“Behold, I am
against the prophets, saith the LORD, that use their tongues, and say, ‘He
saith.” Jeremiah 23:31
I remember growing up as a little
boy how I always seemed to be attracted to the power demonstrated of preachers
and men that taught the Bible way of life. I didn’t understand why until later on in
life. I figure it was a time in my life
when I was the most impressionable. In the 1950’s of Carteret County, was a
time when material things didn’t matter very much because they just were not
available for the most part. Unless you had a lot of money and means, we just
lived our lives in a simpler way. I had just recently accepted Christ Jesus as
my LORD and Saviour in 1964, when I was introduced to these preacher men around
the time of revivals and special meetings of the church. Many came to our home
for meals and that is where I learned more about them through their
conversations. I enjoyed their enthusiasm and exuberance of preaching and
teaching the Word of God in the local church pulpit. They were very strict in
their teaching and for the most part their living also. The men of God I grew
up with were not worldly men, nor did they frequent places of pleasure just to
get away from things or at least, I never saw any of these ways about them. Social
drinking was a forbidden vice and they preached about the lewdness of petting
to teens. They preached hell hot and heaven sweet all the while instilling the
fear of God in your mind. They possessed something that I wanted for myself,
the hand of God upon me. As far as a little boy could see, these men didn’t pursue
money or material things of this world, but time alone with God and His Divine
presence for the gift of deliverance of timely messages. These powerful men of
God were nothing like the ‘yes’ men that populate the pulpits of America today.
Most assuredly, these men of God
practiced what they preached. These men were humble men with no agenda outside
of the Kingdom of God. They were a living example to the church. These men of
God that I became acquainted with over the years sought out our little church
on the coast of North Carolina and refreshed themselves amongst God’s people
for a while and then went on their way to do God’s work in other areas.
Today, compared to the 1950”s, the
Gospel Message of Jesus Christ has changed due to worldly influence. The
pastors and preachers of today, with myself included, are at fault for this and
will answer to God for it. This is a Biblical stand taken by God. There is no
doubt on my part that Satan has successfully infiltrated the church by blending
the tares of this world with the wheat
of the Kingdom, or plainly stated, mingling the lost sinner with the saved
child of God in the worship services. The pastors have made the church the
playground of the lost by which they entertain themselves with extravagant
music and dance programs on Sunday morning. The television evangelists and
pastors message was; “can’t we all just get along? We are all god’s children
right?” This message was and still is, quite the contrary when the Bible
teaches us who know Christ as our LORD and Saviour to live a holy and separated
life in front of others. This all came about with the invention of the
television set placed strategically in our homes.
Historically, in the late 1920’s, a
new and wonderful invention came into our lives, television. I remember my Dad
telling me of the very first TV he saw and witnessed for himself, he was in his
late teens at the time. He told me of a man who lived in Newport, were my Dad
lived as a boy, that owned and operated a small radio and appliance store. This
inventive gentleman had rigged up a very small TV in a cigar box that my Dad
said was quite impressive of that day. I think the radio repair man got his
spare parts from the military surplus stores around the area and there were
many. As my Dad described it to me, the
cathode tube was very small. This was
1947 and just after WWII. If we can recall a little bit of history, it was the
Nazis Dictator, Adolf Hitler, who was responsible for televised programming
which took place at the 1936 Olympics in Germany. In which our own Jesse Owens,
defeated Hitler’s “Super Race” of men of Nazis Germany Olympians on the running
track. This new invention was used solely for the purpose of propaganda
purposes of the Nazis State. So, in reality, the TV wasn’t anything new to the
world, but it was to us who lived in Carteret County. Mom and Dad didn’t get
one for us until about 1958 or 1959. I cannot remember one being in our house
earlier because I was just five years old in 1959. From what I do remember of
our first TV was that the reception was terrible and there were very limited
programs to be watched.
As I look at the church today, and at
the preachers and pastors that I knew and know now, I have come to the
conclusion that these men and their agenda has been passed down to hirelings
and strayed from the Divine calling they were given, if in fact it is
questionable that they were given the divine calling of God. Now that I am also
an ordained preacher of the Gospel Message, I know that our number one priority
is to propagate the Gospel Message of Christ. We who know the truth are not to
be quieted down by the pressures applied by the 501c3 corporate run hirelings and
wolves in sheep’s clothing, parading around as pious pimps. I truly believe
that God’s real man will not cave into the pressures of this world and not to
be bought off with the pleasure this world can offer. Today, this Gospel Message mandate has slipped
the minds of many preachers and is not the priority it was intended to be. Today,
their agenda has changed for fame and notoriety mainly due to the exploitation
of the television, the propaganda machine. Money and lots of it, big houses,
fancy cars, and airplanes, have been accumulated because of the huge influx of offerings
sent in from unbeknown, good hearted people, which are sincere in their giving.
Satan uses his men and women around the world to propagate the propaganda
message of the ages; “take it easy, be gentle, and don’t rock the boat, and
everything is beautiful in its own way.” These wolves that fleece the flock
will exclaim they need these things to do the work of God but the Bible declares
they do not need these things to perform God’s work. So, just who is it they
are working for? Satan seeks to inhibit and destroy the true church and he uses
his men and women to do so by demeaning the cause and the message of Christ.
Satan uses men and women that will sell their gift or be bought out by the lust
of their flesh.
“But Jesus called them unto him, and said, “Ye know that the princes of the Gentiles exercise dominion
over them, and they that are great exercise authority upon them. But it shall not be so among you: but whosoever will be great
among you, let him be your minister; And
whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant: Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to
minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.” Matthew 20:25-28
As I have stated before, the
Kingdom of God and this world in which we live have two very different
economies. As a child of God, it behooves us to learn all we can about the
coming Kingdom of God here on this earth now within us. If you are a born-again
Christian you are part of it and will experience this Kingdom first hand. Let
us face the truth of the matter, Christ is coming back to set all things right.
It is my personal belief that the man of God is to follow the precepts and
commands of the LORD Jesus. The Day of the LORD will arrive very soon in which
we as preachers, pastors, and evangelists, will have to give an account to Him
face to face. God is not going to seek answers from the woman, but the man He
has placed in position to give an account of the works of the Kingdom on earth.
This is very reason he is called is to do the LORD’s bidding here on earth for
the Kingdom of God, to answer directly to his maker. I strongly believe it is
us, the preachers and pastors that God will hold entirely responsible for our
generation. We will answer to God for what we have or have not done for the
Kingdom. Let us who are called by His name remember we are just sojourners,
pilgrims, and strangers. It is The LORD God that is the one who calls the man
into the LORD’s service. The man does not choose to do so and if he does, he
will be met with continuous failure, spiritual failure. We need to look at this
concept of failure and success for just a moment. Here on earth, mankind sees
success and measures success by what he can see and attest too. Mankind will
measure another by the house that he lives in and the kind of car that is
parked in his driveway. Mankind will see how he is dressed and the places he
frequents. This will be the preacher mans sign to the world he is successful,
but at what? All this proves is that the preacher man is a successful business
man and has the ability to amass material goods, they very thing Jesus
admonished the rich young man to discard, pick up his cross, and follow Him.
“And when he was gone forth into the way, there came
one running, and kneeled to him, and asked him, Good Master, what shall I do
that I may inherit eternal life? And Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou me good? There is none good but one, that
is, God. Thou knowest the commandments, do not
commit adultery, do not kill, do not steal, do not bear false witness, defraud
not, honour thy father and mother. And he answered and said unto him,
Master, all these have I observed from my youth. Then Jesus beholding him loved
him, and said unto him, “One thing thou lackest: go thy
way, sell whatsoever thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have
treasure in heaven: and come, take up the cross, and follow me”. And he
was sad at that saying, and went away grieved: for he had great possessions. And
Jesus looked round about, and saith unto his disciples, “How hardly shall they that have riches enter
into the kingdom of God!” And the
disciples were astonished at his words. But Jesus answereth again, and saith
unto them, “Children,
how hard is it for them that trust in riches to enter into the kingdom of God!” Mark 10:17-24
Yes, the so called man of God can
be very successful on the outside and religious, but a spiritual shipwreck on
the inside and lost. There is an old saying; ‘you cannot judge a book by its
cover.’ This has been proven to be true on many occasions and this is one of
the reasons God searches and tries the heart. When the heart of any man is
exposed, it is only then he can be known for what he really is. The preacher
man might look delicious on the outside, but could be rotten to the core on the
inside. Who can tell the difference? One of the ways I measure up and look at
these so called men of God, is not how much they have amassed or how notorious
they are, but how small they are and how insignificant they have become. God
measures His man by how small he has become in the service of God. John the Baptist found this to be true and
made a profound statement of truth. John says; “He {Jesus} must increase, but I must decrease. {John
3:30} John the Baptist purposely debased himself by wearing animal skins and
eating locus and wild honey. The very things the people of society steered
clear of because of its demeaning nature. Let us face the truth, John the
Baptist was a weird man to society of that day and we who are called by the
LORD Jesus are no different. Because of the way that John conducted his life,
Jesus commended him for being ridiculed and hated by the world.
“For I say unto you, among those that are
born of women there is not a greater prophet than John the Baptist: but he that is least in the kingdom of God
is greater than he.” Luke 7:28
Upon consideration of these things have I come to the
conclusion that if the man of God has increased dramatically, a warning flag
goes up the pole for me to watch and mark that man with careful consideration. It is a Biblical fact that to be successful
with Christ Jesus, one has to denounce this earth and its ways. We are supposed
to be a new creation in Christ Jesus and the former things are not needed
anymore, or so it is supposed to be. Let us be warned of this Biblical fact, to
be successful with the LORD Jesus, one has to become insignificant in the
wicked world and deliberately become small around their peers.
The LORD God says through His man; “Love not the
world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the
eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the
world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God
abideth for ever.” 1John 2:15-17
