I was born again in 1983. I was born into a Jewish home – mom and dad were both Jews. I searched for the truth about Jesus most of my life. I knew that there had to be something unique and special about this man who changed history; who changed even our calendars.

I studied the Word diligently after I was saved.  I came to this passage and quite honestly, it scared me terribly:

“Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?  And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity” (Matthew 7:21-23).

Would I possibly be one of these people?  I would lie awake nights trembling over this. Was there something I was missing?  When the couple who led me to Jesus that night in 1983 prayed with me, they talked with me about repentance (turning away from the sins that had separated me from God)  and fully trusting the Lord Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of my sins. He paid the debt for my sin that I could never pay. It was ALL about Jesus.

The False Teachers and the Great Apostasy

In the last few years I believe that I am seeing clearly who He will be turning away when they come to Him after their lives are over.  From Scripture it is quite obvious that these people thought that they had done everything He had asked.  They had even done supernatural things!  But he sent them away and said that He knew them not. He called them workers of iniquity.

How many denominations have fallen for the lies from the evil one? How many are into the Emergent mystical ways?  How many now have become ecumenical and are returning to Rome?   Catholicism is a works based religion – or should I say “cult?”

But these people are so sure that they are in the will of God. Sadly, somewhere along the line, Satan has lured them away from the Word of God, and has led them on a path to destruction.  The Word of Faith teachers have their people believing that if they give enough money to the church leaders, surely God will open the gates of heaven and blessing upon blessing will fall upon these folks.   Where does it say that in the Word?  I have not seen that.

The Word of God is neglected

When people come to me with extra Biblical prophecies, or dreams and visions which do not match up to the Word – I tell them that they are not in the will of God. They invariably recite this passage of Scripture:

“And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions” (Joel 2:28).

I ask them if they can show me in God’s Word where these dreams and visions and prophecies are found?  They usually cannot. I ask them why I would need more than the Word of God?  He has given us everything we need to know!  He has even told us that which will happen in the future. We are seeing this right now!

The evil one is the father of lies and the author of confusion.  It’s what he does, and he does it well.  When he tried to fool our Lord Jesus in the wilderness, did Jesus argue with him? No – He gave him the pure Word of God. Finally the devil left Him. The evil one uses just a bit of truth and then twists it. When Jesus spoke the entire Word of God, the devil knew that he could not fight against this.

Check Everything Against the Word of God

Just as the Berean church did, whenever we hear of a new teaching or just anything that we have not read in God’s Word; we should go through God’s Word and see if what we have been told is true.  If it is true, it will be in the Bible!

Brethren, keep yourselves safe and read God’s Word every day. It truly is God’s love letter to us!  It is filled with truth from God. It’s all we need.

If someone says to you “The Bible was written by mere men.” Tell them that these men were writing under the inspiration of God’s Holy Spirit.  The Bible IS God’s Word!

Shalom b’Yeshua,

MARANATHA