Leadership
Sacrifices to Antichrist
Matt.6:24;13:22; Luke 16:13; 23:34;
2 Thes.2:4; Heb.5:2; Rev.12:17; 14:9
God is able to have mercy on the IGNORANT and upon those who KNOW NOT WHAT THEY DO. We may be (vaguely) aware only in our subconscious mind that we’re really paying homage to someone other than Christ. But woe unto powerful preachers who DELIBERATELY deceive His people so as to take tribute from them as substitute kings in the place of Christ.
The word “Antichrist” (Gk. antichristos) means not only “against Christ” but “instead of” Christ. The future Antichrist will clearly be AGAINST the true people of God who keep His commandments. He will be a nasty violent, treacherous character toward faithful saints who dare to cross him. He will demand WORSHIP IN THE PLACE OF Christ, because he will be a false Messiah who takes up residence in the future Tribulation Temple as if he were GOD Himself!
In various places God sees such a mighty kingpin sitting on his velvety podium waiting for sharply dressed ushers to usher up to the “communion” table a glorious offering from the congregation. The typical “tithe” preacher has just scorched hundreds of ears with threats from Malachi which have NOTHING to do with New Covenant believers! In a time of severe economic crisis when so many are out of work and struggling, the ANTICHRIST preacher persists in demanding his exorbitant tribute from the poor. This tin-pot dictator demands his ten per cent fee for feeding his cash cows on spiritual crab grass. PLUS extra “prove god” offerings made to “give to god till it hurts” (WHICH “god”)?
“Be our partner in faith!” this dazzling celebrity preacher yells. God can do NOTHING unless YOU act first! How dare some MAN airbrush away GOD’S authority and eternal majesty? And as for “being the preacher’s faith partner”, since when does your alleged “partner” ever consult with you FIRST before he/she makes another giant purchase for the “church” which needs extended financing from the flock?
“Don’t you DARE criticize “god’s” man! Touch god’s “anointed” and you’ll be toast! The only anointing this imposter has is his greasy soft soap rhetoric which loosens people’s grip on their wallets.
Just look at the splendid array of books, sermon DVD’s, motivational videos, “worship” CD’s, Holy Land mugs, angel pins and other mammon merchandise out in the church bookstore (all that “ministry material” used to be spread out on tables near the entry). NATURALLY the preacher’s adoring flock will dig DEEP to unlock DEEPER secrets of the Antichrist Preacher’s wisdom. They want to read about his/her alleged angelic visitation(s), or the exciting “trip to heaven” the celebrity preacher took while he dozed off in his office, worn out from all his big shopping sprees with YOUR money. So what does Jesus REALLY look like? You’d buy the guy’s book to find out whether Archangel Michael really DOES have strawberry blond hair, but “tithes” and offerings have kept you broke! Oops, that usher is glaring at you while you rifle through the pages to find out how big the pastor’s heavenly mansion is. The usher just cleared his throat. Buy it or he’ll stare holes through your faded denim jacket!
Courageous preachers who dare to tell the TRUTH about the things of God are like Maytag repairmen. They lead a lonely life and seldom get rich. But celebrity preacher groupies hang onto their idol’s every word as if gold nuggets were falling from his lips. But when they try to approach him to shake his hand, his faithful contingent body guard of ushers shoo you away like a pesky mosquito. Show such “favoritism” to one, he must show it to all!
You KNOW God must get prayers like this: “Lord, what’s WRONG? Why are You trying Me like this? I’ve been eating peanut butter instead of baloney, I’ve been shopping at the thrift store for my Sunday best instead of being able to buy it brand new. My shoes are worn out and I can’t afford new ones, just cheap flip flops from K-Mart. My car’s transmission is leaking and I don’t get paid for another month. Boy, am I behind with my bills! Lord, when ARE you going to reward me for all that faith seed I planted into the preacher’s offering plate? That preacher promised!
Really? Whose soil did you plant your alleged seed in, and why do you expect it to sprout up in YOUR yard if the preacher’s already harvested the crop from the seed planted in HIS ground? Who promised you earthly wealth for gambling away your children’s grocery money in “church”? WHERE in God’s Word did He EVER order the poor to PAY the tithe of their meager wages instead of helping to EAT the tithe, and ONLY under the Old Covenant when tithing was still in force (see Deut.14:22-29)? For that matter, where is this alleged MONETARY tithing requirement ever mentioned ONCE after the Cross, or even before it? (All tithing was done ONLY on agricultural produce and livestock, see Lev.27:30-34). Where in God’s Word did He EVER speak of MONEY SEED being sown to get a big jackpot return on your investment so you could get a red Ferrari just like the preacher? If the good Lord dotes on money as much as the preacher says, why did Jesus bother to cast the money changers out of the Temple? Why would Jesus teach you to labor not for the meat that perishes, and why would He warn you against carrying on a love affair with mammon?
Where in Scripture does God insist on choir robes, plush carpeting, paid professional “ministry”, six-figure salaries for preachers, or fancy “temples” made by the hands of men, especially in this Church Age? Where does God ever threaten His dear children with “being on the outside looking in” just because they don’t say “amen” to everything demanded by “the leadership”? Where does God ever forbid even people with a fourth grade education to carefully examine what this “Bible scholar” teaches and to criticize it (the teaching itself) if he’s wrong (I Thes.5:21)? For that matter, WHERE in the NT does God appoint a retailer, uh, I mean extra MEDIATOR, between the Christian and Christ, to keep the ordinary Christian “under subjection” to unwarranted threats that he’d better tithe or fry? That preacher won’t settle for corn, beans and tomatoes as “tithes”. He wants your PAPER pigeons as UNBURNT offerings, automatically assuming the role of high priest between you and Christ, in order to collect your “sacrifices” Old Testament-style.
There is ONE spiritual Mediator between God and man, Christ Jesus (I Tim.2:5). We ourselves ARE Christ’s Royal Priesthood (I Pet.2:5,9). Where it concerns overbearing celebrity preachers who make merchandise of God’s people (see 2 Pet.2:3), better cut the middle man out in your relationship with Christ, although you SHOULD benefit from the ministry of respected elders (Titus 1:5). Still, you don’t need to pay high retail prices to some MIDDLEMAN to purchase the Life of Christ.
Isaiah 55:1: Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk WITHOUT MONEY AND WITHOUT PRICE.
Rev.21:6: And he (Jesus) said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will GIVE (not sell) unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life FREELY.
Sometimes there’s a blurry line between healthy esteem for a man’s ministry and WORSHIP OF that man (however subconscious). Out of ignorance and intimidation God’s people may start seeing the “man in front” as a “Christ figure” to be deferred to and sacrificed to as such. God doesn’t bless sacrifices made to a rival “god”. It’s either Christ or nobody, where it concerns having a living, thriving Christian faith. “Giving sacrificially” to the rich always brings poverty, not wealth (Prov.22:16). How many preachers will tell you that? Not many preachers will use this verse as their offertory text for “bringing in the sheaves”. The REAL truth is seldom preached: God demands SPIRITUAL sacrifices, not material ones (I Pet.2:5). Of course God will lead you to share what you have with the needy, but not the greedy. Still, everything you are and have is ALREADY His (Psalms 24:1; 50:12). NO man has the right to put the burden of material sacrifices upon you IN GOD’S NAME! Giving is NEVER to be done in church out of necessity, or HAVING to do it (2 Cor.9:7).
Regardless of the burden the mega-church celebrity preacher puts on poor Christians to fatten up the horseleach riding on their back (Prov.30:15) they’ll still go out the front door singing his praises: “Oh, wasn’t HE wonderful today? I REALLY got ministered to. HE was better than last week.”
Better than last week, eh? If they were talking about the correct lord, they would remember that Jesus is the SAME yesterday today and forever (Heb.13:8). Of course the Lord already KNOWS they were talking about some other imposter “lord”, not Him. Why do people highly exalt some mere MAN (or woman) live or on TV who doesn’t even know them except as a signature on a “tithe” check and could care less about them? The REAL Jesus doesn’t send people home from church feeling like a sheep sheared bald in the winter time, worrying about how to pay the LANDlord now that the rent money has been “sacrificed to the lord” to atone for “tithing arrears”.
Anoint your eyes with spiritual eyesalve that you might see clearly what Jesus REALLY looks like. Just so you don’t get Him confused with some OTHER “lord” up front waiting for the “sheaves” to come in (Rev.3:18)
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