Avoid being a victim of deception (part two)

 

Avoid being a victim of deception (part two)

August 28, 2024

1.      The Holy Spirit is our Teacher

 The second thing one needs to know, understand and believe is that in our new dispensation the Holy Spirit is our Teacher and so the logical question is; what is the role of evangelist, ministers, pastors and teachers in the Church? The answer to this question is stated as follows;” And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting” (Ephesians 4: 11-13).

And God has appointed these in the church: first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, administrations, varieties of tongues. Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Are all workers of miracles? Do all have gifts of healings? Do all speak with tongues? Do all interpret? (1Corinthians 12:28-30)

The answer to these questions is an affirmative no, so the role of the ministry therefore is to reach out to others with the gospel administering whatever gift the individual has been endowed with for; “How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher?  And how shall they preach unless they are sent? As it is written: "How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace, who bring glad tidings of good things!" Their responsibility is to, "Cry aloud, spare not; Lift up your voice like a trumpet; Tell My people their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins” (Romans 10:14-15; Isaiah 58:1).

Their role is that of a watchman who, when he sees the sword coming upon the land, if he blows the trumpet and warns the people, then whoever hears the sound of the trumpet and does not take warning, if the sword comes and takes him away, his blood shall be on his own head. He heard the sound of the trumpet, but did not take warning; his blood shall be upon himself. But he who takes warning will save his life.’

“But if the watchman sees the sword coming and does not blow the trumpet, and the people are not warned, and the sword comes and takes any person from among them, he is taken away in his iniquity; but his blood I will require at the watchman's hand.' "So you, son of man: I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel; therefore you shall hear a word from My mouth and warn them for Me” (Ezekiel 33:3-7).

And so, a way by which one can avoid being or becoming a victim of deception is simply by knowing, believing and practicing the truth. Like Jesus said, "If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free" (John 8: 16-17).

But what is the truth that we need to know, believe and practice in order to help us avoid being, or becoming victims of deception? 

To be continued

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With brotherly love

Lucius Joseph

Avoid being a victim of deception

Avoid being a Victim of Deception?

 

Jesus Christ the greatest Prophet and Teacher of all times issued a stern warning to His disciples saying; “Take heed that no one deceives you. For many will come in My name, saying, 'I am the Christ,' and will deceive many.” What will attribute to this global deception according to Jesus, it is because, “You (believers) will be hated by all nations for My name's sake. And then many will be offended, will betray one another, and will hate one another. Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many. And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold. But he who endures to the end shall be saved” (Matthew 24:9-13).

 But the irony of truth is, there are some basic things if we as believers would know, understand, believe and practice that will protect us from being a victim of deception and these basic things are:

 1.  We are responsible for our own actions

The greatest power we as human beings have is the power of choice, not even God the Almighty will force anyone to do what he/she doesn’t want to do. Parents are responsible for the upbringing of the children until they reach adulthood and so the admonish to all parents is to; “Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it.” and to the children; “Children, obey your parents in all things, for this is well pleasing to the Lord” (Proverbs 22:6; Ephesians 6:1; Colossians 3:20).

But as soon as one reaches the age of adulthood everyone is responsible for his/her own actions and this is what we all have been duly admonished saying; “Take heed that no one deceives you.” Each individual must be mindful of him/herself and not to allow anyone to deceive him/her especially when it comes to moral and spiritual values.

For example when it comes to the worship and serving the Lord the instruction is, “One person esteems one day above another; another esteems every day alike. Let each be fully convinced in his own mind. He who observes the day, observes it to the Lord; and he who does not observe the day, to the Lord he does not observe it.” Because at the end of it all, “We must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he/she has done, whether good or bad” (Romans 14: 5-6; Matthew 24:4;.2Corinthians 5:10).

Therefore, it is our individual adult responsibility to be diligent to present ourselves approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth because, the anointing which we have received from Him abides in us, and we do not need that anyone teach us; but as the same anointing teaches us concerning all things, and is true, and is not a lie, and just as it has taught us, we will abide in Him (1John 2:20,7).

It is therefore our God given responsibility to get to know the truth and the truth shall set us free and remember, there is no partiality with God.

 To be continued

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With brotherly love

Lucius Joseph

The third main reason why no one is excusable before God

 

The third main reason why no one is excusable before God it is because of conscience which is the sense of right and wrong. It is ideas and feelings within a person that tell him/her when he/she is doing right and warn him when he/she is doing wrong. It is the inner judge of moral issues.

It is stated quite clearly that; “God has given to all life [eternal], breath {physical existence], and all things, and has determined their pre-appointed times and the boundaries of their habitation so that they should seek the Lord, in the hope that they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us; for in Him we live and move and have our being, as also some of your own poets have said, 'For we are also His offspring.'

”Jesus Christ came to give us an understanding that we may know Him who is true, and we are in Him who is true, in His Son Jesus Christ (Acts 17:24-28; John 17:3; 1John  5:20).

Man is endowed with a remnant of God’s Spirit, and the breath [spirit] of the Almighty gives him understanding. Therefore, no one is excusable, we all should heed to our spirit who receives the knowledge of God (Malachi 2:15-16; Job 32.8; 33:4).

It is written; “As many as have sinned without law [knowledge] will perish without law, and as many as have sinned in the law [knowledgeable] will be judged by the law. For when Gentiles, who do not have the law, by nature do the things contained in the law, these although not having the law, are a law to themselves who show the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and between themselves their thoughts accusing or else excusing on that day when, according to my gospel, God judges the secrets of men by Christ Jesus” (Romans 2:12-16).

It is clearly stated that; “The servant who knew his master’s will: but did not make ready or act according to his will, shall receive a severe beating. But he who did not know, and did what deserved a beating, shall receive a light beating” (Luke. 12: 47-48).

Therefore, ignorance of the law is no excuse because; anyone who does what the law requires whether knowingly or unknowingly will automatically reap the benefits. In like manner, whoever knowingly or unknowingly does anything contrary to the law will pay the consequences and so there absolutely no excuse?

And so we have been duly admonished saying; “Do not be deceived; God is not mocked, for whatever a man sows that he will also reap. For, “He who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption.” They shall suffer the punishment of everlasting destruction and exclusion from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His might. But, “He who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap Everlasting life” (Galatians 6:7-8).

No one therefore is excusable before God because, everyone is predestined in Jesus Christ, to fulfill God's purpose for man and there is absolutely no partiality with God; There is also God's creation with its natural laws which manifest what may be known of God is open to everyone, and of course, our conscience which either accuses or excuses us and convicts the mind when one does anything whether good or evil and for these reasons there is absolutely no excuse.

Copyright © 2012 by Lucius Joseph

All rights reserved

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With brotherly love

Lucius Joseph

The second main reason why no one is excusable before God

         

 2. God’s creation

The second main reason why no one is excusable before God it is because of  God's creation and His impartial laws of nature as we have been clearly instructed saying; “What may be known of God have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse” Romans 1: 20)

.For example:

Only the fool [one who misuses true wisdom] says in his heart, “There is no God.” (Psalms 14:1). “They are corrupt, they do abominable deeds,. Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man or birds or animals or reptiles. Therefore; God gave them over in the sinful desires of their heart to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another.

Even their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones. In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and are inflamed with lust for one another. Men committing indecent acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their perversion” (Romans 1:24-27). 

Regardless what terminology is used to justify this act, such as, Sexual preference” it is unnatural and inexcusable. Although we are not to be judgmental as we have been duly instructed saying; " Who are you to judge another's servant? To his own master he stands or falls. Indeed, he will be made to stand, for God is able to make him stand.." Nevertheless, we must also bear in mind the fact that; "who, knowing the righteous judgment of God, that those who practice such things are deserving of death, not only do the same but also approve of those who practice them" (Romans14:4; 1:32).

From the beginning God created male and female, then He blessed them, and said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it.” It is impossible for two men, or two women to multiply and be fruitful. And the reason for the two becoming one it is for companionship, and to raise godly offspring unto the Lord. (Genesis  1:27-28; Mark. 10:6-8; Malachi 2:15).

 From the beginning God made mankind male and female, and for this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife and the two shall become one flesh; so they are no longer two, but one flesh (Genesis 2;24; Mathew 19:5;Ephesians 5:31)

We have also been given the responsibility to; " Judge among ourselves. Is it proper for a woman to pray to God with her head uncovered? Does not even nature itself teach you that if a man has long hair, it is a dishonor to him? But if a woman has long hair, it is a glory to her; for her hair is given to her for a covering. But if anyone seems to be contentious, we have no such custom, nor do the churches of God" (1Corinthians 11:13-16). 

Again the conclusion and the crux of the matter is, even though an individual does not commit the unlawful acts themselves but the fact that they approve of the one who does it is as guilty as the offender.

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Lucius Joseph

No Excuse

No Excuse

Some people told Jesus about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. And He answered them, “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans, because they suffered thus? I tell you, No; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish. Or those eighteen upon whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them, do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others who dwelt in Jerusalem? I tell you, No; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish” (Luke 13:1-5)

Seeing and hearing  about the catastrophic events that are happening worldwide, we should all reflect on these sobering words of Jesus Christ, that victims of tragedies are not worse sinners and offenders than others, and unless we all repent we shall all likewise perish..

No one is excusable before God, and there is no partiality with God, nor does He take a bribe. What is required of one is required of all. For we all were made in the similitude of God, and for one universal purpose. Therefore, “When the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven in blazing fire with His powerful angels, He will punish those who do not know God and who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus” ( 2 Thes.alonians1:7-8).

There is no excuse for anyone not to know God and not obeying the gospel of the Lord Jesus. Those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of Christ, “Will suffer the punishment of everlasting destruction, and be shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the majesty of His power” (2 Thessalonians 1: 9).

The truth of the matter is, there is one universal purpose for all human life on earth, and there is absolutely no excuse for not knowing what this purpose is. Ignorance of the law is no excuse.

There are three main reasons why no one is excusable before God.

1. Predestination.

Humanity was predestined to be the very image and likeness of God .From the beginning God said; “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness.”  (Genesis 1:26; Genesis 5:1). Now God is immortal, and He alone has immortality, therefore, man was predestined to become immortal. Immortality however, is not a free gift as life is, it has to be attained and it is attainable through righteousness which leads to holiness, and the end everlasting life or immortality. Humanity was created in Christ Jesus in holiness unto holiness for everlasting life.

To attain immortality one must rid the body of sin, and live holy lives. This is the reason for Christ’s death and resurrection, this is the reason for our calling and salvation and. this is the will of the Father.

Immortality or Everlasting life is the body of Christ or the temple of God which we are called to construct. Jesus Christ is the foundation, and we are called to build on it. Whether knowingly or unknowingly, each man’s work will become manifest; for the Day (when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with His mighty angels in flaming fire) will disclose it, because it will be revealed with Fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done.

There is absolutely no excuse, because “If the work which any man has built on the foundation (Jesus Christ– eternal life) survives, he will receive a reward”.  The reward of Immortality: a glorified body, everlasting life. For when Christ comes on that Day, He is coming to, “Be glorified in His saints, and to be marveled at in all who have believed” (2 Thessalonians 1:10).

On the other hand, “If any man’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire” (1Cor.inthians 3:15; 2 Thessalonians. 1:9).

No one is excusable because: “ We must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive good or evil, according to what he has done in the body. Since, then, we know what it is to fear the Lord, we try to persuade men. What we are, is plain to God, and I hope it is also plain to our conscience” (2 Corinthians 5:10-11).

 To be continued

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With brotherly love

Lucius Joseph