Jim Jones was a pastor. Today we still see charlatans like Benny Hinn, Joel Osteen and Joseph Prince as pastors. We hear or read something from a well followed pastor and we blindly accept it as truth and the Berean call to the Church of Sardis says that we cannot. We must test everything as the Bible instructs. Not out of disbelief or disrespect but rather out of complete reverence for God.
The fourth and final imperative we see in the key verses from Revelation is that we must repent and turn back to God. It is not merely an academic issue beloved - it is a sin issue. I know that people do not like to hear about sin anymore or they pretend it doesn't matter to God anymore but that is simply not the case. This is a very big deal to God and do not let anyone tell you otherwise. Belief in another Gospel is rejection of the true Gospel. This is why we are facing an epidemic of false conversions in this country. So many people have come to a Christ that doesn't exist through churches teaching another gospel. They have been promised a hope that they do not possess. How do so many stand before Christ on the last day and say Lord Lord? Because they were sitting in the Church of Sardis, asleep, and no one bothered to try and wake them up.
Reverend Anthony Wade - October 16, 2013
