Concerning the end times, Jesus warned us as follows:
Matthew 24
And Jesus went out, and departed from the temple: and His disciples came to Him for to shew Him the buildings of the temple.
2 And Jesus said unto them, See ye not all these things? verily I say unto you, There shall not be left here one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down.
(At the end, all things will be destroyed so don't take pride in that which you can see with you natural eyes.)
3 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?
4 And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you.
5 For many shall come in My name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many.
(Many will come saying "Jesus is Lord", calling themselves Christians, and they will deceive many.)
Give them time to prove themselves.
And Jesus went out, and departed from the temple: and His disciples came to Him for to shew Him the buildings of the temple.
2 And Jesus said unto them, See ye not all these things? verily I say unto you, There shall not be left here one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down.
(At the end, all things will be destroyed so don't take pride in that which you can see with you natural eyes.)
3 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?
4 And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you.
5 For many shall come in My name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many.
(Many will come saying "Jesus is Lord", calling themselves Christians, and they will deceive many.)
Give them time to prove themselves.
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One woman, Pam Padgett, came identifying herself to be a Christian. As I watched her though the coming years, I saw her make godly decisions. I knew she had prayed and was led by God in those decisions. I had the evidence I needed concerning her.
Romans 8:14 For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.
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I Corinthians 2:1-2 ... Paul said ... 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.
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But many others, both men and women, came saying "Jesus is Lord" and through the years I failed to have witness of them being led by the Spirit of God, and eventually they left me.
I John 2
19 They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us: but they went out, that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us.
These are the ones Jesus warned us of in the last days in Matthew 24. They come saying "Jesus is Lord" and they come identifying themselves to be Christians, and they seem to be of God ... but in time, we see they do not follow the Holy Spirit of God but follow their own wisdom. Eventually they leave us.
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And Jesus even told us "few" would find the way of life.
Matthew 7
14 Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.
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I Corinthians 14:39 Wherefore, brethren, covet to prophesy, and forbid not to speak with tongues.
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Ephesians 4:8, 11-13 8 Wherefore he saith, When HE (Jesus) ascended up on high, HE led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men.
11 And HE gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers;
12 For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:
13 Till
we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son
of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the
fulness of Christ:
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Matthew 24:12 And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold. (Their love for the Word of God grows cold.)
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So many people come to me seeming to be excited over that word which I write and speak.
They stay awhile and then disappear.
Usually I see them go dead along the way. The excitement they first had vanishes. And they grow cold and depart.
Some are obvious to me from the beginning and I know they love their church but do not have the Spirit of God. Mostly they love the association with the people.
I find very few people who attend churches actually demonstrate that have the Spirit of God and that they are hearing from God by HIS Spirit and following God.
It is the Spirit of God who identifies the ones who are really of God.
They often try to copy spiritual people, but they aren't really spiritual.
Jude writes about them as follows:
Jude
18 How that they told you there should be mockers (copying those persons who seem spiritual to themselves) in the last time, who should walk after their own ungodly lusts.
19 These be they who separate themselves, sensual, having not the Spirit.
(They "join" a church. Some are even baptized in water. But they do not follow the Spirit of God.)
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2 Timothy 3:1-5 This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come.
For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God;
For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God;
Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.
I find it best to speak the Word to them and let them go.
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I find it best to speak the Word to them and let them go.
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