Modern day Idolatry in the Mike Peters way...

(If you happen to read this and don't know who Mike Peters is then maybe you can fill in a name of someone else who is attempting to bring others into bondage. This is meant as a warning to souls not fully aware of their devices)

Remember the bronze serpent which Moses made by order of God?

Numbers 21:7-9
Therefore the people came to Moses, and said, "We have sinned, for we have spoken against the Lord and against you; pray to the Lord that He take away the serpents from us." So Moses prayed for the people. Then the Lord said to Moses, "Make a fiery serpent, and set it on a pole; and it shall be that everyone who is bitten, when he looks at it, shall live." So Moses made a bronze serpent, and put it on a pole; and so it was, if a serpent had bitten anyone, when he looked at the bronze serpent, he lived.

You may know that King Hezekiah destroyed this bronze serpent for a very good reason later...

2 Kings 18:4
He removed the high places and broke the sacred pillars, cut down the wooden image and broke in pieces the bronze serpent that Moses had made; for until those days the children of Israel burned incense to it, and called it Nehushtan.

Now consider what Paul speaks of regarding the NT idolatry of the Galatian Christians.

Gal 4:8-9
But then, indeed, when you did not know God, you served those which by nature are not gods. But now after you have known God, or rather are known by God, how is it that you turn again to the weak and beggarly elements, to which you desire again to be in bondage?

Why did the Israelites desire to worship a bronze serpent? And why did the New Testament Christians desire bondage in idolatry as well? We may also ask, why do people desire bondage in the Mike Peters way? Or the Mormon way? Or the JW way? Or any other way other than the Truth of the Gospel? It is only the Truth that sets men free so why is it Paul asks Christians how is it that they "desire again to be in bondage"? I believe the answer is intriguing and revealing.

First of all I will state that I believe there have been and are truly saved, born again Christians in the group with Mike Peters. Others who have been there and are now free will testify to this as well. How does this happen? Why do real Christians fall into this trap? I believe the answer is in the Scriptures. Mike Peters appeal is that of living like those in the infancy of the Church especially the book of Acts. With some serious pushing out of balance and twisting a bit of the Scriptures regarding sin confession, community of the Body living, and family relationships he has it all well under control. That is until someone in the group sees through this and rocks the boat. If God begins to open your eyes to this as you are a part of the group of "THE elect of Mike Peters", you can be sure he will have you walk the plank. And he will shout outloud all sins you have ever confessed and then add his own perversions and additions to it to strengthen his defense against your coming to see his cunning ways. This simply expresses his terror of being exposed to others himself. A decoy for others to see as he hides back in the darkness of his own deceptions. But, you can rejoice because Christ Jesus will be there to save you and take you to the liberty from all bondage as was intended for you by God as a son of God. "Therefore you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ" (Gal 4:7).

Gal 5:7-13
You ran well. Who hindered you from obeying the truth? This persuasion does not come from Him who calls you. A little leaven leavens the whole lump. I have confidence in you, in the Lord, that you will have no other mind; but he who troubles you shall bear his judgment, whoever he is. And I, brethren, if I still preach circumcision, why do I still suffer persecution? Then the offense of the cross has ceased. I could wish that those who trouble you would even cut themselves off! For you, brethren, have been called to liberty; only do not use liberty as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.

The real Christians that fall for this form of idolatry in the "Peters Phamily" (as you all may know I have at one time) are really only "hindered" by this as Paul said. This influence or "persuasion" did not come from Christ Who called you but rather from Satan who has tempted you to legalism and idolatry. This leaven that Peters has injected is very effective in the whole of those involved to keep them entangled. He has his little kingdom fenced in to keep his subjects from hearing the truth that will set them free. I have repented of this beguiling sin of idolatry long ago and see this as far greater a sin than any I have committed because it is a direct affront against Christ's work on the Cross. I was (for a season) "estranged from Christ" as Paul said. If you are a son of God and have Christ's Spirit then Satan has NO power over you. The yeast of this leaven is NOT in your spirit born of God (it is of the flesh) and you can stand fast in this freedom from the affects of the leaven if you choose.

Gal 5:1-6
Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage. Indeed I, Paul, say to you that if you become circumcised, Christ will profit you nothing. And I testify again to every man who becomes circumcised that he is a debtor to keep the whole law. You have become estranged from Christ, you who attempt to be justified by law; you have fallen from grace. For we through the Spirit eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness by faith. For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything, but faith working through love.

As we know idolatry comes in many subtle forms. Let's see what this looks like when we put the book of Acts into a legalistic form to follow and enforce...

If you choose to follow the pattern of the historical infant Church of the book of Acts with legalism and enforcement, in effect you are a debtor to follow the whole of it. If you think you are justified by this you are missing the grace of our God in Christ Jesus our Lord. And I believe that even your trying to do so will be like worshiping the bronze serpent of the book of Acts and you will fail to keep it perfectly which means you failed altogether. You will have a form of godliness, man made and void of the Power of Christ to keep and free you. God will not return to the infant stage of His Church no matter how much you worship it instead of Him. Therefore the form of doctrine that you desire to follow is man made and man controlled under the influence of Satan himself.

Again, if you are of God's Spirit you are not to be subjected to this for Christ has called you to FREEDOM! Freedom to follow the righteousness of Christ Himself imparted to you through faith. Freedom to know Him intimately. "Therefore, brethren, having boldness to enter the Holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which He consecrated for us, through the veil, that is, His flesh, and having a High Priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water"(Heb 10:19-22).

Sure, some verses after this speak of fellowship with one another and need to be acknowledged and followed. But clearly the emphasis and first place is given to "drawing near" to the throne of Christ. Your relationship with Him is to be much higher than your relationship with His Body. For all spiritual Life comes though and from Christ the Vine alone.

Col 2:18-19
"Let no one cheat you of your reward, taking delight in false humility and worship of angels, intruding into those things which he has not seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind, and not holding fast to the Head, from whom all the body, nourished and knit together by joints and ligaments, grows with the increase that is from God."

Very revealing points from this passage regarding the Peter's cult.

Let us be convicted of this Body worship. You long for an image that represents that which was effective in its own time, in the time of Acts. You long to worship this image because it is something that can be man made (imitated through the works of flesh to a degree) to see with human eyes rather than Someone you must have faith in and pursue from the heart by the work of the Holy Spirit. As the old saying goes "he is running around like a chicken with his head cut off". So it is with this Peters doctrine, though it is sure to mention Him in tongue, if the truth were known it would be said "he is running around like a Church with its Head cut off" and in the dark at that.

Ep 5:14
Therefore He says:
"Awake, you who sleep,
Arise from the dead,
And Christ will give you light."

May God give all grace to see this Truth and be FREE!

AMEN!

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