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hearts be also." (Mat 6 v. 21) It is human nature to push things to the limit, and to straddle the fence, but in our case, such behavior may be very costly indeed; for in these last hours our heart's condition must certainly be in love with God's agenda (rather than our own) if we are going to be accounted worthy to escape.
In His letters to the seven churches, one of Christ's most conspicuous and revolving themes is His calling for His church to repent. In Joel (1 v. 13) when speaking of the last days, we read; "Gird yourselves and lament ye priests, howl ye ministers of the altar, come lie all night in sackcloth, ye ministers of my God.
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What the church worldwide desperately needs today is a great big dose of true repentance. Pride has puffed us up. The sins of Baalam and the Nicolaitians are rampant everywhere as clergy elevate themselves (and are elevated) into a separated liturgical hierarchy which thing Christ "hates". (Rev. 2 v. 6)
From Niko -- to rule or conquer
Laitins -- the Laity or people
We should remember that disqualification for the "crown of glory" (1 Peter 5-14) will be due to the tendency on the part of ministry to Lord it over (or rule) God's flock. The priestly ruling class of Jesus' day (the Scribes, Sadduccess and Pharisees) continuously attacked the Lord, and were the target of His most vehement condemnations. Don't for a second believe that their "spirit" hasn't entered the Church. No, all those religious devils just changed robes and titles and are alive and well in churches throughout the world. God never called for a ministry for the people to serve. Instead, He desires a ministry that will humbly serve His people. Today many have allowed themselves to be elevated into this extremely subtle form of Nicolaitian idolatry. Clerics accept positions of control and personal subjugation over people's lives that only the Holy Spirit should employ; likewise the Laity allows these (sanctified?) leaders to "lord" it over them -- bringing their hearts, minds and souls into bondage. Today we see scores of these spiritual dictators, playing Pope -- acting as spiritual guides to the naive --they prophesy direction and give "words" of "knowledge" and "wisdom" to the ignorant who blindly believe that their proclamations have come straight from God's throne. How tragic it is to see how many (even some who have been saved and in the ministry for years) are allowing other charismatic leaders to play Holy Spirit to them. Words by God's prophets should only "confirm" what God is already saying to us, never independently lead us. Many fragile lives have been "shipwrecked" following what they erroneously believed was from God, but which later was found to be only the words and opinions of men. No man or woman (no matter how anointed they appear at times) should hold such sway and power over us that we will mindlessly move to their every word and revelation -- whether they say "Thus saith the Lord," or not (see 1 Kings, Chap. 13). Many of today's prophets words, more often than not, are born in their own self serving, egocentric, carnal minds; minds sometimes set upon by personal ambitions, power, and the lust for attention. Many of these false prophets were once used by God (in the past) but like Baalam, they started prophesying for personal or material gain, and slowly degenerated into controlling, manipulative authoritarians. In modern times Jim Jones proved a perfect (though extreme) example of this. He started right, but slowly as he yielded to sin, became paranoid, manipulative and Hitleresque, until his followers joined him in the suicidal delusion of "Jonestown". Today's spiritual mentors are not unlike him; (only the de
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