X-Men

Marked for life: discernment ministry in light of Ezekiel 9:1-11

By Pastor Larry DeBruyn
Someone once said that sin is as much a breaking of God’s heart as it is the breaking of His Law. When God looked down on the perversity of the people on earth before the Deluge, it was recorded that He“was grieved in His heart” (Genesis 6:6b). When confronted by resident wickedness both without and within the professing church, Christians can manifest one of three reactions: approval (1 Corinthians 5:2), indifference (Zephaniah 1:12), or disapproval as indicated by the presence of either anger (Psalm 119:53) or grief (Psalm 119:136). So the question becomes, as we see the worldliness-wickedness invading the church, how do we feel about it? Are agitated by, indifferent to, or accommodating of it?
Not unlike the society and church of our times, during Ezekiel’s ministry Judah found herself in a moral and spiritual “melt down.” Fraud, violence, adultery, and idolatry were running rampant amongst God’s chosen people. Idols had been set up in the Temple (Ezekiel 8:17; 9:9). From his location in Babylon, the Lord took Ezekiel on a virtual reality tour of the Temple, the place where on the Mercy Seat beneath the Cherubim, God’s Shekinah glory was to have been seated (Ezekiel 8:4). What he saw in that place of worship stunned the prophet. On his guided tour of the inner court, the Lord showed the prophet where first the people had substituted an idol image for Yahweh; where second, the elders worshiped animals; where third, the women sobbed over the death of Tammuz, a mythological fertility god who had married the Egyptian goddess Ishtar; and where fourth, the priests worshiped the sun (Ezekiel 8:5-18). Up-close and personal, the prophet saw how the nation had abominated into apostasy, how Israel had turned from worshiping the Creator to idolizing the creation and its creatures (See Romans 1:21-23.).
Yet in the midst of all those “alternative spiritualities,” and like the remnant of Elijah’s day who refused to bow their knee to Baal and kiss the idol god (1 Kings 19:18), some believers preserved themselves to be holy unto the Lord. So the Lord instructed the angel dressed in white to mark an “X” on the foreheads of the faithful, a mark that would spare them from the coming divine judgment (circa 600 BC).[1]Most have heard about “the mark of the beast”, the mark the deceived will receive at the end of the age, an identity without which they will neither be able to buy or sell (Revelation 14:9-12). The prophet Ezekiel wrote about a different mark, an “X” that was to be written on the foreheads of those in Judah who had refused to go along with the popular spiritual trends of that day. The “X” would spare them from the coming divine wrath. So the Lord instructed the angel: “Go through the midst of the city, even through the midst of Jerusalem, and put a mark on the foreheads of the men who sigh and groan over all the abominations which are being committed in its midst” (Ezekiel 9:4).
Pause with me . . . for a moment let’s project back to that era and ask ourselves the following question: If we had been alive in Ezekiel’s day, would the angel have marked us to be spared from divine judgment?
It was a remnant who strongly disapproved of the apostasy of the majority. In the words of the Lord, they groaned and sighed over the“abominations” (Ezekiel 8:6, 9, 13, 15, 17; 9:4) they saw being committed in the name of religion in their midst. What they saw sickened them to the core of their spiritual and emotional being. Would the angel have marked us if we had lived in that day? We should check out our feelings. Charles Feinberg observed: “Grief is always the portion of those who know the Lord in an evil day. The marked ones were penitent and faithful at a time of widespread departure from the will of the Lord.”[2] Another commentator adds that the criterion for receiving the mark was “an affair of the heart–a passionate concern for God and His people. Failing that, there was no mark . . .”[3]
Some in the mainstream Christian media have called those involved in discernment ministry “Christian attack dogs.”[4] Maybe a better metaphor-label would be “Christian guard dogs”! Discerners so love their Master (i.e., the Lord Jesus Christ) and His Bride (i.e., the church) that they agonize to protect His truth and her purity.
Allow me to propose a litmus test as to whether or not we might have been marked in Ezekiel’s day.But before asking some questions, we should note the Apostle Peter’s warning: ”But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will also be false teachers among you”(2 Peter 2:1; Compare Matthew 7:13-15; Jude 17-19.).
Based upon Peter’s prediction, does the worldliness that is invading the church bother us? (James 4:4)
Does it concern us when we see churches being manipulated by the mechanics of church growth, when the end of growth justifies any means to achieve it? (2 Corinthians 2:17)
Does it bother our souls to see the goal of growth eclipsing Gospel, to see methods employed usurping the Message preached? (Romans 1:16)
Does it grieve us to observe the church believing God’s truth less while enjoying “worship celebrations” more? (Matthew 15:8-9)
Does the rampant immorality amongst professing evangelicals cause us to sigh? (1 Corinthians 5:2)
Were you bothered a few years ago when one evangelical leader, who led a movement in his state to preserve the institution of traditional marriage, was cornered into admitting that he solicited sex from a male prostitute? (Jeremiah 23:14)
Do false teachers with their strange and unbiblical teachings annoy you? (Revelation 2:2)
Given our media age, does the development of the personality cults around evangelical leaders and speakers, where appearance and a schmoozing style trump substance, concern us? (1 Corinthians 1:12; 2 Peter 2:3; Jude 16)
Are some of us even unaware that there are such critters as false teachers who stupefy their followers with their heretical teachings? (Romans 16:17)
Does it upset us to see the Christian faith being publicly maligned for reason of the immoral behavior and unbiblical teachings prevalent amongst professing evangelicals? (2 Peter 2:2)
In short, are we discerners? (Hebrews 5:14)
If we are not, then we should not expect to be marked.

Well, you might be asking, how can we know whether or not a person is a false teacher? Through Jeremiah the Lord provided this description of false prophets: “The prophets are prophesying falsehood in My name. I have neither sent them nor commanded them nor spoken to them; they are prophesying to you a false vision, divination, futility and the deception of their own minds” (Jeremiah 14:14). Of such prophets Jeremiah said that, “They speak a vision of their own imagination, not from the mouth of the Lord” (Jeremiah 23:16b).
Again, I ask you, do you know of any false prophets today? You may protest the question saying, “Well, I know men who speak for God who are true.” But that’s not the question. Do you know any false teachers? I know this is a discomforting question–but do you? If you don’t, I would say that you have a very grave problem . . . a very grave problem indeed. And it is this: You may not value God’s truth enough to know what it is and thereby be incapable of discerning “the spirit of truth, and the spirit of error” (1 John 4:4-6).
From his study of human history, a famous historian once remarked how he observed that the majority was seldom right. Jesus agreed. He said: “Enter by the narrow gate; for the gate is wide, and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and many are those who enter by it.”He continued to say, “For the gate is small, and the way is narrow that leads to life, and few are those who find it.” Then the Lord concluded:“Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves” (Matthew 7:13-15).
Interesting, isn’t it . . . that the Lord warned the multitudes to watch out for false prophets in the very context in which He differentiated the way of the majority from the Way of the minority. Jesus knew that to their own destruction the majority will follow the way of the false prophets and teachers. They will not be marked out for salvation. They will not be “X-Men”. Like the compromisers of Ezekiel’s day, they went along to get along.
So allow me to ask you again: Dear Reader, do you know of any false prophets around today, or are you living in denial, in “a spiritual never-never land”? Will you choose to remain unwarned by the very warning that Jesus and the rest of the prophets and apostles warned you about; mainly, that false prophets and teachers will arise who will lead multitudes to walk the broad way leading to destruction? Remember: Seldom is the majority right.
For any Christians concerned to discern, they may be comforted to know they’re taking the narrow Way. A spirit of discernment is symptomatic of true faith. The Lord’s sheep care, yes, even “sigh and groan” when they see fellow evangelicals lapsing into worldliness and ungodliness. Goats however, are unmoved (Matthew 25:31-46). Yet the caring can be comforted to know that their discernment evidences their solidarity with the One who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. Being concerned to discern marks them out– “X” — as true believers (See 1 John 2:18-24.). Yet the overriding emotion of discernment ought to be that of grief. Yes, there may be a time for anger. God gets angry. He was with Ezekiel’s generation, so much so that after He had told the angel in white to mark the believing remnant, the Lord instructed the other six angels, “Go ye after him through the city, and smite: let not your eye spare, neither have ye pity: Slay utterly old and young, both maids, and little children, and women: but come not near any man upon whom is the mark; and begin at my sanctuary. Then they began at the ancient men which were before the house.”(Ezekiel 9:5b-6). Yet we must remember that, “the anger of man does not achieve the righteousness of God” (James 1:20).
So it’s truly a sad day when we see those professing to know God believing and behaving as if they do not. So it’s significant to note that the divine judgment was to begin in the sanctuary and then work its way out through Jerusalem and the rest of the entire nation (Compare 1 Peter 4:17.). This order of judgment compelled Paul to command the congregation at Rome: “Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offenses contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid them. For they that are such serve not our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly; and by good words and fair speeches deceive the hearts of the simple” (Romans 16:17-18, KJV). But if we are to engage in such marking, we ought to be reminded that the accompanying emotion ought to be one of grief. Yet we ought also to be reminded that in the end those who refuse to mark false teachers may not be marked by the Lord to be spared divine judgment.
Used with permission. Reformatted slightly for blog posting.
ENDNOTES
[1] Charles Lee Feinberg, The Prophecy of Ezekiel (Chicago: Moody Press, 1969) 55.
[2] The mark was the last letter of the Hebrew alphabet, a taw (i.e., the Hebrew “T”). Early Christian commentators noted that often the last letter was written as an “X” that could substitute for a person’s signature. See John B. Taylor, Ezekiel (Downers Grove: Inter-Varsity Press, 1969)103.The marking of the faithful finds precedent at the time of Israel’s exodus from Egypt when at the first Passover the Lord instructed the Israelites to ”take some of the blood and put it on the two door posts and on the lintel of the houses in which they eat it,” after which He explained: ”And the blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you live; and when I see the blood I will pass over you, and no plague will befall you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt” (Exodus 12:7, 13).
[3] Ibid. 102.
[4] David Aikman, “Attack Dogs of Christendom,” Christianity Today, August, 2007, 52. Aikman writes: “By all means criticize fellow Christians if necessary, but do so with grace.” Real discerners do it with a sigh and a groan.

The Challenge of Pragmatism – Part 2

The Challenge of Pragmatism – Part 2.

The Challenge of Pragmatism – Part 1

The Challenge of Pragmatism – Part 1.

Discernment Ministry – A Biblical Defense

Great article by Gary Gilley in defense of Discernment ministries

Discernment Ministry – A Biblical Defense.

IS CHRISTIANITY ALL ABOUT RELATIONSHIPS?

Many times in speaking with Emergent folk and those who are part of the great falling away they stress the importance of relationship over the stress on sound doctrine (the stress on sound doctrine is of course the biblical stance).
Here is a great article by my friend and brother in the Lord Paul Proctor.
By Paul Proctor
September 11, 2009
NewsWithViews.com

“Woe unto you, when all men shall speak well of you! for so did their fathers to the false prophets.” – Luke 6:26

It seems I am receiving a little extra email these days from troubled Christians who have had to give up a church, some friends and/or certain family members in order to remain faithful to God and His Word. I can tell you without hesitation that I certainly have – and on more than one occasion.

No one can lead you down the road of temptation quicker than a close friend, family member or fellow Christian. The downgrading of today’s “Church” along with society has clearly taken its toll on the brethren and is now driving many out the sanctuary doors to preserve their faith in Jesus Christ.

I heard Authority Research founder and director, Dean Gotcher, in a recent radio interview refer to the loneliness that results from the loss of such relationships as the taking up of one’s cross for Christ. When I respond to the heartbreaking email of readers who have had to leave their local church in obedience to God’s Word, I often reply with some empathetic encouragement and a link to a short piece written by A.W. Tozer titled: The Loneliness of the Christian.

For believers new to this column, I realize that the idea of sacrificing treasured relationships, even those we worship with, is probably a stark contrast to what you regularly receive from the pulpit of your local church and the lectern of your weekly Bible study class where most everything these days revolves around establishing, protecting, sustaining and maintaining relationships of all kinds, at all costs – a dangerous notion that is just not biblical.

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“Can two walk together, except they be agreed?” – Amos 3:3

Simply put, it turns people into church worshippers who revere, embrace and obey the consensus of a congregation with a contrived unity rather than God worshippers who put His Word and Authority far and above the fellowship, opinions, theories, life experiences and personal tastes of well meaning Christians and clergy.

This Religion of Relationships has now all but taken over what is called “Christianity” and ought to be called what it really is: “Churchianity” – the worship of and faith in those who claim to be the “Body of Christ” – especially its leaders who treat their own counsel, conjecture, sermon stories and agendas as equal to or greater than the Word of God.

Those who embrace Churchianity will often respond to a rebuking scripture with: “Yeah, but…” as if to be able to trump it with some greater knowledge, wisdom, anecdote or seemingly contradicting verse from the Bible. This is the ugly arrogance of today’s humanistic spirituality and its self-serving, self-worshipping ways.

When listening to a fellow church member, teacher or preacher talk about the Christian life, how many times have you heard them cite that sacred slogan: “It’s all about relationships?”

Baloney!

It’s about repentance and faith in Jesus Christ and our loving obedience to His Word, whatever may come – a faithfulness that will cost you more relationships than it will ever garner you! Our first love and loyalty is to Him, not our fellow man. That doesn’t mean we don’t take up the towel to wash feet, serve others, sacrifice ourselves and love our neighbor – it simply means they don’t come first in our lives – Jesus Christ does. That’s why we call Him “Lord” and not the brethren.

But, when we place our hope and faith in the redeemed rather than the Redeemer and put the words of men over the Word of God, we become no better than new agers who believe that God is in everyone and in everything – worshipping the creation instead of the Creator and in doing so, make ourselves gods to be praised and exalted with reciprocating adulation and acclaim.

“They speak vanity every one with his neighbour: with flattering lips and with a double heart do they speak.” – Psalm 12:2

If your Christianity isn’t costing you at least some friends and family, both inside and outside the church house, your hope and faith may have turned horizontal. If your Sunday gatherings have become flattery festivals where people are quoted and praised more than Jesus Christ, you might want to reconsider your church membership. If you have friends and family that hate God, but love you, it might be time to reexamine your witness for Christ and your commitment to Him.

“And ye shall be betrayed both by parents, and brethren, and kinsfolks, and friends; and some of you shall they cause to be put to death. And ye shall be hated of all men for my name’s sake.” – Luke 21:16-17

Take a sober and discerning look around your church next Sunday and tell me what you see. If it’s all about relationships there, it may be time to hit the door and go find your cross.

“Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword. For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in law. And a man’s foes shall be they of his own household. He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me. He that findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it.” – Matthew 10:33-39

Related articles:

1. The Loneliness of the Christian
2. Authority Research
3. Are You A Church Worshipper?

© 2009 Paul Proctor – All Rights Reserved

T.A. MacMahon and Apostasy

If you watch anything this week watch this-
From the same folks who filmed and helped produce our Concerned Nazarenes DVD
Sincerely in Christ
Tim
http://www.cornerstonemultimedia.net/CCF/guests/032209/mcmahon.htm

What’s Being Taught at Rob Bell’s Church?

What’s Being Taught at Rob Bell’s Church?

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DECONSTRUCTING THE GOSPEL-LESS GOSPEL OF ROB BELL

DECONSTRUCTING THE GOSPEL-LESS GOSPEL OF ROB BELL

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New DVD The Emerging Church

We have a new DVD exposing the heresy of the Emergent/Emerging Church. The DVD was produced by myself for Concerned Nazarenes but this is not just a Nazarene denomination problem but a Body of Christ problem.

This DVD is making it rounds in multiple denominations and churches in Sunday School classes all over the US as well as some other countries.

The Nazarene denomination is currently being overrun by this heresy bought in by some of its leadership.
Here is a link to a free preview of this new DVD
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mmo6sJnbrOA
For a free copy of this DVD please email me at nogoofyzone@hotmail.com.

Rick Warren: From Tolerance to Respect by Paul Proctor

 

 

 

 

RICK WARREN: FROM TOLERANCE TO RESPECT

 

 

By Paul Proctor
July 17, 2009
NewsWithViews.com

Christianity’s premier change-agent and facilitator, Rick Warren, is now attempting to move the compromised church, again via the Hegelian Dialectic, on to the next step of the global “transformation” toward that long-awaited one-world religion, telling Muslims at the annual convention of the Islamic Society of North America: “Tolerance is not enough.”

According to a report posted on the ISNA website, Warren went on to say: “People don’t want to be tolerated, they want to be respected, they want to be listened to. They want to be valued.”

Adding to that, he said: “I am not interested in interfaith dialogue, I am interested in interfaith projects…Talk is very cheap.”

First of all, if “talk is cheap” and Warren is “not interested in dialog,” why is he dialoging with the enemies of Christ? And, if “talk is cheap,” what’s the value in “listening” to the talk of those who reject Jesus as Lord and Savior? This is just a brief example of the disingenuous doublespeak Warren is widely known for.

You see, by doing this from an Islamic stage, many applauding Christians watching him, Christians desperately wanting to be loved and accepted by the world, will be expected to do the same themselves and reciprocate by “listening” to, “respecting” and even “valuing” Muslim beliefs, practices and a pagan god named “Allah.”

This is nothing new for Warren. It is business as usual. I have addressed his infamous interfaith activities in previous articles ad nauseam which I will provide links to at the conclusion of this piece so as not to waste time covering old ground. For the same reason, I will also include links to previous articles on the subject of “tolerance.”

Tolerance, you see, was merely a transitional tool that the church growth movement employed years ago to uproot Christians from their scriptural stubbornness and move them ever-so-carefully, via the dialectic, away from divisive biblical absolutes (so called “traditions”) in order to “unite” them with a more “diverse” (ungodly) world and call it “evangelism” – even though one would be hard pressed to find the word “tolerance” in scripture.

This is how you widen the gate and broaden the way to spiritual success and church growth – by creating imaginary shortcuts to salvation and self-serving end runs around personal sacrifice and suffering that make more people likeyou in the name of Jesus.

Dictionary.com: “Respect” – (verb) – to hold in esteem or honor

Ten years ago, most Christians would never have considered “respecting” any form of paganism or those who practice it, including Muslims. No, they first had to learn how to tolerate it. And with the help and encouragement of smiley-faced church growth leaders and promoters, Christians now tolerate paganism – so much so, that it has now infiltrated and found a home in the evangelical church. So, that being accomplished, it’s apparently time to discard the now obsolete tool of tolerance, move forward, and learn how to “respect” paganism.

This is just a continuation of the same new age “unity in diversity” agenda we’ve known about for years and have heard gurus and global socialists espouse from academia to Hollywood. As always, the compromised church simply follows along at a distance, doing whatever they’re told – always impressed by the charm, cleverness and credentials of worldly men leading them astray.

The CGM refuses to recognize, much less teach or preach, vitally important scripture verses and biblical principles like “Friendship with the world is enmity with God” (James 4:4) and “Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers” (2nd Corinthians 6:14) choosing instead to twist the Apostle Paul’s 1st Corinthians 9:22 account of being “made all things to all men” into a license for practicing “whatever it takes” to promote global peace and unity and the brotherhood of man as if the Lord Jesus cares not what Christians do as long as we do it in His name and involve everyone – which is heresy.

As a side note, I was mildly encouraged, if not amused to finally see an article in the Baptist Press this week, titled,When the bubble bursts, criticizing some of the practices and principles of the church growth movement – (be it too little too late) – its author mentioning the damage it’s done over the years in the church’s search for “relevancy,” which frankly, is a ridiculously unbiblical notion in and of itself – something that begs repeated rebukes.

You see, I submitted numerous articles to the Baptist Press and other Christian publications like it from around late 2000 to 2002 in a vain attempt to warn them and their readers about the church growth movement and its leaders. I should also point out that the Baptist Press still publishes pro CGM articles and authors; so, it’s not like they have repented or anything – they’ve only attempted to demonstrate more “balance” in their reporting, if you want to call it that.

Now that the dumbed-down church is practicing “tolerance” as a “biblical” principle, Warren can now move Christians further down the road to ruin by encouraging us to “respect” other religions, beliefs and values as if that too is biblical. After we learn to honor and esteem those who worship Allah, what’s next in the transition – embrace Allah? Will Warren then tell us that respect is not enough?

Oh sure, the “America’s Pastor” cloaks it all in benevolent lingo – but the new age objective is still the same: Bring all the world’s religions together into one big happy family to find common ground and do good works.

Well, blending Christianity with paganism is not a good work. And I would suggest that the “common ground” found will ultimately be worshipping and serving the antichrist whether Warren recognizes that or not.

I have no doubt that many Christians who follow Warren’s lead have been convinced that his interfaith efforts are just a shrewd way of getting non-defensive, open-minded access to Muslims and others for purposes of proselytizing and conversion. Maybe he’s just looking to expand the market for Purpose Driven products – who knows?

Whatever the case, the end is the same: Confusing the undiscerning and uniting good and evil into a synthesized spirituality of interfaith kingdom building here on earth where all gods, religions and beliefs are considered equally valid.

“Therefore seeing we have this ministry, as we have received mercy, we faint not; But have renounced the hidden things of dishonesty, not walking in craftiness, nor handling the word of God deceitfully; but by manifestation of the truth commending ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God. But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost: In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them. For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord; and ourselves your servants for Jesus’ sake.” – 2nd Corinthians 4:1-5

Related articles:

1. Rick Warren calls on Muslims and Christians to work together
2. Christian leaders betray Christ for world peace
3. Betrayal of Christ by Christian Leaders Continues
4. Rick Warren Still Doesn’t Get It
5. Christians Partner With Pagans For A Better World
6. Whatever Works
7. The New Jesus And A Love Called Tolerance
8. The Travesty of Tolerance
9. When the bubble bursts

© 2009 Paul Proctor – All Rights Reserved