The boastful shall not stand in Your sight; You hate all workers of iniquity. - Psalm 5: 5-6 (NKJV)
"God has NEVER once had a negative thought about YOU."
That is the placard on Facebook today from false teacher extraordinaire, Joyce Meyer. That Meyer would espouse false doctrine is not surprising. She openly teaches that Jesus spent three days in hell and needed to be born again. She is also a firm adherent of word faith heresy. What was a bit surprising was the brazen nature of the claim in this posting. The in your face, leave all sound doctrine behind nature. This is a quote you expect to hear from Joseph Prince, who is a rabid antinomian. Then you peel back the layers and realize this was just an advertisement for Meyer's new book, "The Mind Connection." Considering Meyer has made a millions of dollars by making merchandise of the sheep of the Lord now things began to crystallize. What better way to sell as many books as possible than to scratch the itching ears of sinners desperately looking for a way to continue to sin and still believe it is all OK.
For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. - 2Timothy 4: 3 (ESV)
So we gather around us teachers like Joyce Meyer to tell us exactly what we want to hear. Teachers who will tell us that this is our best life now and we are destined to reign. That God doesn't care about our sin anymore. That God wants us all rich beyond our filthy dreams of avarice. That adulterous relationship you are in? Don't worry! You're the apple of His eye don't you know! That money you are stealing from your friends or business partners? Don't be silly! He wants you to be the head and not the tail! That alcohol addiction, heroin addiction, or pornography addiction? Stop talking death over your life! Don't you know that God has never had a negative thought about you? Sniping at your neighbors? Cursing out your relatives? Beating your wife? Nope, all cheery thoughts regarding those pesky little problems! Because somehow in the mind of Joyce Meyer it is not about your neighbors, relatives or spouse. Heck, it is not even about God. It is all about YOU and you my friend are the beez-neez. C'mon now, you know the drill. You are the child of the most high God! You are more than a conqueror! You are a lender not a borrower! You are fearfully and wonderfully made! You are chosen! You, you you.
Wait a minute preacher! Are you saying that Joyce is wrong? Yes beloved. Not only is she wrong but she is dangerously wrong. She is not trying to help you. She is trying to sell you a book. Just look at the key verse today. The boastful, such as Mrs. Meyer, shall not stand before the eyes of the Lord. It goes further to unequivocally state that He hates all who do iniquity. That is just a fancy word for sin. And guess what? We all sin. We all have sinned. We all will continue to sin. God will go right on hating that, despite what Joyce Meyer has to say in her new book. The notion then that God has never had a negative thought about us is absurd heresy. Ask Ananias and Sapphira if God had a negative thought about them before He struck them dead. Ask David if God thought negatively about him when he took the census and struck Israel with a plague because of it. Or when He denied David the chance to build the temple because he was a man of war. Ask Peter if God thought negatively about his three denials of Christ. Realize that there is a sinister goal behind such false teachings. The false teacher has a goal and so does the master behind it all, Satan.
I appeal to you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and create obstacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught; avoid them. For such persons do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites, and by smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the naive. - Romans 16: 17-18 (ESV)
It is false teaching that causes division in the body of Christ. That is because it divides people against the actual Gospel. The Bible teaches us that these wolves practice what they practice in order to draw men after them and away from Christ. They serve their own appetites. Whether those appetites be for money, fame, or prestige. Note the method they use. Smooth talk and flattery. Would you like an example of smooth talk and flattery?
"God has NEVER once had a negative thought about YOU."
Flattery is when you use excessive praise or positivity to deceive someone. That is what this quote from Meyer is designed to do. It is designed to puff you up. To make Christianity about you instead of Christ. Listen very carefully to your pastor beloved. His job is to preach Christ. Paul said that all he wanted to know when ministering was Jesus Christ and Him crucified. In fact, when the people tried to make it about him he rebuked them:
For it has been reported to me by Chloe's people that there is quarreling among you, my brothers. What I mean is that each one of you says, "I follow Paul," or "I follow Apollos," or "I follow Cephas," or "I follow Christ." Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul? - 1Corinthians 1: 11-13 (ESV)
Satan also has a strategy behind these teachings. There is an oft-quoted line from a movie that says the greatest trick the devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn't exist. We see that play out in the lives of unbelievers every day. The things of God are foolishness to them and that includes the devil, who most people see as a playful fellow in a red suit with a plastic pitchfork. The notion of Satan and hell has reached almost comical proportions in the world. People wear tee-shirts mocking hell and claiming to look forward to it because all their friends will be there. A popular band once wrote about going to hell in a bucket but at least they were enjoying the ride. It has indeed been a great trick. Without the devil there is no hell and without hell there is no reason to worry about sin. Without having to worry about sin there is simply no need for a Savior.
When it comes to believers however, Satan has attacked at the point of sin. The motive behind teachings such as this from Meyer and the recent success of people like Joseph Prince is to remove sin from the consciousness of believers. The same goes for the entire seeker friendly and purpose driven church methods. Why? Twofold reasons. First, without a serious discussion of sin and repentance, no one gets saved. Do we understand that today? When the unsaved come to church they ought to hear the Gospel which is the only power unto their salvation. Instead, if they hear about how God has never had a negative thought about them and then they go up for altar call how in the world do we honestly think they are saved? Secondly, for those who are saved it allows sin to more easily ruin their lives. We see it every day from famous pastors falling into sin. The recent Ashley Madison fiasco found over 400 pastors names registered on the website promoting adultery. This is the two pronged attack from the enemy. To have the world mock it while the church becomes a mockery by it. An impotent church that barely leads anyone to repentance. Consider this other quote I saw today from Joel Osteen:
"You wouldn't be alive unless God had something amazing in your future."
This is the kind of stuff we ought to run away from as fast as we can. To make blanket statements and apply them to everyone is patently ridiculous. Perhaps there is something amazing in our future and perhaps we will be called home tomorrow. Perhaps there is suffering ahead. To pump everyone's head up with such nonsense is reprehensible at best. This is the business Osteen and Meyer traffic in. It is not about sound doctrine it is about false doctrine. It is about "encouraging" people to feel better about their sin. To draw a following unto themselves or even more cheaply, to sell you a book.
God has never had a negative thought about us Joyce? I am pretty sure He has some negative thoughts about you right now.
Rev. Anthony.
