Years ago, I had a very disturbing dream.
In the dream, I was standing along a great river that was at flood stage. It was a perilous river, and I was standing in a small jut in the embankment. The waters where I stood were only a few inches deep and there was only a slight swirl in the waters. But if I had only stepped forward a few steps, I would have quickly been swept away into the fierce, deep, treacherous current and drowned.
There is no way I could have resisted the destructive force of the swift river current.
There is no way I could have resisted the destructive force of the swift river current.
More important than the sight of the river was the sense that I was being warned by God against getting caught in the currents of popular religious trends. I had no doubts whatever that the dangerous river represented the popular but unbiblical and undoctrinal practices that were sweeping away Christians by multitudes. I knew that if I got caught in the current of popular religious trends, I would not survive. I would lose my bearings and be lost forever.
I know of only one way to interpret the dream.
STAY OUT OF THE RIVER OF POPULAR RELIGIOUS TRENDS.
They are deadly. They are overcharged with carnality, worldliness and Satan's most sophisticated spiritual deceptions. Once you get caught in the heavy current of popular trends, it will be as if you have no control over yourself. Do not risk your eternal soul by being swept away by unscriptural, unholy teachings of men and women who do not even know the great Truths of the Bible.
The story of my life is one of spiritual warfare - trying to survive and rise above the countless errors of religion. If you are indiscriminate about your religion - if you do not put your religion to the rigorous test of true Bible doctrine - then it is almost 100% certain that you will be lost.
You cannot afford to measure your Church by its popularity, by the popularity of the Preacher, by the size of the crowd, by the amount of money that is coming into it, NOT EVEN by the signs, wonders and miracles that may be performed. (The Bible is exceedingly clear that there will be FALSE workers in the last days who are able to imitate and emulate all the signs, wonders and miracles of true believers).
“Now as Jannes and Jambres withstood Moses [also turning their rods into snakes], so do these also resist the truth: men of corrupt minds, reprobate concerning the faith,” 2 Timothy 3:8.
So, miracles do not prove that a Church is on the right track. Beware, and be prepared to abandon ship.
ONLY the Bible and true Bible doctrine can legitimize a Church, a Preacher or a Saint.
If your doctrine is wrong, you had better get it right. And fast. Time is running out. We are fast approaching the end of the age.
I am watching entire movements fall into the abyss of false doctrines and heresies. I am watching Pentecostal people turn away from Pentecostalism and embrace non-Pentecostal beliefs. That is the ultimate slam against the Book of the Acts of the Apostles - and a grand slap in God's face.
I see multitudes walking away from holiness and separation from the world in cold-blooded denial of Paul's admonition that without holiness, "NO MAN shall see the Lord," (Hebrews 12:13).
I even see, for the first time in the history of the world, Christians embracing and approving of homosexuality - which for thousands of years has been known as an abomination in the eyes of God.
Too many religious leaders have created a FALSE DEFENSE of doing what they do in the name of evangelism and winning the lost. They have deceived themselves into thinking that God cares more about larger numbers than in obeying His commandments and doing His will. They use a phony, pretentious assault on "legalism" to sear their consciences of any convictions against worldliness and carnality.
There is a ghastly error there.
When the Church ceases to stand firm for TRUTH, RIGHTEOUSNESS, and HOLINESS, it has completely lost its mandate from God.
You cannot save the lost with false doctrine, lies, carnality and worldliness.
You cannot make a Church better by adding football, dramas, concerts, high-tech websites or any such peripherals. For all practical purposes, you make it worse, because you begin to rely on carnal activities and manifestations rather than spiritual.
If we can't produce a revival with the preaching of Truth, then we will just have to forgo the revival, because a LIE cannot and will not ever produce a real revival.
Carnally-minded leaders cannot lead men to a godly spiritual destination.
Disobedient men cannot be trusted to teach obedience.
Men who are in error cannot be trusted to be vendors of Truth.
God sends His ministers to preach TRUTH. But He also sends seducers and deceivers to stumble every man and woman who does not love Truth, but has pleasure in unrighteousness.
"And for this cause 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.
Any time you discover that the minister is not adhering to sound Bible doctrines, it is time to abandon that minister and that Church - regardless of how many ties you may have or how long you have been associated with it. (That of course requires that you KNOW what the Bible says. If you do not know what the Bible says, it is nearly impossible that you will not be taken in by every whim of false doctrine and deception.)
Paul taught Timothy that many are caught in "the snare of the devil," and are "taken captive by him AT HIS WILL," 2 Timothy 2:26. If you are not well-versed in the true Word of God, you are Satan's easy prey. Deliver yourself from his snare before you fall into it.
It is better to live for God FRIENDLESS than to maintain a friendship with someone who will certainly lead you to hell. In my sixty years, I have had to walk away from many friends and associates on several occasions because of my concern for my eternal soul. AND... I will do it again and again, if and when it ever becomes necessary.
I owe no allegiance to anybody who will lead me to Hell.
ONLY the Bible is infallible. We read too many non-Biblical books and listen to too many neo-Christian and pseudo-Christian voices. If we spent as much time reading the Bible, praying, and living a holy life as we spend reading other points of view, and listening to non-Biblical voices, we would soon discover just how deceived we have been.
Do NOT take your cues from "contemporary" leaders with fancy methods and messages.
Popular movements are not holy. Holy movements are not popular.
There is no reason for a man of God to take his cues from pseudo-Christian or neo-Christian voices. There is more than enough Gospel to preach – STRAIGHT FROM THE PAGES OF THE BIBLE!
The best place for a man of God to get his message and his ministry is on his knees with his Bible open.
A man of God must know the Word of God, and PREACH the Truth, the whole Truth, and nothing but the Truth.
Stand on solid ground.
Stay out of the swift river current!
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