We are in the middle of the series of messages titled “The Church of Jesus” and I’m talking about the fundamental importance of The Church of Christ and its the role on earth.
Remember church is not building, church is people. The church is the family of God. It’s a spiritual family and a place to belong.
There are many that come to church, they receive food, miracles, they receive teachings but they are weary and scattered because they don’t have shepherd.
You need to be ministered because this pastoring is a spiritual protection over your life.
Every person needs to be totally connected to his local church and listen to their leaders. Remember that in the bible there are no online pastors or online church, but physical pastors and local churches where you can truly became disciples.
Increased Deceptions in the Last Days
Today you need to understand that there is a true church and there is a false church and if you don’t understand that, you are going to be confused and deceived.
The fact is – there are two churches on earth today: that’s a true Church and a false church. I will give you information so that you will not be deceived by the false church or by the false leaders and prophets.
Let’s read some verses that show the Increased Deceptions in the Last Days
11 “and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people.
13 but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved.
42 “Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come.”
Matthew 24:11, 13, 42
We are living in the last days. Without a doubt we are close to the end of the last days. Surely the return of Christ is imminent. In the end times, many people will be deceived.
Let’s now see about the false church.
2 Corinthians 11:2-4 Paul the Apostle explain how a false church has come into being.
“2 For I am jealous for you with godly jealousy. For I have betrothed you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ.
3 But I fear, lest somehow, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, so your minds may be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. 4 For if he who comes preaches another Jesus whom we have not preached, or if you receive a different spirit which you have not received, or a different gospel which you have not accepted—you may well put up with it!”
II Corinthians 11:2-4
Paul was the one who founded the church of Corinth and he said, I’m jealous for you with the jealousy of God. I promised, I betrothed you in a marriage to one husband that I might present you as a pure virgin to Christ.
Commitment to Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord is a betrothal (marriage contract) and each and all of us who have made that commitment have been betrothed to Jesus but we are not yet married.
Revelation 19:7,8 contains the beautiful picture of the actual celebration of the marriage!
“Let us be glad and rejoice, and let us give honour to him. For the time has come for the wedding feast of the Lamb, and his bride has prepared herself. She has been given the finest of pure white linen to wear.” For the fine linen represents the good deeds of God’s holy people.”
Revelation 19:7-8 NLT
That day Jesus will take his bride home and Jesus and all heaven will be excited, glad and rejoicing. But at the present we are still only betrothed (engaged). The marriage Supper has not come yet.
This is where the true and the false church separate. The true church remains faithful to its betrothal’s vows but the false church is unfaithful to the bridegroom – the unfaithful church is described as a prostitute or an immoral woman.
Paul goes on in the next two verses to explain how Christians can be corrupted from their original commitment to Jesus.
Verse 3 says : But I fear that somehow your pure and undivided devotion to Christ will be corrupted, just as Eve was deceived by the cunning ways of the serpent. II Corinthians 11:3
I fear that your mind may be corrupted from the simplicity and purity that is in Christ.
So the process that leads to unfaithfulness is the corrupting of the minds of believers.
Be careful you who always listens to different preachers on internet and others leaders, because what happened with Eve can happen to you also.
There are many false teachings coming from inside of churches. One of them is : once saved , always saved ! This is a terrible lie! The one who perseveres until the end will be saved because of their pure devotion to Christ couldn’t be corrupted.
Paul goes over the process of mental corruption in verse 4
4 For if he who comes preaches another Jesus whom we have not preached, or if you receive a different spirit which you have not received, or a different gospel which you have not accepted—you may well put up with it!”
Notice that there are 3 phases: first of all, another Jesus, then a different spirit and then a different gospel.
Jesus said: I’m the Truth, when we change Jesus and cease to present the Biblical picture of Christ , you are going to get another spirit and it’s going to result in another gospel.
The people of Corinth were charismatic, they were baptised in the Spirit and would speak in tongues. Don’t think that because you’re baptised in the Spirit and speak in tongues (which is wonderful) it guarantees that you will not be deceived. It doesn’t!
There are many ‘versions of Jesus’ being preached in the world and somehow these teaching are seeping into the church. The New Age movement also has their own version of Jesus. The liberation Theology teaches the job of Christians is to resolve the problems of the poor, social justice, eliminate the wealth and set up new political order.
Jesus never did that, He had great compassion on the poor but He never asked to institute another social order by force. He said my Kingdom is not from this world.
The process of trying to bring the kingdom of God in by armed force is a denial of the teachings of Jesus
There are many who claim to be Christians but denying the teachings of Jesus because they are following another gospel, The gospel of permissive Grace.
Today, many preachers say that “God loves you unconditionally” , God loves you but there are conditions for you to follow Jesus. You need to repent from your sins , you need to abandon your sins.
Unconditional love is interpreted as unconditional acceptance of one’s lifestyle.
Let’s see a picture of the last days in 2 Timothy 3:1-5, let’s read it.
1 “But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. 2 People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, 3 without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, 4 treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God— 5 having a form of godliness but denying its power. From such people turn away”
2 Timothy 3:1-5 NIV
He begins the verse by saying: “But mark this” – in other words “be very certain of this fact”.
In the last days, the period before the closing of the age, perilous or terrible times will come!
The root problem is the degeneration of the human character and conduct. Paul gives a list of eighteen aspects of human behaviour that people will showcase when the closing of ages approach.
There are eighteen moral or ethical defects. The main issue is what people love most. It begins with love of self and love of money and ends with love of pleasure.
Take the culture in Europe today , those are three of the main elements that direct people : love of self, love of money and love of pleasure.
You maybe are thinking, all these people with these eighteen aspects are people of the world! But no, they’re not. In verse 7 Paul said : they are professing godliness.
There are people professing to be Christians but their characters are deteriorating. They profess faith but they deny the power that can change people.
There are people in church professing to be Christians but they are selfish, full of self-love, love of money and love of pleasure. Listen: you can be a person who doesn’t drink , doesn’t smoke doesn’t use drugs , but if you can still be selfish, if you are living for yourself , your life is a denial of the power of gospel.
Some people are just a little more careful, they avoid certain things that harm them but the real distinguishing mark of a true Christian of this age is unselfishness.
Those who lack that mark, those who make the claim but deny the power, Paul adverts: turn away from such people. In other words don’t waste your time on them.
Don’t spend too much time on selfish, self-centred people. The more time you give them the more self-centred they become.
There are false churches, false leaders , false prophets and also false or fake christians.
Remember that the church is not a building, church is a group of baptised people who is committed to the local church and church is people!
Matthew Chapter 13 is the chapter of the parables of the Kingdom of God. This chapter contains seven parables of the Kingdom of God and one of the main parables is the parable of the wheat and the tares.
Who knows about the parable of the Wheat and the Tares?
I’m sure it’s familiar to most people.
Let’s first see the difference between wheat and tares (pictures)
Let’s read Matthew 13:24,26
24 “Then Jesus told them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field;
26 But when the grain had sprouted and produced a crop, then the tares also appeared.”
Matthew 13:24, 26
This parable speaks about the farmer who sewed (soud) his field with good wheat.
Tares are weeds that are very closely, similar to wheat at least in their early stages of growth.
According to the parable the tares were growing with the wheat. This parable that talks about the kingdom of God or this is a parable about the church and the end times.
Here we find wheat that brings in it the appropriate fruit and tares that look like wheat but don’t bring forth no fruit.
This is the same as what Paul said : they are professing godliness but show no fruit. Their characters are deteriorating, they are selfish, love of self, love of money and love of pleasure
In the parable, the servants of the landowner said :
27 “So the servants of the owner came and said to him, ‘Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have tares?’ 28 He said to them, ‘An enemy has done this.’ The servants said to him, ‘Do you want us then to go and gather them up?’ 29 But he said, ‘No, lest while you gather up the tares you also uproot the wheat with them”
That indicates that there’s very little to distinguish between the wheat and the tares. Even people working in the field could easily have pulled up wheat imagining it was tares.
In other words there’s very little difference between the true fruit producing believers and the ones who claim to be believers but don’t produce fruits.
Jesus is speaking here not about the unbelieving world but is talking about The Kingdom of God, or The Church of Christ.
“Let both grow together until the harvest, and at the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, “First gather together the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into my barn.” ’
Matthew 13:30
Interpreting the Parable: Jesus says to the reapers who in this context are the angels. It’s too difficult a job for human beings or pastors to sort out the tares from the wheat.
So Jesus said, that’s not your problem. Leave that to me and the angels, when the time comes I will deal with it.
Sometimes we, as leaders, we wish to take some people out of the church , people that claim to be Christians but appear not to bring forth any fruit. But that’s not the answer.
We have to tolerate the fact that amongst the wheat there are some tares and our main responsibility is to make sure that I personally I’m wheat and not a tare.
Are you wheat or are you tares? Are you professing godliness, are you in the Kingdom but bearing no fruit? How is your character?
Are you unselfish or are you selfish, full of love of self, love of money and love of pleasure.
Remember one day we are going to give account how we lived on this earth.
We are living in the last days. Don’t be deceived
How can one keep from falling into deceit?
1. Seek intimacy with God in constant prayer and take part at the church’s meeting prayer.
2. Constantly meditate on the Word of God.
3. Who is covering your life? Do you have a pastor or leader or are you sheep without shepherd? To whom are you accountable? Be open and truthful to them.
4. Recognise that deceit exists and that we have to guard ourselves against it.
5. Win and teach new people the way of Christ. Our job as church is to make disciples.
6. Never forget that others are observing your life. Your example will affect the lives of many.
7. Don’t lose contact with the brothers. Don’t miss any service or church meetings.
Ex: Judas and Peter. Judas did not believe in the possibility of restoration. He hanged himself.
Peter denied Christ, but he held on to the hope of being forgiven and he was.
If you have been selfish, loving money, loving pleasure, please repent.
IF YOU DO THESE THINGS YOU WILL HAVE A VICTORIOUS LIFE AND YOU WILL SPEND ETERNITY WITH JESUS CHRIST.
God bless you