In the pulpit they read, “I am the Lord your God … you shall have no other Gods before Me” (Ex 20:2). And they preach that God is one in three persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. They read in John, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” And in Hebrews they read, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.” Then in their doctrines (statements) of faith they write, “The Bible is the only infallible, authoritative Word of God,” when the Bible claims that Jesus (who is God) is the Word of God. How can they put a book inspired by God before God? That is part of what I call, “Bait and switch preaching.”
On Sunday morning the message is not what is written in the churches rules and regulations, that members are made to sign and follow. There are some that claim God is Father, Son and Holy Spirit but do not teach or enjoy the gifts of the Holy Spirit. There are others that teach the Holy Spirit in the pulpit but bind Him in practice and in the hearts of their flock. “These people draw near to Me with their mouth, and honor Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me. And in vain they worship Me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men” (Matt. 15:8-9). Who is the they? Jesus calls them hypocrites. Of them Jesus prophesied, “Every plant which My heavenly Father has not planted will be uprooted. Let them alone. They are the blind leading the blind, both will fall in the ditch” (Matt. 15:13-14).
The worst of these hypocrites in the pulpit are the ones that abuse their flocks. As a child I saw abuse. The abuser would praise and give glory in public then tear down and ridicule in private. In a sick kind of way, it makes the abused feel they are getting special attention from the abuser. The real intension of the abuser is to keep the abuse a secret and the abused from speaking about it to each other. Because of the public praise and pretenses of the abuser, the abused fears that no one will believe them or that they are somehow inherently bad and deserving of the abuse. There are ministers that preach grace, love, mercy, forgiveness and the gifts of the Spirit in the pulpit and abuse the flock one at a time in private. There are children of God being abused by those claiming to be teaching them Jesus Christ. There are abused broken hearted children of God that stay with an abusive pastor because they fear angering God if they speak against the abuser or they blame themselves and try harder to please the abuser.
Lord, is it time to uproot or to move your children from under the hand of those teaching between two doctrines and/or abusing Your children? There are some pastors that are being changed in their hearts and they are being torn apart by the conflict within their soul. The question is, “Do we leave the children with them?” As a child I wanted someone to take me out of the abuse but no one did and it followed me into my adult life as pain. God has removed it from me and God will have to uproot the abuser or change their heart or move His children. The blind leading the blind almost sounds fitting, but the abuse needs to stop and the children need to be truly loved.
Too often we take the teachings and doctrines of men and hold so tightly to them that we will not hear the Holy Spirit or will not recognize Him as God. During His temptation Jesus told Satan that man does not live by bread alone, but every Word that proceeds from the mouth of God. If we do not hear the Holy Spirit or we ignore Him, we are not hearing the Word from the mouth of God. Jesus Christ is our righteousness and the Holy Spirit our comforter. Jesus Christ is the Word of God and the Holy Spirit His voice given to bring us understanding. Jesus Christ is our healer and the Holy Spirit brings to us gifts, and one gift is healing. The Bible is written words inspired by God and delivered by the Holy Spirit, but with the understanding of men it is not understood and not infallible. The Holy Spirit brings to us understanding. By hearing and obeying the voice of God we go on from salvation into the glory God has designed for us. Our perfection is giving God the glory and not our own understanding. The Holy Spirit is God and brings God’s Word, Jesus, into us to dwell. Hear the voice of God.