Day 2605 of the 7 day Bible verse challenge.

Matthew 4:9 NIV

All of this false teaching is built upon one of the oldest tricks in the book. Luring people in with all these incredible promises. Limitless freedom. Worldly acclaim. Social approval. Health. Wealth. Happiness. Fulfilled desires. It's not hard to offer up something that appeals to the masses. This world is full of things that we have all been taught are valuable, important, and fulfilling. But in reality, it's just worldly stuff. As great as someone else may think it is, it will all end up as dust and ashes.

Yet, there are people who are only out to find that worldly stuff. They want the approval. They want the silver and gold. They want the lives free from sickness and pain. They want to be like the world because that's the only way they know of to feel like they're loved, like they belong, like they matter. And those chains are hard break! We're stuck here for the moment and this world may be our home for a long while still to come. So this is all we've known. But that doesn't mean that's all there is!

We've been talking about the dangers of this prosperity gospel that many speakers are sharing. We've discussed the wickedness in trying to progress the Gospel in order to improve its appeal to our modern world. But all it really is is taking a trick out of the devil's playbook, putting some lipstick on it, and passing it off as righteous. It's a pretty lie that is designed to get people to let their guards down with the promise that everything will be just fine if they just believe in what someone else tells them.

This quote from the devil is from when he was tempting Christ. Took Him to the top of a mountain and offered Him everything His eyes could see. Offered Him every kingdom of the world in all their splendor. Offered Him the entire world if Christ would simply bow down and worship the devil. Do we not see the similarities in this new pretty version of Christianity that so many are selling? They're offering people everything they could ever want if they'll just put their trust in what the speakers are saying.

But much of what the speakers are saying is built upon shaky principles that are taken out of context from the Bible by cherry-picking the pretty parts and spinning everything to focus more on us and what we want instead of focusing on God and who He calls us to be.

Friends, we're fools if we blindly believe what someone else tells us without researching and thinking for ourselves. The fact of the matter is that false prophets, false teachers, wolves in sheep's clothing are all around us. But they don't wear signs that tell people who they are. They don't dress in filthy clothes that are torn up and marked with devilish symbols. They wear fancy suits, drive nice cars, speak eloquently, and seem to have this passionate power in their message that always manages to include exactly what we want to hear.

They used to say that if something was too good to be true that it probably was. Nowadays, if it's too good to be true it's probably incredibly popular and widely believed. If it's too good to be true, you may hear it while sitting in a pew surrounded by thousands of other people who are looking for the same health, wealth, and lives of ease and comfort that everyone else on earth is looking for. That's why many of these massive churches are so popular. Because they're selling a message that is incredibly popular, not necessarily one that's incredible true.

Folks, what do we gain if we're given the whole world yet have to forfeit our souls? What do we benefit from an easy life filled with everything we've ever wanted? Is it worth putting your faith in these pretty sounding promises if they turn out to be lies that kept you distracted from the real truth of the real Gospel? The bottom line is that God's word never said that these lives would be easy. We've never been promised a life without pain or struggle. He doesn't reel us in by promising to meet every worldly desire that we've had. He reels us in by helping us see through the smoke and mirrors to the lies that are underneath all these worldly desires.

We should be able to trust people. We should be able to trust that our leaders and teachers have our best interests in mind. We should be able to rely on people to be honest and truthful. But those things are more rare than we would ever imagine. This world is incredibly broken and we'd be better off if we take on more responsibility to personally make sure we're doing what is absolutely right as opposed to simply trusting in someone else to not lead us down the wrong path.

Make no mistake, the devil hasn't stopped offering this offer. But he's not only offering it to those who venture down dark alleyways late at night. Sadly, he's even offering it from a pulpit these days. So please be careful what you believe. Please be aware that not everything is as it seems. There is evil in this world, and we cannot risk assuming it's only on the bad side of town or in seedy bars. It's all around us. Evil is pervasive and it's even sneaking into the church and the messages that some speakers have sold their souls to share in the attempt to reach more people, but not with the truth as we're called to do.

As much as we may prefer it some other way, it just shouldn't be easy. It shouldn't be comfortable. These lives shouldn't be filled with everything we want. We shouldn't expect a life free from illness and injury. We shouldn't expect to live like kings in this place because the cost of doing so may very well be our eternal peace. Just remember that this world may offer us all kinds of different things. But there's one thing that can never be found down here, and that's salvation. Don't trade your eternal hope for a fading kingdom of lies and empty promises.

#LeaveNoSoulUntold