HOW TO IDENTIFY AND PROTECT YOURSELF AGAINST HARMFUL RELATIONSHIPS IN CHURCH



 By Rev. Michael Benson Ajayi
 Beware of the ‘mixed multitude’ and ‘Tares’


Matt 15:13-14 “And he replied, "Every plant that my heavenly Father did not plant will be uprooted.”
        The scriptures describes the process of the exodus of the Israelites from Egypt in Ex 12:38 KJV “And a mixed multitude went up also with them; and flocks, and herds, even very much cattle.” The word ‘mixed’ is the Hebrew word `ereb’ which means Arabia or the mongrel race. God had no covenant with them and their influence on the Israelites marred their Journey to the promise land. They were predominantly idol worshippers and lured Israel into the act of idol worship.
                 A similar scenario played out on the day of Pentecost in Acts 1:6 the Apostle Peter described the crowd that were gathered as ‘Men’ and ‘Brethren’. The church consists of different kinds of persons; each one with a personal agenda. There are those who profess Christ openly but aren’t committed to Him in anyway (Matt15:8). They have a self-centered agenda. Jesus describes these persons in Matt 13:25-40 as ‘tares.’ The tare is a crop that looks much like wheat and competes with it for nutrients. Likewise, there are those whom Satan has planted among God’s people with the mission to steal our Joy. There is as much risk of being defrauded in business or marriage relationship in the church as much as it is in the world. Church leadership has never been as suspect as it is today.
            Their mission is two-fold, first to dilute the gospel by compromising the truth with secular ideologies thereby stripping it off its life-changing power and secondly to pollute the church with an alien culture  that  makes the church appear harmful to would-be converts.
          Jesus showed us how to identify these persons in our midst. They are allergic to truth. They easily take offence when confronted with the truth of the gospel. Jesus did not apologize for hurting their feelings like most believers are tempted to do in order to gain acceptance. Making the gospel sound appealing will not change ‘tares’. They hate truth, the scriptures says in John 3:20-21 TLB “They hated the heavenly Light because they wanted to sin in the darkness. They stayed away from that Light for fear their sins would be exposed and they would be punished. But those doing right come gladly to the Light to let everyone see that they are doing what God wants them to." Based on this, no teacher of truth should take offense when certain persons depart from his or her congregation. It is normal for such to happen. The Word of God teaches that in the last days, men shall lose interest in sound doctrine of scriptures.. False brethren seek for congregations that promote falsehood as long as their consciences aren’t pricked  , the scriptures say in  2 Tim 4:3-4 TLB “For there is going to come a time when people won't listen to the truth but will go around looking for teachers who will tell them just what they want to hear. They won't listen to what the Bible says but will blithely follow their own misguided ideas.”
                Jesus kept on teaching those hard-to- hear teachings in a bid to expose these false brethren. In Galatians 5:19-21 Apostle Paul repeatedly spoke on the characteristics of false brethren. False pastors are afraid to read Galatians 5:19-21 to their congregation because it will expose their falsehood.
             Marriage to a Christian is no guarantee for a peaceful home because of ‘tares’ disguised as disciples. Only a relentless teaching of the truth of the gospel can protect one against false suitors. Showing kindness in place of teaching only makes  matters worse as revealed in Isa 26:10 NKJV “Let grace be shown to the wicked, Yet he will not learn righteousness; In the land of uprightness he will deal unjustly,  And will not behold the majesty of the Lord.”  As you read this now receive grace for protection against false brethren in Jesus name
PRAYER/COUNSELING +2348098536911,(PARTNERSHIP) Text +2348035536911
Email: michaelbensonajayi@gmail.com

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

BREAK EVIL FAMILY PATTERNS

Image
 By Rev.Michael Benson Ajayi  Titus 1:12 -14 "One of themselves,   even a prophet of their own, said, The Cretians   are alway liars, evil beasts, slow bellies.  This  witness is true. Wherefore rebuke them sharply,  that they may be sound in the faith;  Not giving  heed to Jewish fables, and commandments of  men, that turn from the truth."       The church in Crete was in disarray and the apostle assigned Titus to go and put things in order . On investigation it was discovered the church suffered from a vicious cycle of evil family  patterns. They were not enjoying the fruits of the salvation experience . An example of evil family patterns is that of King David who defiled Uriah's wife ,murdered him and his son Absalom murdered his brother Amnon (2Sam13) dethroned him and defiled his concubines openly (2Samuel16). His son Amnon defiled his sister Tamar (2Sam.13) and so on yet David was the anointed of the Lord....
Read more

COMMON CAUSES OF DISUNITY.

Image
 By Rev Michael Benson Ajayi "Even some men from your own group will rise up and distort the truth in order to draw a following."Acts 20:30 NLT   "An angry person starts fights; a hot-tempered person commits all kinds of sin." Proverbs 29:22 NLTBible        Disunity is defined as : disagreement and conflict within a group. It is the greatest hindrance to the promotion of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Disunity creates an avenue for Satan to promote sin.       The causes of disunity are not farfetched ,they include : Unhealthy Crave for power or self- promotion. Whenever there is an unhealthy pursuit of influence in a family or group it results in resistance. Self-promotion gives birth to unfair practices and injustices. In Numbers 12: 1-15  Moses' sister Miriam and Aaron rebelled against him desiring to rule by force and in Numbers 16 :1-35 Korah led an insurrection against Moses desiring to be part of leadership. In both cases ,God wa...
Read more

CONSEQUENCES OF LACK OF FAITH

Image
By Rev. Michael Benson Ajayi " Be careful then, dear brothers and sisters. Make sure that your own hearts are not evil and unbelieving, turning you away from the living God." Hebrews 3:12 NLTBible  ' Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here, and look at my hands. Put your hand into the wound in my side. Don’t be faithless any longer. Believe!”John 20:27 NLTBible     Faith is the guarantee of the manifestation an unseen reality . It is the reason behind the hope we have in God and the fulfilment of his promises. It is the substance ( title deed) of things hoped for ,the evidence of things not seen (Hebrew 11:1) .The Bible warns against not having faith in God. Lack of faith is equal to calling God a liar and untrustworthy. This type of reasoning turns us into enemy's of God.    The gospel is so much under attack by the activities of faithless religionists . They plan to replace the holy scripture with humanistic dogma. The danger in this is the relative...
Read more