In The Hands of the Refiner

“Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them.” ~ Ephesians 5:11

“But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing upon themselves swift destruction. And many will follow their licentiousness, and because of them the way of truth will be reviled. And in their greed they will exploit you with false words; from of old their condemnation has not been idle, and their destruction has not been asleep. For if God did not spare the angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell and committed them to pits of nether gloom to be kept until the judgment; if he did not spare the ancient world, but preserved Noah, a herald of righteousness, with seven other persons, when he brought a flood upon the world of the ungodly; if by turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to ashes he condemned them to extinction and made them an example to those who were to be ungodly; and if he rescued righteous Lot, greatly distressed by the licentiousness of the wicked (for by what that righteous man saw and heard as he lived among them, he was vexed in his righteous soul day after day with their lawless deeds), then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trial, and to keep the unrighteous under punishment until the day of judgment, and especially those who indulge in the lust of defiling passion and despise authority. Bold and willful, they are not afraid to revile the glorious ones, whereas angels, though greater in might and power, do not pronounce a reviling judgment upon them before the Lord. But these, like irrational animals, creatures of instinct, born to be caught and killed, reviling in matters of which they are ignorant, will be destroyed in the same destruction with them, suffering wrong for their wrongdoing. They count it pleasure to revel in the daytime. They are blots and blemishes, reveling in their dissipation, carousing with you. They have eyes full of adultery, insatiable for sin. They entice unsteady souls. They have hearts trained in greed. Accursed children! Forsaking the right way they have gone astray; they have followed the way of Balaam, the son of Beor, who loved gain from wrongdoing, but was rebuked for his own transgression; a dumb ass spoke with human voice and restrained the prophet’s madness. These are waterless springs and mists driven by a storm; for them the nether gloom of darkness has been reserved. For, uttering loud boasts of folly, they entice with licentious passions of the flesh men who have barely escaped from those who live in error. They promise them freedom, but they themselves are slaves of corruption; for whatever overcomes a man, to that he is enslaved. For if, after they have escaped the defilements of the world through the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and overpowered, the last state has become worse for them than the first. For it would have been better for them never to have known the way of righteousness than after knowing it to turn back from the holy commandment delivered to them. It has happened to them according to the true proverb, The dog turns back to his own vomit, and the sow is washed only to wallow in the mire.” ~ 2 Peter 2:1-22

“Therefore, beloved, since you wait for these, be zealous to be found by him without spot or blemish, and at peace. And count the forbearance of our Lord as salvation. So also our beloved brother Paul wrote to you according to the wisdom given him, speaking of this as he does in all his letters. There are some things in them hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction, as they do the other scriptures.” ~ 2 Peter 3:14-16

“You therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, beware lest you be carried away with the error of lawless men and lose your own stability. But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity. Amen.” ~ 2 Peter 3:17-18

The enemy has invaded our camp. The enemy has invaded, entered, slipped in unnoticed, stealthfully crept into the Church! I am issuing a WARNING to the Body of Christ, the Church. I am issuing a WARNING to those faithful true believers of God through Jesus Christ, who believe the faith “once and for all delivered unto the saints.” BEWARE for the enemy has entered into our camp!

The enemy has disguised himself as an angel of light. The enemy has disguised himself as someone who is well versed in the Bible, but twists the Word of God. The enemy has disguised himself who teaches another Gospel other than the one received from Jesus Christ and deposited to His disciples for He ascended into heaven. The enemy has disguised himself as someone who teaches that we do not need to repent of our sins, or that sin is NOT the problem! The enemy has disguised himself as someone who teaches that we must believe in Jesus Christ PLUS we have to do the works of the Law. The enemy has disguised himself as someone who teaches that because of the grace of God that we don’t have to worry about our behavior as Christians…we can sin freely without condemnation! The enemy has disguised himself as someone who teaches that the moral Law of God has been abolished and that the only Law is the so-called Law of Christ (which is a perversion of what Jesus taught). The enemy has disguised himself as someone who claims to be a prophet from God who teaches against the Church of God, who teaches that sin doesn’t matter in God’s eyes, and that there is no wrath in God, whose prophecies have not come to fruition, who claims to have encounters with so-called angels, who claims to have received revelation from God on another planet, who preach and teach a twisted, and convoluted understanding of God’s Word in the Bible. The enemy has disguised himself as someone who teaches that everyone has been saved, that everyone has been elected of God unto salvation, that there is no need to repent of our sin, and that the whole cosmos has been reconciled unto God (understand the past tense?). The enemy has disguised himself as someone who teaches that we don’t need the Word of God, but that the “Holy Spirit” will teach us; that we don’t need gifted and anointed preachers or teachers of God’s Word; that we don’t need to study God’s Word, or need to understand Who God is through His Word (theology). The enemy has disguised himself teaching that our bodies don’t matter (with regard to sin) the only thing that matters is our soul and spirit (Gnosticism). And I am sure the enemy has entered into our camp with other falsehoods that I cannot call to mind at this moment.

The enemy has entered our camp with “nothing new under the sun.” There is no new heresy or false teaching or false prophecies. He has entered into the camp with the same old heresies and false doctrine that the early Church fought vehemently against. And so we must do now. And so I sound the ALARM! BEWARE! BE WARNED this day as St. Peter says:

May grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord. His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, that through these you may escape from the corruption that is in the world because of passion, and become partakers of the divine nature. For this very reason make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. For if these things are yours and abound, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. For whoever lacks these things is blind and shortsighted and has forgotten that he was cleansed from his old sins. ~ 2 Peter 1:2-9

And then St. Peter exhorts us:

Therefore, brethren, be the more ZEALOUS TO CONFIRM YOUR CALL AND ELECTION, for if you do this you will never fall; so there will be richly provided for you an entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. ~ 2 Peter 1:10-11

Now to Him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you without blemish before the presence of His glory with rejoicing, to the only God, our Savior through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and for ever. Amen. ~ Jude 1:24-25

May the Lord Jesus Christ, God our Father, and the most Holy Spirit have mercy upon us!