HOW TO IDENTIFY AND PROTECT YOURSELF AGAINST HARMFUL RELATIONSHIPS IN CHURCH
Matt 15:13-14 “And he replied, "Every plant
that my heavenly Father did not plant will be uprooted.”
The
scriptures describes the exodus of the Jews 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 worshipers and Israel soon got caught up in the act.
The same 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 has persons 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. 'Tares' are Satan's agents in disguise with the mission to steal our Joy. There is
as much risk of being defrauded in a business or marriage relationship in the
church as much as it is in the world and the credibility of the leadership is at it's lowest ebb.
'Tares' operate in two ways, first they
dilute the gospel by compromising the truth with secular ideologies thus removing its life-changing power and secondly they pollute the church
with an alien culture that makes the church appear harmful to would-be and young
converts.
Jesus showed us how to identify these
persons in our midst. They are allergic to truth and easily take offense when
confronted with the righteous gospel. Jesus did not apologize for hurting
their feelings like most many preachers seeking fame do today. 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." therefore , no teacher of
truth should take offense as a result of the backlash from disenchanted parishioners :it is normal. 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 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 preachers are afraid to read Galatians 5:19-21 to their congregation
because it will exposes falsehood.
Marriage to a Christian is no
guarantee for a peaceful home because ‘tares’ often disguise themselves 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,(Whatsapp) Text +2348035536911
Email: michaelbensonajayi@gmail.com
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