Ezekiel 13:20-23 Gives Details of these Birds: Therefore thus says the LORD GOD: “Behold I am against your magic charms by which you hunt souls there like birds. I will tear them from your arms and let the souls go, the souls you hunt like birds. 21 I will also tear off your veils & deliver My people out of your hand, & they shall no longer be as prey in your hand. Then you shall know that I am the LORD. 22 Because with lies you have made the heart of the righteous sad, and whom I have not made sad; & you have strengthened the hands of the wicked, so that he does not turn from his wicked way to save his life. 23 therefore you shall no longer envision futility nor practice divination; for I will deliver My people out of your hand, & you shall know that I am the LORD.
1. Here we have the false, they speak
but give nothing but lies: Today we need teachers,
pastors even apostles to
give truth by the Spirit of God & not their own thoughts nor their
own opinions. For our
thoughts & opinions do nothing ; they have no practical or useful effect. We are to encourage, but we are to warn not by a cheap
grace, & a false peace. It is about standing in the gap through prayer
& that the word of God is given to repair lives & not destroy them!
2. At this time; they hunted souls to
promise them prosperity & blessing through their pretended
revelations….Giving lies: is turning the righteous from truth & to do that
are promising life for a price they have made the wicked to feel secure without
turning from wicked ways.
God Never Deliberately Deceives Anyone: but when men will not listen,
He certainly withdraws from them
permitting them to be deceived by demons: Romans 1:18-32 NKJV 18 For the wrath of God is
revealed from heaven against all ungodliness & unrighteousness of men, who
suppress the truth in unrighteousness, 19 because what may be known of God is
manifest in them, for God has shown it to them. 20 For since the creation of the world
His invisible attributes are clearly seen being understood by the things that
are made even His eternal power & Godhead, so that they are without excuse,
21 because, although they knew God they did not glorify Him as God, nor were
thankful but became futile in their thoughts and their foolish hearts were
darkened. 22 Professing to be wise, they became fools, 23 & changed the
glory of incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man---&
birds, and four footed animals & creeping things. 24 Therefore God also gave
them up to uncleanness, in the lusts of their hearts to dishonor their bodies
among themselves, 25 who exchanged the truth of God for the lie, &
worshiped & served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed
forever. Amen. Romans 1: 26 For this reason, God gave them up to vile passions.
For even their women exchanged the natural use for what is against nature.
Romans 1:27 Likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their
lust for one another, men with men committing what is shameful & receiving in
themselves the penalty of their error which was due. 28 & even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God
gave them over to a debased mind, to do those things which are not fitting; 29
being filled with all unrighteousness, sexual
immorality, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy,
murder, strife, deceit, evil-mindedness; they are whisperers, 30 back-biters, haters of God, violent, proud,
boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, 31 un-discerning,
untrustworthy, un-loving, un-forgiving, un-merciful; 32
who knowing the righteous judgment of God that those who practice such
things are deserving of death, not only do the same but also approve of those
who practice them.
Apostasy
is rising: Describing this aspect of apostasy and its underlying danger, A. W.
Tozer wrote, "So
skilled is error at imitating truth, that the two are constantly being mistaken
for each another. It takes a sharp eye these days to know which brother is Cain
and which is Abel." We must never take for granted anything that touches
our soul’s welfare. Isaac felt Jacob’s arms & thought they were the arms of
Esau. Even the disciples failed to spot the traitor among them; the only one of
them who knew was Judas himself. That soft-spoken companion with whom we walk so
comfortably & in whose company we take such delight may be an angel of
Satan, whereas that rough, plain-spoken man whom we shun may be God's very prophet
sent to warn us against danger and eternal loss.
Paul gave
this in 2 Corinthians 11:13-15 NKJV For such are
false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming
themselves into apostles for Christ. 14 & no wonder! For Satan
himself transforms himself into an angel of light. 15 therefore
it is no great thing if his ministers transform themselves into ministers of
righteousness, whose end will be according to their works. ….Apostates will
twist things to their agenda!
1. Jeremiah 5:26-29 For among My people are found wicked men; they
lie in wait as one who sets snares; they set a trap; they catch men. 27 As a
cage is full of birds, so their houses are full of deceit. Therefore they have become great & grown rich. 28 They
have grown fat, they are sleek; yes, they surpass the deeds of the
wicked; they do not plead the cause, the cause of the fatherless; Yet they prosper, & the right of the needy they
do not defend. 29 Shall I not punish them for these things? Says the LORD. ‘Shall I not avenge Myself on
such a nation as this?” 30 “An astonishing &
horrible thing has been committed in the land: 31 The prophets
prophesy falsely, & the priests rule by their own power; & my
people love to have it so, but what will you do in the end?
2. This was a national evil! What
prophets they have prophesied falsely, their priest bear their rule by their
hand & by their means & the people love it! Many will have “egg” on their faces. To straighten our walk, we must conform to the
Lord, and give voice of truth and not that of lies!
Sin is still sin in the face of a holy God. Matthew
13:32 NKJV 32……which indeed
is the least of all the seeds; but when it is grown it is greater than the
herbs & becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come & nest in its
branches.
1. Matthew identifies the birds of the
air as "the wicked one" :Matthew 13:4, 19….NKJV
Matthew 13:4 And as he sowed, some seed fell by the wayside; and the birds came
& devoured them.” Matthew 13:19 NKJV 19 When anyone hears the word of
the kingdom,& does not understand it, then the wicked one comes &
snatches away what was sown in his heart. This is he who received seed by the wayside.
2. Wicked: pon—ay--ros’--meaning the
hurtful, the evil influence, also NT 4550 degenerate, the diseased, the devil
Mark
connects those birds with"Satan": Mark 4:4, 15 NKJV 4
And it happened, as he sowed, that some seed fell by the wayside;
& the birds of the air came & devoured it.
Mark 4: 15& these are the ones by the wayside where the word is
sown. When they hear, Satan comes immediately & takes away the word that
was sown in their hearts.
1. Here the person is stubborn, his heart is hard. He is unbroken & determined to tell Jesus NO! So the birds of the devil, his demonic cohorts snatch away the word of God.
2. The sinner is
not troubled by the message & he remains indifferent! It is still about me, myself and I
Luke links the birds to "the devil" :Luke
8:5, 12.. 5 A sower went out to sow his seed & as he sowed, some
fell by the wayside; & it was trampled down & the birds of the air
devoured it. 12 Those by the wayside are the ones who hear; then the devil
comes & takes away the word out of their hearts, lest they should believe
& be saved….a
continual growing in God’s kingdom..
Jesus had Predicted these Birds of the Air
would Lodge in the Branches:
In Ephesians 2:2-3…in which you once walked according to the course of this
world, according to the prince of the
power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience,
3 among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh,
fulfilling the desires of the flesh & of the mind & were by nature
children of wrath, just as the others. …the devil’s dominion
has been in that atmosphere above us
1.
Remember
John 15:5 I am the vine, you are the branches. Jesus told us that we are the branches. Where
do these demonic spirits set their places to lodge…in the branches of those set
for God’s purpose to try & take His word from us!
2. These have infiltrated the church; It
was Satan who implanted his agents to
teach false doctrine while he appeared to be truth.
3. Peter was sifted as wheat: Luke 22:31
And the Lord said, “Simon, Simon! Indeed, Satan has asked for you, that he may sift you as wheat. 32 But I have
prayed for you, that your faith should not fail; & when you have returned
to Me, strengthen your brethren.”
4. Jesus prayed for all the disciples
because he knew testing would come to them!
These
antichrists lodge within His church:
1 Cor. 11:17-19 NKJV Now in giving these
instructions I do not praise you, since you come
together not for the better but for the worse. 18 For first of all,
when you come together as a church, I hear that there
are divisions among you, & in part I believe it. 19 For there
must also be factions among you, that those who are approved may be recognized
among you.
Paul could
not praise these who took their part to harm those within these services.
Because he said, “since
you come together not for the better but for the worse”.
1. Those attending were harmed by the
teachings; He knew these could form their own opinions/ the divisions would be
seen
3. But those we read of from verse 19:
the truly spiritual and who were approved of God would be recognized among the
Corinthians.
4. Factions/ divisions occur as a resulting proof
that some had failed to the discern the mind of the Lord.
Remember Jesus told us in John 15:5 that without Him we can do nothing. Anything outside of God
and His power is one under the delusion of the enemy. Our fruit is that which
is genuine because it is connected to the vine in which we are in covenant! A
covenant is not convenient…it costs you something!
2 Corinthians 3:5-6
Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think of anything as being from
ourselves, but our sufficiency is from God, 6 who also made us sufficient as
ministers of the new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the
letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.
1 John 2:15-17 NKJV Do not love
the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of
the Father is not in him. 16 For all that is in the world---the lust of the
flesh, the lust of the eyes, & the pride of life--is not of the Father but
is of the world. 17 & the world is passing away, & the lust of it; but
he who does the will of God abides forever.
What we have seen even in the last 50 years is a subtle change in Christianity. People are changing what God purposed from the foundation of the world. What John revealed in 1 John 2: 15-17 is not just about Christmas & Easter but also comprises those attitudes, those very ideas & inclinations that drags one off into a mixture of God and the devil.
How many exist today from the
beginning of when the word of God was given?
For that blending of the lies of this world with the truth of God
produces a very foul mixture. It is called syncretism that James speaks about in
James 3:10-13. Out of the same mouth proceed blessing
& cursing. My brethren, these things ought not to be so. 11 Does a spring
send forth fresh water and bitter from the same opening? 12 Can a fig tree,
my brethren bear olives or a grapevine bear figs? Thus no spring yields both salt water and fresh.
There are those who are changing what God spoke, and we know this has come through human nature & satan’s constant attempts to displace the truth of God with error. Let’s not be the proverbial frog in water that is slowly coming to a boil in that which the church of God has lost its vigor and have become malnourished in error of those large branches of adopted false doctrine. For those who do so will slip into the world and die in the false teaching. They will slide off a very slipper slope.
Let’s kill our selfish egos
through the Holy Spirit and by His guidance see where our thoughts and ways
are not His. For He told us in John 15:2 that every branch in Him that does not
bear fruit He takes away; & every branch that bears fruit He prunes. We
remain in the true vine of Jesus and the Father Who is the vine-dresser!
New teaching at: Voice of Prayer
Purity of Heart
