#calls for unity are divisive when sheep are asked to unite with wolves

[mattmoore007]

Wolves in the Church

One of the greatest tactics used by military tacticians and politicians is divide and conquer which is defined as,

    ‘the policy of maintaining control over one's subordinates or opponents by encouraging dissent between them, thereby preventing them from uniting in opposition.’

In other words, by causing division and dissent there will never be unity only chaos.

This strategy is equally used by Satan in the church, sadly to great effect and there are many verses in the Bible that speak of it, verses such as Matthew 7:15, 2 Peter 2:12, Acts 20:29-30, Matthew 10:16. The example they use is wolves in sheep’s clothing and they taught it this way to make it easy for the people listening to understand and I feel the analogy is helpful for us today. Because a wolf coming into a herd of sheep in whatever form has one thing on its mind, destruction.

Sadly I have seen this happen in a few churches I have worked as well as so called Christian organisations. However, one demonic group that had used this to great effect and the remnant of it still remains today is the Freemasons. How do I know this? Well because my Great Granddad was the highest Freemason in Sheffield (England). I have gained an insight of the demonic power behind this group as well as an unprecedented understanding of their subtle tactics many of these are still used today as they have not been dealt with from in many Churches, and so the spirit finds new people to work through.

Their methods were subtle and by gaining favour and influence in the church, many of which becoming clergy, the following are some concerning examples through history and I believe demonstrate the need for the Church of England as well as other established churches, in particular, to pray against this spirit which is many ways still has the remnant moving through it. Hence in recent history, we have seen some ungodly decisions being made by many churches and high ranking ministers.

Archbishop of Canterbury Geoffrey Fisher, who headed the Church of England from 1945 to 1961. He held the senior post of Grand Chaplain for the United Grand Lodge of England.

Robert Milburn, the former Dean of Worcester, held the same senior Masonic post as the Archbishop.

John Habgood, the former Archbishop of York, told the General Synod that he believed Freemasonry was a "fairly harmless eccentricity" and later expressed the view that he did not see any conflict in being a Mason and a Christian.

In July 1987 the General Synod, the governing body of the Church of England, ducked the issue when bishops endorsed a report looking into whether being a Christian and a Freemason was compatible.

Equally, in the cases of my Great Granddad like many others, he would become a lay preacher in the church. There has also been in recent year’s evidence of their worship to Satan and I myself have seen demons as a result of freemasonries influence. Many of the 350,000 individuals that are still freemasons or connected with it today and part of our churches,  will be ones who will influence the stance of the church and pull people away from Gods word and truth.We need to pray for those in church leadership and seek God, praying his protection on them and that if they are operating in an ungodly way then to ask God to change them or remove them.

So how can we tell who is operating in this wolf spirit, and who is truly seeking to be a child of God? To begin we need to look at how a wolf will operate. Some may say if they are operating in the fruit of the Spirit then they aren’t wolves, I would beg to differ because the devil is subtle so on the outside they will most likely operate in this way, but their motives inside are very different.

Matthew 7:15

   “Watch out for false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are voracious wolves.’

So let’s have a look at 5 keys to understanding the wolf,

1, What we believe has consequences, so the wolf will try and move us away from the truth and have us believe the immoral societal world view, so putting us at enmity with God and moving our focus from him completely, instead to our own understanding.

   ‘ Adulterers, do you not know that friendship with the world means hostility toward God? So whoever decides to be the world’s friend makes himself God’s enemy.’ James 4:4

2,  What we believe about God is the most important, and the wolf knows this because Satan knows this, so he gives a false message of who God is, including teachings on Grace, prosperity and even Gods love and how some sins are now ok because God created the person that way. This goes against what scripture clearly says, so in essence they twist, ignore and misuse Scripture to fit their own ungodly and immoral ends, so to lead people into sin and away from Godly truth and blessing.

2 Peter 2:1-3 ‘But false prophets arose among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. These false teachers will infiltrate your midst with destructive heresies, even to the point of denying the Master who bought them. As a result, they will bring swift destruction on themselves. 2 And many will follow their debauched lifestyles. Because of these false teachers, the way of truth will be slandered. 3 And in their greed, they will exploit you with deceptive words. Their condemnation pronounced long ago is not sitting idly by; their destruction is not asleep.’

Romans 16:17-18 ‘Now I urge you, brothers and sisters, to watch out for those who create dissensions and obstacles contrary to the teaching that you learned. Avoid them! 18 For these are the kind who do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites. By their smooth talk and flattery, they deceive the minds of the naive.’

3, Satan is more effective by counterfeiting the truth, then he is openly denying it.

This we see used through the media, as many of our belief systems through history and even today have been formed by the manipulation of the media and its propaganda. In fact, the Medias view of the world including the people we vote for is determined by them. Yet we shouldn’t forget the news only ever gives us 10% of the facts from a biased perspective. Why do you think Joseph Goebbels used it so effectively during world war 2, in fact, the media today would make him so proud at how they manipulate people.

Satan also does this so well in the Church by selling a plausible or word with no real point, which sounds great but truly goes away from the word of God, or by preaching a false gospel that sounds plausible and palatable to our ears and the feel good factor.

4, False messages come when people say things through prophecy or through teaching that is not true, and based on a tactic of taking peoples focus away from God, and truly understanding his word. People who are deceived don’t necessarily have the spirit in them, but if they are leaders they do, and will tell people what will make them feel good, and not what they need to hear to truly change.

Jeremiah 14:14 ‘Then the Lord said to me, “Those prophets are prophesying lies while claiming my authority! I did not send them. I did not commission them. I did not speak to them. They are prophesying to these people false visions, worthless predictions, and the delusions of their own mind.’

5, We were warned of these such people by both Paul and Peter,

Paul, Acts 20:29-30,

    ‘29 I know that after I am gone fierce wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock. 30 Even from among your own group men will arise, teaching perversions of the truth to draw the disciples away after them.’

Paul knew when he was no longer around wolves would rise, because like a Shepard protects his flock (Great example is David) so Paul did with his people and the churches. But he knew that if the people weren’t ready the wolves would rise. So we need to be seeking Gods discernment and praying he would reveal the wolves and remove the spirit from the church.

Peter, 2 Peter 2:12,

    ‘But these men, like irrational animals—creatures of instinct, born to be caught and destroyed—do not understand whom they are insulting, and consequently, in their destruction, they will be destroyed,’

 Identifying and fighting back

As we begin this aspect we must remember the verse from Ephesians 6:12

    ‘For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world rulers of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavens’

This is because our battle is not a personal one against an individual or individuals but a spiritual one, which we need to come together before God corporately in unity, to take back ground taken by the devil and to see those who are deceived set free.

So how do we identify these false teachers and prophets? Well let’s see what scripture has to say about this, 1 John 4:1-3 Says

    ‘Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to determine if they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. 2 By this you know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses Jesus as the Christ who has come in the flesh is from God, 3 but every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God, and this is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming, and now is already in the world.’

So we are to test the spirits by taking note of verses and the message from sermon, then going back to see if what was to us was accurate, in doing this we must not just look at the verse but the entire context as verses can be misused to fit a message even if it’s not in context. Equally, if someone gives us a word, we must seek God to make sure its fits into line with scripture. So for instance if someone said, ‘God is calling you to marry this person,’ and the person is not a Christian then it’s safe to say it’s not God, but if God tells you to wait on him and he wants you to draw closer to him first, then again that fits scripture and so will be of him. In either case, it’s good to pray with others and seek counsel where appropriate, as well as studying to see if it fits in with scripture.  

Our best source of information is the bible, with the help of the Holy Spirit to understand and know its truths. We need to accept it without compromise, this does not mean we have to fully understand and won’t struggle sometimes. It does mean we need to have faith to know God has a reason why it's there and we just need to study and seek advice from Godly leaders and through Gods guidance and prayer.

Another way is to ask God to give us discernment to reveal to us those we need to be careful around, not to avoid them just not trust them. Instead, we can pray for them from a distance. You see those that follow paths of we need to be inclusive of all in saying basically every sin is ok or some are. (I heard a story about where a minister went to the leadership to change the statement of faith to fit this ungodly way, but thank God they said no). They may also say to not be all inclusive and tolerant of sin is not right in human eyes, and the bible was for then not now. Again to clarify this does not mean you have to be perfect to be a Christian not at all because everyone can come to a relationship with Christ, but we are called to love the sinner, not the sin. We can do this by loving the person without condoning the sin and God also tells us to speak the truth in love (Ephesian’s 4:15). The crazy thing is if we do this, people will accept the biblical view more and will respond better than when people are judgmental and forget we all sin, or people condone it and so cause confusion. You see we all need to examine ourselves and ask God to change us. But again we love the sinner, not the sin, we can best support them by praying for them and asking God to reveal his truth. Because true love is shown through honest true done in love. So willing to share what someone needs to hear not what they want to.

Finally for those people unless they repent their future is sealed as we see in Matthew 7:21-23,

   “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’

 So for them also we need to pray pray pray and be the ambassadors for unity in our churches and not discord. To make a difference for God and stand for the truth it has to begin with us.

 Do not fear God is our strength and protector, all we need to do is follow his example and .will, putting on the whole armour of God.