Amidst all of the cries from false teachers for unity it is time for the remnant to turn back to the Bible and examine biblical unity.

::::::::

And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. -- Ephesians 4: 11-14 (ESV)

While there are many things we do not know about the end times we live in there is also plenty that we ought to be aware of. The Bible is replete with warning after warning against the wolves that would be attacking the body of Christ with false doctrines, doctrines of demons, and damnable heresies. The warnings are that these heresies would become as commonplace as they are today. That what should be easily discernable as false is widely embraced as possible if not true. Just look this week when false preacher Jesse Duplantis asked for 54 million dollars to buy a new private jet. Now I expect nothing less from a snake oil salesman then to pretend God told him to believe for such nonsense. The problem I have is with how many well intended but poorly taught Christians just accepted this tripe. The cries of "well if God told him that"" rang out throughout the church. Listen very carefully. God did not tell him any such thing. We have written extensively before about the growing purpose driven industrial complex. Church has been transformed into a carnal global enterprise. Untold riches have been and continue to be generated on the backs of abject poverty. Those that are at the feeding trough defend the brand at all cost. The first rule of any good scheme is to protect the scheme. One of the greatest tools the apostate church wields is a call for unity. The general principle states how can the church possibly spread the Gospel if it cannot agree. While that sounds lofty or even pious one must realize that an apostate church only calls for unity with apostasy. This is why Rick Warren and many evangelical leaders have cozied up with Rome even though they know they do not share the same beliefs. Unity with apostasy only ensures the one world church that the Bible warns us against. The broad path grows and the narrow way becomes harder to find. We are coming to the point where true Christians of faith will have to come out from among the harlot that plays the church today. Let us however take a closer look at unity today.

Based on the Bible we can be assured of a few certainties. First of all, the love of most will continue to grow cold. Less and less people will be saved as the proliferation of false gospels becomes the norm inside churches. Consider how far some well-respected pastors have fallen in the past decade. Andy Stanley is now preaching against biblical inerrancy and says that we should unhitch the Old Testament from our faith. Dr. Michael Brown now shills for every agent of the NAR and excuses all forms of Charismania. J. Lee Grady bows to the pressures of the Christo-feminist movement. The list goes on and on and grows daily. There is little doubt that we are in the great end times apostasy. As those in discernment ministries try to turn the light on there will be increasing cries from those who make their living within the purpose driven industrial complex for a false unity. The primary goal will be to protect the wolves instead of the sheep. I want us to really internalize the key verses today which give us God's plan for the church. Allow me to break it down:

There are four indispensable roles in God's church - and you do not need a SHAPE application to determine them!

1. Prophets confirm the word of God to the body of Christ.

2. Evangelists spread the Gospel to increase the body of Christ through those that God alone gives the increase to.

3. Shepherds take care of the flock. They have a shepherd's crook in one hand to guide the sheep and make sure they do not wander off and a shepherd's rod in the other to fend off the attacking wolves.

4. Lastly, the teachers expound upon the word of God to grow the saints.

Overall, these four forces combine to equip the church to do the work of ministry -- which is the Gospel. They are responsible for building up the body of Christ until when? Until we all reach unity. Any old unity? Hardly. Unity is described as twofold. First we must have unity in faith. What we believe we must all believe. The second unity however is unity in doctrine, or as the Bible says here the knowledge of the Son of God. Why? Why is this important to God? So that we might mature to the measure of the stature of fullness of Christ. That we would no longer be like children tossed to and fro by the waves of false doctrines, by human cunning and by deceitful schemes. Here is the sad truth today beloved. The vast majority of television preachers today are selling you false doctrines, human cunning and deceitful schemes but the body of the church are either falsely converted or so weak spiritually they cannot tell the difference between edification and being tossed to and fro by every new wind of doctrine. It is no wonder that the devil has his counterfeits at work in all four of these areas:

False Prophets -- it is not surprising that one of the most lucrative areas within the apostate church is in false prophecy. These charlatans have turned what is supposed to be direct auditory revelation from God into cheap clairvoyance and psychic parlor tricks. The church is constantly chasing something new and fresh instead of what is tried and true. You want to hear a word from God? Pick up your Bible! The apostate church structure, such as the NAR, encourage this falseness and normalize it. They claim if you can get to 65% accuracy then you are a pretty good prophet! False! Anything short of 100% means you are a liar or grossly deceived and should be marked either way to be avoided. Prophecy is claiming to have heard directly from God and God does not stutter. He is not ambiguous.

False Evangelists -- realize beloved that not everyone involved in the apostate church knows full well what they are doing. They have been taught a certain way and instead of doing the work of a Berean, they blindly accept what leadership says. The Bible teaches us that only the uncompromised Gospel of Jesus Christ has the power of God unto the salvation of men. If you bring a false gospel to the lost then you do not convert anyone. Jesus rebuked the Pharisees for such:

Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you travel across sea and land to make a single proselyte, and when he becomes a proselyte, you make him twice as much a child of hell as yourselves. -- Matthew 23: 15 (ESV)

The Pharisees had zeal about what they believed in but there was no unity in their doctrine to God. It was false. We see this in the church today constantly. The reason always given for compromising the Gospels is to "reach as many for Jesus" as possible. That's a bunch of malarkey. Duplantis plea for the 54 million dollar plane was to reach as many countries he could for the Gospel. The problem is that Jesse Duplantis does not preach the Gospel. He preaches the damnable heresy of word faith and the demonic doctrine of uber-prosperity. We exported our apostate church to Africa and now it is just as polluted as ours. Half of the top ten richest pastors in the world are from Africa, the poorest continent. Let that sink in.

False Shepherds -- This is the staple product of the purpose driven church. In this book Rick Warren teaches up and coming pastors that their new role is that of a CEO vision caster. He teaches that if people disagree with the new vision and system then they should encourage those people to leave! Andy Stanley is actually on record as saying that we should no longer use the term shepherd because it is no longer culturally relevant. Never mind that it is biblically relevant! As a CEO, the pastor's job revolves around the finances of the church he leads. As a shepherd, it revolves around the spiritual maturity of his flock. One matters to God and the other to the flesh. The Bible warns us about this form of attack:

The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly. I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. He who is a hired hand and not a shepherd, who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. He flees because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep. I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep. -- John 10: 10-15 (ESV)

The thief is not the devil; it is the false shepherd. He is the hireling beloved. He does not care for the flock. When they are attacked he sides with the wolves. The apostate church today is nearly overrun with hirelings posing as shepherds. This is how the church will lead the way to take the mark of the beast. Do you honestly think that the Joel Osteens and TD Jakes of the world will stop you from taking the mark? How else can you buy their next book?

False Teachers -- The false teacher is the core weapon used against the body of Christ to try and woo them off the narrow path. False teaching ranges from the subtle, such as Joseph Prince's antinomianism to the absurd like holy laughter or getting drunk in the spirit. The responsibility of the teacher is to break down the word of God so that the sheep can grow through hearing and learning. In the Garden the devil asked Eve incredulously -- did God really say? He continues to ask the same question through false teachers today. Consider these words from peter:

But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing upon themselves swift destruction. And many will follow their sensuality, and because of them the way of truth will be blasphemed. And in their greed they will exploit you with false words. Their condemnation from long ago is not idle, and their destruction is not asleep. -- 2Peter 2: 1-3 (ESV)

Before the advent of the Bible, the people of God relied upon the prophet of God in order to hear thus sayeth the Lord. Thus the false prophet was one who lied about hearing from God. He twisted the word. Even though there remain false prophets, Peter is drawing a distinction here to not be overlooked. In the New Testament era, the one who twists the word of God is the false teacher. Word Faith heretics like Joel Osteen take the verse that says God calls things that are not as if they were and pretends it applies to all of us. Prosperity pimps take proverbs out of context to pretend that God wants everyone rich. The purpose driven movement is built largely on a verse that was not even written to the church -- Jeremiah 29:11. Abusive tithing teachers rely upon poor Malachi who was speaking to the priests about robbing God. When Jesse Duplantis makes an argument for a 54 million dollar plane, the way of the truth is blasphemed among the unbelieving world for while the things of God are foolishness to them they have no problem identifying the things of Satan.

So you have the genuine four pillars of building up the body of Christ and their counterfeits. Going back to the key verses we must understand Satan's end game here. The true four pillars are designed to bring is to full unity but that unity is grounded in two things -- true faith and true doctrine. That is what it means when it says to attain unity in the knowledge of the Son of God. The counterfeit seeks unity in the opposite. It seeks unity for the sake of unity. The reasons are carnally based. It is politically expedient to unite with Rome so who cares if we do not share the same faith or doctrine? That beloved is how the road to a one world government gets paved. The reality we must embrace today is that when the apostate church calls for unity it is a unity in apostasy that they seek. A near perfect example of this is Bethel Church as there are literally no false teachings they will not embrace. Prosperity, false signs and lying wonders, word faith, Joel's end time army, NAR -- you name it and they have claimed it. This will be the model moving forward because it is better to unite with other apostasy than to split doctrinal hairs when you are both wrong.

To finish up the key verses we see the result. The result of adhering to biblical principles is maturity in Christ. The measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ. This serves a purpose beloved. It will prevent us from being tossed about by every wind of doctrine, human cunning, and craftiness in deceitful schemes. That is the reward for growing into maturity in Christ through proper doctrine. So when the next Mark Batterson comes along and says to stand in a circle to demand things from God we will see that for the human cunning it really is. When we see an itinerant "prophet" at our local church tell wild stories about seed sowing quid pro quo arrangements with God we will be able to see the craftiness behind the deceitful scheme. When the apostate church cries out for unity we will see they are only seeking unity with other apostasy and we will say no. do not be deceived beloved. Do not be deceived.

Reverend Anthony Wade -- June 12, 2018

Authors Bio:
Credentialed Minister of the Gospel for the Assemblies of God. Owner and founder of 828 ministries. Vice President for Goodwill Industries. Always remember that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purpose.