16. FALSE PRIESTS AND PASTORS AND THEIR CHARACTERISTICS.
They have what Paul warned Timothy to be aware of. 2Timothy 3:1 “But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: for men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud…”
16.1 They are pompous in nature (lovers of themselves). To them blessings from the Almighty God manifest themselves in material opulence and lavish life style. They always go for expensive things such as cars, clothes, houses or furniture. They refer to it all as blessings from God. They seem to have forgotten that all these, are manmade and not God's creations. Yet these things no matter how exquisite or exotic they might be, are all made from God Almighty's raw material.
They seem not to understand that His blessings come straight from Him, and are spiritual. As it has been mentioned in page 47, chapter 8 under the sub-topic: Do the riches of this world signify God’s blessings?
Let us look at blessings from God.
a) They never get stolen.
b) They never rust or lose value.
c) No one can destroy God's blessings.
d) No one can duplicate or recreate God's blessings.
e) No one can use God's blessings to sin against oneself or against other people.
f) God's blessings are always pure. They never get contaminated or defiled.
g) God's blessings are never used for evil purposes.
Those who hunger for money, greatness and fame would always be pompous and exorbitant in their manner. (EKR)
16.2 They preach simony (lovers of money). They seem not to have understood why Peter so harshly chastised Simon the sorcerer. The very Simon who had made many people to listen to Peter, giving him support saying Peter was the great power of God. Little did he know that Peter was not even the least impressed by that flattery. Then Simon went a step further, unintentionally offending Peter by offering him money saying: “Give me this power also, that anyone on whom I lay hands may receive the Holy Spirit.” Acts 8:19. (NKJV) Peter was never lured by money, as most priests and pastors nowadays would have been. Instead he reprimanded Simon saying in Acts 8:20 “Your money perish with you, because you thought that the gift of God could be purchased with money!” (NKJV)
Pastors have now re-introduced simony to Christianity and almost all denominations are busy applying it. What Martin Luther fought so vigorously against has been a norm in churches these days. Nowadays one finds all priests, pastors and preachers in most churches in South Africa and I think even all over the world, preach simony. Using Paul's words as found in his second letters to the Corinthians 9:6 “But this I say: He who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.”( NKJV); In some churches the most paramount objection is to have coffers filled. They claim such monies are God Almighty sacrifices, however they are Christians. Christians' sacrifices to God are repentance from sin, love for Him with heart, soul and mind and an endeavour by all means to live a godly life here on earth, as well as to be in good terms with all the people of the world who according to the teachings of Christ are neighbours to all who follow him.
Christian sacrifices are not slaughtered animals and burnt incense. They are:
a) spreading of His gospel to other people without any material gain in return.
b) Worship done individually and privately as well as in congregations with other worshipers.
c) Conti Dedication one has for God, in a form of daily praising of His name.
d) Continuous teachings one always does to one’s family members especially young children. Teaching them never to forsake God Almighty and never to be wayward.
These are the sacrifices all Christians have to make daily to God. God Almighty needs no material sacrifice from Christians but spiritual sacrifices.
Why Christians no longer have to make offerings to God of slaughtered and burnt animals?
Jesus Christ was their ultimate sacrifice. Such sacrifice could not be repeated in any way. Jesus Christ offered to God the sacrifice with no blemishes. The sacrifice which was His life as he died on the cross. There is nothing and will be nothing that could replace the blood of Jesus Christ which was shed for all who believe in Him. Now the sacrifices of God should be what is so precise said in Psalm 51:17: “The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, a broken and contrite heart - These, O God, You will not despise.” (NKJV) This psalm was prophetic. It states categorically clear what sacrifices of God are. Whenever one is penitent, to God is the purest offering.
Monies people offer in churches never go to God Almighty, but to banks or trading companies to buy what the churches and their priests need. Nothing is thrown up to heaven and taken by God. So it is simony to say those monies are God's monies. God does not need any one's money. Read what Paul says in the book of Acts 17:25. “Nor is He worshipped with men's hands, as though He needed anything, since He gives to all life, breath and all things.” (NKJV) They seem to forget what Peter said to Simon the sorcerer: “May your money perish with you…” It is an undeniable fact that all material things perish with us. Nothing material will last forever. Only spiritual things endure forever no matter people believe these words or not, but this is the plain truth.
16.3 They brag themselves of possessing some supernatural powers to heal the sick, to raise the dead, to cause people to get jobs, and to make people wealthy. Their focus is on material things of the flesh. They could spend a lot of time praying not to die and to have wealth. Their lives are centered on material things. Lengthy public prayers and body mortifying fasting as far as they are concerned are the way in which a person could get closer to God and receive his anointing. What does Jesus say about wealth? Matthew 6:19-20 says: “Do not lay up for yourselves treasure on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but layup yourselves treasures in heaven…” (NKJV) Does Jesus mean that his followers have to be indigents? There is not a single verse quoting Him as saying His followers have to be destitute. Jesus instead encourages those who are wealthy to share their wealth with the poor. Jesus Christ does not like someone who is monopolistic and egocentric. Read Luke 12:19 'And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years; take your ease; eat, drink, and be merry.” ' (NKJV) This man has no wish to share what he has with other people. Jesus Christ is totally against this. Jesus calls upon any one affluent to freely share with others especially the needy. Those who have money have to create jobs for the jobless and pay them living wages. Even the churches have to create jobs for their indigent members rather than keep all lands and all the wealth which ironically were bought through their poor church members' tithing and collections. If all wealthy people could give heed to what Jesus says, no one all over the world would move around famished. Good deeds are the best offerings a person could offer God.
16.4 They claim to communicate directly with the Almighty God on daily basis. Such communications ended with Jesus Christ. We cannot dispute the fact that some people could still hear His voice in the same way as young Samuel did, but communicating with Him in the way Moses did, is nowadays something we have never heard of. God in most cases makes use of His angels. Even John who received the Revelations never communicated with The Almighty God. If they claim to be communicating with Jesus Christ, at least it would have been credible.
God last talked directly to people in the days of His chosen prophets. Then God Almighty sent His angels. Thereafter spoke directly to people. Jesus communicated with Saul on his way to Damascus and continued to do so after Saul had embraced Christianity. Jesus spoke to Ananias instructing him to go and meet Saul. A voice, probably similar to that Samuel heard, spoke to Peter saying “Rise, Peter; kill and eat.” (NKJV) Jesus also spoke to John informing him of what he had to tell seven churches.
Nowadays some people claim to communicate with God Almighty and when one listens carefully to what they say one comes to realize that they did not communicate with God Almighty but with either one of the angels or some spirits. I say with some spirits because I could not say of the dead people. Communication between the living and the dead is not found in the bible. Those who could divine like sangomas are said to be able to communicate with the dead. God forbids such practices. Read Lev 19:31 “Do not go for advice to people who consult the spirits of the dead.” (NKJV)
God Almighty used to communicate directly with His prophets. The first prophet was Moses. To anybody else God Almighty would send His angels. Abraham is exceptional for God would talk directly to him or send him His angels, but Abraham was not a prophet. God had never sent him out to tell people what He wished them to know. Whatever God told Abraham, had to do with Abraham himself and his family.
God communicated with Jacob through dreams and through His angels. God communicated with the Virgin Mary through His angel. God also communicated with Zacharias His priest through His angel informing him of the birth of John who baptised Jesus. Yet these pastors being no prophets claim to communicate directly with God Almighty. Moreover they are Christians. Christians come to God in faith and by grace they are saved. No Christian should communicate with God Almighty except through Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is their gate to God and heaven. Jesus says: “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” (Matthew 11:28. NKJV) “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” (John 14:6 NKJV ) Pastors are in fact shepherds so are the priests, and God Almighty spoke to the shepherds through an angel. ( Luke 2:8-15).
16.5 One having been touched by them, especially on the forehead, in most cases, collapses. This unbiblical power is claimed to be from God Almighty Himself. Nonetheless the Holy Bible has no record of any one who was touched on the head by either the prophets, Jesus, Peter or Paul and thereafter collapsed to the ground, and then suffered bodily dizziness and discomfort. Such preachers, prophets, pastors and evangelists use notorious spirits they are possessed with.
Some mediums are also possessed with such spirits. If a possessed person did not like to be a medium he would be a Zion Church priest, here in South Africa, with clairvoyant powers which he would call prophesy. The Zion Church is able to make ancestral spirits possessing a person to gat converted and make that person their prophet in the Zion Church. Biblically, a prophet is one who could hear the voice of God directly talking to him. God would use His prophet to guide His people, warn them of dangers and teach them His ways. New connotations to prophesy have nowadays to do with foretelling the future.
Saul fell down after the bolt of lightning directed to where he was by Jesus had caused him to fall down. In the bible the voice could cause people to collapse, sometimes die. Acts 5:5 “Then Ananias, hearing these words, fell down…” (GNB) His wife fell down and died too after hearing what Peter had said. People possessed with demons fell down at seeing Jesus Christ. Mark 3:11 'And whenever the people who had evil spirits in them saw Him, they would fall down before him and scream, “You are the Son of God!” (GNB) The bible puts it clearly that some collapsed on hearing His voice others at seeing Him. No one was touched then collapsed. Pastors are busy touching people causing them to fall down.
16.6 They do not preach the gospel of Jesus Christ to people but they preach sin recalling and giving vivid ostentatious accounts of how they once indulged and reveled in sins to great applauses from their delightful audiences. Their intention in so doing, they say; is to encourage those among them in their congregation who are in the same situation, not to give in but to turn over a new leaf, emulating those testifying how evil they had been before being cleansed by Jesus.
Here is a questions to be answered first:
“What about those who have never gone through those evil deeds? Are they not encouraged to sin and then repent thereafter?”
People should know this:
Jesus does not like rejects. Jesus does not like people who would start by messing up their lives in sins and after having had enough of sins turn over to Him. No! No! No!
Jesus wants no one to start by bogging oneself in sins before turning over to Him. Jesus Christ is not a refuse pit.
Nevertheless those who repent no matter how sinful they are, are welcome. Read Isaiah 1:18 “Come, now, and let us reason together,” says the Lord. “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall be as wool.” (NKJV) In so saying God never condones sinning, but He encourages those whom other people could impose on to sin, not to continue with it but to repent and be obedient to Him.
Priests, pastors, preachers and many other people mistakenly refer to Paul as someone who was very much sinful but through the grace of God was saved. This is very much incorrect and misleading. Paul was never bogged in sins. Paul led a good life from his early years hence he was in close association with Judaic priesthood. He was at wars fighting against those who were busy corrupting Judaic religion. Paul as far as he was concerned and as far as all other Jews faithful to Judaism believed, was in the right track. He was purging Judaic religion of heretics. Paul was beyond any doubt sure that he was hundred percent on the side of the Almighty God, until he was struck by lightning and heard Jesus Christ Himself, in that very moment, speaking to him.
If a thing is abhorrent, it will never incite any form of myth from anyone unless that one is also one of the perpetrators. An evil thing remains evil no matter how sugar coated it can be. It must never elicit any form of laughter from anybody especially the just and those who know the difference between good and evil. It is therefore uncalled for, for members of the congregation to have euphoric emotions on hearing a person telling them plainly of his wallowing in sins. Paul warns the followers of Christ never to utter any corrupt word from their mouths. Read Ephesians 4:29. According to Paul, categorical testimonies on how someone had sinned should not be allowed. As Paul did, it is enough for one to say I was a sinner but through the grace of Jesus Christ I am now a born again Christian.
16.7 They derive some pleasure on hearing of someone not belonging to their churches reported to have been caught committing sin. Only the forces of darkness would experience a tingle of joyous emotion from such incidents. Those who are the children of the light will be mostly offended. They will also be filled with the worst feeling of shame and embarrassment. They will either have prayer sessions held for such a person asking Jesus to open his eyes and make him see his wrongdoing and repent. They would also pay such a person special visits so as to make him or her a better Christian.
Repentance minimizes the defilement of the soul. Forgiveness from Jesus Christ cleanses one from any iniquity affecting his soul.(EKR) Yet this does not give a license to any individual to sin so as to be forgiven thereafter. The reason being, no human being could rest assured that he or she has really been forgiven. One would only be able to fully know whether he was forgiven or not after death. One's soul will tell one's status. All healthy souls will enter heaven and get accommodated in Jesus Christ mansions. Souls defiled with sins will not. The soul is the breath of God. Genesis 2:7 And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life… (NKJV) It is the God's breath of life which turns each and every human being on earth into a spiritual being.
Human beings are not like animals. Some perverts think so. Human beings and animals are of flesh and blood, but that never make them the same. All human beings primitive or modern could talk, could count, could warn others of danger, could chastise the wrong doers, could have compassion, veneration as well as vindictiveness depending on circumstances. Lastly they, in one way or another, believe in the spirits. All animals could not count, warn others of danger and venerate their leaders and heroes. Moreover all human beings primitive or modern could outwit all animals. What gives human beings such an edge over other animals? It is the spirit of God which is their souls. Those practicing bestiality not only defile their souls but they destroy them.
Souls never commit sins. As God Almighty is sinless so is His soul. A soul remains sinless no matter how the flesh, it is embodied in, sins. The soul gets stained. After death such a soul is said to be sick. Here on earth, among the quick, no one could feel the cleansing of one's soul. No one could tell how sick or how purified one's soul is. Therefore no one has to assume to be better than others.
16.8 They try by all means not to use natural herbs or any form of homemade medicine except one prescribed for them by a medical practitioner or a pharmacist. To them mixing herbs and using them as medicine is a sin. They seem not to be aware of the fact that all medicines homemade or not, are the combination of natural herbs and other natural ingredients which were all created by God. They do not like to use homemade herbs to heal themselves yet they eat vegetables and drink tea. These are in fact also herbs. What God dislikes is for one to start by conjuring up other spirits to make the herb potent or for one to attribute ones power of healing to some spirits. All things belong to God. All things were created by Him alone. What most people do not know is that some pills and tablets contain substances from bodies of human beings. Herbs are in fact the purest form of medication. Read Genesis 1: 29 And God said, “See I have given you every herb that yields seed which is on the face of all the earth, and every tree whose fruit yields seed; to you it shall be food.” (NKJV)
16.9 Some false priests claim to be God themselves. Their followers worship them as if they are gods. They are said to possess powers to bless, to curse and to kill. Their followers are occasionally heard calling upon their names during times of hardship or luck. Their followers go to an extent of having pictures of their priest with them all the time in their wallets, pockets, cars and homes. They also hang them on walls in their homes. They believe such pictures have powers to repel evil spirits and protect their families from dangers of this world and also to cure them when they are sick. In fact these priests, just like any other human being, have their own personal problems, as well as family problems. They are not immune from diseases. They also suffer inflictions like all human beings. Their followers blindly overlook all these things and worship them as gods.
16.10 False priests and pastors are showy. They do the opposite of what Jesus Christ teaches in Matthew 6:5 where he says: “And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men.''(HBNIV) What they do whenever they worship God Almighty is completely the opposite. They stand whenever they pray. They like to erect their tents by the street corners or by the road side. They even put loud speakers in their places of worship. Using their microphones they make it a point that all in their neighbourhood hear them as they sing their choruses, pray and preach. When it comes to singing only those with microphones are heard from a distance singing. Inside their tents or places of worship musical instruments deafen the ears causing some members of their congregation to stop singing all together. Their singing sometimes is accompanied by them dancing like mad as if in a disco. If their tents are juxtaposed, a cacophony of noise from those tents covers a big area. They do all this to be heard and be seen by people.
16.11 False priests and pastors discourage some people from worshipping God Almighty through their preaching which is either boastful or disheartening. Preaching has to give courage and hope to the despondent and prompt willingness to people to worship God, especially those with misgivings. God said in Exodus 20:8-10;
8. Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.
9. Six days you shall labor and do all your work,
10. but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord
your God. In it you shall do no work . (NKJV)
Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy .
God states that his Sabbath is the seventh day. It does not matter whether one's Sabbath falls on a Saturday or a Sunday as long as it is the seventh day; it is the Sabbath of the Lord God Almighty. No one could claim to be keeping the genuine Sabbath Day of God since we are using a Roman invented calendar, The Gregorian Calendar not a Hebrew Calendar nor a Muslim Calendar. Our calendar has 365 and a quarter days a year. The names of the months are the names of ancient Roman gods and goddesses. Even the days of the weeks are the days which were once set aside for the worship of gods or goddesses people of those days once worshipped. So there should not be any debate as to which day is the true Sabbath in our calendar for there is none. Perhaps a Hebrew or a Muslim calendar can point to a true Sabbath but as long as it was written in the times of Moses.
Fortunately for us all, God being The All-Knowing (The Omniscient) stated that if one works for six days the seventh should be His Sabbath. But in order for uniformity in the worship of God Almighty, people saw it wise to have all the days of the year written systematically in calendars. A Saturday was then declared a Sabbath. Then persecutions and wars which aimed at annihilating Christianity, had forced them to worship their God on a Sunday secretly in catacombs ( underground tunnels), hence Sunday became their Sabbath to this day. Yet there are also some Christians whose Sabbath day is a Saturday.
As long as there is a Sabbath for the worship of the Lord God Almighty, it does not matter which day it is. What people have to be careful of is to keep it holy. Something people dismally fail to do. There should be no fighting and the breaking of other people's hearts on a Sabbath day. Not that fighting and the breaking of hearts is permitted on other days but on a Sabbath day people have to learn to be at peace with themselves as well as with God so as to be able to perpetuate this kind of behaviour even on other days.
Those at homes who could not go to places of worship have to talk about Lord God Almighty now and then until sun set on a Sabbath day. They have to praise Him and talk about all the great things God Almighty had freely offered to all people to use and sustain their lives with. All these things regardless of how precious and sumptuous they are to a human eye or how delicious they are to human senses or how savoury they are to the tongue, they are all for human beings and God Almighty never desires none of them. To Him it is like a person watching cattle grazing. A person would just look at the cattle and would not the least wish to eat grass as well. So people have to praise God Almighty for creating for them so much to enjoy and delight in.
Those in churches have to worship Him with joy, singing and praising His name and sending solemn prayers to Him, glorifying His name and thanking Him for all He has done.
Some pastors discourage other people from going to churches to worship God by calling them 'the church-goers .’ Such pastors are filled with evil demonic spirits. Going to church is a way of giving God Almighty all the glory He expects of His people. By going to churches, people show to all and sundry without any reservations and shame that they adore God Almighty. The act of worshipping God Almighty at any time and any place is the most effective way of soul cleansing. That is why priests and preachers have to avoid at all costs the utterance of evil words as they preach to the congregations. Corrupt words not only defile themselves, but the Sabbath day as well. All sermons have to be tools used to admonish and edify in a constructive way. All sermons have to correct and instruct in righteousness “that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.” (2 Timothy 3:16-17 NKJV)
To God Almighty there is no one here on earth who can claim to be holier than the other. Jesus understood this so well that He had to stop those referring to Him as good from saying so. He continued to say no one here on earth is good, for God Almighty is the only Good One. Yet some people take no heed of Jesus' words and claim to be holier than Jesus Himself.
The Church as well as any place of worship is a spiritual clinic or hospital here on earth. Sick people at clinics and hospitals never laugh at one another. No patient ever stood up and boasted to be healthier that other patients at clinics or hospitals. All patients wait patiently for their turn to their respective doctors’ rooms. Other patients go to an extent of encouraging those whose conditions seem worse never to give up. Yet spiritual patients laugh at one another. It is pitiable that such a thing happens. Furthermore, false priests and pastors, and all other people who happen to hear them preach, have developed a tendency of looking at other people for sins and mistakes they commit and then tell it to other people as a joke.
As far as the Holy Scripture is concerned such a duty was given to the spirit whose job it still is to record down people's sins here on earth. That spirit could also deceive people. Not each and every Tom, Dick and Harry is deceived by that spirit. That spirit is usually sent to deceive people God fully trusts will never betray Him by yielding to its temptations. Job was one of them so was Jesus Christ. With all other people here on earth it is their discretion that leads them astray.
Remember what God Almighty said to Adam and Eve; “Behold, the man has become like one of Us, to know good and evil.” (Genesis 3:22 NKJV) After Adam and Eve had eating the forbidden fruit having been fooled by the snake they developed power to be able to identify good from evil. So it is up to one to choose between what one sees before one's eyes. If one likes, one chooses to do evil things. And if one also likes, one may turn a new leaf and do good things. If also one likes, one may decide never to do wrong. The choice is one's. The other one can start by doing good things and end up doing evil things. All is up to what one chooses to do. There is also no divine intervention in as far as one's choices are concerned.
False priests have a tendency of quoting from the book of Malachi in their effort to make people support them financially.
What those priests do is a great deal of abomination. The book of Malachi is not just a book anybody can use anyhow. It is the book where God is very much displeased with his people. The people had shown no respect for God, His priests and His temple.
Question: What have these people done?
Answer: Even His priests are busy doing evil things. These people have done the following to insult Lord God Almighty;
1. They doubt that God love them. Malachi 1:2
“I have loved you,” says the Lord.
“Yet you say, 'In what way have You loved us?' (NKJV)
These people are becoming atheistic now. The fact that God created everything for them, the sun, the moon, the stars, the sky, the rain, water, air, plants they feed on or use for their needs, animals they feed on or use for their needs, soil and had also given them feelings for love, joy, compassion, sorrow, anger and so on. With all the things they have at their disposal they keep on saying “How has God shown His love for us?” As a result God Almighty is very much upset with them.
2. They have dismally failed to give God honour due to Him. Malachi 1:6
“A son honors his father,
And a servant his master.
If then I am the Father,
Where is My honour?
And if I am a Master
Where is My reverence?
Says the Lord of hosts
To you priests who despise My name.
Yet you say, 'In what way have we
Despised Your name? (NKJV)
These priests seem not to know that they wrong God. That is why they keep on asking; 'In what way have we despised Your name?
The answer from God is quickly given. Malachi 1:7
“You offer defiled food on My altar,
But say,
'In what way have we defiled You? (NKJV)
These priests seem not to understand hence they ask once more in what way they have defiled Him.
God Almighty answers: Malachi 1:7(NKJV)
“By saying, 'The table of the Lord is contemptible.'
People bring sick animals for their burnt sacrifice to God.
God Almighty is now busy admonishing them. Malachi 1:8
“And when you offer
The blind as sacrifice,
Is it not evil?
Offer it then to your governor!
Would he be pleased with you?
Would he accept you favourably?
Says the Lord of hosts. (NKJV)
These people are really evil. How can one offer a blind animal to God as sacrifice? Normally one who can do this is one who has never believed in God. The people of Israel had known God Almighty for thousands of centuries yet paradoxically they doubt His existence. What these people fear are ordinary human beings in