27 March 2013 by Natasha Kim CM –
Satan disguises himself as the angel of light! and as the servant of righteousness. He comes well dressed, well mannered, and speaking beautiful words, that’s why so many people are deceived today. Jesus warns us against deception.
In Luke 21:8 –“Watch out that you are not deceived. For many will come in my name, claiming, 'I am he,' and, 'The time is near.' Do not follow them.”
Let no one deceive you with empty words. “We can even be self deceived; pride is a form of self deception.” Dennis said. 1 Corinthians 3:18 says, “Do not deceive yourselves. If any of you think you are wise by the standards of this age, you should become "fools" so that you may become wise.”
He added that people need to continually learn, continually confess their sins in order to find forgiveness and to practice righteousness. Dennis warned us to beware of charismatic leaders that will lead you to destruction and said, “They’re very good speakers and very “charismatic” in the way they attract people. We see that today in the Church, especially in the Charismatic Churches because we are very free, we have no denominational control.” Dennis said. Do not get him wrong, he is also charismatic but he’s speaking of the deception he has seen with his own eyes in the world today.
Dennis then started talking about the several leaders that has caused hurt in the world. One of them was the notorious Jim Jones who led the Peoples Temple Cult. He knew him as he went to one of the churches he was associated with in Detroit. He remembers the Pastor there calling Jim out of the thousands of people and said to him, “Sir! The Lord told me that you are not of God and you’re a cult leader. You’re going to go from here to San Francisco and start a terrible cult and when you die hundreds of people will die with you” He remembers him being very mad and leaving the Church. The prophecy came true as Jim opened up the “People’s Temple” not long after. “They were almost all charismatic people and they followed him because he was such a good speaker. This man spoke in tongues and prophesized.” In 1978, Jones caused thousands of his members to die by committing suicide by drinking poison punch.
Then there was Marshall Applewhite who started a religion called “The Heavens Gate” (an American UFO religion doomsday cult). He made the people think that they were going to go to heaven by a comet and caused 39 people to commit suicide to go to heaven.
Bringing the story closer to home, he also talked about a powerful evangelist who is violently against the Holy Spirit or speaking in tongues. “He teaches reformed theology, philosophy and comes against every spirit filled minister.” Dennis said. He added that he has done more damage to the Church in China than any other man in living history! This man he was talking about was a Chinese pastor that comes to Malaysia every week to preach.
Colossians 2:8 – See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the elemental spiritual forces of this world rather than on Christ.
How to Avoid the Deception of Cults
Infiltrating the communist party and exposing anti-charismatic’s is what Dennis does. He exposes cults for who they are and tells all to know God’s Word and to stand vigilant. “Our message is Jesus Christ.” he said.
Do not be worried but trust in the Lord. There are many more that teach false doctrines. In order to avoid the deception of cults, Dennis encourages us to look at the five fold ministry. A concept that comes from Ephesians 4:11, "It was he who gave some to be (1) apostles, some to be (2) prophets, some to be (3) evangelists, and some to be (4) pastors and (5) teachers.” It exists to tell us that we need to be under a pastor and all the above because they will protect you and teach you that you should no longer be tossed around, and so that you will grow into mature Christians.
Ephesians 4:12-13 tells us that the purpose of the five-fold ministry is, "to prepare God's people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ."
Dennis shared that, “The most important thing is that you value the truth! Because the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Truth.” According to the Bible, the truth is in the Word of God because in the beginning there was the Word, the Word was with God, the Word was/is God. Deceivers will take everything from you and they do it the dishonest way, there’s money behind all of this.
Pray for the gifts of discerning of the spirit. To receive this, you need to receive the Baptist of the Holy Spirit and praying in the Holy Spirit (praying in tongues) to increase your faith. The Holy Spirit will teach us, if you have this you need not be fearful. This powerful sermon from Rev. Dennis Balcombe ended with many coming up to the alter to be prayed for. Many left the service being filled with the Spirit.
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