I could title this message: "The Danger of being seduced by false doctrine". Read Revelation 2: 18-29 and you will see that Christ himself warned the Church against Jezebel's doctrine: "... because you allow that woman Jezebel, who says she is a prophetess, teach and deceive my servants, fornicate and eat things sacrificed to idols "(Revelation 2:20). The Greek word for Jezebel is synonymous with false teacher. It clearly represents false doctrines. Jesus clarifies this by continuing: "to all who do not have that doctrine" (Rev. 2:24).
There is a part of God's people full of good works and charity, having faith and patience. But the eyes of Jesus appear among them burning like flames of fire. With all the good and praiseworthy that there is, there is something very dangerous that takes place, something so seductive, that Christ warns that he will send judgment and make them an example to all the churches. Some members of the churches were playing Satan. His good works, charity, service, faith and patience were overshadowed by the seduction that was involved, seduction of a false doctrine. They were under the spell of a false doctrine, a teaching that came disguised as the true Word, but it was not, in fact, it was evil.
The seduction of God's servants.
Christ said that: "My servants are being seduced." Ministers, we have reached this dangerous condition that Christ warned us about. There are multitudes of pastors, teachers and evangelists completely seduced by the charm of the Jezebel doctrine. These teachers who have been seduced are at the same time producing "children of seduction". They teach fornication and the eating of idol food. This is spiritual fornication. This is eating the food of the demonic doctrines that exonerate sin. I want to say in precise terms that it is dangerous to be under an erroneous doctrine. A false doctrine can condemn you more quickly than all the lusts and sins of the flesh.
False preachers and teachers are sending more people to hell than all the drug dealers, pimps and prostitutes put together. This is not an exageration. I think so. A multitude of misguided and deceived Christians are singing and praising the Lord in churches enslaved by false doctrine. Thousands are with teachers who teach doctrines of demons and upon hearing them comment: "Is not this wonderful?" Christ does not take this matter lightly.
His eyes are again boring into the church and he has come to warn and expose this doctrine and to save his servants from this terrible seduction. It is better that we reflect seriously on this. The church in which you congregate is very important. It is very important who you are listening to. The teaching you have in your heart is very important.
The people of God are approaching and surrendering to Satan in all aspects, by surrendering themselves into the hands of false teachers and promoters of false doctrines. Surrendering to Satan evokes the thoughts of addicts, alcoholics, prostitutes, AIDS sufferers and atheists who hate God. DO NOT! This is happening in the church, in evangelistic meetings, in religious conventions and in large seminars.
The mark of a seduced Christian is that he is taken from one place to another seeking new and different teachings. The Bible warns: "Do not be carried away by diverse and strange doctrines because it is good that the heart has been affirmed in grace; not in meals, which never benefited those who dedicate themselves to them "(Hebrews 13: 9).
Do not let yourself be dragged from here to there, carried from place to place. We are not talking about those few times when a mature believer will listen to a true servant of God preach Christ and repent. We are talking about running from place to place, from seminars to conventions, from church to church, from evangelistic services to services of divine healing, without having roots anywhere. His ears are always eager to hear something new, sensational, entertaining, and pleasing to the flesh. We have them in the Times Square church here in New York - stray, fallen human seeds, riding the winds of doctrines.
This class does not come back here because we refuse to give it what they want. They want to be flattered, and not reprimanded. Therefore they return to their teachers - the flatterers, the promoters of positive thinking. They resemble the Athenians who: "in nothing else were they interested, but in saying or hearing something new" (Acts 17:21). Paul warned Timothy: "For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; But having itching to hear, teachers will be heaped up according to their own lusts. "(2 Timothy 4: 3)
The doctrine of Christ.
The mark of a mature believer is the refusal to be carried away by any wind of doctrine. (Ephesians 4:14) These believers can not be manipulated by any teacher. They do not have to run from here to there because they are eating from the ROCK; they are growing in Christ; They are feasting on green pastures. They have circumcised their ears and weighed every teacher, every doctrine, according to how it conforms to the holiness of Christ. They can discern all the doctrines that are false and feel repulsed by all the new and rare teachings. They know Christ. They will not be moved by music, friends, personalities, miracles, but by an insatiable hunger for the pure Word of God!
There are only two doctrines: that of Christ and that of Jezebel. Paul said: "... that they adorn in all the doctrine of Our Savior God" (Titus 2:10). What is the doctrine of Christ? The grace of God teaches us: "that, renouncing impiety and worldly passions, let us live in this world soberly, justly and godly" (Titus 2:12). The doctrine of Christ will make you conform to the image of Christ. Unmask all hidden sin and all longing for evil.
Is your teacher reprimanding with authority, speaking to you and exhorting you to give up sin and shoot down all the idols as he is instructed in Titus 2: 7? Are you learning to hate sin ardently? Or do you leave the meeting of your church without being convinced yet? The message of the doctrine of Christ is: "Therefore, beloved, since we have such promises, let us cleanse ourselves from all impurity of body and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God" (2 Cor. 7: 1).
Many write to us saying: "Our pastor keeps saying:" I am not here to preach against sin, I am here to praise Jesus. Nothing of that preaching of condemnation from this pulpit, I am here to remove fear and depression from my people. "Even in Pentecostal preachers there are two extremes. Some vociferan a hard gospel, legalistic, without love, and works; while others preach cowardly against sin, messages without content. False love and crocodile tears.
Some tell us, "My teacher speaks about holiness." But I do not mean to merely use the words "holy" and "godliness." I mean to preach them with all authority. Preaching the doctrine of Christ will bless you, strengthen you, and encourage you, but it will also totally convert you to the extreme that you can not be in it and still have some roots for secret lusts.
The doctrine of Jezebel.
Let's look at this doctrine of demons and see if you are in danger of falling into it. There are three distinguishable marks in the Jezebel doctrine. These are found in the Jezebel of the Old Testament, the mother and the personification of false doctrines. Jesus made his name synonymous with false doctrine. It is a doctrine that teaches that something bad can be good, that something profane can be pure.
Jezebel in Hebrew means: "chaste, virtuous, without idolatry." Imagine! The most impious, the most idolatrous, cheating, hateful woman in the entire Bible is called virtuous and sinless. Something very bad is called good. But ironically, is it chaste? with question mark; How? When? Where? How did she become chaste? When? Where?
And look at Ahab: "Ahab the son of Omri did evil in the sight of the LORD, more than all who had reigned before him. As if it were a light thing to walk in the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat, he took as wife Jezebel the daughter of Etbaal, king of the Sidonians; and he went, served Baal and worshiped him "(1 Kings 16: 30-31). Ahab means: "one like the father," or "marked with the nature of his father."
Jezebel represented the false doctrine and Ahab is his victim. The Bible tells us that it was not enough that Ahab had a heart inclined to sin and idolatry. He brings into his life the satanic influence that roots him to sin. "There was not really anyone like Ahab, who sold himself to do evil in the eyes of the LORD, because his wife Jezebel incited him" (1 Kings 21:25).
The message is that the tendency of Christians who keep sin and lust in secret is to embrace and marry the false doctrine that will only excite them and confirm them in their sins. The last thing Ahab needed was a Jezebel. How dangerous! She highlighted the worst, increased it, and then destroyed it (to Ahab). That is the false doctrine. If there is any sin in you, lust, worldliness, the last thing you need is a doctrine that brings out the worst in you. When David sinned with Bathsheba, he did not need a false prophet with an encouraging message to tell him how much God loved him. He needed an unengaged prophet, Nathan, with his finger pointing and crying, "You are the man."
Those who preach the doctrine of Christ show the people the difference between the holy and the profane, the good and the bad. It does not mix your lips. "They shall teach my people to discern between the holy and the profane, and between the unclean and the pure" (Ezekiel 44:23).
Ezekiel denounces these false prophets who get rich by bringing a message to justify sin. "Because in the midst of her there is a conspiracy of her prophets; they are like a roaring lion that snatches the prey. They devour people, seize the heritage and the precious things, and multiply their widows in their midst. Your priests violate my law and desecrate my sacred things. They do not differentiate between the holy and the profane, nor teach to distinguish between the impure and the pure. With regard to my sabbaths they hide their eyes, and I have been profaned in their midst. His prophets have covered them with lime. They see vanity and lie to them, saying, "Thus says the Lord Jehovah, but the Lord has not spoken" (Ezekiel 11: 25-28).
As a result, we have a whole generation of troubled young people who can not even recognize the evil when they see it. The false prophets have deceived them. They are told that extramarital sex is good as long as they are in love and respect each other. Preachers and teachers have become the great defenders of sin in the nation.
The doctrine of Jezebel promotes greed.
"Naboth answered Ahab: Keep me Jehovah from giving you the inheritance of my fathers! Ahab went home bewildered and angered by the words Naboth of Jezreel had answered him, who had said to him, "I will not give you the inheritance of my fathers." He lay down on his bed, turned his face and did not take any food. Jezebel, his wife, went to him and asked him: - Why is your spirit languishing, and you do not take food? Do you now act as king over Israel? Get up, take food, and rejoice your heart! I will give you the vineyard of Naboth of Jezreel! (1 Kings 21: 1-7).
Listen to the doctrine of Jezebel: You are king. Number one. You have rights. Let nothing stop you in obtaining what you want. She told Ahab: "Rejoice, rejoice, I will obtain it for you." This is the doctrine of prosperity in short: Do not worry. Do not feel sad or distressed by those desires that are eating you inside. I will get it for you. Like the deceptive methods that Jezebel uses, these doctrines twist and misuse the Word.
The great deception in the modern church is the use of the Word of God to put an approved label on greed. In its face, the Jezebel doctrine works. (See 1 Kings 21: 14-16). He got Ahab what he wanted. He took possession of his rights because when a man was stoned for high treason to the king, his rights reverted to the king. There has never been any doubt that for many, this doctrine of prosperity works. Like Ahab, they are enjoying their possessions.
But Ahab could not fully enjoy it because an impertinent prophet of God prevented him. It happened that the word of the Lord came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying, "Arise, go down to meet Ahab, king of Israel, who resides in Samaria. Behold, he is in the vineyard of Naboth, where he has descended to take possession of it. You shall speak to him, saying, Thus says the LORD: Have you murdered and taken possession? Then you shall speak to him, saying, Thus says the LORD: In the place where the dogs licked the blood of Naboth, the dogs shall also lick your blood, your blood. Ahab said to Elijah, "So you have found me, my enemy?" He replied: "I have found you, because you have sold yourself to do evil in the eyes of the Lord" (1 Kings 21: 17-20).
Imagine Ahab walking around his new possession, saying: It is not the wonderful life, Ah Jezebel! He may not agree with his methods, but he does what he says. But following his steps unyieldingly is the prophet Elijah. Ahab, disturbed, reacts. He knew what was coming. His conscience told him: "You have found me my enemy."
So it is also today, God has sent prophets to all parts of this earth, crying aloud, denouncing the doctrine of Jezebel's materialism, making the enjoyment of the entertainments and belongings very uncomfortable for Christians. These have aligned themselves with the doctrine. You can not see it, but sin is behind all this. Every time I thunder against the doctrine of prosperity, I feel the spirit and power of Elijah over me. You will hear more and more the exposition of the Jezebel doctrine. Everywhere prophetic voices will be clearly heard crying out: "Sin. You are possessed because you have aligned yourself with sin. "
Jezebel hates the prophets of God.
And Ahab gave Jezebel the news of all that Elijah had done, and how he had killed all the prophets with the sword. Then Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah, saying: "So may the gods do to me, and may they add to me, if tomorrow by this time I have not put your person as one of them" (1 Kings 19: 1-2).
Christians bound by the Jezebel doctrine have no esteem for the prophets of God. They are darkened, as Jezebel was, unmoved, as when Ahab told him in detail the marvelous display of supernatural authority on Mount Carmel. Listen to Ahab: "But Jezebel, we may need to hear. I saw it with my own eyes. Our prophets stirred and danced for hours, but there was no power. Elijah only spoke Word of God and the fire descended. Everywhere there were people repenting. They turned their backs on idolatry. God sent a revival of holiness. "But Jezebel was not impressed. On the contrary, it was more hardened.
That's right now. The teachers of Jezebel's doctrine and those like Ahab who are his victims are not open to, nor convinced of, the Holy Spirit, nor of the message of repentance and holiness. They hear it, and then they go on their way, with more determination than before, in their doctrines. There is no fear of God before their eyes.
Therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts concerning the prophets: Behold, he will make them eat wormwood and make them drink poisoned water, for the prophets of Jerusalem has gone forth corruption to all the land. " the Armies: Do not listen to the words of the prophets who prophesy to you. They fill you with vain hopes, they speak vision of their own heart, not of the mouth of Jehovah. They continually say to those who despise the word of Jehovah: they will have peace. And to anyone who walks after the insistence of his heart they say, "No evil will come on you" (Jeremiah 23: 14-17). They do not help anyone out of evil. They speak vanities, and act foolishly from the pulpit. They are clowns!
The Covenant of Ahab with the world.
Ahab repented because of Elijah's preaching. Elijah's message deeply moved Ahab. He tore his clothes and walked in humility for a while. God called it repentance. "See how Ahab humbled himself before me" (1 Kings 21:29). From that day forward he could look back and say: Repentance? Yes. Under the preaching of that great prophet of God, Elijah, in my garden in Jezreel. For him it was a single experience, not a daily walk.
It did not last long. The problem was that he had made a pact with the world. I agreed with sin. He had become a brother and friend of the world. Brother means here: affinity, one equal to me; one that I respect. He had agreed with what God had cursed. And today there is repentance, although true, very superficial. But you will go back if there is not a complete break with the world.
Ahab claimed that he loved the truth, but deep down inside, he hated being reprimanded. Ahab and Jehoshaphat were going to go to war with the Syrians. Four hundred false prophets were predicting the triumph. "Go and you will prosper. You can. "And there was the sole and lonely prophet against the four hundred false prophets.
Listen to Ahab claiming the truth: "And Micaiah said, As Jehovah liveth what the LORD shall speak unto me, that will I say." So he came to the king, and the king said to him, "Micaiah, shall we go against Ramoth-gilead, or shall we fight? will we leave? "He answered," Go up and prosper, and the Lord will deliver it into the hands of the king. "And the king said to him," How many times am I to demand that you tell me nothing but the truth in the name of the Lord? "(1 Kings 22: 14-16). However, in her heart, he did not want to hear her - he hated her. Therefore he imprisoned the prophet.
Pastors, teachers and the congregation today say: "We want only the truth. Preached and taught as is. It does not matter how it hurts. "But in his heart some are upset and uncomfortable. The Word is very strong, very hard. They can not resist it. Ahab was completely oblivious to the fact that he was being led by a lying spirit.
This spirit of lying was not of God, but it was under his authority. Lying evil spirits have to obey his Word. They are not from God, but they are sent by God. "Now therefore, behold, the Lord has put a lying spirit in the mouth of all these your prophets, because the LORD has decreed evil in regard to you" (1 Kings 22:23).
This lying spirit caused Zedekiah, a false prophet, to declare that the spirit of God was upon him. The spirit of lying in him could honestly declare: "The Lord sent me." Lying spirits are very persuasive. "You shall persuade them" (1 Kings 22:22). Ahab was now convinced that he was hearing the voice of God and that he would return victorious.
Christians bound by the Jezebel doctrine are one hundred percent sure that they are in the truth. You can not see the deception. Ahab did not think: "Micaiah is right. He has the mind of God. The four hundred prophets are false, they do not have the Word of God. No. He went up completely convinced, completely deceived, totally seduced. He was convinced that Micaiah was wrong, and that the four hundred were right.
Why do some Christians fall into this kind of deception?
"Behold, you trust in a false word, which does not profit. Escaping, killing, committing adultery, swearing in falsehood, burning incense to other gods and walking after strange gods you did not know, will you come and set yourself before me in this house where my name is invoked, and you will say: 'We are freed' to continue doing these abominations? (Jeremiah 7: 8-10)
Here is the answer: To cling to some sin, to some secret idol in the heart. The justification for some sin. The walk with the world. A brotherhood with the world. Then they come to the house of God boasting: "I am not condemned." This is an unrestricted invitation to lying spirits.
