Tuesday, July 30, 2013

The Sin of Adultery

Desire: The Fuel to Sinful and Lustful Behavior

Back to our message for today, the Lord said He warned us in His Word about adultery and this sin is practiced without regard for His word by many Christians. It is a fact, the sin of adultery is well committed in the church today and like all other sins, it is orchestrated and motivated by demons. In an article we wrote on our website (The Sin of Idolatry), we biblically chronicled how and mentioned how Satan controls the world through wicked man. Equally, God has provided His Word to guide our behavior, lives and conscience. Additionally, the Word of God or commandment as Apostle Paul aptly put it (Romans 7:13) has been given so that we may understand and recognize sinful habits and behavior. As we know, the Lord has provided the Scriptures and therein are life giving teachings and warnings against every sin committed by people under Heaven. As we introduce this subject, we need to be reminded that sin came into the world through an act of disobedience and rebelliousness (Romans 5:19). This rebelliousness first came through Satan (Genesis 3: 1-6) and since he is the tempter (Matthew 4:3), he spreads his dominion of disobedience by affecting people’s choices and thus leading them into temptation and sin against God (Ephesians 2:2). Now since any wrong doing must be driven by some desire there must be a temper present to draw us into submission and the execution of the sinful act. It is therefore save to say that a sinful act is preceded by a demonic influence(Luke 22:3; 2 Chronicles 18:22).

This understanding has been confirmed by the Lord in some of the visions we shared above on how Satan speaks and influences us to sin. Brethren, this teaching is not a myth, Satan operates and works through the spirit of desire, and in our present situation desire is what we need to gratify our cravings at that point in time (2 Samuel 11:2-4; Genesis 3:6). It is clear from the bible’s explanation that through some of our senses, in the above scriptures through seeing an appetite (desire) was created before engagement. What I am saying is this we humans have feelings, cravings and basic wants. Now in an event of a want to be satisfied our feelings respond to the desire at hand as a motivation to the benefits and this leads us to irrationalize the consequences in exchange to the benefits. In other words, we would rather go against the command of our conscience in disobedience to satisfy the needs of our cravings (Hebrews 10:2). As people of faith, we have the Holy Spirit who convicts us by making us feel guilt-stricken or making us feel uneasy and not at peace (2 Samuel 24:10) and the Word of God as a shield which informs our conscience against acts of disobedience (Joshua 1:8).

Adultery and its Consequences

Let us briefly define and explain the term adultery from a scriptural context. Adultery is often defined as any voluntary sexual intercourse between someone who is married with a person whom he/she is not married to. However, besides the physical act of engaging in adultery the Lord’s standards are actually much higher and He says that if anyone man or woman looks at the other person lustfully, he or she has already committed adultery with that person in his or her heart (Matthew 5:27-28). (Today, this includes watching pornography or movies/TV programs, as well as reading "adult-themed" content in magazines or the Internet). This is a directly forbidden practice by the Lord Jesus Christ.This sin is as evil and unacceptable as murder, theft and idolatry (Revelation 21:8). It carries the same punishment as all the other sins. In the Old Testament, men and women who committed this sin were put to death (Deuteronomy 22:22). Adultery is not just confined to the above definition. The Lord also warned that if a man divorced his wife because of lusting another woman and remarries to conceal his adulterous ways he is acting unfaithfully (Luke 16:18).

We need to understand, when a man and woman enters into marriage, the vows we take happens in God’s Presence. It is He who ordained marriage between a husband and wife, and He acts as a witness to this holy oneness (Matthew 19:4-9; Malachi 2:14-16). God does not honour and bless a second marriage unless someone divorced and remarried because of marital unfaithfulness (Matthew 5:32). The Lord does not become a Witness between us if we have broken faith and had gone against the counsel of His Word and commandment (Malachi 2:14-16). His plan for marriage was for it to be a permanent agreement (covenant) marriage between one man and one woman, and the two becoming one flesh, as it was in the beginning with Adam and Eve (Genesis 2:21-25). In the Bible, covenants were not meant to be broken under any circumstances – for example when the Gibeonites deceived the Israelites into signing a covenant, they had to live with the consequences of their agreement (Joshua 9:14-20), to the extent that when Gibeonites were under attack, the Israelites had to defend them since they had signed a covenant (Joshua 10:3-10). However, when King Saul in his zeal for Israel broke the conditions of the covenant that Joshua and the elders of Israel made with the Gibeonites by an oath in God’s Presence, the Lord struck the land with a crippling famine that lasted three successive years (Joshua 9:14-15;2 Samuel 21:1). Brethren, from what I observed in some people’s second marriages, there is no peace and unity. There are always some family feuds and insecurity and often the children are on the receiving end of such conflict. As it is, peace from God is absent as a result of our disobedience to Him (Isaiah 48:22).

Shamefully, today’s generation see marriage as a contract (conditional and revocable), as opposed to a covenant (unconditional and irrevocable).Moses permitted the Israelites to divorce because of their hardened hearts (Matthew 19:8-9; Malachi 2:13-14), but the Lord Himself indicated that He hates divorce (Malachi 2:16). As believers under the new covenant, we should not harden our hearts but rather have hearts of flesh (Ezekiel 11:19; 36:26) and be willing to love and forgive, since Unforgiveness, lustfulness and jealousy are bitter roots and causes of divorce. As the scriptures teaches, if we don’t forgive others of their sins, the Lord also not forgive us our sins (Luke 6:37, Matthew 6:12).

Forgiveness and Salvation for Remarried People

First, let’s consider the following scriptural guidance. My wife and I have been counselling a close relative back in 2011 regarding marriage. He had a desire to serve the Lord but he was not legally divorced from his previous wife and was living in sin with another woman. Since the bible forbids divorce and remarriage except through marital unfaithfulness we were lost on how to help him find a solution. So we turned to the Lord and He said, My son Adrian must do the right thing”. By this the Lord meant that he should obey the Scriptures, by either reconciling with his estrange wife or remaining single (1 Corinthians 7:11). Similarly, after learning how good the Lord was to us a single mother who lived in with a married man asked if she may join our prayer group. We honestly didn’t want to hurt her after seeing her enthusiasm, we had to obey the Lord and we counselled her to first make right with the Lord and repent from the sin of adultery. Our Christian duty was to correct her scripturally to do the right thing and to come serve the Lord in peace and a clear conscience. Because sin is so deceitful and addictive, she never followed our counsel. Brethren, this is breaking the heart of the Lord, there are many people who desire to serve the Lord but at the same time they don’t want to let go of their sins we cannot serve God and the cravings of sin at the same time (Matthew 6:24).

Consequently, I know some worldly people might construe our correction to the lady as judging. We were not judging her instead, we applied the scriptures to correct her. It is our Christian duty to use the Sword of the Spirit as a measuring rod to dispel error. In addition to what the Scriptures teach on correcting others (2 Timothy 4:2; Galatians 6:1; 1 Timothy 5:20; Hebrews 10:24; 2 Thessalonians 3:15). The Lord also confirming this through a vision we shared on our website recently, please see Warning: Do Not Use The Lord’s Name in Vain!. His word does the judging and not us or the one issuing the correction.

Briefly, regarding divorce, one faithful sister in our ministry requested us to ask the Lord if she may divorce her husband because of his infidelities and abuse. In reply the Lord discouraged her not to seek a divorce instead He told her to just continue praying for her husband, she obeyed and the Lord brought them back together.

Thank you for reading to thus far, and now for the answer we have all been waiting for. Now somewhere in this world someone is asking, “What if I am divorced and I remarried does that mean I am excluded from becoming a born-again Christian?” Good question! and I know there are many such people out there wanting answers on this important matter. I surely do not like to be seen as misrepresenting the word of God here, nor do I want to be seen “shutting the Kingdom in people’s faces” (Matthew 23:13 NIV). In all the Bible, no direct provision has been made for incidents like this except for marital unfaithfulness, as we discussed above (Matthew 5:32) and I have no authority to teach otherwise.

However, during my bible study sessions I was drawn to the following bible verse and I wondered if it does not apply to people who remarried before they became born again.Was anyone called while circumcised? Let him not become uncircumcised. Was anyone called while uncircumcised? Let him not be circumcised. Circumcision is nothing and uncircumcision is nothing, but keeping the commandments of God is what matters (1 Corinthians 7:18-20). Like I said above, I have been wondering for a long time on the fate of Christians who married, divorced and remarried. As much as I knew they must be living in disobedience by divorcing and remarrying. It also disturbed me to know that there must be some forgiveness for them and the Lord did not close the door of salvation on them. I just did not want to wrongly apply the above scripture to their situation since it does not explicitly say so. In our petition to the Lord Jesus Christ regarding remarried and divorced people He gave the following directives in the two short visions below.

“On the 31st of July 2013, we prayed in agreement as a family and my father asked me to ask the Lord if 1 Corinthians 7:17-24 applies to people who were once married, divorced and remarried. That evening during the Lord’s regular visits, I saw the Lord coming down from Heaven on a cloud and He had a pure white robe on with a sash across His chest reading KING OF KINGS and LORD OF LORDS. He was standing at the usual place where we meet every night. But this time, I was standing in front of the Lord with my Bible open on the 1 Corinthians 7:17-24. While the Lord was standing there, I asked the Lord the question my father phrased for me (see above) while I pointed with my finger to the above verse in the Bible just as we agreed in prayer. Without hesitation, the Lord answered and said, YES this Scripture does apply to people in that situation. I said, “Thank you Lord” and the Lord said, It’s a Pleasure My daughter and the Lord told me to tell my father to put it on the website. After this I closed my Bible put it under my arms and just as I left I saw how the Lord ascended up to Heaven.” End of vision.

Being concerned by a possible abuse of this condition. We also asked the Lord to issue a warning as there might be people who uses the Lord’s grace as a means to indulge in sin. In emphasize, this condition strictly applies to people who were divorced and remarried before they became Christians. In other words, their divorce and remarriage happened before they knew the Lord. He grants them this condition to allow them salvation too. Here follows the Lord’s WARNING:

“I was given a follow up vision on adultery as a warning by the Lord to Christians in the early hours of August 5, 2013. I saw myself in a pure white room and in the room were a memory stick and a DVD player suspended in midair. I took the flash drive and inserted it into the DVD player. At once, I heard a recorded message saying, People who know My teachings and disobey Me and do wrong things will be severely punished. For confirmation, I asked, “Is it the Lord Jesus speaking” and the voice said through the recording, Yes it is the Lord Jesus Christ speaking, go now and don’t forget”. I replied and said, “Yes Lord, I will tell my father.” Vision ended.

Remember brethren if we are called by the Lord we will not continue in sin (1 John 3:9).

Through the above vision and warning, every Christian who disobeys and use this Scripture to remarry will be subject to judgement and punishment. Do not play with your salvation, obey the Lord! For your convenience we reference the entire scripture below, this is how this Scripture (1 Corinthians 7:17-24) reads:

“17 But as God has distributed to each one, as the Lord has called each one, so let him walk. And so I ordain in all the churches. 18 Was anyone called while circumcised? Let him not become uncircumcised. Was anyone called while uncircumcised? Let him not be circumcised. 19 Circumcision is nothing and uncircumcision is nothing, but keeping the commandments of God is what matters. 20 Let each one remain in the same calling in which he was called. 21 Were you called while a slave? Do not be concerned about it; but if you can be made free, rather use it. 22 For he who is called in the Lord while a slave is the Lord’s freedman. Likewise he who is called while free is Christ’s slave. 23 You were bought at a price; do not become slaves of men. 24 Brethren, let each one remain with God in that state in which he was called.

Yours in Peace,

Brother Glenn

Tuesday, July 23, 2013

The Sin of Idolatry

The Deceit of Idolatry

The online dictionary briefly defines Idolatry as “Extreme admiration, love, or reverence for something or someone”.

The Lord has given us a message this morning to WARN you about Idolatry. Before we expand on this subject, let us Scripturally examine God’s warning against such a practice.

“You shall not make for yourself an idol, whether in the form of anything that is in Heaven above, or that is on the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I the Lord your God am a jealous God…” (Exodus 20:4-5 ESV).

“Again, the devil took Him to a very high mountain and showed Him all the Kingdoms of the world and their glory. And he said to Him “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me”. Then Jesus said to him, “Be gone, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God and Him only shall you serve’”(Matthew 4:8-10 ESV). 

Also, “This people honor me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me; in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.” And He called the people to Him and said to them, “Hear and understand…”” (Matthew 15:8-10 ESV).

As it is, there are countless Scriptures dealing with idol worship, so we will limit ourselves to the above verses. In the Old Testament we read how people made cast images and worshipped these objects (Isaiah 44:9-20). We are further warned in the New Testament to refrain from idolatry (Galatians 5:19-21; 1 John 5:21). Furthermore, from Augustus’ time, in the first century some Roman Emperors were deified by vote of the Senate. It is also recorded in history that towards the close of the first century, Emperor Domitian attempted to compel his subjects to worship him (New Testament Survey by Merrill C. Tenney). This however, had great value for the Roman state in that it unified patriotism, and worship made the support of the state a religious duty. This was the totalitarianism of the first century. We refer to history to understand the current state of idolatry.

What We Idolize

From the Scriptures, we are taught that the world system is setup and run by Satan (1 John 5:19; 2 Corinthians 4:4; Matthew 4:8-9). As it is, the devil subtly created a religious system of good works to run counter to the Christian way of life so that people’s conscience may be eased. For example, various bodies have been set up around the world as ‘charities’ to serve the poor and needy in the name of some organisation. This is to rally unity and ultimately totalitarianism. I might sound political but in Jesus’ Name, the devil sits behind the world political system. He controls the wealth of the world and greedy churches and individuals are swept away by this deception. We are taught to look to ourselves or some world figure to make life pleasant for us and our families. The devil, through the world system, has taken Christ Jesus completely out of human affairs. Since the first century, true Christians were and are still severely persecuted for non-compliance. To true followers of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord says, Come follow Me (Matthew 4:19).

Today, through the world system under Satan’s influence, we are led away from the Lord through name brand goods, television, technology, sports stars, celebrities and world leaders. The truth is, many Christians do not follow the Bible teachings anymore, and they only hear the voice of their own appetites and the world (Satan). In the Old Testament we read that people were "imported" to Samaria by Sargon King of Assyria (2 Kings 17: 27-29). An Israeli priest was sent to teach the new immigrants the word of God. They worshipped the Lord, but they also continued to worship their own gods. Equally, Christians are likewise deceived to serve the Lord but also follow the world system.

The Lord showed me that prominent Christian leaders who have been honoured by the world system are being used by Satan as ‘bait’ to lure the unsuspecting masses into the antichrist world system. Furthermore, if you are a born again Christian and you follow the life and lifestyle of ungodly people you are practicing idolatry. I’ll be forthright: you are conveniently, through a worldly attitude, being led astray to idolatry. Subtly, Satan has worked his way into the church through the government. This is at times achieved through some concessions and funding, so that we soften or refrain speaking out on certain evil practices.

In a powerful vision which we shared with you some time ago, the Lord showed Charis how a prominent pastor and an eloquent speaker of the Word stands condemned already, even though he is still preaching and winning souls today. The heading of this vision is Vision of Christians Back-sliding (Apostasy)’, given November 25, 2012. It includes judgement pronounced upon hypocritical pastors.

I wrote to him to warn him about this vision but he never replied. I can only pray for him. He is in the world system and encourages and listens to worldly music. This is idolatry! To God and our Lord and Saviour Christ Jesus be the Glory ONLY! Not to man or some brand name or image. I therefore challenge you my brethren, who do you want to follow: the world or Christ Jesus? You choose!

Remember, following Christ attracts ridicule and persecutions, but He sternly said, For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for My sake will find it” (Matthew 16:25). The Lord calls you and tells you to break faith with the world. We may live in this world and work in this world, but we should follow Christ Jesus as our model and His teachings. If your church leader or world leader does not point you to follow or depend on Jesus Christ, then you are being led astray and encouraged to follow the world system; and if you follow the world system, you essentially follows Satan. If you do, you will join forces with him to persecute those who only obey the Lord. We endure a lot of persecution and scorn as individuals and as a ministry. I would like to humbly add: we will not allow the world to judge us using their standard. We live according to the Scriptures from which the Lord measured out truth for us to live by.

In conclusion, do not fear the devil or those who follow his system. You have the truth, faith and the Lord as your impenetrable shield. The Lord told us that because we choose to follow Him and not the world “They will hate you because of Me, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved” (Matthew 10:22 NIV). If you are a Christian and you obey the world's system more than the Lord, watch out because you have compromised your salvation! We do not just read the Word of God as comfort when we are troubled, but we must DO what the Scripture dictates (James 1:22).

Throw therefore away everything that idolizes somebody or something. I know of some believers who idolize their pastors more than the Lord; they would rather follow every word they say more than what stands written in the Bible. This is idolatry and a faith based on the pastor more than Christ.

If you would like to repent from your sins including idolatry and begin a relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ, please begin by praying this Prayer of Sincere Repentance. For any questions or comments on this article or our ministry, please contact us.

Yours in Christ’s service,
Brother Glenn.

Monday, July 8, 2013

Conquering the Devil

Brief note to the reader: This message is very important and it is meant to help you in your walk with the Lord. We base our teaching on Scriptural evidence and actual experiences we have with the Lord. Let me reiterate that we do not call for obedience to us or our teaching, but to the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the One you must obey in order to secure a place in His Kingdom. Our message is to help you in your preparation so that you may be Heaven ready!

“They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death” (Revelation 12:11 NIV).

Brethren, I am not writing this article as a confession of having conquered the devil already. The struggle for my soul is still continuing as long as I am in this body (Philippians 1:22). Nor is the information here the only or better way to conquer the devil. This article is meant to build you up in the Lord and to help you to be better equipped to overcome the devil (Philippians 4:8). If our motive is to win you over to us, then that is not from the Lord. But if our testimony is to bring Glory to the Lord Jesus Christ, then our motives are not self-seeking.

The Nature of Satan

Before we point to positive aspects of conquering the devil, it would serve us right to first look at his mannerisms.
  • The Scripture declares that the devil is a liar by nature, meaning no truth can ever come from him (John 8:44).
  • The Devil is a murderer, and when he kills he acts from this nature (John 8:44).
  • He is a deceiver, meaning he misleads us to wrong doing in rebellion against the TRUTH (Revelation 20:7-8).
  • Satan is a tempter (Matthew 4:1).
  • He is a sinner (1 John 3:8).
  • The devil has no love (1 John 3:12-15).
  • He is the father of the unbelieving and disobedient (Ephesians 2:2; John 8:44-45).
  • Satan controls the world and the ungodly (1 John 5:19).
  • The devil uses fear to lead us to submission (1 John 4:18).
  • The devil has no life in himself to give eternal life (1 John 5:11-12; John 5:26).
The above is only a snapshot and the list can go on and on. We therefore limit ourselves to Scriptural evidence of Satan’s being. I alluded in our “Deliverance through Jesus Christ Part I” article that we are all influenced and controlled by demonic spirits, whether we are Christian or unsaved. I declare, the devil works in each one of us. You might say, “Surely I am clean, there is no devil in me!” I would protest and say, “Are you perfect in your ways and without sin?” Most definitely, Not! The Scripture convicts us that if we sin, we are from the devil; so it's him who influences us into wrong doing and controls some of our behavior (1 John 3:8). In other words, all wrong doing is sin and the devil has a hand in it. This is where most Christians get it wrong; they think that by just merely rebuking the devil, that is the end of Satan. We are deceiving ourselves! The devil is the father of sin and he has a right to sinful conduct (John 8:44). In his appetite for wrong doing, he will lead us into rebellion against God (Revelation 20:7-10). No human being is safe from the devil; we witnessed via a vision to you last week how the devil works and control even little children. Furthermore, the devil is here in this world to stay and we just need to know how to conquer and overcome him.

How Do We Conquer The Devil?

The Lord has provided a lot of weapons for us to use in our fight with Satan. While all weapons provided by the Lord are mighty, the most powerful is the power of choice or will (Genesis 3:2-3). The spirit of faith is rendered useless if man does not subject himself to God (James 4:7). Faith in God is TRUSTING God for who He is, without any reservations. We are also encouraged in Scripture to continuously practice self-denial (Matthew 16:24). Without surrendering our own will to Christ, we will not be able to conquer the devil. Instead, Satan uses our will (ego) to give us credit, but leads us into rebellion against God (Genesis 3:4-5). If we have fully surrendered to Christ, the life we lead will be in obedience to Him (Galatians 2:20). We must DO as He says no matter the cost, and only then are we truly conquerors (Acts 21:13).

Some of the weapons we can use to overcome Satan and sin are:
  • First of all, surrendering to Christ (Matthew 16:24-27).
  • Being humble by admitting our sinfulness and short-comings (Colossians 3:12).
  • Being truthful in speech and conduct (Ephesians 6:14; John 17:17).
  • We must have faith in God’s ability (Hebrews 11:6).
  • We must act out of love for God (John 14:15).
  • We must obey His every word (John 14:21-23).
  • Prayer is the key to all problems (Matthew 26:41; Daniel 2:16-18).
  • The Holy Spirit convicts us of sin through Word knowledge (Joshua 1:8; 2 Peter 2:2).
  • The Holy Spirit is in our lives for conviction, gifts and guidance (Acts 17:11; John 16:8-11).
If we set our hearts in doing these, we will be more than conquerors (Romans 8:37). We know that the devil is extremely cunning and he is skillful in tricking us into wrong doing. Our defeat by Satan is almost guaranteed if we walk in disobedience and are being judges of ourselves. Another weapon Satan uses is laziness; we have written an article on how Satan uses laziness to conquer believers. There is also the sin of pride, a powerful weapon of the devil; some Christians would rather hold on to sinful conduct due to prideful disobedience and wrong beliefs than to submit in humility to correction.

A short testimony: Before I came to the Lord, I was open to all sorts of wrong doing just like the unsaved. But when the conviction of the Lord fell upon me, I felt ashamed of the things I did and I repented. I listened to the Lord through my conscience and started practicing His Word, which includes all of the above as weapons to keep me safe from Satan and sin. Having said that, am I perfect? No! I do make mistakes and being in this body of sin, the self does manifest from time to time, but I do not give up the fight for my soul; if I did that, I would have lost my battle for life through disobedience. I therefore choose to submit my will to Christ in humility in order to attain eternal life (Matthew 19:28-29).

In conclusion, anything sinful that we engage in gives the devil a chance to control us and subdue us to sinful slavery (Ephesians 4:27-32; John 8:34).

Who is your master- Jesus or the devil? Which side are you on - The Lord’s side or Satan’s side? If you have a desire to conquer Satan in Jesus’ Name, here is a Prayer of Sincere Repentance to get you started. For any questions or comments on this article or our ministry, please contact us.

Vision Updates: This week we have added 1 new vision on using God's Name in vain. You can read this vision here.

Yours in Conquest,
Brother Glenn.