In recent years, phone apps have been used to open portfolios of information or tools. The icon is the symbol which identifies the desired file, whether news, games, or some other area of interest. However, some icons do not reveal what is really behind them. For instance, an innocuous app may feature the image of random game, when in reality lies a pornographic website. Even careful parents are fooled by the icon’s image and are oblivious to what lies behind the seemingly innocent app.
The enemy of our soul has perfected these false fronts for centuries. What appears to be one thing is something very different. Lies, innuendos, and subtle accusations are often hidden behind the compliment. The Bible states that Satan himself shall come as “an angel of light.” The saints are often taken by surprise when they buy into personalities promoting “spiritual insights”, but are not under authority. The litmus tests of submission has always been the first area to look. If a “leader” or Bible teacher is not submissive to their authority, chances are they will invariably lead their followers down a dark, autonomous path.
Conflicts come when we are not prayerful. Many well-intentioned people have been led astray by those who present Christ, but are privately consumed with self. They look Apostolic on the outside, even in verbiage, but they boast of their own authority without submission to a man of God. Through the years, I have watched shallow people remove themselves from the church because they have listened to the voice of a self-proclaimed leader. Sadly, some of them are now lost, backslidden, and entangled in sin. They heard the Word, but did not invest themselves in personal study. Some enjoy the sermon, but lack the depth to appreciate God’s given authority.
I write these things to provoke each person, wherever you attend, to dig deeper. In the last days, many false teachers, false preachers, and false prophets will make their boast. As I have preached years ago, “The Wedge,” anyone who divides the body is a wolf. Furthermore, as we get closer to the final day of time, there will be more distractions, disruptions, and divisions. The devil is against our unity. He opposes anything that is holy and everything that is Apostolic. To that I preach, “Wake up and stand strong. Be unmovable and unshakable. Try the spirits to see whether they are of God and if they align with the anointing of the under-shepherd which the Lord has appointed for you. Finally, know that not everything is as it first appears.
Pastor Jeffrey Harpole