A CONFUSION OF BELIEFS AND TRADITIONS: OUR CHRISTIAN TOWER OF BABEL (Part 8)
Real Christians MUST understand that Unreal Christianity is a devious enemy. It is a false façade operating deceptively diverting Christians away from the full Gospel truth.
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RELIGIOUS FAKERS AND FAKERY
In case one has yet to get the memo, evil will do ANYTHING to get its way. We know from the way the devil tempted the Lord that he is a master manipulator and deceiver. If he would engage in such powerful tactics with God Himself he would certainly do it with anyone. We know from the way he successfully deceived Eve and how their transaction released sin into the world that he would stop at nothing. Evil is thus deceptive, cunning, and shrewd. Pageantry and symbolism serve as great tools. The devil is a specialist at presenting himself as perfectly legitimate and honest. He is a great actor.
“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which on the outside appear beautiful, but inside they are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness. So you, too, outwardly appear righteous to men, but inwardly you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.” [Matthew 23:27-28]
Hypocrite: ὑποκριτής (hoop-ok-ree-tace’): An actor under an assumed character (stage-player), i.e. (figuratively) a dissembler (“hypocrite”):—hypocrite.
The first-century Pharisees had perfected the craft of religious playacting. They were insincere poseurs pretending to be effective stand-ins for God and an apparent majority of Israelites of the time were utterly fooled. A big part of their fooling was being blindsided by the majestic presence of such bedecked ones all fitted out in their religious finery and egress fenestrations. Secondly, their multi-credentialed résumés granted them superior status not to be trifled with. And thirdly was the fear factor, an egregious quality born of powerful presence and religious pride which disarms and instantly dispatches beholders to places of subservience. Theirs was a purely flesh creation designed to fool minds set on the things of the flesh. This deceptive process, however, opened them up to demonic influence. Their success, therefore, never came from God, nor does the success of today’s Christian Pharisees.
MAKING MERCHANDISE OF YOU
They provide the illusion-affirming attention religious people need to live the lie. They don’t care about anyone’s soul or eternal destination, only that their own status is confirmed and authority honored. In short, they pretty much do the opposite of the Lord Jesus but are such masters of illusion they appear to be outdoing Him. And if this is not true why are the majority of Christians in the world under their sway? We discussed in Part 7 how such an occurrence could happen and how it did. One wonders how so many still cannot see through the ruse but, as I’ve explained it in this article thus far, we are dealing with an extremely high form of deception.
For such men are false apostles, deceitful workers, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. 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. [2Corinthians 11:13-15][1]
IT BEGAN WITH A ROMAN EMPEROR
Constantine decided on wholesale changes. He went nuclear. He completely rejected the perfect original curriculum of the Lord Jesus. He rejected as well the clear historical record of the Book of Acts and created a new syncretic “Christian” religion. He established a post-Real Christianity institution and then claimed Christianity for himself and his rebellious agenda. He was otherwise obviously never a real Christian and actively opposed the Lord Jesus and His Community. He declared all religions illegal in the Roman Empire, completely eliminating any freedom of religion that existed before. He declared his new Universal Christianity as the only legal religion and forced everyone to join. This included grave penalties for anyone who may refuse. Those who refused exclusively were the real Christians who still honored the Lord Jesus and served Him only. Of course, real Christianity was also rendered illegal throughout the Roman Empire and all real Christians instantly became a persecuted people. This persecution never stopped. The real Church was forced to go underground.
While Unreal Christianity flourished above ground, entirely earthly, entirely of the flesh and not the Spirit, and became flushed with wealth, power, and worldly success, the real Christians only enhanced their position within the spiritual realm and secured all the more the truth that the Lord’s Kingdom is a spiritual kingdom. We know they survived and even thrived in a world of increasing darkness including that of the religious variety simply because the presence of the Lord Jesus never left and His positive impact and influence on the world remained. We know that though the devil continued his fight against the Lord, the truth, and the Lord’s Community, he was never able to eliminate his nemesis entirely because spiritual Light is eternal and forever shines against the darkness, always revealing it and exposing it for what it is.
The enemy can thus only gain and maintain a foothold and never succeed in making the darkness of his heart global among all humanity and nature. The presence of the Lord Jesus always disallows this and always will.
Therefore, just as was the case with the first one, the Christian Tower of Babel was never completed.
And never will be.
© 2022 by RJ Dawson. All Rights Reserved. [To Be Continued]
[1] Unless otherwise noted all Scriptures are taken from the New American Standard Bible, © 1960, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.
A CONFUSION OF BELIEFS AND TRADITIONS: OUR CHRISTIAN TOWER OF BABEL (Part 1)
A CONFUSION OF BELIEFS AND TRADITIONS: OUR CHRISTIAN TOWER OF BABEL (Part 2)
A CONFUSION OF BELIEFS AND TRADITIONS: OUR CHRISTIAN TOWER OF BABEL (Part 3)
A CONFUSION OF BELIEFS AND TRADITIONS: OUR CHRISTIAN TOWER OF BABEL (Part 4)
A CONFUSION OF BELIEFS AND TRADITIONS: OUR CHRISTIAN TOWER OF BABEL (Part 5)
A CONFUSION OF BELIEFS AND TRADITIONS: OUR CHRISTIAN TOWER OF BABEL (Part 6)
A CONFUSION OF BELIEFS AND TRADITIONS: OUR CHRISTIAN TOWER OF BABEL (Part 7)
A CONFUSION OF BELIEFS AND TRADITIONS: OUR CHRISTIAN TOWER OF BABEL (Part 9)
Posted on August 16, 2022, in Current Events and tagged America, Christian Pharisees, Constantine, Deception, Discipleship, False Apostles, False Conformity, False Forms of Christianity, False Prophets, False Religious Authority, False Shepherds, False Teachers, Hypocrites, Lord Jesus, Overcome Evil with Good, Real Christianity The Nature of the Church, Reality vs. Fakery, Roman Empire, Spiritual Warfare, The Great Awakening, The Presence of the devil, Tower of Babel, Unreal Christianity. Bookmark the permalink. 6 Comments.
The great part about being a real christian RJ is the confidence of God’s Spirit we walk in. We are untouchable but what God allows, and what God allows serves his purpose in the big picture. Even history looked at in the big picture of horrible incidents and acts are used by God to further his kingdom. Some accomplish more in their death, some in their life and many in both. I love the way you are approaching this. We live in a time of shadows and illusion from the big screen to living life like the living dead.
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Thanks Gary. Before our modern age maybe people were easier to deceive through the means I describe in the post. Maybe people in general, most illiterate, were not too bright or maybe just not knowledgeable with no frames of reference. Maybe they were easier to take advantage of. Or maybe in these days the enemy has been able to up his game considerably using any number of relatively new technologies by which to deceive so that even with a highly schooled population he is still deceiving as he ever has and maybe even more so. It would explain a lot.
Whatever the case, it proves your point, that one must have the living presence of the Lord’s Spirit to overcome and stay above deception. We must have that close spiritual relationship. And when the going gets tough we must get even closer. We must fulfill our purpose even if it involves not so great incidents such as happens under Christian persecution, which the Lord said will always be there though we be otherwise blessed abundantly.
I am certainly reminded of Stephen who is likely still accomplishing more by his death than his life to that point. What a great inspiration he is. What a way to go out. Of course, if there was any other way the Lord would not have needed to go to the cross. That should wake us all up and keep us awake always.
The worst deception, though, involves religion, and the worst in that area is within Christianity. The Christian Pharisees among us are experts at making “Christians” believe they are saved and all is well when they are not and it is not. Unless one allows for reasons known only to the Lord, in general, according to His Word, nobody goes to heaven without engaging in successful spiritual warfare though victory often appears elusive, and facing persecution to various levels. Otherwise I don’t think one has much of a testimony. It takes all of one’s heart and a full commitment to the Lord Jesus. Otherwise we will never overcome the deception of the enemy.
“We live in a time of shadows and illusion from the big screen to living life like the living dead.”
Correctamundo.
Blessings
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Excellent post, as always. I had to smile at “egress fenestrations” 🙂 Exit windows, for those who may not know :).
Aside from all that, today’s history books seem to make something of a hero out of Constantine, an elevation which he does not now, and did then, deserve. He was a tool of Satan indeed, just as you say. The blood that has been shed because of his so-called “christianizing” of his world was bathed in the blood of true Christian martyrs. There is nothing new under the sun.
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LOL. Glad you caught that, Linda! Thank you.
Merriam-Webster defines fenestrations as: “The arrangement, proportioning, and design of windows and doors in a building.” The point I was making is that those guys and all the others like them set themselves up as the official gatekeepers through which converts must pass and whoever chooses that path exits from reality and the hope of finding the true path—the straight and narrow Way—the Door, which is the Lord Jesus. They must often dude themselves up in a multiflorous manner to accomplish this and it works great at drawing in the unsuspecting and naïve.
The Lord is, of course, unpretentious and humble and often goes unrecognized except by those with a heart for spiritual truth who see beyond mere surface perspectives (they can spot fakes).
It is quite amazing that Constantine continues to deceive Christians to this day. Many Protestants and Charismatics still accept him and his work as legitimate. There is much truth in this regard that is never taught in Christian circles that would easily overcome the lies if applied, but it is either unknown due to spiritual laziness or overcome by false narratives. It is apparent that his “egress fenestrations” are still at work.
Thanks again for continuing with the series, Linda. I appreciate it. Blessings
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You know I love words :). The German word for “window” is “fenster”–I do enjoy the way words connect way back to much earlier forms.
I remember wondering way back in high school why Constantine was credited so much for his “christianity.” He was a charlatan, disguising his power grabs under the guise of the Name of Jesus Christ!
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Yes. Constantine was also the guy who removed the Name of Jesus from water baptism, orchestrating the effort through his ecclesiastics.
There had also been a strong effort just prior to his time during the Diocletian persecution, in which many Christians were killed and their properties destroyed, to round up as many copies of Scripture as possible, assisted at times by Christian recanters, and burn them. There was much Scripture burning during that time. One can also see the beginnings of the removal of Scripture from individuals and making it exclusive to the new institutional church organization, to control the content. It was one of the first major efforts at overall censorship.
One may say the Diocletian persecution was a last gasp effort at the destruction of Christianity but it obviously failed. However, seeing that Christianity could not be eliminated, Constantine strode into the gap and instead co-opted it, changing it to his liking as he went, in order to use it as a religious control mechanism. This is why the Word of God had to be removed from the people because it obviously revealed his sinister machinations and their false rendition of Christianity.
Christians may want to keep this in mind regarding their churches and leaders. Those who are for real and working with the Lord Jesus will ALWAYS encourage individual independent Bible reading and study.
Thanks again
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