“Why do true believers get hurt and leave the church?”
Everyone, have you ever thought about this? The church is a holy place where God is, so why do people lose their faith there instead?
What I’m going to tell you today may shock you. “Church can sometimes be the most dangerous place.”
Some of you may be thinking, “Wait a minute, what kind of blasphemy is this?”
At first, I also had a hard time believing this. However, this is not my opinion. The Bible directly warns us.
In this video today, I will talk only based on the Bible. We will look at the warnings that God directly gave us, not human interpretations or speculations.
If you watch this video until the end, you will experience spiritual eyes being opened.
If you have thought until now that “the church is absolutely safe” and “everything the pastor says is right,” you will see things differently from today. Above all, you will realize why Jesus emphasized ‘discernment’ so much. This is a matter directly related to your spiritual life.
“No, the church is the house of God, so how can it be dangerous?”
That’s right. The church is clearly the house of God. However, it can be more dangerous precisely because of that.
Think about it. Where would a thief target? An empty house with no money? No. He targets a rich house with a lot of money.
Likewise, where would Satan attack? A world that does not know God? That is already Satan’s territory. The place Satan really wants to attack is the church where God’s people gather.
Look at 2 Thessalonians 2:4:
“He opposes and exalts himself over everything that is called god or is worshiped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, proclaiming himself to be God.”
Do you see? Where did Satan say he sits? He said he sits in the temple of God!
So let’s take a closer look at how Satan works in the church. 2 Corinthians 11:14-15:
“And this is no wonder, for Satan himself disguises himself as an angel of light. So it is no wonder if his servants also disguise themselves as servants of righteousness.”
Pay attention here. How does Satan appear? He disguises himself as an angel of light.
I will explain this with an everyday example.
If you go to a bank and a robber comes in wearing a mask and holding a gun, what would you do?
Of course, you would run away or report it. But what if the robber is wearing a banker’s uniform and approaches you with a friendly smile?
“Can I help you with anything?”
That would be easy to fool.
This is exactly how Satan works.
Look at the time of Jesus. Who were the most holy people at that time? The Pharisees and the scribes. They prayed in the temple every day, paid their tithes, and kept the Sabbath well.
But what did Jesus say to them?
John 8:44:
“You are of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father.”
Isn’t that shocking? The most religious people are actually the devil’s children.
“Then how do we distinguish them? They all look holy on the outside…”
That’s a good question. Jesus has already given us the answer.
Matthew 7:15-16:
“Beware of false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits.”
What is fruit? Simply put, it is the result of a person’s words and actions.
Let’s take an example. Let’s say a pastor says this every time he preaches:
“Everyone, if you give a lot of offerings, you will be blessed! If you don’t tithe, you will be cursed!”
And what if that pastor drives an expensive foreign car and wears a luxury watch? Is this the teaching of Jesus?
What did Jesus say?
“You cannot serve both God and money” (Matthew 6:24)
Let me give you another example. What if a church teaches, “Only our church is saved” and “All other churches are heretics”?
But what did Jesus say?
“My sheep listen to my voice, and I know them, and they follow me” (John 10:27)
Jesus said that those who listen to his voice and follow him are his sheep, not a specific church.
This is not something that only happens today. It happened in the Old Testament times.
Jeremiah 23:1-2:
“Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture, declares the Lord.”
God himself declared woe to false shepherds.
The New Testament is the same. 2 Peter 2:1:
“But there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you.”
It’s not “may be” but “will be”. It means there will definitely be.
So why does God allow these false teachers?
The answer is in Deuteronomy 13:3:
“Do not listen to the words of that prophet or that dreamer of dreams, for the Lord your God tests you to know whether you love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul.”
God tests us. He tests us to see whether we truly love God’s word or whether we follow the words of men more.
Let’s summarize. Here are three important truths we learned today:
First, Satan works even in the church.
He disguises himself as an angel of light to deceive God’s people.
Second, we must discern by our fruits, not by our outward appearances.
No matter how holy someone may seem, if their words and actions do not match the Bible, we must be careful. Third, this is a test of our faith.
It reveals whether we truly follow the word of God or follow men.
So what should we do?
1 John 4:1 gives us the answer:
“Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God.”
He told us not to believe blindly, but to test them.
No matter who preaches, how famous they are, or how big the church is, we must check whether the teachings are in line with the Bible.
My friends, the church is definitely the house of God. However, there can be weeds mixed in there too. There can be wolves in sheep’s clothing.
That’s why we must stay awake. We must read the Bible diligently, pray, and seek the guidance of the Holy Spirit.
What is truly scary is when we blindly follow without discernment.
Matthew 15:14:
“If a blind man leads a blind man, both will fall into a pit.”
Who are you following now? Is that person really teaching according to the Bible? Ask yourself this question. Your eternal life depends on it.
