Fake Christianity.

God said this about Israel, who were the believers in Isaiah's day.

"Yet they seek me daily and delight to know my ways, as if they were a nation that did righteousness and did not forsake the judgment of their God.

They ask of me righteous judgments; they delight to draw near to God. ‘Why have we fasted, and you see it not? Why have we humbled ourselves, and you take no knowledge of it?'

Behold, in the day of your fast you seek your own pleasure, and oppress all your workers. 
Behold, you fast only to quarrel and to fight and to hit with a wicked fist. 

Fasting like yours this day will not make your voice to be heard on high. Is such the fast that I choose, a day for a person to humble himself? Is it to bow down his head like a reed, and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him? Will you call this a fast, and a day acceptable to the LORD? 

"No, this is the kind of fasting I want: Free those who are wrongly imprisoned; lighten the burden of those who work for you. Let the oppressed go free, and remove the chains that bind people.

And is it not to divide your bread with the hungry And bring the homeless poor into the house; When you see the naked, to cover him; And not to hide yourself from your own flesh?"
Isaiah 58:2-7

God hates it when people who say they are believers in Him act wickedly.

"Bring no more vain offerings; incense is an abomination to me. New moon and Sabbath and the calling of convocations— I cannot endure iniquity and solemn assembly."

 "I hate your new moon festivals and your appointed feasts, They have become a burden to Me; I am weary of bearing them. 
So when you spread out your hands in prayer, I will hide My eyes from you; Yes, even though you multiply prayers, I will not listen. 
Your hands are covered with blood." 

Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean; remove the evil of your deeds from before my eyes. 

Cease to do evil, Learn to do good; Seek justice, Reprove the ruthless, Defend the orphan, Plead for the widow. 

"Come now, and let us reason together," Says the LORD, "Though your sins are as scarlet, They will be as white as snow; Though they are red like crimson, They will be like wool.

Isaiah 1:13-18

"I hate, I reject your festivals, Nor do I delight in your solemn assemblies. 
Even though you offer me your burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them; and the peace offerings of your fattened animals, I will not look upon them. 
Take away from me the noise of your songs; to the melody of your harps I will not listen."

 "But let justice roll down like waters And righteousness like an ever-flowing stream."
Amos 5:21-24

Many Christians misrepresent God.

It is sad that so many Christians misrepresent God, especially prominent Christians who are on the news, radio and television. These are the Christians the world looks at and then what do they think of God?

God hates they way these people act as much as the world does. 

Jesus said, " On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’"  Matthew 7:22

Miracle Workers.

On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’  And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’ Matthew 7:22

Then that lawless one will be revealed whom the Lord will slay with the breath of His mouth and bring to an end by the appearance of His coming. that is, the one whose coming is in accord with the activity of Satan, with all power and signs and false wonders,  and with all the deception of wickedness for those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth so as to be saved."
2 Thessalonians 2:8-10

How can we tell if miracles or mighty works are from God or Satan?
These first two verses tell us these demons are lawless. In other words, they do not keep the law of God. 
If you see a man, woman, or an angelic being work miracles and many people are following him, you can know if they are from God if they follow the law of God. 

If these people say wars and killing are needed, if they say we must punish those who don't believe as they do, if they have no love in their hearts, if they indulge in sexual sin and greed for money and possessions, then we can know they are not from God.

Jesus told us, “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves.You will recognize them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thorn bushes, or figs from thistles? Matthew 7:15

Fruits: "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law." Galatians 5:22,23

If they do not have these fruits in their lives then they are false prophets or messengers.

"Now the Spirit expressly says that in later times some will depart from the faith by devoting themselves to deceitful spirits and teachings of demons..."  1 Timothy 4:1

"But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come. For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good, treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power; Avoid such men as these." 2 Timothy 3:1-5

So, these miracle workers will have a "form" of godliness but do not have God's power in their lives. They say they are Christians, but they are not.

The largest deception will be when Satan transforms himself into an angel of light. 

"And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. Therefore it is not surprising if his servants also disguise themselves as servants of righteousness, whose end will be according to their deeds." 2 Corinthians 11:14, 15

Jesus also said, "For false Christs and false prophets will arise and will show great signs and wonders, so as to mislead, if possible, even the elect. See, I have told you beforehand." Matthew 24:24, 25

Jesus said, "See, I've told you ahead of time." We have his warning and his method on how to recognize his true followers.

Hey! I'm Doing Great!

The last church on earth is called Laodicea. (Revelation 3:14) This is what God says about the condition of Christianity right before Jesus returns.

"To the angel of the church in Laodicea write: The Amen, the faithful and true Witness, the Beginning of the creation of God, says this:
'I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot; I wish that you were cold or hot.
'So because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of My mouth.

For you say, I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing, not realizing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked.

I advise you to buy from Me gold refined by fire so that you may become rich, and white garments so that you may clothe yourself, and that the shame of your nakedness will not be revealed; and eye salve to anoint your eyes so that you may see.
Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline; therefore be zealous and repent."  Revelation 3:14-19

God tells us the majority of Christians at the end of time will be relying on themselves. They see themselves as prospering; they see nothing wrong in what they do or say. They think they are doing a great job being a Christian. They are quick to condemn others and never themselves. But God says these Christians are filthy and need to be clothed with Jesus' righteousness - without which no one can be saved. They need eye salve to see their true condition.

If you think you are righteous, why would you feel a need for Jesus? An example of this would be the parable of the Levite and the tax collector who prayed in the temple. One of them listed all his virtues to God. The other said, "God, be merciful to me, a sinner."  Jesus said the second man went home justified.

Laodicia is like ancient Israel who said,

 "Surely I have become rich, I have found wealth for myself; In all my labors they will find in me No iniquity, which would be sin." Hosea 12:7 

But how did they become rich? God said,  "A merchant, in whose hands are false balances, He loves to oppress."
"And now they sin more and more, and make for themselves metal images, idols skillfully made of their silver, all of them the work of craftsmen. It is said of them, “Those who offer human sacrifice kiss calves!” Hosea 13:2 

Finally, in their wickedness, they gave human (child and adult) sacrifice to the god, Baal. Yet they say they have no iniquity!

Why does God warn us? Why does God want us to repent? Is he just being cranky?

No. Because he knows what sin does to other people. He knows sin leads to sadness, suffering and eternal loss. He wants us to repent because of love, love for the entire human race.

Beware of Pharisees & Sadducees.

After the church leaders had asked Jesus for a sign from heaven to prove he was the Son of God, Jesus said to his disciples, " “Watch and beware of the leaven (doctrines) of the Pharisees and Sadducees.”

Jesus said of the Pharisees, "You leave the commandment of God and hold to the tradition of men.” Mark 7:8 He also called them "hypocrites," which meant they looked religious but were not godly. They had a form of religion that meant nothing.

The name Pharisee in its Hebrew form means separatists, or the separated ones. They were also known as chasidim, which means loyal to God, or loved of God - extremely ironic in view of the fact that by His time, they made themselves the most bitter, and deadly, opponents of Jesus Christ and His message.

The Pharisees perhaps meant to obey God, but eventually they became so devoted and extremist in very limited parts of The Law (plus all that they themselves added to it), that they became blind to The Messiah when He was in their very midst. They saw His miracles, they heard His Words, but instead of receiving it with joy, they did all that they could to stop Him - eventually to the point of getting Him killed because He truthfully claimed to be the Son of God.

http://www.keyway.ca/htm2002/pharisee.htm

Jesus said of the Sadducees, "Jesus said to them, “Is this not the reason you are wrong, because you know neither the Scriptures nor the power of God?

For the Sadducees say that there is no resurrection, neither angel, nor spirit: but the Pharisees confess both" Acts 23:8

The Sadducees were one of the major sects of Judaism at the time of the first coming of the Messiah. Along with the Pharisees and the Herodians, the Sadducees formed the religious council of authority in Jerusalem - whose disparate beliefs and teachings had drifted far from what the LORD had commanded to their fathers 

http://www.keyway.ca/htm2012/20121219.htm

So, if the disciples were to beware of the teachings of Pharisees and Sadducees then we also should beware.

We should beware of legalism, self-righteousness and exclusiveness. We should beware of not knowing and believing the scriptures. We should beware of asking for a sign from heaven and ignoring all the signs God has already given to the world. We should beware of rejecting God's messengers and wanting to kill them; for this is what envy and unbelief led the Pharisees and Sadducees to do.