The Doctrines of The Laodicean Church :: By The Gospelist

As the church of Laodicea is now the dominant church of these last days, it is time to search the scriptures to see if what they confess is in accordance with what the Bible teaches.

Fortunately, it will not be that difficult to determine if what the Laodiceans proclaim is scriptural. In times past, seminary students were taught to examine every doctrine, looking for the slightest deviation from established principle, to ensure that they were standing firm on sound doctrine. Those days are no more as sacrilege is the rule rather than the exception in many of our seminaries and institutions of higher learning.

The primary problem is that the doctrines of Laodicea must conform to the ideology of the evil globalists who are its financiers. The orthodoxy of the church must be amended in order to accommodate the aspirations of our new overlords. This orthodoxy will then be enforced on its congregations, other churches, and on society at large.

The evil globalists are working in concert with the papal cult, which is now dominated by the Jesuits, who are no doubt their religious advisors. This is why many of their ideas seem to be backed with religious fervor and spiritual overtones. It is also why they will zealously demand that the world conforms to them with the accompanying civil penalties for those who resist.

The Jesuits have a long and sordid history of spiritual deception (and oppression), and there is no indication that they have ever changed their ways.

The primary concern of the true church needs to be to combat deception in the last days of the church age. Therefore, it is crucial that we examine the doctrines of the Church of Laodicea and use the Bible to correct them. Most of the deceptive dogmas are already here. Some are not fully formulated, and two have not yet been proposed and enforced.

In Peter’s second letter and in the Book of Jude, we learn a great deal about the false prophets and teachers who will flourish in the last days of the church age. They will bring in destructive heresies, following their sensuality, and because of their sin, the way of truth will be blasphemed.

Peter, as Jesus did during the Olivet Discourse, uses the examples of the days of Noah and Lot to describe the scoffers of the last days. He warned us to be on guard so that we would not be carried away by the error of lawless men. If we are carried away, we could very well fall from our secure position.

Peter points out that false teachers and false prophets are irrational animals, creatures of instinct, born only to be caught and destroyed. Their hearts are trained in greed as they forsake the right way by seducing God’s people away from the Lord.

In their ignorance, they do not understand the difference between freedom and licentiousness. Freedom contains a moral component, and when it is taken away, it is turned into licentiousness. For instance, we are free to abort our children, but there is no moral component to this freedom. Licentiousness is freedom without morality, and it is what the Laodiceans will encourage.

There is no freedom or morality without a true knowledge and understanding of Christ. Those who do not remain in Christ have separated from the true vine and are incapable of bearing good fruit. They are the branches that are tossed aside but later gathered and thrown into the fire and burned.

Even if they come to a true knowledge of Christ, they quickly turn back from the holy commandment to preach the Gospel. When they fall away from the faith, it would have been better for them to never have known the way of righteousness. The reason for this is that when they abandon the faith and fall from their secure position, they are beyond redemption.

Such people will be the spokesman for the dominant church of the last days. They are wolves in sheep’s clothing, although anyone with discernment will see that their ‘attire’ is poorly woven. Their doctrines will not be subtle, and their errors will not be difficult to detect, as they will be based primarily on greed, hedonism, and lust for power.

The following is what we are seeing now. People of faith need to be prepared to give an answer to the horrors of false doctrine to remedy its effects on society and the eternal souls of men.

Historically, when the nation began to fall away from the faith, as it did in the ‘roaring twenties,’ the people could return to church for revival. As the nation was declining into debauchery, God sent great hardship to bring the nation to repentance. There were still solid churches at that time that would serve to revive their faith and preserve the nation a little longer.

Today, these kinds of churches are few and far between. As God’s judgment falls upon us, there will be few sanctuaries that will serve as a retreat.

These are the doctrinal confessions from the dominant church that we can expect over the next decade. Those who preach these doctrines take the name of the Lord in vain every time they ascend to the pulpit. Since it is obvious that what they are teaching in the name of God is not authorized by God, it is likely that those who preach most of these doctrines repeatedly are beyond redemption.

The Gospel: The Gospel is of first importance and is the foundation upon which we stand and the avenue by which we are saved. The Good News that Paul received is simply that “Jesus died for our sins.” Jesus, who was God in human flesh, died for humanity because, in our sin, we fall short of the glory of God. The Gospel is the path by which we receive the gift of faith, which, in turn, is our key to eternal life.

The Church of Laodicea will preach a different gospel than the one Paul preached. We will call their new gospel “The Wide Gate Gospel,” as the narrow gate is only for ‘right-wing racists and extremists.’ Those who refuse to do their part to fight climate change, or ‘arrogantly’ claim that homosexuals need to repent, or that there is no such thing as a ‘transgender’ are ignorant racists who need to be punished by the civil authorities. Such people are ‘unenlightened’ as they have no tolerance for diversity. It is diversity rather than our faith that is the true strength of the church.

It is not by accident that, after Jesus instructed us to enter by the narrow gate, he told us to beware of false prophets. They come in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. We now can see that these wolves will preach the false doctrine of ‘Universalism,’ which is the belief that a loving God would never condemn anyone to hell.

The Church: the primary purpose of the church is to “proclaim repentance and the forgiveness of sins in the name of Jesus.” We are called to share God’s law and his Gospel to a fallen world in hopes that many will come to repentance. The foundation of the church is that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God. The church is the “called out ones” because we do not conform to the world.

The essence of the Laodicean Church is what we currently term ‘Postmodernism.’ Since the primary characteristic of this philosophy is that there is no absolute truth, everything must be viewed with skepticism. There are no ‘grand narratives’ such as Jesus is the Christ or that he is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. We follow great people like Jesus or Ghandi or Martin Luther King, but we do not put our faith in Jesus for the salvation of our souls. We try to emulate their lives to build a great society as we fulfill the only law that they seem to take seriously. That one law, ‘love God and love one another,” is the closest thing they have to a ‘gospel.’

Unfortunately, their idea of ‘love’ is not Godly by any stretch of the imagination. The Bible is not God-breathed but rather is a book of myths and stories to help us live a better life. It is not unlike the Bhagavad Ghita or any other religious books that are designed to enlighten us.

Those who fall prey to this ideology have been taken captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ. They are easily deceived by fine-sounding arguments which leave them unrooted in the faith with no thanksgiving in their hearts. The true church of Christ must stand against this folly.

God: According to scripture, God is Love, Truth, and Righteousness. He is the incarnation of Love which he demonstrated by sending his only Son to die for our sins. His Son is the very embodiment of his Truth. He has a Holy Spirit who convicts the world of sin and righteousness and judgment. God exists in a Trinity because his main attribute is love. He wants no one to perish but works diligently to bring all who hate him to repentance, which is his primary objective.

According to the doctrines of the Laodiceans, God is love but devoid of truth and righteousness. They have embraced Idolatry because they worship a different God than the one presented in scripture. They exchange the glory of God for images made to look like mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles. God is not understood in a masculine sense and is more properly referred to as ‘she.’

 Jesus is an example to be followed, and by doing so, we become ‘Christ Followers.’ We do not put our faith in him for the forgiveness of our sins; we follow his example and try to live by his laws and teachings as we would any other great historical figure.

The Holy Spirit is actually a villain in Laodicean philosophy. He is the ‘Superego’ of Freudian Psychology who condemns humanity, bringing fear and anxiety so that we suffer emotionally. In his place is ‘Mother Earth,’ who is a living, divine spirit. The wrath of God is not revealed against unrighteousness, such as adultery and homosexuality. Instead, it is revealed against those who ‘destroy’ the earth with their modern conveniences and prosperity.

Jesus: Jesus is the way to heaven, the Incarnate Truth of God and the path to eternal life. He was sent by God to reconcile us to himself because we could not do this by following the law. When we call on the name of the Lord in repentance, God gives us the gift of faith. We are no longer judged by our flesh but by the perfect faith in Christ that was given to us by God.

The Church of Laodicea preaches a different Jesus than the one who is presented in scripture. Their pastors follow, not Jesus, but their own sensuality, and they blaspheme the way of truth. In their greed, they exploit their congregations with false words to keep the donations flowing.

They teach their congregations to practice the ‘way of Jesus’ but not to place their faith in him. They accentuate various aspects of Jesus’ life, like his love and his servitude, to keep people obedient and silent. No one is allowed to correct these false teachings without the accusation of being ‘unloving.’ Worse still, all must subject themselves to ‘servitude’ to these false teachers, as Jesus himself was a servant.

In the words of the most prominent of the modern-day Laodicean Churches, Jesus enlarged his vision, developed greater self-esteem, and used the power of thought to overcome the world. He found strength through adversity, turned away from the past, gave generously to others, and chose the way of happiness. Since this is what Jesus did, we must follow in his footsteps if we want to please God.

Holy Spirit: The Holy Spirit is the member of the Trinity who convicts the world of sin and righteousness and judgment. He searches the deep things of God while sanctifying the faithful and visiting judgment upon the unfaithful. He is the very Righteousness of God who draws us in and grieves over us in his relentless effort to bring us to repentance.

The church of Laodicea condemns the Holy Spirit because, while He is convicting the world of sin, he causes great emotional pain to those who are in rebellion against God. The false teachers and preachers of this church denounce those of us who proclaim the Gospel to homosexuals, gay marriage proponents, and ‘transgenders.’ They come very close to blaspheming the Holy Spirit.

They claim that the faithful are ‘lacking in compassion’ and that we must ‘work together’ to face our differences humbly and honestly. They believe that in doing so, we will stand together against homophobia, transphobia, and all other unusual (a.k.a abhorrent) forms of behavior. We must ‘listen’ to one another in love and faith so that we do not “cause pain” to those who are” just being who God created them to be.”

The Laodiceans call people of faith to repent when they share the Gospel rather than the heathen who are meant to receive it. They claim that the Gospel actually convicts Christians of self-righteousness, not the unfaithful and lawless of sin. They deliberately misinterpret “judge not, lest you yourself be judged” in their effort to subdue the Gospel and halt its proclamation.

The Human Condition: Each of us is a sinner, surrounded by other sinners while living on a planet cursed by God. When Adam and Eve rebelled against God, the sin that they perpetrated was passed down to the rest of us. As a result, we fall short of the glory of God, are enemies of God at birth, and are all unworthy of entering the kingdom of heaven. There is only one avenue by which we can escape the fires of hell, and that is to receive faith in Christ for the forgiveness of our sins.

The Church of Laodicea proclaims that we are not sinners but are instead unenlightened. We need education and training so that we can be ‘like God,’ defining good and evil and truth and falsehood for ourselves.

Humanity is not the pinnacle of God’s creation but instead are vermin that need to be tightly controlled or eradicated due to its environmental destruction. God’s creation is not eagerly longing for his sons to be revealed; it is groaning because of our environmental destruction.

We are called to be good stewards of the earth and to live in harmony with it rather than be fruitful and multiply and subdue it. We must repent of our global destruction and experience a global conversion to environmental paganism. In this manner, we can evolve into a higher form of being.

Salvation: In love, God sent his only Son to die for our sins. When we hear that Christ died for our sins, the Holy Spirit convicts us of our transgressions. If we do not harden our hearts against this message, in mercy, the Holy Spirit circumcises our hearts in preparation for us to receive a very special gift. We then repent as an act of free will, and God grants us repentance if our sorrow is Godly rather than worldly. God then graciously gives us the gift of faith. We are then required to remain in that faith, of our own free will, until death. God gives us the gifts of baptism and the Lord’s Supper to ensure that we do not abandon the faith.

According to the Laodicean Church, we are guided by our desire for a just, peaceful, secure, and prosperous world. We affirm the importance of shared values with the world in the spiritual and social development of humankind. We recognize the necessity of countering and overcoming intolerance and hate speech, xenophobia, discrimination, and conflicts based on ethnic, religious, and cultural differences.

It is imperative that we respect the richness of religious and cultural diversity. We must recognize the value of education and spirituality for personal and interreligious development. We must welcome all international, regional, national, and local initiatives, especially the efforts of religious leaders to promote interreligious, intercultural, and inter-civilizational dialogue. (For more of this vain philosophy, see the Declaration of the VII Congress of the Leaders of the World and Traditional Religions.)

When we do these things, we become one with Gaia and apparently achieve eligibility to enter Nirvana.

God’s law: Jesus did not come to abolish the Old Testament law but to fulfill it. The law was fulfilled by his death on the cross and his resurrection. Those who receive their faith in Christ’s sacrifice on the cross for our sins meet all the conditions of the Old Testament law. The primary purpose of the law in the Church Age is as a witnessing tool (a proclamation). We are to call sinners to repent of their lawlessness and faithlessness, and if they repent, we bring the good news that they are forgiven in the name of Jesus.

The Laodiceans subscribe to the human philosophy of Moral Relativism.

They take the ‘anthropological’ approach to morality instead of faith in the goodness of God’s law, and respect the many different ideas among the various cultures. They strive to be unprejudiced and impartial in their religious inquiries and have equal respect for all positions.

They point out that, as a matter of empirical fact, there are many significant moral disagreements across different societies. These disagreements are more significant than the number of agreements there may be between people groups.

It is for this reason that they accuse faithful Christians of being ‘Christian Nationalists’ because they believe, for instance, in the moral superiority of freedom to the immorality of State control. Most societies on the planet disagree with this ‘American ethnocentrism,’ and their opinions need to be respected as having equal moral authority.

Some societies believe that Polygamy is morally wrong, but this may be true to one society but false relative to another. Therefore, this statement is not true or false since it is a ‘society’ that makes this determination. For instance, a society may be able to justify Polygamy while another society can find no justification for it. The people who support it may have different evidence available to them than the people in another society.

Therefore, the justification of moral judgments is relative to the majority opinions of a society rather than being transcendent of society in the form of God’s law.

Scripture: “All scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.” All Christians are to contend for the faith that was once delivered to the saints by Jesus. John the Revelator was the last of Christ’s saints, who were taught directly by God, and his writings concluded all divine testimony.

According to the Laodiceans, the Bible contains a series of stories that provide us with spiritual guidance, but it is not the word of God. God’s word is expressed in all of the various religions, including Islam and Hinduism. All religious texts are essentially mythology that are designed to bring us greater understanding of what it means to be human.

The purpose of all religious texts is to help us gain knowledge of the truth. We utilize our senses, mind, and intellect to explore nature so that we can discern good from evil. However, since our senses, mind, and intellect are made from material energy, they are imperfect and limited. Therefore, we can never be certain of the accuracy and reliability of the knowledge we have gained.

Israel and the Jews: The Jews are the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. God promised Abraham that he would bless those who bless him and curse those who curse him. This promise included his offspring. God proclaimed that all the world will be blessed through the Jews. Even though God has partially hardened their hearts against the Gospel, God has not forgotten the Jews and intends to fulfill a number of outstanding promises to them. Christians are instructed not to be arrogant towards them but rather learn from their errors with fear.

The Laodiceans believe that the church has replaced Israel and that God has washed his hands of the biological descendants of Abraham. The Jews are not ‘God’s people,’ and God has no plan for them or their nation in the future. They believe the land covenant has been abrogated as if God changed his mind due to their crucifixion of Christ. The many promises that God has made to the Jews and the nation of Israel can now all be applied to the church. The Jews now serve as nothing more than an allegory for the church.

Since the nation of Israel and the Jews have been reduced to ‘allegory only,’ the Laodiceans have been rendered incapable of understanding end-times events as expressed in the prophetic scripture. They arrogantly look down on those who are literalists (a.k.a. dispensationalists) as if they are children playing with matches.

As for the obvious fact that the nation of Israel has returned to the world stage, this is merely an anomaly and has no real significance. In fact, the ‘Palestinians’ are being oppressed by the Jews and the nation of Israel that treat them unjustly due to their xenophobia. The nation of Israel needs to be divided until it is no longer able to defend itself and is finally eliminated by the surrounding nations.

Marriage: God created man male and female so that the two, when they left their father and mother, would live in holy matrimony and become one flesh. Wives are commanded to obey their husbands, and, in return, husbands are to love their wives as Christ loves the church. Marriage is a profound mystery because it refers to Christ and the church.

The Holy Spirit states that in later times some will depart from the faith, devoting themselves to deceitful spirits and teachings of demons, and forbid marriage.

The Laodiceans will one day proclaim that marriage is obsolete. They will do this by expanding its definition until it is meaningless. They believe that a family is not just one man and one woman creating new life; any group of people can come together in their version of ‘love.’ They are proponents of ‘gay marriage,’ which, since it does not exist in the eyes of God, does not exist in reality. It is a social construct created by those who invent ways of doing evil rather than submitting to the law of God.

When combined with their ideology of climate change, marriage often leads to breeding’ carbon emitters’ who further endanger the planet. Marriage leads to overpopulation, and overpopulation leads to the destruction of the earth. Therefore, traditional marriage is not sacred; it is an evil that should not be recognized by society.

Thanksgiving: The Holy Spirit states that in later times some will depart from the faith, devoting themselves to deceitful spirits and teachings of demons, and require abstinence from foods that God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth. He informs us that everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, for it is made holy by the word of God and prayer. There are no longer any ‘unclean’ foods.

The Laodicean Church will promote the idea that, in order to be pure, we will need to abstain from eating meat. Bugs are acceptable for consumption, however. It will be expected of the congregations of this church that they become Vegans.

This false church will proclaim a philosophy that will seek to exclude all forms of exploitation of, and cruelty to, animals for food, clothing, or any other purpose. It will promote the development and use of animal-free alternatives for consumption in order to benefit not just animals but humans as well since they are just more evolved forms of animals.

Farms will need to be shut down because they are environmentally damaging and ‘unsustainable.’ Humanity has a kinship to the earth, and each person must work symbiotically and in tandem with creation rather than as superior beings that use earth’s resources purely for its own benefit.

While the protection of animals is crucial, veganism also protects women as well. By eating plant-based meals, we rejoice with God in a more intimate way. It serves as a way of understanding women through the beauty of creation, not as scapegoats for original sin.

All of this leads us to a deeper connection with the earth as we realize that God has truly put everything in the soil that humanity needs. There is no need to receive these new foods with thanksgiving, not that anyone would anyway, so this concept can be abolished.

The Rapture: The rapture of the church was a mystery that had yet to be revealed in prophetic scripture. It is based on the idea that God will fulfill his promises to the church and then remove it before passing judgment on the earth. Then, he will turn to the Jews and the nation of Israel to fulfill what the prophets foretold regarding the fate of Israel and the Jews.

Paul states regarding the rapture of the church, “We shall not all sleep [in death], but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet [Come up here!]. For the trumpet [Christ’s command] will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we [who are alive] shall be changed” (I Corinthians 15:51,52). The church will rule from Jerusalem with Christ during the millennium if we endure (II Timothy 2:12).

When the church experiences a great falling away from the faith, the restrainer, who convicts the world of sin, righteousness and judgment, will be removed with the church because God has not destined the church for wrath. The church will be kept from the hour of trial that is coming upon the world. After the rapture and the tribulation, Jesus will return to judge the earth and gather the remnant of the elect (Romans 11:5) of Israel, as the church will be absent.

According to the Laodiceans, there is no rapture of the church. This is nothing more than a fiction created by John Darby in the nineteenth century and expanded upon by charlatans trying to cash in on people’s fear. For those who think they are judged by the law rather than their faith, the rapture is a frightening event. It causes ‘rapture anxiety’ and should not be considered a doctrine of the church.

Rapture anxiety is a real thing that needs to be treated by mental health professionals as a type of religious trauma. This religious trauma leads to an increase of anxiety, depression, paranoia, and even some OCD-like behaviors among those who live by the law rather than by faith.

The Second Advent of Christ: Jesus told of his second advent when he stated, “Immediately after the [seven-year] tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken [at the battle of Armageddon, which does not involve the church]. Then will appear in heaven the sign of the Son of Man, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And he will send out his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other” (Matthew 24:29-31).

According to the Apostle Peter, the heavens will disappear with a roar, the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything in it will be laid bare. This will occur by the judgment of God because of man’s refusal to repent of violating his law.

The Laodiceans will deny it is violations of God’s law that cause environmental destruction but instead will tout the apocalypse of ‘climate change’ and the need for ‘climate justice.’ They will claim that the world requires a deep transformation of every society. We must increase our knowledge of what changes are critically needed to diminish the long-term harm to the planet that has already been done.

As it turns out, humanity needs a new Ten Commandments, as the old ones are outdated. We must return to Sinai in a movement of repentance in our quest to be redeemed from the damage we have done to the planet.

The dominant church of the end times will be a monstrosity. It is the job of the true church to ensure that the number of people being ensnared by it is as few as possible. Jude explains our obligations in the last days of the church age:

“But you, beloved, building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God [remain in the faith], waiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life. And have mercy on those who doubt; save others by snatching them out of the fire; to others show mercy with fear, hating even the garment stained by the flesh” (Jude 20-23).

The last days of the church age are going to be difficult. Like the Jesuits of old, the Laodiceans will use totalitarian governments as a hammer against the faithful. They will attempt to stamp out the remnants of Protestantism and establish a Godless totalitarian world government in concert with the Globalists. False doctrine will then be enforced to the point where even freedom of conscience will not be allowed. Those who are ensnared by these doctrines will be lost for eternity.

But we have the sword of the Spirit that God calls the Gospel. We need to employ it relentlessly until the Lord calls us home.

www.gospelist.net

The Invisible, Visible Witness :: By Dave Hubley

(There is a special message at the end of this article for those who might happen to read this and do not have Jesus in their life and are looking for peace and a way to better understand the present-day insanity and confusion.)

At times, I seem to be walking (or perhaps limping now at 70) along with blinders on.

Much like a horse’s vision is limited by physical blinders, I find that my spiritual vision (situational awareness, if you will) has often been overly affected by “the world.”

So, what do I mean?

I mean that the influence we Christians have in terms of other people that we interact (I really don’t like that word) with, oftentimes, is not on our personal radar. We get up in the morning and rush off to (???) without a conscious thought as to what we are really doing everywhere we go. This does not, I acknowledge, apply to every Christian.

Well, firstly, I am relating this to myself as I am the only one who experiences this in the first person.

However, I suspect that most of us have had this same experience as well. It seems consistent with our nature as God’s created foible humans. Our focus is not necessarily where it first needs to be.

Over the years, in looking back over my life since I received Jesus, I realized that on several occasions, family members, people I worked with, friends, and acquaintances had come to me to share their concerns, problems, thoughts, etc., and to seek my opinion and advice.

The personal nature of a lot of these conversations always seemed to take me by surprise, especially when it was with a work-related acquaintance.

They are the ones that stick in my mind the most, as they were quite unexpected.

To be clear, I always tell people that “my opinion and two dollars will get you a small coffee at an Aroma Joe’s.”

I just don’t believe that I am all that wise and full of knowledge, and guess what? I am correct in that evaluation.

For a while, I thought it may have been because I was the oldest person at my workplace and my hair was quite gray. Perhaps they were connecting the gray hair with some sense of my opinion having some sort of intrinsic value or wisdom.

“The glory of young men is their strength: and the beauty of old men is the gray head” (Proverbs 20:29).

Well, I don’t possess a whole lot of physical strength anymore, so I guess I’ll be happy with the “beauty” part.

After some of the more heartfelt conversations I had, it occurred to me (or the Holy Spirit was counseling me) why these men had come to me, and it was a very sobering and spiritual awakening.

It was because of my unverbalized, everyday Christian walk, which, in all reality, is really an ongoing witness.

This is true of all of us who belong to the Lord Jesus.

It was because they knew I had a personal (although I don’t think they understood it in that way) relationship with Jesus Christ, and it was reflected in my everyday conduct in the workplace.

I didn’t run around with a Bible in my hands or quote scripture and sing Hymns in the men’s room at the top of my voice. (My attempts to sing could be described as “the mating call of a woofaboomis.”) It just wouldn’t have had a positive effect.

It was much more subtle than that, and it went completely unnoticed by me, but apparently, my co-workers noticed it, as did others.

My language ceased to involve vulgarity, my reactions when a problem came up had become much more measured, and I was not interested in taking part in counterproductive “conversations,” crude joking, or gossip.

As I have since been blessed to understand more clearly, this same principle applies to us everywhere we go in the perception that people develop of us after we first make contact with them.

I will provide two examples where it became clear to me, after the fact, that my responses to these people were guided by our most blessed Holy Spirit. I know this because my responses were given with the love of Christ that I had already experienced in my life. They were quite beyond any ability to provide them on my own.

In one case, a young, married man came into my office one morning and sat across from me with a very serious and somber look on his face, which was not his normal demeanor. He told me his wife had told him that morning that she no longer wanted to be married. They had a charming little daughter as well, and that added to the seriousness of the situation.

She hadn’t said she no longer wanted to be married to HIM but that she no longer wanted to be married.

We talked for quite a while, and I considered what he had said as well as what he had not said. I then counseled him and recommended a few things for him to try.

It turned out well after a time, and he told me so. He never thanked me, but that was fine. I was very fond of this person and was very happy to know it had turned out well. The truly joyous part was that I was able to be of use both to him and to the Holy Spirit.

It was His wisdom that had made the entire difference (as is always the case).

In the second, a degree of boldness was required. Another co-worker asked me to pray with him over a very wrenching family problem he was having. This person had a very distressing habit of saying “jeezchrist” in almost every sentence he uttered. He had previously told me that he was “raised Catholic” and he “knew Jesus.” However, I struggled to reconcile that with the complete lack of conviction he should have felt by the Holy Spirit whenever he abused the Name of God.

I pulled his office door closed and said I would be pleased to pray with him and for him, but first, I had something I needed to mention.

I pointed out his continual misuse of the Name of Jesus and asked him if the God he was going to appeal to was the same One whose Name he misused so often.

This could have gone in any number of ways, of course, but instead of it going badly, he was startled and speechless! Finally, he said, “I really do that!” Yes, I told him, you really do.

We talked about it being a very bad habit and that the second commandment added a very sobering consequence for that conduct. I made it personal without making it “personal,” and here is the amazing and wonderful part.

I never heard him misuse the Name of Jesus again for the balance of the time we worked together.

We prayed together over his situation, and the Holy Spirit brought healing both to him and his daughter soon thereafter.

I can recall other occasions when I was aware that the indwelling Holy Spirit and the Love of Jesus drew people to seek my (His) counsel over the years.

It was all Him and none of me, and I rejoiced in it.

What I don’t know is how many other times my “visible” conduct had contributed to people being drawn to other Christians for the very same reasons, and the Spirit was able to work with them in His amazing way when He knew it was the “time.”

Iron sharpens iron, as my beloved brother John Chase frequently reminds me.

As iron sharpens iron, So a man sharpens the countenance of his friend” (Proverbs 27:17).

Sadly, I also don’t know how many times I did not convey the Spirit of God to others when I was under the influence of my own sin nature and the ruler of this world in the weak moments of the flesh, or when I was too occupied with my own thoughts.

I have prayed for forgiveness for those times and His strength to overcome and carry on His mission in this life. I know He has answered me and enables me to be free of the burden of the times when I failed.

I read a book by Watchman Nee entitled The Normal Christian Life and found it to be a great resource to understand the principle of believing that when God forgives, He forgives. This, as He intended, is to enable us to move forward with Him.

Now, to the crux of this article.

We are oftentimes unaware of the “Invisible Witness” that we are in the way we live, speak, act and react to people and circumstances around us every single moment of every single day.

  • How do we react when our food order is wrong?
  • When the store is out of stock on that item we need (or think we need), how do we handle it?
  • How do we react when someone is nasty or belligerent to us without provocation?
  • Even more important, are we sure it really was without our provocation?

Both unsaved and even saved people are unconsciously observing us in every aspect of life. They may not even realize it, but it is nevertheless true.

Can they see a difference between us and the world?

The sobering part is they remember the negatives when they see them and are more apt to remember them, and evil uses that to great advantage.

We should not inadvertently offer unsaved people any more excuses to dismiss “religion” than they are already inundated with from every quarter in this world.

The unsaved do not understand the difference between “religion” and the “Relationship” they could have with Jesus Christ, and we should not allow our Christian witness to be compromised in the church or out in the world.

The best way, I have found, is to start off each day reading our Bibles and with some personal time and prayer with God Our Father. It doesn’t have to be long, but it needs to be sincere.

It starts us off with a valuable consciousness of God and His Love of others to take with us out into the world instead of an “errand, work, or worldly” focus to the start of the day.

It also serves to remind us that every person we see, no matter who that may be, is loved by God.

My brothers and sisters, we will stumble, and we will fail.

When we do, we must ask God to forgive us and set us back on our feet as only He can, so we can get back out there and continue our part in growing our forever family.

Isn’t it neat to know that when we run out to the store for milk, we could actually be delivering Bread?

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths” (Proverbs 3:5-6).

The special message I promised you:

For anyone who may read this article and have not trusted in Jesus Christ and therefore has no hope or peace in your life.

You can have hope. You can have the peace that Jesus has promised to all who have made Him their Lord and Savior. The peace that passes understanding.

It requires that you come before God on His terms.

And, what are His terms according to His Word?

  • Genuine repentance (turning to God instead of continuing to reject or ignore Him).
  • Confession of sins (that you are a sinner and acknowledge that to God).
  • That you understand that the wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23).
  • To acknowledge to God that you are unable to pay that debt.
  • Belief that Jesus Christ paid your death sentence for you on the cross.
  • To believe that Jesus is the Way, the only Way, that God has established by which humans may be saved from the consequences of their sin and rebellion.

God has made it absolutely clear that there is no one who comes before Him, under His terms, that will be refused.

  • No one: no race, no color, no country of origin, regardless of any previous belief system: no one.
  • No matter what your past sins have been, God can and WILL forgive you because He says He will.
  • Salvation is available to everyone without any exceptions.

If you put all your trust for salvation in Jesus, and Him only, you can follow that prayer up by simply saying, “Thank you, Father God, for hearing my prayer and saving me,” because we can trust Him to keep His Word. He always has. He always will.

“Truly, Truly, I say to you that he who hears My words and believes the One who sent Me has eternal life and will not be condemned. He has crossed from death to life” (John 5:24).

There are no answers and there is no hope in the world by governments, organizations, politics or politicians. There are only lies and deception. But you can have the Truth and the peace you seek.

The answers are in the Word of God—The Bible. If you ask God, with all your heart, He will hear you.

“And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart” (Jeremiah 29:13).

Pro Salvator Vigilans

To contact me: canoeman96@gmail.com