"For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock. Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them. Therefore watch, and remember, that by the space of three years I ceased not to warn every one night and day with tears." Acts 20:29-31

Contents: The Parable of the Sower The Parable of the Two Sons The Parable of the Mustard Seed The Parable of the Rich Man The Parable of the Wheat & Tares The Parable of the Fisherman's Net The Parable of the Marriage Feast The Parable of the Ten Virgins The Parable of the Fig Tree The Parable of the Pharisee & Publican The Parable of the Porter & Thief

Over the years, I have spoken with churchgoers about the concept of false converts, and some of them have never heard of, or even thought about, the idea that false converts exist, while others might believe they exist, but they think such people are long ago or far away from themselves, like someone in a Jim Jones or David Koresh cult. Either way, most churchgoers have no understanding that false converts are quite common in church buildings all over the world, and they are also willingly blind to the fact that Jesus Christ taught a lot about them.

Paul testified that he faced many hardships of persecution and tribulation from a variety of groups, and one of those groups was "false brethren," or in other words, fake Christians. These were people who claimed they were followers of Jesus Christ, but turned on Paul because, in their hearts, they hated the doctrine of Christ, which is what I mean when I say 'false converts'.

Of the Jews five times received I forty stripes save one. Thrice was I beaten with rods, once was I stoned, thrice I suffered shipwreck, a night and a day I have been in the deep; In journeyings often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils by mine own countrymen, in perils by the heathen, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren;
-2 Corinthians 11:24-26

The purpose of this teaching is to explain what the Lord Jesus Christ taught us about false brethren/converts, how to identify them, and why it is so important to address this issue in the church. Please keep in mind that, without being able to open up a man's heart to see all the imaginations of the thoughts, there is no fool-proof method for discovering false converts in the church, as there will always be some who slip by our detection depending on how slick they are in their speech, but in many cases, they can be immediately identified through basic conversation about the doctrines of Scripture.

Let's begin by defining the term "false convert" so we have a clear understanding of what I am referring to:

false (adj): not true; counterfeit, forged, not genuine
convert (n): a person who renounces one creed, religious system or party, and embraces another; applied particularly to those who change their religious opinions, but applicable to political and philosophical sects
(See 'false' & 'convert', American Dictionary of the English Language, Noah Webster, 1828, retrieved Aug 23, 2022,[webstersdictionary1828.com])

A convert is someone who is convinced that another group, creed, or system has a better understanding of the truth, and changes their actions and methods of thinking to match the philosophy of the new sect. Since the word 'false' means "not true," then a "false convert" is one who converts to the new group, creed, or system, but does NOT change their actions and methods of thinking to match the philosophy of the new sect.

For example, Jesus warned that the Pharisees, Sadducees, scribes, elders, etc, or in other words, those who were in positions of religious leadership and claimed to be servants of God, were not of God at all, and instead were creating converts that would end up even more dedicated to the false doctrines of hell than themselves:

Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye compass [travel across] sea and land to make one proselyte, [a convert to a religious belief] and when he is made, ye make him twofold [twice] more the child of hell than yourselves.
-Matthew 23:15

Likewise, there are many pastors, elders, and churchgoers who attend church buildings on a regular basis and claim to love the Lord Jesus Christ, but they are not Christians, and they end up preaching false doctrines that lead many people to the wide gates of hell. Jesus taught us that MANY people would end up in hell, while a much smaller number of them would find the way to eternal life.

Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.
-Matthew 7:13-14

The reason so many churchgoers are unaware of how commonly Jesus Christ taught us about false converts is because of the way that Scripture is structured, and God setup His Word in this way on purpose so that it would fool many of those who do not have the Holy Spirit to gain understanding. In the Bible, God was kind enough to teach us how to study His Word:

Whom shall he teach knowledge? and whom shall he make to understand doctrine? them that are weaned from the milk, and drawn from the breasts. For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little:
-Isaiah 28:9-10

It should be understood that the Word of God is not organized with color codes and bullet points, and is purposefully designed in a way that the fullness of a doctrine can only be understood if all the pieces are aligned, and most often, those doctrines are located throughout various books in the Bible. We are to read God's Word "precept upon precept," meaning that we take each commandment in correlation with other commandments, "line upon line" meaning that we need to read it in its context, and "here a little and there a little," meaning that we need to compare Scripture with Scripture and correlate them together.

The important part of these verses is that God also explained WHY He did it this way:

But the word of the LORD was unto them precept upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little; that they might go, and fall backward, and be broken, and snared, and taken.
-Isaiah 28:13

The reason God set it up this way was so that men, specifically false converts, would read and attempt to understand God's Word, but would never be able to fully understand it. Therefore, they would be led down false paths, teach false doctrines, and we would be able to spot the counterfeit teacher more easily (i.e. they would "fall backward, and be broken, and snared, and taken"), which is why the Bible says such men are "ever learning," but never able to gain understanding of God's Word because they have not been born again to receive the Spirit of God.

Having a form of godliness, but denying the power [i.e. authority] thereof: from such turn away. For of this sort are they which creep into houses, and lead captive silly women laden with sins, led away with divers lusts, Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.
-2 Timothy 3:5-7

But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.
-1 Corinthians 2:14

Therefore, because of the hardness of their hearts, God determined that Jesus would speak only in parables to the people, so that those who were prideful would not be able to understand what was being said. They would come up with interpretations of their own making, rather than understanding the full and deeper meaning of them.

All these things spake Jesus unto the multitude in parables; and without a parable spake he not unto them: That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying, I will open my mouth in parables; I will utter things which have been kept secret from the foundation of the world.
-Matthew 13:34-35

With that in mind, let's take a look at what is commonly known as "The Parable of the Sower" that Jesus Christ taught in the Gospels...
 

The same day went Jesus out of the house, and sat by the sea side. And great multitudes were gathered together unto him, so that he went into a ship, and sat; and the whole multitude stood on the shore. And he spake many things unto them in parables, saying, Behold, a sower went forth to sow; And when he sowed, some seeds fell by the way side, and the fowls came and devoured them up: Some fell upon stony places, where they had not much earth: and forthwith they sprung up, because they had no deepness of earth: And when the sun was up, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away. And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprung up, and choked them: But other fell into good ground, and brought forth fruit, some an hundredfold, some sixtyfold, some thirtyfold. Who hath ears to hear, let him hear.
-Matthew 13:1-9

So to summarize, there is a sower who is tossing out seeds onto four different types of ground:

Seeds that fell to the wayside Seeds that fell on the stones Seeds that fell among thorns Seeds that fell on good ground

So how should we interpret this? Before Jesus went on to give his disciples the explanation of the parable so they could understand it, He explained to them WHY He was speaking in parables:

And the disciples came, and said unto him, Why speakest thou unto them in parables? He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given. For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance: but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that he hath. Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand. And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias, which saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive: For this people's heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them. But blessed are your eyes, for they see: and your ears, for they hear. For verily I say unto you, That many prophets and righteous men have desired to see those things which ye see, and have not seen them; and to hear those things which ye hear, and have not heard them.
-Matthew 13:10-17

Just as we read in Isaiah 28, in which God said that He setup His Word in a more complex way in order to lay a trap for false converts and false preachers, so Jesus Christ (who is God, John 14:8-9) did the same thing. Jesus Christ purposefully withheld the direct information from them because their hearts were corrupt, meaning that these hypocrites, like many churchgoers today, spoke well of God and Christ with their mouths, to influence others around them for pretense, but in their hearts, they could not care less about what He was really teaching, and were upset that He was preaching rebuke against them.

This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me.
-Matthew 15:8

As we read earlier in 1st Corinthians 2:14, the Holy Spirit is a requirement to gain full understanding of the doctrines of Christ, or in other words, the Holy Spirit unlocks our understanding like an encryption key unlocks access to data behind a firewall, or a combination to unlock information hidden in a safe. Knowing that the understanding of the hypocrites would not be unlocked even when the interpretation was given to them, Jesus turned to His disciples, whose understanding He had opened, to give them the interpretation:

Hear ye therefore the parable of the sower. When any one heareth the word of the kingdom, and understandeth it not, then cometh the wicked one, and catcheth away that which was sown in his heart. This is he which received seed by the way side. But he that received the seed into stony places, the same is he that heareth the word, and anon [quickly, immediately] with joy receiveth it; Yet hath he not root in himself, but dureth for a while: for when tribulation or persecution ariseth because of the word, by and by he is offended. He also that received seed among the thorns is he that heareth the word; and the care of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, choke the word, and he becometh unfruitful. But he that received seed into the good ground is he that heareth the word, and understandeth it; which also beareth fruit, and bringeth forth, some an hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.
-Matthew 13:18-23

In the interpretation, Jesus explained to us that the sower is the preacher, the seed is the Word of God, and the types of ground are the various hearts of men. Let's go through each one to understand them more clearly:

The heart of the man that fell to the wayside heard the Word of God, but did not understand it, and the devil led him away.

The wayside that is described in the parable is, for example, a path which you might see in the middle of a corn field. Such paths are trodden down and smoothed out so that no seed can take root in them, so the seed will just lay dormant on top of the ground, and eventually be eaten by a passing bird, which Jesus uses as an analogy for the devil snatching them away.

The heart of the man that fell on the stone heard the Word of God, and received it quickly with joy, but did not understand it, and when persecution came from the preaching of the Word, he was offended and departed.

The stony place refers to a type of ground that has many rocks, which is soil that is not fertile enough to produce a plant that could grow big enough to produce anything useful. The stone is a reference to the hardened heart of an impenitent man, who has no thought for his sin, and therefore, has no repentance (i.e. grief and godly sorrow) of it.

This seed may take hold in certain parts of the stony ground, but it only has roots on the surface, without any "deepness of earth," or in other words, the roots are weak, and only give a surface appearance of being a plant that will grow into something meaningful. This means that when the stony-hearted man (i.e. a plant with weak roots that is not fully developed) must face the same trials and tribulations (i.e. violent weather) that come with the preaching of Christ's doctrine, he will not have the strength and endurance to hold on, and he departs from it in disgust, often moving on to some other false doctrine that gives him a cotton-candy, feel good message that is all fluff and no substance.

The heart of the man that fell among thorns heard the Word of God, but he did not understand it because he loved the world, specifically the riches and pleasures that it offers, and so he choked the Word of God, manipulating people for the sake of his greed.

The field of thorns and briars (which are a curse given to man by God, Gen 3:17-18) flourishes unchecked within the heart of a man who lives according to the lusts, pleasures, and concerns of the world. Though the thorny man gives others an appearance of having a humble spirit who loves God, the intrigues of the world and deception of riches are far too great of a priority in his heart (because he does not mind the things of the Spirit of God), so he uses and manipulates the Word of God for pretense, and convinces himself and others to adopt vain and spiritually unprofitable ideology and practices that lead to destruction.

The heart of the man on good ground heard the Word of God, understood it, and brought forth good fruit.

The man whose heart has soft, fertile ground received the seed of the Word of God, and saw clearly his own sin, and that his lusts and corruptions of his flesh and spirit have left him without any excuse, and he knows he is deserving of (and destined to) death in hellfire. That man falls to his knees in tears of sorrow of his wrongdoing (i.e. repentance) and pleads with Jesus Christ for mercy (i.e. faith), and is granted the grace of full pardon (i.e. remission) of all his sin, and is regenerated by the Holy Ghost (i.e. born again) into the family of Christ.

For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.
-Romans 10:13

As I covered in my book, There is No Saving Grace Without Repentance (which is free to read here at creationliberty.com), the Biblical definition of repentance is grief, and specifically for mankind, it is godly sorrow of one's own sin. I also went over the meaning of "calling upon the name of the Lord," because most churchgoers believe it is anyone who speaks the name of Jesus, but the true meaning is that it is anyone who cries out his name with a contrite spirit, which means one must call upon the name of Jesus Christ in tears of humility (i.e. repentance).

The LORD is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart;
and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit.
-Psalm 34:18

contrite (adj): broken-hearted for sin; deeply affected with grief and sorrow for having offended God; humble; penitent
repentance (n): sorrow for any thing done or said; the pain or grief which a person experiences in consequence of the injury or inconvenience produced by his own conduct
(See 'contrite' & 'repentance', American Dictionary of the English Language, Noah Webster, 1828, retrieved Sept 23, 2022, [webstersdictionary1828.com])

This is a key doctrine to understand, and as I will cover in more detail at the end of this teaching, it explains why there are so many false converts in church buildings today. They have corrupted the doctrine of repentance, teaching that it means "to turn from sin" or "to change one's mind," which are the definitions of 'convert', not repent, but Jesus Christ taught us that he gives men the gift of repentance (i.e. godly sorrow of sins), so we can be converted (i.e. turned and changed).

In meekness instructing those that oppose themselves; if God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth;
-2 Timothy 2:25

Now I rejoice, not that ye were made sorry, but that ye sorrowed to repentance: for ye were made sorry after a godly manner, that ye might receive damage by us in nothing. For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world worketh death.
-2 Corinthians 7:9-10

He hath blinded their eyes, and hardened their heart; that they should not see with their eyes, nor understand with their heart, and be converted, and I should heal them.
-John 12:40

So if we consider this parable in greater detail, the preaching of the seed that falls to the heart of the wayside is commonly seen in those who are indifferent to the Word of God. This is often seen in people like atheists, evolutionists, drunkards, drug addicts (which is sorcery in the Bible), and many others. In most cases, if you point out a sin to them, or a philosophy (i.e. way of thinking) they have adopted that God hates, and show them His Word that contradicts their speech and actions, they simply ignore it because they do not care, and there is not much we can do to help such people because God has to bring them low to a point where, if it be possible, they will be convicted of their sin in humility.

The preaching of the seed that falls to the heart of stone is commonly seen in hard-hearted people, which are typically churchgoers, or any other person that considers themselves to be "religious" or "spiritual." The reason for this is because, if a man comes to Jesus Christ without a humble heart of repentance, he believes that he has received Jesus into his heart, even though Jesus did not give him grace because Christ made it very clear to us in His Word that He does NOT give grace to the proud of heart.
(Read "The Biblical Understanding of Pride" here at creationliberty.com for more details.)

But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble.
-James 4:6

Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance? But after thy hardness and impenitent heart [unrepentant, having no grief and sorrow for sins] treasurest up unto thyself wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God;
-Romans 2:4-5

Because that stony-hearted man comes to Christ in the pride of his heart, he continues to live in the sin of pride, never having been humbled before God, so when the Word of God rebukes him on something that the pride in his mind and heart does not allow, he will immediately reject it without thought or question. In many cases, not only will he reject the Word of God, he will also turn and attack the one who told him the truth because he prides himself on his "good works" (e.g. church building attendance, tithe money paid, or time spent working in church building programs) despite the fact the Bible tells us that we are not saved by our works.
(Read "Tithe is Not a Christian Requirement" here at creationliberty.com for more details.)

For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.
-Ephesians 2:8-9

Jesus said specifically that these stony-hearted people hear the Word and "anon with joy receiveth it," and the word 'anon' means "quickly" or "immediately." Mark gives us more details:

And some fell on stony ground, where it had not much earth; and immediately it sprang up, because it had no depth of earth:
-Mark 4:5

And these are they likewise which are sown on stony ground; who, when they have heard the word, immediately receive it with gladness;
-Mark 4:16

In other words, there are many churchgoers who, when they claimed they were "saved," went to some revival meeting where they had a lot of passionate music to create swaying emotions, and in the heat of the moment while listening to joyful music, they came forward to the microphone to "testify" of Jesus Christ, and everyone cheered with joy. This is how false converts are made because only those who have been born again in the Spirit of God will be able to endure the persecution that Christians suffer for speaking the truth of God's Word, and those who do not have that root in themselves will depart when things get rough.
(Read "Revivalism: The Devil's Design" here at creationliberty.com for more details.)

And have no root in themselves, and so endure but for a time: afterward, when affliction or persecution ariseth for the word's sake, immediately they are offended.
-Mark 4:17

Such men will try to fake their faith for a time (as well as fake joy, fake peace, and fake love), perhaps longer than one might think, but eventually, their true colors of cowardice, fear, laziness, and hatred will show because just as a leopard cannot change its spots, so a man with a corrupt soul cannot hide his contempt. Eventually, the truth of his corrupt heart will come forth out of his mouth, meaning that we can get a general view of a man's heart by what he says.

But those things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart; and they defile the man.
-Matthew 15:18

A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is evil: for of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh.
-Luke 6:45

O generation of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good things? for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh.
-Matthew 12:34

This is one of the reasons why revivals are such a plague on the true church of Jesus Christ, in which they often preach false doctrines and put on a show of so-called "faith" in leavened preaching and corrupt rituals. Such carnivalistic shows were invented by a 19th century preacher named Charles Finney, who was a false convert and false preacher that taught many anti-biblical doctrines. The Bible never said there was going to be a great "revival" before the end, but the Bible does say that there will be a great falling away before the end.
(Read "Revivalism: The Devil's Design here at creationliberty.com for more details.)

Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day [i.e. the second coming of Jesus Christ] shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;
-2 Thessalonians 2:3

As I grew up attending church buildings, I was always taught that those who fall away are those who served Christ, but either tripped and stumbled, and needed to be restored, or it was those who lost their salvation. Both interpretations are incorrect because the Bible tells us that those who fall away were NEVER of Christ in the first place, or in other words, they were FALSE converts, and what might surprise some readers to learn is that Jesus Christ Himself defined that for us in the Parable of the Sower, specifically concerning the seed that falls on the stony ground:

They on the rock are they, which, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no root, which for a while believe, and in time of temptation fall away.
-Luke 8:13

Jesus did NOT teach that these people who fall away are secretly Christians who serve him, nor are they just confused or going on a spiritual journey of some sort. Jesus said that those who fall away have NO root, and even if they spend years trying to fool others in the church that they are Christians, they will eventually return to their first love, which is the world.

That leads us to the third type of false convert, which is preaching of the seed that falls to the thorns, which will grow taller than the seed in the stones, but will never produce fruit that is good for consumption. The true purpose of what they say and do will always be for the end goal of gaining more popularity and money, in order to gain the pleasures and lusts of the world, and even attempt to solve the world's problems through worldly means.

These types of people are often seen in leadership positions among religious institutions, and in many cases, become priests, pastors, elders, deacons, etc. They also include many others who do not hold such positions, but it is common to see thorny-hearted men with a desire for titles, ranks, and elevated offices, especially in church buildings and other religious institutions.

The thorny-hearted man is often more deceptive than the stony-hearted man because the heart of thorns is one who, on the outside, professes a love of the Word of God, and even might seem to have his heart broken by the preaching of it, to give an outward show of repentance, and reform many aspects of his life. Such men might appear to have the grace of God working in them because they put on a show of humility, and they profess the Word of God to be their final authority in all matters of faith and practice, but over the course of time, there appears an anxious, immoderate care of the things of the world, being more concerned about the woes of the world than the spiritual things of God, and because of this, the deceitfulness of riches takes hold of them, in which they believe that by building up riches unto themselves, they will avoid the sorrows of this world, being deceived that their love for such riches will only pierce them with more sorrow.

But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition. For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.
-1 Timothy 6:9-10

We can clearly see examples of such thorny-hearted people in those who have "name-it-and-claim-it" or "seed-faith" ministries, by which they believe that God put them on the earth to have many worldy riches. We can see it in those who have "prophetic" ministries, by which they use sinful divination and fool simple-minded people into believing they are receiving "a word from the Lord." We can see it in a lot of "creation" ministries, in which they believe that lessons on biology and geology are equivalent to a Bible study. We can also see it in those who have "watchman" ministries, in which they believe that their involvement in political matters is the equivalent to sowing seed and winning souls.
(See the categories "Wolves in Costume" and "False Prophet Profiles" here at creationliberty.com for more details.)

The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life; and he that winneth souls is wise.
-Proverbs 11:30

Please do not misunderstand because it is not wrong to have money or wealth, nor is it wrong to learn about biology and geology, nor is it wrong to be involved in political matters. However, the thorny-hearted people attempt to put a divine spin on the things of the world because the world is their true focus, and therefore, they are vexxed by the things of the world, just as thorns and briars choke the plant growing among them, and prevent it from bringing forth fruit of perfection.

And that which fell among thorns are they, which, when they have heard, go forth, and are choked with cares and riches and pleasures of this life, and bring no fruit to perfection.
-Luke 8:14

Perfection is not flawlessness, as is taught by many leavened preachers, but rather, Jesus Christ defined it as being "merciful," or in other words, we ought to have the fruit of the Spirit of God, which is grace, mercy, kindness, longsuffering, and meekness.
(Read "The Biblical Understanding of Perfection" here at creationliberty.com for more details.)

Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.
-Matthew 5:48

Be ye therefore merciful, as your Father also is merciful.
-Luke 6:36

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.
-Galatians 5:22-23

Thorny-hearted churchgoers will feign to have love, joy, and peace, because they desire to feel good, but they will not have true love, joy, and peace. They will forever chase it, and never find it. They will try their best to appear to be faithful and meek, but they will lose their temperment over time, they will preach messages that oppose Jesus Christ, and eventually, they will vex the true church.

The Christian with a heart of soft, fertile ground hears the Word of God, just as the others, but the difference is that he gains understanding of it, which is why he comes to godly sorrow of his sins. The born again elect of Christ will have a time of growth, just as the the stoney and thorny men, and for a time, they will all three appear to be the same size, growing together, but eventually, the stoney will depart, and the thorny will expose his true nature, while the Christian moves on to bear fruit for the Kingdom of God.

Please note that all three of the seeds that fell on corrupt ground are those who hear the Word of God, and two of them (i.e. the stoney and thorny hearts) are those who receive it (i.e. they heard the preaching of Jesus from the Bible and accepted it), meaning that the majority of the false converts Jesus Christ warned us about would be in the very church buildings and other religious institutions that the general public accepts to be "Christian." What Jesus warned us about was that MANY who claimed to be of Christ would NOT be of Him, and that, on the Day of Judgment, they will be turned away unto everlasting fire.

I will cover more Scriptures on the judgments of Jesus Christ later, but just to refresh our memories, let's read what Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount one more time:

Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.
-Matthew 7:13-14

Because so many pastors have preached on "The Parable of the Sower," it is almost impossible to get a churchgoer (and especially a pastor) to understand that they (most often) do not understand the Parable of the Sower. Sadly, in my experience, most of them do not care what it means as much as they care about how they feel about it, which is part of what makes them false converts, specifically because they were not given a love of the truth of the Word of God.

And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.
-2 Thessalonians 2:10

This may be the first time some Christian readers have ever heard this taught, and if that was shocking to learn, prepare yourself for what is coming next because Jesus Christ said that what we just learned about false converts in the church is the foundational basis for ALL the parables He taught.

And he said unto them, Unto you it is given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God: but unto them that are without, all these things are done in parables: That seeing they may see, and not perceive; and hearing they may hear, and not understand; lest at any time they should be converted, and their sins should be forgiven them. And he said unto them, Know ye not this parable? and how then will ye know all parables?
-Mark 4:11-13

In other words, the concept of false converts is the core doctrine we must understand if we are to understand any other parables Jesus Christ taught. Therefore, with that understanding, let's look at more parables and discover the true meaning of them.
 

But what think ye? A certain man had two sons; and he came to the first, and said, Son, go work to day in my vineyard. He answered and said, I will not: but afterward he repented, and went. And he came to the second, and said likewise. And he answered and said, I go, sir: and went not.
-Matthew 21:28-30

Knowing that the core understanding of Christ's parables is false converts, it does not take much explanation to see that Jesus is giving us a picture of a true convert versus a false convert, so we can tell the difference. Each one of these parables helps us to identify features of a Christian that will enable us to discern between a man who is a genuine servant of God, as opposed to a man who only claims to serve God with his mouth.

There are two key features we need to identify in this parable, and though some readers may be surprised by this, those features are NOT the work that the sons did. The two highlighted characteristics to notice are honesty and repentance.

When the first son was instructed to do the work, he told his father that he would not do the work, and initially, he did not do the work because he honestly had no intention of doing it. However, the second son told his father that he would do the work, but he never did it, which means that the first son was honest with his father, while the second son lied to his father.
(Read "God Does Not Justify Lies" here at creationliberty.com for more details.)

Ye shall not steal, neither deal falsely, neither lie one to another.
-Leviticus 19:11

These six things doth the LORD hate: yea, seven are an abomination unto him: A proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, An heart that deviseth wicked imaginations, feet that be swift in running to mischief, A false witness that speaketh lies, and he that soweth discord among brethren.
-Proverbs 6:16-19

The first son went away from his father after defying his instructions, but then thought about what he had said. It stands to reason that in his mind, he thought of his father's love for him, and how much his father had sacrificed on his behalf, and because of this, he grieved in his heart (i.e. had repentance) for how he had spoken to his father, so the son communicated the grief of his uncharitable attitude towards his father, and went out to do as his father commanded.

It is the world, as well as the stoney and thorny churchgoers, who focus on the works, but for Christians, the works is not the main focus of this parable. The key characteristics of one who is a true son or daughter of God is honesty and repentance (i.e. godly sorrow for one's sin and disobedience), and good works will eventually come forth from a man whose heart has been laid with a foundation of repentance to acknowledge the truth.

Bring forth therefore fruits meet for repentance:
-Matthew 3:8

Bring forth therefore fruits worthy of repentance,
-Luke 3:8

In meekness instructing those that oppose themselves; if God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth;
-2 Timothy 2:25

 

Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is like to a grain of mustard seed, which a man took, and sowed in his field: Which indeed is the least of all seeds: but when it is grown, it is the greatest among herbs, and becometh a tree, so that the birds of the air come and lodge in the branches thereof.
-Matthew 13:31-32

A mustard seed is extremely small, just as the seed of the gospel that Jesus Christ planted in Israel was small. (It is not the smallest of seeds, but the "least of all seeds" that were common in the region of Judea, where this message was preached.) However, when fully grown, the mustard seed grows into a tree that is tall and wide, providing comfort of shade to all who pass under it, and the birds of the air come to make nests in the widespread branches that offer safety and rest.


Christ's birth in this world was seemingly inconsequential to the world, meaning that the family he was born into, as well as his appearance and education, were ordinary and nothing that anyone would typically praise to be distinguished. During His ministry, Christ traveled from place to place on foot, having no home or wealth. Furthermore, those who became His disciples were small in number, and sinners who were weak, illiterate, and/or despised by the world, just as a single mustard seed is most often ignored and trodden under foot.

The church, which is the Kingdom of Heaven by which the Gospel of Christ is preached, has since grown to a commendable size, which is not to say that all who profess to be Christians are such, nor is it to say that all those who have a church are part of the church of Christ in spirit and truth (John 4:24), but that the name of Jesus Christ and His general teachings have spread so far throughout the world, it is somewhat difficult to find a location where people have not heard of Jesus Christ. Though Christ was treated contemptably, suffering the wounds and death of crucifixion, and declared to be nothing more than the leader of a radical religious cult, His doctrines are now spread throughout the world more than ever before, to the point that now even deceptive, false preachers are forced to use his name to gain religious clout among the people.

Jesus has used "the birds of the air" as an analogy to God's children (i.e. the born again elect), in the form of sparrows (Mat 10:29-31) or doves (Mat 10:16). Those who are of Christ find rest and comfort in the church, while those who are not of Christ, meaning those who are walking beneath, still benefit from the charity of the church for their neighbors.

False converts are happy to benefit from the comfort the faith of Christians provide, but have no interest in building their nest in such a place, since they have no wings to carry them to the top. Therefore, they will rest for a while, and pick up and carry on to look for the things of the world to satisfy their lust.

Sadly, many churchgoers believe this is represented in their church buildings, in which they bring many under their roof, to the point that they must build bigger buildings to house all they have gathered. However, there is another parable in which Jesus Christ warns about the false converts who think in such ways.
 

And he spake a parable unto them, saying, The ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully:
-Luke 12:16

Men who have riches are not always wise concerning worldly matters, but it is a very rare thing for a rich man to have spiritual wisdom. This rich man would not just have the land of a common farm, but he would draw in fruits from many farms across the countryside.

And he thought within himself, saying, What shall I do, because I have no room where to bestow my fruits?
-Luke 12:17

The rich man was thinking within his mind and heart, not of thoughts of God, and his obedience to His commandments, nor of praise for His many mercies to give him such abundance, but of himself and his own prosperity, for which he took credit. The rich man thought of what he could do with all his riches, but he thought nothing of what He could do for the Lord, nor did he think of the poor and needy around him, how he could help ease the burden of their vexations of life with his riches, despite the fact that, all around him are empty barns of the poor, where there is not much to feed their families.

And he said, This will I do: I will pull down my barns, and build greater; and there will I bestow all my fruits and my goods.
-Luke 12:18

Without consulting God in prayer, nor looking to His Word for guidance, the rich man decides to tear down his current barns, which is foolish upon consideration because the barns he already has are good for use, and he could have saved himself much time and money by simply building additional barns. Once again, the rich man thinks only of himself, and attributes his riches to himself, being filled with pride of his own works, without any thought to the spiritual things of eternity.

And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry.
-Luke 12:19

The rich man declares to himself that he can spend his luxury on himself, and enjoy it for years to come, which is the speech of fools because he believes that evil and suffering are things far away from him. All blessings in this world are given or taken by the Lord God (Job 1:21), and therefore, all blessings are mercies from the Lord. No man can guarantee that he will live through tomorrow (Isa 22:12-14), nor can any man guarantee that his barns will not burn, or his goods be stolen, or his fruits be consumed by insects and rodents.

But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided?
-Luke 12:20

God then judged the heart of that rich man, and spoke to him with the threat that his death was imminent, calling him not by his name, but by the title of "fool," or an unreasonable and morally depraved man, which is an appropriate identity to label to all of the rich man's thoughts and actions. The Lord God put the rich man's soul as the penalty of judgment, which is to remind the rich man that he can do nothing in his own works to save it, that those who bask in luxury without moderation take no thought to their own souls, nor the souls of others around them, having no thought that they can take nothing with them into the grave, and that the rich man cannot even know if, after death, all his goods will be bestowed to those who he wished, nor if others will make proper use of them.

It is my experience after attending church buildings for many years, and it has also been the experience of many other Christian testimonies I have heard, that it is a very rare occurance that any aid comes to the poor and needy from institutions that occupy modern-day church buildings. I have rarely had any man who called himself a Christian in a church building institution offer me help in my times of need, and I have witnessed many others who were poor and in need within the church buildings go ignored by others who I know for a fact had plenty to spare.

The evidence shows that there is a strong correlation between the size of the church building institution, and the lack of charity therein. Typically, charity is only given when it serves a political purpose of grandstanding, to increase the religious clout of certain individuals or groups in the eyes of the public.

So to summarize, Jesus has told us that His church would spread out far and wide across the world, and would welcome brethren (saved by repentance and faith) among them and care for one another. However, there would be many false converts in church buildings, filled with stony-hearted men who are led by thorny-hearted men, who would lead people down a path of religious traditions, worldly rewards, and carnal entertainment, for the purpose of pleasure and to welcome in more false converts who would cling to each other for religious justification, only to make those converts (as we read earlier) "twofold more the child of hell" than themselves.

Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye compass [travel across] sea and land to make one proselyte, [a convert to a religious belief] and when he is made, ye make him twofold [twice] more the child of hell than yourselves.
-Matthew 23:15

 

First, let's read the whole parable:

Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man which sowed good seed in his field: But while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way. But when the blade was sprung up, and brought forth fruit, then appeared the tares also. So the servants of the householder came and said unto him, Sir, didst not thou sow good seed in thy field? from whence then hath it tares? He said unto them, An enemy hath done this. The servants said unto him, Wilt thou then that we go and gather them up? But he said, Nay; lest while ye gather up the tares, ye root up also the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn.
-Matthew 13:24-30

To summarize, an enemy snuck onto a farmer's land and planted tares, which are weeds, but this type of weed is significant because, in its growth stage, it looks almost exactly like wheat. Wheat farmers have a hard time telling the difference between them at first glance, and only very experienced farmers looking closely can tell the difference. Only when the wheat and tares are both fully grown is there an obvious difference between them, and only then is it safe to remove the tares without pulling the wheat out with them. So when the servants asked the owner if he wanted to have the tares removed, he said it was wiser to wait until they were grown, otherwise, they might destroy the wheat with the tares, so they should wait and separate them at a later time, in which the tares would be destroyed and the wheat would be brought in safely.


Jesus was kind enough to explain this to His disciples:

He answered and said unto them, He that soweth the good seed is the Son of man;
-Matthew 13:37

In the parable of the sower, the sower tossed out the seed (i.e. the Word of God) into ground (i.e. hearts) that were not prepared, meaning that it was not a farmer's field prepared ahead of time to contain organized rows of fertile ground. However, in this parable, Jesus has now shifted to a farmer's field, that had been prepared for good seed, or in other words, he is speaking of the church after it has been established by Him, and that He is the sower in this example. (i.e. "the Son of man," which is the seed of David born of a virgin woman)

The field is the world; the good seed are the children of the kingdom; but the tares are the children of the wicked one;
-Matthew 13:38

The Lord Jesus Christ plants His good seed, which are the children of His Kingdom, throughout the world, and collectively, they are the body of Christ (1Co 12:12), which is the church. (Eph 5:25) However, the devil, working deceitfully among men, plants his servants (i.e. false converts) among the church to deceive and corrupt them.

The enemy that sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the world; and the reapers are the angels.
-Matthew 13:39

The wheat is the good seed, which are the children of God, and the tares are the evil seed, which are the children of the devil. This is how Jesus Christ referred to them in John 8, and to briefly explain this, let's begin in verse 31:

Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.
-John 8:31-32

The world often loves to quote "the truth shall make you free" without considering the condition to that statement. Jesus did not just generally tell us that the truth would make us free, but rather, if we continue to study and apply the truth of His Word to our lives, then we shall be made free, which means we are set at liberty from the corrupt doctrines and hopeless religious tradition of men.

The main point I want to note is that Jesus was speaking to a large crowd of people who "believed on him," or in other words, they were believers in Jesus Christ. However, as Jesus continued to speak to them, He eventually told them they were not of Him, but rather, they were the children of the devil.

Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it. And because I tell you the truth, ye believe me not.
-John 8:44-45

Jesus told these believers the truth, and they not only refused to believe what He told them, these "believers on Jesus" eventually picked up stones to kill the one they claimed to believe in.

Then took they up stones to cast at him: but Jesus hid himself, and went out of the temple, going through the midst of them, and so passed by.
-John 8:59

So the point of this is to explain that there are false converts hidden among many churches, and in some cases, entire church buildings are filled to the brim with corrupt men and women who claim to be of Christ with their mouths only, but their hearts are far from Jesus Christ.

This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me.
-Matthew 15:8

The purpose of the parable is to teach us that there will be false converts among us in the church, and they will fool many of us because they will appear to be like us in many ways. They will feign godly sorrow of sins (i.e. repentance), they will feign faith, joy, love, patience, and many other aspects that will lead us to believe that they are born again in Christ as we are, but eventually they will be weeded out, and in the end, they will be thrown into hell and the lake of fire.
(Read "Hell is Real And Many People Are Going There" here at creationliberty.com for more details.)

As therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire; so shall it be in the end of this world. The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity; And shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth.
-Matthew 13:40-42

These shall be thrown into hellfire, which Jesus said cannot be put out. (Mark 9:44) Eventually, hell itself, and all those therein, will be thrown into the lake of fire which burns forever.

And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.
-Revelation 20:15

However, the children of God will join Him in heaven, which is what is meant by the gathering of wheat into the barn.

Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Who hath ears to hear, let him hear.
-Matthew 13:43

This is a clear distinction between true and false converts. Both grew up in the church, but only some had genuine repentance and faith given unto them, while the others tried to fake it, thinking they could ride the coattails of others into heaven.
 


Now that we understand the parable of the wheat and tares, this parable will not need much explanation:

Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a net, that was cast into the sea, and gathered of every kind: Which, when it was full, they drew to shore, and sat down, and gathered the good into vessels, but cast the bad away. So shall it be at the end of the world: the angels shall come forth, and sever the wicked from among the just, And shall cast them into the furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth.
-Matthew 13:47-50

Again, we can see the foundational context of false converts in this parable. Just as fishermen cast a wide net to bring in as many fish as they can, and afterwards, they sort through them, dividing which are good for consumption and which are not, so we Christians also cast a wide net to bring as many believers into the church as we can, and though we do the best we can to separate ourselves from false teachers and false converts, we will not be able to discern them all, and so Jesus will sort through the true converts, separating them from the false converts which will go into the firey furnace of hell.

It is out of our concern for the souls of these false converts (if there be any chance that they might be saved), as well as for the protection of the church, that we need to cut out the leaven. It is our duty as Christians to point out those who deceive others with a charismatic persona, while they profess and teach false doctrines.

Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offences contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid them. For they that are such serve not our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly; and by good words and fair speeches deceive the hearts of the simple.
-Romans 16:17-18

 

And Jesus answered and spake unto them again by parables, and said, The kingdom of heaven is like unto a certain king, which made a marriage for his son, And sent forth his servants to call them that were bidden to the wedding: and they would not come.
-Matthew 22:1-3

This king is God the Father, who has prepared a marriage feast (i.e. a wedding celebration) for His Son, the bridegroom, who is Jesus Christ in this analogy, and the marriage of the bridegroom is to the bride, which is the church. The king sent his servants (i.e. men like John the Baptist) to call his guests to come to the wedding, but they would not come, meaning that those who were bidden (i.e. in this case, the Jews) rejected the Gospel of Jesus Christ, refused to have fellowship with God, the very God they claimed to serve.

It should be noted that the grace of the king is made clear in this parable because the king has no obligation to anyone, and these invitations to take part in the celebration are a kindness. These guests have no need to pay any cost for the festivities, and were simply offered to come and enjoy the marriage supper, but in pridefulness and hatred of heart, they rejected the King's grace.

Again, he sent forth other servants, saying, Tell them which are bidden, Behold, I have prepared my dinner: my oxen and my fatlings are killed, and all things are ready: come unto the marriage.
-Matthew 22:4

The king turns to his other servants, those which he knows he can rely upon, and this refers to Christians such as John, Peter, and Paul. He tells them to go preach to the Jews and let them know to come to the marriage, which is what they did, as Jesus instructed them to preach His gospel of repentance and remission of sins to the whole world, starting in Jerusalem. (Luke 24:47)

The king did not require the servants to go to other places to retrieve food, but the king prepared his own feast from his own resources, meaning that it would be the best meal one could hope to eat. The king had his servants relay the message that all things were ready for them to come, meaning that the curcifixion of Christ and His resurrection was complete, and all they had to do was come in repentance and faith, having no more need to fulfill all the ordinances of the Old Covenant, but again, in the pride of their hearts, they rejected God, caring nothing for what He offered them, while hypocritically claiming to be the servants of Him.

But they made light of it, and went their ways, one to his farm, another to his merchandise: And the remnant took his servants, and entreated them spitefully, and slew them.
-Matthew 22:5-6

Some were so arrogant, and secretly hated the Lord God so much, they beat and killed the messengers sent to bring them to the marriage supper. This is what Jesus warned would happen to us in the sense that we are not greater than He is, meaning that we would not be treated any better than He was treated, depsite the fact that He is the King:

Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also.
-John 15:20

In the parable, the king was enraged by the unjust and vicious treatment of His servants:

But when the king heard thereof, he was wroth: and he sent forth his armies, and destroyed those murderers, and burned up their city. Then saith he to his servants, The wedding is ready, but they which were bidden were not worthy. Go ye therefore into the highways, and as many as ye shall find, bid to the marriage.
-Matthew 22:7-9

So when the Jews would not hear the Word of God, they went back to the Old Covenant traditions as hypocrites, rejecting the very fulfillment of them in Jesus Christ. Therefore, the disciples of Christ were sent out into the world, to the Gentile nations, to bid them to come to the marriage supper.

So those servants went out into the highways, and gathered together all as many as they found, both bad and good: and the wedding was furnished with guests.
-Matthew 22:10

All those who hear the Word of God and come to the marriage supper are not automatically born again Christians, proving once again that Jesus was teaching us about false converts. These people will claim they are of Christ, and will join with the rest of the Christians, but there are some problems with them.

And when the king came in to see the guests, he saw there a man which had not on a wedding garment: And he saith unto him, Friend, how camest thou in hither not having a wedding garment? And he was speechless. Then said the king to the servants, Bind him hand and foot, and take him away, and cast him into outer darkness; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
-Matthew 22:11-13

Just as the Jews did not take the invitation seriously, we now have the Gentiles not taking it seriously either. Those whose hearts had good ground when the seed fell on it, hear the Word of God and understanding it, and they take the Scriptures seriously by judging themselves (1Co 11:31) and preparing for the marriage supper of the Lord Jesus Christ at the final Day of Judgment.

Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?
-2 Corinthians 13:5

The wailing of despair is understandable when these people face the punishment of eternal hellfire, but notice that there are those who would gnash their teeth, just as we read earlier in the parable of the tares:

And shall cast them into a furnace of fire:
there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth.
-Matthew 13:42

The gnashing of teeth is what you see when a dog is growling. The dog clinches his teeth together in anger, and likewise, this is what many will do on the Day of Judgment when Jesus sends them away from Him into hell, showing that, there are many churchgoers who, when they are being thrown into hell, will be furious against the Son of God, who they claimed to serve, but had no love for Him in their hearts.

This is why Jesus ended the parable by saying:

For many are called, but few are chosen.
-Matthew 22:14

Among the Jews, there were many who were called to the marriage supper of the Lord Jesus Christ, but few were actually chosen to be the children of God. They hated the Christians, and some even persecuted them unto death, which shows their true attitude towards God the Father, and it also shows us why hell has been reserved for them. The Jews did many religious works and rituals, but they lacked repentance (grief and godly sorrow of sins) and faith in Jesus Christ for the remission of sins.

Among the Gentiles, we see the same problem of hypocrisy, but in a slightly different way because the Gentiles claim to be Christians who believe on Jesus. However, they also lack repentance and faith, and it often shows when they reject God's Word to justify themselves, their rituals, their lifestyles, their feelings, and their favorite leavened preacher, who they love because he helps them justify themselves.

And he said unto them, Ye are they which justify yourselves [i.e. give yourself an excuse] before men; but God knoweth your hearts: for that which is highly esteemed among men is abomination in the sight of God.
-Luke 16:15

The Lord God, in His Word, is showing us the difference in characteristics between those who have been born again and regenerated in the Holy Spirit, and those who only claim with their mouths to have faith in Christ. There have been many instances in which I have been rejected as a hypocrite by churchgoers for simply quoting Jesus Christ, I have been called evil for quoting verses of Scripture from Jesus Christ to churchgoers who told me that Jesus would never speak that way, and I have been cast out and treated like garbage by "believers on Jesus" for simply sharing this message from Jesus Christ about false converts.
 

Then shall the kingdom of heaven be likened unto ten virgins, which took their lamps, and went forth to meet the bridegroom.
-Matthew 25:1

In this parable, the kingdom of heaven is the church, and they are compared to virgin brides, which are chaste, clean, and beautiful in the sight of the bridegroom, who is the Lord Jesus Christ. It is Christ who has provided them with all spiritual and physical blessings, caring greatly for them in every way, and has clothed them with robes of His righteousness.

The church goes out to meet Christ at His second coming, and bring their lamps with them. These lamps are representative of the Word of God, which the Lord has taught us lights our path as we walk (Psa 119:105), and so all those who claim to be of Christ carry lamps, meaning that they have an external profession of faith in Christ, but there are many false converts among them.

As a side note, this indicates that those who are watching and waiting for Christ are doing so because there are signs of the times before Christ's return, not that they can know the day or the hour (Mat 24:36), but they will know the season of His return. (Mat 16:3) This is one more evidence to add to the pile of Scriptural evidences that "pre-tribulation rapture" doctrine is false, which is unsurprising when you learn about the religious cultists who created and promoted it, and if any readers want to learn more about that, I would suggest reading a teaching I have called "The Beginner's Guide to Christian Rapture," which will explain a lot more details.

And five of them were wise, and five were foolish.
-Matthew 25:2

The five wise virgins were not wise in their own conceit, as the foolish virgins were (Pro 26:5), but rather, they were called "wise" by God the Father because He imparted His wisdom to them. (Jms 1:5) The reason these wise virgins received wisdom from God is because they did not just hold their lamps for show, but used them to light their way, meaning that, with the blessings of the Holy Spirit for understanding, they studied to gain His wisdom, seeking it desperately, knowing that the wisdom and understanding of God is beyond any wealth the world has to offer.

The foolish virgins only carried their lamps (i.e. their profession of Jesus and the Scriptures) for pretense, and did not take the Word of God seriously, applying Christ's philosophies and doctrines to their hearts and minds to judge themselves in righteous judgment. (John 7:24) This is not to say that they were foolish concerning the knowledge of the world, but they were foolish concerning spiritual knowledge, thinking themselves to be righteous because of their religious experiences, passions, and dedication to traditions that men consider to be "spiritual."

Please consider that, in the end days before the return of Jesus Christ, there will be few Christians left who will be dedicated enough to watch and wait for the Lord to come back, especially since many will be hunted and killed in the last days. (Rev 20:4) Even among those few, the Bible tells us that many of them will depart before the end, having only put on a show of chasteness and humility, but were inwardly impenitent and apathetic to Christ's doctrine, believing they could ride the coattails of Christians into heaven by standing near them.

They that were foolish took their lamps, and took no oil with them:
-Matthew 25:3

In the analogy, the oil would refer to the anointing of the Holy Spirit, in which the gifts of the Spirit (e.g. love, longsuffering, gentleness, faith, meekness, etc; Gal 5:22-23) are given to those who have been regenerated (i.e. born again, John 3:7), which are cultivated over time and used for the benefit of the Lord Jesus Christ and His church. (John 14:15) However, these false converts (who the Bible calls "foolish," meaning that they were unreasonable and wicked in their hearts) did not have the gifts of the Spirit, though they claimed to have them, and therefore, could not serve Christ and His church in any edifying way, despite claiming to do so before men.

But the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps.
-Matthew 25:4

The Holy Spirit supplied the true converts with plenty of oil, that their lamps would burn brightly and guide their path. The minds and hearts of those who are born again in Jesus Christ are filled with the anointing oil of the Holy Spirit (1Jo 2:26-27), and therefore, the Spirit continually provides their vessels with oil, but false converts have none.

While the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept.
-Matthew 25:5

This is a key verse that often gets overlooked because few Christians understand that the Jews considered there to be a distinction between "slumbering" and "sleeping." Sleeping is when one is fully unconscious, but slumbring, according to the Jews, was a state in which one is tired (i.e. what some of us might refer to as "half-asleep"), but is still conscious enough to respond to conversation.

Therefore, while Jesus Christ tarried, meaning that He delayed His return, many have become exhausted with waiting, having no choice but to accept that the Lord will come on His own timing, and not according to our personal desires. However, the true converts slumbered, trying their best to maintain their eagerness to be with Christ, while the false converts slept because, in their hearts, they did not really care.

And at midnight there was a cry made, Behold, the bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him.
-Matthew 25:6

The signs of the season of Christ's return have been revealed, and so the call was made for the Christians to prepare for His second coming. This analogy would refer to the Christians in the last days, in which there would be a looming threat of death to preach the Gospel of Christ, but they would preach anyway, putting aside personal safety, to do what is right over what is convenient because they love their Lord and Savior, they have eternal security in Him, and are not only eager to meet Him, but want all who will hear to meet Him as well.

Then all those virgins arose, and trimmed their lamps.
-Matthew 25:7

The virgins went from a slumbering or sleeping state, to a fully awake and alert state, as one who had been alarmed to danger or excitement. The trimming of a lamp is to cut off the wick that carries the flame, and this is done for a number of reasons, like to clean a lamp that has collected too much soot from use, but in this instance, the trimming of the lamps was to separate the light of Christ from any other.

The foolish virgins (i.e. false converts) put on a show of a few outward decorations of works, to give the appearance of regeneration of the Holy Ghost, but having no foundation in Christ, while the wise virgins had the grace of Christ in ready supply to refresh them and let their light shine before men. With the false converts being unsupplied with the oil of Christ's grace, they followed suit with the other virgins, trimming their lamps to clean the soot, but found themselves out of anointing oil because they tried to supply it themselves without the grace of Christ to supply it for them.

And the foolish said unto the wise, Give us of
your oil; for our lamps are gone out.
-Matthew 25:8

Again, the false converts want to ride the coattails of born again Christians, thinking that they will receive justification by proxy, or in other words, they think they can gain entrance to heaven by mere association. It is sometimes difficult for a Christian, having the grace of Christ by gift, to understand the madness of someone who, having enough discernment to see that they need grace, and seeing that the children of God have it, to try to gain it for themselves through their own works or association with others, rather than from Christ, the only source of grace and justification, who gives it to repentant men freely.

The false converts have no light to shine forth in Jesus Christ, thinking they were justified by their works and religious traditions, and so when the temporary stage lights of the world go out, the only lights that will be left shining are those who had the light of Christ shining in them, which will be reflected in their good works and preaching. The foolish virgins (i.e. churchgoers standing on religious pretense), now seeing that their decorations and performances cannot sustain them (i.e. a form of godliness, without the power 2Ti 3:5), still look anywhere but to Jesus Christ for their help, pleading with the saints to let them borrow some of their light, which comes only from the Holy Ghost, in the same nonsensical manner that Simon the sorcerer pleaded with Peter to try and gain access apart from going to Christ with a repentant heart. (Acts 8:19-24)

But the wise answered, saying, Not so; lest there be not enough for us and you: but go ye rather to them that sell, and buy for yourselves..
-Matthew 25:9

The wise virgins did not reject the foolish virgins because they were uncompassionate to their plight, but rather, the wise virgins understood that what was requested of them by the foolish virgins was impossible. No man can supply righteousness to another man because all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. (Rom 3:23)

It can be easy to misunderstand the phrase "lest there be not enough for us and you," considering that the blood of Jesus Christ and God's grace is sufficient to pay for all of a man's sins, but this is not said in terms of amount. This is spoken in terms of perspective, in which the wise virgins know that their own sin is great, and they need all the grace of God they can have, wherefore this is a humbled attitude, in which they know that God has forgiven them much.

The retort of the wise virgins was not a joke, nor was it to mock the foolish virgins, because we know it is impossible to find a man who can impart saving grace to them, and we also know it is foolish to think you can buy grace with money. Rather, this is an analogy, in which the wise virgins got their oil from the One who can supply it, which is the Holy Ghost, given by the blessings of Jesus Christ, and so they instructed the foolish virgins to go to the source of the oil for their light.

And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came; and they that were ready went in with him to the marriage: and the door was shut.
-Matthew 25:10

While the wise virgins meant to point the foolish virgins in the right direction, the foolish virgins did not understand. Therefore, instead of looking for Jesus Christ on the road as they should have, they went another way (Mat 7:13-14), and took the words of the wise virgins literally, attempting to buy their oil with money, or in other words, they tried to seek grace through their own works, which the Bible tells us in impossible. (Rom 11:6)

While the false converts were trying to seek righteousness through their own efforts, Jesus Christ (i.e. the bridegroom) came to bring the virgin bride (i.e. the church) home with Him. The door of the bedchamber, or rather, the entrance to heaven, was shut, meaning that the sanctification of the saints was complete, which brings relief and joy to the wise virgins to be saved out of the world of sin, never to have to return to a state of sorrow and vexation, but it brings dread to the foolish virgins, whose fate, both of the wrath of God and hellfire, is sealed in their own iniquity.

Afterward came also the other virgins, saying, Lord, Lord, open to us. But he answered and said, Verily I say unto you, I know you not.
-Matthew 25:11-12

The other virgins would refer to those who were not associated with the wise virgins. These also came begging to be let in, but Jesus was not their Lord; rather, these false converts only called Him "Lord" out of convenience, and others still will call Him "Lord" because they will have no choice but to acknowledge who He is. (Rom 14:11)

Jesus said "verily," or in other words, with CERTAINTY, He did not know them because they were not of His flock, despite how many times they claimed to be of His flock while they lived in the flesh. As Jesus taught in the Sermon on the Mount, many will call Him "Lord" and claimed they served Him their entire lives, but He never knew them, and turns them away unto everlasting fire.

Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.
-Matthew 7:21-23

We will come back to those verses in Matthew 7 towards the end of this teaching, but now that we have a better understanding of false converts, let's connect these parables to Christ's description of the Day of Judgment:

When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory: And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats:
-Matthew 25:31-32

Notice specifically that Christ has gathered all the people of the world, from every nation. This means that He is not just selectively picking out a few people that churchgoers disagree with, or separating out a few people that were in a small, wacky religious cult that existed long ago, and far away. We read earlier that MANY would enter into the wide gates of hell (Mat 7:13), which means that a great majority would be put on the side of the goats.

Jesus used the metaphor between sheep and goats because both animals have very different natures. Sheep tend to be more quiet, gentle, and obedient, while goats tend to be more loud, confrontational, and mischievous.

And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left. Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in: Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me.
-Matthew 25:33-36

Of course, I have done no such thing for Jesus Christ because He is not physically with me in this world. I only tried to keep His commandments the best I knew how, and rely on His mercies for those things in which I failed, so therefore, in my understanding, it is He who has done all those things for me, not the other way around.

Now, pay close attention to how the sheep on the right react to Jesus saying this:

Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink? When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee? Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee? And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.
-Matthew 25:37-40

The humility of repentance is in those with a heart of good ground because that foundation was laid in them by Jesus Christ. Jesus did not call them righteous because of their works, but rather, it was because His righteousness was imputed to them. (Rom 4:22-25) Because they were born again in Christ (John 3:7) and given a love of the truth (2Th 2:10), they had love for one another as brethren, and treated each other as such, while the churchgoers on the left abandoned, mocked, and persecuted the children of God on the right.

Then Jesus turns to address the goats on the left:

Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels: For I was an hungred, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not.
-Matthew 25:41-43

This is more evidence that these people are turned away into hell and the lake of fire because they are being sent to the same place reserved for the devil. Jesus rejected a great majority of the people of this world, most of which claimed they served him, as we can see by their reaction to His words, which is the polar opposite of what the sheep said:

Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee? Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me. And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.
-Matthew 25:41-43

These stoney-hearted and thorny-hearted churchgoers believed that they had been serving Jesus Christ and doing His will for many years because they were shocked and appalled that He would suggest they had not done great works for Him. They claimed to serve Jesus, while rejecting the true church, and therefore, when a man rejects the family of Christ, it is the same as rejecting Christ Himself.

When Paul preached warning to the church, it was that grievious wolves and perverse men would arise from WITHIN. Paul was not addressing corrupt religious cults, but rather, he was warning the true church that tares would be planted in among the wheat.

For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock. Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them.
-Acts 20:29-30

This means that there would be churchgoers among us who would come in and partake with us in fellowship, and feign the same beliefs as we have, but they would not be a member of the body of Christ. Because of this corruption that would enter the church, Paul spent many years warning the church of what would happend to them if they were not vigilant.

Therefore watch, and remember, that by the space of three years I ceased not to warn every one night and day with tears.
-Acts 20:31

 

Now learn a parable of the fig tree; When his branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is nigh: So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors.
-Matthew 24:32

Some readers might be confused as to how this short parable could be about false converts versus true converts, but the Lord Jesus Christ is showing us that those who are true converts look to His Word on a philosophical level, not just with vain words coming forth out of the mouth. Many claim to believe the Word of God, and I have heard many pastors proclaim from their pulpits that "the Bible is the final authority in all matters of faith and practice," and yet, when it comes to a choice between believing the world versus believing Scripture, they choose to believe the world.

Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy [a way of thinking] and vain deceit [useless lies], after the tradition of men, after the rudiments [first teachings you learn] of the world, and not after Christ.
-Colossians 2:8

For example, the week I wrote this paragraph, I had a man send me an email in which he was concerned about whether or not the Covid-19 vaccine was the "mark of the beast," which is a rumor that spread far and wide among various church-ianity organizations and so-called "prophets." Though there are many ways to disprove that idea, the most simple is by pointing out that the Bible clearly tells us that the mark of the beast would be put in the hand and/or forehead, and so until the evil governing entities and corrupt medical institutions start injecting these vaccines into people's hands and forehead (as opposed to their arm/shoulder), then I am not going to waste my time with the silly superstitions of false prophets.

And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand,
-Revelation 14:9

The reason I speak so boldly to call them false prophets is because I believe the Word of God on a philosophical level, meaning that, if the world says that something is "truth," but that something is contradicted by the Bible, then I reject what the world says. This is because we Christians believe that the Word of the Living God is truth, and if anyone blatantly contradicts His Word, we ought to reject their philosophy and doctrine because if we do not, then we are calling God a liar, and God cannot lie.

In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie,
promised before the world began;
-Titus 1:2

God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent: hath he said, and shall he not do it? or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good?
-Numbers 23:19

Sadly, the man who wrote to me replied and argued that the so-called "prophets" who told him the vaccine was the mark of the beast were "real" prophets because they had said other things that were true, or in other words, he chose to ignore the Word of God that I quoted to him so he could keep believing false prophets. When a prophet of Lord God speaks on His behalf, they are supposed to be giving a message straight from His mouth, which means they will NEVER be wrong in that regard, and God also told us that if just one prophecy is wrong, then the man who spoke it is a false prophet.

But the prophet, which shall presume to speak a word in my name, which I have not commanded him to speak, or that shall speak in the name of other gods, even that prophet shall die. And if thou say in thine heart, How shall we know the word which the LORD hath not spoken? When a prophet speaketh in the name of the LORD, if the thing follow not, nor come to pass, that is the thing which the LORD hath not spoken, but the prophet hath spoken it presumptuously: thou shalt not be afraid of him.
-Deuteronomy 18:20-22

presumptuous (n): bold and confident to excess; adventuring without reasonable ground of success; hazarding safety on too slight grounds; rash
(See 'presumptuous', American Dictionary of the English Language, Noah Webster, 1828, retrieved Aug 2, 2022, [webstersdictionary1828.com])

Then the LORD said unto me, The prophets prophesy lies in my name: I sent them not, neither have I commanded them, neither spake unto them: they prophesy unto you a false vision and divination, and a thing of nought, and the deceit of their heart.
-Jeremiah 14:14

So in the parable of the fig tree, Christ makes it clear that we should wait and look for the signs of His second coming, and not believe that these things will happen at any moment without notice. Sadly, many churchgoers do not take this parable seriously, and have chosen to believe in a "pre-tribulation rapture" scenario because they refuse to believe what Jesus Christ taught us.
(Read "The Beginner's Guide to Christian Rapture" here at creationliberty.com for more details.))

We know that a great falling away among churchgoers will be revealed along with the final antichrist before Jesus Christ returns, but there are many who do not believe this because they do not look for the signs of the times, and that is because they do not trust in the Word of God. Though we know that no man can know the day or hour that Christ will return, Paul directly rebuked the idea that Jesus Christ is going to return at any moment without any notice of the season in which it will happen. (i.e. "When his branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is nigh.")

Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him, That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand. 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;
-2 Thessalonians 2:1-3

Therefore, Christ is telling us that true converts will heed His Word with careful consideration, but false converts will take it lightly without much concern. False converts tend to be willingly led around by false teachers, corrupt evangelists, and fake prophets, taking no thought to search the Scriptures and verify the truth of these matters on their own because there is no root of the Holy Spirit in themselves.

Which things also we speak, not in the words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual. But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.
-1 Corinthians 2:13-14

As Paul said, they CANNOT understand, which is why it is so common to hear leavened churchgoers repeat church-ianity tropes that they heard from their pastors when they are challenged with the Scriptures, instead of responding with wisdom and sound doctrine, as one would expect. They do not understand them (nor do they study to understand in many cases), and they are afraid to say that they do not understand, so they just parrot what they heard a pastor say to feign knowledge of the Word of God, when they are destitute of His wisdom.



 

And he spake this parable unto certain which trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others:
-Luke 18:9

In this parable, Jesus is warning false converts about their pride, in which they believe themselves to be righteous servants of Jesus Christ, but in reality, they hate Christ's true servants. These types of people have never been humbled to repentance (i.e. godly sorrow of their sins), and so they make a show of "holiness," relying on moral behavior, religious duties, and so-called "spiritual" ceremonies to justify them in the sight of God, while looking down on others as being unworthy of God's mercies.

Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other a publican.
-Luke 18:10

These two men went into a building that was considered by society to be a sacred place where prayers are more readily heard by God, even though we know that idea is fallacious, specifically because Jesus told us that we ought to go to prayer in private, not in public where all men can see us.

And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.
-Matthew 6:5-6
(Read "The Biblical Understanding of Prayer" here at creationliberty.com for more details.)

One of the men was a Pharisee, which was a sect of believers in the law and prophets of God. The Pharisees were typically well-respected in society because of their dedication to memorization of the Torah (i.e. the first five books of the Bible), and their adherance to the religious practices of the Jews, and they often held positions of religious leadership, similar to what we know today as pastors, priests, elders, bishops, deacons, etc.

The other man was a Jewish publican, otherwise known as a tax collector for the Roman government. The duty of a tax collector was difficult because society hated them for obvious reasons (i.e. they took people's money under threat of arrest by the Roman government which the people already despised), and so publicans were not well-respected, which is meant to be a contrast to the Pharisee.

The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican. I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess.
-Luke 18:11-12

The Pharisee did not pray outloud for everyone to hear, but stood separated from the publican, not wanting any part with him, and "thanked" God, not for God's great mercies, but as an exaltation of himself, to bless himself and declare his own righteousness. The Pharisee declared that he was not like other men, but he was exactly the same as other men, sinful by nature while holding up fasting and tithe as a banner of righteousness, hypocritically listing out sins that were common characteristics among the Pharisees, and showing great disgust for the publican, despite the fact that both bore the same sins.

If we dive deeper into that thought, essentially, the outward publican was a reflection of the inward Pharisee. Upon the Pharisee looking at the publican, he refused to see his own corrupt, digusting soul, turning a blind eye to inward righteous judgment, and instead lifted himself up above the publican, relying on the hopeless circular reasoning of his own mind for justification instead of looking to God for mercy.

And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner.
-Luke 18:13

In the opposite fashion, the publican looked upon the Pharisee and saw a man who he thought to be better than himself. The publican looked inward and saw his own corrupt, disgusting soul, and grieved so greatly within himself that he physically beat on his own chest because of the inward pain.

The publican was so distraught in the sorrow of repentance, he could not even lift his head to look up. His thoughts were not focused anywhere else but on the hopes and pleas for the mercy of God, knowing that nothing else could cleanse and save him from the proper punishment for the wicked.

I tell you, this man [the publican] went down to his house justified rather than the other [the Pharisee]: for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.
-Luke 18:14

In summary, Jesus has taught us that the true convert is humbled in godly sorrow of his sins, while the false convert is lifted up in his pride. Jesus explains to us what these men say in their hearts, and if we listen to their words carefully, the false convert will reveal himself by what he says because his heart adheres to false doctrinces and corrupt philosophies, so when we compare their words with the Word of God, we can gain a general understanding of what is in their hearts.

But those things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart; and they defile the man.
-Matthew 15:18

As we can see, Jesus taught us MANY things about false converts, moreso than I have talked about in this teaching. If any readers want to learn more, I would recommend listening to the first half of my weekly teachings, in which we walk through the Scriptures verse by verse, and those are only available by downloading them in the audio section on this website.
(See "Audio Downloads" here at creationliberty.com for more details.)

In my experience growing up in church buildings, investigating other ministries, and in hearing the testimonies of others who have also attended church buildings, I have found it to be a very common issue that false converts go undetected within their walls. This is not because false converts do not exist within their walls (as many churchgoers tend to believe), but because there is no one following the commandments of Jesus Christ that we ought to judge righteous judgement, meaning that we need to compare the words (i.e. doctrines, beliefs, philosophies, etc) and actions of others in the church to the Word of God to see if they align with the Bible.
(Read "Unbiblical Cop-outs: 'Don't Judge Me!'" here at creationliberty.com for more details.)

If born again Christians do not stay vigilant (2Ti 4:5), and do not earnestly contend for the faith (Jude 1:3), then these leavened men and women will get involved in the church, and quicker than you may realize, will corrupt and overthrow it, not only by bringing in the worldly devices and rituals of men, but also leadership who will support those worldly things.

For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock. Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them.
-Acts 20:29-30

The Bible does not tell us that leaven (i.e. corruption, specifically in doctrine) is long ago and far away, nor does the Bible tell us that a little leaven does not harm anyone. God has told us through His Word (i.e. from the Holy Ghost, who has authored these words through Christ's apostles) that a little leaven affects EVERYONE in the church, even if they believe they are immune to it.

A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump.
-Galatians 5:9

Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall.
-1 Corinthians 10:12

After a time immersed in the leaven of false converts, the corruption will spread to a point where they believe they have no leaven, even when they are swimming in it. This is the difference between pigs and sheep, meaning that when sheep enter the mud, they seek to get out of it and clean themselves, whereas pigs enter the mud and wallow in it.

Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend you.
-Matthew 7:6

The dogs and the swine that Jesus is referring to are those who profess themselves to be servants of God, but they hate and reject correction and instruction in the Word of God. They believe themselves to be above rebuke, and they will not only refuse to hear the truth of the Word preached to them (only allowing that which makes them feel good by scratching their itching ears), but they will also mock and/or persecute you for daring to correct them.

Correction is grievous unto him that forsaketh the way:
and he that hateth reproof shall die.
-Proverbs 15:10

Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.
-2 Timothy 4:2-4

Because of the unbelief of many churchgoers, they refuse to acknowledge that one can profess to be the servant of Christ, and yet be a false convert. They remain willingly ignorant that the things which happened to the Jews in the Old Testament are recorded for our admonishment (i.e. correction and instruction against wrong practices), and that many of them, who followed Moses out of the land of Egypt, witnessing the miracles of God parting the Red Sea, leading them by a pillar of fire, and feeding them with bread falling from the sky, still did NOT believe, despite what was shown directly to them.

I will therefore put you in remembrance, though ye once knew this, how that the Lord, having saved the people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed them that believed not... But these speak evil of those things which they know not: but what they know naturally, as brute beasts, in those things they corrupt themselves.
-Jude 1:5-10

How are they so blinded? Because without a humble heart of repentance, given as a gift by the Lord God, they are lifted up in their own pride, and as Jesus pointed out to the crowd of believers on Him (which we read earlier from John 8), He told them the truth, and they refused to believe Him because they hated the truth.

And because I tell you the truth, ye believe me not... He that is of God heareth God's words: ye therefore hear them not, because ye are not of God.
-John 8:45-47

They did not receive a love of the truth from the Holy Spirit, that they might be saved.

And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.
-2 Thessalonians 2:10

It is not just churchgoers that so often hate the truth of the Word of God while hypocritically claiming to follow Christ, but it is a very common thing for pastors to do the same. They are blind leaders of the blind, being a false convert who looks for a church building filled with false converts from which he can profit.

For the pastors are become brutish [ignorant and carnal like a beast], and have not sought the LORD: therefore they shall not prosper, and all their flocks shall be scattered.
-Jeremiah 10:21

Let them alone: they be blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch.
-Matthew 15:14

Some may think me to be very harsh for saying such things, but I am only repeating what Jesus Christ said. If anyone wants to rebuke me for being harsh, then you need to first go to Jesus Christ to rebuke Him, which is essentially what they are doing, as Jesus told us:

Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also.
-John 15:20

They reject us Christians when we tell them the truth because they reject Jesus Christ in their hearts. It does not matter how kindly or firmly we love them enough to tell them the truth, they will accuse of hatred because false converts hypocritically give lip service to Jesus Christ, while their hearts are far from Him.

This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me.
-Matthew 15:8

He answered and said unto them, Well hath Esaias prophesied of you hypocrites, as it is written, This people honoureth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me.
-Mark 7:6

There are many examples of people who give lip service to Jesus Christ, trying to convince others they are dedicated servants of Jesus, but when confronted with His Word, they hate Him. There is a vast amount of churchgoers who do this on an daily basis. I have, many times, been censored on so-called "Christian" social media channels, and blocked by so-called "Christian" users, for simply quoting Jesus Christ to them when they have said something in opposition to His doctrine.

I have personally known people who have professed to be a Christian, and years later, those people "convert" to atheism. The reason I put the word 'convert' in quotations is because they never converted to atheism, but rather, atheistic belief was always in their hearts from the beginning, and we know that because when the Lord God converts a man with the Holy Spirit to acknowledge the truth, there is no un-seeing the truth, which means that those who "fall away" (as we read earlier) are those who were false converts all along because they never understood the Word of God.

For example, a man named Ryan Bell became very popular in atheist circles because of his alleged "conversion" from Christianity to atheism. Atheists love to briefly mention it in passing because the headline is sensational, but once we get into the details of the situation, any true Christian worth his salt would have been able to spot Bell as a false convert LONG before any of this happened.
(Read "Everything You Need To Know About Atheism" here at creationliberty.com for more details.)

Bell was a pastor of a church building for 19 years, and was a professor at a local college, which is already very suspect because most colleges today would not suffer a real Christian to teach anything in their so-called "higher learning" institutions. So before we go any further, that already indicates to me that he had compromised the Word of God in many areas.

One day, Bell announced that he was going to run an experiment to "live like an atheist" for a year. Even if I had never heard about this, and had only looked at his position in a local college, I would be suspicious of his beliefs, but once I read that he was going to "live like an atheist," that confirmed for me without a doubt that this man was simply playing church from the start.

Those who have been born again in Christ (i.e. had their spirits regenerated by the Holy Spirit) know that the Lord Jesus Christ is the ONLY hope for men to be saved from sin, the wrath of God, hell, and the lake of fire. Therefore, it would be absolute insanity for anyone who professed that belief to want to experiment with some other philosophy, but he was not insane; rather, he was simply trying to worm his way out of church-ianity and into the life that he really wanted to live, which was that of an atheist, showing that his true love was for the world, which also means that he had no part with Christ in the first place.

Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.
-1 John 2:15-16

When I first saw this article, before I read any further, I already knew that Bell was not going to come back from his "experiment" to be a "Christian." That was not the reason he was doing this. Those who love the pleasures of the world will serve those pleasures as their master, and so Bell was simply giving the public an excuse to go serve his first love, and the philosophy that allowed him to do that was in atheism. "Minister Ryan Bell decided to 'try on' atheism for a year; now, although he says atheism is an 'awkward fit,' he's going to continue to not believe in God."

-Natalie Gee, "After Year of Atheism, Former Pastor: 'I Don't Think God Exists'," Dec 27, 2014, retrieved Feb 27, 2015, [npr.org/2014/12/27/373298310/after-year-of-atheism-former-pastor-i-dont-think-god-exists]

Again, this is unsurprising because those who serve the lusts of the flesh will slowly gravitate towards them, and atheism gave him the excuse he wanted to justify his lust of the flesh. It is important for Christians to learn about the concept of false converts, and the evidences that Jesus Christ gave us for what they would look and sound like, because if we do not pay attention to this, we will end up professing a man to be of Christ, when he is not, and he will end up spreading much leaven (i.e. corruption in doctrine) among the church.

Your glorying [boasting] is not good. Know ye not that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump? Purge out [remove] therefore the old leaven [corrupt doctrines and philosophies that are against Christ], that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us: Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.
-1 Corinthians 5:6-8

Knowing that we can spot the leaven in Ryan Bell BEFORE he did or said any of these things, it is interesting to note that he was a Seventh-day Adventist (SDA), and SDAs are not Christians because they believe in many works-based heresies and idolatries that war against the doctrine of Christ. If any SDA is reading this, they will be instantly upset that I say this, but these are the facts, and I wrote a book (which is free to read here at creationliberty.com) called Corruptions of Christianity: Seventh-day Adventism, and that will provide all the quotes and references to SDA documentation and eyewitnesses, to prove that the prophetess they worship (i.e. Ellen G. White, who plagiarized approximately 80% of her writings) taught that the blood of Jesus Christ does NOT pay for the sins of man, and that one must do works to earn salvation.

For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.
-Ephesians 2:8-9

Of course, this does not mean that every SDA is automatically an atheist at heart, but the problem is that they adhere to false doctrines that create a never-ending cycle of stress, worry, and doubt because they require members to strict adhereance to the Old Testament law, instead of disciplined adhereance to faith and charity, which is the fulfillment of the law. Therefore, it is no surprise that Bell would transition away from that because no man can keep the whole of the law, which means that Bell was trying to find a way to escape the constant pressure of hopeless circular reasoning he was under to accomplish that which is impossible.

For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.
-James 2:10

As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one.
-Romans 3:10-12

The article continues:
"After a year, Bell tells NPR's Arun Rath, 'I've looked at the majority of the arguments that I've been able to find for the existence of God, and on the question of God's existence or not, I have to say I don't find there to be a convincing case, in my view.'"
-NPR Staff, "After Year of Atheism, Former Pastor: 'I Don't Think God Exists'," Dec 27, 2014, retrieved Feb 27, 2015, [npr.org/2014/12/27/373298310/after-year-of-atheism-former-pastor-i-dont-think-god-exists]

If you find it strange that a man says that he does not see any convincing evidence for something he was dedicated to for almost two decades (i.e. he was an SDA pastor for 19 years), that is because it IS strange, but to understand why it is strange, you need to understand the fallout of the religious cult of Seventh-day Adventism. As I covered in my book (Corruptions of Christianity: Seventh-day Adventism), SDAs practice what is commonly known as "shunning," which means that, once someone is kicked out of the SDA church, they will be separated from all the family and friends they have ever known (because SDAs only associate with other SDAs), and in many cases, will lose their job because they work for SDA affiliated businesses, so ultimately, Ryan Bell was looking for a support system to get out of SDA, and the atheists provided that path of exit for him.

Of course, there is so much evidence for the existence of God in nature alone, it is overwhelming, but men choose to not believe because of the lust of their flesh. The existence of God is a hinderence to their sin, and they want an excuse to ignore their own conscience, so they can freely commit whatever sin they desire without having to be convicted of guilt.

The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none that doeth good.
-Psalm 14:1

fool (n): one who is destitute of reason, or the common powers of understanding; an idiot; often used for a wicked or depraved person; one who acts contrary to sound wisdom in his moral deportment; one who follows his own inclinations, who prefers trifling and temporary pleasures to the service of God and eternal happiness
(See 'fool', American Dictionary of the English Language, Noah Webster, 1828, retrieved Sept 14, 2022, [webstersdictionary1828.com])

For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse: Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools,
-Romans 1:20-23
(Read "Evolutionism: Another New-Age Religion" here at creationliberty.com for more details.)

Which shew the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts the mean while accusing or else excusing one another;
-Romans 2:15

Ryan Bell is just one of many examples that could be given, but demonstrates the point that a man can profess that he is a servant of Christ for many decades, and still not be a servant of Christ. Men profess many things to be true when those things are not true, and they do so for various reasons, but the important point to take away from this is the general concept that men and women often LIE to themselves and others, and because of this, it is quite common for people to lie about their own salvation in order to justify what they want to believe.

Those who are called "Christians" are supposed to be disciples of Christ, and disciples are those who are supposed to be born again through the Holy Spirit.

disciple (n): a learner; a scholar; one who receives or professes to receive instruction from another; a follower; an adherent to the doctrines of another; hence the constant attendants of Christ were called his disciples; and hence all Christians are called his disciples, as they profess to learn and receive his doctrines and precepts
(See 'disciple', American Dictionary of the English Language, Noah Webster, 1828, retrieved Sept 14, 2022, [webstersdictionary1828.com])

And when he had found him, he brought him unto Antioch. And it came to pass, that a whole year they assembled themselves with the church, and taught much people. And the disciples were called Christians first in Antioch.
-Acts 11:26

The question we have to ask ourselves is this: At what point do we suspect that a churchgoer may not be a disciple of Christ? That is why Jesus Christ gave us these parables, and that is why those who are not of Christ cannot fully understand them.

There are many evidences that stack up over time; for example, when a man who is a churchgoer says and does things that are inappropriate and anti-biblical, and he accepts no rebuke and correction for those things, we can start to see a problem in him because those things do not reflect the fruits of the Spirit of God. Churchgoers often argue that no one can know what is in a man's heart, but again, they still do not understand the Scriptures because Jesus told us otherwise:

But those things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart; and they defile the man.
-Matthew 15:18

But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment.
-Matthew 12:36

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.
-Galatians 5:22-23

If we tell a man the truth of the Word of God, and he responds to the matter before he hears it, refusing to study it out to find the truth, and perhaps even turns around to accuse us without understanding, we know there is a problem in the heart of that man. It does not matter how much he tries to alter his speech to disguise himself, eventually, his words will reflect the philosophy (i.e way of thinking) he holds in his mind and heart.

The heart of the righteous studieth to answer: but the mouth of the wicked poureth out evil things.
-Proverbs 15:28

He that answereth a matter before he heareth it, it is folly and shame unto him.
-Proverbs 18:13

Furthermore, when a churchgoer professes belief in false doctrine, and after thorough discussion, refuses correction from the Word of God on it, it becomes a question of what is keeping him from seeing the truth of Scripture.

But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.
-1 Corinthians 2:14

And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.
-2 Thessalonians 2:10

There are many various indicators we have to provide evidence that we might be talking with a false convert. Please keep in mind that every Christian needs time to learn, grow, and understand the deeper things that God has taught us in His Word, and even I am still learning new things, but the problem is in the core attitude, words, and beliefs of churchgoers, in which they defy the Word of God, while professing to be a "disciple" of Jesus Christ.

If these people are not dealt with, they infect the church with their leaven. Sometimes, it takes a lot of time to discern who they are, which is why Jesus gave us the parable of the wheat and the tares, in which they might seem like they are Christians at first, but years later, the corruption in their hearts is clear to see.

Having to expose and deal with false converts in the church is not a fun process for anyone, and our church has done it a number of times, so we know from first hand experience. The reason most church buildings do not handle false converts is because, firstly, most church buildings are full of them, so they cannot see the forest because of the trees, and secondly, removing false converts would hurt their bottom line, meaning that they want as many people as possible on their church building attendance roster because it makes them more money in the long run.

But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction. And many shall follow their pernicious [destructive] ways; by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of. And through covetousness shall they with feigned words [lies to put on a show] make merchandise of you: whose judgment now of a long time lingereth not, and their damnation slumbereth not.
-2 Peter 2:1-3

Though many of us have heard of the phrase "wolves in sheep's clothing," especially those who grew up going to church buildings, but we often do not stop to consider what that really means. A sheep's outer clothing will mean that the wolf will APPEAR to be a sheep in most of its mannerisms, meaning that a wolf can get up in front of a pulpit every week, preach, sing songs about Jesus, seem humble, and do good works, but the thoughts and intents of the heart cannot be made known to mankind without the assistance of the Holy Spirit through the Bible.

For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do.
-Hebrews 4:12-13

If you want to know what is in the hearts and minds of mankind, then you need to go to the Word of God, study it thoroughly, and compare the doctrines and philosophies of the Lord to that which mankind professes to believe. No matter how much effort we make, there will always be some who trick us, especially when they can take advantage of our kindness, patience, temperance, and longsuffering (which were given to us by the Holy Spirit), but eventually, they will be found out, and what we choose to do at that point is very important because we cannot leave leaven uncontested, else it will spread to others in the church and affect them.
(Read "The Biblical Understanding of Sanctification" here at creationliberty.com for more details.)

If we are in a place that we discover is filled with leaven, and we cannot remove the massive amount of it, then we should peacefully and faithfully depart from it, lest we be affected and turn from the doctrines of Scripture. I have received letters from many people who, when finding out they were surrounded by leaven, chose to stay and "try to work on them," but this too is foolishness because they believe, in their own arrogance, that they would not be affected the leaven.

Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall.
-1 Corinthians 10:12

We must look at a man's fruit, whether it is good for consumption, corrupt, or non-existent.

Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.
-Matthew 7:15-20

We have to look at the fruits of the Spirit and compare them with a man's words and actions. Jesus did not say this because he was engaging in vain small talk, but rather, He told us how we can discern the truth, which means that we ought to do so.

We should listen and read to see if a man speaks the truth, and if he preaches proper doctrine on the Gospel of Salvation in Jesus Christ. We should look at those who follow a man's teachings, and those who he considers to be companions, because it is impossible for a men to be yoked together if they hold differing philosophies (i.e. ways of thinking).

Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy [a way of thinking] and vain deceit [useless lies], after the tradition of men, after the rudiments [first teachings you learn] of the world, and not after Christ.
-Colossians 2:8

Remember that good works are not the foundation of salvation in Jesus Christ.

And if by grace, then is it no more of works: otherwise grace is no more grace. But if it be of works, then is it no more grace: otherwise work is no more work.
-Romans 11:6

Good works can be evidence of salvation when done in the proper context, but those works must be done with understanding which is the point Jesus was making in the parable of the sower:

But he that received seed into the good ground is he that heareth the word, and understandeth it; which also beareth fruit, and bringeth forth, some an hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.
-Matthew 13:23

 

The greatest producer of false converts is a false gospel message on salvation. In most cases, corrupt ministers preach various false gospels of works-based salvation doctrine, false gospels that exclude the humility of repentance (i.e. godly sorrow) of sins, or both.
(Read "There is No Saving Grace Without Repentance" here at creationliberty.com for more details.)

I have encountered many churchgoers who claim that they came to Jesus Christ by some other method than what is described for us in Scripture. They give their testimony of salvation in Christ, and then once I show them the Scripture that demonstrates that they have not testified of the things that is written for a man to understand when he is saved, they make excuses and argue about their feelings on the matter because, in their hearts, they reject the doctrines of Scripture concerning salvation, while giving lip service to Jesus Christ.

People do not slip on proverbial banana peels and accidentally fall into salvation. These false doctrines will only lead a man away from Jesus Christ, while fooling that man into thinking that he actually serves Jesus Christ.

Jesus warned us that such preachers are false converts, and they create many more false converts who follow the voices of a strangers:

Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbeth up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber. But he that entereth in by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. To him the porter openeth; and the sheep hear his voice: and he calleth his own sheep by name, and leadeth them out. And when he putteth forth his own sheep, he goeth before them, and the sheep follow him: for they know his voice. And a stranger will they not follow, but will flee from him: for they know not the voice of strangers. This parable spake Jesus unto them: but they understood not what things they were which he spake unto them.
-John 10:1-6

The sheepfold is the church, which is the gathering of born again Christians in like-mind with one another, in which they provide comfort, warmth, nourishment, peace, and rest for one another through the blessings of Jesus Christ. There is a standard door to the barn through which the porter (i.e. the gate keeper) enters, and the sheep know the porter, and they trust and follow him because he knows them, and calls them by name.

This porter is Jesus Christ alone. The porter does NOT refer to a pastor, an elder, a priest, Michael the Archangel (as Seventh-day Adventists and Jehovah's Witnesses teach), the virgin Mary, Peter, nor the wicked Popes of Rome (as Catholics teach).
(Read Corruptions of Christianity: Catholicism, Corruptions of Christianity: Seventh-day Adventism, and Corruptions of Christianity: Jehovahs' Witness here at creationliberty.com for more details.)

For there is one God, and one mediator between
God and men, the man Christ Jesus;
-1 Timothy 2:5

The thief, who has no love for the sheep, cannot enter in through the door because it is locked to him, so he tries to get in another way. In the analogy, this is a man who claims he is called by God, but is fake, never having been given any calling, nor chosen by God to guide the church in any circumstance. Even if he makes his way inside, the sheep do not follow him because he tries to direct them against the instructions of the porter (i.e. the Lord Jesus Christ) and we Christians follow the guidance He has preserved for us in His Word.

However, we cannot overlook the robber in comparison to the thief because, according to the Jews, there was an important distinction. A thief would steal a man's property in secret, while a robber would steal a man's property openly, and thus, some try to sneak into the church unawares, while others openly profess false doctrines to draw away disciples.

And that because of false brethren unawares brought in, who came in privily to spy out our liberty which we have in Christ Jesus, that they might bring us into bondage:
-Galatians 2:4

For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock. Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them.
-Acts 20:29-30

There were Pharisees among those who Jesus was speaking to in this parable, and again, the Pharisees were men of religious clout, having a respect from society for being "men of God," just like we see with pastors, elders, evangelists, priests, and scribes today. Such men taught from the Scriptures, and even though Jesus presented a parable that, upon explanation, is very easy to understand, they still cannot understand it because they are impenitent (i.e. unrepentant) in the hardenss of their hearts, and their minds are blinded in their pride, having given themselves lofty station in which they believe they are beyond rebuke and correction.
(Read "The Biblical Understanding of Pride" here at creationliberty.com for more details.)

When pride cometh, then cometh shame: but with the lowly is wisdom.
-Proverbs 11:2

And this is why Jesus spake another short parable to them:

And he spake a parable unto them, Can the blind lead the blind?
shall they not both fall into the ditch?
-Luke 6:39

To help readers understand how bad this problem has become (just in America, let alone around the world), a supposedly "Christian" theological seminary, The Francis Schaeffer Institute (FSI), took a survey back in 2006 in which they interviewed pastors to get their feedback. Keep in mind, this survey was taken from what are commonly called "evangelical" church buildings, and did not include mega-churches or other religious cults such as Catholicism, Mormonism, Seventh-day Adventism, etc. FSI gathered information from over 1,000 pastors in California, and the results they found were fascinating:
"Eighty-one percent (81%) of the pastors said there was no regular discipleship program or effective effort of mentoring their people or teaching them to deepen their Christian formation at their church (remember these are the Reformed and Evangelical—not the mainline pastors!)."
-Richard J. Krejcir, "Statistics on Pastors," Schaeffer Institute, 2007, retrieved Aug 29, 2019, [intothyword.org/apps/articles/?articleid=36562]

This study is showing that, in typical church buildings, no one is being taught how to study Scripture, nor how to teach and and lead others, and based on what I experienced in the first 20 years of my life attending typical church buildings, this is accurate because the church buildings act like country clubs where you pay your dues to socialize with other club members, and if one wants to get a so-called "Christian" education, young men and women are told they need to go to a corrupt "Christian" college (like FSI) where they will get taught the corrupt religious doctrines and traditions of men, instead of the doctrine of Christ.

The FSI survey went on to report:
"Eight hundred eight (808 or 77%) of the pastors we surveyed felt they did not have a good marriage! Seven hundred ninety (790 or 75%) of the pastors we surveyed felt they were unqualified and/or poorly trained by their seminaries to lead and manage the church or to counsel others... Seven hundred fifty-six (756 or 72%) of the pastors we surveyed stated that they only studied the Bible when they were preparing for sermons or lessons. This left only 28% who read the Bible for devotions and personal study."
-Richard J. Krejcir, "Statistics on Pastors," Schaeffer Institute, 2007, retrieved Aug 29, 2019, [intothyword.org/apps/articles/?articleid=36562]

First of all, if the great majority of pastors cannot manage their own marriages, how are they going to manage the church?

A bishop [an elder, one who oversees the activities of the church] then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, vigilant, sober, of good behaviour, given to hospitality, apt to teach; Not given to wine, no striker, not greedy of filthy lucre; but patient, not a brawler, not covetous; One that ruleth well his own house, having his children in subjection with all gravity; (For if a man know not how to rule his own house, how shall he take care of the church of God?)
-1 Timothy 3:2-5

The reason these pastors feel unqualified is not because their supposedly "Christian" college did not prepare them well enough. That is a total fabrication. The reason they do not feel qualified is because they do not have enough understanding in God's Word to know what they ought to do both in their own lives, and because of that, they do not know what to do in their own marriages, nor do they know what to do when it concerns the church, but they put on a song and dance show in front of everyone to make everyone think that they know what they are doing and saying.

In other words they want people to respect their person (i.e. their rank, title, and office of station), and not look any deeper. This is a rampant probelm because of how many false converts are in these church buildings, and how many false teachers stand behind a pulpit, waving their seminary degrees in front of everyone as a banner of honor, having no guidance from the Holy Spirit, so they tell everyone what they "feel" the Holy Spirit tells them because their true god is their own thoughts and feelings.

He that trusteth in his own heart is a fool:
but whoso walketh wisely, he shall be delivered.
-Proverbs 28:26

These things have I written unto you concerning them that seduce you. But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him.
-1 John 2:26-27

Focus on the Family, Barna, and Fuller Seminary all did similar studies and came back with similar results:
"Eighty percent [80%] of pastors feel unqualified and discouraged in their role as pastor. Fifty percent [50%] of pastors are so discouraged that they would leave the ministry if they could, but have no other way of making a living. Eighty percent [80%] of seminary and Bible school graduates who enter the ministry will leave the ministry within the first five years... Almost forty percent [40%] polled said they have had an extra-marital affair since beginning their ministry. Seventy percent [70%] said the only time they spend studying the Word is when they are preparing their sermons."
-Richard J. Krejcir, "Statistics on Pastors," Schaeffer Institute, 2007, retrieved Aug 29, 2019, [intothyword.org/apps/articles/?articleid=36562]

I want to focus in on that part which says, "Fifty percent [50%] of pastors are so discouraged that they would leave the ministry if they could, but have no other way of making a living." To clarify, this means that half of all pastors surveyed do not care to be preaching the Word of God to people, but they stick around anyway because they would not make as much money if they found another job.

That is just the half we know about from the survey, meaning that this number may be substantially higher if we consider those who lie to themselves and others to put on a show, and were not completely honest during this poll. We also need to consider that this took place almost two decades ago, and these problems are getting worse, not better, which means that the number of corrupt preachers in a position of leadership who do not belong there is likely much higher than this.

Here's the question I want churchgoers to consider: How many of you, right now, are paying a pastor to simply get up on a stage once a week to entertain you for 30-40 minutes? The problem is that mankind often lies, and therefore, many pastors are liars, and they would rather lie to save face and take advantage of you than to go out and get an honest job. (See Richard J. Krejcir, "Statistics on Pastors," Schaeffer Institute, 2007, retrieved Aug 29, 2019, [intothyword.org/apps/articles/?articleid=36562])

There was an update done to this study in 2016, but when I read the study, I found it to be ridiculous because the hard questions that were being asked back in 2006 were almost completely deleted from the survey ten years later. They replaced the meaningful, tough questions with fanciful, feel-good questions, and a lot of the reason for this is because, in the 2006 survey, FSI thought they could use this to boost their applications for college admission, but they inadvertently ended up embarrassing evangelical church buildings from whom they get all their applicants, and thus, they needed to rework this to make pastors look good.

For example, in the 2006 survey, pastors were asked how much they studied the Bible every week, but in the 2016 survey, they instead pose the question: "How much time do pastors spend in prayer daily?" The problem with this is that everyone in all faiths pray, including pagans, witches and Satanists, but they do not study the Word of God, and so this question really serves no purpose and provides no information that is relevant to understand the core problems with church buildings.
(See Francis A. Schaeffer Institute of Church Leadership Development, "Statistics on Pastors: 2016 Update," retrieved Aug 29, 2019, [files.stablerack.com/webfiles/71795/pastorsstatWP2016.pdf]; Read "The Biblical Understanding of Prayer" here at creationliberty.com for more details.)

In 2006, pastors were asked if they had mentoring programs or if they had an extra-marital affair, whereas in 2016, they instead posed the question: "How consistent has the church treated their pastor?" That is a subjective question, meaning that it is just asking about the pastor's personal feelings, not something that can be verified through emperical evidence.
(See Francis A. Schaeffer Institute of Church Leadership Development, "Statistics on Pastors: 2016 Update," retrieved Aug 29, 2019, [files.stablerack.com/webfiles/71795/pastorsstatWP2016.pdf])

The huge difference is that the 2006 survey statistics revealed that things were really bad when it came to fundamentals of a church and its leadership, in which it (at the very least) appeared like they were trying to find the source of the problems and expose them to solve it. However, ten years later, it appears that they handed the project over to new-age ecumenicists who made the questions fluffier, directing their inquiries towards the emotions and personal opinions of pastors, instead of keeping them based on emperical, observable facts, so unsurprisingly, survey results turned out far more positive, so pastors would look better overall, and sadly, it is unlikely we will get another honest survey like the one from 2006.

The important question to ask is: WHY did they do this?
It is not a complicated mystery to figure out when you follow the money. Again, these are institutions that provide "Christian" college degrees where they factory produce cut and paste pastors for church buildings, and these institutions MUST turn a profit to survive.

All these "Christian" institutes did not realize that their 2006 survey actually HURT their bottom line because parents want to send their children to college to get a high paying career where they will be happy, and they do NOT want to pay for an absurdly expensive college tuition for their child to become a pastor, where they have a high chance of being miserable and quitting. If the study shows the truth, namely, that things with pastors are really bad and there is a lot of deception going on, then churchgoers may not think it is a good idea to become a pastor, and therefore, these colleges do not receive as many applicants, which also means they lose money.
(Read "Tithe is Not a Christian Requirement" here at creationliberty.com for more details.)

Why do these students go to an expensive college to study to be a pastor? It is for the same reason that most students study to get a college degree; specifically, they want a respectful and high-paying job when they get out (despite the fact that most of them will not get a job in their field once they graduate).

Of course, some might use the excuse that they want to "serve the Lord," and perhaps there are some who genuinely do, even if they do not understand that they are going into an institution that will generally lead them away from Jesus Christ. However, what we need to consider is that many church buildings in America not only provide a salary (which, according to the PayScale site as of 2022, comes out to about $64,000 a year on average, which does not include side business deals, books, DVDs, and other media sales), they also provide housing and an office (within the church building) on top of it, and the pastor's only responsibility is to get up infront of the pulpit a couple times a week for 30-40 minutes to tell some funny anecdotes and glad hand audience members afterwards, while they praise and revere him with great honors everywhere he goes. (See PayScale, "Average Senior Pastor Salary," Aug 29, 2022, retrieved Sept 21, 2022, [https://www.payscale.com/research/US/Job=Senior_Pastor/Salary])

Therefore, because there is such a great financial draw to become a pastor, many will go to college to be one because, when they graduate, they will immediately get the prestige and paycheck they so desperately desire. This creates a floodgate of false preachers who will enter into church buildings to preach messages they were taught to preach in order to look good among the people, and later, they will corrupt those messages with fluffier feel-good messages that will draw in more false converts that will shower the false preacher with more praise and money.

This is just a small amount of evidence to demonstrate that there are many church buildings being overrun by false converts, who have no root in themselves, who have more care for the things of this world than the doctrines of Christ, and who have heard the Word of God, but do not understand it. Again, false converts are not those who curse Jesus Christ, but rather, they are people who PRAISE Jesus Christ with their mouths, and even do some "good works" to appear to be dedicated disciples of Him, but in their impenitent hearts, they are still prideful, and have not received the saving grace of God.

But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble.
-James 4:6

As we read earlier in the parable of the sower, false converts often receive the Word of God immediately with joy:

They on the rock are they, which, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no root, which for a while believe, and in time of temptation fall away.
-Luke 8:13

These people become addicted the joy they felt because, in reality, their lives are without hope, and so false preachers often preach about joy, telling their congregations, "don't let anyone steal your joy!" The phrase itself is nonsenscial because no one can take away the joy one has in the Lord if it has been given to them by the Holy Spirit, but the problem is that, for these false converts, they were never given the joy of the Lord from the Holy Spirit (because they lacked the humility of repentance), and therefore, they must cling desperately to any message or song that makes them feel good because they need to be recharged with the artificial joy they felt when they first "received the word."

Please do not misunderstand because one of the fruits of the Holy Spirit is joy (Gal 5:22), but joy is NOT the foundation of our faith in Jesus Christ. Joy is a fruit, or result, of salvation in Christ, but it is NOT a fishing lure for salvation.

Let's suppose a woman was crossing the street, and was unaware that bus was speeding far too quickly towards her. She notices the bus out of the corner of her eye, but knows she would react far too slowly to avoid it.

Just as the woman thinks she is about to die, and man pushes her out of the way in just enough time to get her to safety, but in exchange, he gets hit by the bus, and dies instantly. In that moment, when the woman sees what happens to her savior, does she begin to laugh and leap for joy that her life had been saved?

Just by thought, anyone can easily reckon that a person who would laugh and be joyful in such a moment is someone who would be deeply depraved and demented because, under the circumstance, there is nothing to laugh about. Rather, we know that, in that moment, the woman would cry out in tears because of the sacrifice and loss of a man, a complete stranger, who did not know her, and the price he paid for her, giving up his own life, his relationships with family and friends, even a future with children, all to save someone he did not know.

Those who hear the Word of God and understand it (as stated in the parable of the sower, for the seed that falls on good ground, Mat 13:23) are those who hear the Word of God and break down in tears of godly sorrow and grief for the sins they have committed, the corruption of their flesh and spirit, for the anger and grief they have caused the Lord God by their words and actions, and for the greatest of all sacrifices that was made for such wicked people. This is the contrite spirit with the repentant heart that I talked about at the beginning of this teaching, and let's look at the details one more time to fully understand it:

contrite (adj): broken-hearted for sin; deeply affected with grief and sorrow for having offended God; humble; penitent
repentance (n): sorrow for any thing done or said; the pain or grief which a person experiences in consequence of the injury or inconvenience produced by his own conduct
(See 'contrite' & 'repentance', American Dictionary of the English Language, Noah Webster, 1828, retrieved Sept 21, 2022, [webstersdictionary1828.com])

The LORD is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart;
and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit.
-Psalm 34:18

Jesus promised He would redeem and save such people, and they would become the children of God. If cannot receive a gift that he does not understand, and therefore, we can conclude with certainty that God does NOT save those who do NOT have the humility of grief and sorrow for their wrongdoing, which is a gift of God.

In meekness instructing those that oppose themselves; if God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth;
-2 Timothy 2:25

Without this core foundation of repentance, a man cannot be saved because even though he might receive the Word of God, and profess that he has knowledge and joyfulness of it, he does not understand it.

But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.
-1 Corinthians 2:14

For this reason, there are millions upon millions of churchgoers who Jesus Christ will reject, and send them into eternal hellfire. It is the ideology of leavened churchgoers who believe that many people are getting saved, when in fact, Jesus Christ told us the opposite.

I have already quoted the following verses in this teaching, but let's go over them again and put them all together now that we have a better understanding about the parables of Jesus Christ, and the concept of false converts:

Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.
-Matthew 7:13-14

This is a message that many churchgoers reject because they are unwilling to accept that many are going to hell, while few will find the way to Jesus Christ. The next few verses are very interesting because Jesus goes on to give more analogies in parable format, and though we read these earlier, let's go over them one more time:

Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.
-Matthew 7:15-20

Through the parables of Jesus Christ, we have learned the differences between true converts and false converts. We learned that true converts hear the Word of God and understand it, they are honest, they are humble, they have repentance of their sins, they grow to bear fruit, they do good unto their neighbors, they seek Jesus Christ in all things, they heed His Word, and they follow Him.

False converts give an outward performance of some of these things, but they do not (and often refuse to) understand the Word of God, they are dishonest, they are prideful, they feign repentance, they bear no good fruit, they yoke together with the world, concern themselves with the things of the world, and use the words of Jesus Christ for pretense when it favors them. These very false converts are the hardest persecuters of Christ's church, such as the professing "children of God" were the hardest persecuters of Jesus Christ.

Therefore, Christ, having never known them, will reject them, and pay close attention to what He says here:

Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.
-Matthew 7:21-23

The people Jesus Christ is referring to are not those who are forced to call Him "Lord" (because every knee shall bow and every tongue shall confess, Rom 14:11), but rather, He is talking about those who claimed to serve Him for many years of their lives. This is why, when Jesus rejects them, they will argue with him about all the works they did in His name while they were in the world, and He will tell them that He never knew them.

This is because these men and women did NOT come to Jesus Christ with a meek and lowly heart of repentance. Jesus Christ described Himself as meek and lowly, and so those who have the gift of the Holy Spirit inside them will reflect that same meekness and lowliness.

Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.
-Matthew 11:29

In my experience in speaking with churchgoers about this topic of false converts, their feigned meekness and fake lowliness is immeiately thrown off, and in pridefulness and willful blindness, they almost instantly react by saying, "Nope! Not me! Not my church! Not my pastor!" I have heard this response many times, and the reason I find their attitude interesting is because I had the opposite response and attitude when I first heard this.

The first time the Lord God had mercy on me to give me understanding of this doctrine, I had fear and trembling towards God.

For all those things hath mine hand made, and all those things have been, saith the LORD: but to this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at my word.
-Isaiah 66:2

I made it my mission to understand this doctrine clearly to the fullest extent because I had a deep desire to know what the difference was between the sheep on the right and goats on the left, as we covered earlier in this teaching. I wanted to make sure that I was not counted among the goats on the left, so I started studying Scripture to find the answers.

The heart of the righteous studieth to answer:
but the mouth of the wicked poureth out evil things.
-Proverbs 15:28

Sadly, it is quite rare to find someone who would research and study to find answers, and it is MUCH more common to find those who act indifferent to the information, or they lash out in anger against you for sharing it with them. The main purpose of this teaching is to help Christians understand that false converts not only exist, but that inwardly, they hate Jesus Christ.

We have read John 15:18 a couple of times in this teaching, but let's read more of the passage to gain a better understanding:

If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you. If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you. Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also. But all these things will they do unto you for my name's sake, because they know not him that sent me. If I had not come and spoken unto them, they had not had sin: but now they have no cloke for their sin.
-John 15:18-22

Consider for a moment that, when Jesus was persecuted, who persecuted Him? Was it Satanists? Was it atheists? Was it a fringe religious cult?

These groups have no love for Jesus Christ, and I am not saying they will not persecute Christians because there are many places around the world where they do, but they were not the primary problem. The people who persecuted Jesus Christ were the very people who claimed to be the children of God, professing love for God and strict adherence to the principles of God.

Most churchgoers are willing blind to this fact, and also blind to the fact that we have the same problem today. The greatest persecution of the church are from those who claim to be of Christ, or as Paul put it, "perils among false brethren."

Of the Jews five times received I forty stripes save one. Thrice was I beaten with rods, once was I stoned, thrice I suffered shipwreck, a night and a day I have been in the deep; In journeyings often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils by mine own countrymen, in perils by the heathen, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren;
-2 Corinthians 11:24-26

Of course, there will be robbers and thieves and unbelievers who will take advantage of us, but who was whipping Paul? Who beat Paul with rods? Who stoned him? It was those who claimed to be the servants of God, and likewise, you will find that if you preach the proper doctrines of repentance and remission of sins, you will face similar backlash from many churchgoers, namely because there are so many false converts among them, or in other words, there are many among them who profess Jesus Christ, while their hearts are far from Him.

This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me.
-Matthew 15:18

They do not have the same fear of God as those who have been born again in Christ. They only fear God based on the commandments (i.e. precepts) of men who tell them to fear God, and so they often feign a fear of God to put on a show to impress everyone around them so they will be accepted among religious groups, but in their hearts, they have no trembling fear of His Word, and they are unconcerned with His warnings, which is why they do not care about the doctrine of false converts.

Wherefore the Lord said, Forasmuch as this people draw near me with their mouth, and with their lips do honour me, but have removed their heart far from me, and their fear toward me is taught by the precept of men:
-Isaiah 29:13

This is also why they tend to hate the fact that Jesus taught us that we need to judge righteous judgment. This means that we ought to study the Word of God, gain understanding of it, judging ourselves first according to His Word, and then judging the words and actions of men around us, but false converts hate this doctrine because they do not want anyone to discern the truth about them.
(Read "Unbiblical Cop-Outs: 'Don't Judge Me!'" here at creationliberty.com for more details.)

Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment.
-John 7:24

judge (v): to compare facts or ideas, and perceive their agreement or disagreement, and thus to distinguish truth from falsehood
(See 'judge', American Dictionary of the English Language, Noah Webster, 1828, retrieved Sept 22, 2022, [webstersdictionary1828.com])

Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?
-2 Corinthians 13:5

For if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged.
-1 Corinthians 11:31

For I the LORD love judgment, I hate robbery for burnt offering; and I will direct their work in truth, and I will make an everlasting covenant with them.
-Isaiah 61:8

Therefore, we should always judge with charity in our hearts, meaning that we should discern the truth from the lies, and do so with patience, meekness, and longsuffering. Remember that the seeds that fall on bad ground will grow at the same rate as the seeds that fall on good ground for a short time, but after some years, you will see drastic differences between them, so we have to wait and be vigilant.

Likewise, ye younger, submit yourselves unto the elder. Yea, all of you be subject one to another, and be clothed with humility: for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble. Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time: Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you. Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:
-1 Peter 5:5-8

Often, the process of identifying a false convert is a long one, taking many years with evidences stacking up slowly. The evidence of the deeds, words, and beliefs will reveal the truth eventually, and once it does, we need to remove such people from the church, not because we have any hatred towards them, but it is for their own good, that God can deal with them in the world as He needs to, that they might be brought to repentance for the remission of sins and have salvation in Jesus Christ.

But now I have written unto you not to keep company, if any man that is called a brother be a fornicator, or covetous, or an idolater, or a railer, or a drunkard, or an extortioner; with such an one no not to eat. For what have I to do to judge them also that are without? do not ye judge them that are within? But them that are without God judgeth. Therefore put away from among yourselves that wicked person.
-1 Corinthians 5:11-13

Many churchgoers will complain and falsely accuse us, but we need to remain steadfast and faithful in the Word of God, trusting in what Christ has taught us, rather than sucumbing to pressures from the world. False converts often retort that they are "believers," but remember that even the devils believe and tremble.

Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble.
-James 2:19

False preachers retort about how long they have been preaching, and how many degrees and awards they have, but devils can disguise themselves as "Christian" preachers, and they can even make themselves to appear to be angels of light if they want.

For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ. And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works.
-2 Corinthians 11:13-15

In conversation with churchgoers, the only time they believe that someone is false is if they dare to question their pastor (i.e. the religious leader they worship is never to be questioned), or if they openly profess a denial of Jesus Christ. This is nonsensical for many reasons, but the fact is that NO ONE will join a church and yell out, "Hi everyone! I deny that Jesus is the savior!"

Again false converts and false preachers will APPEAR on the outside to be Christians in many areas. They will tell you how much they love the Lord Jesus Christ, and passionately sing songs about Him, which is how they fool others around them. This is why the Bible tells us that they "crept in," or moved in slowly and secretly, without anyone being initially aware of who they are or what they are doing.

Beloved, when I gave all diligence [consistent effort] to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly [eagerly/zealously] contend [defense/preservation] for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints. For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ.
-Jude 1:3-4

In my experience, there are a great majority of churchgoers who believe they understand the parables of Jesus Christ, but when you ask them to explain them, it is clear they do not understand them. I have heard some really wild interpretations of the parables Jesus taught, and as we learned earlier, Jesus did it that way on purpose so they would trip and fall over themselves without understanding.

The legs of the lame are not equal: so is a parable in the mouth of fools.
-Proverbs 26:7

As a thorn goeth up into the hand of a drunkard, so is a parable in the mouth of fools.
-Proverbs 26:9

Churchgoers often enter into a rage when you dare to question or rebuke their favorite false preacher, because they often worship such men in idolatry, respecting his person because he has a fancy title of "Pastor" or "Reverend" and they automatically conclude that because he has a title, he must be a strong and faithful Christian. There are many pastors in this world who are not of Christ, just as there are many evangelists and prophets who are not of Christ, even though they will never confess such a thing because it will harm their prestige and paycheck, but when churchgoers respect a man's title, rank, position, or office, instead of looking at the facts of a matter, they commit sin.
(Read "Respecting Persons is Sin" here at creationliberty.com for more details.)

My brethren, have not the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with respect of persons... But if ye have respect to persons, ye commit sin, and are convinced of the law as transgressors.
-James 2:1-9

Therefore, we ought to put aside our personal feelings of the heart (which deceives us), that we would judge righteous judgment to discern the truth.

The heart is deceitful above all things, and
desperately wicked: who can know it?
-Jeremiah 17:9

He that trusteth in his own heart is a fool:
but whoso walketh wisely, he shall be delivered.
-Proverbs 28:26

We must stay close to the Word of God, continually studying, so that we can discern properly according to His doctrines.

Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.
-2 Timothy 2:15

It is my hope that some Christians might read this and gain a full understanding of Christ's parables, that, with the blessings of wisdom from the Holy Spirit, you might discern the truth for yourself. If this helped you in any way, please share this teaching with someone else, that they might know the truth and be converted away from false doctrines, and come to the light of Christ.

The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life; and he that winneth souls is wise.
-Proverbs 11:30

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