASION: THAT WHEREIN THEY GLORY, THEY MAY BE FOUND EVEN AS WE.” (2 Corinthians 11:12)     Notice how Paul words it; they desire to present the Gospel of Christ to the masses, so they may GLORY IN THEMSELVES, a big numbers game. The more you draw off to follow you, the bigger in stature you become. If your ministry grows to the millions of followers, think how much power and authority you hold in your hands! That is what Paul means here, they want to glory in themselves. Paul adds that they want to be found even as Paul is found, A TRUE DISCIPLE. In other words, these false teachers, preachers and evangelists APPEAR TO BE AND ARE ACCEPTED AS THE TRUE APOSTLE! They are wolves in sheep’s clothing, angels of light, ministers of darkness because they are not regenerated, and they do not know what REGENERATION means. They peddle another gospel, another Christ, BUT THEY ARE FOUND BY THEIR FOLLOWERS AS THE SAME AS PAUL AND OTHER TRUE APOSTLES. They were then COUNTERFEITS.   In order to look like Paul and the others, these false teachers must FEIGN AGAPE LOVE, which of course may be feigned on the surface. Man has a form of agape love in the social sense, in the moral sense, but it has been utterly corrupted by the fall, thus man can FEIGN TO A DEGREE THE DIVINE LOVE OF GOD.     “For such are FALSE APOSTLES, DECEITFUL WORKERS,   TRANSFORMING THEMSELVES   INTO THE APOSTLES OF CHRIST.” (2 Corinthians 11:13)     Paul is very clear about who they are: FALSE APOSTLES, DECEIVERS, WHO HAVE TRANSFORMED THEMSELVES INTO SOMETHING THEY ARE NOT. Their claims of regeneration and being born again are false; THEY HAVE NO AGAPE LOVE WITHIN, therefore they are bastard sons, workers of iniquity. How do you transform yourself into something you are not? BY CLAIMING SOMETHING TO BE TRUE THAT IS NOT TRUE. Remember that the false teachers contradict Christ and the “way” of salvation. They invent another way, an easy way, a fast way. By removing the ‘way’ of the strait and narrow, they can claim instant union with Jesus Christ! They claim they have it all at the beginning of their journey. If they are claiming to be true Christians, then they must have the love of Christ within them. It is all a delusion, for Christ is not present, agape love is not present, and they are liars.   The word for “false” is ‘pseudapostolos’ and it means PRETENDER, FALSE TEACHER, HYPOCRITE. The root of the word is ‘pseudes’ which means UNTRUE, FALSE, ERRONEOUS, DECEITFUL, WICKED, LIAR. Remember the wicked servant that Christ called a hypocrite? How could one who thought he was sincere and thought he knew Jesus, be so deluded? The answer is he is under deception because of disobedience. He invents a new theology that offers him instant union with Christ, instant bestowment of agape love. His theology tells him he has it within, therefore he is regenerated, but he has never walked the narrow way to obtain TRUE AGAPE LOVE, WHICH IS LIFE.   Paul said IT WAS A TRUTH THAT AGAPE LOVE WAS WITHIN HIM, THAT CHRIST WAS IN HIM. Paul was positive of it, wholly convinced it was a fact. How did Paul know? How did he know the others were liars? By their fruits, by what they were doing and by their theology. A true Christian who has walked the narrow way to soul death, and has come face to face with Jesus Christ KNOWS. He knows because he is spiritual, and he sees through the eyes of agape love, given to him by Jesus under the New Covenant. IT WAS THEIR TESTIMONY ITSELF, THEIR THEOLOGY ITSELF, THAT GAVE THEM AWAY.   The word “transforming” is ‘metaschematizo’ and it means TO CHANGE, TO DISGUISE, TO TRANSFIGURE. The root of the word is ‘meta’ and it means AMID, OR TO ACCOMPANY, TO PARTICIPATE, TO BE WITH, TO JOIN WITH. In other words, TO LOOK LIKE CHRISTIANS, ACT LIKE CHRISTIANS, TO SOUND LIKE CHRISTIANS, BUT THEY ARE WOLVES IN SHEEP’S CLOTHING. They walk in spiritual darkness, they are the blind leading the blind, and millions are swept away by them. What they do in reality is claim Christ within, then transform their own human love into the love of Christ.     “And no marvel; for Satan himself IS TRANSFORMED INTO AN ANGEL OF LIGHT. Therefore it is no great thing if HIS MINISTERS ALSO BE TRANSFORMED AS THE MINISTERS OF RIGHTEOUSNESS; WHOSE END SHALL BE ACCORDING TO THEIR WORKS.” (2 Corinthians 11:14-15)     The false prophets, by satanic deception, ARE TRANSFORMED INTO THE MINISTERS OF RIGHTEOUSNESS. It will be proven later in this series that righteousness is a code word for the agape love of God, just as the word “light” means agape love. These people have a FORM OF GODLINESS, but they deny the POWER of God. An essential part of the power of God is the cross. One obtains the agape love of God via being crucified with Jesus Christ. The POWER OF LIFE RESIDES IN DEATH. It is a paradox to the living, but a truth of God.   These false teachers merely “appropriate” their holiness via their theology, claim a union with Christ that is fraudulent, and then transform themselves into teachers, preachers and evangelists for their own personal gain and greed. They are workers of iniquity, they are liars, and the fires await. They do not know who Jesus Christ is, but they will soon find out the hard way.         “For I have not SHUNNED TO DECLARE UNTO YOU ALL THE COUNSEL OF GOD. TAKE HEED THEREFORE unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to FEED THE CHURCH OF GOD, WHICH HE HATH PURCHASED WITH HIS OWN BLOOD.” (Acts 20:27-28)     Paul gets to the point: “I have not shunned to declare ALL THE COUNSEL OF God. The word “all” is ‘pas’, and it means ALL, EVERY BIT, ENTIRE, THE WHOLE, EVERY ITEM WITH NOTHING CONCEALED. It is like the word TRUTH, in that truth, if it is truth, DOES NOT CONTAIN CONCEALED INFORMATION. We already know that the false prophets CONCEAL THE STRAIT GATE AND NARROW WAY. They conceal all the NEGATIVE, UNPLEASANT FACTS CONCERNING TRUE SALVATION. They conceal these, making their doctrine and gospel easy, pleasant and popular. The real division point is right here: THE GOSPEL, TO BE TRUTH, MUST INCLUDE THE NEGATIVE COMMANDS AS WELL AS THE POSITIVE PROMISES. If one will not obey the negative commands, one cannot claim any of the positive results. The “many” rejected of Christ refused the negative, claimed the promises, and must now suffer eternal ruin for their mistake.   Paul then says we are to take heed. Of what?   “For I KNOW this, that after my departing shall GRIEVOUS WOLVES ENTER IN AMONG YOU, NOT SPARING THE FLOCK.” (Acts 20:29)     It is a certain fact. IT WILL HAPPEN. There are essentially two types of false prophets: first, those who would ensnare you into “works” or a form of “legalism”, which is some type of system in which you attempt to JUSTIFY YOURSELF before God by your GOOD DEEDS, RIGHT BEHAVIOR OR GOOD THOUGHTS; and secondly, those who DENY THE STRAIT GATE AND NARROW WAY. Both methods will end you up in eternal ruin, and both concepts put you into the WORKS CATEGORY. Remember that Christ warned us about false prophets right after He told you that you must enter in at the strait gate, and take the narrow way that leads to life. He told you that because THERE IS NO OTHER WAY TO ENTER IN TO THE NEW COVENANT. NO OTHER WAY, ZERO, NOT, NONE, NO OTHER WAY. It has to be done, it must be done, and any attempts by WHATEVER MEANS TO CIRCUMVENT IT will ABSOLUTELY END YOU UP IN ETERNAL RUIN. Do not make excuses, do not offer up false theology, do not offer up “my pastor says”, do not offer up “my denominational teaching does not agree”, do not offer up “my opinion is”. YOU WILL DIE IN YOUR SINS IF YOU DO.   Christ is the author of our salvation. That means HE WROTE THE PLAN BEFORE HE CAME DOWN HERE TO SEAL IT IN HIS OWN BLOOD. If Christ wrote the plan, and He is our FINAL AUTHORITY, then by what right do we claim to be Christian and then turn right around and totally CONTRADICT HIM? The wisdom of that is sheer folly.   These false prophets mean business, they will not spare the flock of God. The flock is their target, for Satan does know if anyone walks the narrow way HE HAS LOST A SOUL TO CHRIST. Therefore ALL EFFORTS WILL BE DIRECTED AGAINST THE STRAIT GATE AND NARROW WAY. SATAN WILL EITHER CONCEAL IT, OR REDEFINE WHAT IT MEANS. All of his genius will be directed towards that end. Christ warns that Satan will be highly successful, trapping 999 Christians out of every thousand! Only the few will escape the snare! How did the FEW ESCAPE? They HEEDED THE COUNSEL OF GOD, THEY KEPT THE SAYINGS OF JESUS, AND THEY DID THE WILL OF THE FATHER. They searched for the Lord with all of their heart, mind, strength and soul UNTIL they found him.   That is the entire pivot point of the FEW vs. the MANY. The FEW kept the WHOLE COUNSEL OF GOD, BOTH POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE, even though it was not popular, positive or easy.   “Also OF YOUR OWN SELVES shall men ARISE, SPEAKING PERVERSE THINGS, TO DRAW AWAY DISCIPLES AFTER THEM. Therefore WATCH, and REMEMBER, that by the space of THREE YEARS I CEASED NOT TO WARN EVERY ONE NIGHT AND DAY WITH TEARS.” (Acts 20:30-31)     Again we find a positive proof that the false teachers are not on the outside attacking the Church. They are on the inside, rising up with perverse doctrine (false theology), that sweeps those who embrace it into eternal ruin. These people ARE CHRISTIANS, WITHIN THE CHRISTIAN COMMUNITY. The word “perverse” is ‘diastrepho’ and it means TO DISTORT, TO MISINTERPRET, TO CORRUPT THE TRUTH, TO ALTER THE TRUTH. Please grasp this; it is vital:   THEY MISINTERPRET THE WORD OF GOD.     Is this not the same thing as a heresy? Is this not the same warning of Peter, that false teachers would CREEP IN TOTALLY UNAWARES with a false gospel of salvation?   The false teachers misinterpret what the Word says. They write great papers and books proclaiming their vast knowledge of the Word of God. Their commentaries would fill libraries; they are “ever learning, but never able to come to a knowledge of the truth”. THEY DENY AND CONTRADICT JESUS CHRIST; THEY DENY THE STRAIT GATE AND NARROW WAY; THEY REFUSE TO PREACH THE WHOLE GOSPEL; THEY ONLY PREACH WHAT THEY WANT, AND ALL OF IT IS POSITIVE! “And anon with great joy” their followers embrace these doctrines and are swept away.   Their hidden motive is made plain. I would suggest that their motive is also hidden from their own hearts! They are under a deception, and they “knowest not”. Man, according to Scripture, has TWO HEARTS. One is known, the other is much deeper, and very powerful. It is this INNER HEART that believers do not come to recognize, because they refuse to walk the narrow way, which is a way of REVELATION OF THE REAL EVIL WITHIN. This inner heart, however secret to us, however hidden its motives may be, is plain to God, who searches the inner hearts. The hidden motive of these “popular” ministries is TO DRAW OFF A FOLLOWING. They need money to keep their ministries going. These poor dupes of Satan actually believe they are fulfilling the great commission of Jesus Christ! They watch their ministries grow to huge proportions, a sign to them that God is blessing their work. But was it God blessing their works or was it Satan? Who stands to gain the most if these ministries continue to propagate a wholly false salvation message, God or Satan? Does God allow it because of disobedience?     These “misinterpretations” of the Word of God have not one ounce of the Holy Spirit within them. They paint a portrait of a Christ who does not exist. Their Christ is always full of love and mercy and compassion, and forgives their every sin, and indulges their every lust, PROMISING LIBERTY TO ALL WHILE THEY THEMSELVES ARE THE SERVANTS OF CORRUPTION. Where was the love and mercy and compassion of Christ for the many? Surely you would have to see that the act of Christ in sending the vast majority of Christians away is not mercy! There is no compassion here, for they are sent away forever with no recourse! Mercy and compassion grant a REPRIEVE FROM JUST DUE PUNISHMENT. There IS NO REPRIEVE HERE!   Paul must have thought this was a matter of extreme importance for he warned them over a space of three years, and in literal weeping and crying. Why? Because Paul knew where the souls would end up if they did not heed what he was telling them. He knew that the Gospel of salvation would be turned into an ALL POSITIVE, INSTANT GOSPEL, WITH NO OBSTACLES, NO PAIN, NO ANGUISH, NO DELAY. It would sound right, look right, use the right words, but it would damn the person who embraced it. PAUL THOUGHT THIS EXTREMELY SERIOUS BUSINESS. The many who are rejected find out just how serious!       OTHER WARNINGS OF FALSE PROPHETS   There are warnings of false prophets that verify all that we have studied so far. They had further testimony and support to help show us why so many Christians never enter heaven.     “For many shall come in MY NAME, SAYING, I AM CHRIST; AND SHALL DECEIVE MANY.” (Matthew 24:5)     The usual interpretation given is that these people are FALSE CHRISTS. In other words they CLAIM THEY ARE JESUS CHRIST. I would suggest quite a different interpretation, because Jesus specifically mentions FALSE CHRISTS a little later in this discourse, and Jesus was not one to REPEAT HIMSELF. Read carefully what it says, and this is in relation to the LATTER DAYS, THE DAYS OF THE LAODICEAN CHURCH; of which we are in the very end of those latter days. The word “many” is ‘polus’ which means the VAST MAJORITY WITHIN A SPECIFIC GROUP. In this case, they COME IN THE NAME OF JESUS CHRIST. “Many shall come in MY name”, means exactly what it says: THEY WILL COME IN THE NAME OF JESUS. The word “name” here is ‘onoma’ and it means NAME OR AUTHORITY OF. Jesus says that a whole group, VERY LARGE GROUP OF PEOPLE ARE GOING TO RISE UP AND APPEAR IN THE AUTHORITY OF, AND IN THE NAME OF JESUS CHRIST, are going to rise up, appear or come upon the scene, UNDER THE NAME OF, AND IN THE AUTHORITY OF JESUS CHRIST. That is exactly AND ONLY what it says.   This group that rises up, IN THE NAME OF JESUS CHRIST, AND CLAIMING THEY ARE UNDER THE AUTHORITY OF JESUS CHRIST; ARE GOING TO DECEIVE THE VAST MAJORITY OF CHRISTIANS. This is what they say: THEY SAY THAT JESUS CHRIST IS THE MESSIAH. They come upon the scene LIFTING UP JESUS CHRIST AS THE MESSIAH, AS THE LORD. They are not saying that THEY ARE THE CHRIST, they come IN THE NAME OF JESUS CHRIST, SAYING “I (JESUS)” AM THE CHRIST. HE IS THE CHRIST. We know that Jesus is THE CHRIST, so what is it that they do? Jesus is blunt; THEY DECEIVE THE VAST MAJORITY OF CHRISTIANS. The word “deceive” is ‘plano’ and it means TO CAUSE TO WANDER, TO CAUSE TO GO ASTRAY, TO BE OUT OF   THE ‘WAY’!       These people, who rise up in the LATTER YEARS, WHICH IS THE 20TH CENTURY, all uphold Jesus Christ as the Messiah, but their theology, their doctrines CAUSE THE VAST MAJORITY OF CHRISTIANS TO WANDER OUT OF THE WAY. Because there is only one correct way to enter into the New Covenant, then obviously their doctrines DECEIVE PEOPLE OUT OF THE STRAIT GATE AND NARROW WAY. Is that not exactly what PETER SAID IN SECOND PETER 2:1-3? Did not Peter warn us that a whole group of false teachers would rise up FROM INSIDE THE CHURCH, THAT WOULD UPHOLD THE NAME OF JESUS CHRIST AS MESSIAH? THAT THEY WOULD BE CHRISTIAN IN APPEARANCE, AND THAT THEIR DOCTRINES WOULD BE SO CLOSE TO THE TRUTH THAT THE HERESY OF IT WOULD NOT BE DETECTED? THIS IS A WHOLE GROUP OF MEN WHO ARE FALSE PROPHETS THAT COME IN THE NAME OF JESUS CHRIST, AND BY THEIR FALSE DOCTRINES OF SALVATION, DECEIVE MANY.   Christ always warns His people. You have NO EXCUSE FOR NOT KNOWING. This is serious; this is a most deadly doctrine. Simply because you UPHOLD JESUS CHRIST AS MESSIAH DOES NOT PROVE ANYTHING. It is the DOCTRINE COMPARED TO THE PLAINLY STATED DOCTRINE OF CHRIST THAT PROVES IT ALL. Jesus told you to BEWARE. That means you are to KNOW YOUR SCRIPTURES AND THEN BE ABLE TO COMPARE THE DOCTRINES OF TEACHERS AGAINST THE WORD OF GOD. THE WORD OF GOD IS THE STANDARD, and EVERYTHING MUST BE MEASURED FROM IT.   That this interpretation is correct is borne out by the fact that Jesus specifically mentions FALSE CHRISTS in Matthew 24:24. The term there for a false Christ is ONE WHO CLAIMS TO BE THE ACTUAL MESSIAH. These people claim to be THE CHRIST HIMSELF. That is not what Matthew 24:5 states whatsoever. To the contrary, these people come in the name and authority of Jesus Christ, they uphold Jesus Christ, but they deceive the vast majority of Christians by a false gospel message of salvation.     “For there shall arise FALSE CHRISTS AND FALSE PROPHETS, AND SHALL SHEW GREAT SIGNS AND WONDERS; INSOMUCH THAT, IF IT WERE POSSIBLE, THEY SHALL DECEIVE THE VERY ELECT.” (Matthew 24:24)     A false Christ is one who declares that HE IS CHRIST. He will declare himself as the Messiah. We have hundreds of them running around in our day. A false prophet is one who teaches false doctrine or who gives false prophecy. We have hundreds of prophetic ministries in America, and some of them proclaim themselves true servants of God, and that God has anointed them prophets. They have deceived many people by their false prophetic utterances. It is one thing to MISINTERPRET PROPHETC SCRIPTURE, IT IS QUITE ANOTHER TO PROCLAIM YOURSELF A PROPHET AND UTTER THE PROPHECY AS THOUGH IT WAS FROM THE LIPS OF GOD. This concept is what allows NEW DOCTRINE to invade the Church. When challenged on their NEW doctrines, they proclaim loudly that they are above challenge, for it came direct from the Lord, FROM THE LIPS OF GOD ALMIGHTY. God has another message: READ MY LIPS, FOR I HAVE SPOKEN BY MY PROPHETS OF OLD.   The false prophets here are the same ones that Christ warned about right after His statement about the narrow way. They will rise up in the latter days with a whole new gospel, a whole new Christ, a whole new theology. Their doctrines accompanied by lying signs and wonders will be so close to the real thing that IF IT WERE POSSIBLE, IT WOULD FOOL THE VERY ELECT. They use this supernatural display of signs and wonders to PUT THE STAMP OF GOD ON THEIR TEACHINGS. It will not matter if it contradicts Christ, the signs and wonders will be THE PROOF OF THE AUTHENTICITY OF THE CLAIMS.   Notice that IF IT WERE POSSIBLE it would fool the elect. That means IT IS NOT POSSIBLE TO FOOL THE REAL SON OF GOD. Why not? It is impossible to fool anyone who has undergone true, authentic regeneration, for it includes with it, A KNOWLEDGE OF THE TRUTH, WHICH IS AGAPE LOVE. IT IS NOT POSSIBLE TO FOOL THEM, FOR THEY HAVE DIED UPON THE CROSS OF CHRIST, AND THIS DEATH WAS FULLY EXPERIENTIAL. YOU CANNOT FOOL THEM BECAUSE THEY HAVE PASSED FROM DEATH UNTO LIFE. YOU CANNOT FOOL THEM BECAUSE THEY EXPERIENTIALLY KNOW THE TRUTH OF AGAPE LOVE AND KNOW FROM THE SPIRIT THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN IT AND HUMAN LOVES. To prove that this is true, to further point out that the bestowment of agape love is the dividing line between the regenerated and the lost, Paul says this:      “Even him (antichrist), whose coming is after the working of Satan with ALL POWER AND SIGNS AND LYING WONDERS, and with all deceivableness of UNRIGHTEOUSNESS in them THAT PERISH; BECAUSE   THEY RECEIVED NOT THE (AGAPE) LOVE   OF THE TRUTH,   THAT THEY MIGHT BE SAVED.” (2 Thessalonians 2:9-10)     This verse is often misinterpreted, but simply read, it says that antichrist will come with great lying signs and wonders, which will deceive EVERYONE WHICH IS GOING TO DAMNATION, and they go into damnation FOR ONLY ONE REASON! The reason is that they did not OBTAIN THE AGAPE LOVE OF JESUS CHRIST (THE TRUTH). Remember in 1 John 3:1 where it says that those that were THE SONS OF GOD had beheld and had bestowed upon them AGAPE LOVE? Jesus said you must be born again to enter heaven, and being born again means coming to a knowledge of the mystery of God, that is DIVINE AGAPE  LOVE.     This verse is very clear: YOU MUST RECEIVE THE AGAPE LOVE OF GOD TO BE SAVED. This verse IS NOT a verse that says if you love and search the scripture you will be saved, for we can prove that many people searched the scriptures and never came to a knowledge of the truth. This verse is very clearly a warning that YOU MUST RECEIVE THE AGAPE LOVE OF CHRIST IN ORDER TO BE SAVED. If you do not lay hold of it, YOU ARE NOT SAVED, AND WILL GO UNDER DECEPTION. That which makes it IMPOSSIBLE TO DECEIVE THE VERY ELECT IS THAT THEY KNOW IT BY DIRECT AND SUPERNATURAL REVELATION FROM GOD, FOR IT CANNOT BE LEARNED, IT IS BEYOND ALL UNDERSTANDING. The rest ONLY THINK THEY KNOW WHAT IT IS!     We are going to research this verse intently later in this series, but the object lesson is in total harmony with everything else we have seen: THIS MYSTERIOUS AGAPE LOVE OF GOD IS THE DIVISION POINT BETWEEN LIFE AND DEATH. Paul then says:     “And for THIS CAUSE (THAT THEY DID NOT LAY HOLD OF AGAPE LOVE) God shall send them STRONG DELUSION, THAT THEY SHOULD BELIEVE A LIE: THAT THEY ALL MIGHT BE DAMNED   WHO BELIEVED NOT THE TRUTH, BUT HAD PLEASURE IN UNRIGHTEOUSNESS.” (2 Thessalonians 2:11-12)     God says there is only one cause for eternal damnation. THAT THEY DID NOT RECEIVE THE AGAPE LOVE OF CHRIST, THEY WERE NEVER IN UNION WITH HIM. Jesus Christ is our only means of entering the New Covenant. He is the only name under the whole of heaven by which a soul may be saved. You must come into union with Him for He is our KINSMAN REDEEMER. Please notice that it is GOD HIMSELF that sends this delusion upon an unregenerate Church and unregenerate world. The Church will be seduced by bewitching spirits and be led right into the arms of the antichrist!   Jesus, in the Gospel of John, says there is only ONE REASON people are lost. THEY WOULD NOT COME TO THE LIGHT TO HAVE THEIR DEEDS REPROVED (John 3:19-20). Light is nothing more than a CODE WORD FOR AGAPE LOVE. Jesus says THEY WOULD NOT COME TO THE LIGHT OF HIS LOVE, TO HAVE THEIR DEEDS COMPARED TO TRUE LOVE. They refused to do it. They may have worshipped Christ, they may have been Christians, BUT THEY REFUSED TO ALLOW JESUS CHRIST TO JUDGE THEM. In other words, they did everything else, but REFUSED JUDGMENT. They had faith, they believed, they performed all sorts of miracles, but they WOULD NOT allow Christ to JUDGE THEM AND DECLARE THEM GUILTY. Their guilt, if they had any, was SURFACE, MENTAL, OF THE SENSE MAN, SOUL MAN.   When Christ said He would send the Holy Spirit to JUDGE THE WORLD OF SIN, RIGHTEOUSNESS AND JUDGMENT, HE WAS NOT FOOLING. This is not a MENTAL PROCESS, A “BELIEVING” PROCESS, or a process of conjuring up guilt feelings, or self-condemnation! This is a SUPERNATURAL, VERY NEGATIVE PROCESS, WHEREBY GOD LITERALLY TEARS APART ALL OF THE DELUSIONS, DECEPTIONS, LIES AND FABRICATIONS OF A SATANIC CONTROLLED MIND AND HEART. It is a very painful process, one that takes a considerable period of time, while God calls out, and then JUDGES the soul of the true believer. At the end of this process, that soul KNOWS FROM DEEP WITHIN, FAR DEEPER THAN ANY MENTAL KNOWLEDGE, THAT IT IS DEAD, LOST AND HELL BOUND. IT KNOWS IT IS LOST FOR ETERNITY. That is what the word “judgment” actually means! It is not positive, it is NEGATIVE ALL THE WAY.   God must do this, for He is BRINGING THE SOUL TO THE “LIGHT” of PURE AGAPE LOVE, THE STANDARD OF LOVE FOR THE UNIVERSE. God MUST and WILL bring that soul down to complete and TOTAL HUMILIATION, RUIN, DEATH AND TOTAL LOSS. He will literally DESTROY THAT SOUL, as is amply proved out later in this series. This destruction is SUPERNATURAL, and occurs while the soul is alive and walking around. The soul is being BROUGHT INTO THE GREAT WHITE THRONE JUDGMENT. HIS DEEDS ARE BEING REPROVED, AND HE IS BEING FOUND GUILTY BEFORE THE MOST HIGH GOD. That soul will find out WHAT SCRIPTURE MEANS WHEN IT SAYS WE ARE DEAD IN OUR TRESPASSES AND SINS. We ARE dead, and it will be proven to THE TRUE CHRISTIAN WHO IS SEARCHING FOR GOD, just HOW DEAD, DEAD REALLY IS! It is VERY DEAD. It is UTTER RUIN. The standard that God uses in this judgment is DIVINE AGAPE, which Jesus called “light”. Because the believer DOES NOT HAVE ANY DIVINE AGAPE LOVE, he/she stands before God GUILTY, and MUST BE CONDEMNED TO ETERNAL RUIN.   This is where Jesus Christ STEPS IN. The soul has been JUDGED GUILTY, and this judgment is FULLY EXPERIENTIAL, IN SPITE OF WHAT MODERN CHRISTIAN FALSE PROPHETS CLAIM. You will BE FULLY AWARE OF THIS JUDGMENT. You will be able to TESTIFY TO IT. After having been found GUILTY, and CONDEMNED, Christ comes forward and SAVES THAT SOUL. HE OFFERS HIS OWN “AGAPE” TO THE REAL, AUTHENTIC BELIEVER, WHO HAS PROVED HIS FAITH AND HIS LOVE FOR CHRIST BY WALKING THE NARROW WAY, AND OFFERING UP HIS OWN LIFE FOR CHRIST. The offering of Christ’s OWN AGAPE to the believer is AN OFFER TO ACQUIT AND SET ASIDE THE GUILTY VERDICT.   If the believer ACCEPTS THE OFFER OF CHRIST, CHRIST BESTOWS AGAPE TO THE BELIEVER (1 John 3:1). HE COMES “INTO” the very INNER HEART of that believer (Revelation 3:20), and TAKES HIS RIGHTFUL PLACE UPON THE THRONE OF THAT BELIEVER’S HOLY OF HOLIES. It is FULLY EXPERIENTIAL, and you must have THE TESTIMONY OF IT. That believer then passes from DEATH UNTO LIFE (1 John 3:14) and CANNOT COME INTO CONDEMNATION again, for the ISSUE between the believer and God has been SETTLED BY CHRIST, WHO IS OUR ONLY MEDIATOR.   THERE IS NO OTHER NAME UNDER HEAVEN BY WHICH WE MAY BE SAVED. THERE IS ONLY ONE MEDIATOR OF THE NEW COVENANT. IT IS JESUS CHRIST. HE WAS THE ONLY ONE ANOINTED BY GOD THE FATHER.   It is the AGAPE LOVE OF CHRIST that saves the believer. It is the RIGHTEOUSNESS OF CHRIST that saves the believer. It is this AGAPE LOVE that is THE ROBE OF RIGHTEOUSNESS, THE WHITE ROBE OF CHRIST THAT COVERS THE BELIEVER. It is a REAL, EXPERIENTIAL PROCESS, and only a FEW can testify to it, and only a FEW are SAVED.   This process is SO PAINFUL, JESUS SAID, THAT ONLY A FEW WILL GO THROUGH IT WHILE ALIVE. In essence, every true believer WILL FOLLOW CHRIST RIGHT INTO THE PIT OF HELL AND DAMNATION. If it is refused, THAT SOUL WILL BE LOST FOR ETERNITY, for it refused the ONLY WAY INTO THE NEW COVENANT. There is NO OTHER WAY IN. There is no other way listed in all of Scripture. NOT ONE. THERE ARE NO EXCEPTIONS TO THIS. Either you can testify to it, and KNOW IT FOR A FACT, or you are under DECEPTION.   That is why Scripture says that IF YOU DO NOT LAY HOLD OF THE AGAPE LOVE OF CHRIST, YOU WILL GO UNDER THE DELUSION OF FALSE SALVATION, A FALSE SECURITY. IT DAMNS YOU FOR EVER AND EVER AND EVER. You cannot ESCAPE once you have rejected Christ. Where is the mercy and compassion of a God of love here? It is God Himself that sends the delusion to DAMN THE ENTIRE HUMAN RACE FOREVER. Do not multiply the grace of God beyond where Scripture says the boundaries are. The many were not under the grace of God even though they claimed they were. The grace, the mercy and compassion of God have always fallen ONLY UPON THOSE WHO ARE OBEDIENT TO HIS COMMANDS.   These people did not believe THE TRUTH. “THY WORD IS TRUTH”, SAID JESUS. They did not believe what the Bible said. They did not believe that God meant what He said! They did not believe they had to obey God or keep the sayings of Jesus. They declared the strait gate and narrow way a pack of lies and an insult to their theology and their doctrines of faith and grace. They manufactured another Gospel, another Christ, one that was befitting for their own corruption and degradation. Their Christ took them right into eternal loss and ruin. What a price to pay for arrogance, pride and the refusal to simply read as a child the plain and simple commands of God.   Jude wrote of a group of men who would sneak into the sheepfold and who would redefine WHAT GRACE MEANS. The redefinition of faith and grace are the foundation from which the false teachers build their theology. From grace and faith, you take a small step and slowly redefine works, repentance, conversion, regeneration and legalism.   “For there are certain men CREPT IN UNAWARES, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, UNGODLY MEN, TURNING THE GRACE OF OUR GOD INTO LASCIVIOUSNESS, AND DENYING THE ONLY LORD GOD, AND OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST. (Jude 4)     The word for “crept in unawares” is ‘pareisduno’ and it means TO LODGE STEALTHILY, TO SETTLE IN ALONGSIDE, TO GO UNDETECTED. This is not Christian cults, folks, this is MAINSTREAM CHRISTIANITY FROM THE FUNDAMENTALISTS TO THE LIBERALS. This doctrine, this PERVERSION OF WHAT GRACE MEANS, would be ACCEPTED BY THE CHURCH, FOR THEY ARE UNAWARE OF THIS PERVERSION. It is in perfect accord with the warnings of Peter.   This new doctrine, this new theology would sound wonderful, and would expand upon the GRACE OF GOD, AND THAT GRACE IS GRACE, and after all, is not grace 100%? Does it not allow me to be me? Does it now allow me to be what I can be? Am I not free under grace to explore myself? Either we are free, or we are not free, and either we are under grace, or we are not under grace! The arguments for this definition of ABSOLUTE GRACE AND UNCONDITIONAL GRACE would lead to a “GRACE EXPLOSION” which would corrupt all those that eagerly accepted it! Once again it would CONTRADICT JESUS CHRIST. It would oppose everything He taught about the grace of God. Their teachings would become THE UNDERPINNINGS for a license of all sorts of ungodly behavior.   The teachers themselves are ungodly men, they are NOT REGENERATED, FOR THEY ARE CALLED ‘UNGODLY’. A REGENERATED CHRISTIAN IS NEVER CALLED UNGODLY, FOR THAT WOULD DECLARE CHRIST UNGODLY, AND THE REGENERATED ARE UNDER THE ROBES OF CHRIST, AND THEIR CHARACTER HAS BEEN ALTERED INTO A NEW CREATURE BY THE AGAPE LOVE BESTOWMENT. We find once again, a common denominator throughout all those who are condemned: NO REGENERATION, NO AGAPE LOVE, NO UNION WITH CHRIST. They are, with one accord, BASTARD SONS AND DAUGHTERS, POSING AS ANGELS OF LIGHT WHEN THEY ARE ANGELS OF DARKNESS AND DEATH. Short of full and complete BIBLICAL REPENTANCE, their damnation slumbers not.   THEIR REDEFINITION OF GRACE IS ORIENTED TOWARDS THE “SELF”. IT FREES THE “SELF” AND ALLOWS THE “SELF” TO BE ALL THAT THE “SELF” WANTS TO BE. It is focused upon ‘I’ and “ME”, and what “I WANT”. The books that are flooding the market right now focus upon THE SELF, THE PERSON, THE BELIEVER. Paul was very blunt: IT WAS NOT PAUL THAT LIVED, BUT CHRIST IN PAUL. PAUL WAS DEAD. PAUL HAD DIED THE DEATH OF THE CROSS. HE KNEW THAT “THE SELF” was HIS ENEMY, AND NO PLACE COULD BE GIVEN IT. It had to be CRUCIFIED DAILY. If the self is DEAD, then IT NO LONGER LIVES. If it no longer lives, then it no longer CONTROLS. If it no longer controls, then CHRIST DOES. The grace explosion movement is a massive lie out of the pits, another heresy of the last days.   The real definition of grace is very narrow, very strict: THE MANY DID NOT AVAIL THEMSELVES OF THE GRACE OF GOD. The grace of God is confined TOTALLY to the STRAIT GATE AND NARROW WAY. If you are not ENTERING IN, YOU ARE NOT UNDER THE GRACE OF GOD, insofar as the New Covenant is concerned. From a worldly viewpoint, THE WHOLE WORLD IS UNDER GRACE, FOR IT IS GOD THAT KEEPS THE WORLD TOGETHER. But we are speaking of the GRACE THAT BRINGS ONE TO SALVATION, TO REGENERATION, TO AGAPE LOVE BESTOWMENT AND LIFE.   Next, we find that Peter speaks of the writings of Paul, and that Paul’s writings were difficult to understand, because of the insight Paul had into the MYSTERY OF God and his understanding of the plan of redemption. We will now examine Peter’s remarks, for they will add yet another confirmation of everything we have learned to date:   “As also in all his (Paul’s) epistles, speaking in them of these things; in which are some things hard to be understood, WHICH THEY THAT ARE UNLEARNED AND UNSTABLE WREST,   AS THEY DO ALSO THE OTHER SCRIPTURES,   UNTO THEIR OWN DESTRUCTION.   Ye therefore, beloved, seeing ye know these things before, BEWARE LEST YE ALSO, BEING LED AWAY WITH THE ERROR OF THE WICKED, FALL FROM YOUR OWN STEADFASTNESS.” (2 Peter 3:16-17)     The word “unlearned” is ‘amathes’ and it means IGNORANT. The word “unstable” is ‘asteriktos’, and it comes from ‘sterizo’ which means TO BE FIXED, ESTABLISHED, RESOLUTE, FIRM, GROUNDED, SURE, TO SET FAST, OR IN THIS CASE THE REVERSAL OF THOSE MEANINGS. Thus these people are not grounded in SOUND DOCTRINE. The word “wrest” is ‘strebloo’, which is from ‘strepho’ which means TO TWIST, TO TURN AROUND, TO PERVERT OR TO REVERSE. In short, it means to misinterpret by the ACTUAL REVERSING OF THE TRUE INTENT. It carries with it the same concept of a CONTRADICTION, A DENIAL, TO DISAVOW THE INTENT OF CHRIST; or TWO TOTALLY OPPOSING VIEWPOINTS. The false teachers will bring forward a theology that is the diametric opposite of what Christ commanded be done. It will not appear a contradiction on the surface, it will appear as though the two concepts are identical and in agreement, but underneath the surface, THEY WILL BE IN DIRECT OPPOSITION, ONE TO THE OTHER.   This is an important clue for us to identify false teachers, for underneath all the high sounding Christian words will lie a COUNTER THEOLOGY THAT RUNS IN TOTAL CONTRADICTION TO WHAT CHRIST COMMANDED. Paul was a theologian because God is THE MASTER THEOLOGIAN. Paul presented the facts on repentance, faith, grace, works, legalism, etc. It is from Paul that we obtain most of our knowledge on how Christian faith and grace all come together. This is the exact area that the unstable wrest Scripture to their own destruction. The many “wrested” the Scripture to their eternal ruin. THEY REVERSED IT! Their theology reverses the meaning from the actual intent. Whatsoever Christ or Paul or the other writers say, they will reverse the meaning, YET THEY WILL NOT REALIZE THEY ARE DOING SO! They will be adamant that their “interpretation” is WHOLY CORRECT.   You can sit down with these people and point out OBVIOUS contradictions and they will say, “you are not reading it correctly. What Christ really means here is this…” and then they TOTALLY REVERSE THE PLAIN AND DIRECT STATEMENTS MADE. They take a Scripture from here and there, and ALWAYS OUT OF CONTEXT, and then weave them together to formulate their beliefs. It is a supernatural blindness that comes from disobedience. God says He will choose their delusions, and it does little good to debate with these types of people. They are not interested in truth; they are interested only in confirmation of their pet theological positions.   If these men contradict Christ and the Holy Spirit, using Scripture to accomplish it via wresting it to the opposite meaning, then we have a total confirmation what Jesus said: TWO GATES, TWO WAYS, TWO THEOLOGIES, TWO FRUITS AND TWO DESTINATIONS. Inasmuch as the narrow way is the ONLY way leading to life, for Christ gave us no alternatives, nor any exceptions to the rule, then all Scripture must be wrested in such a way as to oppose and contradict the strait gate and narrow way.   That is exactly what we have found in all previous study. THE FALSE TEACHERS WITH ONE ACCORD VIA THEIR THEOLOGY CLAIM THAT THE STRAIT GATE AND NARROW WAY COULD NOT POSSIBLY MEAN WHAT IT SAYS, FOR IT IS A VIOLATION OF THEIR DEFINITIONS OF FAITH AND GRACE, AND IT THEREFORE MUST BE A FORM OF “WORKS” OR “LEGALISM”.     FALSE PROPHETS WHO REFUSE TO ALLOW OTHERS TO ENTER IN:       “But woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For ye SHUT UP THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN AGAINST MEN:   FOR YE NEITHER GO IN YOURSELVES, NEITHER SUFFER YE THEM THAT ARE ENTERING TO GO IN.” (Matthew 23:13)     This stinging rebuke is just as applicable today against the modern Christian scribes and Pharisees, for they are also hypocrites, and by their theology THEY SHUT UP THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN AGAINST MEN. Their theology prevents anyone from entering into heaven because it is FALSE THEOLOGY. These modern false teachers will not enter in, because they are certain their theology is correct, so THEIR CLAIM OF HAVING ALREADY ENTERED IN IS NO DIFFERENT THAN THE JEWS IN JESUS’ DAY! They REFUSE to go in as Christ commands, their theology totally contradicts the only method Christ gave, and now they advance their false precepts to prevent all those WHO WERE ENTERING FROM DOING SO. The false teachers will suffer the same condemnation that those who rejected Christ when He was here faced. THERE IS NO WAY THEY CAN ESCAPE THE FIRES OF HELL, SHORT OF UTTER BIBLICAL REPENTANCE, WHICH IS VIA THE NARROW WAY.     “Thou BLIND Pharisee, CLEANSE FIRST that which IS WITHIN THE CUP and platter, that the outside OF THEM MAY BE CLEAN ALSO.” (Matthew 23:26)     Jesus is blunt: for all of their religious pretense at being Holy men of God, their religion only makes them appear ON THE OUTSIDE TO BE CLEAN. They were pious men, men of God, the religious leaders of their day. Jesus tells them something very strange: CLEAN UP YOUR INNER HEART FIRST, WHICH, IF THEY WOULD DO SO, WOULD MAKE THEM CLEAN THROUGH AND THROUGH. It is a valid reference to the New Heart Covenant, the bestowment of agape love. The ‘many’ rejected of Christ were the Christian religious leaders of our day, who by their pious manner HAD A FORM OF GODLINESS, BUT THEY DENIED THE REAL POWER OF GOD, WHICH IS THE CROSS. THE POWER OF GOD IS KNOWN ONLY TO THOSE WHO PICK UP THEIR OWN CROSS AND WALK THE NARROW WAY TO SOUL DEATH. These false teachers claim they are clean, when in reality they are filthy unregenerate men, wholly UNCLEAN because they ARE NOT REGENERATED MEN, THEY HAVE NO AGAPE LOVE INSIDE OF THEM.     “Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For ye are LIKE UNTO WHITED SEPULCHRES,   WHICH INDEED APPEAR BEAUTIFUL OUTWARD, BUT ARE WITHIN FULL OF DEAD MEN’S BONES, AND OF ALL UNCLEANNESS.” (Matthew 23:27)     This is the perfect description of the FALSE CHRISTIAN TEACHERS, PREACHERS AND EVANGELISTS! On the outside they carry a FORM OF GODLINESS, they appear in all manner of outward appearance as SINCERE, DEDICATED AND TRUE MEN OF GOD. It is all a façade, a false front, for INWARDLY THEY HAVE NEVER UNDERGONE THE AGAPE LOVE TRANSACTION, THEY HAVE NEVER BEEN REGENERATED. Their religion is all form and pretense, with not one bit of truth or authenticity to it! What makes a man clean is the agape love of Jesus Christ!     “Even so ye also outwardly appear RIGHTEOUS UNTO MEN, BUT WITHIN YE ARE FULL OF HYPOCRISY and INIQUITY.” (Matthew 23:28)     Satan’s “angels of light” appear in all manner of OUTWARD form to be GODLY CHRISTIANS. There is no way you can spot their true identity by a surface inspection. You must travel deeper into their statements of theology and doctrine, for it is here that they contradict their Lord. The “many” were sent away and called “workers of iniquity”, just as Jesus said these religious leaders were full of iniquity. Nothing ever changes, only names and places change, the situation always remain the same, played out in thousands of ways, but always with the same results!     THE CONFUSION OF BABYLON THE GREAT     We are now going to turn our attention to the United States of America and the false prophets and teachers of our land. It may surprise you to learn, and most Christians utterly reject it, THAT THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA IS THE NATION BABYLON THE GREAT. There are over 140 parameters laid down by God in both the Old and New Testament that identify a great END TIME NATION with the CODE NAME BABYLON THE GREAT. A proper study of these parameters will prove to anyone with an open heart and mind, and one who can listen to God, that America is the ONLY NATION ON EARTH to fulfill those parameters. Whether you will receive it or not, AMERICA IS BABYLON THE GREAT, AMERICA IS ALREADY UNDER THE JUDGMENT OF GOD, AND AMERICA IS GOING TO BE UTTERLY DESTROYED, AND THERE IS NO TURNING BACK, THERE WILL BE NO REPENTANCE, IT IS OVER, SEALED, AND DONE. If the time schedules given to us by the Old Testament prophets are correct, and can be taken in a literal sense, America will not be here much longer.   It is a concept UTTERLY REJECTED BY ALMOST ALL PROPHETIC SCHOLARS AND CHRISTIANS. That is precisely and exactly what God said would HAPPEN IN BABYLON. They would refuse their identity; they would refuse to FACE WHO AND WHAT THEY ACTUALLY ARE. Babylon is the VERY HEIGHT OF APOSTASY, ARROGANCE, PRIDE AND SIN AND REBELLION AGAINST THE WORD OF GOD. God has a very special message for EVERY SINGLE CHRISTIAN MINISTER, PREACHER BOY, EVANGELIST AND TEACHER OF FALSE DOCTINE. Read it, heed it, REPENT OR YOU WILL PERISH:     “MY PEOPLE (THE CHRISTIANS) HATH BEEN LOST SHEEP:   THEIR SHEPHERDS (PASTORS, TEACHERS, EVANGELISTS) HAVE CAUSED THEM TO GO ASTRAY (TO GO OUT OF THE WAY), THEY HAVE TURNED THEM AWAY ON THE MOUNTAINS:   THEY HAVE GONE FROM MOUNTAIN TO HILL, THEY HAVE FORGOTTEN THEIR RESTING PLACE.” (Jeremiah 50:6)     God declares that in the latter day Babylon, a nation filled with a very rich people, who live in luxury and have every need and want satisfied, ARE LOST SHEEP. It sounds very much like a replay of the Laodicean Church that knowest not it is not heaven bound. GOD’S PEOPLE ARE LOST SHEEP. Sheep in this case refers to CHRISTIANS IN THE CHRISTIAN ERA. The statement is blunt: THEY ARE LOST. Why are they LOST, God?   BECAUSE THEIR SHEPHERDS (READ LEADERS OF THE CHURCH) have LED THEM ASTRAY. To lead one astray is TO DECEIVE ONE, OR TO MAKE ONE GO OUT OF THE WAY. Because there is only ONE WAY, then WHAT WAY DO THE SHEPHERDS LEAD THEM AWAY FROM? You guessed it, the NARROW WAY. If you do not believe it, read on, for God is very precise about what they do: THEY TURNED THEM AWAY ON THE MOUNTAINS.   What does God mean when He says they turned them away upon the mountains? What is the opposite of a mountain? A VALLEY. In Christian terminology, WHAT IS A MOUNTAIN TOP EXPERIENCE? Is it not a GREAT EMOTIONAL HIGH? Do you not hear the phrase LIVE HIGH UPON THE MOUNTAINS WITH GOD? RISE ABOVE IT ALL, AND REACH OUT TO CLIMB THE MOUNTAIN? IT IS THE EXPERIENCE OF GREAT JOY AND LAUGHTER. In short, the mountain top is an ALL POSITIVE GOSPEL. It is an all positive experience, all spiritual highs, and so His people are turned on to a FALSE GOSPEL FILLED WITH JOY AND LAUGHTER, OR MOUNTAIN AND HILLTOP EXPERIENCES. HIS PEOPLE ARE LED BY THE FALSE SHEPHERDS INTO THE INSTANT SALVATION GOSPEL, THE “ANON WITH GREAT JOY” GOSPEL.   Remember the ANON WITH GREAT JOY CROWD, in the parable of the sower? They were those who laid hold of the word with GREAT JOY INSTANTLY. Everything IS POSITIVE, EVERYTHING IS INSTANT, EVERYTHING IS A MOUNTAIN TOP OR A HILL TOP EXPERIENCE. The shepherds feed them a gospel that TURNS THEM UPON THE MOUNTAINS. If they are turned upon the mountains, and the hills, THEN DO THEY EVER GO TO THE VALLEY?     If the mountain top experience is all joy and laughter, with great emotional and spiritual highs, a CELEBRATION OF HAPPINESS, then what do you suppose the VALLEY REPRESENTS? The valley is the direct opposite of a mountain. A valley represents the very depths of emotional despair and gloom. It might surprise you to know that the Lord fights His battles in THE VALLEY. The wars of Israel are VALLEY WARS. The valley to the Christian is a time of gloom, doom, despair and agony of the soul. It is a time of mental and soul anguish, pressure and tribulation of the soul, FOR THE WAY IS NARROW. Jesus termed the ONE TRUE WAY, NARROW. The word “narrow” is ‘thlibo’ and it means TO CROWD, PRESS IN UPON, TO AFFLICT, TO CAUSE TRIBULATION, TROUBLE. In short, ANGUISH OF SOUL AND SPIRIT, A ‘VALLEY’ EXPERIENCE.   If you will do a word study of how the word valley is used, you will find there are some incredible nuggets of wisdom to be found in relation to SALVATION IN THE LORD. The narrow way is a VALLEY WAY. Israel was promised the PROMISED LAND. They were to enter in to the Promised Land and claim it for their own. They were to ENTER IN TO GOD’S REST. We will begin where Moses is reminding the leaders of Reuben and Gad that they ought to go over the Jordan and fight with the other tribes. Moses harkens back to their fathers, who refused to enter the Promised Land:     “For when they went up unto THE VALLEY of Eshcol, and SAW THE LAND, they discouraged the heart of the children of Israel, THAT THEY SHOULD NOT GO INTO THE LAND WHICH THE LORD HAD GIVEN THEM…” (Numbers 32:9)     They went unto A VALLEY TO SEE THE PROMISED LAND. And when they saw it, they WOULD NOT ENTER IN. To get to the PROMISED LAND, THEY MUST GO THROUGH THE VALLEY OF ESHCOL TO ENTER IN. And the FATHERS (READ PREACHER BOYS, EVANGELISTS AND TEACHERS) DISCOURAGED THE HEART OF THE CHRISTIANS, AND TOLD THEM THEY SHOULD NOT GO THROUGH THE VALLEY, THEY SHOULD NOT ENTER IN. Is this not what Peter and Christ said would happen? That a whole group of men, POSING AS REAL, BONAFIED CHRISTIAN LEADERS WOULD RISE UP AND TELL THE CHILDREN OF GOD THAT THEY SHOULD NOT ENTER INTO THE STRAIT GATE AND NARROW WAY?   Because the SHEPHERDS TURNED THE FLOCK UNTO THE MOUNTAINS, AND UNTO A  GOSPEL OF EMOTIONAL HIGHS AND GREAT JOY AND LAUGHTER, THEY REFUSED TO ALLOW THEM TO GO INTO THE VALLEY OF THE SHADOW OF DEATH, WHERE THEY SHOULD HAVE GONE.   The prophecy is directed towards the latter day Babylon the Great, which is the United States. It says that BECAUSE THE SHEEP WERE LED UPON THE MOUNTAINS AND HILLS, THEY WERE TURNED ASTRAY, AND LED OUT OF THE WAY. If being upon hills and mountains is OUT OF THE WAY, THEN THE VALLEY IS THE ONLY PLACE LEFT. What is in the valley? God says that because the false shepherds turned them upon the hills and mountains THEY FORGOT THEIR RESTING PLACE. Therefore the resting place must be found in the valley of affliction and trouble. We are commanded in Hebrews to enter into GOD’S REST.   This prophecy against the SHEPHERDS OF THE UNITED STATES, THE PREACHER BOYS, THE EVANGELISTS, THE FALSE TEACHERS AND FALSE PROPHETS IS THAT THEY WOULD COME UP WITH A THEOLOGY THAT WOULD MAKE THE SHEEP OF GOD, THE FOLLOWERS OF CHRIST, FORGET THEIR RESTING PLACE. They would not even know what the REST WAS. They would be fed a line of garbage and would eat of it, rather than the pure Word of God. The word “resting place” is ‘rebets’ and it means COUCH, PLACE OF REPOSE, LAY DOWN, QUIETNESS.     “Thus saith the Lord, STAND YE IN THE WAYS, (THE MANY WAYS OF THE BROAD WAY), AND SEE, AND ASK FOR THE OLD PATHS,   WHERE IS THE GOOD WAY (NARROW)   AND WALK THEREIN,   AND YE SHALL FIND REST FOR YOUR SOULS.   BUT THEY SAID, WE WILL NOT WALK THEREIN.” (Jeremiah 6:16)     The modern preachers, teachers and evangelists of America, preach a FALSE GOSPEL OF PEACE WITH GOD, WHEN THERE IS NO PEACE. THERE IS NO REGENERATION, AND THERE IS NO AGAPE LOVE BESTOWMENT. THEIR THEOLOGY CAUSES THE SHEEP TO TURN ASIDE; AND THEY REFUSE TO ALLOW THEM TO WALK IN THE VALLEY OF THE SHADOW OF DEATH. When any judgment from the Holy Spirit comes upon them, they claim it is A SATANIC ATTACK, AND ATEMPT TO “CAST OUT” that UNHOLY SPIRIT. God says to them: STAND IN THE MULTITUDE OF YOUR WAYS. Look at the multitude of your doctrines, of your theologies in your denominations; LOOK AT THEM AND BE DISMAYED. LOOK AT WHAT YOU HAVE CREATED!   Then when you have REALLY LOOKED AT THE MESS YOU HAVE MADE, ask God for the OLD PATHWAYS, WHERE THE NARROW WAY IS, AND WHEN YOU ONCE AGAIN FIND IT, WALK THEREIN! BUT THEY WOULD NOT. THEY REFUSED TO DO IT, THEY UTTERLY REJECTED THE COUNSEL OF GOD. That is why the vast majority of Christian leaders and Christian lay people perish. THEY WILL NOT WALK THE NARROW WAY. They stiffen their necks, and they invent all types of rationales and excuses TO PROVE THEY DO NOT HAVE TO DO IT. If you will walk the walk of the narrow way, YE SHALL FIND REST FOR YOUR SOULS. The rest of Christ is the REST OF AGAPE LOVE, FOR IN AGAPE LOVE IS REST FROM YOUR LABORS! Part one of the rest of God is the bestowment of AGAPE LOVE.   It is from America that the FALSE GOSPEL, THE LOOK ALIKE GOSPEL COMES FROM AND GOES TO ALL THE WORLD, IT IS PART OF THE BABYLONIAN MYSTERY. It is from America that the false teachers fulfill every single parameter of Peter. It is a gospel of damnation, for it turns the sheep upon the mountains, and Christ said you must Go DOWN TO THE LOWEST ROOM AND WAIT, TO GO DOWN TO THE VALLEY OF THE SHADOW OF DEATH, AND ALLOW THE LORD TO PREPARE FOR YOU A TABLE IN THE PRESENCE OF YOUR ENEMIES. IT IS HERE, IN THE LOWEST ROOM OF DEATH THAT LIFE WILL BE FOUND.    The call of Christ is always the same: We must get down to the reasons behind sin, and not focus on sin itself. Why does man sin? What is there in man that makes him want to do those things that God has clearly told him to avoid? The answer is an evil heart. It is the heart of hearts that Jesus came to repair, and AFTER HAVING ENTERED INTO THE HEART, HE BEGINS TO HEAL THOSE AREAS OF OUR LIVES THAT HAVE BEEN CORRUPTED BY OUR HEART. The Christian ‘religion’ of today, with a totally perverted theology offers no more help to man than any other religion of the world, WHICH IS PRECISELY WHY THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH IS NOW DEEPLY INVOLVED IN PSYCHIATRY AND PSYCHOLOGY, WHOSE FOUNDERS WERE ADMITTED OCCULTISTS. THEY DEAL WITH THE MIND, THE SENSE MAN, THE SOUL MAN. THEY DO NOT, AND CANNOT DEAL WITH THE INNER HEART. In point of fact, there is very little DIFFERENT about Christianity today than the other world religions, which is why they are able to MERGE AND UNIFY WITH EACH OTHER, IN PREPARATION FOR THE FINAL GRAND DELUSION.     “We are CONFOUNDED, BECAUSE WE HAVE HEARD REPROACH: SHAME HATH COVERED OUR FACES: FOR STRANGERS ARE COME INTO THE SANCTUARIES OF THE LORD’S HOUSE.” (Jeremiah 51:51)     The American Church is going to hear REPROACH. THEY ARE GOING TO HEAR SEVERE REBUKE. Their faces shall be covered with shame, FOR THEY ALLOWED STRANGERS, WITH ALIEN DOCTRINES, to enter into their Churches. These strangers were ANGELS OF LIGHT, sent to seduce the Church INTO THE NEW AND WHOLLY FALSE DOCTRINES. These aliens, total strangers to the Lord, took up residence WITHIN THE VERY SANCTUARIES OF THE LORD. They gained entrance because of the FALSE SHEPHERDS, WHICH PAVED THE WAY FOR THE ULTIMATE DELUSION AND DECEPTION. The new age guru’s moved right into every major denomination, and finally once in there they did PERSECUTE the real believers. WOE UNTO YOU, YOU FALSE SHEPHERDS. REPENT! REPENT! REPENT!   Jesus Christ is not a religion. He did not bring another religion. He came to offer man a NEW HEART, A SUPERNATURAL CHANGE BY THE LIVING GOD! The form and ritual of religion do not avail anything today, they are vain and lead to utter ruin. Christ came to put the ax to the root of the human condition, and that root is the hidden innermost heart. The many refused to allow Christ to deal with their heart. They held to a mental and intellectual form of faith that appeared for all the world to be a heart faith, a true heart belief. God allowed that delusion, for these people refused to enter the strait gate and would not walk the narrow way to find life. They refused to face the reproof of God; they refused the judgment of God. They would none of His counsel, and none of His reproof. They refuse to allow their deeds to be judged by God’s standards: AGAPE LOVE. They are all swept into eternal ruin.   We must now examine WHY all of this happened. We have proved in the absolute sense that there is one common denominator in all of what we have researched: THE MANY, THE NON-OVERCOMERS, THE FALSE TEACHERS, PREACHERS AND EVANGELISTS, THE EVIL SERVANTS AND ALL THE OTHERS HAVE ONE THING IN COMMON:   THEY NEVER CAME TO AUTHENTIC REGENERATION   THEY NEVER ENTERED INTO TRUE UNION WITH JESUS CHRIST   THEY WERE NEVER GIVEN A NEW HEART.     So now we are left with a question that WE MUST ANSWER. SO YOU THINK YOU KNOW Jesus, BUT DOES Jesus KNOW YOU? The one common reason EVERYONE MISSES HEAVEN AND GOES INTO ETERNAL RUIN IS WHOLLY DEPENDENT UPON JESUS KNOWING YOU! Your claims to KNOWING JESUS ARE NOT VALID IN THIS THING WE CALL SALVATION.   Do you understand the ramifications of this? It becomes imperative then to find out if there is ANY EVIDENCE WE AS BELIEVERS CAN HAVE THAT PROVES BEYOND ANY DOUBT WHATEVER, THAT JESUS DOES IN FACT KNOW US! If our very salvation depends upon this ONE ITEM, then it would seem that Jesus would tell us what He means when He says HE MUST KNOW US! Indeed He does, and the proofs that He offers are not the proofs given to us today by modern Christian theology whatever. In fact, the proof YOU MUST HAVE IS DENIED BY EVERY MAJOR DENOMINATION IN AMERICA TODAY. They will not enter in, and neither will you if you do not have this one UNMISTAKABLE PROOF.   DOES JESUS KNOW YOU?

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