The Rapture Force

The Word is a Light, and cuts like a Sword thru the Darkness

Nov-5-11

Parable Of The Ten Virgins Explained

posted by PrayerWarrior

Let’s first take a look at the verses we are going to be speaking about here. I pray that someone somewhere will get the message the Lord intended here. Especially one or many who believe in a pre tribulation rapture. This is a story of endurance and patience. Not one of Christians and non Christians as some suggest. These are all Christians being spoken of here. But five are the foolish ones, who did not endure till the end. They did not get filled up with knowledge and wisdom,they had some, but stopped short of the full preparation. When a Bride get’s ready for her groom she sometimes takes years, or a year most often to plan her wedding. There is nothing that is left out of the plans The Bride does not stop when half way finished with her plans. No she works her tail off, weeks and months on end to make all things right and have it all exactly perfect.

It is no different for us Christians. We are to go till the end. Until our Groom meets us. If we give up half way to the finish line then we have done it all for nothing. It would be as though we never began the race in the first place. We are told hundreds of times,throughout the word, he who endures till the end, shall be saved. How can one expect to be saved unless they run the full race? We are to give it every ounce of what we have daily, nightly, weekly,monthly, and yearly Until He comes. We are to occupy,meaning we are to be about the kings business, so when He comes He sees that we have indeed been made ready, that we have been doing our part of the deal so to speak.Salvation is not a one way thing. We have a huge part in our own walk with the Lord. If we stop walking with Him then we have been lost and it was all for nothing. There are many verses that explain this straight forward.If you are half way in the Lord and half way in the world, then you are none of His. He is all about My way or the highway honey!

Ok here are the verses the only place that tells the parable of the Virgins,Matthew 25:

1 “At that time the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. 2 Five of them were foolish and five were wise. 3 The foolish ones took their lamps but did not take any oil with them. Preparation,stamina,perseverance. 4 The wise ones, however, took oil in jars along with their lamps. they took knowledge, wisdom and were prepared. 5 The bridegroom was a long time in coming, (No pre tribulation rapture,He tarries that all who are coming to the Lord, will come) and they all became drowsy and fell asleep. 6 “At midnight the cry rang out: ‘Here’s the bridegroom! Come out to meet him!’

7 “Then all the virgins woke up and trimmed their lamps. 8 The foolish ones said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil; our lamps are going out. (Help us we do not know what to do,we were unprepared for the wait, the darkness got to us and we lost our way.) 9“‘No,’ they replied, ‘there may not be enough for both us and you. Instead, go to those who sell oil and buy some for yourselves.(we cannot help you to see wisdom and truth and have knowledge)’10 “But while they were on their way to buy the oil,(on their way to learning what they needed to be ready and to have stamina) the bridegroom arrived. The virgins who were ready went in with him to the wedding banquet. And the door was shut.11 “Later the others also came. ‘Lord, Lord,’ they said, ‘open the door for us!’ 12 “But he replied, ‘Truly I tell you, I don’t know you.’

( I thought I knew you, but my sheep know my voice and they listen to me John 10:27,this is stated three times in John 10. The reason He would not know you, is because you did not listen to His words that were speaking truth to you,and preparing you, in the word, Instead you listened to strangers,and in those verses in John 10 it says ( my own would never follow a stranger! )

Those who believe it a pre tribulation rapture are not mentally spiritually or otherwise preparing for the darkness to come. They are not putting extra oil aside for the times coming because they believe they will not be here to endure it so therefore they are the picture of the foolish virgins.When the time is here and they are facing the terrors and the horrors they believed themselves to not be present for,their going to experience burn out rather quickly. They will have no ability to keep running the race, they will be unable to see their way clearly through the darkness, because they will be unprepared to withstand all the fiery darts hurled at them. And there will be darts flying at them from every angle. They will be shocked into immobility! With their understanding being why be worried? We are not to be here,the groom will not tarry He is coming any second.

when I read these verses, I get this same feeling from the Holy Spirit every time. That this is the preparation for the tribulation,the wise having prepared for it in advance, and the foolish not having prepared one drop,and their love waxing cold,towards the Lord,and their fellow brothers and sister. I believe some will actually accuse the Lord of lying to them and therefore will accept the mark, and will be the very apostates spoken of by Paul in the letters to the Thessalonians. I believe the oil outside of ourselves is actually the Holy Spirit He replenishes us as we go through tumultuous situations. He sustains us and whispers the word to our hearts that we already know such as say 1 Peter 4:1,2 1 Therefore, since Christ suffered in his body, arm yourselves also with the same attitude, because whoever suffers in the body is done with sin. 2 As a result, they do not live the rest of their earthly lives for evil human desires, but rather for the will of God.

And 1 Pet 4: 12-19 12 Dear friends, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal that has come on you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. 13 But rejoice inasmuch as you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed. 14 If you are insulted because of the name of Christ, you are blessed, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you. 15 If you suffer, it should not be as a murderer or thief or any other kind of criminal, or even as a meddler. 16 However, if you suffer as a Christian, do not be ashamed, but praise God that you bear that name. 17 For it is time for judgment to begin with God’s household; and if it begins with us, what will the outcome be for those who do not obey the gospel of God? 18 And, “If it is hard for the righteous to be saved, what will become of the ungodly and the sinner?19 So then, those who suffer according to God’s will should commit themselves to their faithful Creator and continue to do good.

I take a lot of flack from some family and some friends, for my outlook on the end times. I do not rightly care! Seriously I look towards that Hope the Blessed hope, with every ounce of me. Filled with joy at the prospect of it. That is not doom and gloom friends it is the fulfillment of all we have been walking with the Lord for. It is that everlasting glorious appearing of our savior that we might be made into perfect beings immortal and Christ like. Never to ever worry about sinning again. What is gloom and doom about that I ask? We are told through out the NT that we keep going until the end, time and again we are told we must keep going even though we will experience fiery trials. Even though we will go through some times where we say Lord help me I cannot do this one more minute. Then we are reminded I can do all things let me type that again, I can do ALL things through Christ who strengthens me. We in ourselves could never withstand all that is coming. So that is why we need that extra oil. The Lord has provided the truth to us and those who wish to adhere to the whole truth, and not hear what their itching ears wish to hear only. We are prepared at all times through His word for every single thing to come upon us.

We need to be ready in season and out of season,and filled with knowledge wisdom and strength that only comes from the Lord (The Word). Jesus suffered and each and every one of His apostles suffered. They were all of them persecuted,and all but one was killed for their witness of Christ! But Though John was not killed by anyone and died of old age, he was persecuted. We cannot think it a strange thing to think of the chances of us being persecuted to death. We are told through out the scriptures it is going to happen. There will be no excuse for those who are unprepared! And mere humans cannot give you that extra oomf your going to need, our words will sound hollow and meaningless to one who is suffering immeasurably. I don’t even care if you have decided I am nut’s for telling you this. My only hope is that some of you will retain this warning in your memory, so that when you are going through the hellish ordeals promised us, you will think back and maybe, just maybe, not become the apostate that is fully expected of believers in that time. Unbelievers cannot become apostate! Get that out of your head right away.

Matthew 5:9 Blessed are the peacemakers, For they shall be called sons of God. 10 Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, For theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 11 “Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake. 12 Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you. Time and time again we are told we will be persecuted. How does one come up with your getting away scott free?. How does one for one moment believe themselves better than the apostles? Each and every apostle as I said earlier was persecuted severely! Are you considering yourself better than the apostles,to not have to withstand,to not have to persevere? He who perseveres to the end he shall be saved.

Matt 24:13 The funny thing is Jesus through out the testimony of the end times,tells us we will be persecuted, we will be killed, we will be turned over by those we love. And no one denies Jesus is speaking of the tribulation here,yet they destroy, (to rip apart, to make useless.) the whole thing by insisting He is not speaking to everyone. That He is only speaking to the Jews. I have to point out one more time here God makes no distinction between the Jews and the gentiles. Galatians 3:28 says it all when it comes to that. We when we get saved as just like Jews. We get grafted into the olive tree. So if the branches of the olive tree can be ripped off how much worse for we who have been grafted in if we make a fool of the Lord,and His ultimate sacrifice? Let me show you the verse I speak of here.

Romans 11:16 For if the first fruit is holy, the lump is also holy; and if the root is holy, so are the branches. 17 And if some of the branches were broken off, and you, being a wild olive tree, were grafted in among them, and with them became a partaker of the root and fatness of the olive tree, 18 do not boast against the branches. But if you do boast, remember that you do not support the root, but the root supports you.

19 You will say then, “Branches were broken off that I might be grafted in.” 20 Well said. Because of unbelief they were broken off, and you stand by faith. Do not be haughty, but fear. 21 For if God did not spare the natural branches, He may not spare you either. 22 Therefore consider the goodness and severity of God: on those who fell, severity; but toward you, goodness, if you continue in His goodness. Otherwise you also will be cut off. 23 And they also, if they do not continue in unbelief, will be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again. 24 For if you were cut out of the olive tree which is wild by nature, and were grafted contrary to nature into a cultivated olive tree, how much more will these, who are natural branches, be grafted into their own olive tree?

25 For I do not desire, brethren, that you should be ignorant of this mystery, lest you should be wise in your own opinion, that blindness in part has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. 26 And so all Israel will be saved, as it is written:

The fullness of the Gentiles dear brothers and sisters, is not until the very last person who is not a Jew has been saved. Jesus would never go and celebrate while a part of His bride, His promised one, or ones are still being persecuted and ripped apart. Does it make sense that the party starts with out the full body being there? The wedding feast does not begin until the bride in full regalia walks in. The bride being every Christian who ever lived and every Jew who walked in the will of the Lord, since time began,made pure by her fiery trials. Made white by her acceptance of Her Lord,and washed clean by His very blood. We must be as pure and chaste as is possible to receive the prize,our Lord and Savior Our Groom!

The Lord our God would not give His son a less than pure bride. If a girl was not pure when she came to the marriage bed that marriage was annulled. Made void and her embarrassment was complete, because everyone would then know she was impure. She would be made ashamed! In the middle ages they would actually display the maidens bloody sheets out the window to show she had been pure. We cannot expect that the Lord would ever consider giving His son a bride, who still had hang ups and could not love even her enemies. We cannot expect our perfect Lord to wish any other than the purest most devoted to His ways,bride. The tribulation is to test and separate the goats from the sheep,the thorns from the wheat. Let us not forget that the Lord told us in Matthew 13:30 Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn.

That sounds exactly like at the end. There is no two harvests there is but one,and that is the last day. Revelation chapter 14 verses 12 through 18 show us the harvesting,with the Lord our Savior our King of Kings,sitting on the clouds that He just rode up on,where the whole world is seeing Him and the trumpet has already sounded and here is the shout of the arch angel shouting reap for the harvest is ripe for reaping. Which says God looked upon the earth and sees His own reflection looking back at Him from His children’s faces. They have been purified through the fiery trials,the dross has been drawn off, they now reflect their Lord,and it is good.

God Bless you all,Love in Christ Jesus,Tammy

Jan-13-10

The Prayers Of A Righteous Man Availeth Much

posted by PrayerWarrior

What are the prayers of a righteous man or woman? Jesus said the prayer in Matt 6:9-13 was the perfect prayer. I agree totally of course, I mean think about it, we start off with praise, then we tell Him not our will, but His will be done on earth as it is in Heaven. Then we ask for our daily bread, which covers both food and spirit filling. Then we ask forgiveness for ourselves as well as those we might be holding something against. We start to finish the prayer with asking for us not to be tempted to evil acts,and finish with another praise. The perfect prayer no doubt.

So often these days people (Christians) say we need to pray for this government to stop going down this horrible path they are taking us down. I say not so. We should be praying of course,but we must all realize the Lord had His prophets prophesying all of this about two thousand years ago.
Reading the news, is like reading all of the prophecies for the end times throughout the bible.

Jesus said in Luke 22:42-44 “Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.” 43 An angel from heaven appeared to him and strengthened him. 44 And being in anguish, he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground. Jesus prayed in such deep earnestness that His sweat became blood drops, for Himself not to have to go through the serious torture He would be enduring. Even Jesus as righteous as He is, could not change anything about these prophecies coming to pass.

Just as we, even in our righteousness through Christ, cannot change anything that is going to happen in the coming months and years. If we were to stop all of what is going on in our government and our world we would be changing God’s prophecy. God does not change one thing about Himself to please men, nor would He change anything about what He has said will come to pass. That would make Him a liar. God is not a liar. We will have a one world government,we will have one world currency,we will have one world religion. There is no amount of praying, even if we were to pray so hard and earnestly that we bleed instead of sweat,that will change this path we are on.

Evil has been planning and working all it’s evil plans for many years. Paul said it in 2 Thessalonians 2:7
For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only he who now restrains will do so until he is taken out of the way. Do not be fooled though please, when something is taken out of the way it is not removed completely, so he who let’s until he is taken out of the way means just that, pushed aside,moved out of the way. Anyway back to my original article. Evil has been busy and God has known all of this even before the foundations of the earth were laid. The Lord did not tell us about these things occurring so that we may change them. He warned us in advance of what was, and is coming, so that we would not fear it. So that we would be prepared, so that we could be strengthened.

Forewarned is forearmed. God said nothing would happen that He has not prepared us for. Our prayers need to be changed from God please stop this, to God strengthen us, encourage us, prepare us. Protect us and guide us through all of what is coming. The warring Christian looks nothing like the worldly war’s. What does the warring Christian look like? Though he has a weapon and armor,these things are unseen. The sword of the Christian is the word of the Lord,the bible. The way we sharpen our swords is to study the word of the Lord to get to know it very well. We can read it over and over and over again and still come up with a wonderful new lesson each time we read it. Paul speaks of the armor of the Christian in Ephesians 6:14-17, as well as our weapon.

The word is our preparation and our armor,but most especially our sword. Hebrews 4:16. “For the Word that God speaks is alive and full of power [[making it active, operative, energizing and effective]; it is sharper than any two-edged sword, penetrating to the dividing line of the breath of life (soul) and [the immortal] spirit, and of joints and marrow [of the deepest parts of our nature], exposing and sifting and analyzing and judging the very thoughts and purposes of the heart.” Amen
The word is powerful with it we fight off satan and his demons.

Too often I have heard good Christians quoting ,they will have to take my gun our of my cold dead hand, rather than to give it up easily. I cringe at this each time I hear it. We as Christians do not fight as the world does no not us. We are to actually offer up our other cheek to allow someone who has slapped our left cheek to make it even and slap our right cheek. The bible in the New testament does not tell us to fight at all. It tells us we are to be sheep led to the slaughter. We do not fight, we love them to Christ. We are to pray for those who persecute us, and our children and family. This I know will be unbelievably hard to do but therein is our trials by fire.

Guns are going to be outlawed we have got to know this. The beast system does not wish us to fight them and win so they will outlaw guns, and much sooner than anyone thinks. Already our Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has signed onto the small arms treaty with the U.N, which is to get rid of as many guns as they can. The only thing that worries me on that score is the evil people who have guns which are not registered, and that far outnumbers those who are registered. How long before they come and confiscate peoples guns? I do not believe it will be long before that occurs. Our fighting will be much more effective with our words that come straight from the bible.

We war in prayer and praise,with peace and the word as our very effective weapon. We are to be gentle, speak softly,love at all costs. If we fight as the world does how does this make us any different than the ones we are trying to lead to the Lord? Yes we live in this world but we are not of this world. When the Christian is at war the world should not even be able to tell. Our fighting is done in the spirit world where we are promised Victory in Jesus. He says behold I have over come the world. It has been done. It all begins with God and ends with Him. We are to trust in the Lord,to protect us guide and direct us,and most assuredly to care for all of our needs.

The time is quickly coming where we Christians will have to depend on the Lord for absolutely everything. Food, shelter, protection, guidance,of where to go and when to go. Are you ready? We in America have been spoiled rotten. As far as having food to eat when we want it,houses and or apartments to live in. We have cars and transportation of all sorts. Freedom of religion, freedom of speech, gun rights. All too soon we will be losing our bill of rights as well as our constitution. Don’t you all know this already? The bible says there will be a one world government that means bye bye American way of life. There will be a one world currency,and a one world religion. These things had been prophesied a very long time ago,did you think to change the Lords mind on any of this? Do you think we can put off what is due this country and this world, throwing God out of everything.

God is giving this world what it wants and that’s for Him to be taken out of absolutely everything. But then they do not understand the consequences of it all. No friends we will not have anyone or anything to depend upon in this world but God.
Have you ever noticed the harder a persons life gets the more he or she depends upon the Lord? Well that’s whats going to happen here folks. We are going to have no choice but to depend upon our gracious Heavenly Father. He will have to be our healer (Which praise His name He is the best most complete healer). They are doing their level best to destroy our hopes of doctors helping us. How long before no one has money to even have health care? The proposed health care bill is nothing but a license to control every aspect of our lives, and yes to decide who should be helped and who should die.

Don’t be fooled people not for one moment . Our governments know exactly what they are doing. They are not making a single mistake here. They are doing exactly what satan has had planned for a very long time,one world government one world currency and one world religion. What they are doing and why they are doing it is a very obvious thing to me and anyone who reads prophecy. However, though we do not fight as the world does,when truth is at stake we stand up for it even if it means our death. Never ever back down from the truth, just don’t hold anyone at gunpoint to stand up for truth.

Everything we are going through now might have been avoided had people not been so quiet and complacent and allowed the truth to be stopped from being absolute. In this world now a days, according to those of the world, there is no absolute truth. They believe truth is relative to all peoples beliefs, what a load of crap that is. Also they are allowing more and more Muslim garbage to be filtered into everything and then they say Muslims are not to be feared. They are to be feared and prayed for with everything we have, that they would turn to the true God the only God the one with a wonderful Son who is all about Love. The Muslims wreak havoc wherever they go and then say the Christians are the ones who are bad? It is unreal to me but at the same time in Isaiah it says good would be considered evil and evil would be considered good in these times. Well hold onto your pants people here we are.

Isaiah 5:20 Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter! I will ask again are you ready? The best way to prepare for all of whats coming is to read your word to pray for understanding and wisdom and knowledge. Do not take mans word for the meaning and understanding of the scriptures, pray for the Holy Spirit to guide you through it in truth with understanding, knowledge, and wisdom.

Love in Christ Jesus, Tammy

Jan-28-09

The Shepherd And The Sheep

posted by PrayerWarrior

Jesus is our Shepherd,right? Or is He? Is He your Shepherd? Have you made Him your Shepherd? Have you made him the only thing you follow? Because the Shepherds job is to what, Lead the flock,feed the flock, He thinks about his flock. He provides for His flock, nourishes His flock,and most importantly He makes available to His flock. We His flock, do not need to worry about where our next meal is coming from,He provides all things to us. When you walk on your own,doing the things the wicked world has taught you, are you living for your Shepherd? We are already a citizen of Heaven when we become one of his flock. Being a citizen of heaven, we naturally want to keep ourselves holy.Thats why we must listen to the Lord he will lead us on righteous paths. Doing all the right things.

The Shepherd calls you by name he knows you, he loves you. If one of his flock wander away he runs right after them to get them back in line. He Leaves all the other flock, and goes to get that wandering sheep back. Christ is our Shepherd, he stands at the door and he calls to you, he does not knock, he calls you by name. We, who are his flock hear and understand, it is our Shepherd calling to us, and we open the door. We let him in,and we follow him. If we are his sheep Our Job is to follow the shepherd. When the flock follows the Shepherd they get to know him, they get to know his voice, and they listen. The Shepherd guards his flock, he protects his flock. He advises his flock,and they hear and do according to his word.

We as sheep need to have considerate observation so we know what our Shepherd is telling us to do. We need to pay attention to Him and all he dictates to us. He is never early, He is never late, He is always on time. Being that he provides for you, you now have to what? Take what he gives you. In Ephesians it says, we have been blessed with every blessing. In order to have blessings you must accept them. We sheep accept those blessings, we receive them. If he has said take it, it is yours, why aren’t you taking it? It is yours! Go get those blessings with Thanksgiving in your heart. The Shepherd provides lavish drisrtibutions of gifts. We are all given gifts of the spirit and they are according to Gods word Lavish. We must listen with the ability to do what your told. If you do not listen, that’s when you make mistakes. We do not have to make mistakes,because “everything” is provided for us. We need have no worry. If we are worrying we are not trusting the Lord to do his Job and Shepherd us.

All we have to do is sit back and go along for the ride kind of. I mean you are to be busy for the Lord, winning more souls to heaven. But like when you take a plane, ok you board the plane,you are without saying it out loud, giving that pilot your trust. You go in the plane take a seat, seat belt yourself, hear all the safety instructions, and then relax and let the Pilot do his job. It is like that with Christ only much deeper. A pilot is a temporary guard of your life. Jesus is forever looking after your safety. He is the pilot, you simply trust him with your life. You put your faith in him, and know he will see you safely to your destination. Our destination is eternity with Christ, like Christ. Just trust Him,just obey him. Follow him and all His edicts, and you will be living a blessed life. Just hand him the reins, allow him to lead you through life. You have angels all around you, making sure you do not dash your foot against a stone, when you make him your Shepherd and heed His advice. It is when you step away from the Shepherd that you can wander away from the flock, and get lost. Though He promises He will come get you. He “will” come find you.”Whom the Father has given Him he will not lose one, no not one.”

Sheep follow their Shepherd blindly. Meaning they do not look to the left unless their shepherd is there. they do not look off to the right unless that is where there Shepherd is. We as Jesus followers do not need to be concerned with the things of this world. We just need to keep our eye trained on the Shepherd. He will never lead us astray,and he will keep us happy all along the way. Though troubles may find you friends, your Shepherd always comes and saves you in the nick of time. The sheep know that the Shepherd is always going to take good care of them. They love their Shepherd and he loves them. The sheep do not look at one another and judge and worry about what the other sheep are doing. Nope ,they look up to their Shepherd and know they are always safe. The Shepherd will not allow anything to happen to his sheep.

Knowing His word is a very good way for us to get to know Him. He knows us already don’t forget he called you out of your sin to become one of His own. So to know the Shepherds voice,to understand the Shepherds voice, you must study his word. Have you ever wondered at that voice in your head? Asking yourself is this my own subconscious speaking? Is this God speaking to me? Is this satan speaking to me? How can you know without a doubt it is Jesus speaking to you? By knowing his word. In knowing the word you are now prepared to fight off all the devils wily darts that he will hurl at you, as well as being able to know without a doubt when it is the Lord speaking to your heart. We will recognize his voice by knowing His word. Then there will never be an occasion to wonder whose voice your hearing. Forewarned as they say, is forearmed. The Lord in His word provides all the answers to every question you may have. You can know those answers long before you need ask them, by studying his word diligently. This way you know your Shepherd. His word is His explanation of who he is.

One more Analogy to round this out. The Lord is kind of like a boxers manager. He is in your corner watching everything you cannot see in the thick of it all. He massages you and tells you go with your right there is a nice spot left open over there, go with your right. Go to the left duck ,bob and weave. He sees all things that are going on and knows which way to direct you. Which way your going to get through this match. It is the same with Christ. He sees all the things we cannot see, He knows which ways to guide you and direct you. He will always be that man in your corner never leaving your side always guiding and directing and asking you to trust him. Your victory is His victory in all things. Or vice verse, His victory is your victory, in all things. He first had the victory and passes that on to us, who will just trust Him and make Him our Shepherd.

God Bless you all and lead you to Him.
Love you all in His Name, Tammy

Nov-28-08

Wolves In Sheep’s Clothing

posted by PrayerWarrior

When I was led to do this particular article, I researched it, and do you know what I found?
I found that all those preachers who are busy pointing out other wolves in sheep’s clothing were actually the very thing they were preaching against. Thats right, look up the words wolves in sheep’s clothing for yourself, and notice it is preachers talking about other preachers and putting them down. You will see what it is The Lord was speaking about through Paul. What does this mean to me, when I hear of ravening wolves, hiding as one of the sheep among the sheep? I think of devious jealous snarling angry unhappy people. Who do not apparently have enough to do with their own lives, and are just not busy enough leading people to the Lord. Our great commission according to Jesus is to go out and lead others to him.How can we effectively lead others to the Lord, if we are so busy looking for something bad to report about another preacher or teacher? Or even another brother or sister in Christ. It reminds me of my children when they were growing up and jealous of one another’s attention. Dad he said this, mom she said that ,aren’t you going to punish her or him?

In effect are we not as brothers and sisters in Christ doing the same thing when we take it upon ourselves to point out a wrong word or misspoken sentence someone else might have said? Most often, peoples opinions on others, is based upon their own prejudices, jealousies and or anger.It is a sad state of afairs when in looking for verses online pertaining to wolves in sheep’s clothing. Alls you can find on the issue is other preachers putting down other preachers and teachers.We are all supposed to be honoring one another in the body of Christ. Now I have no problem personally with others prayerfully considering sharing their disappointment with other Christians. Once in a while about someone they once had great esteem for,and they found out through that preachers own words, that he/she was indeed a wolf in sheep’s clothing.This takes serious consideration and time. My issue with the preachers who are talking smack about other preachers is this, they are not working the great commission that Christ told us is our job. That is simply to further the kingdom of God. To grow it and in love and patience teach one another.

If say a person came to Christ through the teachings and or preaching or evangelizing of one preacher, and then that new Christian heard through another preacher even their own preacher, that this person whom at first led them to the Lord, was a crooked so and so, or a wolf and they simply had misspoken something. Would that new baby Christian turn away? Would that new Christian who held such esteem for this person who led them to the Lord, Now hearing that preacher is bad bad bad. Couldn’t that give them serious pause to think, oh man who am I kidding here? I don’t know anything. I was stupid to listen to that or this person. Would that not turn them away forever more? I know within myself if I had heard all that I now know as a new Christian. I probably would have turned away. Thinking I knew nothing and this was a bunch of angry people I would not want to have anything to do with.

A study was done this past summer and filmed on,what other people think of Christians, are they united or divided? The answer by people who are not saved and do not have a clue about it, was they are so very divided. That dear friends is horrible. How can we effectively show the world at large, that we are indeed of one body, if it seems to the rest of the world that we are not united. Philippians 2:2 then fill me with joy by having the same attitude, sharing the same love, being united in spirit, and keeping one purpose in mind.[ISV] 1 Peter 3:8 Finally, be ye all like minded, compassionate, loving as brethren, tenderhearted, humble minded: This is the body of Christ and what it would look like to the rest of the world.

Romans 15:6 That ye may with one mind and one mouth glorify God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Romans 13:13 Let us walk honestly, as in the day; not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying. Amos 3:3 Can two walk together, except they be agreed? Psalms 133:1 Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity! Jeremiah 32:39 And I will give them one heart, and one way, that they may fear me for ever, for the good of them, and of their children after them:
John 13:34-35 A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. 35 By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another. Romans 12:16 Be of the same mind one toward another. Mind not high things, but condescend to men of low estate. Be not wise in your own conceits.  I could go on and on with these verses of unity, but this has moved me in another direction than I wanted this article to go. Obviously my next article will be one minded in Christ.

Now what we are looking for in wolves, who are ravening and mad, who hide themselves as Christians among Christians . “Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. “Matthew 7:15, KJV “Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves. “Matthew 10:16, KJV “Go your ways: behold, I send you forth as lambs among wolves. “Luke 10:3, KJV “For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock.”Acts 20:29, KJV.

Jesus does not spell out what “fruits” to look for, although in the Olivet Prophecy, He does link the deceptions of false prophets with the lawlessness and lack of love that abounds at the end time (Matthew 24:11-13). However, the rest of the Bible elucidates God’s character and nature, so we already have the tools to evaluate whether a message allegedly coming from God fits with what His Word reveals about Him. God is not double-minded; He will not contradict Himself. In other words test everything you hear everything against the word of God. We are also quite lucky in that the Lord has provided us the Holy Spirit which helps us to have discernment within ourselves. If it sounds wrong compared to what you already know, then search it out, study it up, and learn, always learn about your Father in Heaven, and what he would have you know as truth.

The description here is very apt—wolves in sheep’s clothing. They appear on the outside to be something they are not. When Jesus uttered this, He was probably thinking of false ministers who would insinuate themselves into the church by appearing to be sheep within the sheepfold.

Jesus uses this terminology in regard to His relationship with the church. He is the Shepherd, and we are His sheep. Here we have wolves (false ministers) who look like sheep, but it is hypocrisy. They only look that way on the outside. He tells us we will know them by their fruits. The fruit that is produced will not necessarily appear quickly. But Christ guarantees that over a period of time the church will be stripped of its true spiritual vitality in terms of the character that will be produced within the flock, making the rise of wolves in sheep’s clothing more likely.

What is He saying? The implication is that Jesus is connecting belief with practice. If we believe a certain set of doctrines, we will practice something because of the teaching. A religious creed or the dogma that a group is following will produce a certain kind of conduct by the people. Belief and practice, creed and conduct—Jesus is saying they are vitality connected. In other words, the teacher cannot hide what he is going to produce. Eventually it will come out. Their false philosophies, no matter how attractive they may appear at first sight, will in the long run be exposed for what they really are.

In Closing my brothers and sisters, I wish to warn you a little further of what to look for in wolves hiding among us. (Romans 1:28-32) And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God any longer, God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do those things which are not proper, being filled with all unrighteousness, wickedness, greed, evil; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malice; they are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, arrogant, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, without understanding, untrustworthy, unloving, unmerciful; and, although they know the ordinance of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death, they not only do the same, but also give hearty approval to those who practice them. At all times keep your ears open, your eyes trained on truth. You I trust will know who to stay away from.

It is not our job to show the world who in our own opinion is a false teacher, but to trust the Holy Spirit will warn individuals of who is a wolf in sheeps clothing. To speak ill of someone else who is according to the word, our brother or sister is gossip, and slander.

Love in Christ Jesus,Tammy


Video & Audio Comments are proudly powered by Riffly