There is a strange story in the First book of kings concerning the Man of God from Judah who began to speak and to obey God’s Word. He started out well but through spiritual deception not only lost his ministry and spiritual power but also his life. Jeroboam the king of Israel and the leader of God’s people, had introduced unbiblical worship to Israel that ended up in them worshipping an unbiblical God. When God’s people worship Him in unbiblical ways they inevitably end up worshipping a different God. Today nothing has changed! The false worship led by Jeroboam was organized around money and prosperity in the form of two golden calves. One was at Bethel and the other at Dan. The worship of these golden calves led the people into the sin of covetousness (1Kings 12:28-30).
Not only that but Jeroboam appointed his own cronies to be spiritual leaders over the people, men who were not anointed for the task nor called by God, but self- appointed leaders endorsed by the king (1 Kings 13:33-34). The people of God were so enamoured and dazzled by the golden calves and the hype that went with the false worship that they even travelled long distances to worship the golden calves of prosperity (2 Kings 12:30-32).
Jeroboam himself was offering up strange fire as he offered up sacrifices on the altar. It was strange fire because it was not from God. He was a self-appointed leader taking on a position to which he had not been called or anointed for (1 Kings 12:33). The people of God had been deceived by the big display centred in the worship of money and prosperity. The same sin and hyped up worship the children of Israel committed around the Golden calf in the time of Moses. In fact it says of the Israelites in Moses time that they, “rose up to play” but the Hebrew says, “they rose up to laugh” and the force of the words indicates that it was contrived and not a natural response. It was the kind of thing Rodney Howard Browne was into with his laughing revival, calling himself, the Holy Ghost Bartender and getting people to stagger around and to act like drunks! (See the videos) Amongst them were the late Kenneth E Hagin, Kenneth Copeland and other prominent church leaders all laughing and acting like they were drunk.
The revelry and contrived, hyped up worship, being conducted by Jeroboam and the leaders with a false anointing was the background for the appearance of the Man of God who had the real Word of God for the people. Tragically this Man of God fell into spiritual deception and the Lord was forced to lay him aside from the work he had been called to do. Let’s look at his story as it applies to many of God’s leaders today in the Church who started well but have fallen under the spell of spiritual deception and consequently been disqualified from their ministries by the Lord. Now let’s look at our text in Second Kings Chapter thirteen beginning at verse one…
(Vs. 1) “By the word of the Lord a man of God came from Judah to Bethel, as Jeroboam was standing by the altar to make an offering.”
All of the Israelites had made Jeroboam king (1 Kings 12:20) and the only ones who would not go along with his false worship was the tribe of Judah who were loyal to King David (a type of the Lord Jesus) Out of this faithful remnant God called a Man of God, a true prophet, to go down to Israel to bring them the Word of the Lord. His mission was to cry out against the hype and deception being perpetuated on God’s people by their self-appointed leaders. Jeroboam the “head honcho” leading the way was at the altar about to offer up strange fire. The Man of God under the true anointing cried out against the man with the false anointing.
(Vs. 2) “He cried out against the altar by the word of the Lord: “O altar, altar! This is what the Lord says: A son named Josiah will be born to the house of David. On you he will sacrifice the priests of the high places who now make offerings here, and human bones will be burnt on you.”
300 years later this prophecy was fulfilled. The true prophet who proclaims things in the name of the Lord will always be 100% accurate. When it is really from God’s mouth it comes to pass exactly as God says it will (Deuteronomy 18:17-22). This man was a true prophet. Often these men stood alone as Elijah did against the prophets of Baal. Jeremiah himself refused to sit in the circle of the merrymakers of his time (Jeremiah 15:17). When Moses came down from the mountain he had the golden calf ground into powder, sprinkled over the water and forced the people to drink it. The water was bitter to their taste. All those who embrace the spirit of false religion end up with a bitter experience in the end.
In Jeremiah’s time the false prophets were going around hyping up the people with false promises of revival, blessing and proclaiming kingdom dominion while not calling the people to repent as the Babylonians advanced on Jerusalem. When the final holocaust came the false prophets were nowhere to be found in fact they hid themselves in fear. So much for their false promises! In the end they received the rewards of their actions! Listen to what Jeremiah the true prophet said about them, “From the least to the greatest, all are greedy for gain; prophets and priests alike, all practice deceit (deception). They dress the wound of My people as though it were not serious. “Peace, Peace,” they say, when there is no peace. Are they ashamed of their loathsome conduct? No, they have no shame at all; they do not even know how to blush. So they will fall among the fallen; they will be brought down when they are punished, says the Lord.” (Jeremiah 8:10a-12)
Today false prophets and teachers are in abundance. The western Church is in deep trouble. Things are not getting better but worse. The last great apostasy, the Antichrist, the global persecution of the faithful Church and the Great Tribulation are coming. However, the majority of Churches in the west are having a party, sitting in the circle of the merrymakers and listening to the false prophets proclaiming blessing, prosperity and kingdom dominion when they should be preparing themselves for “the Time of Jacob’s Trouble.” Tragically some of their Pastors know better but want to keep their standing in the denomination, their popularity and their salaries and so say nothing.
(Vs.3) “That same day the man of God gave a sign: “This is the sign the Lord has declared: The altar will be split apart and the ashes on it will be poured out.”
Today we have leaders in the Church building their personal empires just like Jeroboam was doing. These people are leading multitudes of believers astray with their “false” and “strange” fire and with their emphasis on blessing, prosperity, kingdom dominion in this world and covetousness, which is idolatry. However a time is coming when their kingdoms will be split apart and be reduced to ashes. As the scripture says, “Judgment begins in the house of God” and again it says, “If the righteous are scarcely saved, where will the ungodly and sinners appear?” If revival is coming to the Church in the western democracies again then the Lord is going to drive out of His Temple the money- changers and those profiteering on the blood of the Lamb.
(Vs. 4) “When king Jeroboam heard what the man of God cried out against the altar at Bethel, he stretched out his hand from the altar and said, “Seize him!”
This man of God from Judah saw things very clearly and in the power of the Spirit was very courageous to stand against the leaders and the tide of apostasy flooding Israel and of course his message evoked a “knee jerk”’ reaction from Jeroboam. He could not deal with the prophets message so he attacked him personally which is what these false leaders do today to men of God who take a stand on God’s Word against these “conniving shepherds.” If they can’t disprove from the Bible what you say then they attack you for saying it! Then we read what happened after that.
“But the hand he stretched out toward the man shrivelled up so that he could not pull it back.”
The Lord took care of his true prophet and overruled the word of the King. The false leaders are always impotent when up against the real power of God. When Elijah stood against the prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel they could not bring down the real fire. It took the man of God to do that as Elijah proved to be. Today there are many so called “leaders” and “shepherds” who, like the priests of Baal are trying to call down the fire, however only those really anointed by God have the power and the authority to call down the real power of God. Unfortunately they are rarely seen in the Western Church today yet there are multitudes of “hype artists” doing exactly what the prophets of Baal were trying to do on Mount Carmel. Just watch the Trinity Broadcasting Network in America and you will see for yourself. But let’s continue…
(Vs. 5) “Also the altar was split apart and its ashes poured out according to the sign given by the man of God by the word of the Lord.”
Like Elijah, this man had the real power of God working in his life and ministry and being a true prophet, knowing God’s Word, was able to prophesy accurately and see his prophecy fulfilled. God’s Word always comes to pass. Today there are many “Jeroboams” in the Western Church who are offering up “strange fire” and leading multitudes of God’s people astray with their false promises of blessing, prosperity and kingdom dominion in this world but the day will come when their kingdoms will come crashing down around their ears! God Himself will personally see to it!
(Vs. 6) “Then the king said to the man of God, “Intercede with the Lord your God and pray for me that my hand may be restored.” So the man of God interceded with the Lord, and the king’s hand was restored and became as it was before.”
When faced with the real power of God Jeroboam was humbled and then turned to the true prophet to intercede for his restoration, which the prophet did. You see the Lord wants to have mercy on His people and even though leaders rebel He is able to be merciful to them and restore them when they repent of their wickedness and humble themselves before him. The scripture says, “Mercy triumphs over judgment.” However, even though the Lord showed mercy to King Jeroboam the king would still persist in doing his own thing and continuing down the path of idolatry ending in the destruction of his whole family line (13:33-34). At this time Jeroboam changed his tactics and tried to befriend the man of God instead of opposing him.
(Vs. 7) “The king said to the man of God, “Come home with me and have something to eat, and I will give you a gift.”
King Jeroboam could not stand against the Word of God proclaimed by the man of God so he came at him from another angle. He invited him to have fellowship with him and even offered him a gift. Today it is the same with many false leaders. They approach Godly leaders and seek to win them over with professions of friendship and offers of help. Usually they have an agenda and money and this in itself is a very powerful tool especially against small churches trying to be faithful to God’s word but struggling to survive. Inevitably God’s word is compromised.
When you see these big mega churches today with their dazzling spectacular entertainment, with their multi-screen presentations and with their modern, mesmerizing music with hundreds of people attending their churches it can be very demoralizing to small fellowships seeking to be faithful to God’s Word but hard pressed to survive. The temptation will always be there to go where the action is. Money, prosperity and numbers will always be a temptation for struggling churches that are seeking to be faithful to God’s word but seeing little or no results. However, the man of God from Judah would not yield to the pressure to compromise God’s Word. He would not join Jeroboam’s movement.
(Vs.8-9) “But the man of God answered the king, “Even if you were to give me half your possessions, I would not go with you, nor would I eat bread or drink water here. For I was commanded by the word of the Lord: ‘You must not eat bread or drink water or return by the way you came.’”
The man of God was not taken in by the offers of friendship or persuaded by the offers of money or whatever the gift was that Jeroboam offered him. He refused to join Jeroboam’s movement that was not faithful to God’s Word. The man of God could distinguish between the false and the true fire and was faithful to God’s Word.
(Vs. 10) “So he took another road and did not return by the way he had come to Bethel.”
God is always leading and directing his true servants and walking by faith involves new paths in life that will require faithfulness and trust in the Lord alone. This man of God was following the Lord with all of his heart and wanting to serve and obey Him. The Word of God was fresh and alive in him and there were new spiritual adventures God had in store for him. Past victories are no guarantee of future failures. Many a man that started out well in ministry has eventually been laid aside by God because they disobeyed the voice of the Holy Spirit. At one time when King David was threatened by the Philistines he went to the Lord for guidance and consequently God gave him the strategy he needed to win the fight. Sometime later the Philistines attacked again and instead of using the same tactic David inquired of the Lord again and God gave him a different strategy; consequently he won the battle again. However, if David had not sought the Lord the second time the results would have been different. Spiritual seduction is always the danger that men and women of God face, especially those in positions of leadership in the Church who have the responsibility to look after the sheep. Jesus Himself said, “Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves.” (Matthew 7:15) God’s leaders are always the target for false prophets and teachers who also say they follow God’s word.
(Vs.11) “Now there was a certain old prophet living in Bethel, whose sons came and told him all that the man of God had done there that day. They also told their father what he had said to the king.”
This old prophet had lost his fire and his ministry. He also lived in Bethel but probably had not stood against the idolatry of Jeroboam and his cronies but just let things slide. Maybe at one time he had been full of God’s power but now the fire had been extinguished on the altar of his heart. The old time power had gone. Maybe he was jealous of the man of God. Maybe the young prophet reminded this old prophet of days long past when he also prophesied God’s Word with the fire of God’s power burning in his belly!
(Vs. 12-14) “Their father asked them, “Which way did he go?” And his sons showed him which road the man of God from Judah had taken. So he said to his sons, “Saddle the donkey for me.” And when they had saddled the donkey for him, he mounted it and rode after the man of God. He found him sitting under an oak tree and asked, “Are you the man of God who came from Judah?” “I am,” he replied.”
This man of God was sitting under the Oak tree. The Oak tree is a very solid and strong tree. This man of God was in a place of strength. When we are in a place of spiritual strength we are always vulnerable to spiritual seduction and this man of God was no exception.
(Vs.15-17) “So the prophet said to him, “Come home with me and eat.” The man of God said, “I cannot turn back and go with you, nor can I eat bread or drink water with you in this place. I have been told by the word of the Lord; ‘You must not eat bread or drink water there or return by the way you came.”
The man of God was strong in the Word of God and it was very clear to him. The temptation was there to associate himself with this old prophet but he refused to be drawn in by the offer of hospitality. This is the way false prophets will try to get around those who really have the true revelation of God’s Word. This was a classic case of spiritual seduction by a false prophet. Again, when you look at the Trinity Broadcasting Network you can see plenty of them on TV “fleecing” God’s people and “profiteering on the blood of the lamb!” Well what happened to this man of God?
(Vs. 18) “The old prophet answered, “I too am a prophet, as you are. And an angel said to me by the word of the Lord: ‘Bring him back with you to your house so that he may eat bread and drink water’”(But he was lying to him).”
This guy said that an angel had spoken to him. There are many false prophets around today making all kinds of claims like this old prophet made. They are saying that God is giving to them visions and dreams and yet they are promoting things that go contrary to God’s word. This is especially true of the Kingdom Dominion ‘prophets.’ Dreams and visions from the Lord will never contradict the clear teaching of God’s Word the Bible. God does give dreams today but they will never go against the Word of God. In fact they will be supported by the Word of God.
God Himself said through Jeremiah the prophet, “I have heard what the prophets say who prophesy lies in My name. They say, ‘I had a dream! I had a dream! How long will this continue in the hearts of these lying prophets, who prophesy the delusions of their own minds? Let the prophet who has a dream tell his dream, but let the one who has My word speak it faithfully, for what has straw to do with grain? Declares the Lord. Is not My word like fire,” declares the Lord, “and like a hammer that breaks the rocks in pieces??” Therefore,” declares the Lord, “I am against the prophets who steal from one another words supposedly from Me. “Yes,” declares the Lord, “I am against the prophets who wag their own tongues and yet declare, ‘The Lord declares.’ Indeed, I am against those who prophesy false dreams,” declares the Lord. “They tell them and lead My people astray with their reckless lies, yet I did not send or appoint them. They do not benefit these people in the least.” (Jeremiah 23:25-26, 28-32)
False prophets usually believe in what they prophesy. Often they will have dreams which actually contradict God’s Word is some way or another and God calls their dreams “straw” because they have no spiritual substance to them at all but are the delusions of their own imaginations. On the other hand God calls His Word, “grain” because it has true spiritual power and nourishment for the welfare of the soul. God Himself makes a sharp distinction between those who rely upon dreams and between those who have His Word and speak it faithfully.
In the case of this old prophet he deliberately lied to the man of God but made it sound good. He was possibly jealous, as the man of God’s ministry was a truly powerful one. This false prophet also claimed to have God’s word and by spiritual seduction and lies drew this man of God out from his strong position under the oak tree. The man of God should have known that God never contradicts His word. However, the seduction succeeded and the man of God compromised the Word of God.
Some false prophets today are just plain liars fleecing the sheep because they think they are on a good thing. The moneychangers that Jesus drove out of His temple were such men! Today it is the same especially with the faith prosperity and kingdom now teachers. They are teaching things through dreams and visions of their own imaginations that go contrary to God’s revealed word in the Bible and putting interpretations on Bible verses out of all reasonable contexts to promote their own theology. In many cases the real basis of their teaching is power and money! In other cases they have deceived themselves and blind to the true motives of their hearts.
What happens to a man or women of God who are deceived into doubting and compromising their knowledge of God’s Word? This story has a tragic ending. This man of God started out well, as many do, but in the end he was deceived and this deception ended in tragedy. Now let’s see what happened.
(Vs. 19) “So the man of God returned with him and ate and drank at his house.”
The man of God went with the false prophet to have fellowship with him compromising the Word of God when he should have known better. Tragically many of our leaders in the Church today, who should know better, are going along with the purpose driven agenda, the immerging Church, faith prosperity, alpha and the kingdom now teachers. They are having fellowship with them even though these movements are teaching many things that contradict and compromise God’s word. The real seduction is that they are laying truth and error side by side (2 Peter 2:1-3). As brother Jacob Prasch has said on many occasions and rightly so, “There is always cheese in the rat trap!” This action of the man of God had tragic consequences and God was forced to lay him aside. It is a serious thing to have known God’s word and then to turn ones back on His Holy commandments! Suddenly God intervened in this situation. He actually spoke through the mouth of this false prophet! I think the old man probably was shocked at the revelation that came!
(Vs. 20-22) “While they were sitting at the table, the word of the Lord came to the old prophet who had brought him back. He cried out to the man of God who had come from Judah, “This is what the Lord says: ‘You have defied the word of the Lord and have not kept the command the Lord your God gave you. You came back and ate bread and drank water in the place where He told you not to eat or drink. Therefore your body will not be buried in the tomb of your fathers.’”
This man of God from Judah could have had a long life in ministry for the Lord. He had a bright future in God’s service. He started out well. However, because he allowed himself to be spiritually seduced into compromising God’s word his life and ministry was cut short. He was never able to fulfil the full potential in his life that God had planned for him. Cases like his are being repeated all over the Christian world today. Many churches are also going the way of this man of God. Once they were bastions of God’s Word but now they are merely beating the air and falling for every wind of doctrine blowing their way. What a tragedy! Let’s look at what happened to this man of God.
(Vs. 23) “When the man of God had finished eating and drinking, the prophet who had brought him back saddled his donkey for him.”
The man of God had walked from Judah in God’s strength and power but now he was going back the easy way supported by the donkey the old prophet had provided. False prophets always take the easy way and encourage others to do the same. This man of God no longer relied on the Lord’s support but was now supported by what the false prophet has provided for his comfort.
(Vs. 24-28) “As he went on his way, a lion met him on the road and killed him, and his body was thrown down on the road, with both the donkey and the lion standing beside it. Some people who passed by saw the body thrown down there, with the lion standing beside the body, and they went and reported it in the city where the old prophet lived. When the prophet who had brought him back from his journey heard of it, he said, “It is the man of God who defied the word of the Lord. The Lord has given him over to the lion, which has mauled him and killed him, as the word of the Lord had warned him”. The prophet said to his sons, “Saddle the donkey for me,” and they did so. Then he went out and found the body thrown down on the road, with the donkey and the lion standing beside it. The lion had neither eaten the body nor mauled the donkey.”
This lion had mauled the man but not eaten him. This is uncharacteristic of lions who usually kill to eat or when provoked. This lion killed the man but did not eat him neither did it touch the donkey. It just stood there. In the Bible the lion is used in four ways. Firstly, the “young lions” used in the Psalms speak of young men and women living without trust in the Lord who eventually lack true security and satisfaction in life. Secondly Satan is called, “a roaring lion going about seeking whom he may devour.” Thirdly, the King of Babylon is called “a lion coming out of the thicket.” Also the Lord Jesus Himself is called, “The Lion of the Tribe of Judah.” This man of God came from Judah and it was “The Lion of the Tribe of Judah” who dealt with him personally. The lion who met him in the road was the Pre-incarnate Lord Jesus Christ Israel’s Messiah. How he appeared in the form of a lion is a mystery yet the lion itself did not display the normal behaviour of a lion.
Those who compromise the Word of God will have to face the Lord Jesus Christ. Some God has taken in this life. One day many leaders, preachers and teachers will stand before the judgment seat of Christ to account for what they taught or what they failed to teach. Others who have deliberately falsified the word of God will go into outer darkness where there will be weeping and grinding of teeth. You can read about these in Jude’s epistle and in Peter’s second epistle. Teachers will be judged with a greater strictness at the judgment seat of Christ (James 3:1). Through the Holy Spirit, God has entrusted them with the spiritual oversight of His flock. They are to watch over themselves as well as the flock (Acts 20:28). Many, like this man of God from Judah, have started out well but through deception have been led astray and God Himself, “The Lion of the Tribe of Judah” has been forced to lay them aside.
(Vs.29-32) “So the prophet picked up the body of the man of God, laid it on the donkey, and brought it back to his own city to mourn for him and to bury him. Then he laid the body in his own tomb, and they mourned over him and said, “Oh, my brother!” After burying him, he said to his sons, “When I die, bury me in the grave where the man of God is buried; lay my bones beside his bones. For the message he declared by the Word of the Lord against the altar in Bethel and against all the shrines on the high places in the towns of Samaria will certainly come true.”
Notice two things. Firstly the man of God ended up in the same grave as the lying prophet. So will the end be of those who compromise the Word of God and go along with those who are not rightly dividing the Word of Truth but teaching deception. Secondly, the bones of the lying prophet were to be laid alongside the bones of the true prophet. The real deception of false teachers is that they lay truth alongside with error and so we see that the lying prophet, after his own death, was to be laid alongside the true prophet who in the end had compromised God’s Word. As in life so in death those who teach Truth and error will lie side by side in the grave. The Lion of the Tribe of Judah knows how to take care of His own and at the judgment seat of Christ He will judge according to His own wisdom and insight and distribute His rewards. On that day many who were first in this life will be last and many in this life who were last will be first.
The main lesson of this tragic story is that there are many who start out well in their ministry as leaders of God’s people and are entrusted with the very oracles of God written in His Holy Word. However, through spiritual seduction and deception they are lured away and drawn out from their place of strength under the shelter of the “Oak Tree” of God’s Word. They may have started out well but in the end they will lay alongside the false prophet together in the grave of death. In his parting speech to the elders of Ephesus the Apostle Paul said, “Keep watch over yourselves and all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. Be shepherds of the Church of God, which He brought with His own blood. I know that after I leave. Savage wolves will come in among you and will not spare the flock. Even from your own numbers men will arise and distort the truth in order to draw disciples after them. So be on your guard! Remember that for three years I never stopped warning each of you night and day with tears. Now I commit you to God and to the Word of His grace, which can build you up and give you an inheritance among all those who are sanctified. I have not coveted anyone’s silver or gold or clothing.” (Ephesians 20:28-33)
Epilogue
Whether it is the hype of faith prosperity, the secular marketing strategies of the purpose driven Church, the Emerging Church, Seeker-sensitive, Pensacola, the laughing Revival or the Kingdom Now Dominion movement or any other fad that comes along in the end it is all spiritual deception! It is truth and error laid side by side! All of these movements when thoroughly examined in the light of God’s Word have truth and error mixed together. God Himself says in His Word that He hates a mixture. Some would say, “well the leaders of these movements are teaching many good things and even Biblical truth” and that may be so with some of them but they are mixing truth with error. The Lord Jesus Himself said that, “a little level leavens the whole lump.” In the Bible Leaven represents sin and hypocrisy but also false doctrine as Jesus also said, “Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees.” These leaders had compromised God’s Word and added things that were “teaching for the commandments of God the doctrines of men.”
This man of God from Judah was sent by the Lord with the fire of God’s Word burning hot in his belly. He started out well and was full of God’s power and had the true anointing of God’s Spirit on him unlike many today in the Church who has a false anointing. This man of God from Judah was faithfully proclaiming God’s Word and the Lord I am sure had many more spiritual adventures for him to accomplish. Possibly this man of God was to become another Elijah, who knows, but one thing is sure he was led astray by a prophet with a false anointing who lied to him and persuaded him to join up with him in fellowship.
Today many of God’s leaders have done what the man of God from Judah had done and embraced movements that have compromised God’s Word in some way inevitably going down the same track and leading their people to do the same thing. In the end the results have been disastrous for the Church. The history of the Christian Church is littered with the spiritual corpses of those leaders who once loved God’s Word with a passion but had compromised their stand and have fallen by the wayside. Once the fire burned hotly within them but they allowed the real fire of God to go out on the altar of their hearts and embraced the false and strange fire leading to their ultimate destruction. In the end they had become “Clouds without rain, blown along by the wind (of false doctrines); autumn trees, without fruit and uprooted- twice dead.” They may still have had a fire, like the prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel had, but it was “burning strange fire” a false anointing that not only lead them astray but also the people they led.
Like this man of God from Judah in the end those who embrace unbiblical doctrines and who lay truth and error side by side will lie in the grave of spiritual death alongside those who in this life led them into spiritual deception. In the end those who lead and teach others in the Church will have to give an account to the Lord Jesus Christ personally, “The Lion of the Tribe of Judah” for the things they have taught God’s people.
There are many signs today that clearly indicate that we are in the last days but the one conspicuous feature in the Church is the amount of spiritual deception spreading like Gangrene through the Body of Christ. In Mathew chapter twenty four the Lord Jesus Himself warned about wars, famines, earthquakes and diseases once but warned us about spiritual deception four times. The whole context of His discourse applied to the Church historically, but especially to the last days leading up to His Second Coming. Not only Jesus but the apostles and the prophets clearly warned us that false prophets with a false anointing would be a conspicuous feature of the last days and that, “Because of the increase of wickedness the love of most (Christians) would grow cold.” However, the Lord Jesus also said, “But he that stands firm (has endured) to the end will be saved.”
If you are a leader, a preacher or a teacher and you have compromised the Word of God then it’s not too late while you still breathe. Commit yourself again to the Lord and His Word. Stop seeking the strange fire and, “Seek the Lord while He may be found and call upon Him while He is near” to re-kindle the true fire of the Spirit on the cold altar of your heart. “Rend your heart and not your garment” for “it is time to seek the Lord until He comes and rains righteousness on you!” God’s Word is the true spiritual “grain” that will nourish and keep the soul for heaven and the kingdom to come on the earth but the false and deceptive doctrines are “straw” having no power to keep the soul from spiritual death. Let us all take to heart God’s admonition to Jeremiah. “Let the prophet who has a dream tell his dream, but let the one who has My word speak it faithfully, for what has straw to do with grain?”
