Contending for the faith | Making Disciples | Equipping the Saints for Ministry

SETTLING FOR SUBSTITUTES

By Jeannette Haley

 

“And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold:

Them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice;

and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd.” – John 10:16

 

       When it comes to hearing Jesus’ voice, according to the lost, sin-sick soul on “The View,” Joy Behar, “It’s one thing to talk to Jesus. It’s another thing when Jesus talks to you.” She added that hearing voices is a “mental illness.” Really?

       While she has a right to her opinion, I wonder how many born-again believers who do know and hear their Shepherd’s voice realize how dangerous, and threatening, her personal conclusion is in light of the history of communism’s atheistic psychology’s role in torturing and murdering millions of Christians, such as in the Soviet Union. Excerpts from Wikipedia tell us: “Throughout the history of the Soviet Union (1922–1991), there were periods where Soviet authorities suppressed and persecuted various forms of Christianity to different extents depending on State interests. Soviet Marxist-Leninism policy consistently advocated the control, suppression, and ultimately, the elimination of religious beliefs, and actively encouraged atheism in the Soviet Union. The total number of Christian victims under the Soviet regime has been estimated to range between 14-22 million. Protestant Christians in the USSR (Baptists, Pentecostals, Adventists etc.) in the period after the Second world war were compulsively sent to mental hospitals, or endured trials and imprisonment.” Russia’s goal was to replace any form of religion with “militant atheism.”

       If you have even a smidgen of knowledge about the horrors, abuse and torture that millions of Christians and political dissenters suffered (and are still suffering) in communist countries, Behar’s flippant “stated-as-fact” opinion should send chills up your spine. While she may be just one blasphemous mouthpiece of the devil on TV, her opinion nevertheless expresses the entrenched belief of countless numbers of militant, left wing, liberal haters of anything biblical or traditionally American. We should be daily thanking our gracious God that Hillary lost the election. Consider what she said on April 23, 2015, “Far too many women are denied access to reproductive health care and safe childbirth, and laws don’t count for much if they’re not enforced. Rights have to exist in practice—not just on paper. Laws have to be backed up with resources and political will. And deep-seated cultural codes, religious beliefs and structural biases have to be changed.

       So, how does an evil tyrant change “deep-seated cultural codes, religious beliefs and structural biases” on a national scale? It’s simple. All one has to do is follow the ideologies of Stalin, Lenin, Karl Marx, Chairman Mao, Castro, Kim Jong-il, Saul Alinsky, to name a few, and through propaganda, state-controlled media, altered textbooks, anti-Christ legislation along with sheer military might cause the devil’s “two-pronged religion” of humanistic psychology and evolution to ascend to the imaginary throne of “scientific reasoning.” Since these two lies have been crowned by unbelievers (and some ignorant professing believers) as being “scientific,” any dissenters would naturally have to be categorized as being mentally ill, emotionally unstable, dysfunctional, or socially unfit and be either “reprogramed” or locked away, tortured and abused in a mental institution for life.

       Communism is not dead, but its Godless ideology has successfully infiltrated and entrenched itself in our schools and colleges, government institutions, the Democratic Party, and fake news media. It expresses itself through art, music, literature, garbage movies, and openly manifests in rallies, marches, and demonstrations. Lenin said: “We will find our most fertile ground for infiltration of Marxism within the field of religion, because religious people are the most gullible and will accept almost anything if it is couched in religious terminology.” How right he was!

       So, who flung the gates wide open to this Trojan horse, and why? Sadly, most of the blame can be laid at the door of the visible church when she grew weary of watching and praying; became bored with earnestly contending for the faith; lost interest in the “Holy Scriptures which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus”; forsook being sober and vigilant against the devil; let her oil (anointing) run dry; lost her zeal and became lukewarm; failed to overcome the world, the flesh and the devil; grew weary with “holding the line of righteousness” and morality, such as embracing perverted lifestyles, fornication, and murder of the unborn; and, “Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened.” (See 2 Timothy 3:15; Mark 13:33; Matthew 25:1-13; 1 Peter 5:8; Revelation 3:16; Jude 3: Romans 1:20, 21.) The cause of all this can be summed up in one word: unbelief.

  1. W. Tozer said, “The church has lost her testimony. She has no longer anything to say to the world. Her once robust shout of assurance has faded away to an apologetic whisper. She who one time went out to declare now goes out to inquire. Her dogmatic declaration has become a respectful suggestion, a word of religious advice, given with the understanding that it is after all only an opinion and not meant to sound bigoted. Pure Christianity, instead of being shaped by its culture, actually stands in sharp opposition to it.” Dr. E. Stanley Jones said, “If you don’t make up your mind, then your unmade mind will unmake you. Here’s a place where there must be no dallying, for any dallying will be the Trojan horse that will get on the inside and open the gates to the enemy. God can do anything for the man who has made up his mind. He can do little or nothing for the double-minded man.” So, there you have it. Christians must choose between the Trojan horse of humanistic psychology (and evolution) or biblical Christianity. Both cannot be true, both cannot be served, both cannot co-exist in the true Church that Jesus is building, and is coming for.

       God will have no other gods before Him. Jesus must be Lord of all or not Lord at all. God’s people need to repent of their double mindedness which makes them unstable in all their ways. They need to repent for substituting man’s “mental health solutions” for the plain truths of the Bible concerning what to believe, what to think upon, how to live, how to please God, and so forth. The church needs to repent for substituting introspection and the practice of looking inward instead of looking upward. The church needs to repent for teaching that self-love and pride is the correct substitution for humility and meekness.

       The apostate church needs to repent of unbelief in the truth and power of the written Word and the Living Word, Jesus Christ; repent of putting their faith in “profane and vain babblings, and oppositions of science falsely so called: Which some professing have erred concerning the faith” 1 Timothy 6:20; 21. The church needs to repent of trying to impress the world by adopting “political correctness,” “positive confession,” and “philosophies of men” as substitutes for the truths of Scripture, and after genuine repentance, cleanse the church of every book, teaching, sermon and song that is contrary to, and a substitution for the principles, doctrines, facts, and truths of God’s Word. We need to clean house of all substitutes if there is ever to be a true revival. If there is no return to the Way, the Truth and the Life—there can be no revival. It must be all or nothing—God, and God alone! “Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God” John 3:3. A person cannot be “half-born.” You are either born again, or you are not!

       Concerning being born again, here are some wise quotes from Oswald Chambers: “When a man is born again, he knows that it is because he has received something as a gift from Almighty God and not because of his own decision.” “Everyone who is born again of the Spirit of God knows that there is no good thing outside the Lord Jesus Christ.” “If we are born again of the Spirit of God, our one desire is a hunger and thirst after nothing less than holiness, the holiness of Jesus, and He will satisfy it.” “When we are born again we have exactly the experience of going through death.” “We inherit by nature certain strong cardinal virtues, but these are not the slightest atom of use to us, and when a man or woman is born again of the Spirit of God, these virtues are nearly always a hindrance instead of a benefit.” “After we are born again, the Bible becomes a new Book to us, and we search the Scriptures, not to get life out of them, but to know more about Jesus Christ.”

       “Accepting” Jesus as your Savior but then thinking, speaking, and doing the same as you always have does not make you a true Christian, or prepare you for heaven. You have merely bought into a substitute “conversion” and are deceiving yourself. If a person is truly born again, (born from above) that means they have received Christ by faith, and believe that He is God incarnate. “But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth” John 1:12-14. If a person is truly born again, he or she will become a new creation. “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new” 2 Corinthians 5:17. 1 Peter 1:23 says, “Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth forever.”  

       God is still speaking to people today, but we need to be able to discern His voice from all the substitute voices in the world. Jesus said, “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand” John 10:27. Jesus assured us that His sheep would hear His voice, not a substitute, although there are many false voices. Jesus’ sheep “hear His voice” because they know Him. They know His Word, they discern by the Holy Spirit, and Jesus knows them. This speaks of relationship between Jesus and His sheep. Therefore, Jesus’ sheep follow Him, not another. They are not interested in substitutes; that is, another Jesus, another gospel, or another spirit. Christians must be discerning of Satan’s false light behind the so-called “science” of humanistic psychology. We must not be deceived by the misnomer of “Christian Psychology.” All psychological methodologies are based on man’s attempts at problem solving according to his own vain philosophies and unregenerate reasoning. “Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ. For in him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power” Colossians 2:8, 9.

       Hearing the voice of God is something we may tend to take for granted as we read through the Old Testament, but if you take special note of how often the Lord spoke to man, you begin to realize that our “earthbound” perspective is a great hindrance to faith and spiritual insight. Man was created in God’s image, and his priority was to have been spirit, soul and body. After the fall, man’s order changed to body, soul and spirit. Instead of being spiritually minded, he became fleshly-physically and soulish-worldly minded. Jesus came to restore us first spiritually, then regenerate our souls (mind, will and emotions) and eventually redeem our bodies at the resurrection.

       For your consideration from http://www.awmi.net: “The word ‘psychology’ comes from the Greek word “psycho”, which is a derivative of the Greek word ‘psyche’ meaning ‘soul.’ Psychology looks no deeper than the soul of man for answers. It totally ignores the spirit realm: our spirits, God’s Holy Spirit, and demonic spirits. The Word of God is replete with teachings and examples of the influence of God, demons, and our spirits on our actions. Any ‘answer’ that doesn’t take the spirit realm into account isn’t going to the root of the problem. The Greek word ‘psyche’ was also the name of the Greek god of the soul. ‘Eros’ and ‘psyche’ were lovers in Greek mythology. Who wants that?

       Here are four major tenants of psychology that are incompatible with biblical Christianity: 1) We are products of our environment. 2) Therefore, we are not responsible or accountable for our actions. 3) This leads to placing blame for our actions on anything else but on us, making us victims. 4) Self-esteem is paramount.”

       What a dangerous substitution for the truth that makes us free this is! First, we are not products of our environment, but of how we think in our hearts. “As he thinketh in his heart, so is he” Proverbs 23:7. “Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life,” Proverbs 4:23. Secondly, we are accountable for our actions. “Even as I have seen, they that plow iniquity, and sow wickedness, reap the same” Job 4:8. “For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting” Galatians 6:8. Thirdly, we are not victims, but rather we are responsible for our decisions. “Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap” Galatians 6:8. “I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live” Deuteronomy 30:19. Fourthly, self-esteem is taught nowhere in the Bible! (Self-respect, on the other hand, is necessary because man was made in the image of God, and this is what we need to develop in humility, thanksgiving, and reverent fear of the Lord.) The Bible 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” 2 Timothy 3:1-5. [Emphasis added.] “But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble” James 4:6.

       Is it any wonder that we are losing our young people to the world, drugs, alternate lifestyles, Satanism, cults, communism, and suicide? By substituting worldly entertainment and emotional hype for true worship in the beauty of holiness we have robbed them of experiencing the sweet presence of the Holy Spirit. By substituting man’s vain philosophies and psychology for the Bible, we have robbed them of experiencing faith, and the life-changing power of prayer and the Word of God. By substituting the “God loves you” “cheap grace” message instead of preaching the biblical gospel, we have robbed them of experiencing true conviction of sin and of their lost state so they can find a place of true repentance and joy of salvation. By substituting play for prayer we have deprived them of learning to seek the Lord God of heaven and expecting His answers. By substituting the world’s methods, the world’s beliefs in “many roads to heaven,” the world’s exaltation of man and humanistic liberal ideologies for the solid biblical truth that never changes and the real Jesus who lives today, we have set them adrift to come to their own conclusions instead of guiding them to a life of solid faith and holy living.

       No wonder the youth are confused about who they are, why they are here, and where they are going. No wonder they are depressed since, after all, they are simply a product of godless, mindless, soul-less evolution. No wonder they find themselves plunging into despair after “looking within” for answers only to discover the dark, empty void of self.

       Right now America may be enjoying a reprieve from the darkness of the previous godless administrations, but if she is to “be great again” and survive, the Church needs to thoroughly “clean house” and repent of her fornication (both spiritual and physical) with the world; repent of her unbelief; repent of her rebellion and failure to be the salt and the light; repent of her pride, self-love, unbelief, and lukewarm state; repent of her failure to make disciples, and repent of all the unscriptural, aberrant, heretical, strange “winds of doctrines” and practices she has so gladly embraced. She needs to repent of forsaking the true Word of God by substituting watered-down versions, and she needs to repent of teaching from modern man-centered, “purpose driven,” pop psychology books instead of from the Holy Bible. God’s presence will never abide with mind-science, positive confession beliefs and practices, nor will He wink at Hinduism in the church (Yoga, contemplative meditation, chanting, labyrinths, etc.); nor will He dwell in the presence of ancient, mystical, secret societies and lodges. All of these things are just the tip of the iceberg of all the unholy mixtures of “doctrines of demons,” syncretism, and ecumenism within Christendom today. The Church needs to forsake “Babylon” and return to the Bible

       God is holy! “Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? And what communion hath light with darkness? And what concord hath Christ with Belial? Or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel? And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? For ye are the temple of the living God: as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God and they shall be my people. Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty” 2 Corinthians 6:14-18.

       The Church is all that stands between the communistic ideology of the Joy Behar’s and the survival of this nation and our freedoms. Communism is not dead, because it is a religion and it is very much alive. (Common Core, by the way, is pure communism, and is still being taught in the public schools today.) In response to a question about how the agenda of the “far left” in America mirrors that as detailed in The Communist Manifesto, former Senator Rick Santorum (R-Penn.) said it is worth noting that the words “separation of church and state” do not appear in the U.S. Constitution but are cited in the constitution of the former Communist Soviet Union.

       The question is will the Church wake up before it’s too late? Will the Church of Jesus Christ repent, clean house, and return to biblical Christianity? Will men and women of faith turn their affections away from the world, and commit their lives for the sake of the Gospel and the truth? Will Christians find the courage to take a stand, and remain standing? Will God’s people repent and then reach out, rescue and restore our young people back into a relationship with the God of heaven and earth before it’s too late?

       What about you? Are you prepared and willing to separate yourself from all the religious substitutes, and be a courageous contender “for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints” Jude 3b? Will you be a martyr (witness) for Christ in these end days? “He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son” Revelation 21:7.

       May it be so. Amen.