Last week we delved more into what a church of Sardis deceitful tactics could look like. Over the course of this last year, we have looked at spiritual abuse, self-deception in the church, how the pulpit is being abused by man through innuendo, as well as recently looking at deceitful campaigns manipulating church congregations.

Well, we are going to share another tactic a Church of Sardis could be caught up in. A church was under scrutiny and investigation. While that investigation was taking place the pulpit was rife with innuendo and ungodly talk. We never heard from God from the pulpit, however what we did hear were threats and all kinds of messages that contained hidden meaning. Again, the congregation oblivious to know what is going on behind the scenes, they are fickle.

While the investigation was running it was decided by that church that was under scrutiny to deliver a preaching series. What did they do right in the middle of an investigation? They used the pulpit to threaten.

The teaching series was labelled with a graphic of a headstone and a grave. What were church leaders trying to convey through innuendo to the ones bringing the investigation. It goes like this. If you carry on with this investigation, we will stick you in your grave. How very loving of them! Here is an example of that graphic.

The pulpit is a sacred place. It is where we want to hear from God to be convicted by Him to help sanctify us, not to hear threats from man who want to muster up anxiety and fear in people because they are under investigation trying to scare people off the road. This tactic is ungodly. We are to fear no other thing except for God. This tactic is spiritual abuse!

We are sorry if you have been up against this kind of abuse. However, we know one thing. Turn to God in all of it. Pray about it and pray specifically. Habakkuk in the Old Testament was a prayerful person who prayed specifically, he complained to God and when he thought God was taking no notice, God showed up. So, keep praying and pray some more.

Our God is a loving God; he does not threaten us as man threatens us. He is not afraid to call out churches for wrongdoing which was evident in Revelation 3. Read it for yourselves.

The good news about the churches that Jesus called out in Revelation 3 in each case of Smyrna, Pergamum, Sardis, Thyatira and Laodicea is this, He said REPENT. Jesus gives them a chance to turn from their false humility.

Your prayers can lead churches to repentance and to a place where truth and justice matter. A place where the pulpit is where we hear from God and what He wants us to hear, not the innuendoes of man trying to protect themselves in their own strength.

Keep praying and pray some more and wait and see what happens! Things will happen BECAUSE prayer is powerful, and God is listening to you.

As Jesus said the end times will come. We do not know the time when Jesus will return. However, Jesus did tell us the signs that will be present on His imminent return. Specifically in Matthew 24.

Jesus specifically says that signs of the end times are wars taking place and rumours of war. Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. Jesus goes on to further explain that there will be earthquakes, famines and pestilences. He says that many will betray one another and hate one another, false prophets will rise and deceive many.

In Matthew 7 Jesus gives clear instruction on what true and false disciples look like. Specifically in Matthew 7 v 15 as displayed:

15 “Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves.”

Are these signs prevalent today?

Absolutely! Since Israel was formed as a state in 1948 there has been nothing but rumours of war, famines, earthquakes and plenty of false prophets. False prophets look like Christians, they smell like Christians, BUT they are not, they are FAKE!

The book of Amos

We have read through the book of Amos, and it is amazing to see how God still uses the Old Testament today to help us understand that He has seen it all before, and likens todays situations to what we are experiencing today.

Amos was a prophet and a fig tree farmer. He lived in a time where the kingdom of Israel was split in two. The northern and the southern kingdom. Jeroboam was the king of Northern Israel during AMOS’ life. Jeroboam generated lots of wealth and won many battles, however the prophets were not in his favour.

Jeroboam allowed the worship of false Gods and ignored matters of Justice and the neglect of the poor. In fact, he allowed the poor to be sold into slavery. All of this was detestable in the Lords eyes so He would go about and deal with it all.

In Amos 5 v 21 to 22 the Lord says this:

“I hate, I despise your religious festivals; your assemblies are a stench to me.

22 Even though you bring me burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them. Though you bring choice fellowship offerings, I will have no regard for them.”

God is saying their faith is a SHAM! Their faith is religious! What God is saying is that Israel just went through the motions of practicing faith but with no conviction. They went to the festivals not in reverence of God, but just to go and turn up, and say well I did it and when they leave, they will go about their lives living in deceit and carrying out unjust acts and forget all about God. This was not what God intended.

For the error of their ways God says He has no regard for their offerings, they are a stench to Him. God through Amos warned Amaziah a priest of Bethel that Jeroboam king of Israel will die by the sword, and Israel will go into exile away from their native land.

Here is that passage in scripture specifically.

Amos 7 v 10 to 11

10 Then Amaziah the priest of Bethel sent a message to Jeroboam king of Israel: “Amos is raising a conspiracy against you in the very heart of Israel. The land cannot bear all his words. 11 For this is what Amos is saying:

“‘Jeroboam will die by the sword,

and Israel will surely go into exile,

away from their native land.’”

How was the news delivered by Amos greeted by Amaziah? It was greeted with distain. Amaziah told Amos to remove himself and go back to where he came from. Here is the scripture specifically in Amos 7 v 12 to 13 shown below:

12 Then Amaziah said to Amos, “Get out, you seer! Go back to the land of Judah. Earn your bread there and do your prophesying there. 13 Don’t prophesy anymore at Bethel, because this is the king’s sanctuary and the temple of the kingdom.”

The truth was clearly a hard thing to bear, and it fell on deaf ears, why? Because instead of repenting of their ways, they continued in false humility, however God brought the exile of Israel as He promised back in Amos 5 v 27 as shown below:

“Therefore, I will send you into exile beyond Damascus,”

says the Lord, whose name is God Almighty.”

Conclusion

Now this is going to be a long conclusion. How is the book of Amos speaking to us today? The book of Amos should still be heeded with respect. Yes, it is an Old Testament book. However, it confirms that there is nothing new under the sun, God has seen it all before, where so called believers are congregating together even in New Testament times that are displaying false humility. Basically, where church meetings are a sham!

Jesus was not afraid to call out the faults of churches as we know from the book of Revelation. In Revelation 3 Jesus talked of the Church of Sardis. He called them out saying that they appeared alive, but they were actually dead. Let’s take a specific look of what Gods word says in Revelation 3.

Revelation 3

3 “To the angel of the church in Sardis write:

These are the words of him who holds the seven spirits of God and the seven stars. I know your deeds; you have a reputation of being alive, but you are dead. 2 Wake up! Strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have found your deeds unfinished in the sight of my God. 3 Remember, therefore, what you have received and heard; hold it fast, and repent. But if you do not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what time I will come to you.

4 Yet you have a few people in Sardis who have not soiled their clothes. They will walk with me, dressed in white, for they are worthy. 5 The one who is victorious will, like them, be dressed in white. I will never blot out the name of that person from the book of life, but will acknowledge that name before my Father and his angels. 6 Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches.”

How is this similar to the days of Amos. Worshippers in Amos’ day would gather, but their faith was dead. It could be said that today so-called believers are gathering but again their faith is dead. We are seeing the end time signs as Jesus spoke of in Matthew 24, for example false prophets showing themselves in plain sight.

We must be vigilant that we are following the Lord and His plan for our lives and His church, we must be careful who we are listening to because Jesus has warned us to watch out for false prophets. False prophets could be leading the church into an artificial state picking and choosing scriptures to follow and also introducing destructive heresies. A church that is manmade not Holy Spirit grown. A church where we hear from man from the pulpit and not God.

Again, God says it clearly once more about false teachers in 2 Peter 2, here is what Peter said.

“But there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the sovereign Lord who bought them—bringing swift destruction on themselves. 2 Many will follow their depraved conduct and will bring the way of truth into disrepute. 3 In their greed these teachers will exploit you with fabricated stories. Their condemnation has long been hanging over them, and their destruction has not been sleeping.”

The word of God mentions many times of God’s love for us, we know that! But it also speaks of scriptures in 2 Peter 2 v 1 – 3 about false teachers and how we should be wise to them. So how can you protect yourself and your church. Pray for your leaders and pray that they are good stewards of what God has entrusted them with, or if you suspect a false prophet in your mist then pray for them as well. Ask God to protect you and His church.

The good news about the churches that Jesus called out in Revelation in each case of Smyrna, Pergamum, Sardis, Thyatira and Laodicea is this, He said REPENT. Jesus gives them a chance to turn from their false humility.

Your prayers can lead churches to repentance and to a place where truth and justice matter. A place where the pulpit is where we hear from God and what He wants us to hear, not the innuendoes of man trying to protect themselves in their own strength.

Keep praying and pray some more and wait and see what happens! Things will happen BECAUSE prayer is powerful and God is listening to you.

We know we have been talking about the book of Revelation over many months. But we want to go a little further. We have been talking about artificial churches, spiritual abuse and a lot more, everything a church of Sardis can be caught up in.

Next up let’s look a little bit more deeply at things. We wrote a while back about the pulpit and how we want to hear from God and not innuendoes from man. Well sadly the pulpit is not just being abused from preaches and sermons, it is being abused in many forms.

For example, one church had come under scrutiny suspected of malicious practice. An investigation took place. We won’t go into what for, but at the end of the day they were put under investigation. Obviously, church has to continue, and the church carried on with their Sunday services until the investigation concluded.

While that investigation was under way, the church decided to put a little praise God campaign together. Cards were put on to every seat in the church and congregants were asked to write on them what they were thankful to God for and what they could praise God for. Cards like the one shown below. This campaign was announced from the pulpit.

What were they really up to?

Because the church was under investigation leaders were hunting for information. They wanted intelligence, they asked the congregation to write information down on these cards purely to fish for information and anything that could help them with the investigation that was going on behind the scenes. A complete manipulation of a fickle congregation.

This is a church of Sardis tactic. For those of you who don’t know what the church of Sardis is, let’s explain this to you. In the book of Revelation Jesus pointed out faults in churches. One of them was the church of Sardis. Jesus specifically told them that although they appeared alive, their church was actually dead. Here is the scripture specifically shown below.

Revelation 3

3 “To the angel of the church in Sardis write:

These are the words of him who holds the seven spirits of God and the seven stars. I know your deeds; you have a reputation of being alive, but you are dead. 2 Wake up! Strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have found your deeds unfinished in the sight of my God. 3 Remember, therefore, what you have received and heard; hold it fast, and repent. But if you do not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what time I will come to you.

4 Yet you have a few people in Sardis who have not soiled their clothes. They will walk with me, dressed in white, for they are worthy. 5 The one who is victorious will, like them, be dressed in white. I will never blot out the name of that person from the book of life, but will acknowledge that name before my Father and his angels. 6 Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches.”

Because of the times we are in you will probably see more than one church of Sardis. When you see praise campaigns and cards left on your seat, think about such things, are they campaigns carried out with genuine motives to glorify God, or are the leaders who run the church so in fault and up to their necks in trouble they are just desperately in need of intelligence, and a little snippet of information can come from the congregation through writing on these cards that can be used to get them off the hook.

What are they doing? Manipulating a congregation and the congregation is fickle and oblivious to know what is really going on, and why they are being asked to fill in cards like the one shown above.

Pray and pray some more about deceitful schemes in the church. From fallen leaders or flat-out false prophets who do not care about the poor, do nothing to seek justice and are far from God. The church may appear alive but actually it is dead, and care about all of the things that are actually detestable to God.

Your prayers can help detract leaders from carrying out such deceitful campaigns, not trusting God for protection, but trying to save themselves in their own strength, or are a part of dark schemes to cause chaos in the church. Keep praying about such things because the Bible says no scheme of the enemy will ever prevail against Gods plans.

Before we get into this article, we want to say that there are good leaders out there, well done to all the leaders who work tirelessly to lead out of integrity. However, we are in a day and age where abuses do happen in churches because of leaders whose consciouses have been seared with a hot iron, as described in 1 Timothy 4 v 2.           

“Such teachings come through hypocritical liars, whose consciences have been seared as with a hot iron.”

We are going to help you spot self-deception in churches so that you will be wise not to be deceived. We are going to discuss Luke 16. In verses 14 to 15 Jesus has clearly ruffled the feathers of the pharisee. Here are those verses.

14 “The Pharisees, who loved money, heard all this and were sneering at Jesus. 15 He said to them, “You are the ones who justify yourselves in the eyes of others, but God knows your hearts. What people value highly is detestable in God’s sight.”

Why did the pharisee ridicule Jesus? In the beginning of Luke 16 Jesus was talking about money like it is not the most important thing in this life or His, when you should actually be investing the gifts that you have for eternity.

What the pharisee believed was this, that the presence of wealth meant you had the approval of God. If you had lots of money, if you wore nice clothes or had lots of material possessions then people would look at you and would be like, wow, these people are blessed by God. They must be blessed by God. This is why the pharisee loved money.

But Jesus exposes what the pharisee are guilty of in Luke 16 v 15. The pharisee said that they justify the things they do, the things that they say, the things that they believe predicated on the fact that they have a lot of money or material wealth, so whatever they do is RIGHT. Jesus is saying that kind of thinking is wrong, He is saying that the pharisee are indulging in dangerous self-deception.

Does it apply to today’s times?

Absolutely. The church is full of leaders, they may not be called pharisee these days, leaders are called all kinds of things, from Pastors, Vicars, Priests, office managers, and the list goes on.

The point is are leaders justifying themselves before man, from media platforms such as the pulpit, social media and others to say look at all the money we have, see how blessed we are by God, everything we do is RIGHT. They post on social media and say things like, “that was such a powerful sermon delivered by this person”, and that Gods presence was undeniable here today.

They put out calls wanting people to get baptised, so that they can flaunt them in front of man saying we are blessed by God. But what they are doing is indulging in massive self-deception, not only deceiving themselves but deceiving others around them. These kinds of leaders are saying NEVER QUESTION US WE ARE BLESSED BY GOD! Adding to the artificial church.

Jesus was clear in the gospel of Matthew specifically in Matthew 7:15.

“Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves.”

Again, God says it clearly once more about false teachers in 2 Peter 2, here is what Peter said.

“But there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the sovereign Lord who bought them—bringing swift destruction on themselves. 2 Many will follow their depraved conduct and will bring the way of truth into disrepute. 3 In their greed these teachers will exploit you with fabricated stories. Their condemnation has long been hanging over them, and their destruction has not been sleeping.”

We must be ever careful and test everything that is said to us and submit them to God, whether that be things said by Pastors, Priests, office mangers or whoever. Why? Because Jesus once again was clear in the book of Revelation where he called out the church of Sardis.

Here is the scripture specifically detailing the problem at the Church in Sardis in Revelation 3 v 1 – 6.

“To the angel of the church in Sardis write: These are the words of him who holds the seven spirits of God and the seven stars. I know your deeds; you have a reputation of being alive, but you are dead. 2 Wake up! Strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have found your deeds unfinished in the sight of my God. 3 Remember, therefore, what you have received and heard; hold it fast, and repent. But if you do not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what time I will come to you.

4 Yet you have a few people in Sardis who have not soiled their clothes. They will walk with me, dressed in white, for they are worthy. 5 The one who is victorious will, like them, be dressed in white. I will never blot out the name of that person from the book of life, but will acknowledge that name before my Father and his angels. 6 Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches.”

Do you see? Churches and leaders out there could well look alive but inwardly are dead. They are the kind of churches that are indulging in massive self-deception. They think they are always RIGHT, because they have the designer clothes, the money, the material wealth, however Jesus says these things count for nothing in Luke 16 if your heart is not in the right place.

So, lets bring this plane in to land. If you think you are in a church that is dealing in self-deception and using big words to tell you they are blessed by God, or flaunting wealth, then there could be a problem. What do the pearls of wisdom say specifically in Proverbs 18:6.

“The lips of fools bring them strife, and their mouths invite a beating.”

The pharisee’s did not heed this proverb, their mouths invited a beating with self-deceptive words. But it was Jesus who came out triumphant in His resurrection.

So, pray and pray some more. Leaders who have fallen will likely not adhere to scripture such as Matthew 18 v 15:

15 “If your brother or sister sins, go and point out their fault, just between the two of you. If they listen to you, you have won them over.

In other words, they won’t have the strength in God to have a face to face, a discussion, because, they will already have justified themselves saying look at how we are blessed by God, we are RIGHT in everything we are doing, so we don’t need to have any discussions. It is a form of spiritual abuse. They are as arrogant as the pharisee were as highlighted in Luke 16.

This is why praying is so important! So pray for your leaders because God will intercede for you. We know just how powerful praying for your leaders is to help the church. Let prayer be the engine of your life for the wellbeing of the church.

We are always vigilant in our prayers. We are a church here at Canton Community Church that prays fervently. Well, we have answers to prayers this week that have brought great joy to which the Lord deserves all the glory.

The Lord has healed two people. One of bowel cancer and the other of prostate cancer.

They have come through their treatment and have been told that the cancer they had is no longer present by professional doctors in the NHS. They are healed. Here are the prayers prayed over the last 8 months.

We serve a God who still heals today. We thank God for listening to prayer.

YES PRAYER WORKS! So, if you have a loved one, friends or a complete stranger you have heard of who is unwell, pray for them, and keep praying, because when you pray things happen. Here is ACTS 4 v 23 – 31, the disciples of Jesus prayed for healing, we should as well.

Acts 4 v 23 – 31

The Believers Pray
23 On their release, Peter and John went back to their own people and reported all that the chief priests and the elders had said to them. 24 When they heard this, they raised their voices together in prayer to God. “Sovereign Lord,” they said, “you made the heavens and the earth and the sea, and everything in them. 25 You spoke by the Holy Spirit through the mouth of your servant, our father David:

“‘Why do the nations rage
and the peoples plot in vain?
26 The kings of the earth rise up
and the rulers band together
against the Lord
and against his anointed one.

27 Indeed Herod and Pontius Pilate met together with the Gentiles and the people of Israel in this city to conspire against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed. 28 They did what your power and will had decided beforehand should happen. 29 Now, Lord, consider their threats and enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness. 30 Stretch out your hand to heal and perform signs and wonders through the name of your holy servant Jesus.”

31 After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly.

In verse 30 they requested Jesus heal people in prayer. Jesus certainly did and has through our prayers. All we did was pray Jesus did the miracle.

We thank God for this wonderful news this last week.