The world is experiencing a very terrible times not known in the history of any outbreak of Epidemic or pandemic of a sort which cuts across the entire world and caused a total locked down includes the religious bodies.
When the locked down order was issued and law enforcement agencies were directed to strictly adhere to the orders by enforcing it. My thinking was perhaps churches or any other religious bodies would have been speared but when the very subsceding Sunday services came and the police and army were seen going round the churches to harass, arrest and closed down on churches, I said Whaaat! It then done on me that this is not joke.
By the time I glued on my television channels to get the news properly concerning the danger of this demonic plague called COVID19, seeing how people are being infected and are dying in great numbers, I thank God for the wisdom of lockdown. Since then I joined the government to spread the news of telling as many people as I can reach to please stay at home that\’s the secret of survival.
The staying at home order has its pros and cons no doubt about it but one of the greatest gain I can record so far is my drawing closer to God Almighty. My having time enough to reflect on my spiritual life; my making out quality time with my God and God working out some ideas in my head. Then I begin to think that most things we thought are the mean things in life are not after all. I realized that Churches are being shot down and pastor\’s gone into hiding without putting up a fight or resistance call for attention no more dusk to dusk prayers at a crusade yet nothing happened I said no wonder Jesus said to the Samaritan woman in John 4:20-24 that~
20. \”Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, and you Jews say that in Jerusalem is the place where one ought to worship.\” 21. Jesus said to her, \”Woman, believe Me, the hour is coming when you will neither on this mountain, nor in Jerusalem, worship the Father. 22. You worship what you do not know; we know what we worship, for salvation is of the Jews. 23. But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. 24. God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.\”
Now, my main gist is with the proliferation of churches all over the world have it really help in producing sound doctrine and good morals among the people? Just imagine the moral decays all over the world. Have you noticed that the number of churches that ever existed so far are the same with their number of followers having different doctrine and behavioural pattern.
Since this lockdown I once read where one of the pastor of the biggest churches in Nigeria who owes one of the most expensive private University was calling out his church members all over the world on how to pay tithes and other church offerings through online since no more church services. Honestly I thought it was fake, perhaps one of the social media gossip to slander the man of God until a friend called me while we are discussing an issue we dived into clamped down on churches; We began to share opinion on how much time we can dedicate to fellowshipping with God on our own and having the time to read the Bible deep down. She said Nne do you know that I am beginning to know a lot of biblical injunction which the church are not ready to mention in the church including tithes and offering? I said you see why I always tell you that since I started searching to know the word of God myself I stop swallowing every preaching I hear because I read the Bible myself to know better. She is a member of another biggest church too in Nigeria with highest number of branches all over the world which incidentally is my church too. She told me that their parish pastor called her and said to her
\”Sister with the situation on ground and the staying at home order all the church members are advised to get connected to a particular online code for the payment of tithes and offerings\”. She got annoyed and said pastor if you have asked my opinion on this I would have suggested that it is the duty of the church to give a palliative measures to the poor members who starved themselves to pay tithes and offerings when we are not locked down but now with the situation of things some of them don\’t even know where their next meal is coming from. She said the pastor answered and said well! If you think you have the means you may try but the church do not have such plans all the same try and hook up for the payment of your tithes and offerings.
With this you will see why God warned Eziekel concerning false prophets in Eziekel 23 :3-8.
3 Thus says the Lord God: \”Woe to the foolish prophets, who follow their own spirit and have seen nothing! 4. O Israel, your prophets are like foxes in the deserts. 5. You have not gone up into the gaps to build a wall for the house of Israel to stand in battle on the day of the Lord. 6. They have envisioned futility and false divination, saying, \’Thus says the Lord!\’ But the Lord has not sent them; yet they hope that the word may be confirmed. 7. Have you not seen a futile vision, and have you not spoken false divination? You say, \’The Lord says,\’ but I have not spoken.\” 8. Therefore thus says the Lord God: \”Because you have spoken nonsense and envisioned lies, therefore I am indeed against you,\” says the Lord God.
Towards the end of the Savior’s earthly ministry, His disciples came to Him with several questions concerning the future: “Tell us … what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?”Jesus answered and said : “Take heed that no man deceive you.
“For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many. And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: … and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places. All these are the beginning of sorrows” (Matthew 24:3-8).
Apostle Paul warned of these days: “For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; “And they shall turn away their ears from the truth” (2 Timothy 4:3-4).
Now is the right time to identify the true believer and counterfeit we should watch them closely through their conduct at this trying times towards their congregations. God Almighty knows that it is not my duty to judge anybody but some of the pastors now have so impoorverish their followers and hypnotized them so much that they begin to worship them as God leaving the very God that deserves all our worship.
Very soon, we are going to see the manifestation of men of heresy\’s who have deceived a lot of people through fake doctrines I am sure by the time we are out of this God Almighty will open the eyes of many and them who truly dedicated their reasonable time will see vision and dream dreams while those shepherds who allowed their sheep to go astray will face the wrath of God. And this is how you know the true believer.
The true believer pursues goodness, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, brotherly kindness, and love. The counterfeit Christian is marked by arrogance and slander. They are “experts in greed” They also “despise authority” This is a general characteristic of fake pastors or believers. The true teachers of the word of God are those who applied to the Scriptures and base their teachings on the undiluted word of God.
Thanks for reading. Please drop a comment as you read. Remain Blessed and be safe🙏. Cheers!!. ✍️BlessingOnugha❤️.
It is good for everyone to know God for themselves and have a close relationship with God. You might not know all that the Bible says but if you have a relationship with God, when you hear doctrines that don’t sit well with your spirit, you ask the Holy Spirit to guide you and lead you in the path that is right.
Well spoken, is a very good thing to embrace the word of God and make it your duty to do His will. Obedient to His word is a sign of having relationship with Him.