Month: January 2016

Jer 23: 16-17 NLT

This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies says to his people: “Do not listen to these prophets when they prophesy to you, filling you with FUTILE HOPES. They are MAKING UP everything they say. They do not speak for the Lord! They keep saying to those who DESPISE MY WORD, ‘Don’t worry! The Lord says you will have peace!’ And to those who stubbornly follow their own desires, they say, ‘No harm will come your way!’

Jeremiah, best known as the weeping prophet, started his ministry around 627 BC during the reign of Josiah and continued to the eleventh year of Zedekiah. He prophesied during the last forty years of Judah and he witnessed the fall of Jerusalem and the deportation of Jews to Babylon.

His mission was to speak against the apostasy of his days and the coming judgment. His messages were so unwelcome that he faced so much persecution from both kings and common folk. The people even accused him of being a traitor for only bringing messages of reproof, warning and judgment. The people continued in their normalcy bias ways preferring to hear the feel good messages of the false prophets.

How ironic that the same is happening today again !

Against the backdrop of the warning of our Lord Jesus and the apostles to guard against spiritual apostasy, inordinate fear of calamities and persecution in the last days, most are so indifferent like in the days of Noah. They do not eagerly expect the return of Him and fall prey easily to the seducing feel good messages of hyper-grace teachers in indulging in dissipation.

Notice how similar are the seducing feel good messages of the hyper-grace teachers today with the messages of the false prophets in Jeremiah’s days telling them not to worry about the admonishing words and warnings of Jesus and that no harm will come their way when they follow their carnal desires as these are promises to be claimed from God.

Luke 16:13-18
“No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.” 14 The Pharisees, who loved money, heard all this and were sneering at Jesus. 15 He said to them, “You are the ones who justify yourselves in the eyes of others, but God knows your hearts. What people value highly is detestable in God’s sight. 16 “The Law and the Prophets were proclaimed until John. Since that time, the good news of the kingdom of God is being preached, and everyone is forcing their way into it. 17 It is easier for heaven and earth to disappear than for the least stroke of a pen to drop out of the Law. 18 “Anyone who divorces his wife and marries another woman commits adultery, and the man who marries a divorced woman commits adultery.

In the eyes of Jewish society then, the Pharisees were outwardly pious Jews who honoured God through their exemplary life in being blameless in keeping the Law. Yet inwardly they loved money. Though they justified well in the eyes of the Jewish society, God was not impressed at all knowing that they saw godliness as a way of gain.

So when Jesus taught that no one can serve both God and Money, they sneered at Him. These Pharisees could profess love for God outwardly but inwardly their real god was Money.

Jesus went on to teach that the old covenant was from Moses to John the Baptist and the new covenant had begun. And everyone had to force his way into the kingdom through jumping over the obstacles set up by the Pharisees. John the Baptist’s message of repentance centered on repentance from the sins of cheating and extortion originating from love of money and believers had to literally force their way in overcoming their covetous or greedy tendency to contentment. Luke 3:7-14.

But with the advent of the new covenant, it does not mean the moral Law or values will be discarded. So Jesus taught that it is easier for heaven and earth to disappear than for the least stroke of a pen to drop out the Law.

I believe our Lord mentioned the law of marriage to expose the spiritual adultery of the Pharisees in believing they could have the best of both worlds. It is wishful thinking that they could worship both God and Money.

How similar are the modern day hyper grace false teachers with the Pharisees of old, though they preached two opposite extreme variants of the true gospel  !

1. They can be so spiritual on the outside but inwardly they love money.
2. They see godliness as a way of gain.  They preach a message of piety in tithing and giving, though one went further to stoke the covetousness of their followers through miracle seed teaching.
3. They trivialize or discard the law in order to justify covetousness.

A decade and a half ago when I was in the corporate world, my good friend in the IT industry hired a general manager to manage his business. He would speak so well of my friend in front of business associates every time. It almost seemed to the listeners that he hero-worshipped my friend. One evening when we were having drinks in a pub, he got drunk and started cursing my friend to my shocking surprise.

I was upset with his hypocritical attitude that I disclosed everything to my friend. I was even more surprised that my friend continued to keep him in employment. Not because he performed well but that he admitted he liked his praises in front of business associates !

It is clear to me that it is definitely possible to praise someone all the time for personal gain but it is not true to his heart. In real life drama, such hypocrisy is often played out among the rich descendants hoping to have a share of the inheritance from the patriarch.

This is what our Lord Jesus said in Matt 15:8-9 concerning this possible hypocritical attitude :
“This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me; in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.”

Similarly today, do not be surprised that the hyper grace false teachers continually give Christ exalting messages and feel good messages. But their hearts are far away from Jesus. It is possible to praise and exalt Jesus in words all the time but it will be very difficult to conceal their hypocrisy in deeds.

Matt 7: 15-16
“Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will recognize them by their fruits…”

Our Lord mentioned this fruit or the lack of it to know if one is with Him or otherwise. So watch for the fruit of the false prophets or teachers.

John 14:21,23; 12:47-48
“Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me…Whoever does not love me does not keep my words…If anyone hears my words and does not keep them, I do not judge him; for I did not come to judge the world but to save the world. The one who rejects me and does not receive my words has a judge; the word that I have spoken will judge him on the last day.”

So how can the hyper grace false teacher really love Jesus when they brush aside all the clear teachings of Jesus and worse still, twist them to mean the opposite of what He taught or trivialize them ? There is also no intention to follow Him as a disciple on His terms given so clearly in Luke 9:23-26 and Luke 14:25-33. Much less to participate in the suffering of Christ !

It is also interesting to note from the above story of mine that one can ignore all wrongdoing as long as he hears flattering words. Similarly the hyper grace believers may be so side blinded by all the feel good messages that speak to their carnal desires that they fail to note the clear hypocrisy of the false teachers.