Testimony of RCTW

[RCTW]

Hi Aron,

Thank you for your beautiful testimony!! I totally understand why Lord put you in local church first. He has also put me into this church at a very desperate time. I married into my husband's country, and after 8 years he left me. It was during Covid time. I was all alone and could not go back to my home country. I was shattered to pieces and even attempted to take my own life one time. I got to know Jesus for more than a decade but did not go to any church. God has miraculously put my name to the heart of a pastor nearby, so we talked in an one-to-one meeting. That was it. I was disappointed as I was expecting more love and caring from church. Then God put me into a neighbor local church, and the sisters took good care of me. Praying every morning, a neighbor sister visiting me every night for Bible study and prayer. I was in God's ICU for two years.

I always found it is funny that God reached out to the pastor in a regular church first and then the local church.

I guess for you and me, we really need that kind of intensive care during that special period. Praise the Lord.

Best wishes,
RC

Originally Posted by aron

Psalm 18:30 says, "The LORD has dealt with me according to my righteousness/according to the cleanness of my hands He has rewarded me." The "me" according to the pattern of NT reception should be Jesus Christ. Psalm 16:10 says, "You (the Father) will not leave my (Christ) soul in the grave/neither will Thou (Father) suffer Thine holy One (Christ Jesus) to see corruption." Psalm 40:8 says, "I (Christ) come to do Thy will, O God (the Father)/behold in the scroll of the book it is written concerning me". The 'me' here is clearly Jesus Christ.

Jesus verified this by saying that all the things written concerning him must be fulfilled. See Luke 21:22, 24:44; Mark 14:43-50 etc. There are probably 40 or 50 references in the NT about how Jesus was the focus of prophecy and its embodiment, fulfillment, in the Gospel record. He was "the Word made flesh". The focus was entirely on the person of Jesus Christ: his experiences, his suffering, his triumphant rise, his promise to return.

Now, what has happened in the meantime, as the centuries passed and the endless ages rolled? Currently, the focus is put on the believer, not on the belief, and on the Christian, not on the Christ. In the Recovery we were told that there was one word in the dictionary: "Christ"... actually, that's completely false: the one word is in the Recovery dictionary is "me". Instead of "no longer I but Christ" it is "no longer Christ but I". This unrelenting and all-consuming focus of the subjective experience of the believer has made Christ a cipher, to be made into whatever the subjective self needs at any point.

For verification, look at the hymns - who's the subject, the object and focus of attention? The believer and his/her experience. "What can was away my (the believer) sins? Nothing but the blood of Jesus". Or, "And can it be that I (the believer) should gain an interest in my Saviour's blood? Died he (Christ) for me (Christian) - who caused his pain...etc." Or, "So subjective is my Christ in me (the redeemed sinner)/real in me (sinner) and rich and sweet/all my (redeemed sinner) needs he (Christ) meets" It's all about the sinner's experience, satisfaction, and joy. But that subjectivity is quicksand!

The unrelenting focus is on the sinner: redeemed, reborn, transformed and transfigured. The doorway to deception is cast wide open. Instead of focusing on the One with clean hands - Jesus.

The Lord's Recovery is not unique in this path of error, but they do it to a greater degree, with more horrific results, than most Protestant spinoffs. It's probably not coincidental that all these frauds that I've been writing of originated from the same tradition (I know the Bible Answer Man is Greek Orthodox now, but I doubt that he'd have gotten as much traction there, to start). The Protestant Revelator gets some great immutable Truth, but that's the backdoor for the Revelator to become the Seer of the Divine Mystery for the Present Age, yada yada. A circle of deception and self-deception, drawing in trusting and hopeful rubes, those well-meaning seekers who will take the claims on face value because it makes them feel good. As long as you have some "enjoyment" engendered by repetitive shouting, it must be true... right?

[aron]

Originally Posted by RCTW

God put me into a neighbor local church, and the sisters took good care of me. Praying every morning, a neighbor sister visiting me every night for Bible study and prayer. I was in God's ICU for two years.

I always found it is funny that God reached out to the pastor in a regular church first and then the local church. I guess for you and me, we really need that kind of intensive care during that special period. Praise the Lord.

Best wishes, RC

Hi RC,

Thank you for the validation. Yes, I was in a sort of spiritual ICU for several years also: prayer meetings, home meetings, Bible studies, HWMR reviews, pray-reading, conferences, trainings, trips with other LC members, picnics and staying at their houses ('hospitality' they called it), living in the so-called Brother's House, college meetings. It was the so-called church life 24/7 for several years for me.

Eventually, I left, because of frustration that I didn't experience the magical inner transformation that I was promised... "Just call 'O Lord' He'll change your life" I was told, but after several years nonstop activity I left just as scared and miserable as before going in. All the calling calling calling didn't change me (aka 'metabolic transformation') on the inside. (interesting... at a recent conference by LC current leader RK he admitted as much - telling a story of 38 years of calling and no metabolic transformation. Thank God it didn't take me 38 years to figure that out).

Eventually I realized the revelation of the gospels for me was Jesus' simple message - what you do to others, God will do to you. If you care for others, God will care for you. Suddenly my emptiness got filled by caring for others. All the shouting was a distraction. Transformation starts from within, caring for others. Jesus called it, "Love your neighbour". Pretty simple when you get it.

But I am truly grateful for my years in the LC. I might have had some distinctly worse path if not for those years. I do bless and thank the LORD. Whether or not I've gotten inwardly transformed and conformed isn't to say. But I surely have been satisfied in caring for others, as compared to when I was in the LC. And the grace of God has met me often as I tried in my own feeble way to help others. My efforts don't really matter- God's provenance in filling my efforts is what really matters.

Romans 3:5 ESV But if our unrighteousness serves to show the righteousness of God, what shall we say?

[RCTW]

Aron, thanks for your reply. It is amazing that how you can be filled with love to others after waking up from LC. I wish one day I could be the same. I am becoming very protective about myself and getting hard to open up. Recently researched on the topic of God's Grace, one article says God's Grace protects us like a shield. It got me thinking that if I offer love and kindness to people, God's Grace will shield me from any harm. It's ok to feel being hurt sometime. We look unto God for his reward and He restores.

I decided to stop going to LC last week and still adjusting. Keep praying that I can find a suitable church and new fellowship in Jesus.

One thing LC did help me with is they are really trying to touch some of the difficult topics in Bible in a systematic way. Although I neither had understanding or disagreeing on the LC materials, I spent a lot of time to research on the topics in a wider Christian world. With the guidance of Holy Spirit, I am learning and changing in this way. Praise the Lord.

[aron]

Originally Posted by RCTW

Recently researched on the topic of God's Grace, one article says God's Grace protects us like a shield. It got me thinking that if I offer love and kindness to people, God's Grace will shield me from any harm.

RC,

I think we both see that God's Grace protecting us is matched to our showing grace toward others. When you're patient with others, God is patient with you. If you're generous with others, God will be generous to you. If you forgive, then you will be forgiven. It's both a command, and a promise: "Whatever you do to these, the least of my brethren, it shall be done to you." God sends us pathetic failures, who are selfish, foolish, angry, discouraged... if we curse, and judge, then we get the same. If we are kind, pay attention, visit and encourage them, then the same comes back. We get the same because we are the same.

Originally Posted by RCTW

I decided to stop going to LC last week and still adjusting. Keep praying that I can find a suitable church and new fellowship in Jesus.

One thing LC did help me with is they are really trying to touch some of the difficult topics in Bible in a systematic way. Although I either not understanding or disagreeing on the LC materials, I spent a lot of time to research on the topics in a wider Christian world. With the guidance of Holy Spirit, I am learning and changing in this way. Praise the Lord.

The best safeguard is to read widely. Don't get trapped or caught by any one view, author, minister, or approach. Jesus is the Way. No book will give you the formula. Only the Holy Spirit can implicitly be trusted, and because of our ignorance and residual issues, we should not trust our selves or our perceptions. The #1 trick of the LC is to flood you with sensations, and create an overwhelming emotional response. Don't trust your sensations, or your emotions! They are temporary, fleeting. Jesus remains forever.

I agree, they try to touch topics in a systematic way, but their bias is also systematic. Certain verses are held as crucial, others are ignored or even disparaged. Phrases are taken out of context and pushed together with unrelated ones to supposedly show us things, but that are made up as a pretext, a cover for selfish agendas.

I'll give an example. There is no ministry of the age outside of Jesus Christ. There is no "today's Paul". That was complete self-interested fabrication, using cobbled-together sources. Paul said that he was apostle to the gentiles, also translated as to the nations. (See, e. g., Acts 9:15; Gal 1:15; 2:7-9; Rom 1:5; cf Eph 2:11-19; Col 1:25-27).

Unless we colonize other planets and find other species made in God's image, the need for further apostles is over. Look at when Judas died - they chose another to complete the number. Yet when James of the Twelve was killed they never chose a replacement, as the number was already completed.

But many groups fall into the same error of LSM, thinking that they need today's apostle! Without an apostle, no current speaking from God! It's an open door for ravening wolves. And there are many like this - so be careful! Christian's are not immune from ignorant selfish thoughts.

[Nell]

Originally Posted by RCTW

Aron, thanks for your reply. It is amazing that how you can be filled with love to others after waking up from LC. I wish one day I could be the same. I am becoming very protective about myself and getting hard to open up. Recently researched on the topic of God's Grace, one article says God's Grace protects us like a shield. It got me thinking that if I offer love and kindness to people, God's Grace will shield me from any harm. It's ok to feel being hurt sometime. We look unto God for his reward and He restores.

I decided to stop going to LC last week and still adjusting. Keep praying that I can find a suitable church and new fellowship in Jesus.

One thing LC did help me with is they are really trying to touch some of the difficult topics in Bible in a systematic way. Although I either not understanding or disagreeing on the LC materials, I spent a lot of time to research on the topics in a wider Christian world. With the guidance of Holy Spirit, I am learning and changing in this way. Praise the Lord.

Here's my take on finding a "suitable church" after the LC.

It sounds like you have started on a healthy path. As for finding a suitable church, I have long believed that the greatest error of the Local Church of Witness Lee is to promote a dependence of believers on "church", in this case, on Lee and the LC leadership. As a result, believers who leave the LC post on this forum that they want to find "another church"...the sooner the better.

I believe this is because we were conditioned to depend more on Lee and his church than on the Lord Jesus himself. We were conditioned to follow a man to the extent that we believe we need "church", so when we left Lee, we began to look for a replacement.

In Philippians 3:10 Paul prayed: That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death; Perhaps we should pray this prayer more often...to know Him. It sounds like you have prayed this prayer a few times.

After I left the LC, years ago, by his mercy, I chose a path of "detox". I didn't look for another "church". I chose to care for my needy parents. I talked to the Lord. My prayer at that time was "Lord, don't let go of me." He didn't. I still talk to him, every day like I learned during that time years ago.

All these years later, I still don't "go to church". I have tried to "go to church" but was never able to sustain contact with what he showed me was clearly an organization by man and not him.

One memorable experience was amazing fellowship one Sunday morning on the phone while I was in the parking lot before a baseball game. Another time, I was on a baseball trip to St. Louis, and met a former pastor who was a self-described "burn out". We sat on a park bench for over 2 hours sharing our experiences with each other...fellowship. He asked me "where do you go to church?'" and was taken aback when I replied "I don't."

There might be some suffering, but even so, there is fellowship in his sufferings. As the Psalmist said in Psalm 139:8 If I ascend up into heaven, you are there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, you are there.

He led me to fellowship with others, but not until I learned and experienced fellowship first with him. He led me to a dependence on himself, not "church". I didn't read my bible for 5-6 years. I was afraid that if I read the Bible, he would make me go back there. I didn't trust him. When I finally did pick up my bible again, (someone advised me to "read it like it was a book") it was amazing. It was almost like I had never read it before. It was alive. It was amazing.

After I began to hear his voice, know him, follow his leading, obey him, and here's the big one....trust him...my walk with him changed. I was actually walking with him and not "church" dependent.

I hope this helps, RCTW, to take another different look at "life after" the Local Church of Witness Lee.

Nell

[ThankfulForever777]

Originally Posted by RCTW

I decided to stop going to LC last week and still adjusting. Keep praying that I can find a suitable church and new fellowship in Jesus.

It’s been just over a year since my wife and I left the LC. Here are a few lessons that we've been learning along the way:

1. Immerse Yourself in the Scripture: A couple of years before leaving the recovery, the Lord gave me a great appetite to read the Bible, unlike anything I'd experienced in my last 25 years in the LC. This not only revived my spiritual life but also freed me from some sinful habits and helped me recognize serious issues within the recovery. As we continued reading the Bible, we gradually stopped practicing repetitive calling and pray-reading.

2. Repentance and Humility: When my wife and I realized we were guilty of idol worship by blindly following W. Lee, as well as hostility and pride towards other Christians, we repented in tears. This was a powerful moment of liberation that can be compared to our second salvation.

3. Authentic Prayer and Fasting: Departing from scripted and abstract prayers in the LC, we learned to pray authentically for our needs (for our marriage, our kids, our health, our parents, siblings, and other relatives, our finances, etc.) We started to practice fasting as well. We started to say the Lord’s Prayer. More often, we would kneel, and direct our prayers to the Heavenly Father and end our prayers in the name of Jesus. By praying in a calmer, conversational manner, we grew closer to God, and each other and witnessed more definite answers to our prayers.

4. Ask the Lord to give you good Christian friends to support you. My wife and I asked the Lord to give us good people and friends for ourselves and our children. We moved to a new place. We met a new neighbor, and she turned out to be a godly older woman, a former missionary. Her husband invited me to his weekly man bible study group. We met some more people who invited us to a home bible study group which we started to attend weekly. Our son befriended a boy at a playground who turned out to be from a good Christian family and invited him to join Trail Life (faith-based Boy Scouts). I meet for coffee weekly with another brother who was once involved in a group similar to W. Lee's cult but has since found strength in his faith journey. He's now thriving in his walk with the Lord, having even become a missionary. It's inspiring to see him preparing for another missionary trip abroad. There are many more examples of how the Lord arranged everything to care for our spiritual needs.

5. Join a healthy Christian church. I cannot emphasize enough how important this step was for us. When we just left the LC, we stayed home the first Sunday and gathered as a family to read the Bible and pray. At that time, we thought we would keep staying home and meeting in our home as a family. We did not want to join a denomination. Little did we realize that we were still heavily under the ill influence of Lee’s teaching. Looking back, we see that Satan’s strategy for those who leave the LC is to keep them cut off from the Body of Christ, to make them stay home at any cost, to make them think that there is no need for a church or that all the churches are degraded, shallow, and a waste of time. However, if we let our pride go and humble ourselves before the Lord, we will realize that we are wrong, that we still hold our old false beliefs, and we are still hurting. Without becoming a part of a healthy church, there cannot be full healing and realization of who we are in Christ. A substantial amount of the New Testament would not apply to staying home Christians. For example, it’s impossible to practice “love one another” and walk/march in the Spirit without other brothers and sisters alongside. To be more involved, we opened up our home for a weekly Bible study group which is a blessing to us.

6. Be willing to let go of old teachings and concepts. It's a sad reality that many individuals who have left the LC find themselves in a state of confusion or uncertainty. Reflecting on our own journey, we gradually came to the realization that the LC was rife with teachings that were deeply influenced by deception. What were once perceived as profound truths were, in fact, distorted interpretations of Scripture, often bordering on teachings that aligned more with human philosophy and even doctrines influenced by demonic sources. It's a sobering realization, but one that prompts us to humbly let go of any pride associated with those teachings and instead approach the Word of God with the innocence and openness of children, seeking understanding through the guidance of the Holy Spirit. We decided to be baptized again to consecrate ourselves and our lives to the Lord anew. We gradually realized that W. Lee was not merely wrong in some minor teachings and practices but rather he preached a false gospel and serious heresies from demons. Therefore, we wanted to simply humble ourselves and be like children. This required some humility. In the church where we are now, we are taking ten lessons prior to being baptized. At first, we thought that we do not need such elementary and basic teachings as we know much more. However, as we are taking lesson by lesson, the light shines, and we see the true gospel, the true love of the Father, and His redemption in His Son.

7. Do not judge other Christians how they worship or meet as long as it does not contradict the Bible. In the LC, we used to think that only LSM-approved material is spiritual and sanctified and all content in Christianity is Babylonian or natural or soulish or sinful. We despised Christian songs because we thought they were worldly. Now, we should humble ourselves and realize that we were wrong. We need to learn to be accepting and judge according to the Bible, not according to W. Lee, or LSM, or our own standards.

8. Explore Diverse Christian Literature: This is very important to me. In the LC, we foolishly despised all the riches and gifts that were available in the Body of Christ. We were undernourished. After we parted with the LC, we threw away all our W. Lee and W. Nee books and started to collect and read various many good books from topics such as Christian cults and abusive churches, to emotionally healthy spirituality, to books on the Christian view of masculinity and femininity, books on parenting, etc. Also, we started to listen to some good preachers.

9. Listen to Christian music/songs. In the LC, we suppressed our soul and what might be soulish. Now we realize that we need to nurture our soul and many Christian songs bring us such healing and healthy emotions.

10. Talk to other former members. It's incredibly beneficial to connect with other former members. We have had some meaningful conversations with individuals who've also transitioned away from the LC. One brother, in particular, who played a significant role in introducing us to the LC many years ago, eventually left himself. Several months ago, we had the opportunity to engage in an open and honest fellowship with him, learning about his experiences within the LC. It's been enlightening and reassuring to share our journeys and glean wisdom from each other's paths.

Take Time and Have Hope. We've come to understand that it takes time to adjust to a new way of living and thinking. Despite the challenges, we hold onto hope, remembering our identity as children of the King, and finding assurance in the victory of Jesus over death and Satan.

Hopefully, it will be helpful to you. God Bless You!

[RCTW]

Thanks Aron for the detailed suggestions. During my two years in the Local Church, I was not reading their materials and books that much, insisting on reading and praying on Bible. I did not reach out to a larger circle in LC, and was only associating with the 2-3 families in the same neighborhood. This is a new and very small locally, the elder and his wife are always busy with bigger influence in the whole area, not paying too much attention here. The 2-3 families I am close with were not very zealous about the church's mission and agenda. I consider myself lucky for the arrangement. I guess we have self-quarantined in a sense.

After two years, I was very grateful for the local church and wanted to participate more activities. I started to read their materials. I could not understand what I was reading and felt uncomfortable. The topics in recent month is about Grace. I was shocked when hearing "Grace is a person." "Grace can help us to be king in life." "The Local Church is God's ultimate Grace and glory in the hole universe." Where is the Holy Spirit? Why I feel Jesus and Holy Spirit is not getting enough attention here?

Then later on, I attended a massive gathering in Jan. with more than 35,000 people. First time I saw the FTTA and heard "Witness Lee is the Apostle of the age, bringing highest worship to the lord in the universe..." this kind of words...I was uncomfortable in the meeting hall, and after the long day I went home exhausted and I could not straighten my back somehow. Only went for one day and skipped the rest.

I tried to look for other churches but always end up with "all churches are the same, no perfect church" and "the church nowadays are so divisive and only focus on themselves". This is the subtle influence I got from the LC although I thought I was not engaging too much.

I have to suspect that there is something spiritual going on in the LC especially after the massive gathering in Jan. The materials, teaching, and testimonies from LC members are somehow indigestive for me and making me unwell physically and mentally. That's why I decided to leave.

The sister who has been visiting me every night for over two years has been a really good family in lord. I told her that I am not comfortable in LC and will look for other church. Her reply "I believe God will guide you to a suitable church and we can pray about it". Praise the Lord. She was once upset for my absence for the meetings, but she had this urge from Lord to keep caring for me. After struggling, she kept visiting me and gradually felt that she is helping building the whole body of Jesus, not limited to a specific church. I would share what I read with her and invite her to watch some non-LC sermons on YouTube together.

It's just so easy to get indulged into one person's teaching. I would read from the same author for 2-3 months. But really no one is perfect except Jesus Christ. The body of Jesus Christ needs all kinds of grace in a good balance. Thank God there are so many resources available online. One thing I found is that good teaching/writing will lead me back to the Bible and give me a whole new experience when reading verses which I probably have read 2-3 times in the past. Will keep on reading and sharing.

God bless you Aron.

[RCTW]

Originally Posted by Nell

I believe this is because we were conditioned to depend more on Lee and his church than on the Lord Jesus himself. We were conditioned to follow a man to the extent that we believe we need "church", so when we left Lee, we began to look for a replacement.

It is so true!! I was indeed looking for a replacement, out of fear. I fear being alone will let the doors open for spiritual attack. I guess we’ve all heard "Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour." in the LC. But the full scripture of 1 Peter 5:8-10 is actually saying (1) be self-controlled and alert (to false teaching); (2) resist the devil and stand firm; (3) God’s Grace is sufficient. There is no mention of human shelter in these verses, not that it’s not important, but we need to believe God is sufficient in all kinds of situation, even when we are on a lonely road.

-----Peter 5:8-10--------
Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings.

And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast.
----------------------------

Originally Posted by Nell

In Philippians 3:10 Paul prayed: That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death; Perhaps we should pray this prayer more often...to know Him. It sounds like you have prayed this prayer a few times.

No I have not prayed on this verse but I will start now It's a good verse to meditate. Thank you.

Originally Posted by Nell

He led me to fellowship with others, but not until I learned and experienced fellowship first with him. He led me to a dependence on himself, not "church". I didn't read my bible for 5-6 years. I was afraid that if I read the Bible, he would make me go back there. I didn't trust him. When I finally did pick up my bible again, (someone advised me to "read it like it was a book") it was amazing. It was almost like I had never read it before. It was alive. It was amazing.

Your fellowship is amazing! Thank you for sharing.

I was emotionally unstable for quite a long period. I watched a sermon on YouTube the pastor says he once was sick for 7 months with no signs of getting better. Out of desperate, he decided to took Bible verses as medicine. He would read and meditate on Bible verses three times a day after each meal. God healed him in 4 months! So I decided to try it. Googled that the mental health meds are taken 2 times a day in the morning and night. I started to read Bible at least two times a day. When I am struggling with negative thoughts, I would meditate on whatever I could remember from previous reading. It works! I was at peace like never before. I am able to handle stress like a normal people. I consider myself sober from depression for three months now.

[RCTW]

Originally Posted by ThankfulForever777

Take Time and Have Hope. We've come to understand that it takes time to adjust to a new way of living and thinking. Despite the challenges, we hold onto hope, remembering our identity as children of the King, and finding assurance in the victory of Jesus over death and Satan.

Hopefully, it will be helpful to you. God Bless You!

Great advises!! Thank you so much for sharing!! It is priceless to experience this spiritual journey as a whole family!!

I've also researched on cult, heresy,demonic and spiritual influence.....mostly from Walter Martin and Derek Prince. I started to know how God hates “pride” in recent readings. It was like my eyes are opened and get to see how pride has eroded me and my whole life. “Pride” is a hard to deal with, and I’m starting with fasting. My old habit of pride will come out like every time I speak with people. It is going to be a long way to change from this arrogant boaster to a humble person.

Below is a youtube video from Derek Prince on Be Careful Of This When You Join A Church

https://youtu.be/PFrZoLer_8s?si=iwtePsX4La2KwvMV
https://www.derekprince.com/sermons/402

---------Transcript--------------

Now I would like to give you some thoughts on how deception enters. And I believe there’s only really one door that let’s deception in and that is PRIDE. I believe behind all deception there is pride. Pride is what opens us up to deception. The real pattern of that is Lucifer, who was maybe the most beautiful and the wisest of all the angels. But he became proud of his beauty and his wisdom, turned in rebellion, and ended in deception. And if that can happen to an archangel in heaven as it did, how many of us could say, “It could never happen to me!”

One of the lures of many cults is the attraction that if you join them, you are going to join a super-group. I mean, the real overcomers. The people who are going to get the job done. The church has messed around and not got the job done, but now here we are—we’re going to get the job done. What does that appeal to? Pride, that’s right. I mean, let’s take the Manifested Sons teaching, which some of you are probably familiar with. That was exactly their teaching. But they went much further because they taught ultimately that you could achieve immortality if you did the right things. It’s remarkable how many cults teach that. The Mormons teach it. It gets taught indirectly through Freemasonry. And it all goes back to what the Bible calls The Lie, which was the first lie, which Satan turned on the human race, which was, “You shall be as gods.” And every time, really, that he wants to deceive people, he uses the same type of motivation. So beware when people tell you there’s a super-group that have gone further than others. And they are usually rather critical of previous generations of Christians, but I’d have to say, as far as I’ve seen, they don’t begin to produce the same kind of results that previous generations produced. And I say to people, if you ever join a group who tells you, “If you want to be right, you’ve got to join us.” When you’ve joined them, you’ll know one thing: you’re wrong!

Proverbs 29:5 says: “He who flatters his neighbor with his mouth spreads a net for his feet.” Beware of flattery! I think this applies particularly to preachers. Preachers are very susceptible to flattery. And we can become embroiled in things because people give us flattering invitations and suggest that, “If you’ll align with us, we’ll open doors for you.” If you’re not a preacher, you probably don’t realize how powerful that temptation is because most preachers, in a way, check their effectiveness by the number of invitations they have. I’ve heard more than one preacher admit that. That’s not a very spiritual attitude, but let’s be honest, we’re not always very spiritual people.

Jesus has a chosen group, but it’s not super-group. It’s a different kind of people. Only Jesus would have chosen people like that. It’s stated in 1 Corinthians 1, verses 26 and following:

“For you see your calling, brethren, [or, you see the kind of people that you’ve got yourself mixed up with] ...not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called. But God has chosen...”

And you remember God will protect those whom He has chosen. Now, in order to be one of God’s chosen, you have to be in this list because God HAS chosen. He’s not going to change His mind. He’s not going to revise. It’s settled. So as we go down this, just see if you fit:

“But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty; and the base things of the world and the things which are despised God has chosen, and the things which are not, to bring to nothing the things that are, that no flesh should glory in His presence.”

You see, God has a motive: to eliminate pride. And so this is the list. I mean, just ask yourself: Do I fit? He has chosen the foolish things; He’s chosen the weak things; He’s chosen the base or lowly things; the things that are despised and the things that are not. And the reason God has chosen that is that no one will ever be able to boast and say, “God has chosen me because I’m so clever, or so strong, or so wise. He needed me.”

When I got saved, by a kind of “divine accident,” I was serving in the British Army in World War II. I was a fellow of King’s College, Cambridge, and had a distinguished academic record behind me and a future in the academic world, and for awhile I used to have the attitude: God was pretty lucky to get me. The more I knew about me, the more I revised that opinion. My opinion now is, I can’t think whyever God picked on me! Now, truth was, I’d been removed from my fellowship in Cambridge. I was no longer wandering around in a gown in the sanctified courts of King’s. I was a local, acting, unpaid Lance Corporal. And my salary was two shillings a day (old shillings) and that’s when God “got” me. Thank God He got me! So, just be careful. If anybody tries to convince you that you can be a special super kind of Christian if you join “our group,” it’s a sure warning to stay away from them.

--------Transcript Ends---------------