Years ago, we took a family trip to Ambergris Caye, Belize. Since we were not at all seasoned travelers, we put a lot of effort in the planning so that the trip would be stress free. It was three flights all together, with the second departing from Florida. We had planned to give ourselves lots of time between flights so we could get to where we were supposed to be without stress. We would be sitting there and when called, we would casually board the plane as if we really were seasoned travelers. We arrived at the gate and the sign said Belize and the plane was right there in front of us and people had gathered. So, we sat down and waited, but after a trip to the bathroom, I felt I needed to check the flights as something seemed off. The sign had changed, there were very few people, and the plane was no longer there. What we had failed to do was to make sure we were at the right gate for our plane, not just a sign. A sense of panic came over me and as I looked, I found that we were at the wrong spot and a long way, a tram long way from the right gate. So much for the casual boarding. So off we ran and thankfully we got there just in time but definitely not stress free. I am sure there are lots of stories of people standing in the wrong line, only to find out when they get to the end of the line, they are told they have been waiting in the wrong line.
What we are talking about today is much more serious than missing a flight or ending up at the wrong wicket. Today we are talking about whether we are standing in the right line for the right gate or the wrong line for the wrong gate. Your eternal destination depends on which line you are waiting in and which gate you are trying to go through. The right line means eternity with God and the wrong line means you have missed eternity with God and will spend it with satan instead. satan works hard to keep you in the wrong line. When we were standing in the wrong line, everything felt right at first, the plane was there, the sign said Belize, people were gathering, and we had plenty of time before out flight departed, but as I said it was wrong. We did not check if this was actually the right gate as per our boarding pass, we just saw a sign that said Belize. Jesus talked about a narrow gate and a narrow door. Jesus said, Matthew 7:13 “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. 14 But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.” Jesus was asked, Luke 13:23 “Lord, are only a few people going to be saved?” He said to them, 24 “Make every effort to enter through the narrow door, because many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able to. 25 Once the owner of the house gets up and closes the door, you will stand outside knocking and pleading, ‘Sir, open the door for us.’ “But he will answer, ‘I don’t know you or where you come from.’ 26 “Then you will say, ‘We ate and drank with you, and you taught in our streets.’ 27 “But he will reply, ‘I don’t know you or where you come from. Away from me, all you evildoers!’ 28 “There will be weeping there, and gnashing of teeth, when you see Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, but you yourselves thrown out. 29 People will come from east and west and north and south, and will take their places at the feast in the kingdom of God. 30 Indeed there are those who are last who will be first, and first who will be last.” Note that few find the right gate and many will try to enter but will not be able to.
What we see here are options. There is a wide and narrow gate, and we are given a choice but sadly most are streaming through the wide gate. Deuteronomy 30:19 “This day I call the heavens and the earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live 20 and that you may love the Lord your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him. For the Lord is your life, and he will give you many years in the land he swore to give to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.” We also see that there is effort involved. You actually have to look for the narrow door and gate until you have found it. The narrow way is about obedience to God’s word not man’s words. Jeremiah 11:4 “Obey me and do everything I command you, and you will be my people, and I will be your God.” You cannot give up. God gave us this promise. Jeremiah 29:13 “You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.” Proverbs 8:17 “I love those who love me, and those who seek me find me.” 2 Chronicles 16:9 “For the eyes of the Lord range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him.”
When you ask for directions, you have to decide whether the person giving you those directions actually knows the right way to go. Many sound confident in their direction giving but can be way off. There are many in the church giving directions, but their directions are wrong, even though they are filled with confidence. 1 Timothy 1:7 “They want to be teachers of the law, but they do not know what they are talking about or what they so confidently affirm.” Those directions are usually closely tied to a distinct set of beliefs. They will give you their version of what they think the bible says. There are many ideas of what God is saying because God has turned His face from the church, truth is nowhere to be found and we are missing the guidance of the Holy Spirit. John 16:13 “But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. 14 He will glorify me because it is from me that he will receive what he will make known to you.” Everyone does as they see fit and the chaos of the church shows what it looks like when everyone does as they please. The missing the power of the Holy Spirit means the church is powerless and even though most everyone say they are filled with the Spirit, there is no power so how can that be?
We have talked a lot about the church following a different Jesus and other gospels. We have also talked a lot about the abomination that causes desolation and the delusion brought on by God, of which both are caused by God’s people rebelling against His word. Millions of people have been deceived and deluded because of that rebellion. Paul said 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.” Galatians 1:6 “I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you to live in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel— 7 which is really no gospel at all. Evidently some people are throwing you into confusion and are trying to pervert the gospel of Christ. 8 But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let them be under God’s curse! 9 As we have already said, so now I say again: If anybody is preaching to you a gospel other than what you accepted, let them be under God’s curse!” This was already happening during the life of Paul and continues to this day. This is why we are supposed to test the spirits. 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.” We are not waiting for that to happen; it already has. There are false apostles, prophets, evangelists, preachers and teachers leading God’s people down the path that leads to death, all the while people continue to listen to them and do as they say without ever testing the spirits. Proverbs 9:13 “Folly is an unruly woman; she is simple and knows nothing. 14 She sits at the door of her house, on a seat at the highest point of the city, 15 calling out to those who pass by, who go straight on their way, 16 “Let all who are simple come to my house!” To those who have no sense she says, 17 “Stolen water is sweet; food eaten in secret is delicious!” 18 But little do they know that the dead are there, that her guests are deep in the realm of the dead.” Proverbs 2:18 “Surely her house leads down to death and her paths to the spirits of the dead. 19 None who go to her return or attain the paths of life.”
The apostles, prophets, evangelists, preachers and teachers (yes all of them) are supposed to be teaching truth. Malachi 2:6 “True instruction was in his mouth and nothing false was found on his lips. He walked with me in peace and uprightness, and turned many from sin. 7 “For the lips of a priest ought to preserve knowledge, because he is the messenger of the Lord Almighty and people seek instruction from his mouth.” Ephesians 4:11 “So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, 12 to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up 13 until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. 14 Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming. 15 Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ. 16 From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.” Instead, Malachi goes on to say Malachi 2:8 “But you have turned from the way and by your teaching have caused many to stumble; you have violated the covenant with Levi,” says the Lord Almighty.” Sadly, many in the church are listening and have turned from the Way. Isaiah said Isaiah 2:2 “In the last days the mountain of the Lord’s temple will be established as the highest of the mountains; it will be exalted above the hills, and all nations will stream to it. 3 Many peoples will come and say, “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the temple of the God of Jacob. He will teach us his ways, so that we may walk in his paths.” But the church turned away to follow their own ways all the while proclaiming it is God’ way they are following. Jeremiah said Jeremiah 5:30 “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?” Again, each doing as they see fit. Moses said Deuteronomy 32:5 “They are corrupt and not his children; to their shame they are a warped and crooked generation. 6 Is this the way you repay the Lord, you foolish and unwise people? Is he not your Father, your Creator, who made you and formed you? They abandoned the God who made them and rejected the Rock their Savior. 16 They made him jealous with their foreign gods (still doing it with other gospels) and angered him with their detestable idols. 17 They sacrificed to false gods, which are not God— gods they had not known, gods that recently appeared, gods your ancestors did not fear. 18 You deserted the Rock, who fathered you; you forgot the God who gave you birth.”
Those who teach what is false are everywhere in the church yet they all say they preach truth. As the generations go by, false teachers have multiplied and formed denominations, independents, doctrines and theology. Each distinct group promotes their own set of false doctrines, yet they all say we are the way, truth and life. Jesus warned us when He said, Matthew 24:4 “Watch out that no one deceives you. 5 For many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am the Messiah,’ and will deceive many. 10 At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, 11 and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. 22 “If those days had not been cut short, no one would survive, but for the sake of the elect those days will be shortened. 23 At that time if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Messiah!’ or, ‘There he is!’ do not believe it. 24 For false messiahs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect. 25 See, I have told you ahead of time.” Many are so deceived already they do not even need to see false signs and wonders. Yes, there are those who actually say they are Jesus, but most people are being deceived by other gospels therefore by a different Jesus, not necessarily a man saying they are Jesus. The false prophet doesn’t actually say they are Jesus, they just change the words of Jesus, thus making themselves out to be gods and creating their own distorted version of God’s word. By distorting the word of God and using their own words, the warning from Jesus applies even if they do not claim to be Jesus. Jesus also warned us to Matthew 7:15 “Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves.” True prophets speak the word of God and usually the words most do not want to hear. Paul warned us Acts 19:20 “I know that after I leave, savage wolves will come in among you and will not spare the flock. 30 Even from your own number men will arise and distort the truth in order to draw away disciples after them. 31 So be on your guard! Remember that for three years I never stopped warning each of you night and day with tears.” Peter also warned us. 2 Peter 2:1 “But there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the sovereign Lord who bought them—bringing swift destruction on themselves. 2 Many will follow their depraved conduct and will bring the way of truth into disrepute.” Those destructive heresies are everywhere in the church. 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.” Because most do not want to hear what the prophets are saying, they will look for those who will say what they want to hear. 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.” That time has been here since Paul said those words about a different Jesus and other gospels. The false teachers say all this is coming in the future but it is already here. Even though there are so many warnings about this, the church continues to ignore them.
False teachers and prophets spreading lies is not a new problem. Jeremiah 23:16 “This is what the Lord Almighty says: “Do not listen to what the prophets are prophesying to you; they fill you with false hopes. They speak visions from their own minds, not from the mouth of the Lord. 21 I did not send these prophets, yet they have run with their message; I did not speak to them, yet they have prophesied. 22 But if they had stood in my council, they would have proclaimed my words to my people and would have turned them from their evil ways and from their evil deeds.” You could also say they sold books and promoted themselves even though Paul said 2 Corinthians 2:17 “Unlike so many, we do not peddle the word of God for profit. On the contrary, in Christ we speak before God with sincerity, as those sent from God.” Ezekiel 13:3 “This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Woe to the foolish prophets who follow their own spirit and have seen nothing! 6 Their visions are false and their divinations a lie. Even though the Lord has not sent them, they say, “The Lord declares,” and expect him to fulfill their words. 7 Have you not seen false visions and uttered lying divinations when you say, “The Lord declares,” though I have not spoken?” Jeremiah would later say to king Zedekiah, Jeremiah 37:19 “Where are your prophets who prophesied to you, ‘The king of Babylon will not attack you or this land’?”
The church is filled with men and women who are distorting the word of God and leading people astray. They can be very convincing, and many will follow them. The true prophets were supposed to say, “This is what the Sovereign Lord says,” but the false prophets also said this. Ezekiel 22:28 “Her prophets whitewash these deeds for them by false visions and lying divinations. They say, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says’—when the Lord has not spoken.” Many men and women are telling the people who are searching for truth, come follow me and I will give you life, but what they are offering is a deadly path to death and destruction. We saw this when king Sennacherib was attacking Jerusalem. 2 Kings 18:31 “Do not listen to Hezekiah. This is what the king of Assyria says: Make peace with me and come out to me. Then each of you will eat fruit from your own vine and fig tree and drink water from your own cistern, 32 until I come and take you to a land like your own—a land of grain and new wine, a land of bread and vineyards, a land of olive trees and honey. Choose life and not death!” When talking about obeying God Jeremiah said Jeremiah 11:5 “Then I will fulfill the oath I swore to your ancestors, to give them a land flowing with milk and honey’—the land you possess today.” God had told the people Deuteronomy 11:11 “The land you are crossing the Jordan to take possession of is a land of mountains and valleys that drinks rain from heaven. 12 It is a land the Lord your God cares for; the eyes of the Lord your God are continually on it from the beginning of the year to its end.” God is the one who provides the honey, not the enemy. Sennacherib was offering death, not life. satan still is using that lie and many are falling for it. Jesus said Matthew 11:28 “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” Instead, the false prophet does not provide rest and they want to take you with them to their eternal destination, hell. Unfortunately, the false prophet does not believe they are false prophets and truly believe they are speaking for God even though their words do not line up with scripture. Jesus said Matthew 23:15 “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You travel over land and sea to win a single convert, and when you have succeeded, you make them twice as much a child of hell as you are.” Peter went on to say when talking about the false teachers, 2 Peter 2:17 “These people are springs without water and mists driven by a storm. Blackest darkness is reserved for them. 18 For they mouth empty, boastful words and, by appealing to the lustful desires of the flesh, they entice people who are just escaping from those who live in error. 19 They promise them freedom, while they themselves are slaves of depravity—for “people are slaves to whatever has mastered them.”
Jesus said there is only one way. John 14:6 “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” It is important to understand that no one comes to the Father except through Jesus. You will not see eternity if you are following a different Jesus and other gospels. The reality is that most who call themselves Christians are following a different Jesus and other gospels. There is no such thing as a Catholic, Baptist, Pentecostal, Reformed etc. Christian, because there is only one way, not many. There are many who are standing in these lines expecting to spend eternity, but instead they will hear. Matthew 25:41“Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.” Luke 13:25 “But he will answer, ‘I don’t know you or where you come from.’ 26 “Then you will say, ‘We ate and drank with you, and you taught in our streets.’ 27 “But he will reply, ‘I don’t know you or where you come from. Away from me, all you evildoers!’” Jesus goes on to say, 28 “There will be weeping there, and gnashing of teeth, when you see Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, but you yourselves thrown out.” Revelation 20:14 “Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death. 15 Anyone whose name was not found written in the book of life was thrown into the lake of fire.” Hell will be totally void of God. Burning in fire and living is one of the most horrific things that can happen to a person, but our minds cannot fathom that without God, hell will be even worse than fire for all eternity just as heaven will be more that we can imagine. Even the darkest and most vile places on earth, God is still God. Hell will be completely void of God’s presence. Many have been deceived by those who say God is love and would not allow you to spend eternity there. There are even those in the church who teach hell does not exist. But for the most part most have just come to accept that because they go to church, they will spend eternity with God in heaven, but scripture makes it clear that is not true because they are standing in the wrong line. Now is the time to work out your salvation because if you die, there is no later.
Going to church is not Christianity, especially when most do not know they are being taught by false teachers. So many who call themselves Christians today are standing in the wrong line and are excited to get to their final destination. Everything feels right and those around them are all feeling the same thing. BUT Proverbs 16:25 “There is a way that appears to be right, but in the end it leads to death.” Someone has told them, this is the way walk in it, but it is not God who is telling them that. Yes, God said, Isaiah 30:21 “Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, “This is the way; walk in it,” but in the same chapter they ignored the true prophets and went their own way. Isaiah 30:9 “For these are rebellious people, deceitful children, children unwilling to listen to the Lord’s instruction. 10 They say to the seers, “See no more visions!” and to the prophets, “Give us no more visions of what is right! Tell us pleasant things, prophesy illusions. 11 Leave this way, get off this path, and stop confronting us with the Holy One of Israel! 15 “In repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength, but you would have none of it.” The church is filled with people looking for pleasant things. Most people do not want to hear a true prophet speak God’s word. Jeremiah spoke to the people over and over again, yet they did not listen. God told Jeremiah, Jeremiah 36:2 “Take a scroll and write on it all the words I have spoken to you concerning Israel, Judah and all the other nations from the time I began speaking to you in the reign of Josiah till now. 3 Perhaps when the people of Judah hear about every disaster I plan to inflict on them, they will each turn from their wicked ways; then I will forgive their wickedness and their sin.” Jeremiah 7:23 “I gave them this command: Obey me, and I will be your God and you will be my people. Walk in obedience to all I command you, that it may go well with you. 24 But they did not listen or pay attention; instead, they followed the stubborn inclinations of their evil hearts. They went backward and not forward. 25 From the time your ancestors left Egypt until now, day after day, again and again I sent you my servants the prophets. 26 But they did not listen to me or pay attention. They were stiff-necked and did more evil than their ancestors.’ 27 “When you tell them all this, they will not listen to you; when you call to them, they will not answer. 28 Therefore say to them, ‘This is the nation that has not obeyed the Lord its God or responded to correction. Truth has perished; it has vanished from their lips.” They refused to listen to Jeremiah. Jeremiah 37:2 “Neither he nor his attendants nor the people of the land paid any attention to the words the Lord had spoken through Jeremiah the prophet.” In the end 2 Chronicles 36:17 “He brought up against them the king of the Babylonians, who killed their young men with the sword in the sanctuary, and did not spare young men or young women, the elderly or the infirm. God gave them all into the hands of Nebuchadnezzar. 18 He carried to Babylon all the articles from the temple of God, both large and small, and the treasures of the Lord’s temple and the treasures of the king and his officials. 19 They set fire to God’s temple and broke down the wall of Jerusalem; they burned all the palaces and destroyed everything of value there. 20 He carried into exile to Babylon the remnant, who escaped from the sword, and they became servants to him and his successors until the kingdom of Persia came to power.” The same has happened to the church (abomination that causes desolation) and will happen (hell) to those in the church who refuse to repent.
The prophets lied to the people and told them all was going to be okay. They said Jeremiah 23:17 “You will have peace.’ And to all who follow the stubbornness of their hearts they say, ‘No harm will come to you.’” The false prophet Hananiah went against Jeremiah’s word from God. Jeremiah 28:15 “Then the prophet Jeremiah said to Hananiah the prophet, “Listen, Hananiah! The Lord has not sent you, yet you have persuaded this nation to trust in lies. 16 Therefore this is what the Lord says: ‘I am about to remove you from the face of the earth. This very year you are going to die, because you have preached rebellion against the Lord.’” 17 In the seventh month of that same year, Hananiah the prophet died.” Notice this false prophet persuaded the whole nation to trust in lies. Jeremiah said Jeremiah 14:13 “Alas, Sovereign Lord! The prophets keep telling them, ‘You will not see the sword or suffer famine. Indeed, I will give you lasting peace in this place.’” 14 Then the Lord said to me, “The prophets are prophesying lies in my name. I have not sent them or appointed them or spoken to them. They are prophesying to you false visions, divinations, idolatries and the delusions of their own minds.” 15 Therefore this is what the Lord says about the prophets who are prophesying in my name: I did not send them, yet they are saying, ‘No sword or famine will touch this land.’” Jeremiah 5:12 “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. 13 The prophets are but wind and the word is not in them; so let what they say be done to them.” False prophets tell you what you want to hear; true prophets tell you what you need to hear. King Ahab called the prophet Micaiah to bring a word from the Lord. Micaiah was told, 1 Kings 22:13 “Look, the other prophets (about four hundred) without exception are predicting success for the king. Let your word agree with theirs, and speak favorably.” King Ahab did not like Micaiah. 1 Kings 22:8 “I hate him because he never prophesies anything good about me, but always bad.” Today not much has changed as people want their ears scratched and want to hear pleasant things.
God’s prophets today do not bring a new word from the Lord, but the word already in the bible that most do not want to hear. There will be much resistance to their words. Having said that, prophets also can bring a word as directed by God but be very careful here because there are many saying “thus saith the Lord.” Acts 11:27 “During this time some prophets came down from Jerusalem to Antioch. 28 One of them, named Agabus, stood up and through the Spirit predicted that a severe famine would spread over the entire Roman world.” A true prophet speaks the word of the Lord, not man’s distorted words that line up with their beliefs and doctrines. Picture a prophet telling a denomination that they have formed a line heading for the wide gate that is leading millions to their death or telling an individual they are in the wrong line and hear their response. It might begin with who do you think you are? Years ago (1997?), there was a bizarre conversation between Billy Graham and Robert Schuller. Here is part of it. “Graham: “I think everybody that loves Christ or knows Christ (whether they are conscious of it or not), they’re members of the body of Christ. And I don’t think we’re going to see a great, sweeping revival that will turn the whole world to Christ at any time. … God’s purpose for this age is to call out a people for His name. And that’s what God is doing today. He’s calling people out of the world for His name. Whether they come from the Muslim world, or the Buddhist world, or the Christian world, or the non-believing world. They are members of the body of Christ because they’ve been called by God. They may not even know the name of Jesus, but they know in their heart that they need something that they don’t have, and they turn to the only light that they have, and I think they’re saved and they’re going to be with us in heaven.” “Schuller: “What I hear you saying is that it’s possible for Jesus Christ to come into human hearts and soul and life, even if they’ve been born in darkness and have never had exposure to the Bible. Is that a correct interpretation of what you’re saying?” Graham: “Yes it is, because I believe that. I’ve met people in various parts of the world in tribal situations, that they have never seen a Bible or heard about a Bible, and never heard of Jesus, but they’ve believed in their hearts that there was a god, and they’ve tried to live a life that was apart from the surrounding community in which they lived.” Schuller: “This is fantastic! I’m so thrilled to hear you say this. There’s a wideness in God’s mercy.” Graham: “There is. There definitely is.” These two are saying that the world is filled with people who do not even know they are Christians. How bizarre? Yes, people from other religions can be saved, but they will know it. Here again is what Jesus said, Matthew 7:13 “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. 14 But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.” If you were following (both have died) Schuller and many will not like this, Billy Graham, you are in the wrong line.
There are churches of all sizes everywhere that are leading people astray. Many of these churches are massive and called mega-churches. For example, the mega-church Lakewood in Houston Texas with Joel Osteen as the pastor, has 45,000 weekly attendance, plus a global outreach. One article said, “each week more than one million people are hearing God's Word by downloading our audio and video podcast, making our podcast consistently one of the top five in the world.” Another said, “More than 10 million viewers watch his weekly inspirational messages through television, and over 60 million people connect with Joel each week through his digital platforms worldwide.” Plus, Osteen is a best-selling author. With just this one false teacher, 60 million people are in the line for the wrong gate, just one false teacher! There are a lot of people in that line all living their best life or so they think. They are not hearing God’s word and you are in the wrong line if you are following Joel Osteen.
Another Texas mega church that has recently made the news is Gateway Church, a non-denominational charismatic megachurch. One article said, “Gateway Church draws an estimated 100,000 people to its weekend services and has more than 560 employees at nine locations in Texas, and two others in Missouri and Wyoming, according to the church. It is considered one of America’s largest megachurches, which are congregations with an average weekly worship attendance of 2,000 people or more.” Plus add to that everything available online. Their website states, “Gateway Church is a Bible-based, evangelistic, Spirit-empowered church. At Gateway, we’re all about people. We’re all about people because God is all about people. One of the ways we express our love for Him is through our love for people, and we do this by helping people who come to Gateway grow in their relationship with the Lord.” Now compare that to the CNN headline updated August 30, 2024, that said, “Texas megachurch faces exodus of worshippers after a sex abuse scandal set off a summer of turmoil.” “Pastor Robert Morris resigned after a woman said he had abused her on multiple occasions in the 1980s, beginning when she was 12, according to a June 2024 statement. The church is called Gateway, but it is the wrong gate. The statement they have on their website makes them sound so spiritual even though their church was built by a man who sexually abused a child, and now all these years later and only when this abuse surfaces in 2024, is something done about it and no longer covered up. She had gone to them before but only when this came out in a blog, did they do something. You can read about this here. If you read some of the other articles you may be shocked to see what is actually going on in the church. He must have thought he was going to get away with it. Gateway church also recently had another pastor resign for a moral issue. That should raise some serious questions as to whether Jesus was building His church. It doesn’t matter that Max Lucado is now filling in, run away and look for the narrow gate. The reality is they should shut the whole thing down, repent and wait on God, but they will just keep going while expecting God to bless them just like Willow Creek who at one time was the church everyone wanted to be, that is until the scandal with Bill Hybels. These churches need to be shut down yet people flock to these churches but they will find they are in the wrong line and missed the narrow gate /door.
There is so much deception and delusion in the church today that you have to continuously test the spirits, study the word of God, ask questions and test the answers. Look hard for the narrow door and run away from the wide gate. The deception is so great that many have asked the right questions but have accepted the wrong answers because the person appeared to be one of authority in the church. Just because you go to church does not mean that it is a safe place. 2 Thessalonians 2:4 “He will oppose and will exalt himself over everything that is called God or is worshiped, so that he sets himself up in God’s temple, proclaiming himself to be God.” God, because of rebellion, has allowed satan in the church and he is everywhere, sometimes easy to see because he is so arrogant, while other times hard to see because he is so cunning. As Paul said earlier we need God’s servants so Ephesians 4:14 “then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming.” 2 Corinthians 11:3 “But I am afraid that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent’s cunning, your minds may somehow be led astray from your sincere and pure devotion to Christ.” Many in the church have been fooled by a little truth. As we saw when satan tried to tempt Jesus, he used scripture. Some false prophets are easy to see, while others are more difficult. Some are easy like Kenneth Copeland and others like him as they shout to the world, I am a false prophet. When covid started, he said, “In the Name of Jesus, standing in the office of the prophet of God, I execute judgment on you COVID-19. I execute judgment on you, satan, you destroyer, you killer. You get out. I break your power. You get off this nation. I demand judgment on you. I demand. I demand. "I demand a vaccination to come immediately. (Why do you need a vaccination if the power of covid was broken as he demanded?) I call you done. I call you gone. You come down from your place of authority, destroyer. You come down and you crawl on your belly like God commanded you when He put His foot on your head in the Garden of Eden. You will destroy through COVID-19 no more.” Okay that would be just embarrassingly funny if it wasn’t for the fact that many follow him, even though he said that just as Covid was starting and then over a million people died in the United States alone. False prophets are not just charismatic. Take someone like John MacArthur who has his own study bible, has written many books and many years preaching and has a seminary and university. Yet he teaches a doctrine of demons called cessationism (power gifts of the spirit have ceased) among many other false teachings including the rapture (the snatching away of the church) and millennial kingdom (thousand-year reign of Christ on earth). He speaks out against the charismatics and services and teaching appear to be normal, but they are not. If you follow his teaching you are in the wrong line.
The best way to test the spirits is to compare the bible to the teaching. For example, many as I said teach there will be a rapture, others aren’t sure and they also teach Jesus will return and set up His kingdom on earth for a thousand years. Yes, we are told Jesus will return but that is to take us to eternity. John 14:1 “Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me. 2 My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.” As far as the millennial kingdom, that one is not too difficult. Jesus already sits on the throne of David. Luke 1:30 The angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God. 31 You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. 32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, 33 and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.” Luke 11:20 “But if I drive out demons by the finger of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.” But that doesn’t fit with many church’s doctrine and theology. As far as the rapture, where the church disappears, that is made for Hollywood. There are varying views but the most ridiculous one that many believe in is that suddenly Christians will disappear, and chaos will ensue. Billy Graham’s daughter, Anne Graham Lotz said, “I believe Jesus is soon to return to take all of His followers to Heaven with Him in what is referred to as The Rapture. While this will be deliverance for His people, can you imagine the impact on our nation, let alone the world, when suddenly every single authentic Christian disappears? Institutions will collapse. Banks will close. The Stock Market will plunge. Planes will fall out of the sky. Cars will crash on the road. Government in America at every level will disintegrate. Families will be torn apart. In the unprecedented turmoil, our nation will be vulnerable for our enemies to seize the moment and attack us. There will be mass chaos, confusion, fear, grief, despair, anger, threats, danger… judgment.” In the same article she says she is sending out a mayday calling. The problem here is that she is the threat, as are those you teach this nonsense. Christians have all but disappeared already and the world carries on. If you take the church away, that means God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit, but if you listen to those that teach the rapture, there will be a second chance and a great revival and then Jesus will come and set up His kingdom. One comment someone said about MacArthur, “To call this man a false teacher is a gross injustice because I know he has preached the truth with as clear accuracy as a human possibly can. He has preached every single verse of the Bible over the course of 50 years and has studied it daily without fail. He takes great care to ensure that his preaching is consistent with biblical truth.” That comment could be applied to all the other false teachers because people who follow them have been blinded.
Isaiah was told Isaiah 6:9 “Go and tell this people: “‘Be ever hearing, but never understanding; be ever seeing, but never perceiving.’ 10 Make the heart of this people calloused; make their ears dull and close their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts, and turn and be healed.” Jesus would later say 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.” Today people are still blind and deaf. That story about Gateway Church should include a mass exodus that leads to people questioning their very salvation, but because people as Jesus also said Mark 7:6 “honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. 7 They worship me in vain; their teachings are merely human rules.’ 8 You have let go of the commands of God and are holding on to human traditions,” they will continue worship in vain because they refuse to see the truth. 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.” You are not saved if you are following other gospels and most are following other gospels. You are in the wrong line and headed for the wrong gate and will not see eternal life.
If you are still alive, you still have an opportunity to repent and turn from your wicked ways. At the airport when we found out we were at the wrong gate, we had to gather everything and run towards the right gate. We made that decision just in time. If we just sat there and did nothing, we would have missed the flight. Missing a flight could have been fixed. Waiting in line for the wide gate and not searching for the narrow door cannot be fixed if you do not turn around, which is repentance. We only have this lifetime that we have been given and most do not know when it will end. Today people are waiting for the rapture to come and many have been taught they are secure no matter what. They do not repent because they believe all is well with their soul and they do not seek power because someone taught them the power is no longer available to the church. John MacArthur is a false teacher simply because nowhere in the bible does it say all the gifts of the spirit are not available to all who believe. This is what scripture states. 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.” You can’t take out the ones you do not like because they do not fit with your own doctrine and theology. You don’t change the bible; you change! Mark 16:15 “He said to them, “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.” 19 After the Lord Jesus had spoken to them, he was taken up into heaven and he sat at the right hand of God. 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.” What the bible does say is God turns His face from us when His people rebel and our enemies are then able to overpower us.
But there is hope if the church would return to God’s word. Ezekiel 18:30 “Therefore, you Israelites, I will judge each of you according to your own ways, declares the Sovereign Lord. Repent! Turn away from all your offenses; then sin will not be your downfall. 31 Rid yourselves of all the offenses you have committed, and get a new heart and a new spirit. Why will you die, people of Israel? 32 For I take no pleasure in the death of anyone, declares the Sovereign Lord. Repent and live!” Ezekiel 39:25 “Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says: I will now restore the fortunes of Jacob and will have compassion on all the people of Israel, and I will be zealous for my holy name. 26 They will forget their shame and all the unfaithfulness they showed toward me when they lived in safety in their land with no one to make them afraid. 27 When I have brought them back from the nations and have gathered them from the countries of their enemies, I will be proved holy through them in the sight of many nations. 28 Then they will know that I am the Lord their God, for though I sent them into exile among the nations, I will gather them to their own land, not leaving any behind. 29 I will no longer hide my face from them, for I will pour out my Spirit on the people of Israel, declares the Sovereign Lord.”
Today millions of people are lined up and ready to go through the wide gate thinking as Schuller and Graham talked said; “Fantastic! I´m so glad to hear you say that. There is a wideness in God´s mercy. There is. There definitely is.” Yes, God is a God of great mercy but also a God of wrath and jealousy. Deuteronomy 4:24 “For the Lord your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God.” Deuteronomy 32:15 “They abandoned the God who made them and rejected the Rock their Savior. 16 They made him jealous with their foreign gods and angered him with their detestable idols. 17 They sacrificed to false gods, which are not God— gods they had not known, gods that recently appeared, gods your ancestors did not fear. 18 You deserted the Rock, who fathered you; you forgot the God who gave you birth.” You cannot expect God to be merciful when you refuse to follow and obey His word even if big names like these say there is wideness to His mercy. Scripture from the beginning to the end clearly shows us what happens when God’s people refuse to obey His word. Many have been taught that they are safe and secure from all alarm, but the alarms are going off because they are in the wrong line but because those who teach are so convincing, they are not listening to the alarms. It is like when a car alarm goes off and most people just ignore it and are bothered by the noise. Prophets are the alarm. They do not even know they should be looking for the narrow door as they think they have already found it. Yes, Jesus said he would return but not to set up His kingdom but to take us into eternity. If you say you are a Catholic, Baptist, Methodist, Reformed, Pentecostal or whatever distinction you have agreed to, you are in the wrong line. Save yourself by getting out of the line and running to the narrow door and don’t give up until you find it. Proverbs 2:1 “My son, if you accept my words and store up my commands within you, 2 turning your ear to wisdom and applying your heart to understanding— 3 indeed, if you call out for insight and cry aloud for understanding, 4 and if you look for it as for silver and search for it as for hidden treasure, 5 then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God. 6 For the Lord gives wisdom; from his mouth come knowledge and understanding. 7 He holds success in store for the upright, he is a shield to those whose walk is blameless, 8 for he guards the course of the just and protects the way of his faithful ones.” Getting out of line will cause problems temporarily but your eternal life depends on you getting in the right line. This world is going to be over in a blink of an eye and you will not have time to repent. Now is the time! 1 Corinthians 15:51 “Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed— 52 in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed.” 1 Thessalonians 4:16 “For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. 18 Therefore encourage one another with these words.” 2 Peter 3:10 “But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything done in it will be laid bare. 11 Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives 12 as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming.” Ezekiel 30:2 “‘Wail and say, “Alas for that day!” 3 For the day is near, the day of the Lord is near.”
If are looking with everything you have for the narrow door and you are waiting for God to turn His face back to the church and empower His church to once again go to the ends of the earth, knowing the end will soon come and Jesus will take us to the place prepared for us, you are in the right line. Don’t give up. 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.” The good news is that when we return to God and God turns His face back to the church, once again our enemies will be defeated, the sick healed, demons cast out and the good news will be proclaimed to the world. Matthew 24:13 “The one who stands firm to the end will be saved. 14 And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.”
