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At the church in Ephesus, there were people calling themselves apostles that were not. In Smyrna, there were people that called themselves Jews that were not. In Thyatira, there was a woman who called herself a prophetess that was not. Are you starting to see a pattern here? Spiritual imposters abound. They are wolves in sheep’s clothing. They prey on God’s people and while they gain some short-term ground, their deception is actually to their own peril and to the peril of those who follow them.

When God calls on us, we do not need to fear. Fear does crazy things. Irrational fears make us do crazy things that are funny to the people around us. Have you ever been around a person who fears spiders? All of a sudden one comes in view from fifteen to twenty feet away and they jump, scream and run in the other direction. Some fears cause us to freeze, hide, pretend it does not exist, but one thing we do not need to fear is the call of God.

Some slippery slopes are fun, especially if we are skiing, snowboarding or sledding. However, some slippery slopes are dangerous, especially if we are trying to carry groceries or babies. Slippery slopes can also be dangerous for churches. We need to be warned about doctrinal slippery slopes because if the devil can’t disrupt our mission through persecution, he will try dilution. In other words, he will tempt us with the slippery slope of diluted teaching that “permits more, is more open and more comfortable to the world.” Teaching often affects behavior. If we water down the truth, our ethics and our morals will be affected, and it will show up in our behavior.

The numbers will shock you. We don’t think about it often because of the marvelous freedoms we have in this country, but we should at least be aware and prayerful of what is taking place around the world with our brothers and sisters in Christ. The population of the persecuted exceeds the population of the USA. Thousands of people were killed last year because they professed faith in and loyalty to Jesus Christ. This is not new. Since Jesus ascended to Heaven, His people have suffered on behalf of His name. It’s real.