What is a Christian? We are burdened and not alone in our belief that the modern church, in its eagerness to bring in the masses during a time of increasing godlessness and secularism (certainly a worthy motive), has weakened its influence in the world by not giving a careful, scriptural answer to the most basic Bible question of all: “What is a true Christian?” John the Baptist’s message of  “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matthew 3:1), was also the message of Jesus (Matt. 4:17), and also of the Apostles, who insisted to their hearers  “that they should repent, turn to God, and do works befitting repentance” (Acts 26:20).

One of the most significant characteristics of our Savior’s earthly ministry — a theme found in nearly all of His parables — was His continual challenge for His hearers to examine their hearts to be sure their devotion to God was genuine. This was nothing new, for centuries earlier, Jeremiah had pressed that same theme when he said, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked.  Who can know it?”  Perhaps Jesus’ most sober warning is found in Matthew 7:22-23:  “Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’  And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.’”

Read the rest of this entry »

A message given by Art Katz to a group of pastors and lay leaders in Phoenix, Arizona on Dec. 9^th, 2000. It is a message given principally to those who have the task of bringing the word of God to their fellowships. But because of the generally worldly nature of church life, pastors are often compromised to bring biblically correct messages that appeal to their audiences instead of a word that brings requirement—and therefore lose the very means by which maturity can be gained.

I believe that God wants to make a statement concerning the phenomenon of the preached word, not only for those who are responsible for bringing the word of God, but also for the whole church at large. In my observation, we do not adequately esteem the spoken word as being the word of God. We do not understand what ‘preaching the word’ means or the condition of the vessel that brings it. It is the responsibility of the church to provide the environment and atmosphere conducive to bringing the word of God. When I say ‘word of God,’ I am not speaking about a biblical message. It is better understood as the appointed and express word that God Himself gives.

I have therefore entitled this essay, Preachers of Righteousness. The thing that makes any preacher righteous is that he is not speaking his own word. The word is not his own; it is God’s, and that alone is what makes it righteous – in the refusal to speak out of his own capability and savvy. It is a phenomenon that has been so little addressed by the church. There is hardly any understanding of the dynamic and great weight of the divine things between God and man involved in true proclamation.

Read the rest of this entry »

Jesus and the apostles repeatedly warned that the last days would be characterized by widespread deception and a multitude of false prophets (Matt.24:3-5,11,24; 1 Tim.4:1) – and we have seen plenty of them in the last few decades.

Why are millions of Christians deceived by these false prophets and these counterfeit “revivals”? And why are so many preachers falling prey to immorality and greed?

Here are what I see to be some of the main causes:

1. Most Christians today are not aware of what the New Testament teaches, because they have not studied it carefully; and so they follow the teachings of their leaders and not the teachings of the New Testament.

2. Miracles (supernatural gifts) have become more important to them than their character (a supernatural life).

3. Material wealth has become more important to them than spiritual wealth.

4. They are unable to distinguish between soulish frenzy or psychological manipulation, and the genuine moving of the Holy Spirit; the cause again is ignorance of the New Testament.

Read the rest of this entry »

If God has called you to be really like Jesus He will draw you into a life of crucifixion and humility, and put upon you such demands of obedience, that you will not be able to follow other people, or measure yourself by other Christians, and in many ways He will seem to let other people do things which He will not let you do.

Other Christians and ministers who seem very religious and useful, may push themselves, pull wires, and work schemes to carry out their plans, but you cannot do it, and if you attempt it, you will meet with such failure and rebuke from the Lord as to make you sorely penitent.

Others may boast of themselves, of their work, of their successes, of their writings, but the Holy Spirit will not allow you to do any such thing, and if you begin it, He will lead you into some deep mortification that will make you despise yourself and all your good works.

Others may be allowed to succeed in making money, or may have a legacy left to them, but it is likely God will keep you poor, because He wants you to have something far better than gold, namely, a helpless dependence upon Him, that He may have the privilege of supplying your needs day by day out of an unseen treasury.

Read the rest of this entry »

“The throne of grace.”—Hebrews 4:16

THESE words are found embedded in that gracious verse, “Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need”; they are a gem in a golden setting. True prayer is an approach of the soul by the Spirit of God to the throne of God. It is not the utterance of words, it is not alone the feeling of desires, but it is the advance of the desires to God, the spiritual approach of our nature towards the Lord our God. True prayer is not a mere mental exercise, nor a vocal performance, but it is deeper far than that—it is spiritual commerce with the Creator of heaven and earth. God is a Spirit unseen of mortal eye, and only to be perceived by the inner man; our spirit within us, begotten by the Holy Ghost at our regeneration, discerns the Great Spirit, communes with him, prefers to him its requests, and receives from him answers of peace. It is a spiritual business from beginning to end; and its aim and object end not with man, but reach to God himself.

In order to such prayer, the work of the Holy Ghost himself is needed. If prayer were of the lips alone, we should only need breath in our nostrils to pray: if prayer were of the desires alone, many excellent desires are easily felt, even by natural men: but when it is the spiritual desire, and the spiritual fellowship of the human spirit with the Great Spirit, then the Holy Ghost himself must be present all through it, to help infirmity, and give life and power, or else true prayer will never be presented, but the thing offered to God will wear the name and have the form, but the inner life of prayer will be far from it.

Read the rest of this entry »

The following is a transcript. Listen as you read.

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

The false prophet has none of this, but he does have giftings, he is quite a speaker, and he is dynamic and he seems to have some sort of power about him. But know this, his character is the key. Does he bear fruit?

False prophets are known by two things: (1) the fruit that they bear and (2) the gospel they preach (Gal. 1).

You can just line up many of these TV preachers and just look at the fruit of their life (the way they live) and then look at the gospel that they supposedly preach and you can mark them off as false prophets. Immediately.

Now, he [Paul] says something unusual about them. He says that they are like wolves. (Acts 20:29) Their god is their belly. Their god is their belly. (Phil 3:19) But they look like sheep. Now how is that?

How is it that they look like sheep?

By their flattering smooth speech, which in an age of tolerance makes you think that they are the men most full of love.

They will never contradict

They will never create a scandal

They will never be offensive

They will never speak forth things to anger men

They have the smooth tongue of a serpent

They flatter men and give carnal men exactly what they want

Read the rest of this entry »