As I realize that my podcast on Misleading Pastors and Prophets may have been a bit strong-winded for some, I felt led to do a follow-up. In this episode of the Innocence Redeemed podcast, I will explain what my reasons were behind that and I put emphasis on the reason why many are going into a wilderness, the refinement that the Lord requires and I explain the parable of the prodigal son returning to his father as it pertains to us Christians returning to the Lord when we have wandered down the backslidden path.
I also put it into perspective on how they are both tied together in many cases in the sense that the Lord desires not only to show us something, but how to put your full trust in HIM. Please note, this is not the part 2 on apathy and indifference that I said I will be working on.
In the podcast I could not recall the name of the movie I had seen, but I did find it. I have since found the trailer and it is titled, “A Long Way Off.’
Verses as I made reference to them or quoted in this podcast;
1 Peter 1:7 (NLT)
7 These trials will show that your faith is genuine. It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold—though your faith is far more precious than mere gold. So when your faith remains strong through many trials, it will bring you much praise and glory and honor on the day when Jesus Christ is revealed to the whole world.
1 Peter 5:6-7, 10 (NLT)
6 So humble yourselves under the mighty power of God, and at the right time he will lift you up in honor.
7 Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you.
10 In his kindness God called you to share in his eternal glory by means of Christ Jesus. So after you have suffered a little while, he will restore, support, and strengthen you, and he will place you on a firm foundation.
1 John 5:17-18 (NLT)
17 All wicked actions are sin, but not every sin leads to death.
18 We know that God’s children do not make a practice of sinning, for God’s Son holds them securely, and the evil one cannot touch them.
2 Corinthians 6:14-17 (NLT)
14 Don’t team up with those who are unbelievers. How can righteousness be a partner with wickedness? How can light live with darkness?
15 What harmony can there be between Christ and the devil? How can a believer be a partner with an unbeliever?
16 And what union can there be between God’s temple and idols?
For we are the temple of the living God. As God said:
“I will live in them
and walk among them.
I will be their God,
and they will be my people.
17 Therefore, come out from among unbelievers, and separate yourselves from them, says the Lord. Don’t touch their filthy things, and I will welcome you.
2 Corinthians 11:29-31 (NLT)
29 Who is weak without my feeling that weakness? Who is led astray, and I do not burn with anger?
30 If I must boast, I would rather boast about the things that show how weak I am.
31 God, the Father of our Lord Jesus, who is worthy of eternal praise, knows I am not lying.
1 Peter 4:7-8, 12-13 (NLT)
7 The end of the world is coming soon. Therefore, be earnest and disciplined in your prayers.
8 Most important of all, continue to show deep love for each other, for love covers a multitude of sins.
12 Dear friends, don’t be surprised at the fiery trials you are going through, as if something strange were happening to you.
13 Instead, be very glad—for these trials make you partners with Christ in his suffering, so that you will have the wonderful joy of seeing his glory when it is revealed to all the world.
2 Peter 3:8-10 (NLT)
8 But you must not forget this one thing, dear friends: A day is like a thousand years to the Lord, and a thousand years is like a day.
9 The Lord isn’t really being slow about his promise, as some people think. No, he is being patient for your sake. He does not want anyone to be destroyed, but wants everyone to repent.
10 But the day of the Lord will come as unexpectedly as a thief. Then the heavens will pass away with a terrible noise, and the very elements themselves will disappear in fire, and the earth and everything on it will be found to deserve judgment.
Colossians 2:11 (NLT)
11 When you came to Christ, you were “circumcised,” but not by a physical procedure. Christ performed a spiritual circumcision—the cutting away of your sinful nature.
Deuteronomy 30:6 (NLT)
6 “The Lord your God will change your heart and the hearts of all your descendants, so that you will love him with all your heart and soul and so you may live!
Ephesians 5:17 (NLT)
17 Don’t act thoughtlessly, but understand what the Lord wants you to do.
Jeremiah 6:16 (NLT)
16 This is what the LORD says: “Stop at the crossroads and look around. Ask for the old, godly way, and walk in it. Travel its path, and you will find rest for your souls. But you reply, ‘No, that’s not the road we want!’
John 8:24-25 (NLT)
24 That is why I said that you will die in your sins; for unless you believe that I am who I claim to be, you will die in your sins.”
25 “Who are you?” they demanded. Jesus replied, “The one I have always claimed to be.
Ezekiel 3: 17-27 (NLT)
17 “Son of man, I have appointed you as a watchman for Israel. Whenever you receive a message from me, warn people immediately.
18 If I warn the wicked, saying, ‘You are under the penalty of death,’ but you fail to deliver the warning, they will die in their sins. And I will hold you responsible for their deaths.
19 If you warn them and they refuse to repent and keep on sinning, they will die in their sins. But you will have saved yourself because you obeyed me.
20 “If righteous people turn away from their righteous behavior and ignore the obstacles I put in their way, they will die. And if you do not warn them, they will die in their sins. None of their righteous acts will be remembered, and I will hold you responsible for their deaths.
21 But if you warn righteous people not to sin and they listen to you and do not sin, they will live, and you will have saved yourself, too.”
22 Then the Lord took hold of me and said, “Get up and go out into the valley, and I will speak to you there.”
23 So I got up and went, and there I saw the glory of the Lord, just as I had seen in my first vision by the Kebar River. And I fell face down on the ground.
24 Then the Spirit came into me and set me on my feet. He spoke to me and said, “Go to your house and shut yourself in.
25 There, son of man, you will be tied with ropes so you cannot go out among the people.
26 And I will make your tongue stick to the roof of your mouth so that you will be speechless and unable to rebuke them, for they are rebels.
27 But when I give you a message, I will loosen your tongue and let you speak. Then you will say to them, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says!’ Those who choose to listen will listen, but those who refuse will refuse, for they are rebels.
Isaiah 1:18 (NLT)
18 “Come now, let’s settle this,” says the LORD. “Though your sins are like scarlet, I will make them as white as snow. Though they are red like crimson, I will make them as white as wool.
Matthew 10:35-38 (NLT)
35 For I have come to ‘set a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law’; 36 and ‘a man’s enemies will be those of his own household.’
37 He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. 38 And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me.
Matthew 11: 28-30 (NLT)
28 “Come to Me, all who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.
29 Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.
30 For My yoke is comfortable, and My burden is light.”
Luke 15:12-32 (NLT)
12 The younger son told his father, ‘I want my share of your estate now before you die.’ So his father agreed to divide his wealth between his sons.
13 “A few days later this younger son packed all his belongings and moved to a distant land, and there he wasted all his money in wild living. 14 About the time his money ran out, a great famine swept over the land, and he began to starve. 15 He persuaded a local farmer to hire him, and the man sent him into his fields to feed the pigs. 16 The young man became so hungry that even the pods he was feeding the pigs looked good to him. But no one gave him anything.
17 “When he finally came to his senses, he said to himself, ‘At home even the hired servants have food enough to spare, and here I am dying of hunger! 18 I will go home to my father and say, “Father, I have sinned against both heaven and you, 19 and I am no longer worthy of being called your son. Please take me on as a hired servant.”’
20 “So he returned home to his father. And while he was still a long way off, his father saw him coming. Filled with love and compassion, he ran to his son, embraced him, and kissed him. 21 His son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against both heaven and you, and I am no longer worthy of being called your son.’
22 “But his father said to the servants, ‘Quick! Bring the finest robe in the house and put it on him. Get a ring for his finger and sandals for his feet. 23 And kill the calf we have been fattening. We must celebrate with a feast, 24 for this son of mine was dead and has now returned to life. He was lost, but now he is found.’ So the party began.
25 “Meanwhile, the older son was in the fields working. When he returned home, he heard music and dancing in the house, 26 and he asked one of the servants what was going on. 27 ‘Your brother is back,’ he was told, ‘and your father has killed the fattened calf. We are celebrating because of his safe return.’
28 “The older brother was angry and wouldn’t go in. His father came out and begged him, 29 but he replied, ‘All these years I’ve slaved for you and never once refused to do a single thing you told me to. And in all that time you never gave me even one young goat for a feast with my friends. 30 Yet when this son of yours comes back after squandering your money on prostitutes, you celebrate by killing the fattened calf!’
31 “His father said to him, ‘Look, dear son, you have always stayed by me, and everything I have is yours. 32 We had to celebrate this happy day. For your brother was dead and has come back to life! He was lost, but now he is found!’”
Luke 21:34-36 (NLT)
34 “Watch out! Don’t let your hearts be dulled by carousing and drunkenness, and by the worries of this life. Don’t let that day catch you unaware, 35 like a trap. For that day will come upon everyone living on the earth.
36 Keep alert at all times. And pray that you might be strong enough to escape these coming horrors and stand before the Son of Man.”
Malachi 3:2-3 (NLT)
2 “But who will be able to endure it when he comes? Who will be able to stand and face him when he appears? For he will be like a blazing fire that refines metal, or like a strong soap that bleaches clothes.
3 He will sit like a refiner of silver, burning away the dross. He will purify the Levites, refining them like gold and silver, so that they may once again offer acceptable sacrifices to the Lord.
Proverbs 3:5-6 (NLT)
5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding.
6 Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take.
Proverbs 6:16-19 (NLT)
16 There are six things the Lord hates— no, seven things he detests:
17 haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that kill the innocent,
18 a heart that plots evil, feet that race to do wrong,
19 a false witness who pours out lies, a person who sows discord in a family.
Psalm 34:8 (NLT)
8 Taste and see that the Lord is good. Oh, the joys of those who take refuge in him!
Psalm 46:1 (NLT)
God is our refuge and strength, always ready to help in times of trouble.
Psalm 66: 10-12 (NLT)
10 You have tested us, O God;
you have purified us like silver.
11 You captured us in your net
and laid the burden of slavery on our backs.
12 Then you put a leader over us.
We went through fire and flood,
but you brought us to a place of great abundance.
Revelation 3:18 (NLT)
18 So I advise you to buy gold from me—gold that has been purified by fire. Then you will be rich. Also buy white garments from me so you will not be shamed by your nakedness, and ointment for your eyes so you will be able to see.
Revelation 13:16-18 (NLT)
16 He required everyone—small and great, rich and poor, free and slave—to be given a mark on the right hand or on the forehead.
17 And no one could buy or sell anything without that mark, which was either the name of the beast or the number representing his name.
18 Wisdom is needed here. Let the one with understanding solve the meaning of the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man. His number is 666.
Romans 10:13 (NLT)
13 For “Everyone who calls on the name of the LORD will be saved.
2 Thessalonians 2: 3-4 (KJV)
3 Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;
4 Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God.
Matthew 16:25 (NLT)
25 If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake, you will save it.
Matthew 4:1-11 (NLT)
Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted there by the devil.
2 For forty days and forty nights he fasted and became very hungry.
3 During that time the devil came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become loaves of bread.”
4 But Jesus told him, “No! The Scriptures say,
‘People do not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”
5 Then the devil took him to the holy city, Jerusalem, to the highest point of the Temple, 6 and said, “If you are the Son of God, jump off! For the Scriptures say,
‘He will order his angels to protect you.
And they will hold you up with their hands
so you won’t even hurt your foot on a stone.’”
7 Jesus responded, “The Scriptures also say, ‘You must not test the Lord your God.’”
8 Next the devil took him to the peak of a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory.
9 “I will give it all to you,” he said, “if you will kneel down and worship me.”
10 “Get out of here, Satan,” Jesus told him. “For the Scriptures say,
‘You must worship the Lord your God
and serve only him.’”
11 Then the devil went away, and angels came and took care of Jesus.
James 4:6-7 (NLT)
6 And he gives grace generously. As the Scriptures say,
“God opposes the proudbut gives grace to the humble.”
7 So humble yourselves before God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
Matthew 19:29 (NLT)
29 And everyone who has given up houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or property, for my sake, will receive a hundred times as much in return and will inherit eternal life.
Revelation 16:15 (NLT)
15 “Look, I will come as unexpectedly as a thief! Blessed are all who are watching for me, who keep their clothing ready so they will not have to walk around naked and ashamed.”
Brother, you did just fine. I support you fully in ramping it up a notch. There’s nothing wrong with being bold. There’s also nothing wrong with naming and shaming without apology the treachery of those serving to destroy souls while raking in cash and flaunting it in the faces of those in need of real encouragement and real spiritual understanding and discernment.
Thank you for your support brother. I don’t like having to use anyone specifically as an example but sometimes for an understanding to be had, a contrast must be made and we are at a very crucial cross-roads. We have to clang the pots and pans together, so to speak, and say, ‘Hey! Look! The groom is coming for His bride! But first comes the wedding dress rehearsal (all the things the Lord told us in Matthew 24) Quick! Get into the ark! Get that oil in your lamp to ride out the storm!’
It really is later than most want to admit or believe and this my friend is where belief enters into the equation.
Great podcast Ray, thank you and I fully agree with what you say. There’s no room for sitting on the fence – we are to be ‘all in’ for God. He doesn’t want lukewarmness. Regards, Audrey.