Multitudes Barred from Heaven!
In the 48 years I have been in ministry, I have seen much error and heresy. I have seen many fads come and go, and in the process these have drawn many into perdition. But I have never seen anything like what we are seeing now. There is a fight to the death for the souls of believers. The grounds of the struggle is truth. Not only doctrinal truth, but everyday truth.
Lies and propaganda have become the order of the day and it is not only so-called leftists and non-Christian progressives that are engaging in these lies. Christians, as well, are believing and propagating those untruths. Some do not know the difference between truth and lie, but others do know but because they have a (primarily) political agenda, choose the lie above truth. Before I illustrate this, please remember that I am apolitical, I serve only one King – Jesus: By several counts President Trump has told over 20,000 lies in public in the 3½ years he has been in office. You and I have witnessed these lies and we know they are clear, blatant lies that are easily proven. Everyone who defends his lies knows he is lying, yet they choose to believe them and propagate them because it is politically convenient. We know Trump is not a believer and we cannot expect better from him. Yet most of America’s evangelicals will defend him as a man of God. A colleague recently said that if you say Trump lies, then you are the liar! You may be thinking to yourself, “But what about Nancy Pelosi and the Left? They lie too.” Yes they do, but most of their supporters are not Evangelical Christians. And that is my concern here.
When the unsaved trade in lies, it is one thing, but when it becomes the stock-in-trade of “Christians” and their leaders, something has gone seriously wrong. In a recent debate on my Facebook, Christians and leaders from across the USA lied and propagated lie after lie concerning the so-called closure of churches in California. Even when you prove that they are lying they continue to assert their false narrative and build their entire argument on these lies. Just yesterday I watched a Fox News interview with a world-renown and highly respected Evangelical pastor. The interviewer introduced the pastor with a massive and blatant lie. The pastor in the 2½ minute interview proceeded to lie six times (not counting the fact that he did not correct the interviewer’s lie). I could continue to cite endless examples of other pastors, not only lying, but building entire ministries on lies!
But, what really concerns me is that there seems to be more to it than just differences of opinion, or different perspectives. The vehemence with which people hold onto, and propagate, these lies seems to have a sinister undertone. There are lies on the political right and lies on the political left but when pastors cannot be trusted to speak the truth on easily verifiable issues, something serious has gone wrong. I have some ideas on what has happened but will not speculate at this stage. The fact is that there is a new wave of falsehood, lies and deception sweeping over America and the world.
What I am certain of, is that this is part of the sifting that the Lord has allowed as He prepares and purifies His Bride for His soon return. The lying is nothing new, it has always been in the heart of these men, but cleverly disguised. Jesus said:
“Brood
of vipers! How can you, being evil, speak good things? For out of the
abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. A good man out of the good
treasure of his heart brings forth good things, and an evil man out of
the evil treasure brings forth evil things. But I say to you that for
every idle word men may speak, they will give account of it in the day
of judgment. For by your words you will be justified, and by your words
you will be condemned.” (Matthew 12:34-37).
In plain language – a man lies because he is a liar and he is a liar
because he is unregenerate! Yes, it is that serious and that bad! No,
that is not my opinion, that is what Jesus said and He makes it even
clearer when he says: “But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.”
(Revelation 21:8). These people are not condemned because of their
lies, but their lies (and other sins) is evidence of their unregenerate
nature. Yes, I am fully aware of how serious this allegation is but it
is not my opinion, it is the Word of God. Millions who thought they are
saved, will be barred from heaven!
Increasingly, it seems that “Christians” feel that the end justifies the
means and that a little exaggeration doesn’t matter because we are
defending the truth. But you simply cannot defend truth with a lie. Not
only does a lying tongue reveal an unregenerate nature, but reveals the
nature of the devil himself. “You are of your father the devil, and
the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the
beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in
him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a
liar and the father of it.” (John 8:44). On the other hand Jesus is The Truth (John 14:6; Revelation 3:14 etc.)
Christians have no problem, in fact, it seems they feel it is their duty to share and repost all sorts of lies and conspiracy theories. I’m sure that many sincerely believe that what they are sending out is the truth and therefore claim they are innocent. No they are not. At the very least they are bearing false witness which is a transgression of the 9th command! Some claim they got it from a reliable source (another Christian) or Fox News. As I have shown above, other “Christians” and even pastors are not a source of reliable information – not any more. (And I’m not even commenting on the internet, Fox News or CNN).
So here is a simple rule: “unless you can absolutely, beyond any doubt, verify that what you are sending out to your friends and the rest of the world – don’t send it”. It is a simple as that. And yes, I know that will mean that you can hardly post anything. Indeed! What about posting Scripture? But, the Word of God is to most Christians not as juicy as the latest bit of gossip emanating from the pit of hell itself!
Why do I say it comes from Satan? Because he is the father of lies and is doing everything he can to destroy the church. Yes, there are fights breaking out between Evangelicals on every hand. At the end it is not a fight over doctrine but over ideology and about truth itself. If someone in the pulpit, or the pew, cannot speak the truth on every day matters, they will not speak the truth about spiritual matters.
Finally, this is part of the Great Falling Away and the preparation for the arrival of the Antichrist whose prime tool is deception and lies.
Friend,
unless you are fastidious about the truth in every part of your being
and in every word that comes from your mouth (or keyboard), you are not
His and you need to repent and get saved!
“The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders, and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this reason God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie, that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.” (2 Thessalonians 2:9-12).