This study is presented in an effort to correct those who have erred in their ways and have been led astray by false doctrines.  It is one of my duties as a Pastor to correct those who are of a wayward mindset, first in private.  Secondly, I have taken their thoughts and doctrines before the elders of the church, so that in the mouth of two or three witnesses the truth might be established.  And now the body of Christ must be educated, so that the correction that is called for is received.  We read in Matthew 18:15-18:

15 Moreover if thy brother shall trespass against thee, go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone: if he shall hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother. 16 But if he will not hear thee, then take with thee one or two more, that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established. 17 And if he shall neglect to hear them, tell it unto the church: but if he neglect to hear the church, let him be unto thee as an heathen man and a publican. 18 Verily I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.

For this cause.  In today’s terminology the phrase “for this cause” would become the word “because”.  The word because denotes that soon will come an after action.  Because this was done; this action will take place:  A cause and effect.  We will explain the cause and effect of rebellion, sin and the lack of faith; or having faith in the wrong things.

While it is wise and prudent to physically prepare for the events that are obviously upon us, all the preparation in the world will not save you if you are not spiritually grounded.  Neither silver, gold, nor even stored food and water will deliver you from what is coming on the earth.  It is only through the grace of God and through His son Jesus Christ that we will be saved.  It is man’s thinking and planning that has caused these crises, and nothing thought up by man will be able to deliver you.  God has said that He is going to level the playing field.  Then all of your planning and investing could come to naught if the situation forces you to leave your possessions behind.  Or your stores of gold and silver could be rendered worthless with one word from the corporate or government elite.  At that point, rich and poor alike will all be dependent on faith alone.  And that should be our focus:  our faith. 

We read in Matthew 25:1-13:

1 Then shall the kingdom of heaven be likened unto ten virgins, which took their lamps, and went forth to meet the bridegroom. 2 And five of them were wise, and five were foolish. 3 They that were foolish took their lamps, and took no oil with them: 4 But the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps. 5 While the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept. 6 And at midnight there was a cry made, Behold, the bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him. 7 Then all those virgins arose, and trimmed their lamps. 8 And the foolish said unto the wise, Give us of your oil; for our lamps are gone out. 9 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. 10 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. 11 Afterward came also the other virgins, saying, Lord, Lord, open to us. 12 But he answered and said, Verily I say unto you, I know you not. 13 Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh

The oil in the lamps of the virgins was not representative of gold or silver.  Oil is always representative of spiritual things; of anointing.  If your focus is on anything other than Jesus Christ and salvation, then your focus is on idols.  Likewise, when we attempt to manufacture our own deliverance by trying to out-think God and make an end-run around the scriptures, we make ourselves idols.  And God, being who He is, will cast down all idols.  It is for this cause that God will give them over to their own delusions.  We read in 2 Thessalonians  2:10-12:

10 And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. 11 And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: 12 That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.

That they should believe a lie?  Just what is the lie?  What will become the strong delusion?  Could it be the false teaching and materialistic doctrines being found on the internet and on television.  Don’t be stuck on stupid.  Everything found on the internet and TV that proclaims God is not of God.  We must try the spirits.  And so again, we come back to faith and discernment.  And as we read in Romans 10:17:

17 So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. 

WHERE YOUR TREASURE IS, THERE IS YOUR HEART

And we read in Matthew 6:19-24 :

19 Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: 20 But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: 21 For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. 22 The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light. 23 But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness! 24 No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.

There are those who proclaim that we will save ourselves with silver, gold and by the things we possess, and at the same time denounce the prosperity doctrine adopted by many denominations.  What exactly is the difference between hawking precious metals as a salve against catastrophe and the teaching of “prosperity”.  The doctrine of prosperity, which has infected a large portion of the church, teaches that our faith and position to God is directly connected to what you have and how much you acquire.  But we remember what the Lord Jesus Christ felt and said to the money changers who had set up shop in the church.  Jesus cleansed the church of them.  We read in Matthew 21:12-13:

12 And Jesus went into the temple of God, and cast out all them that sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the moneychangers, and the seats of them that sold doves, 13 And said unto them, It is written, My house shall be called the house of prayer; but ye have made it a den of thieves.

And in John 2:13-15:

13 And the Jews' Passover was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem, 14 And found in the temple those that sold oxen and sheep and doves, and the changers of money sitting: 15 And when he had made a scourge of small cords, he drove them all out of the temple, and the sheep, and the oxen; and poured out the changers' money, and overthrew the tables; 16 And said unto them that sold doves, Take these things hence; make not my Father's house an house of merchandise.

And so Jesus will cleanse the land of those who claim to be Christian, yet teach another doctrine.   At that point, the possessions of life will become meaningless.  We read in Acts 3:4-6:

4 And Peter, fastening his eyes upon him with John, said, Look on us. 5 And he gave heed unto them, expecting to receive something of them. 6 Then Peter said, Silver and gold have I none; but such as I have give I thee: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk.

WELCOME TO YOUR COMFORT ZONE

It is noted in the book of  Numbers 11:4-6:

4 And the mixt multitude that was among them fell a lusting: and the children of Israel also wept again, and said, Who shall give us flesh to eat? 5 We remember the fish, which we did eat in Egypt freely; the cucumbers, and the melons, and the leeks, and the onions, and the garlick: 6 But now our soul is dried away:

The Hebrew slaves who were freed by Pharaoh complained to Moses, and wanted to turn back because they wanted to seek their level of comfort.  They were uncertain about their future and their carnal minds thought, at least in Egypt we had fish, cucumbers and garlic.  They were not prepared spiritually to go forth, resting on faith and trusting in God to provide all their needs.  This seed of disobedience, rebellion and of carnal knowledge took root and led to even further disobedience and to their wandering the in desert for years.  If, however, they had walked by faith, their generations would have known the Pleasant Land.  Instead they had to endure suffering and their generations saw not the Promised Land. 

This is the same rebellious spirit that was found in the Garden of Eden.  Man and his rebellious heart decided to listen to someone other than God.  Rebellious man did not want to receive and abide the word of God alone.  But instead he wanted to figure a way around God so that he could do want he wanted:  which was to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.  This was the one tree they couldn’t touch, but yet, they had to have it.  The same spirit that led Adam and Eve to think they could skirt around what God said, is now leading man to believe that he can somehow circumvent what God has ordained will come to be.   Just a portion of these events Jesus spoke of in Matthew 24:3-12:

3 And as he sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?

4 And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you. 5 For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many. 6 And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. 7 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places. 8 All these are the beginning of sorrows. 9 Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name's sake. 10 And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another. 11 And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many. 12 And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.

But man’s sinful nature is to deny the truth, which is Jesus Christ.  Man would rather reason unto himself that he can do something to change his conditions and put the odds in his favor or hedge his bets.  But thinking himself wise, man has become a fool.  And in the foolishness of man’s wisdom, we now find him uttering the words of Satan found in Genesis 3:4-5:   

4 And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: 5 For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.

AND NO MAN SHUTTEH

Almost every day we hear news of an archaeological dig being unearthed or hear of some new reverse technology being revealed.  Yet again, we seek knowledge that was not meant for man in his fallen state.  The scriptures tell us expressly to seek those things that are above, to seek the kingdom of heaven in Matthew 6:30-34:

30 Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith? 31 Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? 32 (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. 33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. 34 Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.

Yet we continually try to open doorways that we cannot shut.  And in doing so, we awaken the very evil that will consume us.  We are continually led to believe foolishly that in our fallen state, we have the wisdom to out-think demons.  Since the Garden of Eden, we have not been successful at this, and even today, as we harness the technology of fallen angels, we are still not successful in out-thinking them. 

In Genesis the scripture reported that the serpent was more subtle and beguiling. We read in Genesis 3:1-5:

1 Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?

And to this day, he is still fooling men into thinking that it is their own intelligence and their own wisdom that is controlling and unearthing these technologies and powers that they discover.  Then man attempts to use these powers to tell us our lives are better and attempt to circumvent God.  Scriptures tell us in Matthew 16:19:

And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.

We should consider very intently before we continue to dig up relics and ancient artifacts and seek out technology not meant for man.  We don’t have the ability to understand nor control what is being loosed on earth, let alone what is being loosed in heaven.  Still we hear those who say that the discovery of relics and artifacts is proof of the existence of God, and will lead others to Jesus.  But God does not need man to justify Him.  Nor does He need artifacts or mysterious creatures that have been dug up to validate that He exists.  God is God all by Himself.  Using God’s name to justify chasing after monsters, myths or to go searching after the hidden things is taking God’s name in vain and is blasphemous.  Some things are hidden for a reason.  And attempting to convince Christians that the hidden things should be studied for information’s sake is misleading.  In man’s fallen state, he will only use these artifacts and knowledge for evil.  And that is why they were removed from him. 

We read in 2 Timothy 4:3-5:

3 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; 4 And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.

There are those who continually whine about having their characters attacked, but in reality, they do more damage to their own characters.  They speak on things that are not grounded in Christ and pass on the murmurings and rumors that creep in throughout the land.  In doing so,  they show themselves as unanchored individuals, and unstable in all their ways.  So for those who continue to risk their names and reputations chasing after fables and having itching ears,  we recall scripture found in Proverbs 22:1:

1 A good name is rather to be chosen than great riches, and loving favour rather than silver and gold.

Instead, God instructs us through the role models of scripture, that by faith were these delivered.  We read in Hebrews 11:1-35

1 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. 2 For by it the elders obtained a good report. 3 Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear.

4 By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts: and by it he being dead yet speaketh. 5 By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death; and was not found, because God had translated him: for before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God. 6 But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him. 7 By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; by the which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith. 8 By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he went out, not knowing whither he went. 9 By faith he sojourned in the land of promise, as in a strange country, dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise: 10 For he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God. 11 Through faith also Sara herself received strength to conceive seed, and was delivered of a child when she was past age, because she judged him faithful who had promised. 12 Therefore sprang there even of one, and him as good as dead, so many as the stars of the sky in multitude, and as the sand which is by the sea shore innumerable. 13 These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. 14 For they that say such things declare plainly that they seek a country. 15 And truly, if they had been mindful of that country from whence they came out, they might have had opportunity to have returned. 16 But now they desire a better country, that is, an heavenly: wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God: for he hath prepared for them a city. 17 By faith Abraham, when he was tried, offered up Isaac: and he that had received the promises offered up his only begotten son, 18 Of whom it was said, That in Isaac shall thy seed be called: 19 Accounting that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead; from whence also he received him in a figure. 20 By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau concerning things to come. 21 By faith Jacob, when he was a dying, blessed both the sons of Joseph; and worshipped, leaning upon the top of his staff. 22 By faith Joseph, when he died, made mention of the departing of the children of Israel; and gave commandment concerning his bones. 23 By faith Moses, when he was born, was hid three months of his parents, because they saw he was a proper child; and they were not afraid of the king's commandment. 24 By faith Moses, when he was come to years, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter; 25 Choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season; 26 Esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt: for he had respect unto the recompence of the reward. 27 By faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king: for he endured, as seeing him who is invisible. 28 Through faith he kept the passover, and the sprinkling of blood, lest he that destroyed the firstborn should touch them. 29 By faith they passed through the Red sea as by dry land: which the Egyptians assaying to do were drowned. 30 By faith the walls of Jericho fell down, after they were compassed about seven days. 31 By faith the harlot Rahab perished not with them that believed not, when she had received the spies with peace.

Man’s history is full of unsuccessful attempts at thinking on his own.  Every time he takes his eyes off of God, man falls.  Man fell in the Garden when he listened to Satan instead of God, and Peter began to fall in the sea when he took his eyes off of Jesus. 

We read in Matthew 14:28-31:

28 And Peter answered him and said, Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee on the water. 29 And he said, Come. And when Peter was come down out of the ship, he walked on the water, to go to Jesus. 30 But when he saw the wind boisterous,  he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me. 31 And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand, and caught him, and said unto him, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?

There is no doubt:  Jesus is the only way.  Peter cried out, Lord save me.  Not silver and gold save me.  And neither will silver nor gold save you in that great and terrible day.

Ezekiel 7:19:  They shall cast their silver in the streets, and their gold shall be removed: their silver and their gold shall not be able to deliver them in the day of the wrath of the LORD: they shall not satisfy their souls, neither fill their bowels: because it is the stumblingblock of their iniquity.