All around the world, the church worships Jesus the risen Savior. To do this, for the most part, Christians gather every Sunday. In fact, we are told Hebrews 10:23 “Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. 24 And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, 25 not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.” People have been faithfully gathering ever since, as many have come to believe that just gathering in a building week after week is the church. The reality is there is not much sense meeting together if you have let go of the hope of God’s word. Most have never even checked to see if the hope they have, is actually the hope they are supposed to be holding on to. Even so, they continue to meet thinking all is well with their soul, but nothing ever changes and that is because the gospel they think they are holding on to is not the gospel they are supposed to be holding on to unswervingly while encouraging others to do the same. Paul said 1 Corinthians 15:2 “By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain.”

    When Jesus was asked by John’s disciples if He was the Messiah, Jesus responded Matthew 11:4 “Go back and report to John what you hear and see: 5 The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is proclaimed to the poor. 6 Blessed is anyone who does not stumble on account of me.” We are also told Matthew 8:16 “When evening came, many who were demon-possessed were brought to him, and he drove out the spirits with a word and healed all the sick. 17 This was to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet Isaiah: “He took up our infirmities and bore our diseases.” Jesus and the disciples in Matthew, Mark, Luke, John and Acts show us what healing our infirmities and bearing our diseases look like. Preaching the good news is just one part of it because when the Kingdom of God is present there will also be healing and demons cast out. If the gospel is being preached, God’s word will be confirmed with power just as Jesus said. Mark 16:20 “Then the disciples went out and preached everywhere, and the Lord worked with them and confirmed his word by the signs that accompanied it.” Just before this, Jesus told His disciples, Mark 16:15 “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. 16 Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. 17 And these signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues; 18 they will pick up snakes with their hands; and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all; they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well.” We also see this power in the gifts of the Spirit, 1 Corinthians 12:7 “Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. 8 To one there is given through the Spirit a message of wisdom, to another a message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, 9 to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, 10 to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues, and to still another the interpretation of tongues. 11 All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he distributes them to each one, just as he determines.” 

    The bible is the best-selling book (not a book) of all time and the least read and the least believed to be true. Plain and simple, many do not read because they do not want to acknowledge truth but prefer the bible to be a story, not the living word of God that turns lives upside down. Even those who do read ignore the truth, especially if the bible contradicts their distinct doctrines and theology. For example, just take the few verses you just read and just these few verses should stir a desire for the power of God to return, but most just treat the bible as a great story or a myth about a man that lived long ago and basically irrelevant for today and have accepted a powerless church. Week after week people gather, but week after week the church continues to look nothing like the true gospel of Jesus Christ. God’s word is not being confirmed by signs. Having said that, be very careful of the signs the charismatic movement wants you to believe are from God. 2 Corinthians 11:13 “For such people are false apostles, deceitful workers, masquerading as apostles of Christ. 14 And no wonder, for satan himself masquerades as an angel of light. 15 It is not surprising, then, if his servants also masquerade as servants of righteousness. Their end will be what their actions deserve.” Matthew 24:24 “For false messiahs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect.”

    The church has become so used to being powerless, most think that what they are seeing week after week is how the church was supposed to be. Because God’s word has been set aside, most in the church have no idea that the power in the Gospels and Acts (read them) are available to the church today. It is no wonder, as the gurus usually make sure that everyone knows that God gave them their vision for how the church is supposed to operate. Unfortunately, the spirits are not tested and they are deceived by the gurus who are leading them astray. It is not just the gurus who are leading people astray but also those who want to be like those gurus and who teach what the gurus they follow teach. 1 John 4:1 “Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.” People also just wanted their ears scratched. 2 Timothy 4:3 “For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear.” These gurus actually think that God forgot to include in His word His plan for the church. The deception is that the plans of man, who say they are God-given, look nothing like the gospels and there is no power, therefore it is easy to see that the plans are coming from satan. 1 Timothy 4:1 “The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons.” There are many very successful (from a world’s point of view) gurus who have been thoroughly deceived by satan. Luke 4:5 “The devil led him up to a high place and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. 6 And he said to him, “I will give you all their authority and splendor; it has been given to me, and I can give it to anyone I want to. 7 If you worship me, it will all be yours.” 8 Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God and serve him only.’” Jesus answered correctly; most of the gurus have not. They think they are successful and have helped God out with His blunderous omission, but there is no power. Not only have the gurus been deceived but also their followers who have sold their souls to their teaching. What Paul taught and said has been set aside. 1 Corinthians 11:1 “Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ.” Paul said to the Thessalonians, 1 Thessalonians 1:6 “You became imitators of us and of the Lord, for you welcomed the message in the midst of severe suffering with the joy given by the Holy Spirit. 7 And so you became a model to all the believers in Macedonia and Achaia.” 1 Thessalonians 2:13 “And we also thank God continually because, when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as a human word, but as it actually is, the word of God, which is indeed at work in you who believe. 14 For you, brothers and sisters, became imitators of God’s churches in Judea, which are in Christ Jesus:

    Matthew 15 gives us an overview of the powerless church and how it should be. First of all, we see why the church is not what it should be. Jesus said, Matthew 15:7 “You nullify the word of God for the sake of your tradition. 7 You hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you: 8 “‘These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. 9 They worship me in vain; their teachings are merely human rules.” Jesus also said Matthew 13:13 “This is why I speak to them in parables: “Though seeing, they do not see; though hearing, they do not hear or understand. 14 In them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah: “‘You will be ever hearing but never understanding; you will be ever seeing but never perceiving. 15 For this people’s heart has become calloused; they hardly hear with their ears, and they have closed their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts and turn, and I would heal them.” Healing would return, but the church refuses to repent. God said to Ezekiel 12:2 “Son of man, you are living among a rebellious people. They have eyes to see but do not see and ears to hear but do not hear, for they are a rebellious people.” Today the church is filled with rebellious people who do not see or hear. This explains how we can have the word of God before us and still not see or hear what God is saying. Hebrews 5:11 “We have much to say about this, but it is hard to make it clear to you because you no longer try to understand. 12 In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God’s word all over again. You need milk, not solid food!” 

    Not only is there a lack of hearing and seeing, but minds have also been made dull and delusion has come upon the church. Normally we think of the Jews when we read what Paul said in 2 Corinthians 3:14 “their minds were made dull, for to this day the same veil remains when the old covenant is read. It has not been removed, because only in Christ is it taken away.” If you do not believe the words of Jesus and the power that is available to all who would believe, then your mind is made dull just like the Jews and you will not be able to see or hear the word of God. Plus, we are in a severe famine. Amos 8:11 “The days are coming,” declares the Sovereign Lord, “when I will send a famine through the land— not a famine of food or a thirst for water, but a famine of hearing the words of the Lord.” Also, because the church has rejected the word of God for their own words, God brought delusion upon the church. So along with the severe famine there is deception from satan and delusion brought on by God. 2 Thessalonians 2:9 “The coming of the lawless one will be in accordance with how satan works. He will use all sorts of displays of power through signs and wonders that serve the lie, 10 and all the ways that wickedness deceives those who are perishing. They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. 11 For this reason God sends them a powerful delusion so that they will believe the lie 12 and so that all will be condemned who have not believed the truth but have delighted in wickedness.”

    Rebellion against God’s word has caused all of this desolation and lack of power in the church. Rebellion also means curses instead of blessings as we read about in Deuteronomy 28 and Leviticus 26 (read). Deuteronomy 28:1 “If you fully obey the Lord your God and carefully follow all his commands I give you today, the Lord your God will set you high above all the nations on earth. 2 All these blessings will come on you and accompany you if you obey the Lord your God: 15 However, if you do not obey the Lord your God and do not carefully follow all his commands and decrees I am giving you today, all these curses will come on you and overtake you.” Instead of defeating our enemies, our enemies have defeated the church instead. The delusion brought on by God is like the spirit of dizziness brought on the Egyptians. Isaiah 19:11 “The officials of Zoan are nothing but fools; the wise counselors of Pharaoh give senseless advice. How can you say to Pharaoh, “I am one of the wise men, a disciple of the ancient kings”? 12 Where are your wise men now? Let them show you and make known what the Lord Almighty has planned against Egypt. 13 The officials of Zoan have become fools, the leaders of Memphis are deceived; the cornerstones of her peoples have led Egypt astray. 14 The Lord has poured into them a spirit of dizziness; they make Egypt stagger in all that she does, as a drunkard staggers around in his vomit.” Other translations say a perverse spirit, spirit of distortion, spirit of confusion. This is happening throughout the church. Lately you can also see this happening in the United States. People who call themselves Christians, especially in politics are delusional, but people buy into it. When you listen to Trump talk it is scary to think that he could possibly be the most powerful man in the world again, but it is not just Trump talking this way. The United States is not a Christian nation, nor has it ever been and the God they say they trust in, is not the God of the bible. If you are following along, one side says their man Trump is God’s vessel to oust the side of demons. The reality is both sides are far from the word of God.

    The rejection of God’s word has led to the powerless church. The powerless church means the kingdom is not coming near which means there is no power to save, heal or cast out demons. As we read earlier, when the kingdom comes near, the gospel is preached and God confirms His word with signs that follow. After talking about worshipping in vain, Jesus then warned his disciples in Matthew 15 not to follow these blind guides. Matthew 15:12 “Then the disciples came to him and asked, “Do you know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this?” 13 He replied, “Every plant that my heavenly Father has not planted will be pulled up by the roots. 14 Leave them; they are blind guides. If the blind lead the blind, both will fall into a pit.” The gurus that so many are following are powerless and are not leading people to repent so that the kingdom comes near once again. Mark 1:14 “Jesus went into Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God. 15 “The time has come,” he said. “The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!” The gurus are teaching that their ways are the truth that gives life, even though their ways look nothing like the ways of Jesus, nor do they have the power Jesus had.

    Then we see a Canaanite woman of great faith. Matthew 15:22 “A Canaanite woman from that vicinity came to him, crying out, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on me! My daughter is demon-possessed and suffering terribly.” After the woman pleaded with Jesus 28 “Then Jesus said to her, “Woman, you have great faith! Your request is granted.” And her daughter was healed at that moment.” Then we see that power continue. 29 “Jesus left there and went along the Sea of Galilee. Then he went up on a mountainside and sat down. 30 Great crowds came to him, bringing the lame, the blind, the crippled, the mute and many others, and laid them at his feet; and he healed them. 31 The people were amazed when they saw the mute speaking, the crippled made well, the lame walking and the blind seeing. And they praised the God of Israel.” Not only did Jesus heal the people, He fed them. 35 “He told the crowd to sit down on the ground. 36 Then he took the seven loaves and the fish, and when he had given thanks, he broke them and gave them to the disciples, and they in turn to the people. 37 They all ate and were satisfied. Afterward the disciples picked up seven basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over. 38 The number of those who ate was four thousand men, besides women and children.”

    Now picture that large crowd of lame, blind, crippled, mute, demon possessed, all the sickness that you can think of and the hungry coming to your church. I think it is fair to say what the result would be. This Jesus that healed is the Jesus that the church says they worship but He is not who they worship. 2 Corinthians 11:4 “For if someone comes to you and preaches a Jesus other than the Jesus we preached, or if you receive a different spirit from the Spirit you received, or a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it easily enough.” This is the true Jesus. Matthew 4:23 “Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness among the people. 24 News about him spread all over Syria, and people brought to him all who were ill with various diseases, those suffering severe pain, the demon-possessed, those having seizures, and the paralyzed; and he healed them.” Jesus healed every disease and healed them instantly. His disciples also did the same. Acts 5:12 “The apostles performed many signs and wonders among the people. And all the believers used to meet together in Solomon’s Colonnade. 13 No one else dared join them, even though they were highly regarded by the people. 14 Nevertheless, more and more men and women believed in the Lord and were added to their number. 15 As a result, people brought the sick into the streets and laid them on beds and mats so that at least Peter’s shadow might fall on some of them as he passed by. 16 Crowds gathered also from the towns around Jerusalem, bringing their sick and those tormented by impure spirits, and all of them were healed.” Acts 8:5 “Philip went down to a city in Samaria and proclaimed the Messiah there. 6 When the crowds heard Philip and saw the signs he performed, they all paid close attention to what he said. 7 For with shrieks, impure spirits came out of many, and many who were paralyzed or lame were healed. 8 So there was great joy in that city.” The church was supposed to continue doing as Jesus, His disciples and the early church did.

   Instead, week after week people go to church and then come home. Remove the church and it will make no difference to the people of that community or even to those who attend. The sick and diseased will still be sick and demons will still torment people just as they were when the church was there. God’s plan for the church was for the church to continue doing just as Jesus did in the same power Jesus healed the sick and cast out demons with. Jesus showed the church what to do, then empowered the church to do the same. That power was made available at Pentecost. John 7:38 “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. 38 Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.” 39 By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive. Up to that time the Spirit had not been given, since Jesus had not yet been glorified.” Jesus told His disciples Luke 24:48 “You are witnesses of these things. 49 I am going to send you what my Father has promised; but stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high.” They waited and were clothed with power. Paul said, Ephesians 1:18 “I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people, 19 and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is the same as the mighty strength 20 he exerted when he raised Christ from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms.” Even though the church states they serve a risen savior, the savior the church follows is powerless against our enemies, the dark forces of evil. Back to the politics of the United States. Both Democrat and Republican are on the side of evil, and neither have submitted to the Sovereign God in whom they say they trust, but that’s politics and you would think the church would be different, but the church also refuses to submit and follow God’s plan instead of their own. Paul also said to the Galatians, Galatians 3:3 “Are you so foolish? After beginning by means of the Spirit, are you now trying to finish by means of the flesh?” The church chose flesh and for two thousand year a different Jesus and other gospels have been followed.

    The church is not concerned about this desolation, deception and delusion because most have adopted the beliefs of man over the words of God. They have accepted their own reasoning, experiences and traditions instead of God’s word. There is no fear of God in the church and because there is no fear, the church continues down a path of death and destruction and remains desolate and in captivity. Because of a faulty understanding of God’s love, most do not fear His wrath. Zephaniah 1:12 “At that time I will search Jerusalem with lamps and punish those who are complacent, who are like wine left on its dregs, who think, ‘The Lord will do nothing, either good or bad.” Jeremiah 5:11 “The people of Israel and the people of Judah have been utterly unfaithful to me,” declares the Lord. 12 They have lied about the Lord; they said, “He will do nothing! No harm will come to us; we will never see sword or famine.”  But as we saw with Israel and Judah, God will do something, and it was severe. Jeremiah goes on to say Jeremiah 5:13 “The prophets are but wind and the word is not in them; so let what they say be done to them. 30 “A horrible and shocking thing has happened in the land: 31 The prophets prophesy lies, the priests rule by their own authority, and my people love it this way. But what will you do in the end?” Most have bought into the deception and delusion that all is well with their souls, and they do not fear the wrath of God, but they should. Hebrews 10:30 “The Lord will judge his people.” 31 It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.”

    I have heard people say they leave it up to God to heal but very little healing takes place. But God’s plan was for His disciples to heal and cast out demons, just as Jesus did. For that power to return, the church must confess to its wickedness. 2 Chronicles 7:13 “When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or command locusts to devour the land or send a plague among my people, 14 if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land. 15 Now my eyes will be open and my ears attentive to the prayers offered in this place. 16 I have chosen and consecrated this temple so that my Name may be there forever. My eyes and my heart will always be there.” Daniel 9:2 “In the first year of his reign, I, Daniel, understood from the Scriptures, according to the word of the Lord given to Jeremiah the prophet, that the desolation of Jerusalem would last seventy years. 3 So I turned to the Lord God and pleaded with him in prayer and petition, in fasting, and in sackcloth and ashes. 4 I prayed to the Lord my God and confessed:4 Lord, the great and awesome God, who keeps his covenant of love with those who love him and keep his commandments, 5 we have sinned and done wrong. We have been wicked and have rebelled; we have turned away from your commands and laws. 6 We have not listened to your servants the prophets, who spoke in your name to our kings, our princes and our ancestors, and to all the people of the land. 7 “Lord, you are righteous, but this day we are covered with shame—the people of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem and all Israel, both near and far, in all the countries where you have scattered us because of our unfaithfulness to you. 8 We and our kings, our princes and our ancestors are covered with shame, Lord, because we have sinned against you.” Jeremiah said Lamentations 5:1 “Remember, Lord, what has happened to us; look, and see our disgrace. 2 Our inheritance has been turned over to strangers, our homes to foreigners. 3 We have become fatherless, our mothers are widows. 15 Joy is gone from our hearts; our dancing has turned to mourning. 16 The crown has fallen from our head. Woe to us, for we have sinned! 17 Because of this our hearts are faint, because of these things our eyes grow dim 18 for Mount Zion, which lies desolate, with jackals prowling over it.”

    In order for the Kingdom of God to return, the church must repent and turn from wicked ways. When the kingdom returns, this same power from on High will also return. Matthew 9:27 “As Jesus went on from there, two blind men followed him, calling out, “Have mercy on us, Son of David!” 28 When he had gone indoors, the blind men came to him, and he asked them, “Do you believe that I am able to do this?” “Yes, Lord,” they replied. 29 Then he touched their eyes and said, “According to your faith let it be done to you”; 30 and their sight was restored.” Zechariah 1:3 “Therefore tell the people: This is what the Lord Almighty says: ‘Return to me,’ declares the Lord Almighty, ‘and I will return to you,’ says the Lord Almighty.” When the Kingdom of God comes near, people will be truly saved, healed and demons cast out, just as Jesus showed us what the church was supposed to do. Just as the Canaanite woman and these blind men prayed, we need to return to God’s word, and pray Lord Son of David have mercy on us. Instead of desolation, deception and delusion, when the church comes to their senses and returns to the word of God, God will turn His face back to the church. Luke 15:17 “When he came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have food to spare, and here I am starving to death! 18 I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. 19 I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired servants.’ Daniel 4:33 “I, Nebuchadnezzar, raised my eyes toward heaven, and my sanity was restored. Then I praised the Most High;34 I honored and glorified him who lives forever. His dominion is an eternal dominion; his kingdom endures from generation to generation. 35 All the peoples of the earth are regarded as nothing. He does as he pleases with the powers of heaven and the peoples of the earth. No one can hold back his hand    or say to him: “What have you done? 37 Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and exalt and glorify the King of heaven, because everything he does is right and all his ways are just. And those who walk in pride he is able to humble.” 1 Chronicles 29:10 “David praised the Lord in the presence of the whole assembly, saying, “Praise be to you, Lord, the God of our father Israel, from everlasting to everlasting. 11 Yours, Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the majesty and the splendor, for everything in heaven and earth is yours. Yours, Lord, is the kingdom; you are exalted as head over all. 12 Wealth and honor come from you; you are the ruler of all things. In your hands are strength and power to exalt and give strength to all. 13 Now, our God, we give you thanks, and praise your glorious name.”

    When the church finally comes to their senses, the church once again will do as Jesus did. Matthew 9:35 “Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness. 36 When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. 37 Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. 38 Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.” Lord Son of David have mercy on us.