Siting on the empty bleachers we watched as the sun slowly set over the horizon, behind the ball fields, it’s golden rays bathing the area in beautiful hues of orange and red. Despite the loveliness of the event and surroundings our hearts were heavy as the import of news reported on the Six O’clock News made it’s way home.
Beside me sat a friend who was caught in the midst of grief as her mind tried to comprehend that David Koresh and the others had died in Waco, Texas. Between sobs, she would mutter his name, “David, David, oh my sweet David.” In time she recounted that she and her mother had been members of the Branch Davidians.
She regaled me with memories of David and his teachings. She said he would begin each service holding a worn tattered Bible from years of use in his hands. And give a sermon quoting scriptures and references in rapid succession never once glancing at the Bible. It was if he was quoting the verses that he himself wrote. Not once in all the years under his tutelage did he ever miss quote a single verse. At the end of each sermon he would lay the Bible down on it’s spine which would always open to the specific page which the sermon was based on.
Had it not been for slight modifications of understanding about the verses quoted, she would have been with those people that fateful day. Yet, small changes crept in unaware that changed the focus of the sermons from God and Jesus and put them fully on David, himself.
This is the very thing that the sign this week has given us warning about.
And Jesus answering them began to say, Take heed lest any man deceive you: For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many. Mark 13:5, 6
Matthew 24:5
This sign as all the other “must need be” signs are the tools God uses to adjust attitudes, move people into position to accomplish His will in the End Times. In 2 Timothy 3 God gives us a list of the attitudes of the last days. He says,
This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away. For of this sort are they which creep into houses, and lead captive silly women laden with sins, led away with divers lusts, Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. Now as Jannes and Jambres withstood Moses, so do these also resist the truth: men of corrupt minds, reprobate concerning the faith. But they shall proceed no further: for their folly shall be manifest unto all men, as their’s also was.
2 Timohy 3:1-9
As you will note In 2 Timothy there is an attitude of people who are ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth, having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof. This attitude is accomplished by God through the workings of this sign.
Today in churches throughout the world we have many other teachers/preachers and priests that are claiming the authority and glory that is reserved for the Lord and God, for themselves. Most may never fallen into the depths of claiming Divinity themselves, yet by their actions and teachings they have laid claim to the title in deeds if not words.
Their claim to the Divine allows them to modify the Word to fit their on sinful and selfish desires, leading people astray committing acts of sin that were unthinkable a few short decades ago. Look to your own church and ask when was the last time you heard anything about personal and corporate holiness or even a sermon on the Holiness of God. If you are like me, it’s probably been decades. Yet we’ve been inundated with sermons about the sins of others, being taught to hate the sinners and have the very sin we hate manifest in our own lives. A good example is homosexuality is a sin, yet God in Leviticus places our lustful desires for another in the same category. We all know of affairs in our congregations, unfaithful husband and wives running rampant doing God knows what tearing our families apart. The sounds of the crickets are deafening as nothing is being said or done about these sins.
Here are some questions to ask to see if we are under the leadership of someone claiming to be Christ. If you answer yes to more than two of these, I would recommend seeking God through prayer and meditation for wisdom of finding another body to serve God.
Being caught in a church where this sign is in full force is scary at best. I once was in this position and found that only my only refuge and salvation was to draw closer to God. I did this through prayer (voicing my feelings of unrest) and meditation (studying God’s Word, learning the truth of what He so clearly said), placing my faith that if I follow Him He would honor His own Word. As I grew in my walk with the Lord, I received the strength and wisdom to remove myself from this toxic environment and move to a healthy body where God’s Word was taught and lived by all.
Father,
I was raised in a church that checked all the boxes listed above. Like most I was
afraid to leave the fold to venture out into the great unknown. Your word says
you are my shepherd and I shall not want, though I walk through the valley of the
shadow of death, I will fear not evil: for thou art with me. Lord help me to move
closer to my shepherd, for it is there that I find the comfort and wisdom needed
to face this life. I do this because I want to be more like you son, Jesus. It’s in
His Holy name I ask this.
Amen
Teaching the End of Wickedness 