The Lure of Wrong Roads to the Kingdom by Oswald Chambers

I am reading a book called "If you will ask" by Oswald Chambers. And when I got to pages 25-28 I was amazed. This is happening now more then ever. We have the Emergent Church, the Health and Wealth Gospel, and the Seeker Friendly Church. Amazing! And this man died in 1917! I am amazed at how much Satan repackages these false doctrinces, and keeps trying. I fear Satan has done a much better packaging job this time, because many are duped into these "Wrong roads to the Kingdom"

The Lure of Wrong Roads to the Kingdom

Whenever Jesus talked about His kingdom the disciples misinterpreted what He said to mean a material kingdom to be established on this earth. But Jesus said, "My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, My servants would fight, so that I should not b delivered to the Jews." (John 18:36). And again He said, "The kingdom of God does not come with observation;...for indeed, the kingdom of God is within you." (Luke 17:20)

The only way to be saved from the lure of the wrong roads is by doing what our Master tells us, that is, "Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation." If we do not watch and pray we shall be led into temptation before we know where we are. "Nevertheless, when the Son of man comes, will He really find faith on the earth?" said Jesus (Luke 18:8). He will find faith in individual men and women, but the general organized form of the Christian church slipped almost wholesale onto wrong roads to the Kingdom.

The Material Road of Deliverance (Matthew 4:1-4)

"If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread."
This temptation is profoundly human. If we could only find some means of curing everybody of disease, of feeding them and putting them on a good social basis, what a marvelous thing it would be. That is the way we are being told that the Kingdom of God is to be established on this earth. "We do not need any more of this talk about atonement and the shedding of blood: what is needed today is to spend ourselves for others." But that is the lure of the wrong road to the Kingdom, and we cannot keep out of it if we forget to watch and pray. "Watch with Me," said Jesus. "Mine is the only road to the kingdom."

We have to continue with Him in His temptations. "Command that these stones become bread." In other words, Satan was saying, "Satisfy Your own needs and the needs of men and You will get the kingship of men." Was Satan right? Read John 6:15: "Therefore when Jesus perceived that they were about to come and take Him by force to make Him king, He departed again to the mountain by Himself alone." Why? He had just fed five thousand of them! Yes, but Jesus "departed...alone." He would not be king at that price.

The Mysterious Road of Devotion (Matthew 4:5-7)

Here we are dealing with our Lord's presentation of His own temptation. In the most sacred matter we must rely only on the Holy Spirit, no one else. This temptation presents a wild reach of possibility. "You are the Son of God. Do something supernatural that will stagger men, and the world will be at your feet." Was Satan right? Absolutely. Is there not a lure along that road today more then ever? There are miraculous dealings that lure to destruction, such as seeking for signs and wonders. Almost without exception the people lured down this wrong road are those who have been told to fast and concentrate for something for themselves, whereby the Lord may show how marvelous He is. It does look right to the human reason when it is just touched on the first outer fringe by the Holy Spirit, but it contradicts emphatically what our Lord teaches, namely that importunity in intercession is never for ourselves but for others.
"The kingdom of God does not come with observation." (Luke 17:20)
It is at work now. The manifestation of the Kingdom of God externally is another thing. The disciples still had their own ideas of the Kingdom. They were blind to what Jesus Christ's Kingdom meant, and they were so totally depressed that they slept for their own sorrow. "Watch with Me." How could they? They had no idea what He was after.

The Mental Road of Dominion. (Matthew 4:8-10)

This is the temptation to compromise. Some say evil is in the world, so we compromise with it, work with it judiciously. "All these things I will give You if You will fall down and worship me," Satan said. This temptation is the most subtle of all. People tell us, "Don't be so straight-laced. We have passed the day when we believe in a personal devil" May God forgive us. I am afraid we are past that stage. Will the church that bows down and compromises succeed? Of course it will. It is the very thing that the natural man wants, but it is the lure of a wrong road to the Kingdom. Beware of putting anything sweet and winsome in front of the One who suffered in Gethsemane.