It troubles me that there is so much division in the body of Christ. In every town there are several churches, all preaching a different “Gospel”, with different doctrines, some do this, some do that, and none agree with the other to any great extent.  Somewhere along the line, the Gospel got hijacked, and the “Gospel” we are hearing today doesn’t line up with the Gospel the disciples heard from the Lord Jesus.

Thankfully we have Matthew, Mark, Luke and John available to read what the Lord Jesus taught, and just importantly, what He did NOT teach.  The Apostle Paul wrote this:

Eph 4:1  I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called,
Eph 4:2  With all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love;
Eph 4:3  Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
Eph 4:4  There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling;
Eph 4:5  One Lord, one faith, one baptism,
Eph 4:6  One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.

Did you notice the part that says ONE Lord, ONE faith, ONE baptism, ONE God.  It doesn’t say “several” or “Multiple”, but ONE.  So how is it we have ended up with MANY?

It didn’t happen all at once, but rather, a little error here, a little there, and there’s no way at this point to even say who did it.  But we can see the results quite easily, in that what is preached in the churches these days lacks what the “old Gospel” had, and that is POWER!  Tell me, when was the last time you saw 3,000 added to the church in one service, or when was the last time you saw multiple people from multiple nations in a meeting, each hearing the wonderful works of God being preached in their native language from people who were NOT taught those languages?  When was the last time you saw the shadow of a believer who walked by, and the sick were healed just by that shadow falling upon them?  Never saw that stuff, huh?  Have you ever asked WHY NOT?  I have, and I didn’t like the answer I got from the LORD.

Want to know what I heard in my spirit?  The Holy Spirit told me, The reason there is no power in today’s churches is that you have forsaken the truth and have believed a lie. In these days, people would rather know how to get money than how to get Holy.  They would rather have possessions rather than possess the Holy Spirit.  They would rather be comfortable, than to have the Comforter.  They would rather hear what tickles their ears, than hear the LORD correcting them.  And so we have settled for “ANOTHER GOSPEL”.  And there is no power in it because GOD is not in it as LORD and MASTER.  He is only in it as OUR SERVANT.  Kind of reminds me of a passage in Proverbs 30:11-15, which says,

Pro 30:11  There is a generation that curseth their father, and doth not bless their mother.
Pro 30:12  There is a generation that are pure in their own eyes, and yet is not washed from their filthiness.
Pro 30:13  There is a generation, O how lofty are their eyes! and their eyelids are lifted up.
Pro 30:14  There is a generation, whose teeth are as swords, and their jaw teeth as knives, to devour the poor from off the earth, and the needy from among men.
Pro 30:15  The horseleach hath two daughters, crying, Give, give. There are three things that are never satisfied, yea, four things say not, It is enough:

Yes, I see the GIVE ME, GIVE ME Gospel being preached today, that preaches comfort and blessing and prosperity above all else.  And I can understand the reasoning behind it, because why would WE, as children of the Most High God, be expected to live below our rightful standard?  I mean, God obviously did not put the good things of the world here for the devil and his crew, but rather for His own children to enjoy.  And there is good reasoning there.  But we have warped the Gospel and all the blessings of being a child of God, to the point where The Creator is now expected to serve His creation, rather than the creation serving the Creator.  Satan is a sly one, and he has used the very preachers of the Gospel of Jesus Christ to pervert the Gospel into something it is not.

Do I believe in prosperity?  Yes, how are you going to preach the Gospel all over the world without the funding to accomplish it?  But in today’s real world, that prosperity is largely spent on our own creature comforts before a penny is spent to spread the Gospel.  Got to have that new Citation 10 Jet if you’re going to take the Gospel to every nation, right? And you need another one or two for the help to travel with you, right?   And you can’t go to the airport in an old jalopy, what would the people think?  Yesterday on Facebook, I was reading an article about the richest preachers throughout the world, and it sure looks to me like there is lots of money in preaching the Gospel.  One particular minister in Texas is worth more than $700 MILLION Dollars, so the prosperity message has certainly prospered HIM!  Is prosperity wrong?  No, God isn’t broke, and I don’t believe God wants US to be broke, either.  But prosperity should be used to glorify God, not line our own pockets.

The fact is, it takes millions and millions of dollars to keep these high profile preachers living in their accustomed lifestyle, and people are pouring huge money into them because they are preaching that everyone should be rich like they are.  I know it because I used to listen to some of them.  But I saw too many poor people who can barely eat, sending them their “best seed offering” when they couldn’t even pay their bills, in the hopes that “an abundant seed would produce an abundant harvest”.  They even use the “seed, time, and harvest” principal that God initiated in the earth to get money out of people.  That’s just plain WRONG, folks.  That isn’t what JESUS preached.  Now, HERE is what Jesus said about giving in Luke 6:38,

Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again.

So how did we manage to hijack the Gospel and get so far off track?  I think John nailed it right here:
1Jn 2:16  For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.
1Jn 2:17  And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.
1Jn 2:18  Little children, it is the last time: and as ye have heard that antichrist shall come, even now are there many antichrists; whereby we know that it is the last time.
1Jn 2:19  They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us: but they went out, that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us.
1Jn 2:20  But ye have an unction from the Holy One, and ye know all things.
1Jn 2:21  I have not written unto you because ye know not the truth, but because ye know it, and that no lie is of the truth.

So many have gone out preaching the “Gospel” , that is not really the Gospel at all, and each puts their particular spin on it, thus we have DENOMINATIONS today, which means “divisions of”.  Is Christ divided?  No!  Then why should His Gospel be?  It shouldn’t.  We need to forget everything we “think” we know about God and start over and read the Bible from cover to cover, and let Him show us who He really is.  We need to remove the Gospel of Man from our churches and install the Gospel of Jesus Christ, (Y’shua Messiah), and we will start seeing the signs and wonders that the early church saw as commonplace.  It shouldn’t be a miracle t o see the power of God working, it should be commonplace, in every worship service.  The true Gospel is still out there in Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, and the Book of Acts shows us the evidence of it.  But the Gospel has become big business for many, and the salvation of souls is no longer first priority.  The church bank account is now first priority.  In fact, I know of churches that say if the weather is too bad to come to church, that’s ok, you can still phone in your offering.  That is in effect saying, Just send your money, your presence is optional.

If we would more carefully study what Jesus said and did, as well as what He did NOT do or say, we could more easily get back to the Gospel that changed the world.  But as long as we continue with all the denominations, false gospels, and listening to those who preach a perverted Gospel of Jesus Christ, we are doomed to “church as usual”, which translates to a “gutless gospel” that has no power, gives no glory to God, and is not changing anyone’s life for the good, and is not saving even one lost soul.

Have you really sat down and pondered why YOU don’t tell everyone you know about Jesus?  Could it be because His power is not working in YOUR life, and you reason that, how can I tell others about the wonderful power of God, when I don’t really see it working in my own life?  There you have found the first truth.  You cannot share with others what you do not have working in your own life.  And you can’t make a perverted Gospel work, no matter how much logic or “faith”, or “seed offerings”  you throw at it.  The Word of God only works where it is PURE, undiluted, unadorned (un-exaggerated), and presented without fleshly motives.  Let me finish up with these verses from Jude:

Jud 1:1  Jude, the servant of Jesus Christ, and brother of James, to them that are sanctified by God the Father, and preserved in Jesus Christ, and called:
Jud 1:2  Mercy unto you, and peace, and love, be multiplied.
Jud 1:3  Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints.
Jud 1:4  For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ.

Remember Ephesians 4:5-6, ONE Lord, ONE Spirit, ONE baptism, ONE God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.

And if you’re hearing anything else, it isn’t the Gospel of Jesus Christ, period. It’s merely the doctrines of men, and that’s why it’s leaving your soul empty and without power. Come back to the Gospel of Jesus Christ, where the POWER is, where the LOVE is, where LIFE EVERLASTING is.  Nothing satisfies like the REAL thing!  It’s worth the effort.  And after all, isn’t your soul worth it?