Joshua 1:9 Have I not commanded thee?
Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou
dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest.
*****
If God has told us to do this, how can we fail?
One day, I was reading Bible and came across following:
One day, I was reading Bible and came across following:
Jude 1:11 Woe unto them! for they have gone in the way of Cain, and ran greedily after the error of Balaam for reward, and perished in the gainsaying of Core.
I know what the way of Cain was ... I know the example of Balaam ... But who was Core?
I said to God, "The Bible is mine. I have right to know this. How do I find out who Core was, the Bible example of Core?"
I was reminded of Unger's Bible Dictionary.
I found "Core" to be "Korah".
The sin of Korah is explain in the following scripture: We are warned against doing this.
Numbers 16
2-3 And they rose up before Moses, with certain of the children of Israel, two hundred and fifty princes of the assembly, famous in the congregation, men of renown:
And they gathered themselves together against Moses and against Aaron, and said unto them,
Ye take too much upon you, seeing all the congregation are holy, every one of them, and the Lord is among them: wherefore then lift ye up yourselves above the congregation of the Lord?
*****
They are basically saying: "We are as good as you and yet you tell us what to do in the congregation."
They rebelled against God's will and exalted themselves in their own hearts.
They were jealous of Moses and Aaron.
*****
Ephesians 4: 7-8 But unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ. Wherefore HE saith, When HE ascended up on high, HE led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men.
Jesus assigned some to work in the church in one or more of the 5-ministry offices: apostle, prophet, evangelist, pastor, teacher.
This is a calling of God, an anointing of God. It carries with it the power of God and the appropriate gifts of the Holy Spirit needed to accomplish the work purposed by God. And God teaches, by HIS Spirit, each person HE has called how to do the spiritual work to which he has been assigned.
There is a specific purpose for each of the 5-offices.
- apostle has an anointing to deal with church doctrine and to keep proper order in the churches.
- prophet often brings correction to the ministers and to the congregation.
- evangelist is sent to the unsaved.
- pastor works with local congregation to keep them together and help them grow in ways of God.
- teacher shows scripture to congregation and helps individuals to apply scripture to their lives.
*****
I have met men who even say they "hope" to arrive at the "position" of apostle. That is impossible. God assigns whom HE will to do these jobs. You do not "arrive" at these offices by your own efforts. God appoints the person to the ministry office as HE wills and that appointed person simply follows God daily. That gets the appointed minister to the place where he should be.
I was very shocked.
The ministry offices are not gotten by your desire to be such.
People are appointed by God for the specific work they do and those not appointed to do such must not try to do it. If they try, they will be out of order in the church and they will suffer a serious penalty from God at some point.
In the sin of Core (Korah) we see the following:
Numbers 16
3 And they gathered themselves together against Moses and against Aaron,
and said unto them, Ye take too much upon you, seeing all the
congregation are holy, every one of them, and the Lord is among them: wherefore then lift ye up yourselves above the congregation of the Lord?
4-5 And when Moses heard it, he fell upon his face:
And he spake unto Korah and unto all his company, saying,
Even to morrow the Lord will shew who are His, and who is holy; and will cause him to come near unto HIM: even him whom HE hath chosen will HE cause to come near unto HIM.
6-11 This do; Take you censers, Korah, and all his company; And put fire therein, and put incense in them before the Lord to morrow: and it shall be that the man whom the Lord doth choose, he shall be holy: ye take too much upon you, ye sons of Levi.
And Moses said unto Korah, Hear, I pray you, ye sons of Levi:
Seemeth it but a small thing unto you, that the God of Israel hath separated you from the congregation of Israel, to bring you near to Himself to do the service of the tabernacle of the Lord, and to stand before the congregation to minister unto them? And he hath brought thee near to Him, and all thy brethren the sons of Levi with thee: and seek ye the priesthood also?
For which cause both thou and all thy company are gathered together against the Lord: and what is Aaron, that ye murmur against him?
12-14 And Moses sent to call Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab: which said, We will not come up: (They said to Moses) Is it a small thing that thou hast brought us up out of a land that floweth with milk and honey, to kill us in the wilderness, except thou make thyself altogether a prince over us? Moreover thou hast not brought us into a land that floweth with milk and honey, or given us inheritance of fields and vineyards: wilt thou put out the eyes of these men? we will not come up.
(They refuse to follow Moses and Aaron any further.)
***
Numbers 16
(250
princes, men of renown, rose up against Moses and Aaron as they wanted
to take over the position God gave to Moses and Aaron and they
considered themselves to be as good as Moses and Aaron and they set
about to show themselves as good as Moses and Aaron. First they tried
to accuse Moses and Aaron)
4-5 And when Moses heard it, he fell upon his face:
And he spake unto Korah and unto all his company, saying,
Even to morrow the Lord will shew who are His, and who is holy; and will cause him to come near unto HIM: even him whom HE hath chosen will HE cause to come near unto HIM.
6-11 This do; Take you censers, Korah, and all his company; And put fire therein, and put incense in them before the Lord to morrow: and it shall be that the man whom the Lord doth choose, he shall be holy: ye take too much upon you, ye sons of Levi.
And Moses said unto Korah, Hear, I pray you, ye sons of Levi:
Seemeth it but a small thing unto you, that the God of Israel hath separated you from the congregation of Israel, to bring you near to Himself to do the service of the tabernacle of the Lord, and to stand before the congregation to minister unto them? And he hath brought thee near to Him, and all thy brethren the sons of Levi with thee: and seek ye the priesthood also?
For which cause both thou and all thy company are gathered together against the Lord: and what is Aaron, that ye murmur against him?
12-14 And Moses sent to call Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab: which said, We will not come up: (They said to Moses) Is it a small thing that thou hast brought us up out of a land that floweth with milk and honey, to kill us in the wilderness, except thou make thyself altogether a prince over us? Moreover thou hast not brought us into a land that floweth with milk and honey, or given us inheritance of fields and vineyards: wilt thou put out the eyes of these men? we will not come up.
(They refuse to follow Moses and Aaron any further.)
***
15 And Moses was very wroth, and said unto the Lord, Respect not thou their offering: I have not taken one ass from them, neither have I hurt one of them.
***
And take every man his censer, and put incense in them, and bring ye before the Lord every man his censer, two hundred and fifty censers; thou also, and Aaron, each of you his censer.
And they took every man his censer, and put fire in them, and laid incense thereon, and stood in the door of the tabernacle of the congregation with Moses and Aaron.
And Korah gathered all the congregation against them unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation: and the glory of the Lord appeared unto all the congregation.
20-21 And the Lord spake unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying,
Separate yourselves from among this congregation, that I may consume them in a moment.
***
20-21 And the Lord spake unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying,
Separate yourselves from among this congregation, that I may consume them in a moment.
***
23-26 And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto the congregation, saying, Get you up from about the tabernacle of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram.
And Moses rose up and went unto Dathan and Abiram; and the elders of Israel followed him.
And he spake unto the congregation, saying,
Depart, I pray you, from the tents of these wicked men, and touch nothing of their's, lest ye be consumed in all their sins.
***
And Moses said, Hereby ye shall know that the Lord hath sent me to do all these works; for I have not done them of mine own mind.
If these men die the common death of all men, or if they be visited after the visitation of all men; then the Lord hath not sent me. But if the Lord make a new thing, and the earth open her mouth, and swallow them up, with all that appertain unto them, and they go down quick into the pit; then ye shall understand that these men have provoked the Lord.
They, and all that appertained to them, went down alive into the pit, and the earth closed upon them: and they perished from among the congregation.
And all Israel that were round about them fled at the cry of them: for they said, Lest the earth swallow us up also.
(Neither can we sit among the evil doers or evil ministers.)
And there came out a fire from the Lord, and consumed the two hundred and fifty men that offered incense.
And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,
Speak unto Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest, that he take up the censers out of the burning, and scatter thou the fire yonder; for they are hallowed.
The censers of these sinners against their own souls, let them make them broad plates for a covering of the altar: for they offered them before the Lord, therefore they are hallowed: and they shall be a sign unto the children of Israel.
And Eleazar the priest took the brasen censers, wherewith they that were burnt had offered; and they were made broad plates for a covering of the altar:
To be a memorial unto the children of Israel, that no stranger, which is not of the seed of Aaron, come near to offer incense before the Lord; that he be not as Korah, and as his company: as the Lord said to him by the hand of Moses.
But on the morrow all the congregation of the children of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron, saying, Ye have killed the people of the Lord.
And it came to pass, when the congregation was gathered against Moses and against Aaron, that they looked toward the tabernacle of the congregation: and, behold, the cloud covered it, and the glory of the Lord appeared.
And Moses and Aaron came before the tabernacle of the congregation.
And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,
Get you up from among this congregation, that I may consume them as in a moment. And they fell upon their faces.
And Moses said unto Aaron, Take a censer, and put fire therein from off the altar, and put on incense, and go quickly unto the congregation, and make an atonement for them: for there is wrath gone out from the Lord; the plague is begun.
And Aaron took as Moses commanded, and ran into the midst of the congregation; and, behold, the plague was begun among the people: and he put on incense, and made an atonement for the people.
And he stood between the dead and the living; and the plague was stayed.
Now they that died in the plague were fourteen thousand and seven hundred, beside them that died about the matter of Korah.
And Aaron returned unto Moses unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation: and the plague was stayed.
*****
You cannot learn to be a minister of God by copying other people.
The only way you can be a minister is to have the call of God on your own life and have God teach you what HE wants you to do in the work to which HE has placed you in the church.
II Corinthians 3:5-6 Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think any thing as of ourselves; but our sufficiency is of God; Who also hath made us able ministers of the new testament; not of the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life.
If you try to copy others you will be a "mocker" as described in Jude and you will be damned as such. Remember the story of Korah where he tried to take the place of Moses and Aaron.
Jude vv. 17-19 But, beloved, remember ye the words which were spoken before of the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ; How that they told you there should be mockers (copiers) in the last time, who should walk after their own ungodly lusts.
These be they who separate themselves, sensual, having not the Spirit.
They decide of their own mind to be ministers and they do not have the Spirit of God.
*****
At one of his meetings in the early 1980's, I heard Kenneth Copeland tell how he went into the ministry.
Copeland had been pilot for Kenneth Hagin flying Hagin to meetings where Hagin spoke.
Copeland began to think he could do as Hagin did, preaching.
So by his own report, Copland said he shut himself into his own garage for about 2 weeks and memorized teachings of Hagin.
In 1982, God said to me, "Kenneth Copeland is antichrist."
At that time, the church group I was in taught that antichrist was one man.
I just sat and shook after God said to me, "Kenneth Copeland is antichrist."
Now I know there are many antichrists, not just one. (Copeland is one of the antichrists in today's churches.)
The apostle John told the people in his day that there were "already" many antichrists.
I John 2:18 Little children, it is the last time: and as ye have heard that antichrist shall come, even now are there many antichrists; whereby we know that it is the last time.
On his website, Copeland proudly showed his picture with the Catholic pope and said pope granted him a 3-hour audience. Incredible that Copeland would have sought this. But this is just one more revealing fact for us concerning Copeland.
***
Marilyn Hickey told me when she decided she wanted to be teacher of Bible, she began teaching and her friend told Marilyn, "You are so boring."
Marilyn hired someone to teach her how to present things.
This is not the way of God. GOD teaches you when HE calls you to be minister.
I John 2:27 But the anointing which ye have received of Him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in Him.
The apostle Paul said of himself the following:
I Corinthians 2:1-5 And I, brethren, when I came to you, came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom, declaring unto you the testimony of God.
For I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified.
And I was with you in weakness, and in fear, and in much trembling.
And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man's wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power:
That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.
We most likely won't reach the fame and glory of man by doing things God's way, but when we are called by God for apostle, prophet, evangelist, pastor, or teacher, and we do things according to Spirit of God and Bible, we are maintained on this present earth and I believe are also rewarded through all eternity.
***
Jimmy Swaggart wanted to have more people attend his meetings. Michael Ellison Advertising Agency was his agent at that time. They and Swaggart decided he could use his ability at singing country western music to draw more people to his meeting: less preaching / more entertainment.
***
Robert Tilton announced from pulpit that he was going to be bigger on radio than Kenneth Copeland.
Emulation: Work of the flesh to be greater than other people by the flesh. Galatians 5
Wikipedia: College friend of Robert Tilton's reports: Also in the original report, a former friend of Tilton's from college claimed both he and Tilton would attend tent revival meetings as a "sport" and would claim to be anointed and healed at the meetings. He added the two had often discussed the notion that after graduation they would set up their own roving revival ministry "and drive around the country and get rich."
I personally witnessed Bob "killing a prophet" by stopping her from speaking freely on his own TV show as a prophet. Just before the show aired, Tilton said to her, "Just one thing ... don't saying anything about being a prophet because it's not popular."
I delivered a message to him telling him his house would be left desolate to him because he did this.
Within a few years, ABC Primetime Live Newscast aired an expose concerning Tilton.
One of the really terrible things: On his TV show, Robert Tilton asked the audience to send him their "prayer requests" ... (when people send prayer requests, they often enclose money along with the request)
Prayer requests were sent to Tilton's church address in Dallas area ... the envelopes were then forwarded to a bank in Tulsa, Oklahoma, where bank employees opened the envelopes, removed money and deposited "offerings", and threw the prayer requests into the garbage. Tilton who had asked the people to send their prayer requests to him, never even saw the requests.
Tilton often told congregation they could expect to receive 100-fold return on the offerings they gave to him. One of his own congregation filed a lawsuit against Tilton over his promise of 100-fold return for offerings he had given when he failed to receive this return.
One of the really terrible things: On his TV show, Robert Tilton asked the audience to send him their "prayer requests" ... (when people send prayer requests, they often enclose money along with the request)
Prayer requests were sent to Tilton's church address in Dallas area ... the envelopes were then forwarded to a bank in Tulsa, Oklahoma, where bank employees opened the envelopes, removed money and deposited "offerings", and threw the prayer requests into the garbage. Tilton who had asked the people to send their prayer requests to him, never even saw the requests.
Tilton often told congregation they could expect to receive 100-fold return on the offerings they gave to him. One of his own congregation filed a lawsuit against Tilton over his promise of 100-fold return for offerings he had given when he failed to receive this return.
His church was destroyed.
Offerings which had been 80-million-dollars per year (by Wikipedia report) dropped to 2-million ... still lots of money.
Offerings which had been 80-million-dollars per year (by Wikipedia report) dropped to 2-million ... still lots of money.
He and first wife divorced. He married 2nd wife and they divorced. He is now married to 3rd wife.
(adultery: Mark 10:11 Whosoever shall put away his wife, and marry another, committeth adultery against her.)
(adultery: Mark 10:11 Whosoever shall put away his wife, and marry another, committeth adultery against her.)
He moved to Florida and tried to start another TV show.
Then quit that and moved to California and still calls himself a minister by Wikipedia report.
Overall terrible things.
*****
Gain as a sign of godliness? or ungodliness?
I Timothy 6:5 Perverse disputings of men of corrupt minds, and destitute of the truth, supposing that gain is godliness: from such withdraw thyself.
They set about to draw large numbers of people to their meetings, sometimes through offer of entertainment.
They often make much from offerings.
They have accumulated much wealth.
Report from Internet on Net Worth: Year 2017:
- Copeland net worth:700 million
- Hickey net worth: 500 million
- Tilton net worth: 100 million
Large numbers of followers and large offerings are often sign of corruption in the message spoken by ministers.
***
A few years ago, I attended a dinner at our museum group at Texas Tech University in Lubbock, Texas.
I was seated next to a man who was wearing around his neck the largest cross I have ever seen.
He identified himself as former pastor at Indiana Street Baptist Church.
He began telling of "trouble" at their church. They had so many people coming to their services, he said, that they didn't have enough room to seat them. They had added onto their church twice and still had same problem.
I replied: "If you would begin preaching the words Jesus spoke in Matthew 5:32, The man who marries a divorced woman commits adultery, then about 1/2 of the people would get up and leave you and you would no longer have a problem seating the people.
Often the larger the church group, the less the scriptural teaching. They speak things designed to approve the people in their sin rather than to expose the sin and cause repentance.
***
Matthew 24:3-5 And as HE sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto HIM privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of Thy coming, and of the end of the world?
And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you. For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many.
***
Matthew 7:21-23 Jesus says: Not
every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom
of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.
Many will say to ME in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Thy name? and in Thy name have cast out devils? and in Thy name done many wonderful works?
Many will say to ME in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Thy name? and in Thy name have cast out devils? and in Thy name done many wonderful works?
And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.
*****
The end-time apostasy has entered into the churches today because portions of scripture are no longer taught. The scriptures restrained antichrist from the church group. As soon as portions of scripture which fought lawlessness were removed, lawlessness against the scripture moved into the churches and the apostasy began.
That is what we are seeing today.
II Thessalonians 2:3-4 Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;
(Churches would "fall away" from scripture.)
Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God.
*****
Destruction was everywhere.
I went into a room where a man was speaking to a group of people. I sat down and began to listen.
Another man rushed in and said: "Stop ... Wait ... Can't you see? ... It's too late. It's already begun."
The first man resumed speaking.
I looked out the windows to see what had "already begun."
I
saw a tall pole with a yellow civil-defense type speaker on top of the
pole. There was a gas coming out of the speaker. It was poisonous and
was going to kill the people. And it was coming directly toward us!
The instrument that was set there to warn us was the instrument being used to gas us to death!
I
looked at the man who was sitting next to me. He was looking directly
toward the man who was speaking. He seemed very attentive and had a big
smile on his face. But he was a corpse. He was already dead!
I looked around the room at the other people. They, too, were already dead.
I
sat back in my chair and began to feel drowsy and realized the gas that
was coming from the man who was speaking was killing me also as I sat
among them.
Antichrist in the church groups today, killing the congregation with words.
*****